Inside the suite.
Nicholas looked down, catching the wicked crescent curve forming in the eyes of the woman nestled in his arms, and let out a low chuckle.
Hearing Director Kaelen's proposal, Serena tilted her head up, meeting Nicholas's gaze.
Her eyes were practically overflowing with cunning amusement.
The ship's management... what a devious bunch of operators.
By billing her fee as an 'operational containment expense' tied to the transaction...
It meant her paycheck...
Would be paid directly by Anonymous Bidder 01—The Raven himself—the moment the handover was completed at Whitecliffe Harbor.
Tsk, tsk. She genuinely couldn't wait to see the look on his face.
Her smirk deepened. For the sake of a front-row seat to that meltdown, she was more than happy to play along with the ship. "Send up the terms, then. Let's see what you're offering."
Director Kaelen immediately agreed.
In the crowd below, several buyers couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange.
The rumors insisted that The Panacea loved money above all else.
It seemed those rumors were spot on.
Even with The Sterling Sovereign at her side-a man who had casually gifted her the twenty-six billion dollar serum and had unflinchingly driven a bid past a hundred billion just to humor her.
Even with access to that kind of infinite wealth, she wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to wring out an extra payday.
However, despite the amusement.
Everyone unanimously agreed that paying her this fee was an absolute bargain.
After all, this was an investment in their own continued survival.
The Raven, predictably, was not handling it well.
His face had flushed a deadly, toxic shade of grey.
The Panacea?!
The ship was actually extending her contract to oversee Specimen Fourteen?! Smack! His palm slammed into the table so violently the entire surface shuddered.
"I refuse!" he roared, his eyes drilling into the monitor. "Specimen Fourteen is my property now! I do not need The Panacea as a medical supervisor!"
Was this a sick joke?
This was the exact same woman who had ripped Specimen Fourteen grasp and
from obsidian Sun's ase
reduced their clandestine base
aboard this very ship to ash.
The woman who had manipulated the ship's crew into turning against them.
The woman who had tossed his asset onto the auction block, extorting every last
dime Obsidian Sun had ever earned just to buy it back.
And now, after he had finally paid the ransom.
Specimen Fourteen was going to remain under her thumb?
Worse, he was the one being billed for her damn babysitting services?!
The mere thought of it sent all the blood rushing straight to his brain.
This wasn't just a loss.
This was a deliberate, psychological slaughter.
As if on cue, The Commodore's mechanical voice echoed through the room. "Mr.
Raven. It seems your memory fails you once again."
"Until the final handover is executed, the asset operates entirely under the
jurisdiction of Project Zero-Transit."
"Who manages its biological security is solely our prerogative."
The Raven was livid. "I paid a hundred and thirty billion! I do not consent! I will not allow her anywhere near Specimen Fourteen! As the rightful owner, I demand a replacement!"
"Don't tell me a colossal operation like Project Zero-Transit doesn't have a single
competent medic who can handle a containment procedure."
Faced with his hysteria, The Commodore remained infuriatingly placid. "It is precisely because you spent one hundred and thirty billion absolute
that we must emp
caution to ensure this asset is delivered to you perfectly intact."
The Raven gritted his teeth, completely outmaneuvered yet again.