Chapter 16 - Fish in a net

"A slime? Me?"

"Who else do you think looks like a slug in human form?"

Carl was baffled of the sudden maltreatment.

This rude girl was naturally Cath Aristst, a manager at GKS Front Office, which was in-charge of the recruitment and signing of talents of Club GKS.

Since they approached him, they naturally only want something from him. He's either a client that they want to pursue and get money from or they want to rope him in to the club. Recruitment was obviously the more likely one, with 99% probability.

Still, he could not believe this girl's mouth. He had sensed red flags from the blonde beauty at the hospital, and his senses turned out to be right.

'I'm not in the mood for this…'

"What?" the girl sarcastically intoned immediately as if she could hear his mind.

'Okay, if that's how you want it, it'll be my pleasure.'

Carl smiled.

"Are you sure it's okay to treat me like this?"

A sudden change in the fat boy's voice was heard in the phone. And Cath couldn't help but click her tongue.

"Sarah, you can go. I'll handle this," she then said, as she knew the bullets that's about to come out of the boy's mouth was not something another person should hear.

Sarah wanted to listen in, but it's obviously not a good time. Even if the other girl was her friend, she always had kept secrets from her, especially when it involves their boss.

As soon as Sarah left, Cath snorted on the phone.

"Hmph! Don't push your luck, otherworlder."

Carl sang sarcastically, "Heh~, so you do know my special status. You sure you don't like to talk with a little bit of respect?"

"And if I don't, will you put your ass onto other clubs?"

Like Carl, the girl's voice was proud and confident. And Carl couldn't help but get a little bit struck with confusion.

'Is this girl serious? If he does that, they might lose a really valuable talent.'

Cath spoke again.

"Go on. No one's stopping a rotten roll of meat slice like you. But remember this, once you do that, you better make sure you don't suddenly end up somewhere behind bars, ridden with many more like you."

Carl took a few seconds to internalize what the girl was implying, and he immediately shuddered at the truth.

'Of course, they do that, fuck it!'

There were several mages around the vicinity watching him while he passed out and lost his powers in the Underground City.

When he woke up, only the MA and club GKS appeared at his door, and had engaged with him. He was in the hospital for three days yet no other club tried to poach him like common knowledge should've implied.

This meant only one thing.

GKS and MA had already decided his fate. He was an otherworlder, which meant he obviously carried unknown threat even if he had lost most of his powers. The knowledge he had from another world was like a new island with new resources or a bag of explosives yet the MA did not even tried a simple interrogation.

They said they would be keeping close watch on his movements, but so what?

GKS was a private company, with similar functions as the MA, which should be their competitor.

'Does this mean that GKS and MA had some kind of deal? To not touch me?'

Carl could be jumping up to conclusions right here. He shouldn't be this important? Wasn't he just wrong?

'Fuck it! I can't be certain of anything when I'm just a pawn in the chessboard. The MA and GKS are the players!'

"You imagine the scenario a bit better, pig brain?"

Cath had already pasted a dark grin on her face. This silence was music in her ears. She hadn't said anything, but the other party should know that he never had leverage in this.

Club GKS had stood on the top of the League for more than two decades because of a lot of things, and one of which, was their connection with the filthy dogs in the MA.

Cath never liked MA agents, but they were undoubtedly an ally to the club.

When it comes to otherworlders, trapping them in and making sure they don't jump and swim back to the ocean was very easy, especially if it's a weak fish that can't even move its fins fast enough to save its life!

"Fuck," Carl put the phone out of his face and silently cursed in frustration.

It was not hard to see the connection between GKS and the MA. Some things like these were most likely set in stone too in other clubs too.

Otherworlders continue to go to this world apparently. Therefore, it was not hard to imagine what the MA was capable of to keep them all 'potential threats' trapped in an iron-tight net as soon as they appears.

Carl had thought of the situation in the blink of an eye.

'I would've liked having better leverage and more options, but looking at it, I should be celebrating!'

'Apparently, someone high up in GKS had some special interest on me, enough to make the MA leave me alone. If no there did, I would be looking at the walls of the most impregnable prison for superhuman prisoners right now. If not that, the MA at least should have interrogated me.'

"I guess I don't make the calls," Carl then spoke on the phone, "but you apparently don't do as well."

An angry vein appeared on the side of Cath's forehead.

This otherworlder was a weakling, but he seems very annoying to be on the other side. She suddenly felt his blood boiling at the thought of seeing this guy on her future endeavors.

Carl was lightly chuckling on the other end of the phone.

He didn't have the kind of leverage he thought he had, but he still have something!

Call him weak or not, but he was protected by someone of higher power to roam around, unlike a handcuffed prisoner.

Carl knew that Cath Artist was a rank 1 mage at best, maybe nearing breakthrough. But what the hell was that compared to a bigger power?

If the person in the club who had this interest in him was at rank 2, their power was at a completely different dimension!

Hearing the fat boy happy, Cath then dropped a bomb on him and spoke calmly.

"Carl Craze, like you've said I don't make the calls, but you seemed to had misunderstood something."

"Which is?"

"The call we're talking about has already been made. Actually, you already became one of us, a member of the Golden Knights Squad."