It turned out, the call was from the Earthlings Supremacy Games Originazation US branch, or in short, ESGO US branch.
This organization was created to handle any matter related to the SG or UVR. For example, the current government public camps, the assessment centers, the national team battles, and also the world representative battles, all were under their jurisdiction.
It was an international neutral organization that belonged to the world council. Each country was required to have a branch of this organization on its soil to facilitate handling those matters.
Right now, they just called the elders, informing them that the national team battle had changed its rules. Obviously, the elders weren’t pleased one bit by those changes as it affected their team the hardest.
Based on what Felix heard, the rules changes affected the number of bloodliners each family could bring. Before the changes, each family was allowed to bring at most ten awakened juniors. However now, the number was limited to only six!
For the Maxwell family which had nine bloodliners in their ranks, that was a fatal blow to them. The fact they needed to remove three juniors from their team while their rivals only needed to remove one or none at all, made the elders feel cheated and most of all livid.
Felix knew that such a sudden rules change never occurred in his previous life. The families all had 4 to seven bloodliners max, and for the Maxwell family, it had only five juniors awakened, Felix included. But after he changed the awakening practice method, the number reached nine!
This changed the time-line into a different course. Only now, did Felix finally see the result of his interference in the fabric of time.
Though he didn’t know if the time-line was trying to fix itself by removing the added 3 juniors or this was merely a result of a scheme by someone.
He understood that the ESGO US branch would not make such a drastic change right before the qualifiers were about to start. Someone or a group must have forced their hands one way or another.
Felix wasn’t the only one with such thoughts, as charlotte immediately contacted her intel team, giving them a mission to investigate this hidden attack on their family, while the rest of the elders were still raging and making their displeasure heard in the ears of the caller.
The juniors on the plane already knew what was happening from what the elders were saying out loud, and they didn’t like it one bit. Especially the weakest bunch in the team.
“Are we gonna get kicked out of the team?” Sarah suddenly asked Johnson, the fog element user who took her seat after Olivia ditched her.
“I doubt they will kick you.” Johnson gave a side glance at three juniors behind him, who were conversing with worried expressions and clarified, “The ones in danger are them, not us.”
Sarah understood what he meant instantly, as only those three were the ones, who still didn’t reach 45% in their integration. As for both of them? They were going to reach the greater purity in two integrations or three.
“If we found that your branch had any dealing with other families, we will take this to your organization headquarter.” Abraham shouted, “You better prepare yourselves!”
Cluck!
He hung up the moment he laid down his threat, though, it was more like throwing a fit than fulfilling what he just said.
Abraham knew that currently, the ESGO US branch was one of the most authoritative organizations in the states, and there was no way his family’s power could deal with them.
Plus, they already had enough enemies and rivals waiting for a chance to pounce on their assets, there was no need to add that behemoth into the ranks of their enemies.
However, finding out who had enough authority to force such an entity into changing the competition’s rules was a must.
…
10 minutes later…
Charlotte bracelet ringed, interrupting the elders’ discussion. Charlotte immediately picked up the call after seeing that it was from one of her subordinates.
This time, she didn’t put the call on speaker, as she listened privately to her subordinate task report with a solemn expression.
The elders kept waiting in silence for her to end her conversation before asking about the results. Thankfully, Charlotte hanged up in a minute or so.
Before needing them to ask, she looked at them with a serious expression and said only one name…Hiltons!
“It truly was them.” Albert said, sighing.
Unexpectedly, the elders neither had looks of surprise nor shock about the name of the progenitor. Honestly, they were more surprised and interested in knowing about the method used by the Hilton family to pull that off.
They knew way too much about the Hilton family to realize that it was impossible for them to solely force the organization into changing the rules.
As they say, the one who knows you the best isn’t your friend but your rival. And the Hilton family was one of the oldest rivals for the Maxwell family.
Their rivalry was totally understandable, as their main business was both related to hotels and real estate.
Both of them had hundreds of hotels spread in 120 countries or more. Since their hotels were ranging from 4 stars to 6 stars, it meant they were always being compared by their guests. This led those families to always try to outdo or hinder each other.
They were equal in authority, business ventures, reputation, and more. This meant, there was no way that the Hilton family had enough authority to force a neutral organization since the Maxwell family couldn’t do so.
Charlotte didn’t keep the elders guessing on the method used, as she continued informing them about her intel report.
After hearing her out, the elders realized that their massive team didn’t touch only the Hiltons’ nerves but actually all of the families in the competition!
All of them wrote a complaint letter to the organization, demanding that ten bloodliners per family was too many and that was going to raise displeasure within the commoners, who needed to compete for 15 days just to secure 50 spots.
The bastards didn’t mention the Maxwell family at all, as the letter was simply using public outrage and unfair competition as their ammo to change the rules.
The organization received 9 letters from 9 families, leaving only the Maxwells. After reading them, the organization complied with the wishes of the majority.
Not because they were forced or moved to tears by their goodwill, but simply because this was what they wanted in the first place! To reduce the number given to the families in order to let the commoners get more spots in the final competition.
After all, the majority of the commoners actually had a better affinity rating than some families’ juniors, as just to enter the public camp, having a 50%+ affinity rating was a must.
The families just fulfilled the Organization’s wish without offending the masses. Sadly, for the Maxwells, they were the only ones affected heavily by this change of rules.
All of this was proposed and led by the Hilton family. They kept their scheme sealed shut until the day the elders left their posts at the same time, blind-siding them like this.
Charlotte told them that the letters were sent to the organization the moment they reached the airport. Making them receive the news from the organization instead of their subordinates. Though, they knew that even if they had knowledge of their scheme way earlier, they still wouldn’t be able to stop it.
One voice against nine voices. Plus the organization wanted this to happen, thus there was no hope to avoid kicking three juniors from the team.
“Sigh, how are we supposed to kick those children from the team after we made them bleed for this competition?” Robert leaned closer as he spoke, trying to minimize his voice from reaching the ears of the juniors.
The elders soon did the same and started whispering between each other, trying to discuss their next move.
Annoyed by their attempt to stop him from eavesdropping, Felix clicked his tongue and reseated himself.
Olivia stopped peeking as well and put the seat belt back on with a worried expression. She didn’t want any of her cousins to be left behind, but after hearing what Charlotte said, she understood that nothing much could be done to avoid that.
“Who do you think are going to get kicked?” She whispered her question in Felix’s ears.
“Probably those three losers at the back.” Felix said casually, not mincing his harsh words one bit. Everyone in the jet heard him loud and clear, as no one was speaking.
“Shhh!!”
Panicked, Olivia hastily put her hands on Felix’s mouth, closing it shut from saying any more.
She started to regret asking this thug, who never gave a crap about his distant relatives. Alas, it was too late, as those three cousins all gave them an unpleasant glare.
Olivia almost teared up after seeing them glaring at her like that. It was the first time someone treated her like that.
Indifferent by their reaction, Felix removed Olivia’s hands from his mouth and said, “Don’t mind those losers, tell me, which integration percentage are you on?”
“I am on 70%.” She answered, still sulking.
“How about Noah and Kenny?” He asked.
“The last time I heard, Noah was on 85%. As for Kenny, he still needed one more integration to reach greater purity.” She replied.
‘Not bad, I might not even need to make a move during the battles.’ He smiled in a pleased manner.
Honestly, Felix just wanted to chill during this period of the battles. Away from games and business. Thus, the stronger his team was, the more chances he would have to laze around.
