Chapter 1365: Unexpected victory

At the very moment that the Western Pole leader was about to implicate the Oscorpe Conglomerate in their schemes, he was immediately killed off.

It was a very brutal death. And according to Trilla, this kind of thing was very normal in the Conglomerate world.

After all of that cheating, the Oscorpes had to make sure that they wouldn’t get caught up in the backlash.

It was basically a contract. One that ensured that the Western Pole leader wouldn’t be able to reveal the secrets of their cooperation with the Oscorpe Conglomerate and tie it back to them. Yes, everyone basically knew that they had their hands all over this affair. But it couldn’t be proven. At least, not without the Western Pole leader himself talking about it.

And now, he couldn’t. He was killed. And all of the blame, all of the backlash for cheating in a Sanctum Duel would be accrued by his name only.

But unfortunately for them, that wasn’t even the end of it all.

The Reborn company won their duel, meaning that they were now officially ranked as the 7th Upper Echelon in the Golden Rankings! This was a crazy leap in standings, one that was completely unprecedented in the entire history of the Royal Continent.

Of course, those who knew Reborn personally wouldn’t think that this was that large of a leap. Reborn was officially a Lower Echelon company. But unofficially, they had proven themselves as someone who could tussle against the Upper Echelons and triumph against them handily.

This ranking was deserved and was a long time coming.

Everyone else who was watching this scene was completely shocked. All of these companies and conglomerates who had been planning an all-out war for the Chasm were left unable to do anything.

Reborn actually won. They won against an army personally empowered by a Conglomerate. And not only that, but the Western Pole army also had the power of a Nascent Spirit cultivator amongst them!

How could Reborn have won?!

Immediately, they all knew that they had to pivot. They couldn’t exact war against the Reborn company for the Chasm. They’d also have to go through a Sanctum Duel.

"Their army is pretty powerful... how? Last time we assessed them, they weren’t even at the level of a Lower Echelon company."

"What are my spies and informants doing? They told me that Reborn had only created their army just a few weeks ago. Clearly, that’s wrong."

"They must have used some kind of obscure power to have a powerful advantage against the Western Pole company."

"Now I don’t know if I should propose a duel..."

Many who had underestimated Reborn were quick to change their minds. These were those companies who were much lower in ranking and much weaker than the Western Pole company. If they couldn’t even win against Reborn, then what chance did they have?

Now, only the true powerhouses of the business world were interested. The top 5 Upper Echelons had immediately sent in their messengers in order to propose a duel with the Reborn company.

Interestingly enough, none of the Conglomerates had yet to send in their requests.

However, Michael and everyone else was sure that some of those Conglomerates would have a hand in those other duels, just like what happened with the Western Pole company.

"Who should we accept next?" Theresa asked with excitement. She was still feeling euphoric after their win against the Western Pole company and wanted to get more opponents.

"Relax," he told her. "For now, let us consolidate our new winnings. Castelle?"

The CEO maid walked towards Michael and bowed. "Young Master, Yuna has already processed the paperwork needed for the transfer of all real estate properties owned by the Western Pole company."

She gave him a map of the entire Queens region. A few of the regions in the outskirts of forests were highlighted. These were the territories they inherited from their opponent.

"It’s a lot less than I expected."

Trilla nodded. She wasn’t surprised by this. "My brother is a careful man. He made sure to sell off any important assets that the Western Pole company held."

Now, the only thing they got from the duel were a few barebones territory in the Upper Echelon regions, and none of the territories the Western Pole company held overseas. According to Yuna, those were on a separate account, meaning that it wasn’t included in the contracts.

"Tsk. This is what I hate about subcompanies," Yuna clicked her tongue. "There’s a lot of shenanigans they could do to shuffle their possessions."

Of course, they could dispute this problem to the Montgomerys. But Yuna knew that this kind of legal battle would be long and arduous.

The Oscorpe Conglomerate could employ hundreds of their own Arbiters who would fight this battle and make sure that they would make the battle last as long as possible, and as costly as possible.

Meaning, yes. The Reborn company could win all of those territories, all of those infrastructures, and those treasures that the Western Pole company had. But it would take years or even decades to win that battle.

And at that point, it would be nothing but a pyrrhic victory. Reborn would have spent far too much resources trying to win, that it would outweigh the treasures they were fighting over in the first place.

Michael, on the other hand, wasn’t that frustrated. He knew that treasures and infrastructure wasn’t the true take-away from this duel. It wasn’t even the territory. It was the manpower.

The Western Pole company abandoned their territories so that they wouldn’t lose their possessions after their defeat. But that meant that they would be leaving behind the citizens there.

Right now, there were farmers, legislators, blacksmiths, washerwomens, and other normal people living in those territories without direction.

They were without someone to lead them.

Of course, Michael would be there to save them.

"Castelle, have our men start to visit those territories. Get our best orators. Our most charismatic members. Make sure that they convince these people to move over to the Nation of Reborn."