Vol. 3 Chap. 92 Poisoning The Well

Vol. 3 Chap. 92 Poisoning The Well

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I was very explicitly not flirting.

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I kind of imagine you peeling off your skin and flensing away your muscles and organs in a desperate attempt to be rid of the clinging wetness of it all.

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Cannot emphasize enough how she is not my type. I am the product of my upbringing. I’m not into the bodybuilding physique. Dainty, elfin beauties, and Etenesh. That's what I like.

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Eh?

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Yeah, no. I’m not responsible for how other people think.

The System started madly cackling. >

Not all the people all the time! I have to use the poison intentionally and you know it!

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There is no evidence that is true, or works the way you are implying.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

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Did you, somehow, miss the bit where she got very, very close to killing me, several times? And that she only yielded when I literally paralyzed her?

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“A bath, and dinner. Bring your trainee. I will feed him personally. After dinner, I will explain how he will make himself useful.”

The succubae bowed and murmured their obedience. Dinner was exquisite, naturally. Roast duck, over a bed of gemlike rice. He remembered rice like this from the one time he flew first class. This was apparently the real deal version. Both the duck and the rice had been enhanced with cosmic energy.

Even five years ago, this plate of food would have been worth more than most people made in two years. More than a denizen made in five. Now? When elixirs were becoming unavailable at any price?

It was delicious. He left a small portion on his plate, then looked over at the man standing patiently at the foot of the table. Eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

“You were born a minor child of a wealthy family attached to a powerful family. And now your Grandmother decided the single best use of you was to serve me. All that accumulated family influence... worthless. Your existence was, for them, a burden. One they were overjoyed to turn into a benefit. For them.”

Truth’s voice was conversational. No need to press hard. Everyone in this room was coiled in Incisive. Truth had been working hard at understanding the Prince and Botis both. It was paying off. The former Barton remained silent. He hadn’t been asked a question.

“Today, I walked into the corporate offices of a minor criminal enterprise. Perhaps you have heard of MegaShroom. I broke the CEO, and killed their chief lawyer. I then found those who truly control that firm and forced one of their number into submission. They offered to let me do as I wished with MegaShroom. I wished to replace the CEO with one of my own, and use the company to my own ends. They obeyed. From a stranger, to running a near-billion-wen business in... perhaps two hours. Most of which was travel time.”

The former Barton kept his eyes fixed on the floor. His face didn’t twitch, but Truth could see his eyes darting through the thin skin of their lids.

“Your name will be Niles Bowman. See to it that it is changed legally. You will be installed as the CEO of MegaShroom. Tonight, you will be instructed on the nature and habits of the Nephilim, as it is they who truly control that company. You may keep the salary as walking around money. The company’s profits, such as they are and will be, will continue to go to the Anak family. Your actual job will be to ferment a religious nationalism in the Company’s servants. All those ambassadors and representatives.”

Truth’s expression only looked like a smile. Everyone in the room other than him shivered, even if they couldn’t see his face.

“You will institute a new policy. Where before merely hitting sales goals and purchasing product from the company was enough to move them up tiers, now they have to give. Servants must donate up to twenty percent of their gross income to their local Praegerite church. They are to provide receipts of this. Failure to do so will result in dropping tiers and less favorable pricing. However, every wen and credit spent to this end will count twice for their promotion to the next tier.”

His expression turned stern. “You will change the branding and promotional materials. You will show happy people in stable families in traditional, old fashioned dress. You will emphasize that the core of MegaShroom is Faith, Family and Prosperity, the same tripod that holds up the nation of Jeon. And MegaShroom is a proud Jeon company. You will increase the patriotic language and branding material as well.”

Niles bowed silently.

“And once you have done this, you will work with the major churches around Harban and the rest of Jeon to integrate the reporting requirements. You will remind the priests that the more they push your servants, the more they can donate. The more prosperous the Church becomes, the richer the Treasury of God, the more powerful God’s servants shall be in the face of the coming darkness. And you will remind them, as you will remind your servants, of one, obvious, truth.

“Starbrite-the-man is not from Jeon. He is a foreigner, an outsider. He has stolen the country’s wealth and genius for himself. Oh, he made a few very rich. But remind your servants. Would they be selling MegaShroom if they were one of the ones Starbrite blessed? Or are they scared? Afraid of what is coming? Do they feel the future will be better than the past?

“They do not. Starbrite is the Demon of Poverty that has bewitched the nation, brought it low. But thanks to the hard work of the Church and MegaShroom, the Tiger of Jeon shall rise once more.”

Truth smiled at the shivering Niles. “You may eat.”