The villain's way to tame the protagonist

"It's possible to mess with the young Hydra who doesn't like the slave trade."

"You've already done it, and you're still afraid of this?"

"There is always a difference between a single dominant force and a multitude of powerful factions... Of course, I'm just suggesting it." He quickly added, "If you need me to do this, Hyena will do my best."

"Then do it. Remember to gather all the slaves. These are valuable goods and property. I don't want any of them to be damaged, understand?"

After leaving these words, the mysterious Faust left with the two women beside him.

"...Boss." The confidant beside the hyena whispered, "This Faust is too suspicious..."

The hyena interrupted him with a slap and stared at him expressionlessly.

After a long while, he slowly said: "Now, mobilize all the manpower immediately, clear out all the sheep farms in the Black Street, and replace them with our people to take over."

"Now, now?"

"Heh...what better time than now when everyone thinks I'm done?"

The resentment brought to him by the desperate situation with no way out, the confidence brought to him by the current miraculous turn of events, and the vague "guidance" from that Excellency, all made the hyena make what he believed to be the most correct choice.

*

"Anser, Anser!" In the empty corridor, Xitana leaned close to Anser's ear and couldn't help but mutter, "Why do you have to do this? Wouldn't it be more convenient to just beat those guys into cripples and then throw them onto the street? You asked me to protect Lina before, which means you were planning to do it directly, right?"

"Because I suddenly thought of something." Anser said calmly, "There are some things that even force cannot defy."

Marina's heart skipped a beat as she memorized all of Anser's words - something that even power cannot defy...

Anyone in this world could say something like this, but Mr. Anser, an Old Deus...

The power of the emperor enables her to dominate everything and make the empire a toy in her hands, and Mr. Anser also possesses the same power. Could the thing that makes Mr. Anser say such words be the key to forcing him to give up something?

While Marina was thinking, Anser chuckled:

"So, instead of using force to gain temporary peace, it's better to solve the problem once and for all... Well, although it's unlikely."

"Lawrence."

"Oh! Do you want me to do something, young master?"

"Take us to a high place where we can have a panoramic view of the black market and watch a good show."

Anser whispered softly:

"Let me also experience that kind of perspective after a long time."

Black street, black market.

An area under the wall of the Upper City, bordering the Lower City, an area where chaos is order.

Big and small forces, big and small behind-the-scenes people, this "market", this "street", its existence is not because it is natural, but because someone needs it, someone wants it to exist, so it swallows up the darkness and evil of the imperial capital and takes root in the corners of the city walls.

It is like a small world, an absurd world where the environment, rules, and even development are manipulated by humans.

Just like the world in Ansher's eyes.

However, this time, he was not just a tiny speck of dust between heaven and earth.

Instead, he looked down at this absurd world from a high position... "must not be disobeyed."

Chapter 8: The snake represents irreversibility (K)

On the tallest clock tower in the black market, Anther and his group sat on the edge of the roof, with Sitana sitting next to Anther, while Marina, with a slightly blushing face, was held in the arms of her tall and fit sister.

"Marina." Anser said gently while stroking Lawrence's head, "How about we play a game?"

Being held by her sister, Marina looked a little unnatural and was stunned for a moment. Then she responded happily, "Of course, Mr. Anser."

"Suppose, you are Mr. Hyena now."

Young Hydra looked down at the bustling black street, and he could see the waves surging in the shadows.

He turned his head and stared into Marlena's eyes: "How much do you have to do?"

"To ensure fairness, you can ask me questions at any time. I will tell you anything that Mr. Hyena knows."

A beautiful girl with snow-white hair and a black dress was also looking down at the buildings and streets below. She was not extraordinary and it was difficult for her to even see the pedestrians passing by, but a complex scene began to emerge in her mind.

"…The first thing, of course, is to do our best to complete Mr. Anser's mission."

Marina whispered softly, "Mr. Hyena... No, since I am so eager to sell myself to you, it means that I am at the end of my rope and can't find anyone willing to stand up for me... Of course, it is also possible that many forces are still waiting and watching, hoping to seize the greatest benefits when I am defeated and dying."

"So, after you place your bet, I must give you a satisfactory answer."

"Very good." Anser smiled and reached out to flick the lazy rat that was lying on his lap and shaking its tail. "Lawrence, show Marina the situation of the black market... Mainly the part where hyenas clean up other slave markets."

Lawrence stood up, stretched out his claws, and made a strange expression: "This is easy, young master, wait a moment..."

Xitana, who was standing by, stared at the popular Lawrence and couldn't help asking, "Lawrence, is that the Rat King they are talking about you?"

"Ok?"

Lawrence, who was casting a spell, tilted his head and said, "Ms. Xitana, why do you think so?"

"Because it's a rat!" the girl said as if it was a matter of course.

"It's just a title, a title." Lawrence shook his paw. "That hyena, he's not a dog. Lawrence, I'm very busy! I'm not interested in playing house in the black market... Oh! OK."

It waved its claws, and a huge light curtain split into several pieces appeared in midair, each showing a different scene. And if you look closely, Lawrence's tiny scarlet eyes reflected even more different scenes.

"So amazing..." Xitana looked up at the dazzling light screen, still unable to let go of the obsession of not being able to become the leader of the Devourer, "Lawrence seems to know everything."

"Just borrowing the perspective of other rats in the black market."

Lawrence finished his trick and lay back on Anser's lap: "It's just a little trick."

Despite saying this, its tail still wagged quite happily.

"Can Lawrence control other mice?"

"It is the 'beast' element after all." Being praised, Shushu seemed even more pleased with himself. "This is a very remarkable element. Among the countless elements possessed by Hydra, its importance is also among the top."

“…Huh? Is that so?”

Xitana scratched her head in disbelief: "I don't think it's that powerful. It's just a simple fight."

"Because the 'beast' can extend to so many things, such as domination, devouring, growth, and violence... That's why the Devourer Head has a strong capacity." Lawrence said proudly with his tail erect. "If you want to ask whether I can fight, then of course I'm not as good as Tyr and Torado, but I must be the most comprehensive and capable chief under the boss!"

Miss Wolf was itching to try out the power of the Devourer, but unfortunately she could only think about it.

Ansher did not interrupt the chat between Xitana and Lawrence, he was just looking at Marina's profile. From his perspective, the girl who had completed her transformation was staring at the light curtain so seriously, with a kind of gracefulness and beauty that was so charming that it made people's hearts flutter.

It was not simply a sensory pleasure caused by her appearance, but a beauty that was indescribable and could penetrate the soul, brought about by her accumulated knowledge, growing thinking, and changing temperament.

Marina, who was immersed in thought, did not notice Ansel's gaze. Although Lawrence had tried to reduce the number of images displayed as much as possible, it was still too difficult for Marina to process more than ten images at the same time with her mortal brainpower and reaction.

"...Mr. Lawrence." The girl suddenly asked, "Could you please reduce some of the images?"

"Ah? Oh, no problem." Lawrence, who was chatting happily with Sitana, looked up at Marina in surprise, "How many do you want left?"

"Can you tell who controls those slave markets?"

"Uh... this is a bit troublesome."

Lawrence scratched his head with his claws. "A mouse's brain can't remember so many things. I may not be able to find them all."

"Then... please leave the scene of the most luxuriously decorated slave market. Five will be enough."

The screen changed, and Lawrence followed Marina's instructions and only left the five images of the slave market. This time, Marina only looked at it for a while before speaking:

"Mr. Anser, I will now use my main force to raid these slave markets."

She raised her hand and pointed to the most luxurious slave market in the light curtain, whose decoration was no less luxurious than the one under the hyena.

"Since we are planning to make enemies with all other forces, we will naturally strike the strongest opponent with the greatest force while taking the initiative... At the same time, it is meaningless to just capture it. This is a market after all, and the leaders here... are also businessmen after all, so——"

"Mr. Lawrence." Marina still stared at the screen, "Could you please tell me where Mr. Hyena is going? If I were him, I would set off now to meet one of the other three leaders, or..."

The ordinary girl's eyes were condensed and restrained: "Holding a meeting with ill intentions."

Lawrence quickly called up a new picture. Just as Marina said, our protagonist, Mr. Hyena, was sitting at a round table. Opposite him was a tall, thin and sinister man. On his left sat a cold and beautiful woman with a vertical scar on her left eye. On his right sat a fat man.

"Oh, this is really..." Lawrence opened his mouth, showing his sharp teeth, looking a little shocked, "Is it so accurate?"

"Of course, Lina is the smartest!" Xitana raised her head proudly, and then she seemed to have thought of something and whispered, "Well, maybe a little worse than Anser."

"Mr. Anser, who is that person opposite Mr. Hyena?"

Marina asked without paying any attention to them.

"Evil Vulture."

"Then that lady is Miss Colorful Spider, and the remaining one is the Rat King..."

Marina thought thoughtfully, "How does their power compare to Mr. Hyena's power?"

"Hyena controls nearly half of the black market, but the forces that can actually be mobilized by him, rather than simply under his name, are about one-third of the black market. The remaining three leaders naturally account for two-thirds."

Anser looked at Marina with a smile: "What did you think of?"

"Mr. Anser's Faust identity is not comparable to that of Grand Duke Shenghui. Although you promised that there would be no upper-level issues that would interfere with me, they are only upper-level issues."

"In the confrontation between us 'agents'... even with the support of Grand Duke Shenghui, my power is limited to this extent. If I want to monopolize the slave market, I must pay a certain price in other areas."

"Benefit."

Marina murmured softly while staring at the light screen, with her index fingers raised at the same time with her interlaced palms. The hyena in the picture happened to be grinning, pushing a dazzling gem to the center of the table, leaning back slightly with a leisurely expression.

"Miss Colorful Spider was born a slave, and she will restrain her subordinates from doing this business. Then my opponents are only the Rat King and the Evil Vulture. They can't be on the same side, because since I occupy the majority of the slave market, there must be one among the three who only occupies a small share and doesn't particularly care about this piece of meat."

"Mr. Anser, what is the relationship between the Evil Vulture and the Rat King?"

"Rivals who are hostile to each other."

"So, as long as the benefits offered are enough to tempt both parties, but not enough to be shared equally, the next step is..."

The girl put her slender white middle fingers together, and whispered softly, putting her finger to her lips and whispered:

"Split."

The hyena chatted and laughed calmly, while leaning forward slightly and pushing the glowing jade towards the Rat King.

The fat man smiled happily and reached out to take the jade, but the sinister vulture suddenly slammed the table, and the jade on the table was shaken back to the center of the table.

"The Evil Vulture will not watch me further expand the slave market and squeeze his profits. He will not watch the Rat King, who doesn't particularly value the slave market, get sufficient compensation."

"And the Rat King...will not accept that he can't make this deal."

The nails of her ring fingers were shining pink, and Marina, who had gradually gained control of the situation, nodded slightly:

"contradiction."

The Rat King slowly turned his head and looked into the eyes of the Evil Vulture. His fat and rough face was full of coldness. The Evil Vulture also sneered and said some words mocking the Rat King's short-sightedness and stupidity.

Shitana stared blankly at the picture on the screen, watching Marina speak those words calmly and gently that sounded like a prophecy, and watching them become reality one by one. It was unbelievable.

"hiss……"

Lawrence, who was well-informed, took a deep breath and said, "Young Master really never misjudges anyone..."

Who is Hyena? Hyena is an extraordinary businessman who can dominate the black market in the imperial capital, where the noblest lords and the most powerful extraordinary people in the entire empire gather.

Although they mainly rely on the powerful influence of Grand Duke Shenghui, other leaders also have backers. On the surface, they are competing with each other in ability, and the ability of the hyenas is self-evident.

As an idle rat like Lawrence, he was of course very concerned about the situation of Ansir and the people around him. After arriving in the imperial capital, especially after Xitana showed her abilities in front of the other leaders, he made a special effort to learn about the situation of the sisters.

Needless to say, her younger sister, Xitana, had unparalleled talent in combat and was a terrifying monster who could withstand the power of two kinds of Chesses. She was recognized by all the Chesses present at the time, as well as Flamel himself.

And this Marina... To be honest, Lawrence didn't find anything special about her. At most, she was just a smart person.

But does Anser lack smart people around him? Not only that, he is the smartest one, so Marina... looks like a little brother who handles odd jobs.

But, can a small person who handles odd jobs grow from an ordinary village girl to the point where she can perfectly replicate the thinking of a black market boss in just a few months?

"As for what's next..."

The meeting between the "businessmen" entered the dispute stage, and Marina shifted her gaze away from it and looked at other slave markets.

"This is not a real 'market'. In this artificially designed chaotic order, the means that cannot be put on the table are also formal means, which is the turn of the surprise attack I mentioned at the beginning."

boom!

A sudden roar was heard in a shop below, and Shitana was startled, but Marina remained staring at the chaotic scene displayed on the screen.