"Vega, let's call it quits for now. We'll follow whatever you decide."
After Jack waited for the city councilors to respectfully salute, he quickly led his bodyguards out of the hall.
Once they had all left the conference room, Ke Luoke nervously stepped forward and cautiously asked, "Young Lord?"
"Hm?" Vega glanced over, immediately intimidating Ke Luoke, who froze with a frightened expression, as if wanting to say nothing.
"It looks like you have a lot of questions," Vega said without replying directly to Ke Luoke's words. He stood up and said, "Come with me."
Vega got down from the main seat and walked toward the door, with Ke Luoke following hurriedly.
After all, so many people had died in the conference hall. The entire place was soaked in blood, which made Vega feel uneasy.
He wasn't some kind of sick pervert—how could he like a scene filled with corpses?
So once Jack and the other councilors had left, Vega quickly left the hall as well.
The earlier use of the Devil Haunting technique to wipe out those small gang members had two purposes: one, it was a rare chance to gain a large amount of experience points; two, since he had just appeared with the power of the Devil Haunting, he wanted to test its strength and simultaneously send a warning to Jack and the other city councilors.
If he didn't scare these greedy hyenas, how could he ever truly control Nacro City? Don't be fooled by how obedient they seemed like rubber stamps just now—if left unchecked, they would immediately start working with the small gangs the moment an opportunity arose, constantly causing trouble.
It was better to "kill the chicken to scare the monkey" first, breaking their legs before they got out of control.
After all, how could Jack, a city councilor, have just "happened" to meet the Pengellet family and the small gang alliance inside the Pengellet headquarters building? Someone must have tipped him off.
Now, under the intimidation of his strength, these people had no choice but to submit to the Pengellet family, which drastically reduced trouble.
"Ke Luoke, I know you have many questions, but rest assured—the entire Nacro City belongs to the Pengellet family starting today."
"As for the Shelby family," Vega said quietly, "there is no longer such a family."
Ke Luoke was shocked. Even though he had guessed this might happen, hearing it from the Young Lord's own mouth made it almost unbelievable.
The Pengellet family, once on the brink of collapse, had suddenly turned things around overnight—eliminating the Shelby family and ruling over Nacro City.
He was stunned and hesitant, but then resolved to enter the Pengellet military division's mindset. After a moment, he spoke carefully:
"Young Lord, you just told Jack and the other councilors that medicinal powders will no longer be allowed to be traded in Nacro City."
"I'm afraid that might be difficult."
Vega looked at Ke Luoke expressionlessly. "Why do you say that?"
Ke Luoke thought for a moment before explaining, "Although our family isn't involved in this business, before, the medicinal powder trade in Nacro City belonged mainly to the small gangs."
"They rely on medicinal powders as their main source of income, which allowed them to expand even when land was scarce."
"Just now, you wiped out a group of them, and since you've made enemies, naturally the entire small gang alliance can be destroyed."
After a pause, Ke Luoke continued, "But the remaining medicinal powder market belongs to the Shelby family."
"Although you've destroyed the Shelby family, if we crack down on the medicinal powder trade entirely, I'm afraid we'll provoke a powerful force—the Ten Old Men."
Ke Luoke's heart pounded as he said, "The Shelby family always sourced their goods from the Ten Old Men. If we completely shut down the medicinal powder market in Nacro City, we'll be directly challenging the Ten Old Men."
"So, Young Lord, this isn't something we can easily attack."
Vega listened, then shook his head.
Seeing him shake his head, Ke Luoke felt relieved, thinking the Young Lord had reconsidered and understood that provoking the Ten Old Men was too dangerous.
After all, the Ten Old Men's influence stretched throughout the underground world, and countless forces more powerful than the Pengellet family had fallen because they offended them.
But then, Vega's voice turned cold, and Ke Luoke was stunned into silence.
"Oh? The Ten Old Men?" Vega shook his head and commanded, "Then it's settled. Wipe out the entire medicinal powder market in Nacro City!"
"When I took down the Shelby family, I killed some of the Ten Old Men's subordinates—one of them was even a nephew of one of the Ten Old Men."
Meanwhile, several city councilors who had left the Pengellet headquarters wore grim expressions and glanced back repeatedly.
Their eyes were dark and uncertain, as if wrestling with an important decision.
Jack, holding the civilization stick, was the first to speak: "Let's find somewhere to talk."
The others immediately nodded in agreement.
Soon, their convoy left the Pengellet headquarters and headed to a remote, quiet club they owned.
Whenever they needed to make important decisions, they came here—a heavily guarded, secure place where they could speak freely.
Once seated, Jack glanced around and asked, "Are you really going to obey that little ghost?"
A pot-bellied man replied grimly, "You saw what happened in the conference hall. This guy's strength is too strong—we can't fight him."
"Yes, with those bodyguards, our safety isn't guaranteed," several councilors added.
Jack gripped the civilization stick tightly and said quietly, "If we ordinary folks can't do anything, then let's hire professional hunters to take action, or even assassins."
The councilors' faces fell.
"It's not that easy to hire professional hunters," someone said. "Even though they're strong, there's no incentive to take our side."
"As for assassins..." the pot-bellied man shook his head, "ordinary killers can't touch him. We'd only make things worse and get implicated."
"Plus," he added, "the assassin guild charges a fortune. For someone as powerful as Vega, the price would be even higher."
The others fell silent. Hiring the assassin guild was notoriously expensive—killing someone starts at one billion, and for someone like Vega, it would cost even more.
They didn't want to bleed themselves dry.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Jack then spoke softly, "Actually, there's another way—one that costs nothing, and might even let us rule this city in the future."
"What way?" the others asked, leaning forward.
Jack smiled and said, "Didn't you notice? Vega said he wants to crack down on the medicinal powder trade."
"Remember—the entire medicinal powder business in Nacro City relies on the Ten Old Men's supply."
"If someone cuts off their revenue, won't the Ten Old Men act? Wouldn't that mean Vega's done for?"
The pot-bellied man laughed bitterly. "Right! This Vega is just asking to die!"
"To dare offend the Ten Old Men... their influence spreads across six continents, commanding countless underground families."
"How could a small family like the Pengellets withstand their wrath?"
Jack smiled wider. "Then let's send a secret message to the Ten Old Men, telling them someone is cutting off their funds. Let them take care of the Pengellet family."
The councilors laughed and toasted with champagne, celebrating what they saw as a winning plan.