Chapter 101: More for the Order ( 3 )
Chapter 101: More for the Order ( 3 )
Sun Cheng was able to call for a grand dinner with all the important members of his family. He was the heir now and the family couldn't afford to anger him now. Anything he asked for, he would be given and a dinner wasn't much of a deal. Since it was Sun Cheng, they didn't think it would be something important anyway.
Hell Sun Cheng could've called them just so he could dine with all of them for the first time. He was used to dining all alone after all. If he wanted some interaction with his family, they would give him.
What they hadn't expected was to find an unknown figure wearing a cloak already eating. Said figure was also sitting at the worst possible place, the family head's chair. He or she watched them enter the room, his/her icy blue eyes chilling them to the bones.
It was easy to see in the look that person gave them, they weren't going to have a nice and easy dinner.
"Cheng, could you please explain who this person is ? " The family's head and Cheng's father asked. Weirdly enough Cheng didn't cower at his tone. In fact Cheng looked at all of them with a little smirk, as though he was in a position of strengh, which told them all they needed to know about that mysterious figure.
"Well, sit down first. Why not let him introduce himself first ?" Cheng told them. Seeing that he wouldn't give them any answers, they all took their places while the family's head sat at the other end of the table.
As they sat down Jian, who was of course the cloaked figure , realized something. He had a little problem. All of those nobles had been at the arena the day of the tournament. Now it didn't guarantee that they heard his voice, but he couldn't exactly take the risk. He had to modify his voice, but he didn't even have to think of a solution as a certain unholy being coughed.
"I might be able to help ya on that one, kiddo. Ya like to say I'm freaking useless, but I could be pretty damn good right now. I can possess you and talk for you. Not to be mean or anything but I do have a lot more charisma than you do and my aura would definitely terrify them." Mara explained. It was all right, Jian wasn't really the type to take offense for something so true. And in the end, this plan was amazing, simply because not only would it make the whole negotiation easier for him, it would allow him to hide his identity better and the Crow would be seen as an actually terrifying figure....Not just some kid in a cloak who tried his best to appear commanding.
'Alright, do it. Don't say anything weird though.' Jian told him. It was a bit risky for him to let Mara in control, but it was a risk he was willing to take. It was simply because if anything went bad, he knew he could kill everyone in that room easily. Those people were normal nobles who had no strengh and the guards hadn't been summoned since this was simply a dinner. They were patrolling outside of course, but they wouldn't search for him if he killed everyone hence assuring no one could alert said guards.
'Don't worry, just say whatever you want to say and I'll automatically say the same, I won't go off road.' Mara assured him. He instantly possessed Jian, which didn't change anything when it came to the child's appearence, but the nobles obviously felt the switch as they all squirmed on their chairs.
"Thank you for coming, dear nobles. I am not a man of many words and as such I will get to the point. I am The Crow, the man who has sponsored your little heir so to speak. Now I have a proposition for you all, I hope you'll be sound enough to accept it." The Crow said as he watched the nobles with a predatory gaze.
It was amazing enough for Cheng that the members of his family avoided The Crow's gaze, but what truly shocked him was seeing his father cower. He understood them though, even he was shaking like a leaf and he was a cultivator contrarily to them. No in fact, it was because he was a cultivator that he could understand it before than anyone here....The Crow was even beyond what Cheng had thought, his aura was more terrifying than even that of the serial killer who had trained Cheng or even.....Even the aura of the Queen whom Cheng had met briefly when the tournament was suddenly canceled.
He had been a bit sad about that, but the heirs had been practicing in the arena before the random participants did their chaotic battle. He had had his chance to show off, so he was still satisfied.
And now the man who had permitted all of this was sitting there, watching his family with a savage smile.
"W-What do you want ?" Cheng's father asked as the other members all started to burn their brains with the amount of thinking they were doing.
'The Crow, have we heard of him before ?!'
'Damn that little pathetic bug, he just had to get a powerful backer just to spite us !'
'This won't end well...We need to thread carefully.'
All the members had different thoughts and weirdly enough it was the younger members who had the more wise thoughts. The older ones were all bitter and full of disgust for Cheng.
"You see, I happen to be the leader of an organisation. All organisations need funds to work, right ? I can get them myself, and I will....But I can also make allies and have them support my organisation. That is what i'm offering to you, a chance to become my allies, as opposed to being wiped out because my temper isn't exactly something you want to test....." The Crow suddenly said, chilling everyone further. But this was a direct threat, something that none of them took to lightly. That was until The Crow chuckled with his deep and clearly deranged voice.
"Ha, I was just joking. I cannot threaten an ally, now can I ? However I have to say, if you do refused I will have to take Cheng with me. He became who he is today because of me and I have a few needs for him."
"You can't !"
"Surely you are jesting !"
"Do you presume you can take our heir that easily ?!"
They all started yelling at The Crow, though one of them stayed silent. It was Cheng's father. He coughed in his hand and everyone calmed down.
'You morons, Cheng can and will leave if he has a chance to. We never treated him right so he has no reasons to say, and something tells me we won't be able to keep him here by force....' The man thought as he engaged in a staring contest with The Crow. He quickly stopped though due to not really being able to gaze into those eyes any longer. He saw things in those eyes, things that told him how he and his family had very few cards to play.
"What can you offer us, Mister Crow ? You don't strike me as the type of man who wants to antagonize everyone around him, so you must have something to give in return." The man said. It wasn't really like he was sure what he had say was true, but the man could clearly just scare them into accepting his deal, and yet he wasn't.
'Jian, I'll go a bit off road actually. You are doing good, but you're a bit too....Yourself. The Crow needs to be more like me, a monster you can't even look in the eyes. He needs to be terrifying without even trying to.' Mara told Jian who cursed at him. It just had to happen, Mara was just like that.
"Let us discuss what I want from you first. After that we'll talk about what I can put on the table. I do not think you are unaware of who is doing what currently, right ?" The Crow said as Cheng's father bit his lips.
Of course he knew. The Crow was laying his terms and he and his family were just listening. The real problem in this situation was that they knew nothing about the man, and while he could probably afford to offend them or attack them, they didn't know if it was the same for them. Without knowing who he was or who could back him up, they had no chances of fighting back. Their only chance was to negotiate the best terms.
"O-Of course. What are you asking for ?"
"Well my terms are simple. I want your full support. Funds, resources, men. I want everything you can get me. You'd be a full fledge ally to my organisation." The Crow said, earning himself a chorus of gasps.
"This...This is a lot to ask for. I do hope you have things to offer us." Cheng's father said, he was unwilling to let go that easily. He wouldn't let that man take everything that easily. Now he still wanted to hear the proposition because the reason he couldn't fight back was that he didn't know if the man powerful or not, but that was also a reason to hear him out...This deal could potentially be good for them.
"Of course, you'll find quickly that I'm not a good man. You'll also find quickly that I'm a horrible person. However if you do not give me reasons to terrify you, you might just live the good life at my side. Now here is what I'm offering you. As an ally you'll receive the protection of my organisation, of course I won't deploy entire armies unless it is needed, but any time you'll have problems, we'll be there in a flash. We'll also help your heir flourish, making him the greatest, even stronger than the princes. You have seen how much he progressed right ? This was the doing of one of my subordinates and we will put even more resources on Cheng if you accept this proposition. Finally we can offer you something you noble families all desire..." The Crow said as he got up and walked around the table letting his hand touch the nobles' chairs as he slowly reached the family's head.
"W-What is it ?"
The Crow laughed and suddenly got into the family head's face while showing him a piece of metal he had just taken out from Jian's inventory.
"I can put you in the good graces of the royal family "
" What ?!"
"Impossible ?!"
"Is this...The Royal Seal ?!"
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