Chapter 288 Chapter 288: Sinister Plan
?"I promise you."
The young man's voice was calm yet firm, and upon receiving Renji's reply, Nova's mother seemed to have let go of a huge stone in her heart.
She nodded at the young man, then once again turned her gaze towards the night sky enveloped by the Tainted Miasma, with the blood moon overhead.
Noya seemed to be looking at something far away, her expression detached.
Before Renji could say anything more, the surroundings of the dream changed.
The figure of Noya opposite him quickly blurred until it disappeared, and the dilapidated little house of Nova and her mother was rapidly replaced by a large mansion.
Bright wall paint, beautiful tiles, servants shuttling back and forth in the courtyard, wiping those exquisite pieces of furniture, making the floor tiles shine.
Even, Renji saw gardeners specially tasked with caring for potted plants, carefully pruning those purely ornamental dark green potted plants in the courtyard.
In the old era, the rarity of an ornamental plant could probably be higher than gold.
Such plants are considered to have the lowest tolerance to the Miasma and often require a great deal of manpower and material resources to purify and refine to obtain uncontaminated soil sufficient for their growth.
Often, a portion of uncontaminated soil could be exchanged for twenty-seven portions of low-contamination soil, or one hundred and sixty-eight portions of medium-contamination soil, while the minimum requirement for crops is medium-contamination soil.
A portion of medium-contamination soil, if used entirely for growing food, could meet the basic survival needs of ten people.
These resource conversions, Renji had memorized them by heart in the game, having calculated them countless times.
He remembered thinking how foolish, how brain-damaged a player must be to waste such precious resources on buying ornamental plants, when planting food and increasing the population would be more beneficial.
Over the years, Noya has not only rapidly accumulated a large number of supporters among the gladiators but also has a significant influence among the audience, even vaguely becoming a symbolic character of the arena in the hearts of the audience.
If they really act unreasonably and directly kill, it's very likely to lead to a gladiator riot, and the reputation of the arena would plummet among the audience.
Their purpose in killing Noya is to return the arena to a more profitable, bloodier, and violent model. If, as a result they ruin the arena, it would be a Pyrrhic victory, losing more than they gain.
It's precisely because they are caught in a dilemma that the deputy leader has been wanting to eliminate Noya but felt helpless, resulting in the current situation where Noya is about to further regulate the arena, reducing their organizers' influence, and they can only rage impotently.
As the atmosphere in the deputy leader's room became dark and gloomy, Renji as an observer, turned his head towards the door, where soon footsteps were heard, followed by a kind-
looking elder pushing the door and entering.
The deputy leader, about to scold the intruder, immediately swallowed his words upon seeing it was the elder, greeting him with utmost respect and humility:
"Leader."
The elder nodded, then got straight to the point, inquiring about the arena. The deputy leader reported the situation truthfully, appearing anxious to resolve the issue quickly.
The elder shook his head.
"You've been wrong from the start. I've told you many times, the arena is a business, and doing business requires harmony."
Hearing this, the deputy leader stuttered, tentatively asking, "You mean, I should... get along with Noya?"
"Not Noya, but her daughter."
"Her daughter?"
The deputy leader was stunned, not quite understanding his boss.
The elder smiled without answering, took the main seat, and after the deputy leader hastily ordered a subordinate to brew a cup of tea, the elder, sipping his tea, continued slowly:
"Correct, what you need to do next is not only to try your best to get along with Noya's daughter but also to provide her with resources for making her stronger, let her live in the best house, have meals prepared by a professional nutritionist, dress her in beautiful clothes, adorn her with the most luxurious jewelry, and have everyone in the arena take care of her, offering her the best service."