?Vernon left the room, and the guards belonging to Kugelblitz also left after throwing a couple of glances at Nick.
Nick silently watched them leave.
Then, he turned to the two guards from Anatomy.
"So, can I get a meeting with Mr. Harrow or Mr. Stairwell?" he asked. "I'm open to offers regarding Dark Dream."
The eyebrows of the two guards lifted in surprise.
They had expected that Dark Dream would become a target dummy for all of the Manufacturers and that it would be a matter of luck regarding who would get Dark Dream.
As long as Nick died, Dark Dream would have no owner anymore, and if Nick didn't have an adult child or wife, the ownership of Dark Dream would default to the city, which would then hand it over to another Manufacturer for safekeeping.
Most likely Kugelblitz since they had just too much sway in the government.
The two guards had expected that Dark Dream would quickly collapse.
But now, Nick asked for an offer.
He was willing to sell Dark Dream?
That would change everything!
"You want to sell Dark Dream?" the Specialist from Anatomy asked.
"Of course!" Nick answered. "I'm just going to die if I keep it."
The two guards blinked a bit in surprise.
Yeah, he was right, but this was a bit...
"I can ask for a meeting," the Specialist said.
Then, he turned to his colleague. "Get a couple more people and keep him safe. I don't want any accidents to happen to him!"
The other guard nodded. "Of course!"
After all, if Nick died, Kugelblitz would most likely get Dark Dream.
The next moment, the guard left the room.
"We should also leave," the Expert from Anatomy said before he also walked out of the door.
Nick nodded and followed him.
For the next several minutes, Nick saw five more people from Anatomy arriving beside him, but those were not wearing the city's guard uniforms.
They all introduced themselves with polite smiles since Nick was most likely going to be one of their colleagues.
Nick also introduced himself.
After that, the people from Anatomy led Nick to their headquarters.
Since he was now a Veteran, Nick could just run along the rails of the Shweebs, which made it much easier to reach Anatomy.
Anatomy had a gigantic building at the top of the middle layer.
It was absolutely massive!
It was over a hundred meters high and probably took up the entire width of the megastructure!
A huge puppet hung on top of the entrance, making the building look quite intimidating.
There were no guards.
The couple of people from Anatomy led Nick into the building.
The walls were completely black, and the artificial light coming out of the ceiling seemed to get swallowed by the black walls.
'Speaking of,' Nick thought as he looked at the artificial lights. 'Why is Anatomy using light from Solace instead of just building light shafts?'
"Why are you guys using artificial light?" Nick asked.
"Security," one of the people said. "Some Extractors can fit through tiny spaces, and light shafts would give them an easy way to travel throughout the building."
"Oh, okay," Nick answered.
'So, it's because of guys like me.'
Nick felt very strange walking through Anatomy like this.
For years, Anatomy felt like the most dangerous place in the city.
Anatomy was Kugelblitz's biggest rival, and since Dark Dream had belonged to Kugelblitz, unofficially, Anatomy would have the biggest reason to attack Dark Dream.
Additionally, the two leaders of Anatomy had treated Wyntor and Nick like they didn't even exist.
Lastly, the way Anatomy had fought against the city's inspection made them appear even shadier.
Of course, their sense of aesthetic also made them appear just a slight bit spooky.
But now, Nick was using Anatomy to protect himself.
Right now, Nick knew that Anatomy wanted him to survive, no matter what.
Even if they, for some reason, didn't get Dark Dream, they wouldn't want Kugelblitz to get it.
After leading Nick through corridor after corridor, they eventually told him to wait in front of a door.
Everyone except for two guards left after that.
There was no more reason to give Nick such a big escort while he was inside their headquarters.
And then, it was time to wait.
Neither Zarren Harrow nor Mundus Stairwell were in the building right now.
The reason for their absence was as obvious as it was forgettable.
The yearly meeting of Manufacturers was happening right at this moment.
Surprisingly, Nick only needed to wait for 15 minutes.
Nick saw two people with black hair walking over to him.
Both of them were tall men who seemed to be in their thirties, and their eyes were filled with a mix of coldness, calm, and confidence.
One of them approached Nick.
"I think we haven't been properly introduced yet," he said neutrally as he offered his hand.
"Zarren Harrow, Senior Director of Anatomy."
Nick took the hand and shook it.
"Nick Nick, Chief Zephyx Extractor and now also owner of Dark Dream," Nick said nervously.
"For however long that may be," he added with an awkward smile.
The two shook hands, and Zarren nodded once before letting the other person step forward.
The other person also offered his hand. "Mundus Stairwell, Chief Zephyx Extractor of Anatomy."
Nick also introduced himself to Mundus.
"Let's talk inside," Mundus said as he stepped into his office.
Surprisingly, Zarren also walked into the office.
Nick gulped.
'Seems like I'm going to talk with both of them,' he thought before he entered as well.
When he saw the office, he was a bit surprised.
It was a bit cluttered and quite chaotic.
There were many sheets of paper scattered around randomly, and Nick also saw many boxes without any labels on them.
In a way, this office reminded Nick of his own office.
The three of them sat down at the desk.
Mundus sat behind the desk.
Nick sat in front of the desk.
Zarren was stuck sitting beside the desk since the backside of the desk was surrounded by random boxes, only leaving space for a single chair for Mundus.
Since there were also only two chairs, Zarren had to sit on one of the boxes, but he didn't seem to care about it.
"So, you are willing to sell Dark Dream?" Mundus asked.
