There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 370 - 362. Protocol Ficus

Chapter 370: Chapter 362. Protocol Ficus

If Protocol Aspen called for every important personnel in the Eastern Federation, Protocol Ficus referred to the summoning of the representatives from the twelve, now thirteen, prominent Houses in the Eastern Federation--six of which were part of the Old Houses.

These thirteen Houses had certain authority within the Eastern Federation, something that put a check and balance to the government’s policies. It was an authority of respect, from the great service these Houses made in preserving the civilization and developing the nation.

That being said, the President still retained a right to do a summon, when a great emergency in which the fate of the nation was in the balance. The meeting had to receive an endorsement of at least five Houses, of which two must be from Old Houses. And once the meeting was approved, these Houses were obliged to attend, without exception.

Even then, the meeting this time was drafted very abruptly. The invitations only came during lunch, and yet the meeting had to be attended in that same evening. If it wasn’t for the existence of teleportation portals, it wouldn’t have been possible.

Immediately after they arrived, the representatives--most of whom were the current patriarch and matriarch, unless they felt too ill and therefore sent their successor instead--were politely led to the deepest part of the tower, where security was the tightest.

It was a very comfortable lounge, with plush armchairs surrounding several coffee tables in which refreshments were being served. If it wasn’t for the urgency of the meeting, it would almost feel like they were in a party. Especially because most of them had no idea what was this meeting about, except that it had something to do with the recent incident inside the military’s eternal dungeon.

But the large double door of the lounge opened at one point, and as their eyes caught upon the figure of three people, they stood up. After all, even among the Houses, there was a hierarchy; and the four--now five--Old Houses were above everyone else. And the three people who just entered were the representatives of these Old Houses.

Ludya Mallarc hadn’t been seen in public for a long time, for her role was often being fulfilled by her son and grandson, instead. But everyone in that room knew her; the memory of her soft yet stern demeanor played out in their hand like their once scary Headmasters.

Escorting her, piquing everyone’s interest, was the new patriarch of the recently revived House of Ishtera. A beautiful young man in his late twenties, with expressionless blue eyes that didn’t show he wanted to be there. He was, undoubtedly, the youngest among the participants. Coming with Ludya Mallarc was a good move on his part, because no one would dare to question his eligibility with her as his guarantor.

Behind them was an unassuming man from House Asporo, who calmly led Ludya Mallarc and Luzein Ishtera to the table where the ’patriarch’ of House Apsoro was. It was them; the Old Houses who endorsed today’s emergency meeting.

With the arrival of those three, there was only one left on the list. They had only needed to wait for another five minutes, however, before the patriarch of House Horin, the eldest among the representatives, arrived along with three escorts. With the complete formation, the staff wasted no time ushering the representatives inside the rather large, but closed-off meeting hall.

Inside, the President had been waiting, sitting at the head of the table with his staff behind him. The patriarch of House Caishen, naturally, took a seat on his left side. Following the name card on the table, Ludya Mallarc took a seat on the right side, followed by the young patriarch of House Ishtera, and the ’patriarch’ of House Apsoro.

On the left side, right after House Caishen, was where Torodeo Horin took his place. The heir of House Kamui, representing his clan all the way from Shiroin, was seated beside the old man. The rest of the Houses--the more recent ones--took a seat on the farther side of the table.

Li Caishen swept his gaze across the table, at each of the Houses’ representatives, as well as their escorts and bodyguards. Once everyone was seated, he nodded at the staff standing by the door, who proceeded to close the door and stand guard in front of it.

"My apologies for the sudden invitation, and thank you for attending it faithfully," the President started, with a calm voice and solemn gaze. "It’s already late, so I’m not going to waste too much of your time with useless glib."

He gave a signal to his staff who immediately pulled up a few pictures on the screen behind him as he continued. "As you were already informed, the meeting today is caused by the accident happening in the Nabberi district military base’s eternal dungeon--which took the life of Major General Han Gyeong."

They were informed about that along with the invitation, but still, they stirred in their seat at the mention of the accident. Certainly, if the accident warranted the use of Protocol Ficus, then it wasn’t just an ’accident’.

"Please look at these pictures," the President signaled at the screen, where various images that looked like the rubble of a previously huge building could be seen. "This is the condition of the dungeon, and, as you can see, there’s something peculiar," he paused for a bit, sweeping his gaze across the table to check on their reaction, before continuing. "A modern building, built only at the latest a hundred years ago, inside this eternal dungeon."

If the table had only stirred slightly before, now there was a clear uneasiness between the representatives. They were not dumb, and they were not ignorant about dungeons--even if some of them weren’t an esper, like Ludya Mallarc.

Of all the dungeons that humans had ever explored, there had been no ruin or building that wasn’t as old as the Celestial War itself. Not to mention, most of these buildings were fashioned in an otherworldly style. An Earthling architecture that was not more than a hundred years old meant it was built by humans.

"Couldn’t it be just a military project?" one of the ’new’ Houses, from a conglomerate family in Rexon, tried to reason.

"Of course, that was my initial thought, but--" the President gave a sign, and the mini screens in front of each representative lit up, showing them the list of military projects from the last hundred years. "We found no such things in the white book, nor the fiscal book. We have been conducting a thorough audit of the military activity since yesterday, and we found no trace of a building project in any eternal dungeon."

"Not formally, at least," Ludya Mallarc curled her lips.

"Are you suggesting that it was an illegal project by the military, Matriarch?" the patriarch of House Caishen asked, a subtle smile on his face.

"Is there any other possible explanation?" Ludya opened her hands. "Would it be possible for someone who wasn’t in the military to build something in a dungeon owned by the military?"

Zein watched the representatives look at each other, whispering among those in their proximity. He swept his gaze across the table with a natural curiosity, ending it with a pair of eyes that seemed to never leave him since the start of the discussion.

He could feel the tension emanating from his bodyguards standing behind him--even Jock. The golden gaze was almost like a snake; constricting, predatory. The old man did not even hide his desire upon him--or rather, his power. And as the discussion continued, he did not avert that gaze, challenging it with his own, tilting his head slightly so it seemed like he was more curious than suspicious.

Interestingly, it was the old man who made a response to Ludya’s statement. "Yes, that makes sense," the cold-sounding voice spoke. "How long would it take to build something like that? How many materials and especially, the construction tool? It is impossible for an outsider to build anything in a privately owned eternal dungeon, let alone if it’s located in a military base."

How sly--Zein almost couldn’t control his facial expression. It was clear that this old man was ready to throw the military under the bus. And the military, in turn, would blame it on the dead man, Major General Han Gyeong, and washed their hands.

It seemed like cutting away the tail had always been their modus operandi. This was probably why Radia had been so pissed at Li Caishen for announcing it to the world, creating a perfect dirty man for them; the scapegoat.

"My, my--don’t be so hasty," Ludya said softly, with a gaze that contained every bit of mockery. "You said it yourself, Sir Horin, that it would need so many materials and tools. Where do you think this comes from? What is used to purchase this?"

"Not even corruption could cover the fund," the patriarch of Caishen nodded in agreement. "The capitals must be huge, so there must be a...sponsor, for a lack of better terms."

"Investors?" the fake patriarch of House Apsoro offered.

"Whatever it is, concluding that only the military is involved in this is too hasty, isn’t it?" Ludya tilted her head slightly, with slightly stretched lips.

"Talking about that, why is there no military representative here?"

"Because they are under investigation as of now, Sir Edwa."

"Excuse me," the heir of House Kamui raised his arm, the slight frown of his brows reflecting confusion. "I get that this building might be an illegal endeavor, but...what is exactly the problem here, aside from that? Surely you’re not calling us here with such urgency just for...this."

The young Kamui heir was a man in his thirties, looking no older than Cohen. The confusion on his face looked rather genuine, which probably meant House Kamui wasn’t involved in the wicked operation. Well, that was rather comforting.

"Yes, of course. The building was one thing, but it was what we found beneath the rubble that needed attention--what was left of it, at any rate," the President turned his head toward one of his staff, who was wearing a lab coat and briskly stepped forward.

The staff cleared her throat before pointing toward the screen. The images were also shared with the smaller screen in front of the representatives, but Zein did not train his eyes there. Instead, he watched Torodeo Horin keenly, the twitching eyes, the frowning brows, the hardening lips; the second where everything seemed crumbling in his face.

It was only there for a second, and people were busy looking at the screen to see the changes. Some were confused, and some were secretly stiffening.

"What you see on the screen, esteemed representatives, are the remnants of a very wicked apparatus," the staff announced. "A device that is used for serial killing, and an orb that was used to fuel the device."

"What?!"

"And that fuel--" the staff said while looking at the flabbergasted representatives, pausing just enough for suspense, "--is filled with the power of miasma."