While Arnold was handling things on his end, the syndicate was having their own troubles to take care of. The source of trouble was the swamp, or the area now known as 'Barrenlands'.

The pitch-black atmosphere of the room currently being occupied by the leaders of the families was cold. Very cold. The only source of light in the room was an overhead LED, but no... It didn't require electricity to operate. Mere presence on mana was sufficient to light it up. Under the light was a large, round table completely made of black wood also known as Ebony. Around the table were the remaining heads of the family, behind each of them was a bodyguard/assistant. Nicole was currently occupying the role of Nathan's bodyguard.

​​

Right now, there were two issues they needed to address. One, the task to retake the swamp was a failure. Why? Because there was no swamp to retake. Everything was obliterated because of the nuke.

This was the main issue that the families wanted to discuss. The discussion was going well. Although the end wasn't the one they had in mind, the primary result they wanted to achieve had been achieved, extinction of the swamp dwellers. The public was happy with it. However, their plans of rehabilitation would have to wait for quite a few decades. But they weren't worried about those plans in the near future. There was enough land to sustain their population till then.

The next topic was, Devon. Among those present in the room, only Nathan and Nicole knew that the bastard was still alive. When Arnold had informed Nathan about Devon's capture, Nathan foolishly thought Arnold captured him so that they could hold a public trial and punish him, as planned. But what he thought didn't matter as Arnold straight up refused to hand Devon over to him. This in the end put a small strain on their relationship, but Nathan couldn't do anything about it.

Either way, to the rest of them Devon was as good as dead. They would've killed him either way. But holding a public trial would've provided a little closure to the families who lost their loved ones in the attempts to retake the swamp.

"It's because of his family member that we're in this mess." Andrex said as matter-of-fact, "The Blacks should shoulder the responsibility on this one."

Complete silence shrouded the room.

"Andrex," Nathan calmly replied, "Could you elaborate a bit more as to what do you mean, my family is responsible for Devon's death?"

"I would gladly do so." Andrex got up and started walking around the table. Both he and his bodyguard were wearing a comical emerald tuxedo. Which fairly complimented his uselessness, "You see, according to our- I'm sorry, your family member, Arnold Ling's plan, all of the soldiers were to simultaneously attack Devon's hidden base. That is if we survived after fighting against those brutish creatures known as lizardman."

"However," He continued, "The great Arnold ling, took it upon himself to single-handedly capture Devon. Screwing over the plan he had devised himself. Leaving us to fight the lizardman alone, and not only that, he failed miserably to accomplish the task as well. Also, as a result of his actions, we lost the resource-rich swamp as well. Thus, it is Nathan's responsibility as the head of his family to face the consequences of this family member's action. That's all."

Saying that he gave a gentle bow to others and went back to his seat. He had gathered the fuel for the fire, now all he needed was a spark. And got the spark soon...

"I think Andrex is correct."

"Maybe Devon knew something about Arnold, which the latter wanted to hide?"

"Why would he do that? He's our saviour, right?"

"I heard before joining the Blacks, he was just a porter. Then how did he get so strong?"

"I hope Blacks are not doing what the Whites did..."

"The Inhumans?"

"He's got a point."

"Yeah. Maybe that guy was head deep in his own crap."

People started murmuring soon. Saying things about Arnold they wouldn't dare to say in front of him. Nathan tried diffusing the situation as he knew... Nicole had her brother's temper. No... Even worse than Arnold's fuse. One wrong word and Nicole wouldn't have thought twice before reducing them to ashes. But his attempts were failing. Andrex had already planted the seed of doubt in their minds.

"You sure talk big for someone who shat their pants just with the thought of entering the swamps." A chilling voice echoed through the room.

The chatter immediately died down. Everyone's head turned towards the beautiful lady standing behind Nathan. Nicole's words were like icy daggers. Each word she let out, sent shivers down their spines. For a moment they had become ignorant. Ignorant enough to forget about the sister of the person they were talking shit about.

Even the so-called bodyguards of the other family members were shocked and rooted on the spot. However, as soon as they regained their senses, they jumped in front of their respective family leaders. Their weapons drawn, ready to kill at a moment's notice. But the moment Nicole showed her killing intent, they fell over like a bunch of dominoes.

"Nicole, stop it." Nathan calmly ordered her. But she wasn't in the mood to comply with the request.

"Nicole, you'll make things worse than they already are." Nathan once again tried to reason with her, and this time she complied, "Phew. Things got a bit heated here didn't they?"

Nathan tried to joke about it but the damage was already done. Andrex didn't waste this opportunity to put the final nail in the coffin.

"Y-You see! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Andrex shrieked like an overpaid actor, "That Nathan has no control over his members. They just do whatever they want, whenever they want, with whomever they want. For the sake of keeping the syndicate from such a dictatorship, I would like to offer a proposal.".

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think-" Nathan once again tried to diffuse the situation, but nothing was in his favour anymore.

"I don't think you're in a position to say anything, Nathan. Not now at least." Andrex cut him off before presenting his idea to the syndicate, "I propose a new law. A law to forbade any member of the Black family to go against any of the other families. In the unfortunate event, that this law is broken or attempted to be broken, the rest of the families would have the permission to respond adequately. That's all."

Saying so, he sat down with a grin on his face. Nathan's mood however dwindled. For the first time since joining the syndicate, he didn't have anything to counter someone else.