"To be honest, I always thought that a more private place would be chosen for such a meeting."

Looking at the hotel lobby in front of him, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly, while Jumonji Katsurato stood beside him, looking at him curiously.

"Why, are you disappointed?"

"That's about right. After all, the Ten Master Clans are the most influential families in the Japanese magic world. The Master Clans Meeting they hold is enough to influence the entire Japanese magic world. Logically speaking, this kind of meeting should not be held in a place like this. Instead, it should be held in a heavily guarded and hidden underground secret base or something like that."

"That's the kind of place that's prone to attack."

Jumonji Katsuto obviously disagrees with this.

"At least we don't have to worry about someone being so cruel as to drop a bomb in the center of Hakone."

"That's true, but it's not fun at all."

Fang Zheng certainly understood what Jumonji Kazuto meant. It was better to hold a meeting in a resort like Hakone than in an uninhabited area deep in the mountains and forests. The Yotsuba clan was the best example. Their secret village was almost unknown to everyone, far away from the world, and kept extremely secretive. As a result, the entire village was wiped out, and no one else had any reaction at all.

The people of the Ten Master Clans are not fools. With this precedent, they certainly wouldn't dare to hold meetings in any secret place again.

Up to now, the force that attacked the Yotsuba clan is still a mystery, and no one knows why they attacked the Yotsuba clan. It is difficult to determine whether the other party will take advantage of the clan meeting to attack other leaders of the ten clans, so to be on the safe side, it is better to put them in a busy place.

"plz follow me."

Jumonji Kazuto made a gesture and led Fang Zheng to the door of the conference room upstairs in the hotel. Then he pushed the door open, and then Fang Zheng straightened his clothes and walked into the conference room. At this moment, there were already several people sitting in the conference room, both men and women, many of them were around 40 or 50 years old, and judging from their appearance, they were all kinds of people.

But their appearance here proves one thing, that is, they are all members of the Ten Master Clans.

For ordinary people, just seeing these people is enough to scare them to the point of being unable to walk, especially magicians. When the heads of the ten clans stare at someone at the same time, the pressure brought about is enough to make a person collapse.

However, Fang Zheng obviously didn't care about this. With a smile on his face, he squinted his eyes and looked at the people sitting at the round table. He walked to the empty area on the other side of the round table, then pulled a chair and sat down, nodding to everyone as a greeting.

Facing Fang Zheng's behavior, everyone present was a little confused. They were all powerful people, and everyone treated them with respect. In fact, they were used to it. However, this boy who looked like a high school student showed a completely different attitude. It seemed that to him, these people in front of him were no different from ordinary people and were not to be feared at all.

"Okay, hello everyone... I think we don't need to waste time on unnecessary self-introductions and mutual probing. I know why you've come to me, and you know exactly what you want to know from me, so... can we get straight to the point, skipping those boring intrigues, and get straight to the point?"

Hearing this, everyone fell into silence. After a while, a white-haired old man in his fifties or sixties spoke.

"Since Kasugano-kun said so, we will not be polite. We have learned about your proposed "Magic Autonomous Zone" plan, so we all have a question, that is...why didn't you discuss it with the people of the Ten Master Clans before proposing this plan to the government? From what I know, you seem to have a good relationship with the eldest daughter of the Nanakusa family."

Having said that, the white-haired old man glanced at the middle-aged man next to him who was wearing light-colored sunglasses and remained silent, then looked away.

"I see."

Although the atmosphere at the scene was somewhat heavy due to the old man's questioning, Fang Zheng still looked relaxed and at ease.

"It's normal for you to have such doubts, but I'm not afraid to tell you clearly, because my plan is for all magicians in the Japanese magic world. It's that simple."

"Are you saying that we, the Ten Master Clans, cannot represent the entire magical world?"

At this time, another woman who looked younger frowned slightly and stared at Fang Zheng curiously, while the latter chuckled.

"How refreshing! You are all vested interests. To be honest, when I first proposed this plan, I never thought of convincing you. I know the history of the Ten Master Clans, the Twenty-Eight Houses, and the Digital Houses very well. Your entanglement with the government and the military is too deep, which has brought you restrictions, but also given you power. But other magicians are not as lucky as you. I think... I don't need to explain this to you in detail."

“…Just as you said.”

Hearing this, the old man nodded. Just as Fang Zheng said, the surnames of the numerical families, including the Ten Master Clans, the Eighteen Master Clans, and the Baiqian, all came from research institutes. In the past, Japan built several research institutes to study magic, and the first to the tenth research institutes were considered the best among them. The artificial magicians who were studied and created in these research institutes also took the numbers of the research institutes as their surnames, which is why the Ten Master Clans exist.

Because of this, the Ten Master Clans, the government, and the military were deeply entangled, both for good and evil, and this was why Fang Zheng had no intention of convincing them at the beginning.

"interesting."

At this time, on the other side, a man who looked like a fisherman fishing at sea sneered and stared at Fang Zheng.

"Do you think that your plan can be implemented without the assistance of the Ten Master Clans?"

"Of course."

Fang Zheng nodded again.

"I'll state it again, everyone. You all know very well that my Magic Special Zone plan won't have any problems regardless of whether the Ten Master Clans assist me or not. Of course, it would be better if you are willing to assist me. If you are not willing to assist me, that doesn't matter to me either... But if you want to cause trouble, don't blame me for being rude."

Hearing this, Jumonji Katsuto looked at Fang Zheng in surprise. Although he had known Fang Zheng's character for a long time, he still didn't expect that he would actually dare to threaten the heads of the ten master clans so blatantly in front of them!

"You're really courageous."

However, the heads of the ten clans were not angry because of this. They had obviously investigated Fang Zheng's character before meeting him. In addition, Fang Zheng had shown this arrogant character more than once or twice. He dared to point at the Americans in front of the media and even ruthlessly wiped out the International Magicians Association team and burned their representatives to a crisp. So it was normal for him to be rude to himself and others.

"Well, I think you should know that there are actually many opinions about your plan in society. In fact, some people in Congress and the military are worried that this will increase the independence of magicians and threaten national security. What do you have to say about this?"

"I have nothing to explain."

Fang Zheng made another shocking statement.

"Actually, they are right. To put it bluntly, I want to build a country within a country in Japan where only magicians live."

“…”

This time, hearing Fang Zheng openly admit his thoughts, the faces of the Ten Master Clans all changed slightly. The white-haired old man who had spoken first frowned.

"Are you really going to do this?"

"Of course."

Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders, reached out to pick up the tea beside him and took a sip.

"I think you all know that the anti-magician trend in society is very prevalent. There are many reasons, but to put it bluntly, it is racial discrimination against magicians. Since it is racial discrimination, any change is meaningless. The best way is for both sides to never have any contact with each other. Since those stupid mortals are afraid of us and are eager for us to disappear from their lives, why don't we do as they wish?"

Having said this, Fang Zheng stood up and looked at the heads of the ten master clans with a sneer.

"This is also the second reason why I am reluctant to come to you, the Ten Master Clans. You are too deeply involved with the government and the military, and it is difficult to break away from them. You are the vested interests, and you have not suffered as much as other magicians. Naturally, you will not be so enthusiastic in responding to this proposal."

“We have our reasons, too.”

Hearing this, another old woman who looked about the same age as the white-haired old man spoke.

"The government has always been wary of magicians. It is not a good thing to completely centralize magicians like this and take them out of the control of the government and the military. They are very worried that if this continues for a long time, their control over magicians will weaken, which will lead to unnecessary disasters."

"That is."

Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows.

"If they agree to my request, then something might happen in the future. But if they don't agree to my request, then I can be sure that something will happen now... So, lady, what are you going to choose?"

"You threaten Congress?"

"I just briefly mentioned this possibility."

Fang Zheng chuckled and spread out his hands.

"I told them that if they continue like this, the anti-magic movement might eventually come to my head. But I'm not that good-tempered. If they look down on magicians, then I don't mind letting species other than humans teach them how to interact with other races."

"……this……"

Facing Fang Zheng's cold answer, everyone was really stunned. They finally understood why the government passed the bill despite many complaints. They didn't expect Fang Zheng to be so bold as to actually threaten those politicians!

Indeed, from the perspective of those politicians, no matter what the reason, they don't want to see a black dragon roaming around in their country. And Fang Zheng has proved with his strength that no one in the world can beat him. In addition, Fang Zheng has an aggressive personality and a style of doing what he says, even daring to confront the United States...

The Japanese bureaucrats obviously did not have the courage to go against him.

"But your plan is to build an artificial island off the coast of Japan."

At this time, the young woman spoke again, but this time she directly asked about the content of the plan itself, obviously intending to divert the awkward atmosphere first.

"I don't know much about engineering, and I don't know if this method of building an artificial island is suitable. But no matter what, wouldn't the fresh water, food, and various materials on the artificial island need to be transported from our country? Is this really okay?"

Fang Zheng certainly understood what the woman meant, because even if they were overseas, as long as the supply of materials still relied on the country, then it could be said that the entire artificial island was still under the control of the government. If the government wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, they could make things difficult for them in the material circulation process. What would they do then?

"Always give them some illusion of control so these idiots won't care about anything else."

In this regard, Fang Zheng also gave his own answer.

Everyone present knew what his answer meant. They looked at each other, and although no one spoke, it was obvious that in this turbulent clan meeting, they were conducting some kind of invisible negotiation.

After a moment, the white-haired old man raised his head, looked at Fang Zheng and nodded.

"Thank you, Kasugano-kun, we have no problems now."

Having said that, the old man looked at the others again.

"Then let's start discussing the issue of the Yotsuba clan being removed from the list of the Ten Master Clans..."

"boom!!"

However, before the old man could finish his words, there was a sudden loud noise, and along with the loud noise of the explosion, the entire hotel began to shake.

"This is……?"

Hearing this voice, everyone raised their heads in surprise and looked around, and Jumonji Kazuto had an even more solemn expression.

"We seem to have been attacked!"

"…attack?"