Chapter 605

Chapter 605

Despite locking eyes with Rodrigo, the voices that yell the loudest throughout the room are the fire and wind users who radiate bright red divine energy.

"What is the meaning of this? My life has been a lie! My mind—I—" The wind user shouts out, now fully missing his hand and leg due to the lack of borrowed golden soul energy available to him.

"I gave over a decade to this damn Association, and still, you continuously manipulated all of us! Why are you even letting us in on your secret now? Why not just kill us?" The fire user, missing both of his arms, shouts out while red divine energy grows around him.

He looks over to the other side of the 18th floor to the newest recruits from the B-Class exams.

"Are those our replacements? Is this how it ends? Are we just being discarded after losing one battle in the Dark Continent? Is this—"

I don't let him speak any further, activating my skill [Heavy Hand] and exerting a force of pure mana alone to easily overpower both of the high-level A-Class hunters' divine auras.

In just fractions of a second, both of the men are pressed chest and face-first against the training room floor as I walk forward and let the elevator close behind me.

All eyes are on me, the manifestation of the unbeatable sun god who has taken over the 8 Great Regions and ruled for decades with no mercy for his enemies or even his own people who served beneath him.

The sounds of bones cracking under the gravity of my mana from the two strongest A-Class hunters on this continent are more than enough deterrent for anyone else in the room to speak up as I walk up to both of them and stare down at the floor where they're pressed for a full 10 seconds.

I finally speak up in a static monotone voice.

"There will be some changes made in this branch of the Association soon. You have been loyal hunters, so I wanted to show you the truth."

I keep the pressure pushing down on them steady, but reach into my item storage and pull out two mythic-grade self-regeneration potions and gently place them on the floor in front of both of them using telekinesis.

"Drink these and continue your training."

I turn to everyone else in the room.

"That goes for all of you. Just because you know the truth doesn't mean I can't track you down to any Region or Continent you try to flee to. Business continues as usual until I say so. If there are any complaints, you can talk to me directly and see how that ends for you."

I let the pressure of my [Heavy Hand] skill fade, and the two A-Class hunters slowly get up and examine the potions while I make a hand motion toward Rodrigo, who still stares at me with confusion in his gaze.

"You, come with me. I need a meeting with you alone."

He quickly nods and follows as I leave the awestruck room to get back in the elevator.

As Rodrigo walks in and the doors begin to close after I press floor 19, the sight of the two A-Class hunters' limbs growing back is the last thing we see while riding down to the lounge floor below us in silence.

He doesn't say a word, for fear of being wrong about his assumptions, and I admire him for staying safe and not jumping to conclusions because it's what I would do in the same situation.

Once the door opens again and I walk forward into the lounge area, I'm greeted by the two nurses with glowing white hands approaching me, ready to heal the director, but I shake my head.

Breaking unconventional news to hundreds of thousands of people can result in unpredictable outcomes. It's best to exploit a system that is already in place, slowly changing it to my liking over time rather than attempting anything drastic and rushed.

This realization creeps into Rodrigo's mind as I sit back and breathe in the mana-dense air, enjoying the silence and patiently waiting for a response from the baffled A-Class hunter.

"That... makes sense... I have no idea how you managed this..."

He touches his neck, pausing for a moment before continuing.

"But it's really done... No more mindlessly following orders, filing paperwork for hours every day, answering to the other Directors like a dog, and proctoring exams year after year. I'm finally free..."

He smiles and looks me in the eyes, accepting this reality.

Then, he taps his finger on his knee nervously, realizing something.

"Well... not yet. Just because you can fool a few A-Class hunters here doesn't mean you're out of the woods yet."

I raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

He stands up and pulls a silver tablet from his item box.

"Mr. Freeman used to do deals with a few other nations occasionally, other strong powers that had a similar yellow-golden energy as his own... And not to mention, dealing with the Regional Directors within this Nation. The Director was a busy man, believe it or not, he is the glue that holds these 8 Regions together."

Rodrigo begins pacing around the room, tapping on his tablet while nodding, smiling, and continuing to speak.

"Lucky for you, I was his mindless right-hand man for nearly a decade... I don't think he ever expected I'd be free of his curse, and quite frankly, neither did I. However, if there's anyone that has the insight to keep this nation running... it would be me."

My eyes light up with excitement, as Rodrigo says the words I was thinking to myself without even having to say them out loud.

Over the next 45 minutes, Rodrigo and I talk back and forth, devising a plan together to keep the 8 Great Regions running as usual, expanding it even further into the Dark Continent to merge the two nations, and how to properly deal with the ongoing trade agreements, Regional Directors, and Association-run businesses.

With his knowledge of the land and inner workings of this Nation, and my power to replace the Sun God's presence while simultaneously backing it with enough power to truly become this nation's leader; all of the puzzle pieces to my plan fall into place.

Everything being outlined now is being written down, and I plan to have it analyzed by my teammates and close business partners.

I stand up from my seat and pull two transport crystals out from my item storage, tossing one to Rodrigo.

"This is a good start. I'm glad I came to you first. However, I'm sure there's a whole lot more on your mind than just my own personal goals of expanding my empire. How about we go for a trip and get a second opinion? When's the last time you talked to your sister?"