"My future?" Yan Kesh repeated, one eyebrow raised. "That is a highly speculative currency, Archon. What if I die tomorrow?"
"Then the Order takes a loss. That is the risk of business," Teshrael replied casually.
Teshrael snapped his fingers.
A long scroll appeared in midair, floating before Yan Kesh. Lines of golden runes shimmered across its surface.
[TEMPORAL COVENANT]
"Sign this," Teshrael said. "The terms are simple. We lend you the Stasis Cage. In exchange, you become a Passive Asset of the Order."
"That means: whenever the Order requires a 'correction of fate' in the future, you must appear and carry out whatever we request. No questions. No refusal."
Yan Kesh read the contract carefully with the help of The Audit.
[CONTRACT ANALYSIS]
[Benefit: Acquisition of Stasis Artifact (Solution for Qiu Moren)]
[Loss: Future Freedom Rights Collateralized]
[Legal Loophole: No specified deadline for repayment]
It was a trap.
Signing this would be equivalent to handing the remote control of his life over to Teshrael.
But Yan Kesh glanced at the exhausted He Qiu. He remembered the ten disciples screaming in agony every night. He remembered the suspicious gaze of Qiu Moren.
He needed a solution now.
"What if I refuse?" Yan Kesh asked.
"You are free to leave," Teshrael said, pointing toward the door. "But remember… Qiu Moren is not patient. And Liang Ze is watching you. Without this tool, you will collapse within a month."
Yan Kesh fell silent.
He was cornered.
"Very well," Yan Kesh said. "I will sign."
But inside his mind, Yan Kesh smiled slyly.
The future was something that had not yet happened.
And anything that had not happened… could always be revised.
Yan Kesh bit his thumb and pressed a blood seal onto the scroll.
Zrrrt!
The scroll ignited, transforming into transparent golden chains that wrapped around Yan Kesh's left wrist before sinking into his skin.
[CONTRACT BOUND]
[Status: Collateralized]
Teshrael smiled in satisfaction. The mechanical lens in his eye spun rapidly.
"Welcome to the Order, Brother Yan. Here is your item."
Teshrael handed over the glass box containing the butterfly.
"Using it is simple. Place it over the target. Say the word 'Stop.' The target will freeze in time—no aging, no sickness, no death. But remember… if the box breaks, all the delayed time will crash down at once."
Yan Kesh accepted the box.
"Thank you."
He turned to leave. But as he reached the door, Teshrael's voice called out once more.
"Oh, one more thing, Yan Kesh."
"Yes?"
"Be careful of the Blooming Flower. The longer you postpone something… the greater the explosion when it finally comes due."
Yan Kesh did not turn around. He stepped out of the clock tower.
He had obtained what he needed.
He had sold his future to buy his present.
"He Qiu, let's go home," Yan Kesh ordered. "We have a new toy for Sect Master Qiu."
Inside the tower, Teshrael watched Yan Kesh's departure through dozens of mirrors.
A disciple of the Order approached.
"Archon, was it wise to grant a high-grade artifact to an outsider?"
Teshrael chuckled softly.
"You do not understand, my disciple. I did not give him a tool."
Teshrael pointed at a mirror showing Yan Kesh's retreating figure.
"I have given him an anchor. Yan Kesh is an anomaly moving far too quickly. With that artifact, he will feel safe. He will accumulate 'time debt' in one place."
"And when the pile grows high enough… we will come to harvest it all."
"He is not an ally."
"He is livestock being fattened."