Elise had called him to her house. Guardians had started using a new team for the research, so it was safer that way.

When he got there, the front gate opened up automatically, and he followed the road within and parked his car. After that, he looked for her in her lab.

Upon arriving, the lab door opened automatically, and thinking that Elise was probably watching him, he chuckled and entered.

Inside, another door opened to another room, and he saw Elise working on something. She raised her head and exclaimed, “You’re here!”

Junhyuk walked over and saw a pile of things next to her.

“Did you make all these?”

“These are for basic use.”

Junhyuk didn’t want much, just things that could be used as equipment. The claw of the Wolf Warlord was one meter long, and someone had taken it out and attached a handle to it. It was the most primitive-looking weapon.

Junhyuk lifted the sword made out of the Wolf Warlord’s claw, and Elise said, “It’s very sharp. Basically, it has extreme slicing capability.”

And just like she had said, the Wolf Warlord’s claw looked very sharp. He swung the weapon a few times, and every time he did, a sharp sound reverberated through the air, as if the blade was cutting it.

His own swords had been upgraded, so they were already sharp, but that weapon hadn’t been, so Junhyuk took a moment to think and said, “This is probably better than a basic longsword.”

The sword seemed to be better than Bebe’s basic longsword to him, but that was just as long as the handle didn’t fall out. After swinging it a few more times, he looked at the other equipment.

Junhyuk had wanted a glove from Tirot, but Elise had already made one. The glove was made from the Wolf Warlord’s hide, and as he put it on, his eyes beamed.

“This is surprising!”

The glove fit his hand perfectly, and when he made a fist, it felt much stronger than usual.

Elise calmly explained, “I did not use just the hide. I added the muscle to it as well, along with bloodstone powder to help with flexibility.”

He turned to her. Elise had used bloodstone powder to create that effect, and once again, he was beyond shocked by her abilities.

As he balled his hands into fists, he said, “Basically, you have increased its attack stat. I also have to focus on survival, however. How is the armor coming?”

Elise clicked her tongue and said, “The Wolf Warlord’s hide is not easily cut when compared to the hides of other monsters, but I haven’t figured out a way to diminish physical impact.”

He replied unworried, “Each individual has to deal with physical impact on their own. The important thing is that the armor is not shredded.”

“I’ve already made something for that.”

Elise pulled out a two-piece leather armor, a top and a bottom, and she showed him the pieces.

“But I don’t have enough materials to make more.”

Junhyuk nodded.

“I need at least forty-five sets of leather armor and weapons. The weapons should be tailored to the individuals’ powers and preferences, but they do need to be coated in monster decomposition liquid.”

“To do that, I need ten bodies.”

“I’ll give them to you.”

“If you would.”

“They’ll be used to attack monster areas, so we’ll sell them to team members.”

Junhyuk wasn’t going to use them. They would be for those in the teams who didn’t have any items.

Elise smiled.

“The price will be high. It is entirely different from an item from a B-ranked monster. Each cadaver should be worth $50 million, but with manufacturing costs, the prices will be much, much higher.”

“I’ll bring you more, but I can only bring you one at a time.”

“That’s fine.”

Junhyuk thought he would have to find a way to store A-ranked monsters. He would check the factory site he was going to purchase and do so there.

He didn’t have the ability to get more Spatial Bags because he would be spending all of his gold on new equipment.

Smiling, he said, “I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”

“Sure.”

Junhyuk would be in his Dark Knight armor, fully equipped, but he would teleport from there to get inside Guardians, so nobody would know.

After leaving Elise, he called Sungtae and told him to acquire the factory site. He had to act quickly.

—

Junhyuk arrived at Elise’s house way before he was supposed to sign the contract. He gave her the Wolf Warlord’s body, pulling one from his Spatial Bag, and Elise helped him get closer to Guardians HQ.

Already wearing his armor, he bowed slightly toward her and teleported inside. When he appeared, people surrounded him almost immediately. The place was full of foreign delegates, so some of the security teams even aimed rifles at him. Junhyuk walked forward nonchalantly, however, as no rifle could pierce his armor.

The agents followed him all the way to the main building, where the delegates were. There, they stopped him.

“You can’t get in.”

They had to have heard of the Dark Knight, and Junhyuk didn’t want to fight them, so he said, “I’m here to sign the contract.”

The agents sent word inside, and once they got an answer, they made way for him. However, they still followed him in, but he did not care. When he entered the meeting room, he saw that the delegates were already there.

Everyone looked at him. He was in full armor, so nobody could see his face.

Sitting opposite of Eunseo, he looked at the contract. It was a simple agreement. They were willing to relegate control to the Dark Knight when it came to destroying monster areas. Once the attacks began, the Dark Knight had to destroy a monster area every five days.

Each country would provide him with transportation. As he read it, he picked up a pen.

“There are no problems, but before I sign, I have to know about your experts.”

Junhyuk looked at the delegates, and Steve waved his hand. A man standing behind Steve walked up and handed Junhyuk a file.

Steve said, “This is top secret, so destroy the file after you read it.”

Junhyuk nodded in agreement. He just wanted to know the experts’ powers, so he opened the file. Steve frowned as Junhyuk zoomed through it, closed the file and said, “Those are useful people. They must participate.”

After he said that, he looked at the others. The Chinese delegate looked at him and waved his hand. Another man walked over to him and gave him two more files.

Junhyuk opened the files, and his eyes beamed. He saw a familiar face, the woman who had sliced the ox.

After reading the files quickly, he said, “They’ll participate.”

Then, the delegates from the United Kingdom and Russia gave him their files. After he had finished reading them, he handed the files back.

“Five of them will participate in the main team and attack the tears.”

Steve asked, “Those people have important positions in the Department of Defense. Can you guarantee their safety?”

Junhyuk shook his head.

“I can’t promise anybody’s safety.”

Every team member had to guarantee his or her own safety within the dimensional tear. Nobody could do that for them.

He added, “If you don’t want your expert to be in danger, speak now. I’ll remove them from the expedition.”

They all sighed and nodded.

“It’s fine. By the way, which country will be first?”

Junhyuk answered, “Once we get them the new equipment from Guardians, I will train them. The training will take place in Japan.” At that, Kaito’s face brightened, but Junhyuk continued, “After I have trained them for a while, I’ll let you know which country will be first. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads, and Junhyuk signed the contract as DK. He took a copy and gave the other back.

“The monster areas are disasters now, but I will soon destroy them,” he said, looking at them. “I will work with Guardians, so if you want to talk, contact Guardians. I will decline all other contact.”

After letting them know his intentions, he turned around and walked out of the meeting room. Nobody stopped him.

He walked through the hallways, and Eunseo followed him. Then, she came up next to him and said, “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“A group of people want to meet the Dark Knight.”

He asked, “Other than the delegates?”

“Yes.” She continued calmly, “The CEO of W.A.N.C.S., Mario, and a member of the Rockefeller family, Ms. Jennifer.”

He hesitated. Mario had been involved with abnormal narcolepsy before Guardians was established. He was there now, and Junhyuk faced a dilemma. He didn’t care about the Rockefeller family, but Mario could be of help to Eunseo, and Junhyuk thought he should help her out.

“Sure. Where are they?”

“They are on the top floor. I also need to tell you that Jennifer’s security guard is an expert.”

Junhyuk smiled bitterly at that, but he thought that if anyone, a Rockefeller would be the one to have an expert as a security guard.

“I’ll meet them.”

They entered the elevator and saw a woman. The R-agents were standing behind her. They looked sharp. Because a member of the Rockefeller family was there, the agents looked better than normal. Among them, was a woman with her blonde hair in a ponytail. She had deep blue eyes.