When the plot-skips players into the game world

After finalizing the matters, Vice Chairman Boka took Aiwass to a small banquet.

It was a modest gathering of less than ten people, all middle members of the Lohar Society. Clearly, they were not among those rare Transcenders within the Society's inner ranks. For Vice Chairman Boka made no mention of the Noble Red Society, and they apparently had no concept of it.

Vice Chairman Boka announced that he had personally invited Aiwass Moriarty, who had recently been awarded the Holy Sword Medal by the queen, to join the Lohar Society.

With the Vice Chairman's endorsement and in the presence of the stern-faced and serious Mr. Boka, these individuals all behaved very warmly.

They were all well-known businessmen on Glass Island, with the least affluent among them being the owner of the second-largest construction company in Lohar District. They were "corporate members" who had joined the Lohar Society as businesses, which ranked slightly above those "individual members" who joined in their own names for loans or insurance policies.

Even among these individuals, there were several who had known Aiwass from before. They had been friendly with Old Moriarty, and one had even been introduced into the Lohar Society by him.

Clearly, they were unaware of Professor Moriarty's death. Upon learning of Aiwass's entry into the Lohar Society, their initial reaction was to celebrate.

To them, it obviously meant that Professor Moriarty was preparing for Aiwass to take over the family business. Thus, it made sense for him to have been invited by Vice Chairman Boka to mingle with these "old friends."

Of course, these individuals might not necessarily be of any use. If they knew about Professor Moriarty's "misfortune," they might even turn against him at the drop of a hat. Vice Chairman Boka had brought Aiwass to meet them precisely to make public the fact that "Aiwass was invited to join the Lohar Society by Boka."

While this might not make the newspapers, these were obviously not tight-lipped individuals. They would soon spread this information within their small circles... Before long, those in the know on Glass Island would be aware that Aiwass had become a member of the Lohar Society, and furthermore, one aligned with Boka's faction.

This action, in fact, amused Aiwass somewhat.

For Boka's behavior was not very favorable in President Lohar's eyes.

According to information Aiwass had just received, Lawyer York, Vice Chairman Boka, and President Lohar were all Transcenders of the Noble Red Society. But Vice Chairman Boka seemed somewhat reluctant to introduce Aiwass to President Lohar.

Introducing Aiwass to the lower ranks without even notifying the President, let alone the President's approval... this was clearly an attempt to avoid the possibility of President Lohar rejecting Aiwass's entry.

—This was entirely out of protocol.

Who ever heard of recruiting an important member—an individual who would serve as a spy, a staff officer, a spokesperson—and not even running it by the boss or securing his agreement?

In their earlier conversation, Aiwass had learned far too many things he should not have known. If he refused to join, they would have no choice but to take action.

...Similarly, if Aiwass agreed but Mr. Lohar refused, they would still need to take action to silence him.

Aiwass keenly sensed an air of desperation—not just from the under-pressure Lawyer York, but from Vice Chairman Boka as well.

From this detail, Aiwass boldly deduced that there must be a significant rift between Vice Chairman Boka and President Lohar. And Lawyer York was someone who had not yet decided whether he would be fence-sitting.

Until now, he had not decided whether he would side with the President or the Vice Chairman. But now he seemingly had no choice.

As a Transcender, a hybrid of a Giant and a human-created being, President Lohar might feel a closer affinity with the Noble Red side. He was the glue that now held the two organizations together... thereby, he was the one who gave Lawyer York pressure, ordering him to kill Sherlock.

Boka was likely the fence-sitter within the two organizations. His greedy instincts as a businessman drove him to exploit and even seek to absorb the dangerous Demon Scholar Society; whereas his traits as a Transcendent made him unwilling to share profits with his boss President Lohar, even thinking of replacing him. Find your next read at empire

That is why they were attempting to recruit Aiwass.

Recruiting Aiwass was a risky move, but businessmen are naturally willing to take risks for profit.

Despite knowing that Aiwass was a first-level demonologist, wielding leverage over him in both military and political spheres, and enticing him with financial inheritance and demonology knowledge, this plan was ultimately very risky, always on the brink of going awry.

To execute such a plan with such urgency and even haste—despite the inherent risks—also indirectly proved that Vice Chairman Boka's situation wasn't favorable.

And that was to be expected.

As a fellow Transcender, he was very close to overtaking President Lohar. Surely, the President must feel wary and threatened.

But herein lied a Path trap.

Transcendents on the Path of Transcendence, unless absolutely necessary, could never intentionally suppress their successors or prevent them from surpassing themselves.

This behavior was, first and foremost, a suppression and defiance of the very act of "transcendence"; secondly, it symbolized one's own fear of talent degeneration and inability to progress, potentially alerting subordinates that their superior had weakened; and, this kind of top-down control and suppression belonged to the realm of the "Path of Authority"… The more one attempted to control subordinates, the more likely they deviated towards the Path of Authority.

If one did not want to be surpassed by others, the best method was to continue moving forward and upward. One could not stop even for a moment, or they would be overtaken and robbed of everything they owned.

Therefore, competition on the Path of Transcendence mostly took place among peers and from subordinates' betrayal and backstabbing. Superiors tended to be friendlier towards their subordinates.

President Lohar was clearly aware of this taboo. Thus, he couldn't make a move against Vice Chairman Boka, but that didn't mean he wasn't anxious.

The "transcendence" of the Path of Transcendence was not as simple or as benign as catching up in a race.

The most legitimate plunder occurred in conquest against stronger foes. The more resounding the victory and the more plundered, the greater the power of the path gained from this action resonating with the path's essence. Grow by devouring the defeated and the dead; this is the nature of the Path of Transcendence.

Whereas mindless bullying of the weak, from adopting a superior position, often symbolized a weakening or dulling of the will to transcend, potentially leading to stagnation in one's own growth or even weakening in reverse. For example, the Star Antimony Kingdom's casus belli could only be "to restore Star Antimony's completeness," "to make Star Antimony great again," or "to continue Star Antimony's expansion," not "to suppress the development of our neighbors."

This is why, in order to prevent the opponent from having a chance to surpass them again... when transcenders achieve their goal, they strip the opponent of everything they have. They completely tear the opponent apart, defeat them, destroy them, leaving no chance for revenge.

Vice Chairman Boka was obviously eyeing the rear end of the person above him.

President Lohar still wanted to move forward; he couldn't suppress Vice Chairman Boka now. If he were to move forward, he would have to fulfill Prince Lohar's wish—usurping the throne. This was no easy task.

But he could not openly suppress without reason, yet he could "incidentally suppress Vice Chairman Boka" within a reasonable scope.

For instance, using the excuse that "Aiwass has offended the Noble Red Society," he could deny his membership and kill him to silence him. In doing so, he would have eliminated Vice Chairman Boka's point of disruption. And if Aiwass were to die here, the Lawyer York he brought with him would also be implicated.

In Vice Chairman Boka's view, things would likely end up this way. Therefore, he risked offending President Lohar by forcefully pushing to make this happen.

It appears that the Noble Red and Lohar Society are ready to clash at any moment. It's only logical, after all, one is composed entirely of businessmen and the other of Transcendents. Shared interests alone are no longer enough to unite them; they must have a common enemy.

And now, the royal family is too weak, still enduring while on the brink of extinction... So, on the eve of their victory, the Noble Red and Lohar Society couldn't help but turn on each other.

——Since the contradiction had reached this level, things became simple.

Aiwass now knew what he needed to do.

After repelling the group of Demon Scholars, he could stage a scene.

... Such as arranging his dormitory to show signs of a Demon Scholar summoning a Shadow Demon to attack him, then hiding away, pretending to have disappeared. Leaving a wheelchair at the scene would prove he had been abducted.

In this era, it was difficult to contract a Shadow Demon, but it was possible to summon one for destruction. And Aiwass had a real Shadow Demon, so he could easily leave genuine evidence.

At this time, what would Mr. Boka think? He would only assume it was President Lohar who acted, to forcibly kill Aiwass and sabotage his plan;

But President Lohar knew he hadn't done anything, so what would he think? He could only believe that The Association's people didn't trust them and chose to act on their own—after all, Master and Apprentice of the Da Zi were Association members, and they had already summoned a Shadow Demon once.

But The Association also knew they hadn't acted, so they could only suspect Lohar Society.

If it were another organization, they might swear an oath to prove their truthfulness. But unfortunately, the Noble Red Society possessed the art of Defying Pact, rendering the Binding of oaths meaningless.

Anyway, Aiwass, who was only a first Energy Level and whose knowledge of Demonology came from The Association, was certainly innocent; he was a pure victim. Moreover, not just anyone could summon an Upper-Level Demon like a Shadow Demon.

Then, at that time, Aiwass could directly manipulate the Shadow Demon to attack Lohar Society.

Simply put, his plan was so straightforward that it could be summarized in a single sentence—often, the shortest plans were the most effective because they struck right at the Giants' most vulnerable weak point.

——That is, "If you're playing dead, then I'll play dead too"!