Chapter 123 : Zalcien, 123 Blackrose Street (Patreon)

James, currently hidden in the shadow of a building in the middle of a street, was waiting for his new associate. He still wasn't sure what to feel about the man, Blake Black was a rather pleasant if not surprisingly clingy fellow, and whenever James interacted with him he felt like he was the cool guy on the block being buttered up to invite someone at his next party. Still, at the same time, Zalcien's Black Bank manager came from a family with a long history of taking advantage of people and suffering. It was clear the man had plans for James, and if his little speech about him being the manager's way out from the shadows of his family's more influential members, then he could either become one of James' closest allies or one of his worst enemies. Runar had already tried to enslave him to do his bidding, James didn't want to see how someone with more resources and much less blinded by their pride would enact a similar scheme.

Speaking of the Runemaster, James pondered where exactly he had gone. Whenever he entered his soul space he could feel a connection to the man, so he was probably infused enough to be under his control, but he couldn't tell where exactly Runar's sabotage teleportation crystal sent him. James was usually somewhat aware of where things he had unfused were, not to the point of knowing exact distances but at least enough for him to keep track of them, or the direction they were in. With Runar though? What he could sense was odd. It was like everything else was laid out on a map, and somehow the man had fallen under the table. Given the oddities James had witnessed since his arrival here on Terra Stellis, maybe that comparison was closer to reality than he'd be comfortable.

Thankfully it was at this moment that a man appeared from a corner, walking toward James' hiding spot with no hesitation and putting an end to the reincarnated shadow manipulator's worried musings. The man in a black suit, despite his rather average visage apart from his black irises, was undoubtedly Blake Black. His demeanor as he walked was exactly the same as when he and James first met on the Black Block, as well as when the two met in the bank manager's office. He exuded confidence, something that could be perceived as barely veiled arrogance, but from what he had shared James could hazard a guess the man was less of a spoiled bourgeois than he let on. Or he could also be fooling James, that wasn't out of the question given his experience and celestial helper.

It'd almost make me miss the simplicity of Runar's plans. Almost.

The smiling man that saw James despite him being one with the ambient shadows was a good reminder that he had willingly chosen to leave his spot as a big fish in a small pond back on the Black Block and the slums. Not that there weren't any larger fish there, but the presence of the Bank kept them relatively docile in that area.

"Mister Silhouette! I didn't expect you to be here so soon. You're early for our visit."

Since his interlocutor already knew where he was and from what he could sense there was no one else in the streets at this hour of the evening, James emerged from the shadows he had merged with and took on his usual Silhouette form.

"I prefer to be early to important meetings. It helps to avoid being late in case of unwelcomed surprises, and it makes it easier to prevent ambushes."

The manager chuckled.

"Ah, I can empathize. Much like I understand why you wished to visit this location before making your final choice. Shall we begin?"

During their discussions regarding business relationships and James' account in the bank, Blake had also presented him with various buildings and terrains the Black Bank had acquired and had no use for that he could lend, rent, or sell to James for his shop, depending on how things went. Although some of the things James had been presented with had intrigued him, his new associate was right when he said the abandoned factory he mentioned first would likely be the most suitable one. It was less of a building and more of a complex and reminded James somewhat of the factory near his hometown. Much like the one he was used to this place was large, even larger in fact, and he had to ponder if it was perhaps even bigger than Mother Greenheld's orphanage. One of them being sandwiched between buildings while the other was in the middle of a wasteland didn't help the mental size comparison, but now that he focused on it James hazarded that the orphanage was still bigger. Given the fact he and his men didn't yet use all of the space in their base in the Sunken City, he would likely need to hire a new workforce. Perhaps he could move some of Runar's former goons, but he preferred to let them stay in their old headquarters - he didn't trust them enough to bring them out of the slums, and they were already used to working there. Plus, they were more suited to creating runes and enchantments, whereas James wanted this new location to focus on the large-scale production of infused items.

There was a building in the front, nestled between the walls and gates that led to the factory proper, and James could easily see it being repurposed into a shop while the rest of the facility was renovated to produce goods once more, as well as to serve as headquarters for his combat-aligned employees. It wasn't a militia if they were a proper security force guarding private property, after all. Hopefully. James still hadn't gone through the full list of Zalcien's laws. In any case, the complex had a small court in the mall surrounded by walls, and it somewhat reminded James of the garden at the orphanage, the one where they had installed Greenheld after moving her from her office, except with concrete instead of greenery. The complex then held a building in each cardinal direction, to the south was the shop-to-be, to the west was some kind of office space that could be turned into barracks, to the east was a small multi-floor parking space, and to the north was the factory itself. The layout of the place was useful for James, but he had to admit he understood how it failed given how inefficient it appeared to be for what was supposed to be a car factory. James had only peeked at the place with shadowy tendrils approaching the walls and bending to act as periscopes to watch over them, he might have been expected but better be safe than sorry with the security measures the Black Bank might have installed to protect its property.

Blake invited James inside and led him on a walk - if it could be called that, given the fact he had no legs at the moment - through the facility, showing off the various empty rooms and basic pieces of furniture that had been left behind. The lack of dust, cobwebs, and any sort of littering felt odd in an abandoned place, but given the various strange things Zalcien had shown so far James wouldn't be surprised if it turned out there was a cheap and affordable physics-breaking way of keeping things clean that simply wasn't shared with the slums. That'd be a neat business venture, a quick way to make clean cash.

Urgh, mental puns. Curse you, subconscious thoughts.

It was rare he let himself feel safe enough to be distracted in the presence of someone else these days, but so far Blake had proven to be at the very least non-hostile. The man had a celestial at his beck and call, a creature that should at the minimum be as strong as the demon Sydakors, the creature that, to this day, was still the strongest opponent James had faced and only successfully defeated by sheer luck. If Blake wanted James captured or dead, Nanyet would have already taken care of it. No, the man was apparently genuine when he said he wanted a business partnership, not that James fully trusted him. It'd be foolish not to stay warry around a man like him.

The visit went well, and with every second that passed James grew more and more certain this was indeed the perfect location to set shop in Zalcien's city area, away from the slums. It was exposed enough to attract customers while being isolated enough to avoid the detection of big Villains and criminals and with some renovations, the whole complex could be turned into a fearsome modern fort, fit for fighting off the strongest threats that might show up until the Union's Heroes and the police arrived to take care of things. The only thing it lacked was a personal area for him and the ratlings to occupy, but luckily he already had Froko on the case with the little mission he gave the scam artist. With some intelligent digging at the paws of Mischief, his army of infused rats, he might even find a way to connect the place's possible basement and the closest sewer tunnels with the larger network that led to the Sunken City. In fact, maybe he could even set up his own transportation system to be free from using the official elevators of the underworld. He had had no issue with them so far, but there was always the possibility of being spied on while using them or being betrayed by the supposedly neutral group managing the Sunken City's infrastructure.

Considering Techlord's face the last time he saw his inventor, James gave up on this idea of private elevators for now. The teen genius was already overworked and he had already promised him help for his current projects, increasing his workload would be a terrible idea.

Blake interrupted his musings as they entered the basement of the northern building, the underground area of the factory. What welcomed them was what James assumed to be the electrical center of the facility, producing and or sending energy to the rest of the complex. So far there had been little damage to the buildings, they showed some wear from the passing of time in some areas but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a few hours of work. This thing that might have been a power plant once upon a time however was definitely beyond repair, torn in was such that James was unsure if it had exploded, if it had been recycled for parts, or if it had been hammered by a disgruntled employee. The only thing he was sure of was it hadn't melted, given the look of the rusted metal pieces strewn about.

"You didn't tell me about this."

"I mentioned this was abandoned, Mister Silhouette. The fact this is the only heavily damaged area is already impressive. I hope you won't give up on this location just because of this small flaw, you seemed to enjoy quite a bit so far."

"It depends. Could the factory operate without it?"

"That is hard to say, especially when considering I do not yet know the energy consumption of your operations, Mister Silhouette. You could rely on the public grid, but electricity isn't exactly cheap, and the Hero Union will investigate such a large power usage."

"They would question a legitimate business?"

"High electricity usage is often a sign of villainous dealings, hence the need for investigations. It's why most power-hungry facilities employ private power plants. Even when Villains aren't involved, most companies prefer not to let law enforcers search into their affairs. They all tend to bend the rules. Given your situation, I believe it is for the best if they are kept at bay for now. I doubt they'd be enthused about your infused, Mister Silhouette."

"Wouldn't they investigate anyways, given the fact you are giving me this?"

"Oh, they wish they could. The Bank has its ways of keeping Heroes away. The law may be their sword, but it is also their shackle. There are rules they must follow, and these rules won't allow them to start anything just because of my name being involved. After all, you could very well be a foreign investor, relying on me due to your lack of contacts in the city."

"How would you know this isn't what I am?"

"Oh, I never said you weren't, Mister Silhouette. In my business, I know better than to ask questions I don't need the answer to. I was simply letting you know what their train of thought would likely be. As for your involvement in the slums, they must be aware of parts of it by now, especially after the show you gave when dealing with Runar, but given the general lawlessness of that area, there isn't much they could do. After all, they have no proof it wasn't self-defense."

"That still leaves me with the need to fix or replace a major power source. I don't suppose the average local electrician has the skills required to repair this mess?"

"Oh, with a big enough budget and good research, you'd likely find someone able to restore this place to its prime. But why settle on a failed past model when you could innovate? Wouldn't your inventor be up to the task?"

"I'm afraid my current head of research is overworked. Besides, he has informed me multiple times his abilities were more suited to gadgets and vehicles, not works of engineering and structures such as an industrial generator."

"Well, in any case, will this one problem ruin your appreciation for the complex in general?"

James shook his head.

"No. No, this is exactly what I need. What do you want in exchange?"

"Nothing. See this as a gift, to welcome you. The only condition is that when you no longer can own this property or choose to leave it, instead of selling or renting it, it will return to me, for free. No time limit, no time constraint. A fair trade, will you not agree?"

It was a tempting offer. Sure, if James ever chose to relocate he would have nothing to sell to get a large fund to help buy elsewhere, but given the fact he did not have enough money right now, he saw little reason to refuse. Sure, it was obvious Blake would benefit from all the work James and his men would put into putting this place back in order, but that wasn't detrimental to him.

"Very well. I accept."

"Good! I'm very happy you like it, Mister Silhouette. I do hope you will find a way to fix that energy production problem."

James thought back to a news title he had seen while checking his phone earlier that day. A name, one that one of his friends on HardCored's public chatroom had told a lot of good things about, and one that would hopefully be open to a job offer.

'Decanov at it again! Fired from Melkin Enterprise days before one of his inventions explode'.

Hopefully he wouldn't sabotage his work while he was at it.