As Daz, Madison, Mu, Ellie, Crusher and her goons approached the convoy of semi-trucks, people began stepping out of the trucks' driver-seats and passenger-seats while even more clambering out of the trailers of said vehicles.

Before long, roughly 50 people had gathered to meet Daz, of which, he only recognised Aila.

The girl stared at Madison meaningfully while Madison glared right back at Daz's former fiancée.

The reaper's group only stopped approaching Aila's when the two of them were a mere 5-feet away from each other. Daz's eyes scanned the group of 50 people once again before he frowned. 'Who's the person I'd be interested in meeting according to Rose? It sure as hell isn't Aila. I wanna use her, not interact with her... Hmm...'

"Hi. Sorry to keep you waiting," Daz said as he took his helmet off and stored it in his Industrial Item Box, allowing his halo to reappear and shine in all of its grey glory. "I'd have prepared a welcome feast in my keep for you and your people, but I was somewhat preoccupied and unaware that you'd arrived until only an hour ago."

He smiled charmingly and confidently. 'If there's anything that Father has taught me, it's that you need to always maintain the initiative in an unfavourable situation to build up the illusion that you are, undoubtedly, in control. He's a bastard, but like Rose always says... he's also a fucking genius.'

Aila was surprised. "Hi. It's... It's nice to see you again, Darenzo."

"Daz, please," he corrected. "I feel a bit stuffy, do you mind if I use a skill? It just helps me see things more clearly."

Without waiting for her reply, he didn't use a skill but instead used his racial trait, Soul Vision, resulting in his eyes glowing a deep and powerful light-grey.

"Uh, no, I don't mind." Left with no other choice, Aila simply had to accept Daz's request since he had already done it. 'They're so similar...' she thought.

A few seconds of tense silence passed. With each second, Daz's expression gradually grew more and more serious before he finally cancelled his Soul Vision. "Aila."

"Y-Yes?" not expecting to be called so coldly, the young woman stuttered in response.

"Who is in the back of that semi not showing themselves?" the reaper asked as his finger pointed at the central 18-wheeler.

"What? There's no one back there," Aila confidently stated and she even seemed to be a bit angered at being accused of not having all of her people out here to meet him and his followers.

Daz smiled faintly. "That was a lie. You are here to talk, yes? I assume you have negotiations planned to help yourself, your ruler, or my father achieve your or their system-given goal for this cycle, yes?"

Aila remained silent and gulped anxiously. She really had no idea how to deal with this version of Daz. Her sex appeal had never worked on him, so how could she respond in a way that would satisfy him and also work to accomplish her own objectives? She was lost searching for an answer.

"Regardless of what you want, if you don't bring whoever is hiding back there out here, then you can consider this meeting a failure. Go back to New York, Aila." Daz was very clear in his attitude. 'Be firm. Even if I stand to gain something, I should never be the one to compromise first. Who are you hiding back there? Is it the person Rose told me about? I'm very curious... Their soul is black like Jeremy's was before I killed him...'

Aila bit her lower lip adorably, resulting in Madison frowning with her eyes. She was being very vigilant around the woman that she saw as nothing but a thorn in both her and Daz's sides.

"Fine." Aila conceded defeat. "Ron, go get him."

"But Miss Aila, his condition-"

She turned to glare dangerously at the middle-aged man that was just about to talk back to her and question her decision. She opened her palm and a small arc of pure-red lightning bounced between her fingers. "But what?"

"... But nothing. I'll be right back," the man named Ron replied with some fear in his tone before he quickly made for the rear of the semi that Daz had pointed towards.

Mu's eyes narrowed. 'Interesting. Many of her people respect her, but a handful are very fearful of her as well... Not unlike Crusher's band... I wonder if she used her massive bolt of red lightning to whip the more rebellious of her men into line?... I wish to fight her...' As always, the first thing on Mu's mind was combat.

It was only a few moments later that Ron returned with a person by his side. It was hard to tell this person's gender due to their slim figure and thanks to the hood that covered their entire face, but regardless of this, a large grin filled Daz's lips the second he used Master Identification on the suspicious person.

"Forgive me for what I'm about to do, Aila," he said in a very falsely-apologetic tone.

With large and powerful strides, Daz broke through the ranks of Aila's people and only stopped walking when he was standing less than a foot away from the slim hooded-figure.

Before anyone could say anything in protest beyond a few displeased grunts, Daz's hand had already firmly grasped the suspicious person's neck and lifted them off of their feet.

"Guh! Arg! Le... Let me... Let me go!" the person demanded.

Daz clicked his tongue in disappointment. "I told you that if I ever saw you again that I'd beat you within an inch of your life, cut off your right hand and maybe castrate you depending on my mood. Now, Steven, tell me, why oh why did you come here? Were you confident that I wouldn't follow through on my threat? Perhaps you thought I wouldn't see through you immediately?"

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The person's hood fell to reveal a dark-skinned and bald man in his early thirties, not the young tanned man with blonde hair that had so brazenly challenged Daz and insultingly approached Madison not a week ago.

"Wh-Who's Steven?" the man asked as he pled ignorance.

"Darenzo! What are you doing?! Let him go! He's sickly!" Aila practically screamed as she ran up to his side and reached for his wrist in a clear attempt to remove it from the man's neck.

"Sickly? No." Daz smirked as he shook Aila off of himself. "Profusely bleeding and in danger of dying? Soon, yes, he will be. Also, I already told you, it's 'Daz'."

"Fuckin' finally. Feels like it's been ages since I saw him like this." Crusher was grinning from ear-to-ear. "Hey, Daz! You said 'Steven', didncha ya? Ain't that the good-lookin' little arsehole that acted like he owned the place just before the auction started? Why does he look so different?"

"You have a good memory for insignificant things like this man, huh, Crusher?" Daz replied as he mocked Steven. "Yeah, this is him. I don't know if he's using an illusion or some heavy make-up, hell, he may have even gone through reconstructive surgery through the system or a professional or something. He even went so far as to change his name and his description. His new name is Eric Carter if you're interested."

"Cartoon?" Madison asked in suspicion as she tilted her head.

Mu was ready to massacre Aila's people if they made a move on Daz in this situation, but seeing as how they were all staying still and clearly waiting for orders, Mu chose to ask, "In that case, how do you know that he and this man you speak of are one and the same?"

"Well, for a start, his class is the exact same, his stats are higher, but they're still the same 10 stats. His age is the same. His alignment is the same. Everything is the same but his name, description and appearance," Daz claimed.

Crusher whistled. "And ya had the balls to say that I remember useless shit."

"Anything related to the system is valuable information," Daz said with a shrug. "I try to keep everything I learn regarding it fresh in my mind."

Aila was panicking. 'What?! He actually is this Steven person? Who the hell is Steven?! Fuck! What the fuck am I meant to do here?! Do I just let him kill a good man when I don't even know if he's lying or not, or do I risk shattering the negotiations? Emma specifically said that Sir Hamilio won't tolerate any harm coming to his children! God fucking damn it!'

Today just wasn't going Aila's way. With little remaining choice, she simply kept her mouth shut and kept watching and listening. Perhaps Daz talking to his followers would reveal more concrete evidence? She could only hope.

Daz glared right into Steven's eyes as the currently dark-skinned man still struggled to free himself from the reaper's grasp. "I'm even surer now. Despite me pressing down on his throat, he still has the time to sneak a perverse glance at Maddy, Ellie, a few of your people and yourself included, Aila, and even you Crusher."

Crusher laughed. "Hahaha, I'm flattered. Sorry though, buddy, I like my men honest and likeable. Also, wielding an umbrella wins you points."

Were Dorian here and not busy volunteering with Edward to rebuild Waterford, no doubt, his face would be in his hands as he muttered about the Titan's teasing.

Seeing things only getting worse and worse for himself, Steven finally opened his mouth. "I'm... one of his... agents. He'll... be upset... if you kill me..."

All semblance of amusement left Daz's expression as a stoic coldness overtook his very being. "I care not for if you work for my father nor how he values you. Today, you lose a hand and will be beaten within an inch of your life. Do I look like a man who doesn't make good on his promises to you, Steven? I also recall mentioning that should you hit on Maddy again that I'd castrate you. I think that ogling her despite this situation constitutes hitting on her, no?"

"Hahaha! I'm getting fuckin' chills! Man, this is the shit that I signed up for!" Crusher glanced over her shoulder at her lackeys and shouted, "Watch carefully, you scrubs! This is why he's the top dog, you hear me? Don't ever seriously fuck with him if you value your lives and your private parts! Hahahaha!"

The group of ruffians shivered at Crusher's words while most of them immediately began regretting not attempting to seriously run away already even more than they already were.

Some fear could clearly be seen in Steven's eyes now. "I have info... on... your dad... I-I'm valuable... I won't talk if you hurt me!"

Daz leaned in so that his eyes were only a few inches away from Steven's. He then whispered, "Then don't talk."

Daz slammed Steven onto the ground hard enough to knock any wind remaining in his lungs clean out of him. The impact had also clearly broken some of his bones judging by the agonising scream that the man had let out along with the pain being displayed on his face.

"Hip bone or spine? Well, either way, that's a good start," Daz said as he took out the large knife he kept sheathed on his thigh. "Now, in regards to that hand..."

Aila was damned-near pulling her hair out while her people were on the verge of attacking Daz with or without her permission. Regardless of who he truly was, to them, Steven was Eric Carter, a nice middle-aged man who helped everyone out a little bit here or there.

Even if that had all been an act to hide his tracks from Daz or to somehow serve as a sort of hidden blade should Aila ever defect, none of that mattered to the honest people that valued their friends and partners.

----------------------------------------

"Leston, old boy, care for some more tea, would you? I see that your cup's a little bit dry."

"Hmm? Sure. Just don't try to mess with the cards again like last time. Honestly, you're such a horrible cheater."

"I take offence to that! As the game's host, I maintain all rights to alter the rules as I like!"

"... And not tell me about these 'rule changes'?"

"Don't look at me like that! Any sane man would get the impression that you'd fallen head over heels for my glorious moustache!... It is rather glorious, now isn't it?"

Leston sighed at Sten's obvious deflection. It was a bit cramped in the tank since Sten hasn't bothered saving up for or investing in any space upgrades and had only filled its interior even further with his board games, card games, and various tea sets.

Leston stretched and yawned a little, but accidentally, he hit a lever of some sort.

"What was that? I don't remember that being there this morning..."

"Ah? The Cannon Redirectional Lever? I thought it would be more entertaining to have the movement and firing of the main cannon be manual and not wholly reliant on the system. I'm a bit of a romantic, you see."

"Is that so? Well, what fires the cannon then? Shouldn't you tell me since I help you operate this thing?"

"That's 'Gertrude' to you, old boy, not 'this thing!' Honestly, being youthful doesn't exempt you from showing a little bit of respect to this magnificent beast, now does it?"

"I really don't like that you named it after my mum, so yeah, I'm not gonna call it that. Ever."

"Such a stick in mud you are, Leston old boy. Anywho, the firing mechanism, yes? Well, as it so happens, I actually decided to make it into this big red button right he-"

At that moment, Sten accidentally hit his head on the ceiling of the tank as he was getting up to pour Leston another cup of tea, and his reaction to bumping his head was rather... wild.

His limbs flailed about in a fit of chaotic movement, resulting in the tea pot's lid coming off and Leston getting covered in hot tea. Sten himself fell forwards and his face slammed right into the aforementioned red button.

"Oh... If the lord ever asks, we plead ignorance, you understand, Leston?"

"This really bloody hurts! Ouch!"

Leston was too busy dealing with the boiling tea that had absolutely drenched him so he wasn't paying attention to his friend nor to the loud explosion that could be heard off in the distance.