Blocking a punch from Sami the second she woke up, Dax still had a thin smile on his face, although his eyes were no longer smiling.

"I thought this is how things worked here in the As'li lands, I beat you up and now you work for me, no?"

"Kuh! If you want to ravage me then get on with it!"

(Wait what the f.u.c.k!?)

In a split second Dax's threatening demeanor completely collapsed as he started panicking.

"Nonononono I meant that you're my subordinate now, I have no interest in your body!"

"That's a lie! Why else would you keep me alive!?"

"Because I need you as a subordinate! Lux shut the f.u.c.k up!"

Pointing at Lux behind him who was silently laughing as he still kept eyes on Sami, Dax continued degrading his own authority until he eventually got control of the situation.

-

"So you really just want me and my brother to continue as we have been beforehand?"

"Yeah. While doing a few small things for me, like distributing some counterfeit currency along your routes of distribution. In turn, I will enhance your production and distribution while eliminating some compet.i.tion and making all of you filthy rich."

Letting that sink in for a moment, Dax watched as Sami and Mirza struggled to understand his reasoning, both of them coming to different solutions at the same time.

"Okay, whatever you say, boss."

"... But what do you get out of all this?"

While Mirza appeared to reluctantly accept his new existence, Sami was still a bit more suspicious.

"You don't need to worry your pretty head with that Sami."

"But what if we betray you?"

"Then you'll be easily replaced."

Answering instead of Dax, Lux who was suddenly right behind Sami spoke in a cold voice as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Nice to meet you Sami~ I'm Lux, the last thing you'll see if you even think about going against us."

Feeling concentrated bloodl.u.s.t like nothing she had ever experienced before Sami broke out in a cold sweat, which made her temporarily abandon all ideas about selling out their new superiors, besides if they were really telling the truth then this was a great deal for them as well. While Lux stayed behind with Sami, Dax took a walk together with Mirza, joined by Mare and Terra for security.

"Here it is boss."

Entering a building in the middle of the city near the market, Dax was a tiny bit suspicious that they were being led into an ambush and took a pistol from Terra's holster as he followed behind. Following Mirza into the two story sandstone building which was reinforced with palm wood, Dax found it to be some sort of spice workshop where the raw produce was being refined.

"This is where we make the Heat drug."

Leading Dax and his followers into a back room Mirza explained how they mixed and refined several different spices to create the compound.

"... Where do you get the raw produce?"

"Directly from the farms, we refine a large part of it and sell it normally so the operation looks ordinary from the outside."

"Which is why that there's so little of it on the market?"

"Exactly boss, we can't really scale up this operation without getting noticed."

Spending a few minutes going over all his available options while inspecting the different ingredients and asking questions about the recipe, Dax was satisfied with what he heard.

"We're going to increase output 10 fold over the next 2 months, make sure the infrastructure is ready for that. Bring in new manpower you trust."

"10 fold?... Okay boss, understood."

Looking like he had several questions, Mirza chose not to ask and just did as he was told. While Mirza was talking with his underlings, Terra walked up to Dax and silently asked him a question.

"What are we even doing here?"

"I'll tell you at a later point, this is what you signed up for."

Remembering that Dax did give her a chance to walk away, Terra hardened her resolution as she realized that they were actually going to run a drug operation for some unknown purpose.

"I've made the arrangements boss."

"Perfect, then let's check out the other place too."

-

While Dax went around to check on the operations, Lux had stayed back at Sami's office where she was now greeting some of the middle management.

"Boss you can't be serious about this!? Why is that outsider here!?"

Or at least she tried to.

"She's one of the new heads of the organization, this isn't a joke."

While Sami was completely serious and clear in her message, her people were a bit harder to convince. If there was anything the As'li hated it was outsiders, after so many failed occupations over time combined with the general confusion over their culture, the As'li learned to see the worst in people they didn't know, even more so in an organization as tightly bound by rank as the syndicate. 

"Are you seriously going to hand over our organization to thi!-"

"Hey! Point at me again and I'll break off your arm and beat you to death with it."

With the increased demeaning of her character continuing on, Lux eventually got tired of just enduring it and started walking over one of the complaining As'i.

"What? Do you suddenly think you're some kind of hotshot!? This is our land outsider, you don't get to te!-"

Having heard enough from the man, Lux closed the distance as her bloodl.u.s.t flared and easily avoided his panicked punch. Gripping the outstretched arm with one hand, Lux punched the exposed elbow with her free arm and completely shattered the joint while forcing the As'i man's arm upwards, exposing the broken joint before she delivered another punch and completely severed the forearm.

"ARG!-"

Before the man even got a chance to scream properly, Lux fulfilled her promise and used the severed arm to crush the man's skull, killing him instantly.

"Okay listen up f.u.c.kwits, this place is under new management! Either you accept that reality right now or end up like this guy while someone else takes your position and benefits in your stead! Now chose!"

Tossing the b.l.o.o.d.y severed arm aside, Lux unknowingly established herself as an extremely powerful and temperamental figure, something the people of As'li really respected.

""""Yes boss! We apologize for our rudeness!""""

Bowing deeply in a synchronized fas.h.i.+on as if they had practiced it, the underboss' scrambled out of Sami's office as fast as they could while carrying the corpse of their former a.s.sociate with them.

"... Well, that takes care of that issue."

Having prepared to slaughter every single person in the room, Lux was a tiny bit fl.u.s.tered (although she didn't let it show on her face) when they started obeying her seemingly out of nowhere and brushed the entire thing off like she had meant to do exactly that from the start. Turning to Sami after the group had left Lux seemed colder than she had ever been, with a thin smile on her face she walked right up to Sami as she continued to back off until she hit a wall.

"W-what is it?"

"You made quite a comment earlier addressed to Dax."

"Y-yeah? W-what about it?"

"..."

Without answering Lux just continued staring at Sami for a few more seconds, coming to some internal conclusion before she backed off slightly.

"Nothing, just make sure to not step out of line again."

Leaving Sami behind with those words, the As'lim woman wordlessly collapsed on the ground as her legs gave out.

(S-scary…)

Meanwhile, Dax was walking through the desert with Mirza who was leading the way. Having left Mare and Terra behind it was just the two of them sharing a silent moment as they walked through the blazing hot sand with the sun overhead which seemed to be trying to kill both of them with the constant heat it was radiating.

"Are you sure you're not just leading me into an ambush?"

"... I am not, no."

"Okay, but it sure sounds like it."

Leaving that conversation there, Dax kept on following Mirza as something hit the ground a few meters from them, sending sand flying all over the place. Before Mirza could react to what was happening around him he found himself face to face with something utterly terrifying. Standing about his own height, the flawless figure and pair of pure white wings told Mirza exactly what it was, even if her face was hidden by a pure white mask with no features.

"Should I kill him?"

"... No need, but why don't you come with us Solaris?"

"Sure~"

Watching how the angel immediately switched att.i.tude as soon as Dax talked to her, Mirza was at a complete loss for words. While it was not uncommon to see lesser angels with only a single pair of wings not affiliated with any sanctuary roaming the Empire, seeing anyone having such an influence over one was unheard of.

"How are your wings?"

"I'm still getting used to them, they're way more powerful than my old ones."

Having perfected the artificial a.s.sertion spell with the help of ICI and Iris, Dax found vast improvements were possible and with Solaris willing to help they created new wings for her. While she had given up six pairs of wings which greatly lowered her power magic output, that was nullified when she completed the custom made ascension ritual she gained a single pair of wings that were far more powerful than anything they had ever imagined.

"Please continue."

Snapping Mirza out of his daze he continued guiding the seemingly happy pair to their destination. Walking for a few more minutes they eventually reached an unusually flat part of the desert where Mizra channeled mana into the sand below, revealing a hidden stairway.

"This way."

Following Mirza into a hidden underground sandstone cave and trough a series of tunnels they reached a vast underground cave with a hidden spring.

"So this is the main ingredient of the compound."

Looking at the underground mushroom farm, Dax put two and two together while thinking about how to scale up production.

"That's correct."

"Okay, like the other one prepare to increase production output 10 fold over the next two months."

"Okay boss, but even if we can s.h.i.+ft that much product it is going to shake up the market. A lot of payers are not going to like that."

"Don't worry about that, I'll make sure it isn't an issue. You just think about how you're going to spend all the money this is going to bring in, it's important to stimulate the economy."