Chapter 411: Arthur Claymore’s Response

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It was difficult to find a politician or an important official who hadn’t benefited from his company’s resources in some way.

That made any attack on Claymore Enterprises more than a problem for its shareholders. People who had depended on the company for years would be watching this broadcast as well, waiting to hear how much had been lost and what Arthur intended to do about it.

"Yesterday, our company and, by extension, the stability of the entire Gate economy suffered a coordinated, cowardly assault. Three of our operational Gates were seized and removed from Association oversight by an unknown terrorist cell. Lives were lost. Facilities were destroyed. Billions in assets vanished overnight."

The mention of three Gates drew an immediate response. Several reporters looked up from their notes, while others began speaking before he had even finished.

Three?

Not damaged or temporarily shut down, but seized?

Those near the stage tried to call over one another. Further back, people turned to their neighbors, checking whether they had heard him correctly. Arthur had given them the scale of the losses, but he had yet to explain how something like this could have happened.

He paused, closing his eyes for a moment before looking over the crowd and taking in their reactions. Questions came at him from every direction. Reporters raised their microphones, hoping for a chance to be heard, while several shareholders whispered among themselves.

Some of those shareholders had stopped watching him altogether. They were looking down at their phones, reading messages and showing their screens to the people beside them. Whatever reassurance they had expected from this appearance, his opening words had not provided it.

Arthur let them react.

He did not try to speak over the questions or point to a reporter. His hands remained still as he watched the people closest to him. A few seemed ready to demand an explanation, but nobody had been given permission to ask anything yet.

For the moment, this was still his announcement. He would decide when they could interrupt it.

But the moment he spoke again, they fell silent once more.

"I will not sugarcoat this. Claymore Enterprises has been wounded."

Gasps spread through the crowd. Was the President of Claymore Enterprises really admitting that they were losing?

Several shareholders stared at him, their conversations forgotten. Hearing about the losses was one thing. Hearing Arthur himself describe the company as wounded was another.

Why would he say that in front of everyone?

He had to know how it sounded. The cameras were still recording, and people would repeat those words long after this announcement ended. Even the reporters seemed caught off guard, some lowering their microphones as they waited to see whether he would explain himself.

Arthur looked back at them without taking anything back.

He had admitted that the attack had hurt them. Now everyone wanted to know what that meant for Claymore Enterprises, and whether he could promise them anything beyond more losses.

Then his eyes blazed with golden light, and his expression hardened with renewed determination.

"But we are not broken." Arthur’s gaze swept across the crowd. "These terrorists believe they can hide in the shadows. They believe fear will make us fold. They are wrong. We have already identified several persons of interest. High-level Awakened signatures were detected at each site, signatures that do not match any registered Hunter or Association operative. Rest assured, every resource at our disposal is now dedicated to rooting them out. The Association’s new joint task force will have full access to Claymore’s private databases, surveillance networks, and specialized response teams!"

After hearing Arthur Claymore’s words, the crowd began to look hopeful. He sounded so reassuring, so certain that he could handle this!

Several people nodded, and the shareholders who had been whispering among themselves turned their attention back to him. There were still questions they wanted answered, of course, but at least he was giving them something to hold on to.

Claymore Enterprises was not going to stand by and do nothing.

Arthur had resources, Hunters, and the Association working with him. To the people gathered there, that sounded like more than enough to deal with whoever had attacked the Gates. Some were already lifting their phones again, eager to record what he would say next.

Could anybody even doubt this man when he got serious?

He continued, looking toward all the cameras with a reassuring smile. "To our shareholders, your investments are safe. Emergency liquidity measures are already in place. Temporary production shifts to secondary Gates will offset losses within the quarter. To the public, we understand your fear. These attacks were meant to sow chaos, and we will answer them with order."

The mention of safe investments seemed to matter just as much as his promise to find the attackers. A few shareholders exchanged looks, visibly relieved. Others kept listening, waiting for the details, but none of them interrupted him.

He made it sound manageable. There would be losses, yes, but there were other Gates. There were measures in place. According to him, the company already had a way forward.

Riven watched the smile on his father’s face.

Arthur knew exactly who he was speaking to. First the people worried about their money, then everyone worried about what might happen next.

Arthur rested one hand on the podium and pointed the index finger of his other hand directly toward the camera. Riven clenched his teeth, feeling as if his own father were looking straight at him.

He knew there were countless people watching the same broadcast. That finger was pointed at all of them, not just him.

So why did it feel so personal?

Riven tried to relax his jaw, but his teeth stayed pressed together. He could not look away from the screen. The people in front of Arthur saw a man promising to protect them. From where Riven sat, the gesture looked much more like a warning.

His father’s smile was gone now.

Arthur leaned toward the microphone, keeping his eyes on the camera. There was no need for him to turn toward the reporters anymore. This part of the announcement was meant for whoever might be watching elsewhere.

Riven waited, already bracing himself for the next words. He had heard the reassurance. Now came the part where Arthur told everyone what would happen to those who stood against him.

"I address the perpetrators directly. Whoever you are, whatever twisted ideology drives you, you have made a fatal mistake!"

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