Fifteen minutes later, Taiji returned to the hall after answering the phone. When he looked at Oboro again, his eyes showed a mix of emotions.
Beep beep.
Oboro's cell phone rang, showing an unknown number.
"Mr. Oboro." Taiji moved closer and pointed to Oboro's phone.
The connection sounded weak as Oboro answered.
"I'm the head of the V5 Committee. My name is Josh." His voice was tight and authoritative. "To sum it up, I have one request. Get those crazy politicians under your control to stop what they are doing as soon as possible! Don't make any more trouble," Pop said.
Without waiting for the man to finish, Oboro hung up the phone. A heavy silence filled the air, broken only by the insistent ringing of Oboro's phone moments later.
"Sit down and relax," Oboro told Taiji, his voice unexpectedly warm.
Taiji sat down again, his body shaking slightly. For the people working in V5, or for a lot of the world, no matter how strong Oboro was, his physical strength alone wasn't that important. It didn't make people like Josh feel threatened or endangered. Even Chairman Netero, a very strong person, had to follow orders when dealing with V5.
The real danger to this group was power and status. An outsider who could shake up the human world was truly dangerous. That was very dangerous. That was what scared them.
The TV screen continued to play in the background. After a while, the phone finally stopped ringing and everything went quiet. Almost ten minutes later, the phone rang again, this time from a different number.
Oboro put the phone to his ear and spoke calmly, not waiting for the caller to speak: "No matter who you are, you are not qualified to deal with me. Let these people come." After saying this, he hung up the phone.
Next to him, Taiji was sweating a lot. He knew exactly who "those people" Oboro was demanding were: the highest leaders within V5, the individuals who stood at the pinnacle of power in the entire human world.
V5's response was very fast. They were trying to stop the press conferences in different countries from having a big impact. If they didn't stop the press conferences right away, it was hard to say what would happen. So far, only a few heads of state had spoken out. What would happen if kings or prime ministers spoke out? The situation would get out of control.
Every mainland nation had a certain level of national unity, regardless of its political conditions. If a country's leader spoke out, the whole nation, from top officials to ordinary citizens, would unite against the V5. Most people would side with their king.
Right now, the crisis was still at the level of public opinion and social influence. It hadn't yet escalated to "actual combat." Even without actual warfare, the economic and trade effects involving so many countries would cause devastating losses for the V5 nations.
If a war broke out, it would involve nuclear weapons. After all, weapons like the Poor Man's Rose could be mass-produced by many continental countries. Even if V5 still had many unrevealed cards, the human world would suffer catastrophic destruction if nuclear weapons were used on a large scale.
There would be no way to escape.
The phone rang again, but this time it wasn't Oboro's or Taiji's. It was David's.
The old man answered, spoke briefly, hung up, and said, "Sir, your people have arrived.
It was amazingly fast! This was the true power of the V5.
From the time Oboro took Taiji to watch the TV conference until now, barely half an hour had passed. V5 had received the message and responded in less than twenty minutes. And only fifteen minutes had passed since Oboro had hung up the phone and delivered his ultimatum.
V5's headquarters wasn't in the Republic of Padokea; it was extremely far away, but now their representatives had arrived at the Fells' residence! This speed couldn't be explained by technology alone; it had to be the power of Nen.
"Go greet them," Oboro ordered.
David nodded and left.
Taiji shifted uncomfortably. What was about to happen was clearly beyond the scope of someone in his position.
"Mr. Oboro, I'll go with you," he said quickly and hurried after the old man.
A short time later, a group of about twenty people entered the room. They were led by David. Each person looked serious and capable. Their skills were clearly better than Taiji's, as they were the real leaders of V5.
The fact that they had arrived so quickly showed how worried the national leaders really were.
The leader approached Oboro with practiced politeness. He gave his business card and introduced himself without any introduction: "We are here to meet your needs!"
Oboro held the card between his fingers, and his expression was unreadable. The man in charge was the same Committee executive who had first uncovered the Fells' plan. He had come in person.
His name was Bruce.
"Mr. Oboro, I'm sorry," Bruce continued. "Because things are so chaotic right now, and because you're in danger, the authorities can't come to the Fells' house. But you can still talk to them in other ways."
He pointed to a woman standing with the group. The woman stepped forward, her body exuding aura as she activated her Hatsu ability. An antenna-like structure appeared in her hand, which she then attached to her head.
She walked deliberately to the center of the hall. Her eyes locked on Oboro as her Aura surged outward, projecting a massive screen that seemed to float in mid-air.
The dark screen flickered before fully illuminating. On the other side, several blurred figures appeared, seated around a round table. Only their silhouettes were visible, their features deliberately obscured.
Even so, they could clearly see Oboro lounging on the sofa.
One of them snarled, "So it's you, the one who won't let us rest at night."
"Now that you've seen us, what do you have to say?" another female voice asked.
"Nothing in particular," Oboro replied with a smile. "I just wanted to inform you that as of today, the power of my Fells family, the entire underworld network, will receive national-level preferential treatment and qualifications in V5. I want one of your tickets."
The numbers on the screen fell silent for a moment.
Bang! Someone slammed their fist down on the table. "Are you joking? Don't think you can get away with these little tricks! We can still ignore the countries you've manipulated and get rid of you and the entire Mafia. Do you really think you can threaten us like that? How naive!"
As soon as this person finished his outburst, another voice followed: "Oboro, regarding this Black Tide incident, we can pretend that nothing happened. You can unify the world's mafia, and we won't interfere in your underground affairs. However, in certain social aspects and major operations, you must still obey our orders and agreements. This is our final offer."
Oboro's lips curled into a sneer as he leaned forward slightly. He looked directly at the figures on the screen and his voice grew cold. "Don't embarrass yourselves with such poor acting skills. I don't need V5 to make public announcements or go through the usual procedures. The ticket and national qualification I want only require our tacit approval, nothing more. After all, making it official would only cause you to lose face. I admit that our organization is not exactly glamorous, so I don't expect to be in the spotlight.
He continued, his confidence unshakable: "We, the Fells family, are the royal family of this empty land, and I am the king of a country without a crown. I've already shown a lot of restraint in not exposing your hypocrisy to the entire world. You're the ones taking advantage here.
One plays the good cop, the other the bad cop, an old trick that Oboro saw through immediately.
After he spoke, not only the leaders on the screen, but everyone in the room except David fell silent. The atmosphere became heavy and oppressive.
"This conversation is over. Prepare for the end of your lives," the leader who had shown anger earlier declared, his tone cold.
Oboro stood up from the sofa, looking calm. "No, it will not only be the end of my life, but the end of the fate of many people."
"I think you can kill me without a doubt."
"But if I die, many people will be buried with me."
"Although the mafia organizations scattered around the world haven't been unified yet, the Fells family still has the power to make them create chaos. They will cause chaos and violence in every city on earth! I will make the public hate you and make people riot, and I will blame you for it. Many politicians will step forward to accuse and denounce you, showing that you are a hypocrite. Wars will break out between nations, and the whole world will be engulfed in fire and destruction. I will turn the whole world into a place of chaos and conflict. Even if I die, my ideas will live on! I will make a big impact on human history!"
"Devil! You are a devil!" came the horrified reply.
"You're completely inhuman! Would you really risk hurting hundreds of millions of innocent people?"
Several leaders looked uncomfortable. They weren't sure how far the Fells' plan had gone, how many countries they controlled, how powerful the people involved were, or how many. Those who had already surfaced might be just the first wave, with more waiting in the shadows.
"Since you have investigated my background, you should know that I am not a normal person," Oboro said with a cold smile. "How many regular people are there in this world, really?"
His eyes remained calm, but they revealed a glimmer of extreme madness. "Let's fight! I can't wait to use my life to start the amazing story before the world ends. It's too perfect. Let's all be part of the destruction together!"
Oboro spread his arms wide, looking pleased. His words sounded like a goodbye; before he died, he wanted to give the world an excruciatingly brilliant kiss.
Everyone was convinced by what he said. His expression and the overwhelming aura he projected made it clear that this was exactly what he intended to do.
A cold shiver ran through the room.
The V5 leaders and executives present all came to the same conclusion:
The man before them was a madman.
A few words had made them feel afraid. They were afraid of the terrible things that would happen if Oboro caused chaos, as he had said he would.
He was not human!