1647 A Forgotten Tribe

"Krystal Arts will ensure the finest pieces for the event. If there's any dissatisfaction from the guests, I'll present my head as an apology."

A humanoid male patted his chest with a confident expression. Adorned in clothing refined from the finest of star ore, he gave off a shimmering golden light just by being there, exuding a true nobility that even many of the empire's direct descendants couldn't surpass.

"Your company does have the capability. That's why it's given the grace." A being glowing with soft blue light said.

"I'll live up to your expectations." The man couldn't help but smile.

Krystal Corp was one of the behemoth companies spanning across kingdoms in the empire.

While their core business was training slave soldiers and manufacturing second-rate hybirds, their subsidary Krystal Arts was famous for dominance in arts.

"As your grace is aware, we've used our connections to grab items even from the alliance to prepare perfect personal gifts for each prince and princess." The man didn't say that they robbed the vault of two kingdoms for this very mission. But such courses of action were to be expected.

Kyrstal Arts was the leading company in collecting antiques, contemporary and time-frozen historical art pieces. The professionals in the industry famously said it's single handedly responsible for a tenth of the empire's art advancement.

"Pray to the God Emperor that they're satisfied. Or even the Krystal Corps backer won't be able to save you. If misfortune dances on your head leading to you offend a ranked prince, the entire company will disappear overnight."

Hearing the threatening words of the being, the man would've been offended if he wasn't aware of the brutal reality.

Accepting the situation without any resistance, he gave a bow.

"Praise to the God Emperor."

"Praise be to the ruler of Eden."

With a simple greeting, the being vanished effortlessly from the most guarded room of Krystal Arts.

"Haaa~"

The man slumped into his chair powerlessly.

The sleek white office room turned pink and yellow, kicking off mechanisms to regulate fluctuatons in his soul to prevent soul shock and relax his body to avoid permanent deteroiation.

"I didn't even ask for this project."

Krystal Arts, despite its size and history, was just one of the low-end organizers for a relatively unimportant aspect of the event.

The ones who were working on the actual important stuff as organizers, medical emergency teams, battle recorders, instant asistants were under much higher pressure.

Yet, it's thanks to this low-end work that he knew information which even most kings weren't privy to. Unfortunately, he didn't feel any grateful for this knowledge.

Somethings were better off left unknown, for such knowledge would only bring about ruin.

Adsher sipped pure extract of a millennia flower, the burst of aura making his body and soul cheer simultaneously.

If a mortal had a sip of this precious elixir, he would step into the celestial ranks in a day without any backlash. Unlike other treasures, this was very gentle and caused no trouble at all.

That's why it's highly sought after and even with all his influence, Adsher only had a few of them in supply.

Licking his lips to calm his anxiety, he called. "Cyris!"

With a puff of smoke, an ash-skinned woman popped in front of him.

There was a red circular seal on her forehead, indicating her status as an empire-stipulated slave. The white stamp in the middle of the circle belonged to military, indicating she was judged by the army.

Buying a rank 9 slave for that price was literally a kill! If he could list the three best decisions of his business career, this one would definitely be there!

"How are you?" Adsher asked with a gentle smile.

"…" The woman in the business suit remained still, as if she was a statue.

"Cyris, it doesn't have to be like this." Adsher spoke in a soothing tone.

But the emotionless expression on the woman didn't even flinch.

"Haaa~" Adsher took a breath, trying to control his bubbling anger but in the end, his hand moved before he could think.

Paa!

Cyris couldn't use any power against her owner, so she was forced to take that attack without any defense. Her skin split and the cheek began to bleed.

Gripping her by the throat, Adsher growled. "You filthy slave, I've been patient with you for a year, trying to win over your heart. You lost your family, friends. Heck, your race is extinct.

So, why do you cling to that meaningless past? Think about the present, think about your future! Surrender to me and I will treat you as my concubine, not a slave!"

Cyris moved whenever he shook her back and forth, as if she was a weightless toy. But she showed no response to his words. Her eyes remained blank and out of focus, as if her mind was on another plane.

Adsher gnashed his teeth. "Such stubborness when anyone could've made a good choice! No wonder your race got extinct! Hah! A world without ayssals is a better world!"

Cryis' eyes shook for the first time and her lips moved. "Abyssals."

"Huh?"

"Not Ayssal, it's Abyssal. My race is Abyssal." Cryis' eyes shone with a trace of pride but that little pride was drowned in an ocean of sorrow.

"Tch," Adsher didn't even want to talk with this madwoman anymore.

If he had a tragic life like her, he'd have been even more broken.

Some abyssals joined duchies' armies but were only allowed by signing a loyalty contract that cut off all ties with their former home.

They'd be deliberately be intermarry and through meticulous measures, their bloodline would be diluted and eventually cut off.

Unlike them who chose safety leveraging their talent, she volunteered in a brutal military experiment, gained incredible powers at the price of becoming dead for everyone in the world.

Since then, she had been accumulating merits to regain her identity.

She had just one more mission to finish. That's when she the news hit her and she abandoned her tasks to rush back.

A bad move.

The 2nd Prince was notoriously strict with army and the subordinates trained under his influence didn't spare her.

She was spared death sentence but was sentenced to life long slavery.

Personally, Adsher believed it's beter off to kill someone than to enslave them. But it's not his place to advise army generals, much less the 2nd Prince.

Shaking his head to snap out of his thoughts, Adsher asked. "Are the personnel ready?"

The slave contract on his hand glowed, compelling her to answer without deceit.

"Yes. Everyone is gathered in the meeting hall."

Krystal Arts had to take not only the antiques, but also the appraisers! Artistic value was subjective after all.

A proper appraiser must not only be good at judging the antiques but also studying people and framing words in a way that most appealed to the listeners.

"Alright, I'll do the quality check myself. It should not go wrong." He cracked his hands and asked with a yawn.

With hands behind his back, he walked out of the room, down the corridor.

Cyris walked a step behind him. As they approached the meeting hall, Adsher used his slave command again. "How is the situation?"

She spoke in her usual neutral tone. "There were a few replacements since a few resigned out of stress."

Adsher raised a brow.

"They're all backup personnel. There is no effect on the main team's performance." Cyris continued.

Creak!

The doors opened and Adsher walked onto the stage, facing the personnel gathered for the grand event.

Of course, he noticed the new replacements placed at the end of the crowd.

But they're just there for back up purposes.

They're not going to be used anyway.

So that yellow-skinned one-eyed woman won't get a chance.