Chapter 157: Martha appears once again

"Everything is set, and one, and two, and three, go!" Waving his hand forward, Pavlo gave the signal to begin the shoot. 

With the red light appearing in the corner of all the cameras in the makeshift studio that we made in just a few hours, Sander smiled into the objectives before opening his mouth. 

"Welcome everyone to today's Bourta's Cult lesson. Thanks to the unrelenting effort of our researchers, we finally managed to formulate the theorem allowing one to obtain wealth beyond any understanding!" 

As cringe as those words sounded for me behind all those cameras, I could tell that they would work even better once properly edited with post effects. Because drawing everyone's attention and turning the short video we were preparing into a viral one was the cheapest and most effective way to propagate our information.

"First, let's speak about magic stones. You know, those who suddenly make you a rich guy if you just happened to have one. What some of you noticed, with the rise of the magic stones, even precious stones got hit by the speculation. But guess what?!" 

Showing a wide smile to the camera, Sander waited for a moment, before pulling out a cloth that covered the content displayed on his table. Pointing his hand at a row of shining stones, he then exclaimed. 

"Just as some of you might guess, all the magic stones before me were created from your everyday precious stones! Sadly, this is where problems start to appear." Shaking his head, Sander looked to the side as if he was embarrassed to say his next part. "The only way we currently know off to turn precious stones into magic stones is… to leave them for a while in an active dungeon!"

This was the first of the two important messages that I needed to broadcast as soon as possible. But with the structure of viral videos, we couldn't slap all the surprises into two consecutive sentences. 

In fact, even though this was all a continuous shoot, the head producer that we hired was going to turn it into three if not four separate clips! 

This way, rather than forcing all the knowledge that we needed to spread down the audience's throat, we would carefully ration it, making everyone crave for more of it!

"But this isn't as important as the other use we found out. Guys, listen…" Leaning forward, Sander brought his hand to his lips, as if attempting to shield his mouth from the sight of the cameras.

Which would work if he wasn't filmed from all the possible angles at once. 

Taking a conspirative expression as if he was telling the viewers some kind of great secret, Sander smiled before whispering. 

"Those magic stones have way more uses than just furthering one's cultivation!" 

This was the second important revelation that I wanted the entire world to hear about. Not only was it yet another push that would drive the price of the stones to even greater heights, the actual main reason why I was willing to reveal that fact, was to focus everyone's attention on it. 

As long as people wouldn't question the fact that we only shared the trick when we prepared enough material to profit from it way more than anyone else, then the entire operation would be successful. But for the real shift of global powers to happen, we had no other choice but to drive this single nut even deeper.

Just a few meters ahead, Sander nodded to the camera. With the head of the filming appearing on the stage and whispering some words to the main stone craftsman of my faction, the filming soon resumed. 

This time, the stones were removed from the table, replaced with a stack of papers and several basic, carving tools. 

"Everyone, welcome to the first stone-carving lesson! Just a small reminder before we start, it would be best for your own safety if you leave this job to professionals. Carving stones on one own might lead to accidental injuries or even deaths." 

Putting the vocal disclaimer in form of a white text covering the entire screen was one of the intended effects for this part of the shoot. 

After waiting for a few moments to give the future editors space to cut the shoot into proper parts, Sander smiled once again before raising the first page from the stack on the table. 

"Today, we will learn how to carve out a light stone!"

Turning around, I cast a glance at Pavlo. Observing the shoot with undivided attention, he was already looking for any mistakes or miss wording that could turn problematic for us later on. While it was the director's job to make the filming successful, it was this young man's job to make sure the end-product wouldn't infringe on the bottom line of what we intended to share with the world. 

Ignoring the rest of the shoot, I moved to another room before pulling out my phone. Scrolling through a list of Ayda's short messages, I could only release a sigh of exhaustion.

Ever since we returned to Earth, our schedules exploded. From maintaining the relationships with our allies in the city, through expanding our diplomatic network to other cities. From managing the newly opened adventurer's guild in the nearby dungeon to promoting this solution in all the cities we had access to. 

In the end, for the next full week, the only time we could spend together was limited to the occasionally crossing schedules of ours and the middle hours of the nights. In order to find for every single possibility to meet, Ayda decided to constantly keep me informed on where she was and what she was doing, so that if even a short pause appeared in my activities, I could go and find her. 

Smiling due to the lovely nature of her actions, I had no other choice but to hide my phone back in my pocket and return to my job. 

"Who could've thought that managing an organisation of such scale could be so bothersome…" 

Muttering to myself as I entered one of the many corridors in my compound heading for yet another meeting, I suddenly stopped when another figure walked out from behind a corner. 

"Oops!" Backing out two steps, I intended to just let the other party pass, when I noticed that they stooped as well. Rising my eyes to look at their faces I instantly felt my mood souring. 

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Lowering her head, Martha apologised before all the traces of guilty consciousness disappeared from her face as she looked me in the eyes. "I'm Martha Sarate, here to organise a meeting with the local head of the Boruta's cult." 

As soon as the girl attacked, my reinforcements came flying.

"Excuse me, young lady." Appearing right beside me, Jeff spoke up with a perfectly calm voice. Sending me a quick wink, he then stood in front of me, blocking the only path with which the girl could approach me. "All kinds of deployment and organisational stuff goes through me in here. If you wish to have a talk with the bishop…"

Not wasting the opportunity, I moved a few paces to the back before decisively turning around and walking away. Sadly, before I could make as much as just a few steps, Martha's voice loomed over my head once again.

"Met, move everyone aside. If the bishop will resist, hold him in place for me." 

Whoosh! 

In one instant, the corridor turned crowded. Making their way inside through glass window panels and distant doors, Martha's henchmen instantly overwhelmed the place. Jeff was pushed aside, some of the other workers of the cult lost several teeth. In just a few moments, Martha's men mercilessly pummeled my supporters, before approaching me as well. 

"Sir, please, we need to follow our orders." Even though those henchmen approached me, there was clear hesitation in their moves. While for some reason I was once again unable to read the aura of those men, I actually didn't need to in order to figure out the source of their doubts. 

Even though it was only locally, I still managed to earn myself quite a heroic repute from the uprising against the corrupted government! 

And from the looks of things, those men not only had some respect towards me due to what I did but clearly were wary of my ability to fend them off. 

After all, I wouldn't be able to throw the glove in the government's face if I had no strength to back my challenge up!

Seeing that I wasn't moving in my place at all, Sarate henchmen breathed out a sigh of relief. Noticing the situation, Martha lightly smiled before closing the distance between the two of us. 

"I'm sorry for…" Opening her mouth and reaching with her hand for my face as soon as she approached me, Martha's eyes twitched when I raised my hand in return. But even before I could slap her face, a crisp sound of skin speedily clashing against skin bested my reaction speed. 

Appearing out of nowhere, Ayda grew up behind the girl before landing a fully-committed slap across her cheek. Turning her head along with the force of the attack, Martha was stunned. But as soon as she regained her senses, she moved her head back only to throw a hateful look towards the aggressor…

Who in turn slapped the other cheek of the girl. 

"Dear, there is no point for you to dirty your fingers." Leaving the girl pained and retreating when she noticed that her status meant nothing to her, Ayda snuggled to my arm before throwing a cold look at the invaders. "I will kill them all, mkay?" 

Lowering her eyelids to the point where her eyes turned into slits, Ayda clearly was unwilling to hold any punches. But rather than letting the girl vent some of her emotions, I managed to somehow pacify her behaviour just by placing my hand on her shoulder.

"There is no need for that. Leave it to me." 

Given how this damned girl still has yet to give up, I had no other choice but to use a slightly stronger approach. Because right now, she was no longer just an annoyance.

She turned into a daring threat to me, my plans and my people. 

Approaching the girl, I stopped only when just a meter remained between the two of us.

"I won't participate in the internal war of your family. I do not recognise your silly claims and I won't hold back if I ever see a Sarate's soul on my lands. Right now, I'm letting you go only because I have no reason to start a war with your entire family over the idiocy of just a single person," stopping for a moment, I leaned my head to the side before finishing, "but I cannot let you go without a lesson."

Taking two steps to the back, I scanned my surroundings before releasing a deep sigh of defeat. 

"Men, cut all their thumbs off. Only the girl may leave intact…" Turning around and gracing my dearest with a loving smile, I finished. "But I want her to watch. The whole damned thing."