Chief Referee Selection

June 18, 1963.

Heavenly Arena convened a high-level meeting.

All referees from the 200th Floor attended as well.

On the podium in the meeting room,

"Before I knew it, I've been working here for fifteen years..."

The retiring chief referee was named Harrington Malediz, a master of the Wind-Riding Sword School.

After reminiscing about the past, he revealed the method for selecting the new chief referee.

The departing chief referee generally chose the selection method. The usual approach was to settle it through direct combat.

"This time, let's not make things so troublesome. We'll use a secret ballot instead." Harrington announced the method with a smile.

The moment this selection method was proposed, several chief referees' expressions darkened.

Lucky's adoptive father, Barn, was among them.

Even Lucky frowned.

Under the usual selection methods, Lucky could have been said to possess an overwhelming advantage.

But with this method, Lucky's chances of winning were instead the lowest.

Lucky had devoted himself to training and had never particularly cultivated his interpersonal relationships. He was not especially familiar with the other referees either.

Getting them to support him would probably be difficult.

"We'll hold it three days from now."

Fortunately, they were not voting immediately. Otherwise, Lucky would have been eliminated outright.

Only chief referees and referees from the 200th Floor and above could participate in the vote.

A chief referee's vote counted as ten votes, while an ordinary referee's vote counted as one.

After the meeting, Barn approached Lucky.

"That guy Harrington probably wants to reserve a chief referee position for their Wind-Riding Sword School."

Wherever there were people, there were factions and social obligations.

As Heavenly Arena's benefits grew greater, many martial arts schools naturally did not want its benefits falling into other people's hands.

Some martial arts schools had already begun contacting one another and watching out for each other, all to expand their influence within Heavenly Arena.

There was also an element of class solidification to it, denying independent martial artists who came later any opportunity.

"There are two hundred votes in total for the chief referees. Counting me, Baron, and those two old fellows Lambert, you can obtain at most thirty votes."

"There are currently 197 referees on the 200th Floor. How many votes do you think you can get?" Barn asked.

But thinking of his son's usual habits, he estimated it would not be many.

Among the referees on the 200th Floor, fewer than thirty were independent martial artists.

Even if he secured every one of them, that would only be around thirty votes.

Since Harrington had proposed such a selection method, he must have chosen his candidate long ago and secured the votes in advance.

The others basically had no chance of competing with him.

It was not that Barn insisted on Lucky becoming chief referee. He simply found this selection method deeply unsatisfactory. If this became the method in the future,

wouldn't that mean the chief referee position would simply be decided internally?

"Probably not many." Lucky thought of the referees he knew. They might not necessarily vote for him.

"Looks like you can only wait for the next time." Barn felt sorry for Lucky.

As for next time, Barn was already fifty-five, not far from sixty. Of course, there were also chief referees approaching sixty.

Most of them had only become chief referees in their fifties, and back then, strength had been the sole criterion.

He had not expected such a change this time. Others would probably follow this example in the future.

What worried Barn even more was that if Harrington chose a young referee, that person would likely remain chief referee for a very long time.

"What have they turned this martial arts holy land, Heavenly Arena, into?" Barn vented his dissatisfaction.

Lucky did not like this method either.

If something like this could happen once, it could happen a second time.

It had to be stopped. But what method should they use?

"Father, I think it's time to change the chief referee system. We should convene a discussion meeting," Lucky immediately suggested.

"Change the chief referee system? A discussion meeting?" Barn did not understand Lucky's idea.

Lucky had always wanted to change Heavenly Arena, to at least make its internal workings more "modern." He wanted to reform it according to his own ideas, but unfortunately, he could not make the decisions.

Even with his adoptive father as a chief referee, he had never considered having him carry out the plans in his heart.

He had wanted to wait and do it himself. It seemed he would have to move ahead of schedule.

But what he had to worry about now was whether the directors would accept his proposal.

"Explain it carefully!"

"I think Heavenly Arena's development has reached a bottleneck. Although more people are coming to Heavenly Arena now, that is mainly because transportation has become more convenient. Many of Heavenly Arena's facilities and systems have not changed in a very long time..."

Chief referees were supposedly responsible for maintaining Heavenly Arena's operations and development, but now it had basically become a place for retirement.

Only being a referee still required some strength. Otherwise, those positions would have long since been occupied by the relevant personnel.

But every other area had completely become certain people's private domain.

The arrogance of some staff members, along with the "corruption" in Heavenly Arena's various commercial facilities, were the most serious problems.

Lucky did not even need to deliberately investigate to discover the issues, which showed they had already become serious to a certain extent.

Barn's brow furrowed even deeper upon hearing Lucky say this.

"Even if you speak of these things, I'm afraid nothing will change."

After all, those directors themselves were members of martial arts schools.

"Heavenly Arena was originally established under Master's leadership. I'll tell Master about its problems. I believe he'll support me."

Only then did Barn remember that Lucky was a disciple of the Heart Source School, and also Netero's disciple.

The Heart Source School's reputation needed no elaboration. If he gained Netero's support, then even if the others disagreed, they would probably be unable to change anything.

In the end, it was still a world where strength spoke.

Moreover, Netero had been invincible for too long, causing many martial artists to develop a fearful conviction that he could not be defeated.

No amount of preparation felt as satisfying as directly clinging to a powerful backer.

"Then contact Chairman Netero first. I'll also sound out the others."

He was not far from retirement anyway. Even if he no longer served as chief referee, it did not matter.

Barn did not care in the slightest.

Lucky made a phone call and told Netero about the situation.

Netero said that he understood and told Lucky that he would specifically send someone to handle it.

Soon, on the day of the chief referee selection vote, all chief referees received notice that a directors' meeting would be convened.

Of course, the vote did not end.

In the end, as expected, a referee from the Wind-Riding Sword School was elected.