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Chapter 536: The Sinister Old Men

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When the World Nobles above saw this scene, the entire venue’s attention got fixed to the woman in her (perhaps) later 30’s who casually sipped her wine as if nothing was happening.

The last ones to actually point their inquiring gaze at her was the group of old men from the Five Great Clans whose status was way above that of her Christiana Monarchy.

In fact, while they are also part of the UNICORN, they aren’t in the faction of the Thornberry Family.

The Christiana Monarchy is a subsidiary of House of Abraxas —an indication being their NanoTech Weaponry being partly invented by the executives of this secretive militaristic ancestral enterprise.

“You really surprised us, Lass. To think you have already picked an heir this early…” The one who spoke was actually Chronos.

“It’s all for convenience, Family Head. The girl’s an excellent candidate and before anyone and even anything could happen to her, I’d be taking her in my protection this early and teaching her what she must do so she has more time to adjust.”

The old man understood the meanings behind the words and he gave her a nod and went back on observing the reactions of the young’uns below them. Their reactions varied: there were big and small —and most of them were men whose eyes couldn’t decide where to focus their gaze into; it’s either her gorgeous visible chin and shoulders, or the pendant with a weird crystal metallic diamond in between her collar bone that tempted them to glance over her chest.

In short —she was really gorgeous!

But all the same, the words “World Noble” couldn’t be denied to be attached to her identity and this alone is enough reason for majority of these men swallow their hearts in fear that their desires were shown in their faces. So they lowered their heads.

And to those “normal” people who were invited in this place the normal way, those who’re not aware of the significance of that pendant; bathed her in their adulterated stares and this only made the girl feel even more aware of herself.

* * * * *

She realized that coming in this place may have been a mistake after all and yet, remembering the resolve she displayed in front of Margrave Bryn, she held on and walked “proud” with no qualms in the eyes currently bathing her body.

Thankfully, [he] was with her. The warm touch of [his] hand on hers gave her the strength to walk on with her head held high amongst these people.

* * * * *

All of the old men above locked their gazes at the man; who wouldn’t know of the incident that made a certain name famous overnight?

Mitra —someone emotionally connected to the girl who was “chosen” as the next Queen of Christiana Monarchy. On their level, something huge like the kidnapping incident of the Christiana Monarchy’s next heir to the throne and the immediate fall of the House Levingston thereafter was like the sun in the day… it was an incident so bright even blind men would go blind again seeing it.

Besides, “Mitra” wasn’t even a secret as the man himself has been making a rather annoying noise in the world market as of late.

He’s been snooping around profitable moments at the last second of each opportunity and even as there are no forecasted advantages on a deal, he will still win at the very next instance that the stock market fluctuates. Those are microsecond micro-financing deals done in a massive scale in a very short amount of time —short enough to actually be as fast as you blink your eye.

This alone was enough reason for World Nobles to pay attention to this “Mitra” who, according to an underground source, was actually a group and not just a single person’s doing.

For these old men, they trusted this report.

No man could be on two places doing deals and also hacking a live framework as well as rescuing the Christiana Heir at the same time.

At the very least, there are four or five people in this group known as “Mitra” and all of them are on the genius-level of abilities.

Knowing all these, Chronos, while seemingly had his eyes on the happenings below, secretly eyed the old man in [email protected] imaging.

And at that same moment, Goldwyn Godfather just then also sneaked a glance at his direction, shook his head microscopically in resignation, making the Abraxas Family Head frown and utter a secret sigh upon himself.

In the end, these were all done on a whim and this lad with the Christiana Monarchy’s Heir is indeed, in fact, a member of Mitra —their [Military Unit], at the very least, and above else, was Rex Kingsley whom is the linchpin where the end result of their plan lay in hopes of completion.

—well, it’s not as if anything’s going to change the result. It’s on its last phase already anyways.

——time is all it needs and it cannot be stopped.

Thinking thus, the two old men made a smile that only the two of them understood.

Regardless of whoever discovers it, whatever they do, it cannot be stopped. The end-result is already set in stone. Only the manner at which it will make itself —Project Salvation— known is the final and only question left.

Is it going to be them?

Is it going to be Rex Kingsley himself?

….or is it going to be Pegasus or somebody else?

Regardless of whoever it was that’s going to push that red switch, the plan is already in full motion.

Project Salvation is done with the [Key] landing on the hands of Goldwyn Godfather. Everything else around it is nothing more than entertainment until the day Project Salvation manifests.

******

Alas, the world around those two old men weren’t aware of the schemes happening around them.

They were all focused on the man walking beside the Christiana Heir, with different opinions running through their greedy political heads.

Whoever he was, to be able to thwart a dweller of “Murim” and save all the hostages, he was at least trained in combat and with skills like his, there are only a very select few that would come in mind.

(AN: Murim = Korean slang referring for the dark underground world of raw power and politics. I could’ve used “Underground World” to generalize the idea of it but I want it to sound cool so I used the Korean term for it. I could have even used “Mafia World” but its cliché so I used the lesser-used term “Murim” to represent the existence of the world-wide Underground Civilization who was both terrifyingly brutal and plainly power-based)

Chronos, again, glanced over at Goldwyn and this time, the latter gave him a microscopic nod.

They had the same thought process and agreed (secretly) on a certain plan many years ago so they knew who and what to worry about.

“Hahahaha… I see.” Chronos couldn’t help but bid his laughter. “Very clever indeed!”

The two other Family Heads understood that the old man had finally grasped the real identity of this young man with the Christiana Heir and they fought the urge to ask Chronos about it.

“There’s no need to hold your breaths. It is pretty easy to guess the identity of that man anyways.” A vague but also clear reply.

“Ho?”

“But I’m too excited to know, Your Grace. Might you please enlighten this old man?”

Since Project Salvation is already set in stone, this small variable in their plan might prove to be worth an entertaining spectacle to watch. So why hold the reins to ignite a fun? He might as well start the fire himself. So Chronos stirred the crowd.

Chronos laughed again and glanced back at the ‘Queen’ and smiled at her, “You don’t mind me if I share his identity, yes?”

The Queen bids an intoxicating short laugh as she gestured her approval with a wave of his hand that held her wine glass. “Go on, Family Head, it’s not even a secret anyways.”

“Very well.” Chronos obliged and swiped the air to display a search result that didn’t take two seconds to accomplish. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the identity of the Young Man with our next Queen of Christiana Monarchy… a member of the renowned group, [Mitra]….”

When the World Nobles saw the picture, they all couldn’t help but gasp in surprise. [He] is indeed not a secret character. In fact, all his feats showed that he’s a rather special individual in all respects.

The man below them right now is none other than [Siva] —and to think that he was also a part of the rising group of genius stock brokers, “Mitra”, is a thought too shocking to process and accept in just mere seconds after knowing it.

“It is a small world.” said the Campbell Family Head as he gazed over the man below them. “To think a young man is this accomplished…”

“Strong. Dependable. A Genius. No woman could ever deny the charisma of such a man.” The Head of the Missilefeller Family added. “I wasn’t even as accomplished like him when I was younger.”

It was a question directed to the Queen.

At this question, the World Nobles couldn’t help to look at his direction. Indeed. It was one matter that he is a genius but to be able to become part of the World Noble Circles is another matter on its own.

Who is he and why is he close to her heir?

No, in fact, the question is… is this a show? This young man —as obvious by his physique— just popped out of nowhere and appeared in front of them today. They didn’t know his background nor did they know who he actually was.

Alas, no one, aside from Chronos and Goldwyn, is even aware that the girl beside [Siva] was none other than the heir herself as well. Their attention was focused solely on [Siva]. Anyhow, this wasn’t a secret Christiana Monarchy would even hide on their shelves so the Queen left this realization for these fools to wallow into in the near future. Why should she care about their reactions?

One reason she looked down on these nobles is the very fact in itself that based on their reactions alone, she already knew what was running on that head of theirs.

What makes him think that he’s eligible to enter the circle of World Nobility just by being close to the heir of the Christiana Monarchy?

More importantly, can he be trusted?

He just suddenly appeared one day. Who knows if he had some beef with the World Nobles or have designs for the Christiana Heir?

If they discover this plan of his, the Queen might favor them and help establish ties in the future!

She glanced over at Goldwyn who was looking at her direction as well with a warm smile.

—yare, yare… what a sinister old man…

She couldn’t help but sigh.

This was his deliberate act. He won’t gain anything pointing suspicion at “Mitra” but it will still create a lot of heat and activity to erupt that may make the life of the young man a little hard.

Should she help? —she wondered for a moment but dismissed the notion at the next. If “Mitra” was weak as they thought he is, he wouldn’t be able to barge into the enemies alone and save Amanda, to escape unscathed in the end.

Queen Brynhild XIV smiled as a reply to the gaze.

—I won’t fall for your tricks.

Many questions and possibilities popped up in the minds of these World Nobles and secretly, the two old bones, Chronos and Goldwyn, couldn’t help to give each other a secretive smile of approval.

They are the only ones who knew who this Mitra-member really was: Rex Kingsley. And Rex is their [project specimen] —making his life worse than it already is will bring more fruits to their project.

“I trust him.” this soft voice spoken by the short-haired Queen of Christiana Monarchy interrupted the train of thoughts of these individuals, including the inner monologues of the old schemers. “I have met the young man once and I can assure you that he’s more reliable to me than my Duke Houses.”

What a sharp remark!

Many people subconsciously heard a few “cracks” erupting in the room somewhere.

The said “Duke Houses” in the room couldn’t help clearing their throats as the Queen didn’t even try to hide her wariness on their respective peerages.

Chronos and Goldwyn couldn’t help but glance at her a second time only to see her looking at Mitra with a look of utter fondness.

“He’s a good boy, at the very least. And he’d make a splendid King to our future Queen.” She said.

The Dukes wanted to say something but before the closest one could even say a thing, the already I’m-not-interested vibe she gave only turned more radiant as she elegantly sipped her wine.

Queen Brynhild XIV was not someone who likes to plan and scheme behind the scene and that was a personality Chronos and Goldwyn knew very well.

Especially the former.

It only meant that this move of hers was her truest thoughts and emotions; she really did met with this Mitra—Rex Kingsley—and that upon their meeting, she really became fond of what she saw.

So that leaves the question of when…

When did they meet?

Chronos and Goldwyn doesn’t have much time left so as much as possible, they don’t want even the smallest of miscalculation creating a large variable on their plans. Project Salvation must succeed. It’s already set in stone, yes, and the result cannot be changed, but them not being alive when it happen is equivalent to losing. They had to stop any delay that may affect the plan and right now, it was still unknown if Queen Brynhild is aware of it and was actually against it; or this was just her showing her true emotions towards the young man.

Rex Kingsley being thrown in to the mix was mere accidental since four years ago. In fact, if it wasn’t for Rex Kingsley and Samantha Pegasus barging in on that lab that day, the plan wouldn’t have been able to cut years of research and development for it to lead to how it is today… at its final phases.

As for Eosin Bozkovich stealing a prototype-stage NanoTech Paper and even losing it in the process of him being caught… that was the huge variable that may delay the plan so they are moving as fast as they can to locate the missing item. When they finally tracked down the girl Bozkovich met in the [Panorama Corp. Phil-Country HQ], they are both utterly shocked.

A huge file sizing up to 50ZB was downloaded from the Local Mainframe!

One factor making this a huge variable to all their plans is that that huge program was an unknown element and yet it was missing until this day.

Joana Cruz is dead yet until her death, she had no idea what it was that she handled to Bozkovich.

She didn’t even have an idea who he was exactly and only knew that what she’d done would kill her and that made her lose her mind. In the end, the interrogators didn’t find out anything from her.

Until they solve where the missing prototype is, an additional variable aside from what was already in the table was unacceptable. Any more and they’ll begin to lose their grasp on the plan.

Now, the current Queen Brynhild XIV is even fond of Rex Kingsley. If Rex does become the King of Christiana Monarchy, he would then get access to the UNICORN Vaults as a World Noble. Although it hardly affects their overall plan, this was still an uncontrollable variable. This has to be controlled.

As such, putting pressure to both “Mitra” and the Queen was part of it and another part was that it was fun watching them scramble to resolve this tiny issue, pulling their attention away from Project Salvation which solves the concerns of those two old men.

And yet…..

Just as the old men were thinking of their win, the man in question, the “Mitra” who was walking with a firm presence beside the Christiana Heir, for an instance, looked up the ceiling.

Although it only lasted a single moment and he also looked back and calmed down the frantic girl at his right arm, it still made the hearts of the old men and women in the ball room.

He.… is he aware that they were talking about him just now was it all just mere coincidence?

Even Chronos who was supposed to be calm at this moment was shocked. He saw it clearly. Their gazes met —Rex and his— and he clearly saw the young man smiling at him.

* * * * *

Alas, who could have predicted?

From the moment Rex had learned that Amanda was kidnapped, he had already spread his bugs in Lausanne and this Hotel was one of the focuses he emphasized the surveillance for.

Although there was the risk of high-level AIs like Cortana entering their established domain, Rex is prepared to fight it out with them using himself as the battlefield and his mind as the weapon.

And now that he was already here, he wouldn’t be missing this chance to take a look at the faces of his real and possible enemies.

He might not be able to do something to them now but knowing their faces was still one good thing.

At that, although he was surprised to discover that that old man in Goldwyn City was also his enemy, it was already something he prepared for deep in his heart.

The words they’ve talked about, the things they all said, the whispers they made, the gestures they all did… Cortana had already archived every World Nobles’ actions in this place.

Although the security team of the place has made sure that the mainframe of the hotel was solid and firmly protected from outside hacking, THAT was only effective if the hacker herself was weak and hasn’t set up her own network mainframe before their hotel’s own defenses were even made.

In the end, Cortana was still the strongest AI and she held supreme grasp to the hotel’s entire frame and could “see” and “hear” everything happening inside it like the back of her hand.

And in this case, everything she knew, Rex also knew as well. She had confirmed the threats and with Rex’s own paranoia about security, started to plan counter espionage tactics to these confirmed enemies of the world-level.

And yes, he hasn’t met with Queen Brynhild. But he was still informed by Margrave Bryn on the way to this place that “she will stand by his side” all the way through until Amanda became Queen.

Of course she was also unaware that he can hack into almost anywhere and “infiltrate” their secret area to watch over the young achievers. To hear her declaring that she would want him to be King, Rex couldn’t help smiling and just as he wanted to look up at that time, he saw “Chronos” seeming to be looking at his direction as well.

And so, why not smile back? After all, this is war.

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Rex shaking the heavens!!!

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