The Genius Evolution Store

”What are you talking about?” Auric was dumbfounded.

Did Katarina just tell him she was willing to serve him? She even intended to lead her family to pledge allegiance to him.

Katarina suddenly fell silent. She realized she had to begin from there.

”Do you know what the top experts require? If you think about it, all the rank 6 humans in this country have their respective organizations or families.

”Do you know why they are affiliated with their respective organizations? It doesn’t matter whether they’re the subordinates or the masters.

”The reason is always simple. To grow stronger, you will need to push away all the hassles that will come to you.

”Currently, you don’t have anyone who will serve as your arms and legs. What if someone wants to kill you and that person has a special identity?

”Right now, you have no choice but to ask for help from a third party. That will incur a great debt on your part. But it doesn’t mean you can solve the issue. What if you don’t know that person’s identity? You will need to know about the person targeting you. That will take a long time.

”There might be someone who offers that information to you, but in exchange, you have to handle something for them. In that case, you will waste your time handling that first, not to mention the possibility of incurring another debt to solve that problem. After all, there’s no way someone is so generous that they will give you information about that person, especially if that action will put them in trouble.

”The kind of task they’ll ask of you will be something that can’t be done easily. In addition, what if you need to search for something? You will have to search for it yourself. Information gathering is not exactly easy, as you may already know.

”Then, after receiving information about that person, you will have to deal with other things such as their backer, their information, and even the possibility of a trap. You will have to handle everything alone. In short, you will waste too much time that you won’t have enough time for your own improvement.”

”...” Auric fell silent. He had never thought about this, but after listening to her, he couldn’t actually refute it.

”This is why rank 6 humans have their respective organizations. They need people who can handle meticulous tasks for them. In exchange, they are granting protection or other benefits.”

”I have Ellia or the Relesha family.” Auric narrowed his eyes.

”Ellia is not the solution. It’s true that she can handle a few things for you, but if you push her too much, the Astler family will target her again. In short, her position is too unstable to support you.

”The Relesha family is willing to help you, but you have to request them, not order them. These are two different things. Requesting them will make you feel indebted, while ordering others only requires you to reward them. It might sound similar, but they are two different things.”

Auric understood the difference. Feeling indebted would obviously turn him into a ’slave,’ leaving him with no right to refuse their request. On the other hand, if he had to reward them, he was the one with the initiative, not the other party.

’Lindwurm...’ Auric couldn’t help but ask Lindwurm, as he was unfamiliar with this topic.

Lindwurm explained, ”I am not going to tell you whether to accept her or reject her proposal. Instead, I can tell you that she’s telling you the truth. Without a force of your own, you will have to do everything alone. However, if there’s an organization that can act as your arms and legs, it will shorten the process and make your life even more convenient.”

’I still need to reward them, right?’

”Of course. No one will serve you without benefits. However, you are the one with the initiative in this matter. You can think of a good reward for them. In exchange, they will be loyal to you and help you so that you can grow stronger.

”After all, if you grow stronger and more influential, it will benefit them as well. In fact, I was supposed to tell you about this matter once you reached rank 3. That was the plan because you intended to reveal a part of your ability at that time. But since a lot had been revealed, I was thinking about mentioning it after all your elements reach rank 2. I didn’t expect her to mention it first.”

Auric looked down, falling into deep thought. ’Does that mean my father also has his own force?’

”I won’t divulge anything related to your family.”

’...’ Auric crossed his arms. He raised his head, staring at Katarina’s serious face. ”Why me? Why do you suddenly suggest this idea? You are supposed to be stronger than me, and your family is bigger than mine.”

Katarina had expected this question. She raised four fingers. ”There are four reasons. First of all, your talent. You are extremely talented. The fact that you possess a unique element that is not bound like a normal unique element means you can grow to the top.

”Just ask every country in the world whether they want fifty rank 6 humans or one rank 7 human. Their answers will be the same. They want the latter. Having a peerless expert will make everything stable.

”You are powerful. Your combat prowess is exceptional. The top organizations can use this reason alone to recruit you.

”In this hunting event, you’ve revealed to me your senses. Those senses are anything but normal. No one can find artifacts like you do.

”So, if you’re able to get stronger, you can look around and find artifacts. My family and I can benefit from it.

”But it turns out your senses are more ridiculous than that. You can even find ruins that haven’t been discovered for so long, not to mention that even beasts can’t find them. By combining those two points, everyone will desire you.

”You are also an exceptional evolution master. Having an adamantium-grade evolution master within a family is close to impossible, yet you have that potential, not to mention the fact that you are equivalent to multiple evolution masters. Looking at your fire and dark elements, I realize that you may have other elements, but you simply choose to conceal them for the time being. In other words, you may be equal to eight evolution masters.

”Last but not least, you are an exceptional researcher. I already know about your deal with Floyd. It’s not making you any money right now, but I have benefited from the fusion research. Surely, there will be more research in the future.

”Combining all those strengths, it’s normal for me to give this kind of proposal. And this is just talking about your talents. I still have the other three reasons...”

Auric covered his mouth with his hand before saying, ”You sure you want to say something like this? It’s showing your greed.”

”It’s better to reveal it from the start rather than letting you discover my intentions yourself. At least, in front of you, you know I am honest.”

Auric frowned. ”Still, wouldn’t it be better for you to recruit me instead of putting me as the master?”

Katarina shook her head. ”No. You are higher in the hierarchy just because of your talent. It might be true that my family is standing taller than you, but there are a lot of cases where people are dissatisfied with being under someone, especially talented people.

”A lot of them are thinking that they’ve been treated like dogs just because their value was low in the past. As people say, treat them well long enough, and they will take your kindness for granted. If you treat them badly, they will hold a grudge against you.

”Hence, I believe you should be at the top from the beginning. You just have to prove you are worthy of our loyalty, and we will prove to you we’re worthy of your trust.”

Katarina skillfully crafted her words. If Auric were under them, it would be seen as Auric trying to prove to them he was worthy of their investment. There was a chance to be the head, but it might never come.

On the other hand, if he were at the top, Katarina didn’t have to mention money or opportunity. Instead, she used the word ’trust.’

This way, Auric wouldn’t feel mistreated and might even be kinder to them in the future.

Lindwurm wasn’t going to make such an important decision. He supported Auric, so Auric had to be the one to make that decision. Instead, he only provided some insights so that Auric wouldn’t regret making his decision.

Auric thought for a moment before saying, ”What are the other reasons?”

”The second reason is your position. You may not be able to utilize your connections freely, but you still have those connections. When there is something you cannot afford to lose, you will definitely not hesitate to use those connections to protect what’s yours.”

”Or I might not use it and throw you away after taking advantage of you.” Auric’s eyes turned cold all of a sudden.

”A good pawn can become a rook, a knight, a bishop, or even a queen. If I’m a good pawn, you won’t be able to throw me away. In other words, it’s not a matter of what you think, it’s a matter of my ability. That’s something I just have to answer.” Katarina smiled confidently, showing no sign of doubt that she could become irreplaceable.

”You are that confident?” Auric narrowed his eyes. ”Aren’t you doing the same thing as the Relesha family? If I want, it’s better to ally with the Relesha family instead of your family.”

Auric had heard about her family as well, considering she once worked for him for two weeks. Her family had some legitimate businesses as well, but they were better known in the underworld. In other words, they were similar to a mafia group.

In the end, the Relesha family was bigger. Katarina’s family looked like local thugs compared to the Relesha family.

Katarina chuckled. ”I understand the misconception. However, you are not entirely correct. It’s true that my family might look like the Relesha family in the underworld. However, those who dig into us deep enough will figure out what we excel at the most.”

”Hmm?” Auric raised his eyebrows, wondering if he hadn’t figured Katarina out. ”So, that’s the reason for me to choose you?”

”Yes. The Relesha family is full of muscles, but we are dealing with this.” Katarina pointed to her own head. ”Information.”

”Is that why you kept saying you could help me find out things back at Kallarnos University?” Auric narrowed his eyes.

Katarina nodded. ”You may not know this, but you know where I come from, right?”

”I don’t particularly care about your origin, but yes.” Auric remembered that her father was Russian while her mother was French.

”My late grandfather on my father’s side... was the former director of its Foreign Intelligence Service.”