The Strongest Curse Master

"Alright, alright," Ace sighed dramatically, throwing up his hands. "I get it. You guys aren't exactly thrilled about working for my company. I understand. If you don't want to be part of my dream, no big deal. I'll just hire other people..." His tone was so exaggerated he might as well have put up a flashing sign that read I'm messing with you.

"Get him!" Danny yelled, chucking his handheld console aside before launching himself at Ace, trying to use his weight to his advantage. Mandy, not one to miss an opportunity, joined in by landing a few punches of her own.

Ace surrendered, mostly because he didn't want to hurt them—not because their attacks were effective. Once the two finally got tired, he dusted himself off and asked, "Now can we talk?"

Danny, still catching his breath, narrowed his eyes. "This about me losing weight again?" He would have stormed out, but honestly, he was too exhausted. Ace's skin was way tougher than anything he'd ever punched before.

"Yes. Because my entire business model is based around it," Ace said, his tone shifting to something more serious. "Remember that Fasting Pill I mentioned to you by the bakery? Trust me—with its help and a little exercise, in 40 days you won't just lose the extra fat, you'll look better than me."

Danny raised an eyebrow showing Ace had his attention.

Ace smirked. "I plan to record your transformation and use it to advertise our product. That's why you have to be our company's brand ambassador. And if anything goes wrong—" He held up a finger. "—I'll buy not one, but two sex dolls."

Danny's head snapped up.

"But that only counts if you do exactly as I say for the next 40 days," Ace added. Then, leaning in slightly, he asked, "So... do we have a deal?"

"Fine," Danny sighed, crossing his arms. "But if I'm gonna be the male brand ambassador, I get to pick who the female brand ambassador is."

Ace nodded but raised a finger. "Deal—but she can't be a fictional character. She has to be a real person."

Danny smirked. "Deal." He had already started running through a mental list of candidates.

Mandy, who had been listening with mild amusement, finally chimed in. "And where do I and my girls fit into all of this?"

Ace didn't hesitate. "We're growing the ingredients for our product in-house, which means we need a lot of farmland and a lot of trustworthy staff to manage it—not to mention securing land and workers for the factory. That's where you guys come in."

Mandy raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly are you gonna do?"

Ace leaned back, completely unfazed. "I'll handle financing and legal stuff. You guys won't have to worry about capital, permits, accounting, authorities, or security—I've got it all covered. And before you ask, yes, all the money being invested is clean and mine. As long as I'm alive, no one's gonna mess with our business."

Mandy folded her arms, giving him an approving nod. She had always wanted to start her own agribusiness but lacked the connections outside their county—and she didn't want to rely on Janice too much. With Ace handling the big-picture logistics, this could actually work.

Danny, on the other hand, was starting to feel a little... useless. "Damn. I suddenly feel incompetent," he muttered. "There's gotta be more I can do, right?"

"Sorry, buddy, but that's all I've got for you. Gotta save some spots for my sister, Mom, and Aunt Pam," Ace said, carefully choosing his words to avoid bruising Danny's ego. His cousin was just an average teenager—if he could stick to his diet, lose the extra weight in forty days, and actually become the company's brand ambassador, that alone would be a huge achievement.

Danny frowned. "I'm fine with Lyra, but why are you bringing our moms into this? They're gonna micromanage everything we do!"

"Shut up, fatty. That's my sister you're talking about," Mandy snapped, clearly irritated. Unlike Danny, she was taking this seriously. She had a lot riding on this agribusiness—not just for herself but for the women at her shelter and the people in town. She had always wanted to start a project like this, but knowing her limits, she had stuck to smaller things, like running a B&B.

She turned back to Ace, arms crossed. "You sure this product of yours is gonna work?" she asked. If everything depended on it, they couldn't afford for it to flop. No matter how hard they worked or how much they wanted this business to succeed, if the product was trash, it wouldn't matter.

Ace didn't even hesitate. "Yes. You'll witness its greatness for yourself."

Mandy narrowed her eyes. "Where's the product? You got any on you?" She wasn't about to take any chances. If she was going to invest emotionally and mentally in this project, she needed to see proof that Ace could actually deliver.

"I don't have any on me right now, but how about this—let's all have it for lunch this afternoon," Ace suggested. "Just make sure you don't eat anything beforehand. Empty your stomach completely, or you'll feel bloated, overly full, and maybe even throw up from overeating." His tone was firm—he needed Mandy and Danny to understand how important it was to take the pills on an empty stomach.

The fasting pills from the Nakamura school had no side effects, but they were packed with enough energy to sustain a ninja for an entire day. For the average person, that was way too much. Emi was already working on a weaker version, but even that was more than most people needed. If Mandy and Danny took them on a full stomach, they'd feel like they had just eaten an entire Thanksgiving dinner in one sitting.

Mandy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "This isn't some mumbo-jumbo country medicine, is it? Because if it is, I swear to you, Ace, I'll spank you," she warned, crossing her arms. She had zero patience for nonsense—if this turned out to be some scam, she wasn't about to waste her time.

"It's not," Ace replied, unfazed. "No point in arguing—you'll see for yourself at lunch." He wasn't going to waste his breath convincing her. She'd make up her own mind once she had tested it.