Guild Wars

The other councilors exchanged looks and nodded. There was no need to vote on this; the moment they had seen the cash in Purgatory Group's accounts, they had already taken it as their own. Even if this company paid all their taxes and was legally firm, they would simply make up a reason to seize the money.

On Earth in 2070, the World Council had the final say!

Over the course of the next few minutes, the group decided how to split the money, and this was the focus of their debate for a while. Eventually, James Rockefeller used his slightly superior authority to force a relatively equal share that the other councilors grudgingly accepted.

With the click of a button, all the money that rightfully belonged to Umbra was easily siphoned away, the offshore bank that the Purgatory Group used, which claimed to be beholden to no one, even sending their regards to the World Council, hoping for praise.

The irony was that they decided in the next moment to have this bank closed and its directors executed, because how dare they sit on this kind of money for so long without offering it up to them?

They needed to make an example of them immediately. The nine council members could feel their lungs burn up with anger just wondering how much wealth that should belong to them was hidden in accounts worldwide from such offshore banks.

"Who is the leader of the Purgatory Group?" Nathan Rothschild asked after contemplating, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

"Right, let's see…" Metro Van Duyn was also interested in this and changed the focus of the display from the various accounts of Purgatory Group to its actual personnel, starting with its leader.

David Collins, who was only half-interested, seemed to light up a bit when he saw the image, exclaiming, "Hey, isn't that Draco, the number 1 player in the world?"

Surprised, Rosa Astor turned to David with a raised brow. "You know this person?"

"Pfff, know him? He's literally the biggest thing in the world right now. How do YOU not know him?" David Collins spat, looking at Rosa Astor with barely concealed disdain.

Rosa was livid and about to reply when she heard the exclamation of two people. Turning to check, she—and the other councilors—were shocked to see that both Nathan Rothschild and Li Jian were completely pale-faced, as if they had seen a ghost.

Leero Onassis narrowed his eyes. "Fifth Councilor, Third Councilor, is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem, you ask? Of course, there is a fucking problem! A big one!" Li Jian, who was usually cultured and aloof, actually cursed so openly that the others were shocked.

Even more so was when Nathan Rothschild slammed the table with a grave look. "I will not participate in any hostile operations against the Purgatory Group. You can also return the share of money sent to me back to them, I have no intention of keeping it."

Metro Van Duyn frowned. "Is there something significant about this group?"

Nathan sucked in a deep breath and forcibly calmed himself. "They were the ones who orchestrated the attack on my estate three years ago. They killed all my men, both enhanced and normal, then killed my specially recruited helper I introduced back then before kidnapping my heartthrob."

This shocked them all, because that event had been so significant that they had all wanted to take action and deploy the full extent of their forces to deal with the group that dared to target one councilor. However, both Nathan and Li Jian had been heavily against it back then, claiming that this force was likely on par with—or even stronger than—the Lineages, which also made them wary.

In the end, it wasn't they who were beaten up nor their estates ransacked, so they heeded the two fellows' wishes and dropped the matter. Who knew that their casual wish to bully Glorygore would inadvertently lead to the discovery of this force!

"You mean to tell me that this young man possesses a force on par with the Lineages?" Rosa Astor asked with a hint of puzzlement while looking at a picture of Draco taken when he founded the Purgatory Group.

"Ehhh, if it's him, it makes sense. Umbra is the number 1 guild, they rule almost the entire main plane. No wonder this group is stinking rich, it's Umbra's real-life game studio," David Collins said while passing a hand through his spiky hair, clearly interested.

Leero glanced at David askance. "Why didn't you say this before, when we were about to shave off their earnings?"

David shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention. You people like to yap on and on about boring stuff and never take action unless it's safe or it benefits you. It's a miracle I don't fall asleep often."

"It would make no difference anyway as your presence here is as invisible as an ant, so we might as well call ourselves the eight councilors instead," Yuuto Nakamoto said with a sneer.

"Oh? Seems like a retard who likes to take a mouthful of donger from his beloved 'emperor' is speaking," David shot back with a casual glance.

Yuuto Nakamoto's eyes darkened and he radiated intense killing intent. "How dare you, brat! A mere worm like you could never understand the imperial majesty!"

James Rockefeller, who had been listening with a quiet intensity, tapped the table silently, but the sound was loud enough to direct all attention toward himself.

"Enough. We will now take a vote on whether to deal with Glorygore through this Purgatory Group, or Umbra. All in favor, say aye. All against, say nay. I shall be the final deciding vote, as usual."

Seeing that discussions were brought to an end, everyone became serious as they contemplated their choices.

"I say nay. I have made it clear, I will not engage this group. I have gotten a firsthand taste of their power and their cruelty, it is not something we can handle," Nathan Rothschild pushed the voting button on his display and spoke candidly.

"Likewise, I say nay. It took me years of research and experimentation on the human body after World War 3 to finally unearth the rudiments of Control and achieve it myself. Yet in those days, each and every one of them had Control, and at a tier I did not even theorize existed!" Li Jian was next to voice his stance as he shook his head.

"I say aye. What is there to fear from this ragtag bunch? The only creatures that are truly troublesome are the Primordials, and it's only because killing them would kill the planet. Anything that has flesh and blood can be killed, and nothing can withstand a nuclear strike," Franklin DuPont spoke arrogantly, not taking this discussion seriously.

"I say aye. Franklin is an arrogant fool, but he is right. Even if they are impervious to bullets and missiles, a warhead would set them straight and allow us to remind the world why we are the rulers. Especially Glorygore, who think they can do whatever they want by acting mysterious," Yuuto Nakamoto agreed with a cold tone.

"I will have to say aye. So far, the caution of Councilor Nathan and Councilor Li is very concerning, but not enough to warrant a halt in our plans. Even if this group is so powerful as to be unstoppable, then it is only a matter of time before we clash with them. Better to do it now while they likely haven't yet fully mastered their power," Leero Onassis said slowly, his words carefully thought out.

"I say nay. It's already dumb that we are going against Glorygore rather than incorporating them, because they control the gateway into the second world of humanity. Now we are to go against Umbra? That's ten times dumber, count me out," David Collins said with a roll of his eyes.

"I say aye. It doesn't matter how powerful a force is in terms of military strength, that alone is not enough to dominate the world. Even a thousand powerful Control Masters would have to kneel before our collective might. The World Council doesn't represent the might of our families, it represents the might of the current human world," Rosa Astor shook her head dismissively.

"Hmm, likewise, I say aye. We have already eaten the cake that is their funds, you think we can go back now? Besides, the action we are taking is not illegal nor immoral, it's simply arresting a bunch of gamers for tax evasion. If they want to continue to coexist with society and live peacefully, they have no choice but to comply," Metro Van Duyn stated his opinion with a smile.

All eyes fell on James Rockefeller, who was calmly listening once more. "Alright, so we have 5 votes for and 3 votes against. In that case, my vote is not even necessary because it cannot even balance out the scales this time."

James tapped the vote button and chose aye to conclude the official vote within the system before speaking.

"We have decided to go ahead with the operation, which shall be tentatively named 'Suppression'. The goal is to suppress Glorygore Studios by placing obstacles in their path and attacking their foundation to weaken them."

Hearing this, Nathan Rothschild closed his eyes in defeat while Li Jian sighed weakly, feeling his strength leave his body. David Collins merely shrugged but did not plan to say anything more because in the end, he didn't care either way.

"Same old rules, regardless of your vote, you must commit your full force to the operation," James Rockefeller reminded sternly, his eyes drifting over Nathan Rothschild and Li Jian seriously.

Nathan and Li Jian nodded. If the World Council carried out this action, it wouldn't matter who voted yes or no; they were on board the same pirate ship at this time and could not get off halfway. Since this was the case, they would strike properly and make sure there could be no mishaps in the process!

Soon, orders were issued and mobilizations occurred rapidly. Since the target was in the Central Country, which was now a leaky hole that the World Council used like a frontal base to deal with all their opposition, it was incredibly easy to get things done there.

The idea was to arrest the members of the Purgatory Group, but out of caution for the words of Nathan Rothschild and Li Jian, they mobilized a strong SWAT team of over a hundred men in 10 armored vehicles to rush through the streets toward the commercial area where the Purgatory Group had bought its current building.

The streets were quite dry since most people were gaming at this time, but those who remained were surprised by the strong mobilization and couldn't help but be interested. Ever since Boundless World became more and more mainstream, crimes, conflicts, and the like in the real world had died down, most of it being transferred into Boundless.

As such, when people saw this, they could tell that something big was about to happen, and they excitedly called their friends and family about it. Game and real-life communication was now possible in update 3, with the AI even accounting for time dilation, so all information was passed in real-time.

It was not difficult for people to follow this armored SWAT group, and when they came upon their destination, many displayed shocked expressions. They had expected to see a big scene, but not in a million years would they have thought it would be an armed police force standing at the gates of the Purgatory Group, ready to barge in by force!

After all, even the most ignorant person in this city knew that there was a titan in their midst that had ties to an extremely powerful force in the game world. Having been dominated in the game for over ten years, many had long come to see Umbra as invincible, clearly forgetting that in reality, they were still just a bunch of citizens at best!