I Don't Agree to the Terms-Chapter 1032 - 542: Captain, Don’t Shoot—They’re Our Own Zombies!
With Gu Shanhai here, and with the resources he provided, the Corpse King had no chance to make a comeback.
"No, I can serve you for a year at most, or else..."
Forcing the Corpse King to be a slave was naturally unacceptable.
"Alright, since we can't reach an agreement, let's just leave it." The Great Sky Rank said and took back the contract.
This was a good item, allowing him to contract with NPCs stronger than him across ranks. Generally, making an NPC a permanent summon required two conditions: one, a tool similar to a contract, and two, a success rate.
In general, the higher the NPC's level is compared to one's own, the lower the success rate.
However, the contract Gu Shanhai provided had a 100% success rate, which was remarkable since the Corpse King's level was much higher than the Great Sky Rank. So, for a long time, there was no need to worry about issues.
Moreover, most contracts have predetermined contents, unlike the one from Gu Shanhai, which could be filled in by hand to maximally restrain the Corpse King's backlash.
Without ensuring loyalty, if a permanent summon was forcibly signed, the process might involve passive resistance, sabotage, and so on. These are the better outcomes; some may even kill their master.
The Great Sky Rank didn't expect it to be as perfect as a follower. After all, no matter how the contract was written, there would be loopholes. Even with the final interpretation right belonging to him, it could only suppress backlash to the maximum extent.
This led the Corpse King to view the contract as akin to a slave contract.
"Wait, let me think again." The Corpse King hesitated.
While hesitating, the huge gray mist was blown apart, further devastating the entire city, accelerating its collapse.
"You don't have much time; we are about to leave this place." The Great Sky Rank didn't mind; even if he couldn't make the Corpse King a permanent summon, the contract's guaranteed successful signing made it worthwhile.
Though it might not be valuable to Gu Shanhai, it was a huge gain for him.
So both sides felt they were gaining.
"The Corpse King is here, should I just kill him?" Shura came over to join them after defeating the gray mist.
Just arriving, he saw the Corpse King and drew the Seven-star Whip, ready to give the Corpse King a hard hit.
This scared the Corpse King greatly, and he quickly shouted: "Friendly, I'm friendly!"
He had seen the battle between Shura and the gray mist. Though not as outrageous as Gu Shanhai, it was still beyond his resistance, so he had no hesitation in stating his position.
"Pity, I thought I could stew a pot." Shura said with regret in his tone.
This appearance made the Corpse King's hair stand on end.
Just now, he felt it might be better to team up with Shura rather than the Great Sky Rank since, by strength, Shura was more powerful.
But after Shura's comment about stewing, that thought vanished. He feared if he spoke up, he might end up in the pot.
"What's going on?" Shura asked curiously.
"Oh, the Great Sky Rank is craving the Corpse King's body." Gu Shanhai gave a brief summary.
"Do you need green onions, ginger, and garlic? The Corpse King looks pretty fishy." Shura asked instinctively, seeing craving the body as going into the pot.
"He's planning to make him a permanent summon; what's with the green onions, ginger, and garlic." The Great Sky Rank explained with irritation, then thought again: "But it's not impossible; if the Corpse King remains unwilling, let's prepare everything first. If he still doesn't come around, we stew him for a good meal."
"Alright, I'll set up the pot and boil water; we can have a meal before leaving." Shura wasn't shy at all despite the Corpse King's presence and began his preparations.
He truly thought this way, even hoping the contract would fail.
Success added no benefit to him, but failure offered attribute gains.
Upon hearing this, the Corpse King's face immediately showed fear. They were serious, he thought it was just a threat.
"How do you plan to eat it?" Shura asked Gu Shanhai while handling things.
"It's human-looking, doesn't it pressure you to eat it?"
Gu Shanhai asked Shura this while eyeing the Corpse King, seemingly pondering where to start cutting.
"Why would it? Once in the pot, it's just meat. Besides, it's just human-like; essentially, it's a monster, not much different from those past bosses." Shura chuckled.
Human? It wasn't a human, it was a monster, why would there be pressure?
"Come to think of it, true, let's roast it then, roast the whole spook, it should be fine as long as the fire is strong enough, done in three minutes." Gu Shanhai thought it feasible.
Hearing this, Shura also took out the barbecue grill.
The Great Sky Rank, not to be outdone, took out various sauces.
Since the Corpse King was stubbornly uncooperative, he could only cry and eat a few more bowls.
To the Great Sky Rank, the Corpse King was not essential, merely a bonus.
"Wait, I agree, I'll sign the contract!" The Corpse King's scalp tingled; he didn't believe the three were joking or trying to deceive him cooperatively.
Judging by their skilled actions and Gu Shanhai now approaching with a cleaver, if he didn't seize the chance, he might really end up on the table.
The two looked at the Great Sky Rank; after all, it was his contract.
"This... isn't it inappropriate? Now that everything's ready, leaving out the barbecue makes life feel incomplete." The Great Sky Rank hesitated; this joker was agreeing at the most inopportune time, he should be stubbornly unyielding.
"No, no, no, I think it's fine." The Corpse King had realized the Great Sky Rank truly didn't care much for him, and that statement was genuine. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
At this point, he was nearly scared out of his wits.
"What do you all think?" The Great Sky Rank asked.
"I don't mind." Gu Shanhai naturally had no opinion; to him, it was a kind of after-sale service. Though he'd miss a meal, it mattered little whether he ate or not.
The real interest loss lay with Shura.
Shura squinted, then said: "Let's not eat it then."
He thought he'd give Gu Shanhai a favor.
Yes, the favor was for Gu Shanhai, since the contract was sold to the Great Sky Rank by Gu Shanhai. If it wasn't used, Gu Shanhai would be at a loss.
Seeing both had no objections, the Corpse King sighed in relief, finally spared from becoming their meal.
Thinking of this, he felt a bitter sadness; as a grand Corpse King, he couldn't rule the human world and instead almost got eaten by humans.
Had he known, he might've just stayed human back then; transforming was pointless, ending up unable to even best a human.
"Well, thank you kindly." The Great Sky Rank smiled, took out the contract, and then... instead of handing it to the Corpse King, he continued adding a lot of terms.
Previously, the terms were relatively gentle to minimize backlash and passive resistance by the Corpse King. But now, the situation was reversed, it was either into the pot or obediently signing.
The Corpse King, seeing the densely packed terms on the contract, hesitated to speak, wanting to mention their future days together, always seeing one another.
But seeing the terms, if signed, he couldn't resist at all; how they get along would solely depend on the other side.
"Uh, can I give some feedback?" The Corpse King asked helplessly.
"Sure, no problem." The Great Sky Rank claimed to be democratic, but added: "But I can consider it only after the contract is signed."
"..." The Corpse King was speechless, wasn't that an empty gesture.
This addition resulted in an hour's work; a fully comprehensive contract was thus freshly completed.
"Come, sign it; we have three minutes before we leave. If not signed within three minutes, you'll have to wait and die." The Great Sky Rank checked the time; it was now 23:57, three minutes before they would be teleported to the next level.
Timed perfectly to compel the Corpse King to comply, a tiny calculation by the Great Sky Rank.
