Chapter 212: The New Successor
The factions were all making moves in the dark. Xiao Jin had given Han Xiao the information of the other factions’ movements over the next two days, and he wired the agreed compensation and reward into Han Xiao’s Dark Net account—a total of 8,000,000 Aquamarine Dollars.
Han Xiao had a huge amount of money, a total of more than 40,000,000 dollars, more than ten times what he used to have. With such a large sum, he could splurge freely on machinery and carry out some of his ideas such as the robot army style that he once thought to be too expensive.
Two days passed in a blink of an eye. The internal meeting was carried out in the Alumera meeting hall as scheduled. High ranked officials across all the factions gathered within, and the guarding power was high.
Han Xiao wore a hood and disguised himself as an ordinary high ranked official of the Xiao Faction. He entered the meeting hall without attracting attention and sat down.
In the heart of the meeting hall was a circular shaped table. The leaders of various factions sat around the table, and the other high ranked officials sat on the more exterior seats. Those belonging to a faction sat behind their leaders. The factions were separated distinctively, forming smaller areas at different angles.
It was snowing lightly outside, but the meeting hall was warm thanks to the air conditioner. The people took off their coats and started talking among themselves. It soon became rather noisy.
Dang, dang!
Todd rang the bell on the table, and the meeting hall turned silent quickly.
“The meeting will now commence,” Todd said with a serious expression. “There are four candidates for the successor for the leader: myself, Xiao the Second Chair, Se Qi the Third Chair, and Mr. Angleton. Start voting when you’re ready.”
“I would like to say a few words before the vote starts,” Angleton said as he stood up and started his speech. It was a standard procedure to do a speech before the vote. Although the seated high ranked officials already had a basic idea of who they were going to vote for, this step was still not to be omitted.
Very soon, the four candidates finished their speeches. Todd looked around the table and said, “The voting shall begin.”
The high ranked officials spoke their choice.
Todd was nervous. He had been contacting other high ranked officials over the past few days and promised them many benefits. They had all agreed to vote for him when they had the discussion, so he could easily beat the other candidates in the number of votes.
But soon he became stunned. The high ranked officials who promised to vote for him all voted for Se Qi without even looking at Todd.
How did this happen? Todd was shocked and angry.
Se Qi had a bright smile on his face. He smiled at every high ranked official who voted for him. Watching his vote count becoming impossible to be beaten, his heart was relieved.
As soon as Darryl was assassinated, Se Qi had realized that the successor election was an opportunity. He had been in communication with Theseus secretly, and they had agreed to help him for the promotion, and he, in turn, promised many benefits to them if he successfully became the leader.
Although Alumera was Theseus’s partner, Theseus was very aggressive. They had been secretly wanting to control Alumera from the inside, and they had gotten into contact with Se Qi the Third Chair, who was not satisfied with his position. Theseus made use of their relationship network and discreetly drew in many high ranked officials to give Se Qi an advantage.
And for Angleton from the Northern Factor, he was basically there to watch the show. Even the people from the Northern Faction did not vote for him except for a very few—he sat in his seat with awkwardness on his face.
Angleton had been elected by the Northern Faction to just be a representative—he did not want to give up on fighting for the leader’s position, but he knew that he did not have a chance. Thus, he had mixed feelings about the matter.
Se Qi’s vote count was way ahead, and soon, it exceeded the half mark. The election was settled.
“Haha, thank everyone for your support and love. I shall not disappoint.” Se Qi stood up full of happiness on his face. He could not hide his satisfaction at all.
This time, Xiao Jin spoke. “Wait.”
Everyone looked over immediately with various looks on their faces, Xiao Jin was a powerful candidate as well, but he had not done anything up till now. They were very curious about what he was planning.
“Xiao the Second Chair, do you have any problem?” Se Qi’s heart skipped a beat, and he emphasized the words ‘Second Chair’.
Suddenly, a voice that was unforgettable to the seated high ranked officials came out of the Xiao Faction area.
“I have a problem.”
Everyone’s eyes widened, and their expressions turned into horror. They recognized that this was Black Phantom’s voice!
Xiao Faction’s members spit open and showed Han Xiao, who was hidden. Han Xiao was wearing the same black windbreaker and black gloves. His arms were crossed, and he said expressionlessly, “Xiao Jin is more suitable to be the leader.”
Se Qi was stunned for an extended moment till he regained his focus. “Xiao Jin, how dare you let an outsider interfere with our family issues. Are you intentionally breaking the rules‽”
“Black Phantom is not an outsider; he is a senior of my Xiao Faction. He is the stepfather of my children.”
As soon as Xiao Jin finished his sentence, the youngsters of Xiao Faction all bowed toward Han Xiao and yelled stepfather simultaneously, almost as if they had been practicing it.
The others were stunned in shock.
How shameless… Todd’s face was twitching.
According to Black Phantom’s previous actions, his stand was above all, and he did not care about Alumera’s internal changes at all, but now, he was suddenly interfering.
They gave it a thought and realized that, when Black Phantom was suspected, Xiao Jin was the only one that spoke for him, and it was Xiao Jin who discovered the real killer in the end, which cleared Black Phantom’s name. However, during that time, the other factions were all focused on drawing votes from the high ranked officials.
Then it occurred to all the factions that Xiao Jin might have gotten in touch with Black Phantom only because of this, which was why Black Phantom was willing to help Xiao Jin.
Also, Xiao Jin had definitely paid a huge price to attract Black Phantom into having diplomatic relations with the Xiao Faction.
Although the other factions were not happy, they could not deny the fact that Xiao Jin had increased Alumera’s overall strength by doing this, as this meant that Black Phantom had become an ally of Alumera.
Han Xiao sat down casually and scanned the entire place with a dangerous look.
The high ranked officials all turned away and did not dare look him in the eyes.
Words were not needed; Han Xiao’s intentions were clear just by sitting here.
A silent threat.
The atmosphere got awkward. The high ranked officials who had already voted became anxious and exchanged looks secretly.
Finally, a high ranked official could not take it anymore. He wiped his sweat and said hesitantly, “I’ve thought carefully and feel that Xiao Jin is more suitable as the next leader. Can I change my vote?”
Changing the vote was not allowed according to the rules. However, the host of the meeting, Todd, was cursing in his mind. Black Phantom was right in front of them, so he did not dare to say no. Thus, he nodded in dismay.
After the first, the second and the third followed, and soon came the rest. Han Xiao scanned around the room; whoever came into his sights immediately changed their vote. It was like his eyes had magic in it.
Se Qi did not admit defeat yet. He wanted to have a final struggle but realized that Han Xiao had looked over with eyes that were so sharp that they pierced right through his heart. Horror filled his mind, and he closed his mouth in fear, watching the position that had belonged to him moments ago slip through his fingers.
The result was a definite—Xiao Jin won with an overwhelming number of votes.
The people of the Xiao Faction were smiling brightly while the others had to suck it up and congratulate Xiao Jin one after another.
The Xiao Factions’ ways had the other factions feeling very uncomfortable, but the result was not unacceptable. After all, Xiao Jin was a very senior member of the family and had made a lot of contributions.
Who knew that Xiao Jin would win in the end? Todd’s heart was bleeding. The Home Faction had controlled Alumera for all these years, and now, they had lost their power all of a sudden.
Todd knew that from that day onward, the Home Faction would slowly become a vassal.
Seeing that things were settled, Han Xiao left. The crowd split open automatically, and the high ranked officials who were congratulating Xiao Jin also stopped to look at Han Xiao as he left.
Although Xiao Jin was the final winner, in the eyes of everyone else, the center of this meeting was Black Phantom. All he did was show up, and it decided Xiao Jin’s position.
This was the power of overwhelming strength.
The people were all very jealous of Xiao Jin. As long as Black Phantom remained in the Xiao Faction, Xiao Jin’s position would be forever stable.
