Free Web NovelChapter 304: Chapter 304: Building Good Relationships_1
Applause suddenly erupted in this office, Qiqimora appeared beside Aiden—or rather, she had always been beside Aiden; it was just that the prison guards, including Flandre, could not perceive her presence.
"My, my, who would have thought, who would have thought, I would have the chance to be involved in the grand event of seizing the ’Unique Authority,’" Qiqimora said as she clapped her hands, "Did you... calculate this from the very beginning?"
"Which beginning are you referring to?" Aiden glanced at her.
"I went to ask Daili and the others this afternoon, trying to understand the reason behind this group of pirates’ jailbreak," Qiqimora said as she moved in front of Aiden and looked into his eyes seriously, "Was it you who purposely arranged for the great pirate to come to jailbreak with the Unique Authority in his possession?"
"Think whatever you like," Aiden replied indifferently, shrugging his shoulders. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Indeed, everything had been carefully arranged, it just wasn’t by him.
In the depths of her heart, Qiqimora was certain of one thing: the man before her, feared to have a hidden force no less powerful than that of Abigail.
Capturing the Pirate King’s daughter, drawing her from the Empire to serve her sentence in the autonomous state, and luring the Red Shark Pirate Crew to travel thousands of miles to this prison inland to throw themselves into the net...
It was not challenging to handle the pirate crew that possessed the Unique Authority, but to craft such a script, one needed to be privy to nearly all the relevant intelligence, like a chess player overlooking the entire chessboard from outside the game.
Even as a vast understatement, just being aware of the whereabouts of the Unique Authority was no easy task.
Each Unique Authority was indeed unique; if one was not a "Saint" who could be summoned by the corresponding Authority, finding out information and the whereabouts of the Unique Authority was like looking for a needle in a haystack—a fact that Qiqimora, who was desperate to obtain the "Void" Unique Authority, knew all too well.
Now that Aiden had obtained the Unique Authority, he was essentially poised to become a ruler in waiting.
In other words, this man was undoubtedly a powerful ally to cling to... at least someone not to be opposed unless absolutely necessary.
"Sitting in prison waiting for the Unique Authority to deliver itself to your doorstep—such an arrangement would suggest that you must have a quite formidable information network, right?" Qiqimora tried to ask, "Do you happen to know the whereabouts of the ’Hand of Oblivion’?"
It took Aiden a second to realize what she meant: "The ’Void’ Unique Authority? Sorry, but that I’m not too familiar with."
"If you ’wanted’ to know about it, could you find out?" Qiqimora inquired.
Aiden caught her drift; she was asking if he had the power and information network to find out the whereabouts of the "Void" Unique Authority.
"Perhaps, I can’t really say," Aiden shrugged his shoulders, "But the question is, if I could find out, would you be able to provide something of equal value in return?"
Melifilia or Melissa might have relevant information, but Aiden felt that even if they did know, they wouldn’t necessarily divulge it easily.
For Qiqimora, the value of such intelligence was immeasurable; naturally, Aiden had no reason to give it away for free under ordinary circumstances.
"Isn’t it rather beneath someone of your stature to haggle over terms with a little witch like me?" Qiqimora joked, "After all, the price I can offer as a weak woman is quite limited."
"If you negotiate like this, it’s going to be hard to make a deal," Aiden said, his brow furrowing slightly.
"It was just a joke, don’t take it so seriously," Qiqimora hurriedly waved her hands, "Let’s keep it the same as we agreed before; if you have what I need, I will prepare the bargaining chips as much as possible."
"That’s no problem, of course," Aiden agreed without much hesitation.
The authority that Qiqimora possessed was quite practical, and there might be a need for her in the future.
"Then, let’s settle this transaction first," Qiqimora smiled. "I’ve done what you asked me to do, so, about the reward I want... You wouldn’t think of welching on it, would you?"
"Of course not, I still have that much integrity," Aiden extended his hand. "Transfer the divinity."
"Considering the rare privilege you’ve obtained, with such good fortune, don’t you think you should give a little extra reward——" Qiqimora started to speak in a wheedling tone again. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
"You don’t want it anymore, do you?" Aiden made a gesture to withdraw his hand.
"I do, I do," Qiqimora hurriedly put on a conciliatory smile, took off her long gloves and extended her hand to rest in Aiden’s palm, as if she was being asked to dance at a ball.
The moment their bodies touched, Aiden faintly felt something intangible flowing out from the tips of his fingers into Qiqimora’s palm. The sensation lasted only a moment—after all, he had agreed to give Qiqimora only one unit of divinity.
When two people with divinity decided to transfer it actively, they didn’t need any complex methods; a simple touch or a spiritual connection was enough to complete the process. It was only when extracting it from objects or remains that one needed the aid of strict black magic formulas.
"Well, that settles it, we’re even now," Aiden withdrew his hand.
"You’re very trustworthy." Although Aiden stuck to the original price agreed upon, Qiqimora still seemed very happy to have received the divinity. "How about we go out for a meal together when you’re free? Just the two of us, for a little celebration?"
She extended the invitation to Aiden.
"What are you planning?" Aiden was a bit surprised.
"Let’s not beat around the bush, I just think it’s necessary to foster a good relationship with someone as strong as yourself," Qiqimora smiled.
"I can accept eating at a local restaurant or here with me, but if it’s your house or your stronghold or something like that, please forgive me for declining," Aiden spread his hands.
"What a pity, I was quite confident in my own cooking," Qiqimora sighed. "Then let’s eat here at your place. That thing where you cook ingredients in a big pot of soup and dip them in sauce was quite interesting, and it tasted good too. I’ve wanted to eat it again..."
"That’s hot pot. During the two days you were here, I don’t think the canteen ever made that," Aiden squinted suspiciously.
"Ah!" Qiqimora realized something.
"You snuck in before and stole a taste!?" Aiden couldn’t help but smile wryly. "If you really want to build a good relationship with me, then don’t sneak into my prison using Divine Word anymore."
"That..." Qiqimora touched her cheek with her finger, pretending to ponder.
"But no matter what you think, I’ve already decided to use ’this’ to forbid you from doing that in the future." Aiden took out The Wordless Code and waved it in front of her.
"Eeeeeh?" Qiqimora drew out a long sound, making a coquettish protest. "Can’t you trust your partner a little bit more?"
"Eh what eh, the fact that you’re protesting only proves you want to do it." Aiden, expressionless, opened The Codex in front of Qiqimora and wrote: "It is prohibited to conceal oneself deliberately for the purpose of infiltrating from outside the domain; violators will be forcibly expelled."
