by <unknown>
In the previous Pro League, Rivervale barely eked out a victory against Team Key in the semifinals, allowing China to dominate the finals. Though they failed to win the championship, they still received endless praise. This time, they really had a chance to obtain the championship, shouldering all the expectations of the Chinese players.
The date of the finals was set a few days later, and the forums were discussing this matter enthusiastically.
Outside of the players’ field of vision, a new regular meeting of the Beyond Grade A Association was held.
A series of Beyond Grade A remote projections descended on the headquarters of the Beyond Grade A Association, walking into the round-table meeting room and sitting down, whispering to their neighbors.
Sitting in the President’s seat, Manison looked at this harmonious scene, glancing at the empty Vice President’s seat as he felt as though the air was fresh and the atmosphere relaxed.
At this moment, an untimely voice sounded outside the door, breaking his harmony and tranquility.
“Hehe, I’m back! Did everyone miss me?”
Hearing the familiar voice, everyone turned around to see Han Xiao, who had vanished for a few months, walking into the conference room with a smile that asked to be slapped.
“Oh, Black Star’s back!”
“It’s been a few months, but you look pretty good!”
“Where did you go these few months? To not even inform us.”
Upon seeing Han Xiao, many people present smiled, beginning to chat and wave to him. Even the direct subordinates of the three Universal Civilizations also nodded in greeting, and the place became lively
Han Xiao was quite comfortable in the Beyond Grade A circle, having a good relationship with most people. He smiled in response to the crowd, walking to his seat and plonking himself down before turning to look at Manison and joking, “I heard that you’ve been very comfortable these few months. It’s alright, I’m back now.”
Manison displayed a passive expression as though he had not seen or heard him. The moment Han Xiao appeared, he had put on this poker face.
Seeing this, all the Beyond Grade As were full of spirits, their eyes jumping between both of them as they revealed expectant expressions.
A meeting without the Vice President spitting nonsense did not feel complete. The last few months’ meetings had been too dull, causing everyone to feel drowsy and lethargic. With Black Star finally back, they could enjoy his repertoire again. No one allowed their minds to wander.
At this moment, Kasuyi also walked in, and after some greetings, he sat in his position. Everyone could not help but cast suspicious glances.
The duo had disappeared for several months and reappeared at the same time, which left a lot to their imagination.
Manison also looked at Kasuyi a few times before suppressing the doubts in his heart, not asking on the spot.
Surveying his surroundings, he coughed twice before saying, “Since everyone is present, let’s start…”
Before he could finish, Han Xiao immediately raised his hands. “I have something to say.”
Manison was interrupted in his opening speech, but he was not angry at all. He was already used to it. As long as Black Star was present, he would never have the chance to finish a sentence.
Everyone else’s eyes lit up.
It’s here. It’s about to get nasty. Black Star is indeed our source of joy. He’s so dedicated that he starts his job the moment he comes.
Han Xiao looked at everyone, seeing them anticipating what he was about to say. He then turned to Manison and spoke in a deep voice.
“Recently, I’ve been thinking about it, and I feel that Manison’s Felon technology is not conducive to the unity of the Beyond Grade As. Having this living body transformation is going overboard, and I feel that Manison should take the initiative to abandon his technology, releasing the Felons.”
Hearing this, Manison burst into flames.
This matter had long been tacitly understood by everyone. You did not choose to talk about this a few months ago, and suddenly bring up this topic, this is obviously you causing trouble!
The request to give up his Felon technology was obviously a fantasy. Black Star knew that this topic would not produce any results, but he still chose to raise it. In Manison’s eyes, this was just him deliberately picking faults in him.
“Black Star! Don’t be an embarrassment! How long ago was this matter already?” Manison hollered.
“What about it? We don’t have any limitation of a prosecutive period whatsoever. If you can do it, why can’t I say it?” Han Xiao waved his hands. “Ask everyone here, who has no issue with this?”
“That’s right, transforming a living body is not right. While this was before the establishment of the Association, it’s still okay to bring it up.” Kant was happy to see that Black Star had managed to pick on something, and he immediately followed up.
Hearing this, everyone present also began to discuss the issue.
While it had already been a long time since the incident, Manison’s Felon technology had always been a thorn in everyone’s hearts.
Usually, everyone would tacitly not speak about it, but now that someone had dug it up, they would not mind throwing sh*t from the sidelines… The main thing was to provide firepower for Black Star. All those people wished to see the world burn.
Manison’s eyelids twitched, and he boomed, “Enough! Black Star only knows how to fool around, but why are you guys also joining in?” “This sentence is wrong. What fooling around?” Han Xiao crossed his arms, pretending to be serious. “So long as you are still doing this sort of unethical practice, we’re qualified to blame you. Even if you cannot restrain your greed and do not wish to give up this technology, you still have to apologize.”
“Apologize to whom? They were originally my spoils of war, and I have the right to dispose of them as I see fit. I’ve never heard of any reason to apologize to prisoners,” Manison coldly said. “Not apologize to them, but to us. You broke the unity of the Association, and the most important part is that you broke everyone’s trust.” Han Xiao spouted nonsense with a straight face.
“You’re bullsh*tting…” Manison was just about to retort, but a silent voice sounded out at the side, from Kasuyi.
“Mechanic Emperor, your actions indeed are not beneficial to the unity of the Association.”
The moment his voice sounded, everyone stared in shock.
The environment that was noisy and raucous turned silent.
Everyone stared at Kasuyi in unison, feeling a little surprised.
Kasuyi had always been neutral, and he did not help anybody. Besides, he had been long-time friends with Manison, but to think he would actually side with Black Star? Manison was also left stunned
Old Ka actually decided to help Black Star go against me. When did they get so close? Could it be that we are not friends who have played together since we were young?
The two only disappeared for a few months. What did they do together for their relationship to progress so quickly! He closely scrutinized Kasuyi’s passive expression, feeling disbelief at this situation.
Chapter 1208: Birth of a Reign |
“What is the meaning of this?” Manison looked straight at Kasuyi, his tone unfriendly.
Kasuyi sighed, not avoiding his gaze as he softly said, “I meant it literally. I feel that Black Star is right. As the President of the Association, you are a role model. You should really give up on the Felon technology. While this may be a long time ago, before the association was created, we are now advocating unity in our realm, so the transformation of a living body is going too far and will make everyone uncomfortable.”
Manison narrowed his eyes.
This seemed like a premeditated action. If Black Star and Kasuyi had hooked up in private, they would deliberately attack him today to demonstrate the strength of the opposing faction while attacking his prestige, further isolating him.
Of cours
e, there was another possibility. Kasuyi might purely have problems with the Felon technology. Manison had known this old friend for many years. He knew that he did not like to offend anyone, so there should be reasons for him to say this face to face.
Moreover, Old Ka was not someone easily bought over. Manison did not believe that it would only take Black Star a few months to forge such a deep relationship with him.
Or it could also be possible that Black Star has something on Kasuyi… Ok, I’ll ask him after this meeting
Manison rearranged his mentality, looking away into the audience as he expressionlessly spoke. “How I deal with my spoils is my own freedom. If everyone continues to discuss this topic, there will be no results obtained. Don’t waste time, so let’s have a serious meeting.”
The Felons were his trump card. Everyone understood that it was impossible for him to compromise by threatening him. But this move was undoubtedly part of Black Star’s plan as he knew that Manison would not give up his Felon technology, and he wished to force him to make a stand. In this way, it could at least aggravate the dissatisfaction of most members against him, reducing his prestige as President.
Black Star’s Spacetime Amber could only be regarded as placing people in prison, and it was also a safe method. However, the Felon technology was obtained by conducting human experiments on prisoners, which was much worse.
Even if Manison continued to argue his way out, the situation would just be more unfavorable toward himself. Thus, he directly put on a tough attitude, putting an end to the topic.
He put on this uncompromising attitude, and while it was not out of everyone’s expectations, everyone was a little unhappy about it, like the fox that mourned for the dead rabbit.
Seeing this, Han Xiao decided not to press this topic.
Everyone had already stated their stance, so forcing his way through would not achieve any results but would only disrupt the meeting. Right now, his goal had been achieved, which was to lower the prestige of Old Man Manison. Furthermore, he managed to dig a trap for the latter. Manison was still unaware about the Sanctums, so Han Xiao was basically targeting the information gap.
Han Xiao turned to look at Kasuyi, flashing a tacit smile.
Kasuyi helplessly shook his head. Him stabbing Manison this time was not just to help Black Star consolidate his position but also him thinking for the future. After discovering the Sanctums, his mentality and view of the Association had changed.
After thinking about it, Jayz had mentioned that the Sanctums could only revive someone who was dead, as each Beyond Grade A existence was unique. Thus, was a person transformed into a Felon dead or alive?
Most likely, they were still considered alive. In that case, if a Beyond Grade A was transformed into a Felon, as long as they were not liberated, would they never be able to be resurrected by the Sanctums?
And here was an even more frightening thought… Was there anyone who would utilize the abilities of the Sanctum to set a trap, capturing newly revived Beyond Grade As to turn them into Felons?
Kasuyi shuddered.
In the past, he could reluctantly accept this technology, but the concept of resurrection through the Sanctums subverted his viewpoint in life. If there were no expectations, he would not care, but now knowing that his own life could be continuously prolonged, he found it difficult to tolerate the continued existence of such a threat.
This was just considering from his own point of view. From an overall point, in the long run, the Felon technology would not be conducive to the Association’s control and maintenance of the Sanctum’s ability to resurrect or to the members’ unity. Kasuyi was already able to guess several bad circumstances that could happen in the future. Now it seemed that Manison’s path was absolutely unworkable.
It was foreseeable that, once Black Star managed to develop the ability to resurrect people from the Sanctums, the Mechanic Emperor, who had mastered the Felon technology would inevitably become the target of public criticism. Who would wish to resurrect a Beyond Grade A that knew the Felon technology? By that time, maybe even death would become a luxury for him. If most of the Beyond Grade As went to the extreme, they might work together to send him into the Spacetime Amber to prevent Manison from being resurrected by the three Universal Civilizations to squeeze out his Felon technology.
Kasuyi still had some measure of friendship toward Manison; he did not wish to see him fall into such a desperate state. It could be said that this was for the good of Manison. It was just that only he was aware of the severity. Before Black Star finished his research, the information on the Sanctums could not be disclosed to anyone. As for whether Manison would listen or not, that was his problem. Anyways, Kasuyi felt that he had already shown his brotherhood.
Without Han Xiao fanning the flames, the meeting continued normally, but everyone present was absent-minded, their eyes constantly switching between Han Xiao and Kasuyi with different thoughts on what Han Xiao had actually offered to Kasuyi.
Sorokin was also quietly looking at the duo, feeling envious and jealous.
Kasuyi has also been roped in. Black Star’s influence in the Association is getting larger… He had always remembered the threat of Black Star having seen through his identity. To have his weakness in the hands of others, while he had always wanted to silence him, he feared the repercussions of his actions. Sorokin was reluctant to leave this shell of his.
According to Sorokin’s calculations, the best solution was naturally to use other Beyond Grade As to kill off Black Star while he stayed out of the matter. However, with Black Star’s social circle expanding, he had more friends than enemies, which meant there were fewer candidates for Sorokin to utilize.
There were only so many pinnacle-level Beyond Grade As in the universe. Every friend that Black Star made meant one less potential helper.
“Could it be that I’ll have to be eaten to death by him like this? If I can discover other variables…”
Sorokin’s eyes flashed with darkness.
A few hours passed. The regular meeting ended smoothly, and everyone left with their own thoughts. Kasuyi disconnected the projection link. At this time, his communicator rang, and not surprisingly, it was Manison calling.
He could only sigh, picking up the call and calmly speaking
“What have you called for?”
“Kasuyi, what’s happening between you and Black Star? Does he have a bargaining chip in his hands?” Manison cut to the chase, asking about the meeting incident.
“…Nothing happened.”
Manison frowned before continuing. “You went missing for a few months. Was it because you went with Black Star? What did you encounter?”
“What has it got to do with you?” Kasuyi indifferently replied.
Hearing this, Manison’s expression changed.
He was admitting to it, but from his tone, it was obvious that he was not willing to reveal any intelligence related to Black Star.
It seemed like he had guessed wrongly. Kasuyi was really supporting Black Star, and their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds in the past few months, to the point he was willing to offend Manison for the sake of Black Star.
Manison felt the indifference and estrangement Kasuyi was exuding, and it made him uncomfortable.
This sort of feeling was like having a close companion being pried away by an opponent. The heartache of betrayal. He felt that his social circle was being invaded by Black Star. Everything that once belonged to him was gradually disappearing.
At this moment, Kasuyi said, “Is there anything else? If there’s nothing, I’ll end the call. I’m pretty busy right now.”
Even if this was a private conversion, he was reluctant to engage in any conversation that could cause any leaks. He could only try to chase Manison away.
“Understood.” Manison was silent for a few seconds, suppressing his disappointment before actively disconnecting
Kasuyi put down the communicator, his expression complex and a
little sad.
During the Intelligent Plague, Manison had tried to go for wool but ended up shorn, landing himself in trouble. This caused Kasuyi to change the candidate choice from Manison to Black Star, which allowed such an opportunity to fall into Black Star’s hands. In Kasuyi’s eyes, Manison had chosen short-term gains over the bigger long-term gains. If he had not proceeded so rashly, Kasuyi felt that he would still have called upon Manison to team up. In this case, Manison would also have had a copy of the intelligence in his hands, and he would not be in the dark.
A pity, there were no ‘if’s in reality. “It’s all fate. If I had teamed up with you, then you would be the one with the intelligence advantage now…” Kasuyi shook his head, feeling sorry for Manison.
The undercurrent of the Beyond Grade A Association did not affect the activities of the players. A few days later, the fourth Pro League finals unfolded.
Ratings on the forums broke through all records. If Rivervale carried all the hopes of the Chinese players, then Thunderbolt Python carried the hope of all foreign clubs. Only they could prevent China from establishing a record three version winning reign.
Under the attention of the public, both sides were evenly matched in the first match. While Rivervale was stable, they were hit by the secret tactics that Thunderbolt Python had been hiding up till now. They suffered a loss, losing the first round to Thunderbolt Python, which raised the blood pressure of the Chinese players.
However, in the second and third rounds, Rivervale withstood the pressure and played steadily under the leadership of Frenzied Sword. While there were few exaggerated maneuvers, the team relied on the endurance advantage of the Mechanic class to eke out a small advantage and win both games to take the match point
In the fourth round, Thunderbolt Python tried their hardest, playing cautiously, but they were beaten by Rivervale again and again. In the end, Rivervale won the round and the match, obtaining the championship. Ever since entering the quarter finals, Rivervale’s record of their matches had mostly been a 3:1 victory. The stability of the Mechanic department was fully demonstrated by them, strong with few shortcomings. Under the gazes of countless spectators, the last player of Thunderbolt Python fell in the ring
