Muria picked up his communicator, glanced at the news of the day, and smiled faintly before tossing it aside. He then began handling the family affairs for the day.
"Douglas Family Members Sentenced to 396 Years in Prison," was a shocking, explosive, and darkly amusing news headline.
The dark humor lay in the punishment this delinquent received—396 years in prison. This kind of sentence was nearly equivalent to a life sentence, simply specifying a numerical figure.
From this, it was clear that the judge who sentenced this young delinquent was probably not a very serious person. Even with modern medical advancements pushing the limits of human lifespan, the average human lifespan was around 120 years.
Star Armor Masters, through their cultivation and the fusion of their Star Armor, could extend their lifespans, but this particular delinquent was only a Third-tier Star Armor Master, meaning his lifespan would be no more than 150 years. To put it simply, even if his lifespan were doubled, he would still never serve his sentence in full.
However, Muria had underestimated the impact this event would have within the family. As the family head, he certainly had the authority to expel a formal member directly from the family and remove them from the family's hierarchy.
But such an action, in the eyes of some elders, could be seen as autocratic. After all, while this incident wasn't huge, it wasn't trivial either. Some elders felt that Muria should have at least consulted them or held a brief meeting to discuss it.
…
In the family's conference room, Muria, with a faint hint of impatience in his eyes, sat at the highest position, overlooking the other elders.
At nearly a thousand years old, Muria understood that many matters couldn't simply be resolved through brute force.
For example, his current strength was enough to take down every elder in the room, but he still had to sit here and listen to their opinions when they voiced them.
"Lord Gelos, I only learned from the news today that you expelled a formal member from our family's ranks," one elder spoke up once most of the elders had arrived, some through projections if they couldn't attend in person.
"Is there a problem?"
"Could you have informed us or discussed this matter with us before taking action? After all, a formal member is a valuable asset to our family."
"Do you think someone like Owice is an asset to the family?" Muria casually countered.
This subtle suppression, or perhaps a reminder, was something Muria had experienced many times since he became the head of the Douglas family at the age of twenty-four.
Muria realized that some elders within the family were trying to sideline him, or perhaps undermine his authority as the head, attempting to reduce him to merely the family's figurehead of strength, with no real power.
An empty-headed, powerful but powerless family head was what some elders envisioned for his future. Muria could only think to himself that these "young" elders were out of their minds.
"Of course not. Someone like Owice is a tumor for any family. It's best to remove him as soon as possible."
"Then, do you have any objections? As the family head, I don't think I need to consult with you about matters of this level."
"But we only found out about it from the media. Do you not think this is a bit excessive?"
"Fine. If that's the case, I'll give you the right to be informed. In the future, if something similar happens, I'll issue a family announcement."
Hearing this, a few of the elders in the room subtly smirked, unsure of what to say next. This wasn't exactly what they wanted.
"If all you wanted was to bring this up, then we're wasting time. Do the elders in the family have nothing else to do? Is this really worthy of a meeting?"
Muria knocked on the table, his brow furrowing slightly. As his emotions fluctuated, a massive emperor-like figure appeared behind him, and a heavy, oppressive aura instantly filled the entire room.
"This…" Several of the elders, seeing Muria's apparent anger, broke out into a cold sweat. They knew what happened when Muria got angry.
When Muria first ascended to the family head, he had once gotten angry simply because one of his commands wasn't executed properly.
At that time, three elders were stripped of their positions and demoted to ordinary family members to retire in peace.
That incident made the elders realize that with Muria's strength, their roles were now more ornamental than anything else, and their ability to counterbalance him had disappeared.
As a result, some elders harbored thoughts of weakening Muria's authority. However, for now, these were merely thoughts, as they had no way to directly confront Muria.
They certainly didn't dare to say, "Hey, Lord Gelos, you hold too much power, and we're feeling uneasy. Can you give up part of your authority so we can feel more secure?"
They couldn't imagine the consequences of saying such a thing. Angering someone as powerful and gifted as Muria would certainly result in a few more elders retiring.
So, they sought to weaken Muria's authority, but they didn't want to anger him directly. Their only hope was for him to make a mistake, and then use that as an excuse to reduce his power. Unfortunately, Muria had never made a mistake in handling family affairs.
And this time, they were just nitpicking—there was no actual mistake to speak of.
"Since this meeting is already called, we might as well address some real issues. Tell me, do you have any important matters that haven't been resolved yet? Let's discuss them."
"I've recently encountered a troubling issue. In the 13 most influential provinces of the Douglas family, there has been a surge in aberrant creatures, and the death rate among the general populace has skyrocketed. Several promising young Star Armor Masters have also died."
"Are you saying that the number of aberrant creatures in these provinces has gotten out of control? What a joke."
"Isn't the eradication of aberrant creatures supposed to be regular? Normally, these creatures, used for training our younger generation, shouldn't be uncontrollable."
"Exactly. What we're dealing with here is an abnormal situation." The elder who raised the issue shook his head, smiling wryly.
"So, you mean that someone has interfered in these provinces, causing this special situation?"
"Given that all thirteen provinces are affected, this kind of operation could only have been carried out by our rivals—three families, to be precise. I don't know which one, but they're probably all involved."
One elder sneered, tapping the table. Of course, the four major families weren't all on good terms. Though they maintained a façade of peace, behind the scenes, they were constantly in competition for limited resources.
Incidents like this, where other families try to sabotage the Douglas family, had happened countless times in history. Of course, the Douglas family had also sabotaged others on occasion.
"This problem is easy to solve—send out powerful forces and clear the aberrant creatures from those thirteen provinces with thunderous speed."
Upon hearing this, Muria simply listened to the elders' discussion for a moment, then offered the simplest and most direct solution. In such matters, brute force was the most effective, straightforward, and powerful solution.
"Ugh!"
"…"
The room fell into an odd silence. The elders exchanged glances, and a look of "as expected" appeared in their eyes. They were not surprised by Muria's answer.
From the way Muria had handled matters since his ascension, it was clear that he was a firm believer in the supremacy of force. If a problem could be solved with a fist, he would never bother using his brain.
"Ahem, Lord Gelos, there must be someone behind these creatures. We can't just eliminate the aberrant creatures and call it a day. We need to find the person behind this and take revenge."
"Didn't you already figure out who it was? Who else, besides the three major families, would have the guts or the resources to set us up?" Muria raised an eyebrow.
"But we haven't confirmed who it is yet."
"If we can't be sure, then let's retaliate against all of them. Better to wrongfully kill than let one go free." Muria waved his hand decisively, naming the target for retaliation, which deepened the helplessness in the elders' eyes.
"How should we take revenge? Should we also plant aberrant creatures in their controlled provinces?"
"We won't resort to such lowly tactics. We'll invite them to a friendly competition with our family members—an exchange match between the new generation of martial artists and Star Armor Masters. I'm sure they'll be interested and won't refuse."
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