Seele recognized this man instantly. She rembered clearly—it was this guy who gave the order to lock down the Underworld. But when she saw him show up with a face beaten so swollen he looked like a pig's head, her eyes lost a bit of focus.
She had to look away. If she stared too long, she was definitely going to burst out laughing.
But she knew she couldn't laugh—not only that, she had to act aggressive.
"What am I doing? Hah, do you even know what your people did? Your people injured ours. So, tell —how are you planning to deal with this?"
Donatan sneered. "Hah! Empty accusations won't—"
Before he could finish, Seele pulled out her phone and started playing a video that had already been recorded.
Her voice, along with the voices of his employees, ca through clearly.
"Which of you injured our people?"
"We did..."
Hearing that line, and seeing the footage on the phone, Donatan's eyes went wide. He realized he had been completely set up. Not only had soone gotten people to beat him up, they'd also beaten his employees—and worse, they had clear evidence that his subordinates had struck first.
Of course, he could argue that at most it was minor injuries, sothing easily brushed off as a scuffle caused by unruly citizens.
But before he could even raise that point, Seele cut in as if reading his mind. "My people were seriously injured! If I hadn't used the special dicine given to by the Alchemy Commission's Dan Heng... I an, by the Healer Lady from the Xianzhou Luofu, they wouldn't have made it."
She was telling the truth. If she'd waited just a little longer, even the scratches would've completely healed.
"Luofu? Healer Lady?"
Seele huffed. "Don't believe ? Hmph! Look at this!"
She pulled out a token, and the mont Donatan saw it, his eyes widened further. At that mont, he knew for sure—he'd been played.
What she took out was a token from the Xianzhou Luofu—official recognition from Luofu authorities affirming Seele's identity.
This kind of token was only awarded to those who had helped the alliance with major missions, like hunting Abominations of Abundance.
It was only granted for significant contributions.
As for forging one? That was as impossible as faking a company badge. No one in the universe would dare forge the Luofu's seal. The alliance was overflowing with martial might.
Offending the Luofu? That was way worse than offending the company.
And because Donatan knew the token was real, he knew he was completely screwed. Seele had used a drug from the Healer Lady. Those kinds of treatnts could be detected, but once they healed the wound, there was no trace left to check.
And from a logical perspective, if soone had to use such high-level dicine, it must've been a serious injury. Combined with the recorded video and verbal confession from his staff, once this was investigated, only one person would be blad—him.
If this escalated, he might not get demoted... but any chance of a promotion was as good as gone!
Donatan asked, "What do you want?"
He was hoping to settle this with a deal. However, Seele didn't want anything from Donatan. She just wanted him gone.
"? I just want you… gone! Bronya already told us about it. You really tried to make us sign that damn slave contract? Ha! Looks nice on paper—'resources to help us survive,' huh? But Belobog has survived for seven hundred years without a single bit of your company's help. And we can survive another seven hundred.
We don't need your assistance. Get out! You leave, and we won't pursue what your employees did."
The mask was off now and Seele wasn't even trying to hide it.
And while she was dissing the company, she also "casually" spilled the part about the contract negotiations with Belobog, stirring up public anger from the bystanders nearby.
In truth, Seele didn't care at all for the company's contract. She wasn't going to interfere with Bronya's decision, but that didn't stop her from despising any deal that traded away freedom for resources.
Donatan slunk away with his staff, humiliated. The way he ca into the Underworld so smug and cocky was a complete contrast to how beaten-down he looked now.
Seele had him by the throat. If this escalated further, even if he sohow completed the mission perfectly, punishnt was inevitable—and promotion was a pipe dream.
He returned to the Overworld, but instead of resting, he went straight to Qlipoth Fort.
He could feel it now—sothing was off. Ever since he began acting according to company protocol, he could sense sothing... targeted. Not against him personally, but against the company.
He needed to move his plans forward. He had to push Bronya to give him an answer—either she signed the contract or admitted she couldn't pay.
If she refused both, then he'd skip to phase two: forced reclamation of Belobog before anything else could go wrong.
But the mont he stepped into Qlipoth Fort and saw Bronya, she spoke before he could.
"Perfect timing, sir," she said. "As we were reviewing the outstanding debt, we discovered so inconsistencies. For example, these chanized soldiers—while they were delivered to Belobog, they were never successfully deployed as originally agreed. I believe this portion of the debt shouldn't count toward what we owe."
Before Donatan could reply, Bronya cut him off again.
"You were probably going to say, 'Where's the proof?' Well, as it happens, I have a friend who's partnered with the Garden of Recollection. Through them, we were able to recover mories from seven hundred years ago. Would that count as proof?"
Perhaps influenced by Pei Guang, Bronya had taken to preemptively anticipating her opponent's argunts: she was learning to apply pressure with every line!
Donatan had assud no such evidence existed. After all, it had been seven centuries. Records from Belobog were surely incomplete, and company logs would take precedence.
But Bronya's move hit him square in the face.
She pulled out a Light Cone. "This is the proof—a Light Cone constructed from those mories by the Garden of Recollection. I don't need to explain what that ans, do I?"
Donatan's eyes widened in shock. "How do you know about the Garden of Recollection?"
To him, there was no way a local like her would know sothing so obscure.
Bronya replied calmly, "Because I should know. I am Bronya Rand, the Supre Guardian of Belobog."
As she said it, Bronya felt her cheeks heat up.
She had picked up lines like this from Pei Guang—they sounded a bit over-the-top, a little embarrassing, even if those around her found them dignified and authoritative.
Looking at the Light Cone in her hand, Donatan's pupils constricted. He was certain now, he was being targeted. And not just him—this was a direct attack on the company.
He had been beaten, threatened, confronted with the Amber Lord's relic, had his staff recorded and exposed, and now the city's leader had pulled out a Light Cone backed by the Garden of Recollection—a mory that proved the company's failure?
There was no way this wasn't a coordinated attack. Donatan would sooner die than believe otherwise.
Bronya could tell what he was thinking. With a calm smile, she said, "Co now. If you don't believe it, see for yourself. This Light Cone is special—it lets you witness the past as it happened. Also, I don't believe this outrageous debt is justified. I think we need to renegotiate what Belobog truly owes."
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