Pillar of Yita

”Half of the Elite Corps, even if it’s just the Youth Training Group... you’ve really stirred up trouble this time, Ade. The Jiefulite Red Cloak Team is bound to be at odds with you to the death,” Sophie said while gazing at the ancient Underground City through her Light Page.

”Actually, not much has changed because I’ve always been at odds with them to the death,” Fang Hong similarly looked at the profound darkness. After collapsing the bridge that led from the eleventh level to the twelfth, he had no interest in staying to see how much damage the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team had suffered and led his team away from that place.

The team continued to delve deeper, with the remnants below being sparse relic islands, each isolated above the Abyss.

The fragments of the ancient city were connected by solitary chains or a temporarily constructed arch bridge, not very different from the Lonely Bridge they had seen before, presumably all handiwork of Toragotos.

He stared into the darkness, and the darkness reflected in his eyes, like a layer of pervasive mist, enveloping the uniform buildings within the ruins.

”That’s not the same.”

”What’s different?” Fang Hong turned his head.

Sophie lightly shook her head, at a loss for words for a moment.

”Will it affect you?” Fang Hong thought for a moment and asked.

”The impact will certainly be there,” Sophie replied, ”The Jiefulite Red Cloak Team probably thinks it’s our doing, and I expect the higher-ups of the Guild will contact me soon, but I will report the truth—”

”Of course,” Fang Hong nodded, seeing nothing wrong with her doing so.

Sophie looked at him and warned, ”Be careful, the people from the Super Competitive League might come after you.”

”The Super Competitive League?” Fang Hong was taken aback, ”What do they want with me? My actions have not violated the ’Stargate Declaration,’ and doesn’t the Super Competitive League encourage healthy competition between individuals and Guilds?”

”That’s what the slogan says,” Sophie looked at him helplessly, thinking to herself how he could be so astute in many ways, yet fail to see the simplicity of the problem at hand. She counter-questioned, ”But do you really believe that?”

Fang Hong furrowed his brow, sensing the subtext in the Princess’s words. He wasn’t a fool; having been through so much, he wouldn’t blindly regard the other side as benevolent, virtuous angels.

Sophie sighed, looking at the lone big boy in front of her, and suddenly felt a bit of pity, although an individual against an organization like the Grand Guild wasn’t uncommon in Eteliria, the outcome for the most part was predetermined from the start.

She knew of such incidents, but she wasn’t someone who overflowed with compassion, besides some people brought it upon themselves—yet this big boy was different, his deeds were well-known in the community and, in this matter, the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team was simply in the wrong no matter how they looked at it.

But sometimes, being right doesn’t seem that important.

Seeing him remain unaware, a sudden impulse struck her heart, feeling empathy for circumstances close to her, and glory earned from Silver Vislan made her unable to remain indifferent.

After a moment of thought, she suddenly said, ”You know about the Competition Region Administrators, right?”

Fang Hong nodded, it was a regional division of the Super Competitive League.

Despite this, Sophie explained, ”The Competition Region Administrators are the actual organizers of the Super Competitive League in each region. It sounds like a subordinate institution of the Super Competitive League, but in fact, there is no subordinate relationship between them. The Super Competitive League is the organizer of the biennial Super Competitive Tournament, whereas the Competition Region Administrators are responsible for organizing regional competitions, managing professional Chosen, Guilds, and clubs in their regions.”

Fang Hong was a bit stunned, not quite grasping the relevance of Sophie’s words to their current topic.

But the Little Princess of Silver Vislan continued as if oblivious to his gaze, ”Therefore, as you might expect, competition among the regions also affects their respective Competition Region Administrators. The strength of a region and its level of development indirectly determine the status of its organization’s leaders. Typically, bigger competition regions’ administrators naturally have more resources at their disposal and are much more prominent than those of smaller regions.”

”For this reason, the administrators would not ignore conflicts between Chosen within their own regions—absolute absence of strife is impossible, but there should be limits to prevent excessive internal consumption of strength, especially before a major competition. In fact, the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team is currently quite popular, and the BBK Alliance supporting them is on the verge of joining the ranks of the top ten Guilds. You’ve wiped out half their team in one swoop here; do you think they would remain indifferent?”

Fang Hong was taken aback.

Sophie exhaled, ”The key here is the Dead Silence Zone. If the Super Competitive League decides you acted excessively and harmed the overall strength of the China Competition Region, could you withstand the pressure that might bring?”

Fang Hong asked incredulously, ”But didn’t the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team initiate the conflict? Surely I can’t just take a beating and not fight back?”

Sophie pursed her lips and looked at him with a tinge of compassion, ”In theory, that’s true, but people invariably have their biases. For the administrators, between you and the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, your importance is clear, and furthermore—”

She paused, then continued, ”Indeed, it’s much more complex than you imagine. If the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team is dead set against you, they could even use real-world resources to influence the administrators’ decisions. Don’t tell me you really think all those people are impartial sages?”