A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

In the opulent chamber, Hyena leisurely exhaled a puff of cigar smoke, his scarred face appearing somewhat ferocious in the mist.

"How does Marquis Noel respond?" His voice was deep and hoarse.

"...Lord - He, he has declined your dinner invitation."

"..." The man exhaled another puff of smoke, indifferently inquiring, "Which Marquis in the capital can we still contact?"

His subordinate swallowed nervously, "There are... there are none left, we've contacted all that we could."

"What about the extraordinary beings?" Hyena asked, his face expressionless.

"There's no response from the Etheric Academy, the Tower of Babel refuses to participate, the Alchemy Association outright ignored the messenger, the Zero Explorers are willing to help, but only in combat, and their price... their price is very high."

"Is the capital a place where one can stand firm only by fighting?"

The man who once swallowed more than half of the black market with the support of the Grand Duke Luminaris sneered, "Make a fortune and leave, adventurers are all such mongrels. What about the other forces and individuals?"

"Some can't be contacted, some say they'll wait and see, none are willing to take a stand..."

The impact of the fall of the Duke of Luminaris was no longer a mere storm for Hyena, but a howling hurricane, mixed with fierce, white thunder.

Any delay in his actions would result in utter destruction.

Upon learning of the downfall of the Duke of Luminaris, he almost immediately began to mobilize his connections, trying to contact all the individuals or forces in the capital that could be contacted and were of significance, but the result...

Either they were unwilling to muddy the waters, or they looked down on the black market, or they just wanted to make a quick buck during the reshuffling of the black market, or they did not respond immediately... In short, no one was willing to stand for Hyena at the moment.

"Wait and see..."

Hyena took a deep puff of his cigar, emitting a chilling chuckle, "Are they waiting to see what I'm capable of, or waiting for me to be half-crippled before they put a leash on me?"

He leaned back slightly against the plush chair, silent for a few seconds before waving his hand, "Let it be for now, tell those who are watching and wavering, send them something first, to fill these bastard's stomachs."

As an opportunist, Hyena knew that the greed of those beasts could never be satisfied, but it was precisely because of their insatiability that he saw an opportunity.

He slowly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, "Loken, contact our old friends in the West, tell them we need new goods, no gender requirement, just good quality and fast delivery, we can pay extra."

Three years ago, the massacre had left a long vacancy in the slave market of the black street and even the capital. Hyena's "Sheep Pen", which he reopened half a year ago, made a fortune due to this vacancy. Although it later led to many envious and bold guys restarting their old businesses, Hyena had already seized control of the main market.

The arrival of Hydral had once made him temporarily close his slave market, but as Duke Luminaris gained the favor of the empress and led the development of mechanical equipment, his greedy nature overcame his caution — because only he knew how terrifying the profits this business brought him.

And with the death of Duke Luminaris, in order to maintain his power, even if he was afraid of Hydral, he could not cut off this source of wealth.

Just as Hyena was pondering how to maintain the situation, there was an urgent knock on the door outside.

"Come in."

A subordinate with a terrible expression pushed the door in and said anxiously, "Boss, there's trouble at the sheep pen! Someone is causing trouble!"

The cigar between Hyena's fingers was crushed, he stared at the man in front of him, and said word by word, "Speak... clearly."

"He was able to contact Marquis Horamom, and in no time at all, he ruined Horamom's wife during the bidding, then no one dared to bid against him, letting him bag all the slaves at the lowest price, he must be here to sabotage!"

The man took a deep breath, the ferocity in his words making the messenger shiver, "I remember I said, during this period, strengthen the review."

"He... he has the recommendation and proof of that snail from the outer market, the one who took over Victor's shop, the one with a wide network, a lot of the potions we get here pass through his hands, although he's mixed with DappleSpider, but, but like Diplopod, he's relatively independent. Mainly because we didn't think the DappleSpider had the guts to start a war with you, boss, so we just—"

"Enough."

Hyena interrupted his subordinate, stood up expressionlessly, "Go to the sheep pen."

DappleSpider... Rodent, I didn't expect it wouldn't be that old Vulture who would make the first move against me, but you, an old rat hiding in the sewer, can't hold back anymore?

"Have you started investigating that man's background?"

"Just started, he... he calls himself Faust."

Hyena's footsteps suddenly stopped.

"Faust..."

"Faust?!"

*

The auction was compelled to a halt.

"Mr. Faust."

A gentle and pleasing voice echoed from outside the door, "I apologize for the intrusion, may I disturb you for a moment?"

"Come in," Ansel patted Seraphina, who was squatting beside him out of boredom, resting her head on his lap. "I was wondering why the auction was abruptly suspended."

A woman with an innocent face but a seductive figure, dressed in a sleeveless, tight-fitting dress, entered the room. She smiled and bowed to Ansel, then softly said, "Mr. Faust, I am Lilith, the manager of the Dream Demon's Domain."

She swayed her hips as she approached Ansel, her demeanor enchanting, her expression sympathetic, "I am sorry for disturbing your mood, I came here first to apologize—"

"Hey."

A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, but what stopped Miss Lilith from advancing was not just the force on her shoulder, but the terrifying gaze from behind... as if from a fearsome beast.

"Stand here," the wolf behind her said indifferently, "That's enough."

"Seri," Ansel took a sip of his drink, "Show some respect to the host here."

"…Huh?"

The tall girl who had suddenly appeared behind Lilith, whose chilling and cruel demeanor never existed, looking aggrieved and unhappy, said, "Don't tell me master, you're not going to be like this... sniff sniff... ugh!"