"Deal"
At his reply, the woman sits, with the spokesperson walking towards Ezra before holding up his arms and projecting a contract from his communicator which he swipes at, sending it to Ezra’s communicator.
Montarily surprised, Ezra’s brow furrowed as he scrutinized the holographic display.
The text of the contract shimred faintly, lines of legal jargon scrolling across his communicator.
He leans into his chair, his expression shifting from confusion to mild amusent.
"What is this? A non-disclosure contract?"
"Yes" the female dwarf took the stage once more, clearing her throat. "Mr. Sylvester, the secret realm in question is not an ordinary one and as such, the council has taken great asures to ensure its existence remains unknown to the broader galactic community"
Ezra raises an eyebrow, intrigued, but she refuses to speak further.
"I can only tell you more once you have signed the contract. So, what do you choose?"
Bringing his face to the holographic contract, Ezra signs at the needed places before swiping it to the woman.
Ezra briefly thought about asking what the repercussions would be if he decided to back out, but decided against it.
"It’s signed" says Ezra. "Now,
"The realm is called the Shattered Golden Gate" she began, her voice steady, "It is known to be incredibly dangerous, with nurous expeditions sent in, but none have returned unscathed—if they returned at all"
....?
Expecting her to continue, Ezra is floundered to see her recline into her chair.
"Yes....? Aren’t you going to continue?" he asks, bewildered.
Glancing at him, she simply retracts her gaze.
"Hey!"
Instead, the spokesperson answers his question.
"All the information gathered from previous expeditions are in here sir"
With that, he swipes at another holograph, sending it to Ezra, which he identifies to contain a files tagged |Realm of the Light Emperor|
As he opens it up, the spokesperson clears his throat, grabbing Ezra’s attention.
"Sir, a spaceship designated to take you to the secret realm’s location has been prepared and will be on standby within the next half hour"
This has Ezra raising his brows, "You want to head there imdiately?"
"The secret realm only opens for a short ti, so the schedule is unfortunately tight. We ask for your understanding"
"Alright" Ezra nods, before snapping to attention as he rembers a crucial detail. "What about the adjusted contract? Is there not a need for to sign it?"
"That will be finalized once you return from your expedition. We-
"Hell no!" Ezra rebukes him instantly. "I will be signing the adjusted contract right now, and I will the first month’s endorsent must be handed over as well, or else you can find yourselves soone else to explore your oh-so-precious secret realm"
A silence perates the chamber for a short while, the counciln clearly astonished.
"....."
The spokesperson’s smile falters for a fraction of a second before composing himself, smoothing his hands over his clothes.
"Of course, Mr. Sylvester. The council respects your position, and we will ensure that the adjusted contract is ready for your signature within the next ten minutes."
"Good," Ezra replied with a curt nod, reclining back the chair.
—---------
Ten Minutes Later
A sleek, translucent contract appeared in the air before Ezra, projected from the council’s primary terminal.
Every clause had been updated to reflect the renegotiated terms, including the promised monthly endorsent of 90 million Cryst and the council mbers’ obligation to provide one valuable item each.
Ezra leaned forward, scanning every detail with ticulous care.
Satisfied, he raises his hand, signing the contract with a sharp swipe of his finger.
A digital confirmation chis, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"There. Now we’re all on the sa page," he said, leaning back again. "The first month’s paynt?"
The spokesperson gestures to an assistant, who promptly transfers the amount to Ezra’s account.
His communicator pinged monts later with the notification of the deposit.
Ezra confirms it and nods, returning back for the subject matter.
"Are there any other matters I should be inford of?"
"You will be briefed on the details when you get to the set destination" the spokesperson responds. "You may use the short interval before your departure to settle any personal matters"
’Settle any personal matters?’ Ezra wonders, chuckling inwardly. ’They seem awfully aware that I might not return from this secret realm. I better keep an eye out for whatever it is they’re planning’
Using , Ezra informs all the relevant individuals of his sudden need to travel and to be safe, give him an tispan of two weeks.
As no matter how long this expedition took, it couldn’t go beyond that.
Soon afterwards, the spokesperson confirms to him that the spaceship is now ready for usage.
—--------
Ezra steps onto the hangar’s tal floor, his boots echoing against the polished surface.
Before him stands the Ravenwing, a compact yet powerful spacecraft designed for swift travel and stealth.
Its sleek, black exterior shimred faintly under the artificial lights, and the faint hum of its engines suggested it was already prid for takeoff.
A flight officer approaches, saluting sharply. "Mr. Sylvester, the Ravenwing is fully equipped and ready to depart at your command."
Ezra nodded, his gaze sweeping over the craft.
The Ravenwing soared through the void of space, its engines emitting a low, steady hum.
Ezra sat in the pilot’s chair, though the ship’s advanced autopilot handled most of the journey, while a designated pilot sat beside him.
With my iffy the spokesperson was acting, Ezra wasn’t about to leave the driving to so unknown personnel.
His fingers drumd absently against the armrest as he reviewed the data once more.
The data file, tagged |Realm of the Light Emperor|, contained a trove of information.
As Ezra skimd through the details, a sense of unease crept into him.
Maps, fragnted reports, and audio logs were all jumbled together, painting a fragnted picture of what awaited him.
But first and foremost, the most important detail.
The secret realm is collapsing?!
This reveal sends Ezra in a frenzy to which imdiately gets out of his seat and calls upon the spokesperson.
"Hey!" Ezra shouts. "Why didn’t the secret realm I would be exploring has begun to collapse???! Or was that not important information?!"
Cleaning sweat from his forehead with a cloth, the man nods. "I apologize for the inconvenience caused by the misappropriation of that minor detail"
"Minor detail?"
Flinching, the spokesperson clears. "Yes. But as you know, the contract has already been signed, you can no longer back out from this"
*Inhale*Exhale*
Calming himself, Ezra replies, "Fine" in a low but chilling tone.
"Instead, I want the monthly updated to 200 million and I want I collecting three items of value from each councilman"
The spokesperson hurriedly nods "Surely, this will be approved-
"Send an updated copy of that contract right now if you don’t want to turn this ship around so we have another renegotiation" Ezra pauses, letting out a slow breath. "You have five minutes"
The spokesperson visibly paled at Ezra’s cold and calculated response. "I understand!"
The call is abruptly cut with audio leaking of him muttering hurried instructions to unseen assistants.
Ezra’s sharp gaze doesn’t waver as he sit down and leans against the pilot’s console, arms crossed and waiting for a response.
The silence in the cockpit was oppressive, broken only by the soft hum of the ship’s engines.
Monts later, Ezra’s communicator pinged. A revised contract materialized in front of him as a holographic projection.
"Here you go, Mr. Sylvester," the spokesperson said, his voice tight but controlled. "All adjustnts have been made to reflect your latest terms."
Ezra scrutinized the docunt, his eyes narrowing as he reviewed the fine print.
Every detail was ticulously combed over—this was no ti for oversights.
Finally satisfied, he flicked his finger across the hologram, his signature solidifying the deal.
"Good," Ezra said, his tone clipped.
"Now, let’s make sothing clear. If there are any more conveniently omitted ’minor details,’ the next contract will start at a 500 million Cryst—and I’ll be adding personal reparations from every council mber."
The spokesperson swallowed audibly. "Understood, Mr. Sylvester. I assure you, all critical details have now been disclosed."
Ezra waved him off dismissively and returned to his seat.
The adjusted contract was already a consolation for the council’s deceit.
Besides, Ezra didn’t truly believe he would die within the secret realm.
Collapsing or not, he could always run away to the sovereign universe—an easy fix to a difficult problem.
But regardless, such information was worrying.
The Shattered Golden Gate is speculated to have been created by an enigmatic figure known as the Light Emperor because research results show a match between his energy and that which the secret realm is made of.
The Light Emperor is or was a constellation known for his prowess with the light elent.
Like other constellations, he had probably created this secret realm as a training ground for this coming after him.
Yet, it had begun to gradually collapse.
Then, till now, only one thing had been identified as the cause of such situations.
The death of its creator.
The Light Emperor had died sowhere, and as such, the essence holding the space together had begun to unravel like seams from a cloth.
Worse yet, a way of asuring a secret realms rate of collapse had yet to be invented, so there was no telling when it would finally unravel and implode upon itself.
Such is the place Ezra had been commissioned to not only explore, but dig treasures from.
Just thinking about it pissed him again!
’Dammit! I should’ve asked for a higher price’ he vents, but calms, rembering the set of trump cards in his arsenal. ’Whatever. Let’s just get this over with’
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