While Altair was still shaking his head at the level of Beyonder materials at this gathering, a door deep within a room opened with a creak, and a hooded man walked out.
With a superior air, he casually began to size up the people who had come to attend the gathering.
When he saw Altair, the corners of his mouth curled up noticeably. He beckoned a nearby attendant, handed him a slip of paper, and pointed toward Altair.
Altair, who was still looking at the 'blackboard', was interrupted by the approaching attendant. After taking the slip of paper, he heard the attendant say, "This is from Mr. A."
Hearing the attendant's words, Altair unfolded the slip of paper and glanced at it. It read:
"The goods are ready. Enter the inner room for the transaction."
Altair turned to look deep into the hall and saw that Mr. A was already standing at the door waiting.
Under the attendant's guidance, Altair reached the door without hindrance. Upon opening the door, he saw Mr. A sitting alone on a single sofa, with several sealed boxes on the coffee table.
Altair entered and closed the door behind him, walking straight to sit opposite Mr. A.
Mr. A said in a low voice, "The items you ordered last time are all in these boxes. Do you need to take a look?"
Mr. A's words immediately turned Altair's attention to the boxes. He picked up two of them and said, "We have always recognized Mr. A's abilities. However, I apologize, but I still need to check them to ensure the items are correct."
Mr. A did not show a hint of dissatisfaction at Altair's behavior, but instead watched him perform the inspection.
After using a silver dagger to break the'seal' and opening the two boxes, Altair looked inside each of them.
One box contained: 'A heart stained with light blue and turned translucent; this heart pulsed with dreamlike colors, like a diamond reflecting light.'
The other box contained: A fist-sized, entirely crimson sphere that resembled a heart, slightly expanding and contracting; its surface was semi-transparent, with liquid faintly flowing inside.
After confirming the items, he closed the boxes.
Altair smiled and said to Mr. A:
"It seems your efficiency is quite impressive, Mr. A. It has been less than six days since we notified you to acquire these materials, and you have already gathered them all."
Mr. A did not react to Altair's compliment, but said flatly, "The 'Vampire' Beyonder characteristic costs 1,700 pounds. We sacrificed some members to get this characteristic, and its uniqueness is worth the premium."
"The sequence 7 'Spectator' Beyonder characteristic is 1,200 pounds."
"The sequence 7 'Witch' Beyonder characteristic is 1,200 pounds."
"The sequence 7 'Appraiser' Beyonder characteristic is 1,100 pounds."
"The sequence 7 'Pyromaniac' Beyonder characteristic is 1,200 pounds."
..."Five sequence 7 Beyonder characteristics, totaling 7,000 pounds."
Mr. A's words made Altair click his tongue inwardly, not because of the price, but because a sequence five was actually so desperate for money. He had no choice but to open his wallet, take out a stack of notes, and hand them over to pay the balance.
He shook his head at this, thinking: "No wonder the 'Aurora Order' transformed from an 'Orthodox God' organization in the Fourth Epoch into an 'Evil God' organization in the Fifth Epoch."
"It turns out their current reputation was carved out through killing."
After taking the balance, Mr. A also began to check it in person.
Watching him check the money, Altair sighed helplessly, thinking to himself:
"In today's society, as long as it's an organization, it can't escape the concept of operating funds."
"Especially a secret organization like the Aurora Order. On the surface, it's an 'Evil God' organization, so it can't accept donations through a large number of believers like the 'Orthodox God' churches."
"The Pathways they 'master' don't have any special money-making abilities either. Investing is slow to show results, and there's no guarantee of profit."
"So the organization's operating funds can only rely on some 'High-Sequence' people taking orders for activities like assassination to earn money to support the organization."
"When Altair first saw this channel provided by Uncle-Grandfather Leif, he couldn't remain calm for a long time. It turns out the 'on-demand killing' business was already being done by many organizations."
...After counting the notes, Mr. A held the extra money and asked, "What else do you need?"
Because he found counting money too troublesome, Altair had directly given him ten thousand pounds. After deducting the current balance, five thousand pounds remained.
Looking at the remaining money, Altair said directly to Mr. A, "I need three more 'Witch' Beyonder characteristics, and I'll also need the higher Sequences later."
"I'll be acquiring characteristics and materials for the 'Hunter' Pathway from low to high continuously."
"For the 'Apothecary' Pathway, I only want characteristics of sequence six and above."
"For the 'Spectator' Pathway, I also only need characteristics of sequence six and above."
"I urgently need the Beyonder characteristics of a 'Traveler' or 'Secrets Sorcerer'."
"Knowledge for crafting Beyonder items is also an urgent requirement."
"This extra money is a deposit. When I no longer need materials for a certain Pathway, I will notify you to stop the acquisition."
Mr. A looked at the still-speaking Altair and said in a raspy voice, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now and run away with the money?"
Altair didn't believe he would do such a thing. Although most members of the 'Aurora Order' were 'Lunatics', it depended on the situation.
People who went crazy for no reason were 'psychopaths', which was a different concept from 'mad' fanatics like them.
Altair looked at him and said with a smile:
"I don't believe you'd dare to do that casually. You should know through what channel I contacted you."
"If anything happens to me, I believe the 'Aurora Order' will face the full weight of the Loen Army."
"You would become a sinner of the 'Aurora Order'. When others learn that this was caused simply because you got greedy over 5,000 pounds, I think they would skin you alive."
Altair's threat did not make the atmosphere in the room awkward. Mr. A also smiled and said, "You're right. Your performance makes me want to guide you into our Aurora Order. You're even 'madder' than I am."
The simplest way to deal with a 'Lunatic' was to be even more 'mad' than him, to make him feel fear.
Altair stood up, picked up the boxes containing the Beyonder characteristics, and said, "There is no conflict of interest between us. Cooperation is the best way, isn't it?"
"You need money, and we have money. We need Beyonder characteristics, and you 'have' them. Direct trading serves the interests of both parties."
"I'm leaving. I hope the next time we meet, you can bring me more Beyonder characteristics."
...Altair did not wait for Mr. A's farewell, but walked out of this unremarkable detached house alone.
Only after getting into the carriage waiting at the corner did he feel at ease. Once the carriage had traveled a certain distance, the 'fully armed' people lying in ambush near the house began to withdraw one after another.
How could Altair not have some insurance when attending Mr. A's gathering? He wasn't a fool who would jump into a pit knowing it was there.
Before going in, Altair had instructed Simon and the others to storm the gathering if he didn't appear within a certain amount of time.