The meeting had been a success.
At least, that was how Huai Shi saw it.
Though some people were dissatisfied with the outcome and some voiced fierce opposition, in the end, everyone had been like elderly men and women attending a neighborhood homeowners' meeting, grumbling under their breaths before leaving with the complimentary "bottled water" and "eggs."
Even Huai Shi was somewhat surprised.
It was unbelievable.
He had miscalculated.
Putting himself in their shoes, if he had been Solomon, he would definitely have hidden eight hundred axemen here. Once all of you had gathered, he would smash a cup as the signal, have the axemen rush out and surround the entire concert hall, then raise their blades and chop the opponents into fine mince, without a speck of fat left on top...
Or perhaps other agencies and organizations with their own agendas would have used thunderous force to utterly snuff out the Phantom Agency, whose importance had now rapidly soared.
Yet Solomon had actually remained still?
There had been troublemakers, but in the end, none of them had affected Ai Qing's plan.
The existence of a third party had itself been a distant objective.
Using Solomon's intelligence as bait to gather representatives from everyone in one place, Ai Qing had not intended to simply shake her body and make them all bow their heads in submission.
After all, the authority of the Phantom Agency was itself a double-edged sword. No one liked the feeling of being restrained by others. All Ai Qing needed was an opportunity to shake hands and talk with everyone else.
As long as there was room for discussion, everything could be negotiated.
Besides, no one would refuse her terms.
What she offered was only a retreat.
A retreat that appeared to allow free coming and going.