As we spoke, Redmond shoved Rufina Howard toward me. I quickly reached out to steady her.
"Stop messing around, Rufina."
I looked seriously at Redmond, wanting to say something, but he raised his hand, and I held back.
"Can you do it? For one year, you're not allowed to attend any business events."
Redmond said this, and Leah King nodded in agreement.
"I'll give you a chance, just this once. Noah Grimm, remember—tomorrow, sign the contract with this girl."
"Got it, boss... President."
It was only then that I noticed the ghost called Vivian Gale, dressed in a purple women's suit, wearing a black mask, standing behind Redmond with her hands behind her back. I smiled at the ghost, and she nodded at me.
After Leah King left, several tables were pushed together. We sat down, and I looked at Redmond, full of questions I wanted to ask him.
Redmond told me that he had been accumulating capital in the human world for decades. That's why, in modern times, he could have such a large-scale enterprise.
I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. But thinking carefully, Eastwind Gas Company, Wang Li and his son—Redmond did say, twenty years ago, he gave Wang Li a chance, and that's how he rose up. And that time I first saw the Dragon Head, he wore a disguise made of human skin.
Thinking of the human skin disguise, I couldn't help but ask about it.
"Oh, that's just for some ghosts who want to move around during the day. That's why I decided to develop that convenient industry. After all, we're ghosts—profiting off the dead, what's the problem?"
After Redmond said that, I was left speechless.
"As for who I sell to, or what they do with it, none of that concerns me. Ethan, why did you come here today? Are you short on cash? Heh, I could set you up with a role as a male lead, but it'd be for a romance film."
I glared fiercely at Redmond.
"That's enough. Damn it."
Just then, I saw Logan Lau stand up across from us, along with the elder and the younger Ghost Kings from Exile Town.
"What's going on?" Redmond asked.
"Boss, since Ethan Zhang is here, we just want him to settle something for us."
Howard Zhang glanced at me as he spoke. I blinked, unsure what to do, as he pointed his finger at me. He nodded.
"Sigh, it's like this, boss. We all feel this job is just too exhausting. I can't take it anymore—there's basically no rest all day, and no holidays. We're working around the clock."
The old ghost from Exile Town started muttering. I looked at Redmond; suddenly, with a loud smack, he flung his glass across the table.
"What? You need rest? You’re ghosts—what do you need rest for?"
"No, boss, we’re just hoping for maybe one or two, six or seven hours a day to rest. It’s honestly so exhausting."
I couldn’t help but laugh, looking at the faces of the three ghosts from Exile Town. They looked ready to drop, pleading at me for help.
"Look, nobody else is complaining. You think you’re the only ones without days off? No one gets any! And it’s not like I don’t pay you. Five grand a month in the living world, two hundred thousand in the spirit realm—still not enough?"
Redmond snapped, just as I noticed Dragonhead raise a hand, as if he had something to say.
"Sigh, boss, now that you mention it, none of us really get any days off."
Redmond kicked his chair aside and strode over, patting Dragonhead on the shoulder.
"Heh, you fool, think about it. Didn’t I say from the start? We have to be the biggest and strongest. We’re already top-tier in the ghost world—give it a few hundred more years, maybe we’ll crack the top ten in the human world. Only then will someone as impressive as me have a fitting match, right?"
"Right, boss."
Redmond grinned and patted Dragonhead’s big head.
I covered my mouth, laughing. I finally understood why Redmond had such massive wealth—his employees didn’t get any days off, barely even time to rest.
"Alright, hurry up and finish eating. We need to get back to the Hall of Malice for work. Move it."
"But, boss..."
Redmond turned, glaring at Dragonhead, who just gave a goofy laugh.
"Boss, about that salary you mentioned—I don’t think I’ve ever actually gotten it."
At that moment, snickers erupted all around us.
"Come on, you fool, think about it. The food you eat, the stuff you use, the clothes you wear, all the killing and arson you do—I ever asked you to pay a cent for any of it?"