Cooperation

"I'll get going now. Thank you for being patient with me." Case said, giving Velez a respectful bow.

Then, Case's entire being dispersed into light, raising his hand to give Velez a wave goodbye.

After receiving the gift, he would return to the Primary Evaluation site and be on his own until the start of the camp.

After he disintegrated into thin air, a man appeared right behind her.

"Captain Lex."

The owner of Alexandria, the second commander of the Tholarion Sovereignty, Auralex had appeared gazing into the place that Case had disappeared into.

"What do you think about him, sir?"

Auralex thought for a while and replied flatly.

"He's an unusual fellow. When you reported back the hidden trial you designed, I never expected that someone would be smart enough to find the loophole. If not, your trial obviously should've ended way later."

Velez shrugged.

"I don't know. I was also thinking about that as well, but not only did he find the true way to reach the goal, he actually did it very… cleverly?"

Auralex crossed his arms and said, "Continue watching him for a while. We are waiting for the primary evaluation of other districts to end. But since someone had already managed to pass the test this early on, we'll give the Earth a time limit on how much we can support this world. To see if they can keep up."

Velez gave a short nod, "I understand. Even though my representative is a genius, that doesn't mean all of the other upcoming representatives are the same."

She then took a pause, "Are you interested in that kid, sir?"

Auralex was quiet for a while before nodding. "That's right. He can be of great value to our King."

...

After Case reappeared from the lobby, he was already expecting that reporters and journalists would be flocking all around him.

But his expectations were short-lived the moment his view gave a different scene.

Surrounding him were men in black suits, bulky in terms of stature and strong enough to hold those people who came to disturb him.

In the middle of these men was someone familiar whom he had only seen on television, someone who could wait for him.

When their eyes met, the face of this person lit up.

He began approaching Case before questioning, "Case Kellys?"

The man who had come close to Case was a dignified middle-aged man with lustrous black hair and deep green eyes that excluded unknown alienation.

 Case replied in an even tone after studying the familiar person, "Secretary Thomas?"

Secretary Thomas from the High Table was the one who fetched him from the district.

Case had some memories of him.

He was the important reason why Earth had become part of the Antavon Kingdom and Outer.

He was also an individual who could achieve his goal even using scraps. The middle-aged man was a very smart individual who used his intellect for the greater good of Earth.

If not for his methodical mind approach to things, Case knew that Earth would've been gone sooner than it should have.

He was an anchor that was holding the world together.

Case was probably the only one who could realize, at the same time, sympathize with the sacrifices that Thomas had made.

"You know me?" Thomas acted surprised.

Case smiled lightly as he replied, "Everyone who didn't know you is an idiot. Anyway, what do I owe you a pleasure?"

"Oh?" Thomas was slightly amused before saying, "How about we talk in the car?"

…

One of Case's fever dreams when he was a child was to ride a limousine car, doing whatever he liked inside of it.

He never experienced it in his past life since Earth went to shit, but he never expected that he would be receiving the treatment in his current life.

Though that could mean another thing, and it is the fact that the timeline he knew was changing already.

'I need to start building foundations…'

One of the few things that could build a foundation that he wanted to build was using Secretary Thomas from the High Table.

Case already accounted that he would be meeting him sooner rather than later, since every representative that each High Table managed to get some sort of authority within that circle.

Even when they were invaded by aliens, people with power continued to be corrupt and exploit whatever means that could be to their advantage.

"Anyways, what do you want to talk about, sir?"

Thomas seemed to scrutinize Case for a bit before beginning to explain, "A lot of people from the High Table will likely approach you and demand something horrifying. It's because of your achievement. Although you're not likely to be the only representative from one of the captains' tests to pass, you're the first one to do it. That is already saying a lot, considering a lot of people eyeing that task had their hopes dimmed."

Case already understands what that meant regarding 'horrifying demand', which is most likely being a lapdog to a high-status individual.

Though he didn't mind.

Case then pressed even further, "So?"

Thomas remained calm despite being taken like that as he continued, "So what I want to do is form a contract with you, just on the surface that we're collaborators. On this term, you'll have the freedom to do whatever you want, and you can request everything from me as long as it's within my power. The only thing I'm going to ask is your cooperation."

"Cooperation, huh…"

Thomas nodded, "Yes."

"Why would you need my cooperation?"

It was clear Thomas was hiding something, and Case, who just needed confirmation, wanted those words to hear straight from his lips.

And Thomas didn't seem to hide everything anymore since he just jumped right to the point instead of explaining things from the start.

"Well… because the High Table is in a terrible state right now. It might appear that world leaders from various countries are uniting together, but it's just a group of greedy people forming factions among themselves. We have no unity, something we desperately needed right now."

Thomas rubbed his cheeks, "That's why I'm planning something big. Before the end of the Earth's Camp, I'm going to reform the High Table and assert the right people for the job."