The Ryan Family's Audacity

While the emperor of the Empire angrily argued with his ministers, a storm was also beginning to brew in Ryan Family territory.

Inside the family's great hall, Walker Ryan, the current head of the Ryan Family, sat at the head of the room with an imposing air. The family's grand elder sat below him, followed by the other elders.

"Head of the family, Saiwode has some nerve, refusing our demands like that! We have to do something!"

The grand elder was the first to speak, directing his anger straight at Saiwode.

Not long ago, their family had approached Saiwode to discuss the grade of a batch of goods.

But Saiwode hadn't shown them the slightest courtesy. He'd rejected them outright without a word of discussion, claiming it was Xuanshen Island's rule and that no one could break it.

This had enraged the grand elder. In his eyes, Saiwode was merely a merchant, yet he'd dared to humiliate their family so brazenly. He deserved to die.

"But Saiwode has Xuanshen Island behind him. It wouldn't be wise for us to attack him directly."

A different voice spoke up, sounding hesitant.

"So what if Saiwode has Xuanshen Island behind him? Are you saying the Ryan Family is afraid? We're a family of the Linggeste Empire!"

The grand elder glared at him at once, looking ready to pick a fight.

"Enough, Grand Elder. We're holding a family meeting. Even if someone says something wrong, you shouldn't get so worked up."

Walker spoke up, cutting in as he watched the scene.

The grand elder nodded and didn't take it to heart. He simply sat down.

Besides, although the head of the family had said the grand elder was in the wrong, he'd really been implying that the other elder had misspoken. In effect, he'd already made the family's position clear: they would take a hard line.

The head of the family hadn't rebuked the elder who'd just spoken, but he had made his own stance clear: that elder was wrong.

A hundred years ago, when the Linggeste Empire was founded, Ryan followed Lingester and earned the title of duke. He then settled in Haide Province, a coastal province.

Ryan had started out as a mercenary and had been easygoing by nature. Later, he followed Lingester as an attendant, eventually becoming a great general and then a Saint Realm expert.

Every member of the Ryan Family took Ryan as their role model, imitating his way of doing things. They treated those around them with force and severity, and once they'd made up their minds, they expected everyone to obey.

That changed twenty years ago, when a marquis who couldn't stand their attitude taught one of the family's spoiled young masters a lesson.

The young man might have thrown his weight around in the local area, but he was still a member of the Ryan Family. How could they let an outsider bully him?

A marquis? A ninth-level expert? They didn't care. Their ancestor Ryan was a Saint Realm expert, for one thing. And the family had two ninth-level experts of its own among the direct bloodline, plus three hired mercenaries, making five in all.

To ensure nothing went wrong, Walker personally led two ninth-level warriors and a large band of mercenaries on the mission.

What Walker hadn't expected was that the man would be so difficult to deal with. He held off all three of them for fifteen minutes, allowing an old man and a child to escape.

Because of this, the family issued a kill order and searched for a long time, but found nothing.

Then one day, their ancestor Ryan emerged from seclusion, where he'd spent a long time trying and failing to break through. He went out for a change of scenery and happened to hear about the incident, so he decided to investigate.

What he discovered shocked him: the old man named Bernas had broken through to the Saint Realm.

Killing intent surged through Ryan at once. He knew all too well the difference between the Saint Realm and the ninth level.

Even if Bernas remained at the early Saint Realm stage for the rest of his life, he could still kill everyone in the Ryan Family except Ryan himself.

What was more, if Bernas broke through again and reached the mid-stage of the Saint Realm, or even its peak, Ryan himself would be in danger.

Ryan wouldn't allow such a threat to remain by his side, so he went after Bernas personally.

But what no one had expected was that Lord Huosi would appear and protect the two of them.

Fortunately, Lord Lingester had also stepped in. In the end, the matter was settled, and both sides agreed not to interfere with each other.

Walker briefly recalled the past, then continued issuing orders:

"Pass on my order as head of the family: capture Saiwode and his steward together. Tell the public they've gone missing, probably attacked by bandits. Then assign people to find a way to take over their business."

"Even if their company's headquarters doesn't believe us, we can argue with them. As long as we keep this under wraps, Xuanshen Island can't say anything."

"Remember, check for crystal balls during the operation. We absolutely cannot let ourselves be recorded."

"Back then, the god-level experts jointly established a rule: god-level experts can't attack Saint Realm experts without cause. As long as this matter doesn't come out in the open, Lord Huosi can't act as he pleases either."

"Once we've brought them in, don't kill them right away. They know plenty of useful things. Make them spill all their information before you deal with them."

"Don't worry, Head of the Family. I guarantee no one will know about the operation unless they have a way to record us without using a crystal ball."

The grand elder nodded, pleased with what he thought was a clever joke.

As the head of the family's orders were passed down, the elders in the hall nodded to themselves.

This was precisely the way their family operated, reflecting the will of the elders as a whole.

Only the elder who'd objected earlier opened his mouth. In the end, though, he closed it again. He couldn't shake the sense that something bad was going to happen. He had a feeling Xuanshen Island wouldn't let this go.

For years, he'd had misgivings about some of the family's actions. In his view, they weren't mercenaries, and they ought to change how they did things.

The family didn't need to fear trouble, but it shouldn't go around picking fights either. Sooner or later, that would bring disaster down on them.

Unfortunately, his influence was limited, and no one cared what he thought. In the end, all he could do was sigh and leave it to fate.

As night fell, several figures sped through the darkness.

At that moment, Saiwode was visiting a branch office and reviewing a data analysis report.

He'd been run off his feet lately. A rapidly expanding company placed enormous demands on the person in charge, and he didn't dare slack off for even a moment.

Saiwode knew full well that this was a chance for him and his family to transform themselves. If he completed his tasks well, he could go from being a low-status merchant in the Empire to becoming a top-tier entrepreneur on Xuanshen Island.

Entrepreneurs were still merchants, but they had the backing of a powerful organization. They were every bit the equal of the Empire's nobles.

Naturally, he was determined to seize this opportunity and complete every task. He didn't dare relax in the slightest.

"Hm?"

The next moment, Saiwode abruptly looked up and set down his pen, his eyes filled with surprise.

As a merchant who'd spent years in the world of business, he wasn't some fool with no sense of danger. He'd seen bloodshed firsthand.

Business wars weren't child's play. Building a trade association into a major power inevitably involved bloodshed, and enemies would stop at nothing. That was why he was especially alert to the possibility of an attack.

Just now, a faint muffled grunt had come from the darkness. It sounded like an attempted assassination, with the attacker failing to cover the victim's mouth in time.

Having been targeted by assassins more than once, he knew that sound well.

"Damn it! It has to be them!"

Saiwode's thoughts raced, and he immediately realized who the attackers were: they had to be from the Ryan Family.

He didn't have many guards, but under Xuanshen Island's arrangements, they were all seventh- and eighth-level warriors. It would take at least two ninth-level experts working together to kill them without making a sound.

In Haide Province, only the Ryan Family could pull that off. They were also the only ones with a motive.

He'd expected the Ryan Family might take action. Their people had approached him earlier over the price of an order for some goods.

He'd turned them down, and had guessed then that they wouldn't let it go.

He just hadn't expected them to be so brazen as to attempt an assassination outright. Weren't they afraid Xuanshen Island would step in? Who gave them the nerve to provoke Xuanshen Island? To provoke Lord Huosi?

As Saiwode thought, his hands moved without slowing. He quickly turned on the security cameras in the room.

His son Charles had given them to him specially, and he'd installed them in his office.

The footage could be sent to Xuanshen Island's headquarters.

"You'd never guess the cameras were here. Once the video gets sent back, we'll have proof. Xuanshen Island will make you pay."

A cold glint flashed in Saiwode's eyes. Then he quickly set fire to the documents in his hands and burned them.

He made no attempt to escape. The attackers had prepared thoroughly, and as a sixth-level warrior, he had no chance of getting away in these circumstances.

"Well, look at that! You didn't run. You've got some guts!"

At Walker's voice, more than a dozen figures appeared in the room.

"Looks like my guards have all been killed. I never thought the Ryan Family would resort to assassination. Aren't you afraid of Xuanshen Island? Aren't you afraid Lord Huosi will punish you?"

Saiwode stared at Walker, feigning righteous anger as he confronted him.

He wasn't truly angry. Or rather, given his experience, even if he were furious, he would have quickly suppressed it in a situation like this.

He was simply trying to bait them into saying something outrageous.

"Xuanshen Island? You think the Ryan Family cares about that? As for Huosi, if he dares to defy public opinion and break the rules by attacking us, the other god-level experts will gang up on him. If Huosi isn't afraid of dying, he can go ahead and try!"

Walker answered with open contempt.

"How dare you insult Lord Huosi like that!"

Saiwode continued to challenge him, trying to coax him into saying more.

"You talk too much. Take him away!"

Walker waved a hand and said nothing more. They'd already checked for recording crystal balls, and no one else was here, so he could let off steam if he wanted. But it was better not to say too much about insulting a god-level expert.

What a shame. Still, what he said was enough.

Saiwode kept his thoughts to himself, but continued to act furious, cursing and ranting without pause.

What Walker didn't know was that as soon as Saiwode was taken away, a red flash appeared and a video file was sent over the network to Xuanshen Island's headquarters.

Walker's words in that video would cost him, the Ryan Family, and even the Linggeste Empire dearly.