Chapter 79: exposed

A sudden knock was heard in the silence room and the clear voice of a maidservant called out, "Mr. Smith, Master Jacob sent me to inform you that the guests have already arrived."

​The sudden voice made the room’s occupants awake. Astra was the first to rise. she turned to assist Smith, helping him navigate off the bed so they could prepare themselves. Though their rest had lasted only a few short hours, it had proved deeply restorative—the first true sleep they had experienced since stepping foot inside the Slaughterhouse.

​After dressing hurriedly, Astra guided Smith downstairs toward the living room, where the assembly was scheduled to convene.

​Upon stepping into the hall, Smith paused, taken aback by the scene before him.

​Seated upon the couches were the Grand Elders representing the other six prominent families,a heavy quiet hung over the entire room; not a single person spoke. Even Caesar, usually so boisterous and dominating, sat in absolute, stone-faced silence.

​What puzzled Smith even more was Jacob’s position. Rather than taking center stage to host the gathering, Jacob sat thoroughly isolated on a small couch in the farthest corner of the room. He looked as though he were sitting on a bed of pins and needles, visibly unease. Though Smith found the scene bizarre but he kept it to himself. Stepping fully into the room, he bowed slightly and offered some pleasantries to the assembled elders.

​Once the greetings were exchanged, Astra pushed Smith’s wheelchair toward an open space beside one of the central couches, helping him settle in comfortably.

​Smith looked around the room and noticed another detail: the discussion was being led by an elderly man wrapped in a dark robe who stood at the center of the room. The hood which typically shadowed half his face, had been drawn back to reveal his features for the formal meeting. With his pristine white hair and stern demeanor, he looked like an ancient scholar or judge. He lacked any towering, muscular build, but his presence was no less commanding.

​Smith recognized him instantly. It was Elder Edigar, a high-ranking authority from the Gravela family.

​Edigar cleared his throat, his sharp eyes sweeping across the room. "Now that everyone is present, I shall not waste our time. I will go straight to the point." Turning his gaze directly onto Smith, he continued, "Mr. Smith, prior to your arrival, Jacob provided us with a brief summary of what transpired within the Slaughterhouse. As you well know, this information is vital for us to accurately assess and calculate the contribution points you deserve. Therefore, we ask for your patience as you recount your experience to us once more."

​Smith simply nodded and began his recital. He omitted the granular details, focusing instead on the key turning points of the run. Throughout his narrative, the elders maintained a deadened, attentive silence. However, when Smith described the emergence of the Calamity—the Black Snakeman—where was no shock crossed the elders’ faces. Seeing their reactions, Jacob had likely already told them the details of the encounter.

​When Smith finished his account, silence reclaimed the hall. The elders remained still,Finally Elder Edigar broke the quiet.

​"Very well, Smith. Given the extreme parameters of this run—and considering the Slaughterhouse was directly under the management of the Brown family" Edigar stated calmly. "In accordance with our standing agreements and the unprecedented nature of these events, we have decided to award you more than triple the standard contribution points."

​Edigar paused, letting the figure settle in the air before continuing. "However, as you previously drew an advance on your contribution points, we must apply this yield against your existing debt. By our calculations, this reward will officially offset half of your outstanding balance. The remaining half will stay on your record. Tell me, Smith—do you have any objections to this arrangement?"

​Smith shook his head without hesitation. He was more than satisfied. He had fully expected to embark on several more runs just to scratch the surface of what he owed. Clearing half of his massive debt in a single stroke felt like a massive windfall. He had no reason to complain.

​Seeing Smith’s approval, Edigar continued smoothly. "Good. Now, I have also been informed that you possess certain items acquired from your loot that you wish to sell. If you are ready, may we proceed to examine it?"

​Without wasting a second, Smith reached into his storage and brought out the equipment blueprints, followed by the Enhancement Stones, placing them neatly on the central table.

​Edigar was the first to reach out, picked up the items, and began his evaluation. Unlike Jacob, whose initial reaction to the stones had been pure, unchecked excitement, Edigar and the surrounding elders examined the materials with cold, practiced restraint.

​As each elder inspected the items and returned them to the table, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense.

​Cornered in the far end of the room, Jacob looked utterly exposed. Unable to meet the piercing eyes of the Grand Elders, he bowed his head, nervously staring down at his hands and tapping aimlessly at his phone to feign indifference.

​The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, until Elder Caesar—the most short-tempered among them—finally snapped.

​Caesar slammed his hand onto his armrest and bolted to his feet. Pointing a finger directly at Jacob. "I told you all earlier!" Caesar roared, his voice echoing in the room. "I told you this brat was acting suspiciously! I knew something was wrong the moment he reached out, and look at what we have here! When I raised my concerns earlier, you all acted as if I were talking nonsense. Well, you’ve witnessed it with your own eyes now! This little greed-demon was planning to swallow the entire cake all by himself!"

​The other elders remained motionless, offering neither defense nor agreement, while Jacob shrank further into his seat.

​Spurred on by the silence, Caesar pressed his advantage. "We need to remove him as the head of this group immediately! If we allow this youngster to continue leading, who knows how many treasures he will hide from the council in the future just to line his own pockets?"

​Hearing the call for his immediate removal, Jacob snapped. The composure he had been desperately trying to maintain shattered completely. He leapt up from the couch as if someone had stepped on his tail, his face flushed red as he shouted back, "That is an outright lie! I sent the formal message informing everyone of Smith’s return the moment he arrived, didn’t I? I explicitly invited every family to send their representatives! Where exactly was my mistake?"

​Caesar let out a mocking laugh. "You sent the notice through your personal account instead of your official secretary." Jacob immediately defended"my secretary was in a high-level meeting on my behalf with the family elders and the Patriarch back home,and it was urgent so i had to send it myself."

​"It was urgent!"Caesar retorted,"Even if her meeting was interrupted, the Patriarch would have understood the priority!"

​"Do not play coy with us, Jacob," Caesar sneered, stepping closer to the table. "Is that the only detail that exposed you? No! What made you truly suspicious was the tone of the message itself. You usually send out codes. Yet this time, you sent a casual notification that made Smith’s return sound completely routine and insignificant! You wrote it so that any person who didn’t know you well would simply send a representative rather than a Grand Elder."

​Caesar sneered, his eyes narrowing at Jacob. "You calculated that by the time our representatives arrived here, you would have intimidate them making them concide and by the time the rest of us received word of what was actually brought back from the Slaughterhouse, the transaction would have been finalized, and the assets safely hidden in your family’s vault!"

​Having delivered his verdict, Caesar huffed, adjusted his suit and sat back down on his couch. with a triumphant smirk, looking like a judge who had just successfully cornered a guilty criminal.

​The other Grand Elders, however, showed little genuine outrage over Jacob’s scheme. In the ruthless hierarchy of the great families, attempting to monopolize a lucrative trade opportunity was considered standard practice. Had any one of them been in Jacob’s position, they would have attempted the exact same maneuver.

​Seeing that the storm had passed, Elder Edigar raised a hand to restore order. "Enough," he declared, his voice cutting through the remaining tension. "The matter is settled, and we shall dwell on it no longer. We are all busy individuals with pressing affairs, so let us proceed to the business at hand. Smith is exhausted and requires proper rest, so we will conclude these transactions swiftly."

​Edigar gestured toward the items resting on the glass table. "Regarding the equipment blueprints: they will be converted directly into their equivalent value in contribution points and credited to Smith’s account immediately. As for the main attraction..."

​Edigar paused, his eyes landing on the Enhancement Stones. Instantly, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The distant, indifferent expressions vanished from the faces of the Grand Elders. They sat up straight, their postures rigid and their eyes hyper-focused on the stone atop the table, like starved predators locking onto fresh prey.

​Satisfied with their rapt attention, Edigar offered a calculated smile.

​"Now," Edigar announced clearly, "let the auction begin. You may place your opening bids on the table—standard protocol applies, and the highest bidder takes the lot."