"Strongholds... It seems that you also know about the strongholds. I guess that perhaps you might actually possess even more information about what I want." Jack said with narrowed eyes as he looked at the 'old' man.
In the end, the old man could only resign to the defeat. After all, it was true that the shadow organization possessed great strength, but in front of someone who had already broken the genetic lock, they were completely useless.
And other than the fact that Jack had actually broken the genetic lock, there was also a fact that he currently possessed a group of 100 strong people. Just looking at the armors that they were putting on, the old man could already tell that even if he decided to bring in those that were always putting on black masks, they would be completely useless.
He had already determined that the level of equipment that these people were putting on was of the same level as the guardians of several organizations in the strongholds possessed.
And if that was the case, it was obvious that their strength was also supposed to be of the same level. And since that was the case, even though they might be a single or two levels behind those with the purple mask and the blue masks, the numerical advantage was enough for them to defeat them.
"Let's get somewhere to talk." The old man said.
The moment that he said these words, everyone was surprised. They looked at him, wondering where the arrogant old man had gone to. After all, it was not long ago that he was just talking about teaching Jack a lesson.
But now, he had already given in even though Jack had not even taken action yet. At the same time, they couldn't help but wonder just how strong Jack was. After all, the surprise and the fear in the old man's eyes could not be hidden from them.
Currently, the thing that Jack really wanted was the information. Even though it was true that Samantha was currently working for him, she did not actually give him much information about the stronghold, as she was completely prohibited from doing that, or otherwise, she would just end up dead.
But now, looking at this old man, Jack was not afraid of forcing him to give him the information. After all, Samantha was currently considered useful to him. But this old man, it was completely different.
So, Jack looked towards Denali and the others, and instructed them to come over. As for the 100 puppets that he had brought in, using the telepathic connection that they shared, he instructed them that they had to make sure that the shadow organization didn't play any dirty tricks on him.
The old man led the way back into Jasper's residence. There, they went into a secluded room that was also in the underground basement.
"Can we talk alone?" The old man asked as he looked at Celine, Denali, and Samantha who had also come into the room.
"She is my wife, she's my subordinate, and she's also my subordinate. They are all trustworthy, and I don't think that there's anything that needs to be hidden from them." Jack said as he pointed towards Celine, Denali and Samantha.
Looking at Jack's resolute expression, the old man knew that there was no way that he was going to convince Jack otherwise. So, rather than wasting his time, he decided to go ahead and inform Jack of all that he could.
"Ahem. Actually, our shadow organization was actually part of a stronghold before. It was just that, we made a mistake, and we were banished from the stronghold…" The old man began.
It turned out that, the shadow organization was also a part of the several organizations that were present inside different strongholds.
At that time, since they, just like any other organization present in the strongholds, wanted to be the supreme organization, and the leader of the stronghold, they had tried several means possible, to ensure that they managed to reach the top.
But, in order to do that, they had gone ahead and committed a crime that was not allowed. That was, they had actually killed a person, the leader of a different organization that was the biggest competitor for them.
Of course, during that time, there was a prohibition that people from different organizations were not supposed to kill each other without enough reason.
But, the shadow organization thought otherwise. After all, they believed that they could actually complete this thing, and completely hide the evidence.
After they had done that, they had thought that perhaps, they might actually be the ones that were going to be responsible for the stronghold. But in the end, the organizations that were way bigger than them suddenly made an appearance.
The evidence that the shadow organization had worked so hard to hide, was actually unearthed. All the secrets that the shadow organization had been hiding, all the crimes that it had committed, were completely revealed.
They came and said that, the only reason as to why the strongholds were developed was for a single reason. And for that reason, all organizations that were present within the strongholds were supposed to support each other, rather than killing each other.
So, they came to put in another rule that stated that, if there was not enough reason, people from different organizations were not supposed to fight each other. Otherwise, the two of them would face punishment from the top strongholds.
As for the shadow organization, it was banned from ever joining any stronghold. And more than that, in case they were found to be trying to sneak back to the strongholds, all the members of the shadow organization would be killed.
And other than this punishment, the leader of the shadow organization who was the old man's father, since he was the one who had orchestrated the plan to kill his competitor, he was also killed on the spot.
Even though it was true that the old man was angry at that time, there was completely nothing that he could do. After all, the people from the bigger strongholds were not to be messed with.
Although he had thought that perhaps, he might utilize the chance that the shadow organization was in the dark to rise back to the top, but due to the fact that they were not capable of accessing the resources that were only present in the strongholds, the shadow organization was not able to make a comeback.
It had already been several decades ever since then. And, the shadow organization had chosen Azima as their base. They had settled in the southern province simply because this side of the country had not been developed.
Since forests encompassed almost the whole province, it had already given them a place that they could seclude themselves. As for recruitments, they will always send someone out to look for those that had better physiques, before nurturing them.
This had been going on for several years now, while at the same time, he tried to break the genetic lock, and reach the superhuman level. But, without the resources that could only be found within the strongholds, there was no way that he could do that.
And considering that the shadow organization had already lost its backer, a person who had already broken the genetic lock, even those small organizations that were actually supporting them previously, had turned their backs against them.
There were even some of them that actually even tried to get some benefits from them. All of this had turned into grievance, that made this old man work harder. But, a lot of effort was not just enough. He needed resources.
Jack and the others were also surprised after hearing the history of the shadow organization. None of them had ever thought that the shadow organization was actually previously a member of the strongholds.
But considering the power that they possessed, it was considered incredible because they did not have the support of the strongholds.
"Oh, so you are the organization that was banished from the strongholds!" Samantha exclaimed in understanding. Since she was a member of the stronghold, it was obvious that he had already heard the rumors about a certain organization being banished from the stronghold.
That was something that the leaders of each organization actually said, trying to make sure that none of their members committed a crime that was going to cost them a lot.
Jack on the other hand furrowed his brows. From what the old man had said, it was obvious that there was actually a group of organizations that was bigger than others.
And, these organizations were the ones that possessed great authority. And, since he had already killed Erick, perhaps there might be a group of people that might come to investigate about him.
Thinking about this, Jack finally decided that he had to do everything as fast as possible, to ensure that he went to the strongholds, and got the resources to strengthen himself further.
Additionally, with the upgrade of the system authority level, he will be able to perhaps strengthen Celine as well. That way, he would have less worries about her.
"All right. We now understand about the history of the shadow organization, of which you have not revealed all of it, but, that is not something that I care about." Jack said as he look at the old man that looked melancholic.
The old man raised his eyes and looked at Jack, waiting for him to say what it was that he wanted information about.
"It has already been two times that someone said something about me looking like someone. It has already been long enough for me to try and look for information, but I believe that you might enlighten me about this." Jack said indifferently as he looked at the old man.
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