"Are you threatening our big brother?" The two guards behind Silas frowned, their fingers tightening on their triggers.

They were already aiming their weapons at Leo; all they had to do was squeeze.

Leo only smiled in response. "They’re empty."

"What? How did you find out? No, wait, cough, you’re wrong! Why would we have empty guns?"

"That’s right! We definitely don’t have empty guns! It’s definitely not because the boss prohibits anyone else from carrying a loaded weapon in the office!"

"Exactly! How dare you suggest we’re just pretending to be armed?"

"Stop imagining things!"

The two guards, who had looked so intimidating moments ago, were suddenly frozen. They had already begun blabbering things they never should have spoken aloud.

"You idiots, can you keep your mouths shut?" Even Silas felt his face flush with disbelief. These people had revealed every secret at the slightest bit of probing.

It was true that they were holding weapons, and it was also true that those weapons, though real, were empty.

Deep down, Silas lived in constant fear of betrayal. He never allowed anyone to stand behind him with a functional firearm. Who knew if someone might offer them more money to turn their weapons on him?

That was why, in this room, only he carried a loaded weapon, bolted under the table for easy access.

He only permitted his guards to carry ammunition when they left the factory, and even then, he only did so because he wore proper body armor.

He didn’t wear the armor inside the office; it was far too heavy, and it made him sweat.

He allowed his guards to still hold empty weapons just to intimidate others. But in reality, there was no functional reason for it.

"How did you find out?" His voice became cold as he shifted his attention back to Leo.

He didn’t listen to Leo’s advice and pulled the gun out from under the table. Still, he didn’t go so far as to aim it at Leo.

He simply placed the gun on the table before him, letting Leo know that he still held his life in his hands.

"Does it matter how I know about it?"

Leo didn’t tell him that he had already scanned the entire place. Even though many weapons worked differently, the principle behind them was often the same.

It was easy to scan whether the weapon was loaded or not. All he had to do was match its energy signature with the known energy signatures of similar weapons.

It was a trick that only worked with proper, recognized weapons. Fortunately, Silas and his people didn’t use knockoff weapons.

His suspicions were further confirmed when Silas reached his hand toward the gun under the table.

"I will repeat my offer again. I want to start a company... And the place where the company will be..." He tapped the table before him and continued, "is right here."

"Give me one good reason to listen to you. If I were to believe that you actually have so much money, wouldn’t it make sense for me to snatch it from you?"

Silas genuinely wanted to hear Leo’s answer. He wanted to know why this man was so confident.

After all, this was his home. If he wanted, he could take Leo hostage and force him to transfer all his money to save his life.

So why? Why did Leo have such confidence? Did he believe that just because he had money, the world would revolve around him?

Leo smiled once more. He could genuinely use force to convince Silas. The only problem was that it would’ve made things a little more chaotic later.

That’s why he came up with a better idea.

He placed his hand in his pocket.

Immediately, Silas grew suspicious and became alert. Although Leo shouldn’t have been able to bring a weapon through the entrance scanner, he remained on guard.

He was prepared to shoot him if needed.

Fortunately, Leo didn’t pull out a weapon.

Instead, he brought out a small badge and placed it on the table.

He gently pushed the badge, letting it slide toward Silas.

"What is this?"

Silas watched the small, trinket-like object sliding closer. He reached out and stopped the badge from falling off the edge.

He picked up the small black token and looked at it carefully.

For a moment, he didn’t think much of it. But as time passed, his pupils shrank.

"This..." He stood up in disbelief, stumbling back.

Even the chair fell behind him. He almost tripped over it and had to be supported by the guards behind him.

"How are you related to them?! Just who exactly are you?!"

Leo had already surprised him with the amount of money he was trying to splurge in the Lawless Zone. But that was nothing compared to the shock he was facing now.

The badge wasn’t an ordinary badge. It had a name... It was more like an identity token.

There might be people on middle-tier or lower-tier planets who might not recognize this badge. But on an upper-tier planet, there wasn’t a single person who wouldn’t recognize this name.

After all, it was the badge of a powerful family that had caused their planet to suffer greatly in recent months.

It was the token of the Ancient House of Necropolis.

He didn’t understand. How was Leo related to that family? And why was he here? If he had come under his official identity, the news would’ve been everywhere. Even the Lord of the Planet would’ve welcomed him.

It meant he had snuck onto this planet using the identity of a merchant from a middle-tier planet. And his first destination was the Lawless Zone?

At this point, Silas had started regretting his decision to meet Leo. He had been pulled into a mess that was much bigger than he ever could’ve imagined.

He was even blaming the relative who had sent this young man here, claiming that it would be easy business.