Edge of the Storm

With the arrival of "Schreiber," played by Old Zheng, the members of "Order" present quickly split into two factions.

"Good Night", "Paper Kite", and "Ren Gu" clearly maintained a wary and vigilant attitude towards "Schreiber's" uninvited arrival.

Although they knew that from the perspective of the "big picture," it was impossible to fight "Schreiber" here.

After all, Schreiber is, in this case, a "Partner."

However, the group clearly did not approve of Schreiber's direct involvement in the "Action Meeting."

But on the contrary...

"Loquat Candy," "Xiao Nian," and "Dionysus" clearly didn't care much, and even accepted and welcomed "Schreiber's" addition.

Currently, opinions have diverged between the two sides. Since the identity of the "Highest Level leader" in the team was not confirmed beforehand, the old tradition of "Order" and majority rule should be followed.

The seven people are now divided into two groups, three against three...

Lin Yu, who had not yet expressed his opinion, naturally became the key.

After all, it was through him that "Schreiber" achieved this cooperation with "Order".

"Good Night" looked at Lin Yu: "Xi Ba, Comrade Lin Yu... tell me, isn't it a bit against the rules that 'Schreiber' can directly participate in our internal meetings?"

Upon hearing Good Night's words, Lin Yu silently glanced in Old Zheng's direction.

How could he possibly let Old Zheng leave? After all...

Old Zheng was here because Lin Yu sent him.

However... Lin Yu didn't want to make it too obvious, after all, he already had some kind of connection with "Schreiber", and Lin Yu still didn't want to show his relationship with "Schreiber" too closely in front of the people of "Order".

So Lin Yu also tapped the table and looked in Old Zheng's direction.

"Didn't we agree beforehand... you do your thing, we'll take our actions, and we won't interfere with each other..."

"First you sent people to attack our organization's 'Xiao Nian' and 'Good Night,' and now you've shown up right in front of us. What are you trying to do?"

As Old Zheng heard Lin Yu's question, he also received basic instructions from Lin Yu on how to respond through his Mental Power.

However, Lin Yu's instructions were not particularly specific about the lines themselves, but only gave a general direction, so Old Zheng was still relatively improvising.

He sat up straight and looked at Lin Yu.

"Correction... it wasn't an attack, it was an 'assessment'."

Lin Yu looked at Old Zheng, staring at him as he said, "Even the 'assessment'... is completely different from what we agreed on beforehand," Schreiber.

Old Zheng sighed, "Because the situation has changed... Do you think you really wanted to appear in front of your 'Order' group like this? I'm also afraid that you guys will team up and beat me up, okay...?"

"I'm here because the operation in the City That City That Never Sleeps is going very differently from what I expected—you've all realized that, haven't you?"

"This investigation into 'Supreme Evolution' isn't about digging up forgotten evidence from a settled history. Although the 'Secretary' and their cooperation happened in the Previous Version, and it seems that 'Supreme Evolution' has gone bankrupt and the 'Creator' is dead... in reality, the City That Never Sleeps has never truly let this behemoth, which once nearly rivaled the Three Great Corporations, rest in peace."

"Recently, the forces that have refocused their attention on 'Supreme Evolution' are definitely not just us 'Otherworlder.' Truth Company, Divine Power Group, Universal Chamber of Commerce... Duke, President, Royal Nobles... they are all coveting something."

"Even the title of 'Creator' doesn't seem to have completely disappeared now."

As Old Zheng spoke, he braced his hands on the table. "Under these circumstances, of course I need to reassess and confirm your abilities— 'Dionysus,' 'Loquat Candy,' 'Ren Gu,' 'Xiao Nian,' 'Good Night,' 'Paper Kite'... and you, 'Director,' in my eyes, each of you is a 'key figure' who absolutely cannot die here."

"Too many 'Player' have already perished within the Shenzhen... I don't want any more 'Player' to die in the near future."

"Of course, I have a good grasp of your individual abilities and combat strength... so what I need to assess is your background in the City That Never Sleeps —in other words, how well 'Xiao Nian' understands the various forces in the City That Never Sleeps, and how close she is to the eldest princess of the Solence Family."

"To be honest, I didn't really want to expose my trump card and identity to you 'Order' like this—after all, even after this cooperation, I'll still be coming to the Barren Realm to run [Instance]... Frankly speaking, I know that I'm not someone that most organizations, including yours, like. But the reason I can still live in this world and move freely anywhere that isn't imprisoned in the Eternal Prison is entirely because I'm cautious enough and 'mysterious' enough."

"But this time, to ensure you guys don't run into any trouble, I even risked exposing myself to you—once you seven go back and write a report, everyone in 'Order' will know my background and backing in the Barren Realm. Just thinking about it makes me uneasy," Old Zheng sighed, taking a big gulp of his Coffee. "So... you guys shouldn't worry about whether I participate in the meeting for 'procedural justice.' You still don't seem to realize how dire the situation is in City That Never Sleeps right now."

Xiao Nian spoke up, "Although I didn't mind you coming to the meeting, is the situation in City That Never Sleeps really that bad? The one who attacked 'Director' and 'Ren Gu' was 'Conception,' not Native of City That Never Sleeps, but a 'Player,' and he didn't come because he was commissioned by any faction."

"And the two people who attacked me and Comrade 'Good Night' were sent by you—although she is the Miss of the Nightless Sky Family, her movements should only reflect your will, not the will of the family behind her, right?"

Old Zheng nodded slightly when he heard Xiao Nian's words.

"You're right... You haven't encountered any real danger yet, and you've even spent the whole morning investigating 'Supreme Evolution' and dealing with any troublesome matters from the forces of the City That Never Sleeps."

"Perhaps you've sensed that the 'Solence Family' has given you the green light, and perhaps even the Native of the City That Never Sleeps you've encountered haven't realized what's about to happen... But all of this is only the beginning."

"Do you know how many years it has been Family Head of the Solence Family made a public appearance or personally issued any instructions? Let me tell you, it's been nine years."

"How long has Paris been President of Truth Company? Eleven years—and even longer if you count the time he spent as vice President."

"How long ago was the last time a Duke heir and A-Class supervisor died under suspicious Murder Case without the involvement of 'Player'? The answer is... thirty-three years—the last time such a case occurred was before the war against 'Supreme Evolution' ended!"

"So many signals are enough to prove that we are standing on the brink of yet another war—except for the Silla people over there, everyone here should have studied junior high school history, right..."

"The event that ignited the World War, before the outbreak of the war, was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, a Duke."

"Although his death was not the cause of the world war—after all, 'trigger' and 'cause' must be distinguished in exams—it can still be seen as a 'signal'."

"A sign that something big is about to happen."

"It is precisely because of this impending storm and the looming threat of war that I am sitting here—think carefully, do I look like someone who would want to work closely with you?"

Hearing this, "Good Night", "Paper Kite" and "Ren Gu" were actually somewhat persuaded.

After all, what Old Zheng was trying to express was simply... special times call for special treatment.

"Order" never forbids its members from cooperating with "Player" Expelled Organization under special circumstances.

After all, "Player" need to complete [Instance]... What if there are cooperative [Instance]? They can't just give up because they're matched with "Marauders" members, right?

Although "Order" is strictly Discipline, its Discipline is not entirely unreasonable—on the contrary, in special circumstances, it gives its members a great deal of autonomy.

However, Good Night still had some doubts.

He scratched his head, looked at Old Zheng, and asked, "Xi Ba, I believe what you're saying... but I have to ask—is the situation in Xi Ba City That Never Sleeps really that 'critical'? Will it really escalate to the point of 'war'?"

Old Zheng nodded. "Actually, the City That Never Sleeps has been under conditions ripe for a 'war' for quite some time now—any little information about the top echelons would tell you that two of the Five Great Families are currently in a critical period of 'power transition'."

"The Nightless Sky Family has confirmed its new Chosen of God Candidate, and the competition for the position of Family Head has entered a fierce stage; while the Saint Orchid Family... a new Family Head is about to be born."

"In addition, the Chosen of Life of the Mercury Family has died, and the Chosen of God position is temporarily vacant... well, at least nominally. Therefore, the Autumn Family and the Mercury Family will inevitably face a new round of struggle."

"This means that five Royal Nobles and the top powers of five City That Never Sleeps are all in a period of turmoil and instability... It is not a low-probability event that Company War or a localized 'proxy' war will break out."

"In this situation, isn't it dangerous enough that 'Supreme Evolution,' a company that could create a large number of senior executives and allow candidates and Family Head Royal Nobles to cultivate a large number of cronies thirty years ago, is once again attracting attention?"