Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Some silent minutes passed and Mark finally decided to introduce the major deal of the day.

Acting somewhat hesitant, he said, "...Brother, I got an incredible deal but I am somewhat afraid of taking it."

The A-ranker sat straight. "Interesting. Is it worthy of my time?"

"This might change both of our lives by a lot." Mark smiled slyly.

"Laboy, get out," said the A-Ranker, round eyes bright.

The boy who was trying to light the fireplace bowed in slight fright and ran away like a cat who had its tail stepped on. The A-Rank Hunter's full attention was on Mark and a nearly physical weight pressed against him.

"Brother, we can be the biggest winners!" Mark said, clenching his hand in passion. "It's that scientist, Yuri. She found a new way to Awaken Hunters artificially."

"She… what?" The A-Ranker stood up with wide eyes, disbelieving.

"Yep, you heard correctly."

"Come let's head out immediately, where is she?"

The Hunter had a frightening face as he draped a shirt over himself.

"Wait," Mark ordered.

The Hunter looked at him with a frown.

"Sit down brother, let me explain the full story."

Mark leaned back, his hand spread calmly on the couch. Now, he had the upper hand in the conversation. He had something that the A-Ranker desired.

Talk about what they want and they will listen to you forever.

"There is no rush, brother. Sit down and relax, it is not going anywhere. Yuri is on our side and she wouldn't reveal this information to anyone else."

The A-Ranker was far from relaxed. If it was not his brother, he would have already attacked.

"Tell me the full story," he said roughly and sat back down. His legs continuously tapped the ground.

Impeccable control, he doesn't even leave cracks on the floor.

"This research is not completed yet," Mark said, and the A-Ranker frowned. "Basically, the Scientist had found a way to do it but hadn't yet tested out whether it would actually work. She is assured that it would work, though."

"And how did you end up learning about this?"

"She told me, of course."

"And you just trusted her?"

"Actually, I had known this Yuri for years now. She had been researching this since a decade ago. In fact, the first reason she became a criminal was this research and she had finally had her breakthrough recently."

"I also knew her since long ago, she is a well known genius," the A-Rank Hunter frowned. "But isn't she an eccentric woman who has no real connections with anyone? I remember snippets of news regarding her crimes but nothing else. You had a personal connection with her?"

"It hadn't been that serious on my part but I helped her heal her underlings and also helped her whenever I am free. Now, she wants to work for us and give us exclusive access to this Hunter Awakening Method in return for our help in completing the research."

The A-Ranker licked his lips. "So have you got your hands on the method? We can hire our own scientists and have them work separately on it."

"That's the thing. Yuri hasn't completed it yet and to complete it, she needs a Tier 2 Demon. She said she had to do some research on it to make sure."

Of course, that was a lie. Mark just wanted this A-Rank Hunter to help Yuri gain a Tier 2 Demon—she could use that Demon to become a Hunter herself. An A-Rank Hunter.

And this was just the start of Mark's many plans for this A-Rank brother of his.

"The scientist needs a Tier 2 Demon?" The A-Ranker frowned. "Can't we just kill her and take her knowledge for ourselves?"

"That's…" Mark shook his head, heart pounding slightly. "For one, she is not stupid. She left the research notes she made in many places in the hands of her underlings, if she is killed or absent for long, the underlings will spread the information to the entire world and we will no longer have exclusive access to the Awakening Method."

"She is cunning," Bale cursed.

"We don't have to harm her. She wants to work with us, let her do that. Why don't we just cooperate, we only have benefits to attain, no losses."

"You are not thinking straight, Heilan. Have you fallen for this woman? What if she betrays us after she got what she wanted?"

"Brother, think calmly." Mark pointed at his brother's bald head. "We can ask for help from that Hunter with contract-making Hunter's ability and bind Yuri into a contract of exclusivity regarding the awakening method. Then we can help her wholeheartedly since she would die if she betrayed us. If it's you, brother, it wouldn't be so hard to pin down a Tier 2 Demon while she does research on it."

The A-Rank brother took a deep breath. "I forgot about that Contract wench, indeed she is a thing. Yeah, we could use her ability to tie this scientist into our own team. Indeed, indeed."

There was a trick to all manipulations. If you could make your opponent think that they had come up with some idea by themselves instead of being told by somebody else, it would be incredibly effective. Suggesting rather than telling; it was a golden rule of persuasion.

Mark sighed. "But I am somewhat afraid of taking this deal. All the A-Rank Hunters in the entire world would covet this Awakening Method… can we handle the pressure?"

With that, Bale's attention would shift to the other Hunters and the wider impact rather than the smaller details like Mark's acting or whether Yuri was suspicious.

In the end, there was nothing that would threaten Bale's life in the whole deal, and at most, it would hurt his benefits, so he wouldn't be too cautious about how he handled it. Bale was too strong to be wary of everything.

Bale laughed. "You are too much like a woman. No need to be worried about others, no one would dare take anything from me if I got it first. Call this Yuri and set up an official meeting—I need to hear the details from her. I will call that contract wench to come and set us up."

"Where should I set the meeting?"

"Make it near the mega-dungeon, I know a particular Tier 2 Demon inside it that would be easy to immobilize for me; I've been wanting to hunt it down but I never did. We can talk the finer details about the contract first and go for the hunt right after. This Awakening Method could indeed change everything."

With that, Bale stood up and started calling someone on his phone.

Mark's eyes glittered as he looked at the man's wide back.

How reliable. Kek.

How he wished he could use Heart Input to make himself more convincing, but for now, he couldn't. He needed to have as much Mindpower as his target to use that. He could only use the trust of the brother as his tool to make his words believable for now.

And if some hole was left in the make-believe story, it was going to be trouble, so he kept everything a bit less sharp. He didn't want to overact and bring suspicion to himself when there was no suspicion at all.

Reol'ran asked, "Mark, why don't you just say that you and Yuri are in love or something? Your 'brother' won't harm her then, no matter what. Right?"

"The more emphasis I place on not harming her in front of this guy, the more suspicion I bring to myself. Instead, if I can make him think by himself that he could not harm Yuri or it will hurt his benefits, Yuri will be a lot safer. In fact, she is in no danger or I wouldn't have involved her in this. And this is for her own benefits, too—She can become an A-Rank Hunter; she knows it, too."

Mark opened his phone and dialed Yuri's number.

"My 'brother' is willing to help you. Come near the Mega-Dungeon entry point near 'my' mansion and we will be there with a Hunter who can bind us into a contract of exclusivity." He smiled. "But for the first attempt, I want you to use the Awakening Method on yourself to show that it works."

Yuri laughed gently. "Sure, why not, that's also my condition. I'll be there by 10'o clock."

"I wonder what kind of Hunter she will become."

"That's going to be on her luck."