Chapter 51
Just as some people in the conference room were about to give Lu Mi a warning, the oppressive silence was broken by a loud shout of surprise.
“Ahhh, Lu Mi, it’s Lu Mi!!”
Everyone frowned slightly, wanting to see who was so startled and unruly.
At first glance, oh, it’s the sponsor.
Grant rushed to Lu Mi like a flash, his eyes shining like lightbulbs. "I! I'm Grant. Do you remember the auction?!"
Although he asked this, the young master's eyes clearly showed that if the other party said he didn't remember, he would burst into tears on the spot.
Grant's brother's attention was also drawn to him, and he put down the half-read contract in his hand.
He knew how arrogant and difficult his younger brother was. Grant was born into the Wilwezes family, with several older brothers and sisters. It was rare for this family to have an extremely harmonious relationship between brothers and sisters.
His brothers and sisters all dote on him, and he has not inherited the burdens and worries of the family. It can be said that he is a born winner in life.
Although this also caused Grant to be simple-minded and sometimes involved in disputes between rival families, he survived thanks to his extremely sharp intuition, which made his other brothers love him even more.
Grant rarely opened up to others after that, and even his brothers and sisters almost never saw this side of him.
The blond man looked at his brother in astonishment. He seemed like a completely different person. When had he ever seen him trying to please others like this?
"Well, Grant, long time no see."
The young man who was entangled by the blond boy nodded slightly.
It was like just saying hello to a neighbor when you happened to see him, but considering Grant's identity, the reaction was too bland.
The blond man looked at Lu Mi with some curiosity.
At this time, Grant couldn't wait to ask, "Why are you here? Are you here for a meeting too? I knew with your ability, you would come to this headquarters one day! I really made the right choice to come today!"
He pulled out the chair next to him and said, "You can sit here! Or I can give you my seat. The lighting here is great and it's cushioned! You don't know what I'll do after I return to the capital..."
He seemed eager to share the best things with the other person, and at the same time he had a lot of things to say in his heart that he wanted to reminisce about the past.
At this time, the stunned people in the conference hall finally reacted one by one.
Someone coughed lightly and looked at each other.
Lu Mi looked at the entire hall, and saw a huge oval round table placed in the center.
Sitting at the seat directly in front was an old man who was over fifty years old but had white hair and a youthful face. The others sat below him in order, occupying more than half of the seats at the round table.
While Lu Mi was looking at them, they were also observing the young man.
Grant seemed to sense something was amiss in the air, lowered his hand, and frowned. The blond man beside him could tell his brother was upset.
"Lu Mi?" Grant called hesitantly.
"I'm sorry, Grant." Lu Mi slowly walked towards the round table, "But I came here today for something serious."
Lu Mi moved the other end of the round table to the seat facing the old man, "Do you mind if I sit here?"
After the words were spoken, some people's expressions changed slightly.
The blond man watching from the sidelines was even more curious. Was this... a confrontation?
After Lu Mi sat down, Xiao Lun and the former chief warden also sat down. As for the other guards and An Bo and others who followed, they could not bear the pressure and chose to stand conservatively behind Lu Mi.
In this way, the entire round table becomes less spacious than it originally was.
You should know that those who can enter this conference room are all heavyweights in the headquarters. The current seating rate has reached a record high, which means that all the important figures in the headquarters have come.
"Are you really the Lu Mi from the K8 branch?" the handsome man sitting in the first seat on the left at the other end asked. He looked interested and sat up slightly straighter. "I remember the K8 branch was quite far away..."
Lu Mi raised his eyebrows, "Who are you?"
"Desmond." The man smiled, revealing his white teeth. "You seem quite formidable. Why don't we have a sparring match sometime?"
"Desmond." The thin man opposite raised his eyes indifferently, "Be mindful of the occasion."
"Douglas, you're so boring." Desmond said to the man, then looked at Lu Mi and twitched his nose. "I don't know why, but I always feel like I smell a very dangerous aura coming from you. I guess you're not just here for a meeting?"
It was unclear whether this man, whose instincts were like those of a wild beast, understood what he was saying. When Lu Mi looked at him, Desmond just smiled as usual. "But I am the head of security at headquarters after all. If you want to do anything here, I will definitely stop you."
—I won’t let you succeed. It wasn’t a threat, it was simply an announcement of the outcome.
In fact, it was this man who guarded the long-term peace of the headquarters and turned it into an impregnable fortress during his rule.
The behavior of the soldiers behind him undoubtedly showed how much they trusted him. They all straightened their backs and looked at each other with bright eyes.
Lu Mi's eyes moved slightly, but he turned to look at the man named "Douglas".
"Leader of the Golden Clock," the silver-eyed youth addressed him, "thank you for taking care of the Blue Steel Empire."
Douglas's indifferent expression changed slightly.
"Why, Douglas, do you have any connection with the new warden?" Dunham said with a smile.
Douglas' eyes darkened, and he replied calmly to Lu Mi: "I don't understand what you mean."
"I'm Dunham." Dunham gave Lu Mi a meaningful look, then pointed at himself and said, "I'm the current director of the Academy of Sciences. I've always admired Tartarus. Would you be interested in collaborating with me in the future?"
Dunham extended an olive branch to Lu Mi quite directly, causing the others who didn't have time to respond to secretly call him a fox.
An Bo, who was standing behind Lu Mi, took everything in - the three people who spoke first were undoubtedly the three candidates for the successor to the president.
Desmond is in charge of headquarters security, Douglas is in charge of the intelligence department, and Dunham is in charge of the General Academy of Sciences.
As competitors, the relationship between these three people is obviously not very good.
I've heard for a long time that the headquarters has been divided into factions headed by these three people. Now seeing that others dare not interrupt them when they are talking, it is indeed the case.
Judging from the current situation, temporarily accepting Dunham's overtures is also a safe bet...
Just as An Bo was thinking this, he saw Lu Mi suddenly look at a document on the table and asked, "Do you mind if I take a look?"
The blond man glanced at Grant who was urging him on, smiled, and nodded to Lu Mi, saying, "Go ahead."
Dunham's smile faltered slightly, and he looked at his subordinate who handed the document to the blond man.
The subordinate's legs suddenly went weak. This...! He had no idea that the young master of the Wilvezes family would know this new warden! The subordinate was sweating profusely, and under his boss's kind gaze, he felt that his life was about to end.
Lu Mi flipped through the document and glanced at it casually. Sure enough, it was a plan on how to develop (distribute) the surplus value of Tartarus, with emphasis on the powerful alien species that escaped from imprisonment.
An Bo stood at the back and became angrier the more he watched. It wasn't because he sympathized with those alien species that were considered "precious experimental materials", but because he suddenly realized -
It turns out that in everyone's eyes, Tartarus is now a bargaining chip waiting to be fought over!
They are not communicating as equals. Even if they say something like "inviting cooperation", in reality, just like this document, they are treated as pawns in the bag who are kept in the dark.
"Is this your sincerity in proposing cooperation?" Lu Mi's tone lacked any emotion.
Dunham was silent for a moment and spread out his hands. "I'm sorry, there was something wrong with my intelligence. It was my negligence." He took the document and tore it up in front of him.
The only person who could interfere with his "intelligence" was Douglas, who was in charge of the intelligence department. What a mistake.
However, knowing that Lu Mi was coming, he still dared to discuss cooperation with the Wilvezes family here, which might be considered as a sign of contempt for the warden whom he had never met.
I just didn't expect Lu Mi to be such a person... It's a pity that the lost goodwill can't be won back. Dunham felt regretful and began to think about new countermeasures very calmly.
After the three candidates had all stopped talking, the old man with white hair and a youthful face sitting in the center at the other end slowly said, "Welcome, Your Excellency the Chief Warden. I am Ivanrich, the current President of the headquarters."
This time, it was not Lu Mi who answered him, but the former chief warden of Tartarus who was standing behind Lu Mi: "You are old too, Ivanrich."
The old man, who was from the same generation as the other man, had already taken in every scene and realized that the other man had become as powerless as he was. "The last time we met was over 20 years ago."
Ivanrich's old eyes still held a gleam of brilliance. "You've found an excellent successor," he sighed. "Now the world belongs to the young."
"That's right." The former warden smiled. "Us old guys will eventually retire. It's better to let the young people handle their own affairs."
Perhaps Ivanrich understood his hint, but he suddenly laughed.
"That's exactly what I meant." Ivanrich's old face suddenly became serious. Facts proved that even though he was getting older, his former sharpness had never disappeared but was hidden deeper.
The aura that suddenly dissipated made everyone present look serious. The three candidates seemed to have sensed something, their eyes trembled slightly, and they looked at him with unprecedented seriousness.
"Before this meeting started, I made a decision." Ivanrich said slowly.
Ivanrich looked at Lu Mi, whom he had been waiting for for a long time. His life experience made him more determined in his current thoughts. "I have seen all the situations that have arisen in the headquarters because they have not been able to decide on the next president..."
The three candidates looked stern.
But Ivanrich seemed not to notice their nervousness and continued: "So I have decided to announce here--"
"Whoever can get Tartarus to join the Transcendent Headquarters before the end of this meeting will be the next President of the Transcendent Guild!"
“…”
“!!!”
As soon as the words came out, the whole audience was in an uproar.
Some people couldn't help but stand up and put their hands on the table, extremely excited.
"Eh? Wait, wait! President, isn't this a bit too hasty?"
"That's right! Even if we're going to formulate the 'final assessment', we can't ignore the 'regular grades', right?!"
"And the performance of the three adults just now..."
This is the most crucial thing! When the supporters of each faction thought about the performances and speeches of the three people just now, even if they didn't have a "favorability checker", they knew that in the heart of the silver-eyed young man, they were definitely negative!
Time machine! Is there a time machine that can rewind everything?! It’s best to start from before you even walk in!
"Hey, what are they doing?" An Bo and others were dumbfounded.
Lu Mi narrowed his eyes slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.
The three candidates were also caught off guard and stunned, especially Douglas and Dunham. After coming to their senses, their eyes suddenly fixed on Lu Mi.
Their flashing eyes were just like their wildly fluctuating moods at the moment, making it difficult for them to remain calm.
—They've been tricked! The two candidates gritted their teeth secretly. Before this, the entire atmosphere at headquarters had clearly been to seize Tartarus, and now they were making such a request... That old guy was definitely doing it on purpose!
Douglas observed the silver-eyed youth's calm expression. Given his relationship with him, getting him to voluntarily join his side was practically impossible. Should he resort to extraordinary measures? With his troops, capturing these people shouldn't be a problem. He just didn't know how Desmond and Dunham would hinder him... He had to formulate a plan immediately.
"I have a question." Dunham raised his hand, still smiling, and said, "The people who escorted Lord Lu Mi down here said that Lord Lu Mi announced to them that Tartarus had been disbanded. In that case, can we build our own Tartarus and then..."
Before Xiao Lun could even reveal a murderous look, Ivanrich interrupted him, "Don't try to be clever at a time like this, Dunham. Since he was the one who announced the disbandment of Tartarus, he can certainly announce its reopening. It seems you have another task to complete."
Does that mean that only the Great Thorn Prison of Lord Lu Mi is recognized? Everyone soon realized that there was no turning back on this matter.
"Well then," Ivanrich said slowly, taking everyone's reactions into consideration, "I declare this meeting—open."
Everyone's heart suddenly tightened!
They did not forget that the deadline Ivanrich had given them was "before the end of this meeting."
As for the original content of the meeting, "On the handling of the subsequent impact of the collapse of Tartarus", they had long forgotten about it. Who cares about those trivial things now? What could be more important than "the selection of the next president"!
Just as the various factions were scrambling to think about how to speak next, they saw the center of their attention suddenly stand up slowly.
"...Mr. Lu Mi," someone asked hurriedly, "where are you going?"
The silver-eyed young man simply glanced at him calmly, "The meeting is over."
"What?" The man opened his mouth.
Lu Mi calmly and unilaterally announced: "I said, I already know what I want to know, the meeting is over."
"No, please wait...!" No one expected that the other party would not play by the rules.
Generally speaking, when one changes from being “the person whose destiny is chosen” to being “the person who can choose others”, even if one does not become extremely inflated all of a sudden, one will at least want to appreciate and laugh at others.
"Get lost." Xiao Lun clearly agreed with Lu Mi's approach. "What do you think the chief warden of Tartarus is? A tool for assessment?"
Under Xiao Lun's murderous gaze, the man trembled and made way.
"Please stay, Mr. Lu Mi, I think we can still talk." Dunham said.
Lu Mi: "Not interested."
He can wait, but those guys in the sky can't.
Especially at this time, Grant rushed over and excitedly led the way, "Lu Mi, are you leaving? Why don't you come to my house? I wanted to invite you to my house when we said goodbye at the auction. If you're not interested, I can take you to visit the imperial capital! I'll treat you!"
When everyone saw that they couldn't stop the other party from leaving, they could only stare at him anxiously.
Douglas coldly glanced at Ivanrich, who was clearly standing by and watching, and suddenly said, "President, your request is just to get him to join the headquarters. The specific means can be decided by me."
Ivanrich gave the other man a meaningful look, then looked at the calm, silver-eyed young man in the distance. "...Of course, people are responsible for their own actions. I won't interfere."
Douglas: “Huh.”
Just as Lu Mi and others walked to the door of the conference hall, suddenly, the Golden Clock troops rushed in collectively.
…For some reason, no one was surprised.
The goal of a lifetime is right before my eyes, in full view of everyone. Let him go and accept my defeat?
Douglas has been on top for too long, how could he allow this to happen!
Dunham noticed that the president did not comment on this scene, so his eyes flashed and he pressed a button on the terminal at his waist.
Desmond's communicator suddenly rang. He picked it up and listened, "Lord Desmond, Lord Dunham's troops suddenly appeared in large numbers at the C3 checkpoint. They are requesting passage!"
Desmond glanced at Dunham, who was standing next to him, and the other smiled innocently at him.
"Let them go!" Desmond raised his eyebrows, then grinned, "Let our troops come together, the more the better."
Dunham glanced at him and asked, "Why, you're not interested in that position?"
Desmond laughed heartily. "There's more fun when there are more people!"
If he wasn't planning on playing big, then he'd lend a hand! This stagnant headquarters was finally starting to get a bit more interesting. Was it because of that person's arrival?
Desmond fixed his gaze on the silver figure at the door, but at this moment, Lu Mi, who was surrounded, was not panicked at all.
Lu Mi even listened attentively to the increasingly loud footsteps in the distance. So many people?
"So this is your final choice?" He slowly raised his eyes, and for some reason everyone suddenly felt a slowly rising pressure.
The wind in the air seemed to suddenly become noisy, blowing across their cold skin and sweeping across their cheeks.
Someone suddenly noticed that the sky suddenly became cloudy.
Although the weather today is not particularly sunny, the sky suddenly darkened and it was still noticeable.
No, wait a minute...
The man's eyes suddenly widened, because he suddenly saw the outline of the edge of the huge shadow... outline?
The next moment he looked up suddenly, he noticed that a faint object had appeared in the sky at some point.
A faint blue line continuously flowed across that "thing." What was it? Ancient, vast, something not of this world...
The silver-eyed young man just stood there in the center of the huge shadow, as if unaware of nothing.
It was as if a god was watching over the foolish mortals who wanted to challenge him.
"As you wished, the exam time has come," he said.
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