Tommy Lloyd's Head Was Full of Question Marks

There are only three days left.

On Glass Island, they find a kidnapped person, but the only clue they have is a name.

Tommy couldn't even imagine how difficult this task would be.

Not to mention, he also had to kill the demon possessed by the Shadow Fiend in order to take Iver back.

But honestly, that kind of thing was actually simpler for Tommy. After all, having a clear goal meant having a way to achieve it. What Tommy feared most was not knowing how to start.

Tommy's feelings were incredibly complex at that moment... Regret mixed with fear, resentment mixed with uncontrollable rage.

He had always known that taking action against Iver would bring him no benefit. If Iver had chosen his side, Tommy would have undoubtedly protected him to the death, even considering him one of his own loyal followers. The problem was, Iver had sided with Boca.

Boca didn't even hide his purpose.

He would definitely make a move if he had the chance to surpass him. At that point, he would have to die—from this perspective, he was issuing the order for his own survival.

The only problem was that he was blinded by jealousy and anxiety... He could have chosen a more subtle approach, but he was too hasty.

Vice President Boca, who was close behind, made him lose his head, so he planned to weaken Boca's power—if killing Iver had any consequences, Boca would take the blame, and he could also cut off the entire Lloyd's's and resign as a matter of course.

Even if they don't kill him, they can still sow discord between Iver and Boca, thus indirectly reducing Boca's power. They might even have a chance to win Iver over to their side.

After all, it was Boca who suggested attacking Iver.

All I did was emphasize the attitude of the Noble Red side and demand that Boca increase their bets and not let them off the hook. From my perspective, there was nothing wrong with that.

To be honest, Tommy has been reviewing the situation repeatedly until now, and he still doesn't think there's anything wrong with his plan.

He was not wrong.

It's all because of bad luck.

How could he possibly have guessed that the Grand Arbitrator Meg would intervene over such a trivial matter?

Iver was merely the second son of the Moriarty Family, and even an adopted son like himself. So what if he was an adopted son, even if he had some ability? Besides, he had an older brother and a younger sister; the family line hadn't died out. Old Moriarty died without any reaction, so how come something happened to Iver that alarmed Meg? His strength was clearly not great, and he didn't possess any particularly noteworthy talent...

He's only at the First Level at eighteen, and he hasn't published any academic works. His grades are said to be just average, but he hasn't done any research or made any inventions.

What was it about him that was untouchable? Tommy still couldn't understand why Iver could alarm Meg and make Meg personally pressure him for his sake.

This is a completely unpredictable situation!

She had never interfered in political affairs before. Because if she helped either side, it could spark speculation within the Round Table Hall and lead to chaos in Avalon. It was like the slightest movement of a fish stirring up the water on the shore.

Meg hasn't lifted a finger for at least five years... almost a decade. Even as the royal family was cursed and died one after another, she remained steadfast. Under these circumstances, it's entirely reasonable to assume that Meg no longer wants to act.

But it's too late to regret it now. He's already been cursed.

That was the "final arbitration" personally issued by the "Grand Arbitrator," the highest version of the "Word of Power" used by all Law Mage on the Path of Authority. Even those Path of Transcendence and are proficient in curses cannot come into contact with this curse—it is a delayed-onset Word of Power damage, not a curse, but closer to a contract.

He is the president of Lloyd's and also the president of the Avalon Merchants Association.

The Round Table Hall has a total of about 120 people, but only about 70 or 80 people regularly attend meetings. The number of attendees only increases when the proposals involve their personal interests or when the matter is of great importance.

Tommy indirectly sponsored more than fifty people, all of whom were regular attendees at the Round Table Hall Conference ... In other words, he had essentially controlled two-thirds of the seats in the Round Table Hall under normal circumstances through bribery and other means. Furthermore, because of the existence of the Inspectorate, these people dared not collude with each other, and therefore were unaware that others were also under his control, meaning it would be difficult for them to unite and betray him.

Forcing these knights to pass laws unfavorable to them might be difficult. But his words still carry weight with ambiguous proposals.

With Meg loyal to the Queen, the Royal Family largely following the opinions of the Round Table Hall, and the Round Table Hall generally yielding to his own, Tommy could indeed be considered an underground emperor—although issuing orders cost a great deal of money each time, he could ultimately arbitrarily change a national bill to suit his own will.

Even if the knights didn't know which Round Table Knights were controlled by Tommy with money, they were aware that the laws passed in recent years were mostly in favor of merchants. Therefore, even the Inspectorate dared not act arbitrarily against Lloyd's.

Even if they knew Lloyd's's was involved in dangerous goods smuggling, so what? Many inspectors had received his sponsorship, and someone would always call him beforehand before an investigation. Sometimes the inspectors were so enthusiastic that the phone would be busy for half an hour.

Meg's statement that no one dared to touch her was true. And her statement that she dared to touch him was also true. That's why Tommy respected her so much...because such a powerful figure could no longer be influenced through the Round Table Hall. If Tommy ordered the knights to target Meg, they would immediately turn against him.

But what puzzled Tommy was what had gotten into the old woman today.

Is she nearing her death and already making arrangements for her passing?

"I hope she dies soon."

Tommy cursed viciously, hurling a few vicious insults.

He thought for a long time, then started making phone calls in his office.

His first phone call was to Vice President Boca.

The phone was answered instantly after only one ring, clearly Boca had been standing next to it the whole time.

"Mr. Boca," Tommy said in a deep voice, "Something unexpected happened last night. Can you explain that to me?"

He knew, of course, that Boca hadn't done it. Because Boca had no motive to have "Aleister" kidnap Iver.

But that didn't stop him from pushing Boca out as a scapegoat first—if he wanted to get the whole Round Table Hall to help him investigate Aleister, he had to find them a scapegoat beforehand.

We can't let the investigation end up implicating ourselves.

Boca's expression darkened on the other end of the phone.

His spiritual intuition, stemming from his extraordinary abilities, allowed him to clearly perceive the malice and threat in Tommy's words.

"What, Lloyd?"

But Boca didn't back down. "You've come to show off your victory to me, haven't you?"

Tommy Lloyd was somewhat surprised to hear the hostility in Boca's voice.

Under normal circumstances, Boca would simply back down. That's just the kind of person he is... seemingly serious and composed, but actually quite cowardly. Even with inside information, his investment strategies are extremely cautious. Before the Noble Red Society began interfering with Lloyd's's, Boca was a well-known advocate of coexistence.

Lloyd's was already plotting to usurp the throne at that time. In fact, they had been planning this ever since Lloyd Prince.

Now that they are only half a step away from completing the task, Vice President Boca has instead taken a step back.

He believed that a group of businessmen were incapable of governing a country, and that their current unity was due to the Round Table Hall and the monarchy. However, if they were to successfully usurp the throne, they would fight amongst themselves for their own interests. From this perspective, the best scenario was for the country to function normally while they enjoyed privileges without having to exert any effort in doing so.

Therefore, Boca did not approve of seizing power; he still hoped that the Du Lac Family would rule Avalon and maintain maximum stability. Many knights in the Round Table Hall shared this view—they were tired of the overly rule-bound Avalon, but did not want too much change.

I want freedom, but only a little.

But for Lloyd, that was treason.

A merchant usurping the throne is unacceptable to the general public. Not to mention he's Mixed-Blood Giant, with cannibalistic blood flowing through his veins. He needs immense power to force them into accepting this desperate measure—and Tommy Lloyd's chosen source of pressure is the Stibium Kingdom.

But Boca's claim is that he's leeching off him.

Those who find Lloyd's approach too extreme, upon seeing the more conservative Boca Juniors, are more likely to accept Boca's ideas. The stronger Lloyd's oppression, the easier it is to drive them towards Boca's side.

This is why he has always been an enemy of Boca and wanted to wipe them out completely.

The blood of rage within him was still boiling. Tommy had already harbored murderous intent towards Vice President Boca several times.

In other words, he wasn't confident he could kill the other person on the spot.

If Boca had escaped by accident, the situation would have become complicated and tense... That's why Boca is alive. Otherwise, he would have eliminated his mortal enemy by physical means long ago.

Even though he had already revealed his murderous intent, Boca was still willing to obey his orders— Tommy ordered Boca to send stronger men to attack Iver, such as the Blade Demon and Lash Demon under his command.

He actually did send them out.

—That's the Blade Demon!

Although it is only at the Third Level in terms of power, it can defeat Fourth Level head-on. With the help of the Lash Demon and the Demon Dog to restrain it, it can even defeat multiple Fourth Level.

Moreover, what Blade Demon is most proud of is its powerful pursuit ability—it is useless to run away from Blade Demon, and its obsession with chasing down the opponent to death even if it means mutual destruction is extremely threatening in one-on-one battles.

When Boca sent Blade Demon, Tommy felt that he was truly giving up on Iver. Because even at this point, he still didn't dare to turn against him... Tommy only felt that he was terribly weak, utterly laughable.

But now, Boca has taken a tougher stance.

Why did you suddenly become so assertive at this time?

Tommy was completely confused.

There are just too many unreasonable aspects to this matter.

Why did Meg suddenly take action? Why did Boca suddenly become so tough? Where did that demon possessed by the Shadow Fiend come from?

Chapter Two will be a little later, probably around the same time as yesterday!

Ugh, I had to get up at nine again today! My sleep schedule is starting to break down again, which is a bad sign! (Panic)