Chapter 165: Chapter 165 - Going Home And Dullahan Soul Fragment
The hatch slowly lowered in front of Logan, revealing a completely different desolate area all around him.
’This isn’t where I stepped off my shuttle,’ he thought, glancing at Livia in confusion.
’’We contacted your trustees,’’ Livia said, smiling softly. ’’Since it could’ve been dangerous for you to leave alone through the normal gates, we made sure to relocate here.’’
Logan nodded slowly. He was still very aware that his life was continuously in danger, considering Hellshot might try to kill him again at any time.
As he stepped off the hatch, he glanced behind the white shuttle from the Church and saw the sleek design of the Mercer family Centerpiece.
At the same time, he also noticed Silas and Edric stepping out and walking towards him.
’’I’ll talk to you later,’’ Livia said, also having noticed them.
Logan gave a small nod, smiling slightly.
Livia waved as she stepped back onto the ramp of her space shuttle.
Logan’s gaze shifted from her to Silas and Edric as he started walking towards them.
Silas reached him first, his gaze flicking briefly to Livia before settling on Logan. "You made quite an appearance," he said, voice low but filled with amusement.
Edric, on the other hand, had a massive smile on his face. "The entire board has been buzzing since the broadcast... you don’t know what kind of wonders this did for both your reputation and that of the company!"
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Wonders, huh? That’s one way to put it."
Silas smirked faintly. "The way I saw it, you stood in front of the Seven and didn’t flinch. To most people, that’s bravery and shows excellent qualities in a leader."
Logan chuckled dryly as they started walking back to his own shuttle. ’’That’s good,’’ he said with a forced smile.
Neither Silas nor Edric knew how the actual internal situation in the Church looked, or in how much danger he actually was now.
’No point in telling them either,’ he thought, maintaining his cheerful expression. ’It’ll just make them more worried and it wouldn’t really change anything about the security measures we take.’
Edric spoke up next, excitement filling his voice. "Either way, the shareholders are eating it up. Our stock’s up nearly five percent since the broadcast. Contracts that were stalling last week suddenly moved forward this morning."
Logan nodded slowly, his smile still forced. ’Guess I got two good things out of this entire circus then.’
They stepped on the hatch together, Edric still speaking as it lifted them into the shuttle.
"Media coverage is still running clips of your speech," he said. "By tomorrow, you’ll be on every newsfeed in the continent."
Logan nodded along, hearing the hatch click under him as he was finally lifted into the lounge.
’There will be a ton of money heading our way again,’ he thought, mind drifting to the business side of his life. ’I’ll get to finish my Dark Knights technique soon enough.’
As he thought about money, he felt like he hadn’t checked up on the fast-food business in a while.
’I should check that in my room,’ he thought, smiling. ’I didn’t collect the money from there last time... I might be able to finish the technique using that money.’
Silas immediately threw himself onto the couch in the lounge area, pulling up the card game hologram again.
Edric glanced at Logan. ’He’s long stopped paying attention to my words,’ he thought, a soft smile spreading on his face. ’Today must have been a lot of pressure and stress for him.’
He stood in front of him, his soft smile growing larger.
’’I’m very proud of what you’ve done with the company so far,’’ he said, placing his hand on Logan’s shoulder. ’’I never expected things to go this way after Silas picked you up from the streets almost a year ago.’’
Logan looked up, surprised, feeling like it came out of nowhere.
’’Thanks,’’ he said, feeling a warmth spread in his chest.
’’Go rest,’’ Edric said, gesturing to his room. ’’We’ll handle everything from here and bring you up to speed later.’’
Logan’s eyes widened slightly, feeling as if the pressure from the entire day was fully lifted from his shoulders.
’’I’ll do that then,’’ he said, a genuine smile on his face for once.
Edric gave a small nod before walking to the couch in front of Silas.
Logan stood still for a second, staring at Silas and Edric. Finally, he walked towards his room at the end of the corridor.
As the door shut behind him, he let out a sigh of relief. Everything was quiet around him, no reporters, no important figures, no constant threat to his life... just silence.
He dropped onto the bed, letting his muscles loosen for the first time that day.
’Finally,’ he thought, letting out a deep breath.
After a few minutes, he activated his hologram projector as he felt the shuttle lift into the air beneath him.
The faint blue hologram popped up in front of him, and within a few clicks, he arrived at the fast-food chain’s dashboard.
Dozens of reports, numbers, and graphs flashed in front of the screen in an instant.
Logan scanned through the weekly revenue graphs, his brows lifting slightly. The chain had outperformed his last projection by nearly thirty percent.
"Not bad at all," he muttered, flicking to the profit extraction menu.
The total profit he’d accumulated in two weeks of time was 240 million dollars, which was incredible for a business that popped up out of nowhere.
’That’s what I get for covering a gap in the market,’ he thought, smiling.
By now, a few more new locations had already opened up, and it wouldn’t take that long anymore before the other two thousand would follow after them.
With a quick press on the button, Logan transferred the 240 million to his private account.
’If anything happens, I can just use the funds I’ll get from Mercer Industries,’ he thought, nodding slowly. ’But this way, the board will refrain from seeing too much money vanish in a short time.’
He glanced out the window, seeing the landscapes flash past under him.
’It’ll still be a long time before we get back to headquarters,’ he thought, smiling slightly. ’I should check out the auction house for some more items.’
He wanted to get the first Dark Knight within the next week since he only had three more before he needed to head back to the university.
’And then there’s only two more weeks before the Freshman competition after that,’ he thought, mind churning. ’Another great opportunity to prop up my reputation.’
At the pace it was going now, he wasn’t worried about the Alvarez family at all. They were already in shambles, but now with all these opportunities he’d gotten, they wouldn’t even be worth mentioning in a year or so.
Still, Logan knew better than to grow complacent.
’I worked very hard to get these opportunities,’ he thought, eyes narrowing slighly. ’If I want to keep getting them, I’ll have to work even harder to grow my strength and influence.’
He nodded slowly, taking his mind to the Meridian Guild’s auction house after it had loaded in.
’So I need another soul fragment and additional undead element resources to strengthen my first Dark Knight during the summoning.’
He flicked through the pages, searching for any items.
Even if they were low-quality S-rank undead element resources, only worth a few million, he bought them anyway.
He kept flicking through the auction listings, eyes moving past low-grade materials without a second thought. Majority of the items were nowhere near worth the trouble to purchase.
Then, midway through the next page, his gaze froze.
[Soul of an Undead Dullahan – High Quality – S-Rank]
[Description: The crystallized soul core of a slain Dullahan, harvested intact. Contains immense necrotic essence and residual death mana.]
[Starting Bid: 180 million USD.]
Logan’s heartbeat slowed. ’Now that... is exactly what I need.’
A high-quality soul like this was perfect for him. The Dullahans were creatures known for their strength among the Undead creatures. These headless warriors sat high on top of their mounts while having great combat technique and immense physical strength.
He opened the detailed view, examining the purple glow swirling around inside the soul’s crystal casing.
The mana signature was strong and steady, but unlike the Queen of Thorns, it didn’t have patterns displayed on it’s crystal.
His mind ran the calculations. With this as the core, his first Dark Knight wouldn’t just be functional, it would be a true battlefield monster from the moment of summoning.
Without hesitation, Logan placed the opening bid. The price would rise, he knew, but he wasn’t planning on losing this one.
As the confirmation flashed across his hologram, he leaned back with a faint smile.
’Looks like I’ll be ahead of schedule after all,’ he thought. ’I wonder how people will react to my Dark Knight at the Freshman Competition.’