Tower of Heaven

"As much as I’d like to say that it came naturally, I did have to think quite a bit to come up with that."

Scarlet Fox responded with a smile.

"I don’t think I need to go into too much more detail. In essence, the foundation has been laid. There is only growth from here."

She didn’t feel the need to tell him about her every little struggle. They were business partners, after all. She only shared with him what he needed to know.

"The building is sixteen floors tall. The first five are the free market. Any vendor is allowed to sell on those floors as long as they receive the proper credentials from us. The next five floors are the private market where our personal sellers are located. They handle products we’ve curated or acquired ourselves. You would think that the last six floors are the ones we just traversed, but that isn’t the case. The last six floors are used for housing the vendors and employees of the market along with a few of our intelligence agents."

Atlas raised a brow. Was that why the environment was so dark?

"We’re underground."

"Correct, but we also aren’t stuck here. I built this building so that it can be accessible in any situation as long as one has the method."

Essentially, the entire building was alive without vitality. It was covered in formations and arrays so tightly interwoven that even experienced Formation Masters couldn’t easily break through them.

"The formations allow any floor to be entered from the ground level. Customers with the right credentials can immediately reach any part of the market they want to reach, and customers with a different kind of credentials…"

"They’re allowed here."

Atlas was starting to understand the mechanism.

"Yes. We’re still using part of Heaven’s Eye’s strategy. Gaia’s Compass can be accessed from various locations around the Tower. Currently, we only have ten teleportation arrays set up on Tower Floors, but that will change as more time passes."

People could find them openly and approach through the market, or people could find them organically throughout the Tower.

They spread their reputation through their actions, accomplishing tasks and providing accurate information with enough consistency for their name to spread. They charged prices lower than their competitors, which drew in a larger variety of customers.

Though it was only on the lower floors, Gaia’s Compass had only taken five years to become a known guild. At times, people would even choose to approach them instead of Heaven’s Eye or other more famous guilds.

"It’s still a work in progress, but as you can see, this is how I’ve been doing."

Scarlet Fox spread her arms and motioned to the spacious office around them.

"What about you?"

Leaning forward onto her desk, she looked directly into his eyes.

"You’ve been gone for five years. The last bit of information I was able to find about you was that you were fighting in the Meteor Calamity that happened in Alfros. After that…"

Her eyes narrowed.

"Did you reach the Underworld?"

It was about time she asked. Just as he had questions he waited to ask, she was holding onto her curiosity.

When she lost the ability to follow his trail, she figured that he’d entered the Underworld. The problem was that there was no way to confirm. If he died to the Hell Guardian, nobody would have ever known.

When he contacted her again, she thought it was likely that he had truly returned from the Underworld, but…

If that was true, she needed to know everything about it.

Atlas smiled at her expression. She was truly barely holding back her anticipation.

"I did."

As such, he decided to answer her simply and give her what she wanted.

"In fact, I visited a few Underworlds. In the end, I found where my comrades are, but before I can reach them, there is a quest I must complete."

With Scarlet Fox listening carefully, Atlas explained parts of his Underworld journey. Rather than the parts about himself, he spent more time describing the environment and the people. After all, that was the information Scarlet Fox wanted.

Only after he finished speaking about Hades and Persephone did the conversation shift again.

"I see…"

Scarlet Fox sat back in contentment. She had learned much more than she anticipated today. To think Atlas would return with tales about the Gods themselves…

That was a realm that no information guild could reach without sacrifices. Even if it was only by word of mouth, the ability to possess the accounts of someone who personally visited the Underworld was priceless.

"Essentially, you need to find these Cyclopes and take that treasure, then you’re returning to the Underworld?"

"Right. I do not know how long the journey will be after that, but from Hades, I will receive the location of my comrades and a path by which to find them. From there, it is only a matter of how long it takes me to do it."

"That…"

It wasn’t a good thing, was it? Scarlet Fox felt something dark hidden in those words, but she couldn’t make out what it was.

"You’re sure those Cyclopes are in the Tower?"

Stay connected with

"I’m sure they’re in the overworld. As for where…"

"I get it."

Scarlet Fox nodded. She already knew what kind of information he needed.

"Hmm… I can get people to look into it, but if it’s urgent, then I can also check the information I have on hand."

She stood up and walked over to a row of shelves lined up in a corner of the room.

"Your quest is related to Divine Beings, so it isn’t easy information to get. Luckily, I accounted for these types of requests when I left Heaven’s Eye."

The shelves were filled with jade slips that she shuffled through as she looked for anything related to Atlas’ request.

"Calling these things stolen is…a bit much, but there wasn’t much else I could do. It’ll be some time before I can start spreading influence into the upper floors, so I copied as much of the existing information as I could get my hands on. My status was high enough to access almost everything that wasn’t sensitive, so…"

She smiled slyly. In the end, she was just saying that she stole information from Heaven’s Eye that she had been waiting for an opportunity to use.

There was no way it wouldn’t be useful. Every time some of that information was sold, Scarlet Fox could establish some reputation on the upper floors. She could build a name there before even expanding to that level, guaranteeing her success when the time came.

This exact situation was something like a proof of concept.

When she found it, her eyes lit up. She opened it and skimmed the material within before raising it in the air with a wide smile.

"As expected, I never make the wrong choice."

She glanced over at Atlas and tossed the slip to him.

"This is labeled [Cyclopes]. I didn’t see anything about those brothers you mentioned, but everything within should be related to that island. The only problem is…"

Atlas opened the jade slip. His eyes moved rapidly, and within a few seconds, he had completely read over the contents.

The problem she mentioned presented itself immediately.

’This island

The island that he needed to reach to make any progress…

’...if this information is right, it is located in the Immortal Realm, or, in other words, the upper floors.’

A world that Atlas couldn’t reach.

He had to find a way to reach it.

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