Chapter 26: Manager Drex's Resolve
Following Leila's gang were a few more people, some in groups, but the majority were individuals, who were showing extreme caution while doing business with Manager Drex and when leaving the Nexus outpost. All were evidently here to exchange the materials they got from Avalon for some cash.
Watching everything unfold, Kael, Lawrence, and Jayem all realized
that they only have a short time now before the entire world becomes their competition in Avalon.
Just as Kael had believed, they had only a week or less to establish their foundation and build a strong enough lead over the other players if they wanted to become a top contender in Avalon. If they failed, they would end up competing on equal ground with everyone else.
At this moment, they're strongly hoping that Manager Drex will accept and buy their potions. In that way, they could finally proceed with the mass production and start distribution, and earn a lot of cash.
They badly needed this to work.
After a few hours of waiting, Manager Drex finally called out for Kael and his group to come with him.
Along the way, Manager Drex's expression didn't look positive at all.
As soon as they got inside the room, Manager Drex made sure to lock it and turned off a certain switch, and then a muffled sound could be heard from the wall.
*Bang!
Manager Drex suddenly smashed his fist on the table in frustration as he muttered. "What the heck are you guys planning on doing exactly?!"
"What do you mean?" Kael was caught off guard. He was even tempted to take out his dagger as a precaution in case Manager Drex suddenly decided to attack them.
"You know exactly what I meant!" Manager Drex exclaimed as he took out the potion from his pocket. "This! You know very well what this implies, right?!"
"Well…" Lawrence slightly hesitated.
"You, Kael!" Manager Drex pointed his finger. "I thought you didn't like Nexus?"
"I…"
"You don't have to lie to me. I'm not a fool to not see the obvious signs whenever the name Nexus was brought up in our conversation. You have this face that screams you hate them!" Manager Drex sighs heavily before sitting in the chair.
"Am I really that obvious?" Kael was highly doubtful about that.
"Of course, no! I just have strong senses," Manager Drex shook his head before continuing. "Are you three aware of the implications this piece of potion could bring to Noverra… No, to Nexus?"
"In the entire Avalon, only the Sylvaris Kingdom could produce the famous Health Potion. However, now, with the existence of this potion, there's another one who could compete with them." Manager Drex shook his head in helplessness. "This might just be a knockoff version of the original Health Potion, but it still brings about only a slightly worse effect than its predecessor."
"Once Nexus discovers this, I'm afraid the end of Avalon will be coming a lot sooner than expected," Manager Drex clenched his fist out of rage. "I thought people of Rustfall would be different. I thought they'd understand the danger associated with Nexus. Now I'm starting to believe it's not about their experience. It entirely depends on the person's choice."
Hearing Manager Drex's opinion, Kael finally realized a truth that he didn't expect to be the case.
At this moment, he believes that Manager Drex didn't actually leave Nexus simply because Avalon could bring him more cash. There may be a deeper reason for his resignation as manager of Nexus.
Just how stupid was he to think it was that simple?
Perhaps it's because he has a strong bias against people from Nexus. He assumes every single one of them is just greedy and selfish bastards.
Needless to say, he wasn't an exception. As a merchant, he was also a greedy and selfish bastard. But the people from Nexus were on a completely different level. They basically don't mind destroying an entire world just to get rich. They're simply insane!
However, he is now doubting that belief. Maybe not everyone in Nexus is like that. Because clearly, Manager Drex is greatly worried about the negative effects the knockoff Health Potion could bring to Noverra and Avalon.
Kael could no longer hold back and decided to ask. "Do you perhaps also secretly hate Nexus?"
"Hate?" Manager Drex scoffed. "I want to destroy it!"
"Wouldn't it be better if you lower your voice?" Lawrence immediately rushed to the door.
"You don't have to worry, this room is soundproof, and I've already turned off the hidden camera on the wall," Manager Drex waved his hand.
"Still!" Lawrence briefly opened the door and looked around his surroundings before closing and locking it again. He heaves a sigh of relief and mutters. "No one was nearby."
Kael continued and asked. "Why?"
"Not everyone knows the truth because every higher-ranking official unanimously agreed to bury it." Manager Drex's expression turned into pain. "I believe, considering that you seem to know me, you also know about my family, especially my wife."
Kael nodded.
"They're the exact reason for my wife's condition!"
Kael could finally confirm the truth. Manager Drex's response ultimately brought to light the answer to the frequently discussed topic of the future of why an ex-employee of Nexus suddenly became one of its greatest enemies.
There were a lot of assumptions thrown online. One of them is the presumption that during the time Manager Drex was an employee of Nexus, he was treated badly, which explains why he was thrown into Rustfall and had to spend a long time in such a God-forsaken continent until the day he submitted his resignation. But it seems like none of them were close to the truth at all.
"When Rustfall used to be one of the richest continents in the entire Noverra, my wife and I were assigned to oversee the progress Nexus was making in this land. We witnessed everything they've done with this place. From poisoning the water, polluting the air, to the never-ending mining of all its natural minerals."
"We could have chosen to stop it. But it was still in the early stages of expansion of the Human race on the new planet. We understand everyone only wants to get back on their feet and continue the progress they've made on our home planet, Earth. As such, we simply did our job and continued to watch." Manager Drex shook his head in regret. "Just how mistaken we were!"
"Days became weeks. Weeks became months. And months became years. Nexus continues with its unforgiving acts against the continent of Rustfall, until finally, the day came when the continent could no longer handle the destruction they brought to it." Manager Drex could still remember vividly everything that happened.
"It started with a very long drought that prevented any crops and plants from growing, killing more than half of the animals in the process. Then water became scarce as if someone had drained the majority of it, thus killing almost all lifeforms that live in water. Finally, the ground where they did the majority of the destruction imploded and started caving in from the inside, killing countless human lives as if a revenge from Mother Nature."
"That was when everything became out of control." Manager Drex paused as a piece of vision seemed to reflect from his eyes. "Multiple nuclear facilities were caught within the land's collapse, releasing a massive amount of radiation, which in turn caused widespread contamination to everything nearby."
"I was lucky, because I was far from any nuclear facilities. But my wife wasn't. At that time, when it happened, she was visiting one of the Nexus nuclear facilities. After everything had settled down, it took more than a week before we could finish the rescue operation. That was more than enough time for everyone still alive inside those nuclear facilities to suffer from the devastating effects of the radiation."
"Maybe it was karma finally making us pay the price of choosing to become bystanders when we had the ability to change the course of events," Manager Drex had already accepted the reality of what happened to his wife. What he couldn't accept was Nexus' reaction after finding out what happened.
"After what happened, Nexus just handed out money and upgraded the insurance of everyone affected by the disaster. They didn't even bother giving us the cure for the radiation effects, even though they had it and despite the loyalty and hard work we've shown to them for a very long time."
"I know that I'm also at fault here and am also to be blamed for what happened to Rustfall. But Nexus is the biggest mastermind behind everything. While my actions will not be enough to forgive my sins, I'm still going to do everything in my power to stop Nexus from whatever they plan on doing from then on and in the future." Manager Drex's eyes suddenly turned cold as he looked at Kael and his group.