Pillar of Yita

The twilight rose, the fiery clouds sinking from the direction of Istania, the sky of gold and blue gradually turned dark gray, and the night seemed like a sleeping giant, slowly enveloping this winter city.

Fang Hong leaned against the terrace, watching the last trace of golden cloud edges curl behind the dome of the Holy Sanctuary, contemplating the events of the day, lost in thought for a moment, as a few birds flew across the distance, and the hazy golden-red faded into Zhan Lan.

As night fell, the celebration officially entered the preparation stage, and people surged out from nowhere; the streets were full of torches, pedestrians, points of light, resembling a light dragon winding to the horizon.

Fang Hong gazed at the windows that lit up one by one, momentarily seeing the stars on the ground, behind the windows was a bright golden hue, people hung leafed acorns on the windows, symbolizing a bountiful harvest.

”The locals are superstitious about the deity of joy, Tao Jin, and acorns are Tao Jin’s lucky charm.” Sophie’s voice came from behind, calm and rational: ”People believe Ouli brings light, but the latter brings wealth in abundance.”

Fang Hong turned around and saw Princess Vislan of Silver Weslan pushing the door open.

”I thought it was Lady Roman.” He replied.

”Lady Roman oversees commerce, contracts, and travel as a deity, while Tao Jin is a great dreamer, admired by many adventurers,” she looked at him with bright eyes, gently sliding a window page to him, ”Look at this.”

The two leaned against the railing, in front of them was a faint Light Page, semi-transparent, suspended in the night like a ghost.

Fang Hong’s gaze passed through the Light Page to the crowded streets below, filled with people preparing to join the revelry, with occasional excited screams of children and the sharp scolding of women coming from the crowd.

He then retracted his gaze, seeing the community window on the Light Page.

”What is this?”

”New regulations of the Super Competitive League.”

”Surely, it’s nothing good.” Fang Hong thought for a moment.

”You guessed right,” Sophie replied: ”The Super Competitive League wants to review the legality of all guilds in the south. Of course, that’s just the official saying; in reality, guilds that don’t join the Southern Region Alliance will surely fail the review, and the community is in an uproar.”

”What happens if they fail the review?”

Princess Vislan of Silver Weslan explained with a nonchalant expression: ”Unlike adventure groups, guilds require permission issued by the alliance. Without permission, they are naturally illegal.”

Here, illegal means literally illegal. After entering the Stargate Era, humans formulated a series of related laws and regulations, the ”Stargate Declaration” is only part of it, or rather a guideline, with many more detailed provisions.

Although illegal guilds aren’t classified at the level of a cult organization, they are at least similar to illegal businesses. If the nature is severe, they could even face criminal charges on Earth.

Although Fang Hong had an idea, he couldn’t help but be stunned after hearing this: ”Can they really do that?”

Sophie nodded: ”Theoretically, it’s feasible; the Super Competitive League does indeed have this qualification.”

But Fang Hong sensed the implication in her words and pressed further: ”But in practice?”

Only then did Sophie explain: ”’The Stargate Declaration’ set behavioral standards for countries in Eteliria, and this series of standards is actually the predecessor of the ’Super Competitive’. At its inception, its essence was to mediate the conflicts between nations after the Stargate...”

”...It is a product of multifaceted balance, and the rules you see today were actually formed in that era. Only in the era of commercialization, it got a new name—the Super Competitive League.”

She turned back, a hint of golden edge reflected in her pitch-black eyes: ”This is the origin of the Super Competitive League. The alliance we see is an entirely commercial operation, but essentially it still has to balance the distribution of interests between countries.”

Fang Hong, somewhat confused, simply asked: ”So?”

”If a national government believes its alliance conflicts with regional interests, it can initiate an investigation, or even intervene to stop its operations,” Sophie answered.

Fang Hong had a very poor opinion of the Super Competitive League, wishing the latter misfortune, but recalling some things this Princess Vislan of Silver Weslan had said earlier, he couldn’t help but ask: ”Wouldn’t that provoke protests?”

”It’s not military intervention,” Sophie shook her head: ”If it’s merely an investigation and stopping its functions, it’s just internal affairs, after all, a regional alliance must also be subject to government constraint and management.”

”But there must be some impact, right?” Fang Hong asked.

Not being a fool, from the separation of Silver Weslan and V.E.M., turning towards the military, it was apparent that there had long been dissatisfaction with the domestic league, yet no action was taken, clearly showing some concern.

”Of course, there will be an impact,” Sophie looked up, gazing at the distant star on the Zhan Lan horizon: ”The government can investigate and stop its functions, but cannot take over its management, this is the rule as agreed upon.”

Fang Hong then realized that the alliance held the rights for competition, resources, players, and club distribution. Once its functions stopped, the domestic league would be in an overall halt. If it only stopped for a week or two, it might be manageable, but if it were more, the entire domestic league’s points might drop a notch.

And this is not just about points but the division of actual interests, from either a commercial or non-commercial perspective, the losses would be immeasurable.