"Hello, Brother Vydon."
"Hey, Grivon. It is weird for you to contact me. I saw that you are making yourself busy with the academy and stuff. I never knew the youngsters are so eager to take part in the clan growth. It seems like we became old and the younger generation is trying to take our place."
Vydon the prospect, Grivon came to meet said with a smile. Grivon could see the malicious intent past that smile and the hidden meanings of the remarks. He is clearly stating that Grivon is spreading his hands beyond his reach into the successor race.
After all, even Vydon and his peers hadn't settled who the winner is among them, but Grivon is swinging too hard in the past few days.
"Just my share for the growth of the clan, brother Vydon."
"That's good. Please don't hesitate if you ever want my help."
"Actually, I came here precisely for that. I am here to ask you a big favor."
Vydon was surprised as he looked at Grivon's eager face.
Even though they are of different generations because of their ages and births, they are still competitors at the end of the day. He is clearly keeping up appearances while suggesting, he can come for help, but he didn't expect that Grivon is really there for something.
"Brother Vydon, I actually came across a really good opportunity in the past few days and I am sure that it would be a great investment. So, I came here to see if you want to partner up."
With that Grivon took out a large scroll and spread it across the table.
"Gaja Park?" Vydon asked as he looked at the large blueprint.
This is nothing but the blueprint of the Park, Sam made when he was still a candidate for the palace of inheritance back in desolate.
Even though this doesn't seem like of much use for an Astral Plane Consummate cultivator, when considered on a large scale, this is still completely relevant and useful.
Grivon started explaining various things about the park and which part has what function. After seeing the faint interest in Vydon's face, he finally took out a formation disc and placed it in the middle creating a holographic three-dimensional blueprint.
Vydon got immersed in the whole thing.
"Brother Vydon, the academy is just a small fry compared to this. The academy can get us some recruits after a training and lot of investment from our part while they are still in. But it takes a lot of time and the range of the people we could recruit is very small and limited."
"So, how is this park is going to help?"
"First thing is that we are going to construct the Park in every one of our lower realms. Everywhere there is a consistent population of the Mortal Plane cultivators. Do you know how many talents are hidden there?
We would set up prize money and rewards for all the games we have in the park and we would be able to identify a lot of talents and recruit them.
Do you know how many people we could get like this?"
Vydon looked at the whole thing with bright eyes. But he came back to his senses.
"So, why are you here? You certainly have the capital to do this thing on your own. Don't tell me that you are feeling generous."
"It is not like that Brother Vydon. There is one thing I am pretty sure of myself and that is it is too farfetched for me to be the successor candidate and become the head of the clan.
There is just too much competition and there are just too many obstacles and we have the previous generation, with you guys and I am pretty sure that one who is selected between you guys would have a long reign. The most we could get is the grand elder position which is what I am aiming for.
After I came to the conclusion, I decided it is about time I started working, so I am taking all of my hidden forces and I also figured that I would benefit much if the next in line head is someone that I supported and in turn will support me.
So, here I am."
"So, you are saying that I am the most likely candidate in your opinion."
"No, Brother Vydon. You are the candidate with the most potential growth that I could see and you are the most flexible and adaptive. In the current situation, the brother Mingiv and Sister Giyon are the most likely candidates and you are a close third.
I am sorry for saying this, but the elder backing they have is too much."
Vydon frowned by he didn't refute what Grivon said and just asked.
"Then why are you supporting me? Wouldn't it benefit better if you supported one of those then?"
"As I said, you have the most potential, the other two have their victory guaranteed in a way and they don't need much help from me. Their growth is stagnant along with their positions, you on the other hand are completely different.
You have a lot of room to grow and if I facilitate that growth, then I believe I would benefit much. I want to be the youngest grand elder in the clan's history, after all, you know that the age threshold for being the grand elder is a lot more than the threshold for the clan head."
"That is your ambition?"
"Yes. It might not sound like a lot, but some of the current grand elders have seen the reign of two leaders and they are still there.
And I believe being a grand elder is a better job for me. After all, I am not particularly good at politics and business. What I am good at it is fighting in a war and making up strategies for troops, if I become a grand elder I could do all of that and I can leave my legacy in stone for the clan. What do you say? Do you want to team up?"
Vydon stayed silent for a long while. He started deliberating about all the pros and cons of this partnership. He doesn't know whether he could believe Grivon or not. After all, no matter how reasonable it sounded, it is the position of Clan's Head. He couldn't bring himself to believe that someone would completely give it up that easily.
But on the other hand, when he thought of what kind of person Grivon is, he figured his words might be right.
So, he agreed.
"Pleasure to be working with you. Let both of our construction teams work together. How do you want to go about the earnings?"
"You tell me."
"Fifty-fifty is good for me."
"I don't need that, you pay for seventy percent and you can have sixty percent share. After all, this is my blueprint and I had to pay a lot for the research and development of it, so I pay thirty percent and get forty percent share in the profits."
"Sixty-five and thirty-five. Even though you might have paid a lot, it is not going to be a match for the construction costs. We are talking about establishing it in every place under our clan, it will take a lot."
"Okay then, I agree. But you would have to take the lead on the project then. You would have to sit through the meetings and talks with the clan members and other local authorities. I wouldn't want to do that grunt work."
"Are you sure? People might mistake this being my whole idea."
"I don't care, as long as my part of the credit is known to the clan members, I won't bother with what the public sees my contribution as."
They shook their hands and they went on their own ways.
As soon as he left the area, Grivon's smile turned back to scorn as he thought of the slimy greedy smile of Vydon, he went back to the stray realm to meet with Sam.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do? After all, that is a big money. Even with all the riches and the clan finances, I feel the pinch."
"I know and that is precisely why we need someone like Vydon to take the lion's share of it."
"Why?"
"You wouldn't understand now. Let's wait for all the plans to bear fruit. Now, just send the word to the person I told you about. That guy is the information rodent acting for Sivan and you need to make him hear the news about your partnership with Migron.
The news should be precise and exactly what I told you. Don't change anything and make sure it is convincing. If you don't know how to do that, then come back again."
"Don't worry, now I have some people that could do that. They are really good at this stuff. They seem pretty experienced."
"That's good. Experience is something hard to buy. Make them follow those instructions precisely and let the information spread.. You can also make your hidden troops make all the hidden attacks as we discussed before."
