Chapter 346: Chapter 294: Atmosphere Group, Cross-Dressing Fetish
On the other end, Catherine, the Mithril Dragon, who was central to the deal between the two parties, was also busy.
She had already invested her limited life into the boundless pursuit of making money.
Her Promotion Ceremony from Second Order to Third Order was straightforward and direct. As long as one’s personal wealth reached a certain standard, and they maintained normal asset management for a designated duration, natural promotion could be achieved. The larger the amount and the higher the degree of business involvement, the shorter the required time for the Promotion Ceremony became.
Especially after she got her hands on the Faustian Pact and secondary access to Financial Street, she shifted her work focus online. And imitating Byron’s code name, Mr. Wednesday, she fabricated her own alias, Lady Friday. Because in legends, the Venus Goddess Ishtar, who presides over Friday, is also known as Gold’s Day, and this goddess is also the protector of the treasury.
In a Financial Street that others could neither see nor monitor, White Clark, gaunt, with a defeated look, and oozing despair, accidentally dozed off. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a luxurious room.
"Where is this...?"
But he wasn’t panicked or astonished. His eyes remained lifeless, too lazy to even roll, and he seemed unable to muster interest in anything.
"It doesn’t matter. Anywhere is fine. It’s all meaningless to me."
Anyone experienced could tell at a glance that he was a ’living dead,’ just like the Flower Sword Schneider Brothers under Byron’s command!
Originally, various powerful organizations mobilized their forces to attack Aztec’s three core city-states. Thousands looted the Aztec Royal City, taking away massive amounts of gold, but they also fell victim to the curse of the Aztec Skeleton Gold Coin (Chapter 152). After enduring months of an agonizing existence worse than death, several thousand who were still alive remained. They were scattered across nearly all forces, large and small, within the Bantaan Archipelago.
These unfortunate souls, unable to enjoy any positive feedback from the mortal world, had lost interest in everything. They even yearned for a swift end to their lives, hoping for release and ascension to Heaven. If suicide didn’t go against their beliefs, who knows how many would have already ended their own lives.
It wasn’t until White Clark saw the rules of trade in Financial Street, especially the inclusion of a variety of fantastical goods such as beauty and health, that his body couldn’t help but tremble violently. He couldn’t help but shout,
"Someone, come quickly! I want to trade with you!
"I don’t want anything else; I just want to be a normal person again. Whether you’re a devil or something else, take whatever you want. Even if it’s just for one day, I want to live! I want to live like a human being!"
It had only been a few days since Byron’s ’Wings of Death’ had made its first public appearance, confirming that he really had obtained the cursed coins. Many had not yet received the news to rush to the International Port. Besides, with a limited number of cursed coins, and 400 people already equipped with the ’Wings of Death,’ why would the remaining 480 go to you?
The salvation before their eyes was their only lifeline; how could they not grasp it tightly? For the release they desperately sought from their torment, they were willing to sell everything, even to act as the Devil’s minions and sacrifice their own kind.
"This is simple. Trade item: health. Price: you and everything you possess. The contract is set; no turning back."
A golden table and chair set, along with a stunning, jewel-adorned figure, suddenly appeared in the room, presenting a thorough indenture contract right before him. White Clark signed his name on the contract with the speed of someone snatching it.
With the contract taking effect, his ’living dead curse’ was also suppressed by the heir to the Sacred Golden Empire. But if the contract were broken, not only would the curse return, but the violator would also face an unimaginably severe penalty.
"It’s back! My happiness is back! Hahaha..."
The man cried tears of joy, kneeling and sobbing with his head in his arms.
"That makes 3,542. A First Rank of the Gold Sequence, a ’Golden Eye’?"
The work of recovering the ’living dead’ and gold is almost complete. Not only has my wealth not diminished, but it has even expanded quite a bit.
Catherine had seen too many scenes of ’living dead’ being reborn recently and her heart was unmoved. However, as the recovery work approached completion, she felt a trace of elation, sensing the rapid progression of her own Promotion Ceremony. Thankfully, six maids shared her workload, so it wasn’t too hectic.
After an entire month of preparation in April, the online virtual platform Financial Street was largely constructed and ready to officially welcome clients at any time. Every user of Financial Street, upon logging in, would by default pay a portion of their Spirituality to support the platform’s operation. The platform aggregated online finance, e-commerce platforms, and even Westwind Express across multiple sectors. However, due to currently limited capabilities, it was unable to support the transportation of large volumes of goods. This perfectly complemented the "Tax Haven" policy rolled out by the International Port. Bulk goods were directly transshipped via the International Port for offshore transactions. This strategy devoured profits from both upstream and downstream; not a single copper coin slipped away, and it all happened without anyone being the wiser.
Now, with the Faustian Pact using desire as a beacon, it sought out those ’living dead’ who were suffering an existence worse than death. It easily obtained thousands for its workforce and, among these sifted ’living dead,’ discovered a significant number of Transcendents from various Sequences. The necessary personnel, including atmosphere groups for various aspects, were essentially ready. The financial center and stock exchange, for which credibility is paramount, were also almost ready to go live.
Catherine, holding a feather pen, touched her full, rosy lips, thinking, I still don’t quite understand what Byron meant by new terms like ’stock atmosphere group’ and ’everyone in the group is a shill except you.’ In the financial sector now, apart from that Sister Teresa, everyone is one of our own. How exactly can we make money smoothly? My Promotion Ceremony to the Third Order is just days away, while becoming a Fourth Order, or even Fifth Order, Financial Queen will depend entirely on the big deals to come. At that time, my little treasury and Byron’s marriage fund can finally be spent however I please, and I can marry as many as I wish!
...
The siblings each attended to their own duties, advancing side by side, never forgetting to "help each other succeed."
Unsurprisingly, the Shadow Magic traded to their aunt was ultimately used by their cousin, Jacqueline, the ’Chameleon,’ initiating her non-human metamorphosis.
’Shadow Magic’ was just their common term for it; the true name of this forbidden knowledge was ’Shadow Robe.’ She cut her own shadow and fused it with her skin, shaping it into a Black Sorcery robe that served for both offense and defense. This allowed her to leverage her Third-Order bloodline ascension and begin transforming into a shadow creature. The mythical species this forbidden knowledge represented was the ’Shadow Dragon,’ and its Third-Order non-human form was the ’Shadow Dragonfolk.’
Legends stated that Shadow Dragons were deceitful and cunning creatures whose translucent, dark bodies were always flickering in and out of visibility. From a distance, they often appeared as nothing more than a chilling shadow. Yet, by their natural affinity with shadows, they wielded a variety of powerful Shadow Magic spells.
According to the knowledge Byron obtained from his teacher, the ’Swarm,’ when stepping into the Third Order, whether one first performed a bloodline ascension ceremony or a Middle Sequence Promotion Ceremony would determine the future path’s focus: the Black Witch route, emphasizing ’Beastliness,’ or the Ladder of Glory, emphasizing ’Divinity.’
Although Byron, who aspired to High Sequences and believed that ’before the king, there is no path; one must forge it oneself,’ would never, for his own stability, use such an approach that relied on external power. Jacqueline, on the other hand, didn’t mind and was actually elated to have stumbled upon such an effortless shortcut. She sweetly called Byron ’good cousin’ several times while hugging his arm, which made Violet’s expression somewhat dangerous.
Of course, to prevent her from losing control, Byron still granted her one of the remaining Guardian spots within ’The King’s Right Hand.’ The anchor chains of the Golden Law balanced the Divinity and Beastliness within her.
Naturally, like all forbidden knowledge, Shadow Magic came with side effects. Jacqueline’s shadow and body fused completely. No matter the light source, she appeared as if under a shadowless lamp, her shadow completely invisible. The warmth of her flesh and blood and the icy energy of the shadows formed a neutral combination: light and dark, masculine and feminine, with a faint touch of grey in between.
She randomly acquired the side effect: a cross-dressing fetish. Those psychologically male with a preference for females developed a frantic obsession with light, black silk fabrics, especially black stockings, and had to wear them in public for others to see. Conversely, those psychologically female with a preference for males became crazily infatuated with seeing their objects of affection in black silk.
Unfortunately for her, Miss Jacqueline, the ’Chameleon’ with her unique psychological makeup, landed squarely on the dividing line of this side effect. She developed both aspects: an obsession with wearing such items herself and an equal obsession with seeing her objects of affection wear them.
This made Byron quite apprehensive. Thank goodness I didn’t use this thing myself, he thought with lingering fear. Otherwise... some people are living, but they are already dead.
Jacqueline, however, was doing fine; due to her gender, the side effect did not impact her too greatly. Magnyra, in fact, felt some relief; once her daughter started wearing women’s clothes, she finally looked somewhat like a girl. Perhaps this forbidden knowledge might eventually ’straighten her out’ and ensure the continuation of the Torrido bloodline. A cause for celebration indeed, truly a cause for celebration.