A girl woke up late in the morning, a sweet ache crept into her bones, and as she tried to sit up, a jolt of pain from her lower body shook her nerves. It was then when she recollected the memories of her last night that flooded into her mind and her head started aching.

Tears pooled up in her eyes when she looked down at the sheets. Her frail body started shaking in guilt, anger, helplessness, and pain.

It took all her effort to get up from the bed but she staggered and was about to fall when a pair of warm hands supported her.

"Had a good rest?"A handsome young man appeared as he supported her, put her on the bed, and sat beside her.

Her adolescent heart started beating again with very vague expectations. The moment those thoughts surfaced, she felt disgusted with herself.

'How can I have such dirty thoughts? Selling myself for money again...'

"Claire!"

Her body quivered, as a hand caressed her soft greenish hair.

"You seem too tense. Are you still hanging up on last night?"

''Mhmmmm..."Claire lowered her head and timidly nodded with a rosy blush burning on her cheeks as she took a quick sneak peek at the man.

"I have ordered breakfast. But before that, have soup first. It will ease your discomfort."He said and then proceeded to fill the spoon with soup brought by the servants and draw it near her lips.

"OH!"She was taken aback and her heart palpitated with sweetness.

"I have transferred 10 million dollars into your account."

"W-What?"A pang of suffocation welled in her heart.' Wasn't it a few hundred thousand?'

"It's because I changed my mind," He smiled at her."You won't be a one-time thing for me.''

His words brushed away her fears but she still couldn't help arguing.

"I won't sell myself again. It is because my mother was ill so I needed money and I did this…"

"I want you in my life, Claire. I want you to be part of Greymore."

"Huh!" Claire's eyes opened in bewilderment as Seph words ruthlessly rammed into her chest.

"I can't have you as my official girlfriend but I want you in my life. I want you to be my woman."He looked into her heart-shattering fantasy and at the same time made her heart beat in excitement.

"I also have a job contract but before that have breakfast and take a rest. It seems you need to sort out your thoughts, "Seph got up and then drew his face, gave a gentle peck on her forehead, and then patting her head walked away leaving Claire in her fantasy.

'Lin Fang must be in tatters wondering where his crush disappeared out of nowhere. Originally, it was going to be a good opportunity for him to draw closer but I crushed his hopes.'Seph muttered with a grin as her hand darted toward another young girl of 15 years.

"You seem to have grown a lot, Minami, "Seph muttered, staring at the beautiful face as she caressed her black hair.

She already had 90 points and once she comes of age, she might be above 95.

Minami's cheeks burned with rosiness and she swayed her head a bit.

"It's all due to you Master."

"Hahaha! You are still as shy as ever."

Seph walked towards the inner side of the mansion, with his hands deep inside the pocket.

"Is Mother in the room, Sun Fei?"Seph asked the middle-aged woman who looked to be in her mid-40s.

"Yes, Master she is inside."'

Seph knocked on the door of his mother's room as Sun Fei bowed her head and walked away.

Without waiting for her call, he entered and closed the door behind.

"Mother, "He greeted her with a smile when he found her sitting on the couch handling a pile of documents.

Inside the room, a woman of striking beauty sat at a polished wooden desk, her flowing black hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall of midnight silk. Her onyx eyes, deep and mysterious, flickered with intelligence as she meticulously pored over the documents spread before her.

"What's this Mother?"Seph asked curiously, taking a seat beside and taking a look at the document.

"I am organizing the information about the shadow zone Seph," Eleanor muttered, messaging her forehead.

Seph organized the information with furrowed brows.

Unlike Dimensional zones, there was no data on how much longer the shadow zone persisted. It may exist from a few months to a few years. The shortest one lasted for a day and the longest one existed for 3 years.

Generally, shadow zones were untouched land where humans would send troops to unearth resources after clearing the monsters inside the zone. Previously, they had found rare minerals, plants, and other things.

Though it is highly beneficial for humans, there were times when war occurred due to shadow zones connecting to the other side or more, containing life forms, where many sides fought for dominion.

"Do you want to go inside it?"Eleanor asked with a worried look, seeing her son's interest.

Seph halted his movement and asked the system, 'Was there any big opportunity inside,'

[As per cheats, there is none. But this war will enable a protagonist to rise in fame. Moreover, another protagonist will be coming from the shadow zone.]

'In that case, wouldn't this become protagonist vs protagonist? So who will win?'

[Host, I can't predict the future. I can only predict the birth of the protagonist and the answers that exist in the present.]

'Hmmm!Fame and war.....This is a crude zone, nothing worth spending my time on. Rather than that I should pick up the heroines of the protagonist while creating fake crimes to frame them upon their return. The higher they rise, the harder they will fall.'

'Moreover, since the protagonists are gonna fight one another, is there any need for me to step in uselessly.'

Seph smiled and shook his head.

''I don't want to but all families seem to be pretty much interested in it."

"Yeah, they are. As we can use some parts of the resources, "Eleanor muttered.

Seph frowned at the document. There might be many families but at present, there are prominent 70 families out of which 60 families with Martial Emperor were members of the Federation Council.

102 Martial Emperors, 19 Martial Saints and 8 Martial Ancestors. That's the current strength of the world.

'For future trouble and invasion, it's not enough but anything is possible with the protagonist.'

Martial Emperor takes part in the decision-making of the Federation, while Martial Saint and Ancestors guard the Dimensional zones at all times.

Seph's father represented their family in the Federation but the position was filled by someone else after his death. Meanwhile, his grandfather was currently acting as an elder and guarding a zone.

'I need to reach the Martial Emperor and then enter the council. I can't release the serum hastily and let others reap the benefits. And I am still short of points to buy the pills for Grandfather Breakthrough.'

"Seph!"

"Yes, mother."

"What are you thinking with that worried expression?"

"Mom, I don't think we should send full manpower as you know the first batch is just fodder, and their chances to come alive are very less. We can't lose a lot of people."Seph spoke in a resolute tone.

Eleanor pondered for a moment and agreed.

"Hmm! But we have to send some."

"Don't worry I have some people. As for the main force, let's wait…"Seph smiles thinking about the protagonist who is in charge of the shadow zone.

It was a good chance to let other families bleed and weaken a bit so that Greymore could rise in full glory.

He can already foresee the failure of the first batch.

'And perhaps I can take advantage somewhere.'

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