Chapter 166: Tommy’s Head Was Full of Question Marks
Only three days.
To find a kidnapped person on Glass Island with only one clue—a name. Tommy couldn’t even fathom how difficult this task truly was.
Not to mention, he also had to kill the Fiend possessed by the Shadow Demon to get Eivass back. But frankly, the latter was somewhat simpler for Tommy. After all, with a clear target, there was a way to accomplish it. What Tommy feared most was a situation where he didn’t know how to proceed.
At this moment, Tommy’s mood was incredibly complex… regret mixed with fear, resentment mingled with uncontrollable rage.
He had always known that taking action against Eivass would bring no good. If Eivass had chosen his side, Tommy would have fiercely protected him, even seeing him as a direct subordinate. But the problem was, Eivass had sided with Boka.
Boka hadn’t even hidden his intentions. As long as he saw an opportunity to surpass Tommy, he would strike. And when that time came, Tommy would die—from this perspective, his order was for his own survival.
The only issue was that he was blinded by jealousy and anxiety… he could have chosen a more subtle approach, but he was too eager. Vice President Boka’s relentless pursuit made him lose his head, so he intended to weaken Boka’s forces. If killing Eivass had consequences, Boka would have to bear the blame. Tommy could then cut ties with the entire Lloyd Society and resign with clear conscience. Even if Eivass wasn’t killed, it could create a rift between Eivass and Boka, indirectly weakening Boka’s influence. There was even a chance to bring Eivass to his side. After all, it was Boka who had suggested attacking Eivass. As for Tommy, he had merely emphasized the attitude of the Noble Red, demanding that Boka should increase his stake and not hold back. From his own standpoint, there was nothing wrong with his actions.
Honestly, Tommy had replayed the events repeatedly up to this point and still didn’t believe his plan was flawed. He was not wrong. It was purely bad luck.
—How could he have predicted that Grand Arbitrator Meg would intervene for such a trivial matter?
Eivass was merely the second son of the Moriarty Family, an adopted son just like Tommy himself. What was so special about an adopted son, even if he had some abilities? Moreover, he had an older brother and a younger sister; the family was far from without heirs. Old Moriarty died without causing any reaction, so why would Eivass’s predicament alarm Meg? His strength was clearly not great, nor did he possess any talent that needed special consideration…
He’s only First Tier at eighteen years old, with no academic publications. His grades were reportedly decent, but he had no significant research or inventions. What was so untouchable about him? Tommy still couldn’t understand why Eivass could alarm Meg, forcing her to pressure him personally.
—This was a completely unpredictable situation! She had never interfered in political affairs before. Because helping any one side could lead to speculation within the Round Table Hall, and subsequently destabilize Avalon. It was like a slight movement of a fish stirring up the water by the shore.
Meg hadn’t acted for at least five years… perhaps close to ten. Even when the Royal Family was cursed and died one after another, she never took action. Under these circumstances, it was perfectly reasonable to assume that Meg no longer wished to intervene.
But it was too late to regret it now. He had already been cursed. It was the “Final Arbitration” personally issued by the “Grand Arbitrator,” the highest form of “Word Spirit” used by all Law Masters of the Path of Authority. Even those skilled in the Transcendent Path of curses could not touch this type of curse—it was a delayed Word Spirit damage, not a curse but closer to a contract.
And he, as the President of the Lloyd Society and also the President of the Avalon Merchants’ Guild. The Round Table Hall, with its various factions, comprised over a hundred and twenty people. However, only about seventy to eighty attended meetings regularly. The number of attendees increased only when proposals involved their direct interests or when the matters were particularly significant.
Tommy indirectly sponsored over fifty of them, all regular attendees of Round Table Hall meetings… In other words, through bribery and other means, he had effectively controlled two-thirds of the regularly attending seats in the Round Table Hall. Furthermore, due to the existence of the Inspection Department, these individuals dared not collude with each other. This meant they had no idea that others were also under his control, making it difficult for them to unite and betray him.
Forcing these knights to pass unfavorable laws might be difficult. But for ambiguous proposals, his word still carried weight. With Meg loyal to the Queen, the Royal Family generally following the Round Table Hall’s opinions, and the Round Table Hall largely obeying his directives, Tommy could be considered an underground emperor—although every command incurred significant costs, he could still arbitrarily twist the kingdom’s legislative agenda to his will.
Even if the knights didn’t know which Round Table knights were controlled by Tommy’s wealth, they were aware that most of the laws passed in recent years heavily favored merchants. As a result, even the Inspection Department dared not arbitrarily target the Lloyd Society.
—Even if they knew the Lloyd Society was involved in smuggling dangerous goods, so what? Quite a few people in the Inspection Department had received his sponsorship. When investigations happened, someone would always call him in advance. Sometimes, the inspectors were so enthusiastic that the calls would tie up his phone line for half an hour.
What Meg said, that others dared not touch him—that was true. That she dared to touch him was also true. This was why Tommy respected her so much… because such a powerful individual could no longer be influenced through the Round Table Hall. If Tommy ordered those knights to target Meg, they would immediately defect.
But what puzzled Tommy was, what was wrong with that old woman today? Was she nearing death and now dealing with her final affairs?
“I hope she dies soon,” Tommy cursed venomously, muttering a few choice words. After a long period of thought, he began making calls in his office. His first call was to Vice President Boka. The phone rang only once before being answered instantly. Clearly, Boka had been waiting by the phone.
“Mr. Boka,” Tommy said in a deep voice, “Last night’s events took an unexpected turn. Can you explain it to me?” Of course, he knew Boka wasn’t responsible. Boka had no motive for having “Alistair” kidnap Eivass. But that didn’t stop him from pushing Boka out as a scapegoat. If he wanted the entire Round Table Hall to help him investigate Alistair, he first needed someone to blame. He couldn’t have the investigation lead back to himself.
On the other end of the line, Boka’s expression turned grim. The spiritual intuition of an Extraordinary allowed him to clearly perceive malice and threats in Tommy’s words.
“What is it, Mr. Lloyd?” Boka retorted, not backing down. “Are you here to flaunt your victory?”
Tommy Lloyd was somewhat surprised by the hostility in Boka’s voice. In normal circumstances, Boka would have retreated. That was his nature… he appeared stern and steady, but was actually a very timid person. Even with insider information, his investment strategies were always very cautious. Before the Noble Red Society began interfering with the Lloyd Society, Boka was known as a proponent of coexistence.
At that time, the Lloyd Society already aimed to usurp the throne. In fact, ever since Prince Lloyd of the past, they had been planning for it. Now, with only half a step left to achieve it, Vice President Boka had actually taken half a step back. He believed that merchants could not govern a country properly. Their current unity was due to the presence of the Round Table Hall and the Royal Family above them. But if they truly succeeded in usurking the throne, they would fight amongst themselves over interests. From this perspective, maintaining the normal operation of the entire country while they enjoyed privileges without having to work for them was the ideal scenario. Therefore, Boka did not support seizing power. He still hoped that the Du Lac family would notify Avalon and maintain the most stable operation. Many knights in the Round Table Hall felt the same—they were tired of Avalon’s overly strict rules, but didn’t want too much change. They desired freedom, but only a little.
But to Lloyd, this made him a traitor. For merchants to seize royal power was unacceptable to the general public. Not to mention, he was a mixed-blood giant, with a portion of cannibalistic blood flowing within him. He needed a strong enough oppressive force to leave them no choice but to accept this unavoidable situation—the source of pressure Tommy Lloyd chose was the Star Antimony Kingdom.
However, Boka’s stance was like draining his blood. Those who felt Lloyd was too extreme had Boka’s more conservative faction to look to, making them more likely to accept Boka’s ideology. The more Lloyd exerted pressure, the more he pushed them towards Boka. This was why he always had to be enemies with Boka and wanted to eliminate him completely. The blood of wrath within him was still boiling. Tommy had harbored killing intent towards Vice President Boka several times. It was just that he wasn’t confident he could directly kill him on the spot. If he accidentally let Boka escape, the situation would become complicated and agonizing… Precisely because of this, Boka was still alive. Otherwise, he would have long since physically eliminated his nemesis.
Yet, even though Tommy had revealed his killing intent, Boka was still willing to obey his orders—Tommy ordered Boka to send stronger individuals to attack Eivass, such as the Blade Demon and the Whiplash Demon under his command. And he actually sent them.
—That was a Blade Demon! Although merely Third Tier in terms of Path power when alone, it could defeat a Fourth Tier head-on. With the Whiplash Demon assisting, and the Demonic Hound to distract, it could even defeat multiple Fourth Tiers. Furthermore, the Blade Demon’s most prized attribute was its powerful pursuit ability—fleeing was useless against a Blade Demon. The obsession to pursue and kill the opponent, even at the cost of mutual destruction, was extremely threatening in one-on-one combat.
When Boka dispatched the Blade Demon, Tommy felt that he was truly giving up on Eivass. Because even to that extent, he still didn’t dare to turn against Tommy… Tommy found him terrifyingly weak, worthy of ridicule. But now, Boka had become tough.
—Why did you suddenly become tough at this moment? Tommy’s head was full of questions.
There were too many unreasonable aspects to this matter. Why did Meg suddenly act? Why did Boka suddenly become tough? Where did that Fiend possessed by the Shadow Demon come from?
Chapter 2 should be a while longer, likely similar to yesterday! Damn it, I woke up at nine again today! My sleep schedule is starting to slip again, this is a bad sign! (Panicked)
