Chapter 294 Untitled

When he saw the middle-aged man in the glass mirror, a flicker of joy flashed in Yves Cardwen's eyes. He then lowered his head and knelt on one knee, adopting the ritual of an ancient subject before his sovereign.

"Your Honor the Mayor!"

"I've heard about your affairs. You were used as a pawn, weren't you?"

Seeing Cardwen's hesitant expression, the man shook his head slightly: "Don't tell me his name, Cardwen, I'm not interested. What matters now is how to solve the problem. The Magic Tower Committee has received Andre Lee Wieldonstein's application for a temporary domain partition. The target is your Sherwood Manor and the Platinum Tower, and the duration is three hours."

Yves Cardwen's breath caught, his face instantly turning grim. He couldn't help but look up at the middle-aged man in the mirror with a pleading gaze.

"I'm sorry, but next month is Atlanta's election season. As the outgoing mayor, I may not be able to offer you much help. At most, I can delay the Magic Tower Committee's approval by two days. A veto is impossible, Cardwen. That would mean your war continues within Atlanta. Given that both sides have more than one high-level Outlaw, neither the FBI nor the police can intervene. And we can't force that lucky Andre to stop, can we?"

"Of course, this is all the bitter fruit I've sown. But Your Honor—"

Cardwen breathed heavily: "Isn't there any other way? Like reinforcements in combat power?"

"Reinforcements in combat power?"

The middle-aged man looked at Cardwen meaningfully.

"I know this request is excessive, but I have no other options for now. The Red Finch Club currently has only five level-17 mercenaries available for hire, and they all recently rejected my employment."

Yves Cardwen prostrated himself again: "But if it were the House of Hanover, the uncrowned king of Georgia, they would surely find a way to help me out of this predicament."

"This request is more than excessive, Cardwen? Since entering politics, the House of Hanover has never intervened in wars between families. That Andre's situation is not as simple as you think. Do you believe his backers are only those few sponsors?"

The middle-aged man tapped his forehead as if with a headache: "If Mr. Cardwen is willing to donate seventy percent of your group's shares to Hanover, then I might try to persuade my family."

At this, Cardwen's breathing became noticeably heavier.

The man smiled sardonically, then changed his tone: "But there's no need to go that far, is there? You still have a way out, Cardwen. After all, he bears the name Wieldonstein—one of the most noble bloodlines in Atlanta, even in Georgia. That won't harm your dignity. If you've made up your mind, call this number. She is the only one who can help you now. But Cardwen, after this incident, I hope you will offer your loyalty to the House of Hanover with greater sincerity. If something like this happens again, you'll have to fend for yourself—"

After that, the middle-aged man's figure vanished from the glass mirror, and a mist condensed on the window, forming a phone number.

Yves Cardwen stood still, his face shifting between pale and red. But then, without hesitation, he picked up his telephone.

...

At eight in the morning, Lee Mochen went to inspect Richard Publishing Company as scheduled. He had just bought this business a few days ago, spending 6.5 million gold shields and assuming 4 million gold shields in debt.

Although this seemed like a losing deal given the publishing company's assets and operations, Lee Mochen, with Dwight Payton's protection and the help of several sponsor endorsers, barely managed to beat out numerous competitors and successfully acquire the company.

But before the formal acquisition, Lee Mochen had already decided to thoroughly review the company's finances. After the acquisition, this resolve only strengthened.

This was because the audit report finally submitted by the accounting firm he had commissioned was shocking. An annual loss of five million gold shields—no wonder the Randalls, a family with over a century of history, had reluctantly parted with it.

This family, which had established itself in Atlanta through chemical and processing industries, had been severely hit by the economic crisis three years ago and had recently been selling off various non-performing assets to improve its operations. Richard Publishing Company, whose only valuable asset was its newspaper, was one of them.

But when Lee Mochen set out from the Unicorn Apartments, he had several guests by his side. The leader among them was Edmund Bederman, the FBI's Atlanta City Security Group special agent in charge. According to the latter, he would be staying by Lee Mochen's side for the next forty-eight hours.

The official reason was that the FBI had received a tip from an informant that a huge bounty had been placed on Lee Mochen in the underworld—a full two million gold shields for his life.

Considering Lee Mochen's current public influence, the FBI had specially dispatched a powerful Outlaw team to provide him with round-the-clock protection.

But Lee Mochen knew full well that this man was here for close surveillance.

"Is this really appropriate, Bederman?"

Lee Mochen was already barely acquainted with the special agent in charge, so his tone was casual.

"Fenrir the Demon Wolf is practically tearing the whole city apart. He's killed at least seven or eight celebrities recently. When will you finally catch him? Look, I don't even dare go out without armor now."

Lee Mochen was telling the truth; at that moment, he was indeed clad in a set of gleaming silver armor.

That was another product from Nathan Sports Group, model 'Star-Eater'—released by Nathan Military Industries in 3958 of the Bright Calendar. It was also the first product from the group to combine technology with magical energy, rated at 16S.

But the piece Lee Mochen wore was a modified and enhanced version from the Nathan Sports Lab, which not only significantly lowered the armor's usage threshold but also increased its defensive capability to 17S. Nathan then gave him this product as a reward when sales of the Lucky Bracelet exceeded 250,000 units.

Although it was a product from forty years ago, the 'Star-Eater's' ability to absorb stellar energy was particularly suited to Lee Mochen. And the Nathan Sports Lab ensured its high-tech content and magical energy arrays were on par with any modern equipment.

This armor couldn't be used in cold weapon duels, but after sealing some of its functions, it was perfectly fine as a sponsorship item.

As for unsealing the armor, Lee Mochen could do it himself.

Beyond that, Lee Mochen had armed himself to the teeth. In the gun holster on his chest hung two 16S pistols, each with a capacity of fifty virtual bullets—one called 'Crimson Burn' and the other 'Cold Star'—and on his back was a 16S magical energy sword 'Agares,' also from the Nathan Sports Lab.

On his hands, he wore the ring 'Andre's Emerald Angel' and a pair of gloves called 'Thunder Hand.'

Though these items were slightly inferior to those of his separated avatar, they could still amplify his current combat power by two to three times.