"Mr. Leo, we are finally meeting face to face."
Habrel was extremely friendly from the onset. He reached out his hand as he introduced himself.
Leo inwardly laughed at this reaction. It wasn't because he found it funny. It was because he found it quite ironic.
Kayla had also introduced herself in a similarly friendly manner. In fact, she even acted and took care of him as if they were long lost childhood friends.
Only when the equilibrium started shifting and he needed someone to speak up for him, she started showing her true face.
If it was up to her, he would have already been declared guilty without evidence, all because she heard some things from those that worked in the Tower.
All those who acted friendly with him, stepped back when he needed it. The only thing that helped him was the fact that Anker's elixir didn't work for some strange reason.
"Can I help you with anything?" Leo asked, keeping his hands behind his back.
He was someone who had even refused to shake hands with the Tower Master when he was angry. So what was a mere Department Head?
They were here because they needed him. There was nothing more than that. It was just a transaction, a cold emotionless transaction.
"Our Guild is extremely sorry for the misunderstanding. We understand that some of our members violated our contract with you, but I assure you that they did it without our permission. Still, we want to take responsibility for it."
Habrel lowered his head. There was displeasure on his face as he had to bow before a youngling who was still wet behind his ears. Unfortunately, his job was more important for him than his ego.
Moreover, Leo was in the rare position to become an executive. It wasn't half bad to have a friendly relationship with him.
"Would you take responsibility if I was killed?" Leo asked, stumping Habrel.
"Cough, we have revised the contract as an apology." Habrel coughed, and started tapping the glass tablet in his hand. "I believe this should be enough to show our sincerity, right?"
He showed the new contract on the screen to Leo, almost forcefully pushing the tablet in his hand.
"Once again, we are extremely sorry for everything that happened. We hope we can put it all behind and start anew."
Leo, albeit unwillingly, took the tablet. He was also quite curious about the changes that the Hero Tower offered in the contract.
"What?" Leo's fingers clenched the tablet even more tightly. If it was an ordinary class, it might have even shattered under the force from both his hands.
The contract was the worst that he had ever seen. It offered Alpha Corp a signing bonus multiple times more than the original offer that he had refused.
He didn't know that it was the same signing bonus that Blaze had received. But even if he did, he wouldn't have cared.
For others, this contract might make them greedy. But for Leo, it made him almost vomit.
After receiving his system, he had already started thinking in reverse. Profit was a loss for him, and loss was profit. So they were indirectly working to make him poor. It was truly disgusting!
"Are you alright?" Habrel watched Leo's expressions shift every second. Moreover, there was no happiness visible on his face.
Even his face had lost all color. Leo didn't look this bad even when he was facing death.
The contract made a few more changes like a potential executive position five years later, depending on the fulfilment of a few necessary conditions. However Leo couldn't care less about that.
He wanted to be the wealthiest man in the world through his system. If he took up this offer, wouldn't his dream become even harder to achieve?
This offer wasn't a plate of delicacies. It was poison being offered to him with a touch of bright smile.
"You..." Leo shoved the tablet back in Habrel's hand. If it was up to him, he would have tossed this thing outside the ship for dirtying his eyes with the terms like 'profit'.
"I am not interested in this offer. And it doesn't matter what you offer me next, I wouldn't be interested. Please leave."
For him, there was no benefit in being associated with the Hero Tower for now. There were only risks. He didn't even know if he could create the elixir that the Tower wanted anymore.
He had seen that ordinary lemon water was useless. There were a lot of questions left in his mind about what even made his creation that elixir then?
Until he had answers to this question, he couldn't create that thing again. So this broken contract was like an opportunity for him to leave.
In any case, the Tower had enough elixirs from his previous batch. Mana overload wasn't that common, so it could last a while for now. But could it last five years? He wasn't sure.
That's why he had to get away from the Hero Tower and get rich enough to leave this planet within these five years. It was much easier to achieve that without the Tower's oversight.
"You have the elixirs that I left for you. It should last for at least five years. I hope that you won't disturb me until then. And after that, if you need that elixir, we can consider it then. But if you don't leave now, then I will die but never create that elixir for you, even after five years!"
Although it was a little stupid to put his own life in danger, it was a bait. And fortunately the bait worked as Habrel stepped back, not wanting to take responsibility for Leo's death.
He quickly stepped back and discussed something on call with a person that Leo presumed to be the Guild Master.
After the call, Habrel came back and nodded.
"Alright. Then we will discuss it five years later. But please remember, five years is the most we can last with the elixirs that we have," he confirmed.
The threatening tone in his voice became stronger as he continued, "We hope that you would look at the proposal favorably then. Because when it comes to heroes' lives, we would do anything in our power. So after five years, we either get the elixirs from you, or..."
He didn't continue his sentence as he stepped back, returning to his ship through the connecting bridge.
"Five years... Hah, I would fail so much that the entire company and its name would disappear. With the money I earn from those failed investments, I would be living like a noble on some other planet. You won't even find me after five years..."
The corner of Leo's lips crept up as he made a promise to himself. These five years... In these five years, he had to make the full use of his failure system. And that's what he was going to do... Or so he thought…