1131 Round Table Meeting
Evure God Realm. "What was that? What just happened?"
A round table meeting took place in one of the safest places of Shen Ze, the center of Evure God Clan's territory.
Thousands of stars launched themselves at the Evure God Clan out of nowhere, causing tons of damage to life and property. There were no signs of it arriving before, and the stars were so strange that they weren't stopped by the defenses of the clan. Only after painstaking efforts did the officials of the clan make things work and stop. However, the damage was immense, and repairing that would take years. Roy had seen the calamity that descended on them. He had a nagging feeling that this was some higher entity toying with him and his clan. He kept his feelings to himself and listened to what his clan members had to say. "There's no information. Not a single one." A person with black hair and red eyes, signature of the clan's men, stated.
"How is this possible?" A lady with silver hair asked. "Could be a natural calamity or…"
The officials began expressing their concerns and views one by one. They were smart enough and made comments regarding a higher entity that Roy was thinking of. He felt relieved hearing those.
After a whole day, when they could not make heads or heels of the situation, they decided to move onto other topics.
The very first thing they talked about was: "What happened to the world at the corner?"
A few years ago, a world had suddenly appeared in Shen Ze. It went unnoticed by many since it was in a desolate area, away from the main territories. This place could be considered a random countryside that no vehicle passes through. Nobody expects anything from here, but it made the clan officials curious as to why they did not have any information on that world yet. Hence, this was on their agenda today.
Roy did not give his input and listened to the entire conversation. His silence got noticed soon by a lady, who turned to him and asked, "What do you think we should do, Roy?"
Roy calmly leaned forwards and answered, "We must focus on ourselves and not worry about the rest."
The clan was weakened due to the calamity and everyone was aware of it. Venturing in strange waters wasn't a great idea and what Roy said wasn't wrong. Most had this opinion in their minds. "Then, we'll move according to Roy." The lady looked at everyone and said. "Since this is settled, let's move onto the next topic."
The next topic was about the potential threats to the clan and overcoming them. They talked about all the enemies they may have, and mid conversation, something piqued Roy's interest.
"There's been abnormalities in the center and among the Asuras."
The spies of the clan stated that in the center, there has been some unrest. They could feel a new alliance forming, which was being backed by the Qing Mei Sect, and a potentially new threat appearing out of nowhere. As for the Asuras, the spies could not figure out how they failed to capture the Calamitous Dune World. It was said that it could be the work of a secret organization, but then again, there was no evidence to back it up.
The Evure God Clan officials spent a good few hours discussing which new secret organization could it be. There shouldn't be any they don't know about, since half of those belong to them and the rest to the Asuras. Discussing further, the lady who broke Roy's silence before, looked at him again and asked, "What's your opinion on this, Roy?"
Roy sighed internally and thought, 'Leave me alone, sis.'
The silver-haired, red-eyes lady in luxurious black clothes was Roy's sister, one of the most important officials of the clan. She and Roy both were legendaries, but their statuses were different. Roy was no doubt a top official, but his sister was a step further up, being of the three greats of the clan. She could command the entirety of the clan except two with a single lift of her finger. That's how powerful she was. Despite being tired of his sister constantly putting him into the conversation, Roy maintained a professional attitude and answered, "That's a threat we cannot avoid. Some of our manpower needs to be invested into this to ensure we do not get attacked while we're vulnerable."
"Roy is right." Roy's sister said to everyone present, getting an understandable nod from all. "We need to check on this."
"Let's make Roy investigate this." One of the men around the table said. "He has nothing to do for the coming few years. It should be a leisurely trip to investigate. If there's anything that requires more hard work, Roy can make a call, and we can send a whole team."
Roy tried his best to not rub his temples out of tiredness. He had been moving around just about everyday for clan related work, now he had to go investigate this as well. What a hassle. "Any objections, Roy?" His sister asked. "None." Roy answered. He got up and buttoned his suit, then said, "I'll be leaving for Evergreen Rosette then."
"Why?" "The most powerful among the central alliance is there. They have the highest chance of creating a secret organization for the Asuras or causing trouble. From them, we can find out the people in the central alliance wanting to go against us."
Roy felt a headache. He did his best to not sigh and nodded his head in a professional manner. "I'll take up on that."
"Then it's settled." Roy's sister answered. "Roy will get back to us after investigating the matter. Let's move onto…"
With that, Roy was allowed to leave the boring round table discussion. Once he was gone, the discussion continued for a few more hours. "I believe we shouldn't let the unexplored world be unchecked? What if it's the place where the secret organization's hiding?" "I agree. That's the only territory left to be explored."
"Who will go there? We cannot afford to send more than a single individual." The clan was short on manpower due to the recent calamity. They could not afford to send others even if they wanted as the damage was of a high degree. After some discussion, they decided to go through the list of unemployed youngsters of the clan. They were doing nothing and it was only just exploring a territory. They could do nothing while roaming around, it didn't matter. "Let's send the most rebellious one outside." "Disagree." Two people talked among themselves. "If we send the most rebellious one, they would be further unhappy and it'll be hard to manage them."
"Agreed."
"Disagree. We should send them to discipline them." The conversation got heated as the rebellious kids belonged to the people around the round table. It ended when Roy's sister interjected, saying, "If I can send my loved one to places of great risk, you should be able to too. Stop trying to cover up, saying you cannot manage them."
The officials went quiet. They were seen through instantly. As expected of one of the three greats. "We'll send the one who's free and a Legendary Rank who can protect themselves. There's not going to be any more discussion on this topic."
"Then… I suggest Jacqueline's name."
The officials went quiet once again when someone said that. Jacqueline was the most rebellious in the clan. If she was made to do things she did not want to, she would cause a mayhem that would be difficult to gauge. Nobody wanted to deal with such troubles. Everyone already had too much on their plates. "Okay. Jacqueline it is." Roy's sister gave the verdict. The table went silent once again. "Your excellency, are you sure?" Someone couldn't help but say out loud. Roy's sister didn't lash out and calmly answered, "Yes. Let us utilize the power of our youths."
"Your excellency…"
People wanted to gasp, but held themselves back. Utilize? Power? Of the youths? When did one of the three greats learn how to joke? Were they secretly watching standup comedy?
Jacqueline was the last person whose power could be utilized. How was she not understanding things?
Nobody voiced their complaints. They simply nodded in grave disappointment.
"The meeting's dismissed then. Call Jacqueline, I'd like to meet her before she leaves."
Everyone got up and left after bowing. Only Roy's sister was at the table. Soon, a girl with blonde hair and heavy dark circles, with a haggard expression, walked limply towards Roy's sister. "Evening, your excellency Isa."
"Sit, Jackie." Isa said.
Jacqueline obeyed her command and sat down. She fidgeted around and twirled her finger in her hair. Isa didn't talk. Instead, she poured Jacqueline and herself a cup of tea. Serving her the cup, she took a sip and said, "Jackie, you will be going on a mission."
"I don't want to." Jackie took the cup and was fidgeting, but answered swiftly nonetheless.
"It's not a request, but an order." Isa calmly said. Jacqueline took a sip of tea and answered while putting the cup down with a loud clink, "There will be consequences."
"Doesn't matter. You have to go."
"Be prepared." Jacqueline said and left. Isa sipped tea once again and thought, 'I hope this experience brings some change in you, little lass.'