Chapter 413: The Unsigned Pillar

Scott pulled a cigar from his coat, lit the tip with calm, and took a drag, letting a cloud of smoke drift between them before speaking.

"You almost had me, Brian," said Scott, cracking a smirk.

"Oh, really?" asked Brian, raising an eyebrow with curiosity. "What detail could I have possibly missed?"

"At the exact moment Alexander attacked Big Black and the queens in Sandoria, permit P987xR-16 had not been signed," said Scott, taking another puff of his cigar. "In fact, up until this second of our hearing, that document remains unapproved. Therefore, Big Black held zero legal rights over the kingdom or the planet, leaving all actions framed within a legitimate war of private interests."

Brian blinked and pulled out his holographic card. His fingers swiped across the golden screen, searching for the file in the central database. After a few seconds, the screen flashed red, displaying an empty box. Indeed, the document was missing a single official signature to take effect: his own.

Brian covered his face with one hand and burst into laughter that echoed through the hall.

"I came here looking for a culprit, but it seems I only came to make a fool of myself!" said Brian, lowering his hand and shaking his head. "You’re right, Scott. I retroactively authorize the battle for Sandoria and fully exonerate the accused. Furthermore, as compensation for the misunderstanding, I will grant the full domain and resource exploitation of the Kingdom of Sandoria to the TMC."

The envoys accompanying the Federation delegation leaped from their seats in outrage.

"This is unacceptable, Lord Brian!" shouted one of the envoys, slamming his hands on the table. "You cannot just exonerate that monster and hand them an entire planet as a gift!"

"We appeal this decision!" exclaimed another, his face pale with shock. "We demand the General Council review this breach of protocol!"

Scott watched the chaos in silence, smirking out of the corner of his mouth as he exhaled a trail of smoke. He was no fool; he had seen political maneuvers like this thousands of times. He knew that hours before the meeting, Brian had received the combat footage of Alexander versus Big Black. Scott had made sure to send it to deliver a message: Alexander was the new Pillar of the World, and executing him over a legal technicality would be a mistake.

The proof of that was on the table. Brian had received the file with the incomplete record and the missing signature. Had he truly wanted Alexander dead, he could have signed the document right then, backdated the approval, and sentenced the boy to execution for treason. But he didn’t. Instead, he chose to disguise the territorial exploitation grant of Sandoria as a compensation, handing the TMC an entire planet to secure an implicit alliance with the new monster that had just been born.

"Silence!" interrupted Brian, raising his voice just enough to freeze the temperature in the room.

His smile didn’t fade, but the pressure radiating from his body forced the Federation delegates to collapse back into their seats, pale and breaking into a cold sweat.

"My decision is final and non-appealable," said Brian, adjusting his suit collar. "If any of you has a single issue with the exoneration or the concession of Sandoria, you are more than welcome to file a complaint directly with me... in private."

No one answered. The silence was absolute; voicing a personal objection to one of the Four Pillars of the World was equivalent to signing a death warrant. The envoys swallowed hard, casting their gazes downward to avoid making eye contact with the sovereign.

Scott watched as the TMC’s enemies got up and left the room one by one, heads hung low and shoulders tight. Once the doors clicked shut and only the two of them remained in the room, Scott took a drag from his cigar and glanced at his right-hand man.

"Old Brian still has his touch," said Scott, exhaling the smoke.

"They’re not fools," replied Stephen, adjusting his glasses as he reviewed data on his holographic terminal. "If Alexander was able to execute Big Black, who was practically a Platinum Rank, it can only mean the kid has already reached that level himself. Had you sent him the footage of his underground fight, the Federation would have offered even more compensations just to keep him happy."

"Yes, but it’s not worth the risk," said Scott, flicking the ash off his cigar into a crystal ashtray. "Exposing the kid’s full potential too soon will only draw the wrong kind of attention before he finishes assimilating his new status."

"I know you far too well, Scott," said Stephen, crossing his arms. "What are you really scheming?"

"What am I scheming?" asked Scott, letting out a chuckle as he watched the swirl of smoke rise toward the ceiling. "Nothing, really. I’m not that attached to power; I could let it go at any moment and hand it off to the next generations..."

Scott paused, gazing out at the city stretching beyond the boardroom’s glass.

"Many years ago, we fought to overthrow the government," continued Scott in a nostalgic tone. "Then we fought to expand and develop as a species. Now we fight day in and day out just to defend ourselves from our enemies... I’m tired, Stephen. I’d love to take a vacation. Can you imagine a single person capable of wielding the combined power of the Four Pillars and those old council elders? Would we ever need to fear invasions again? Couldn’t we finally live in peace and enjoy life?"

Stephen went quiet for a second, processing the scope of those words.

"You want Alexander to hold that kind of power?" asked Stephen, locking eyes with him. "Are you really willing to hand him everything?"

"Why not?" said Scott, cracking a smirk. "You saw his potential too. He’s an advanced version of you; I know every single ability of the council, and not a single one holds as much potential as his. Wasn’t that the whole reason you gave him that potion?"

Stephen widened his eyes in surprise, losing his composure.

"I recognized it down there," continued Scott, taking one last puff of his cigar. "It’s your life’s work, isn’t it? A potion capable of breaking the physical limit of a Platinum Rank... You want to create a Diamond Rank... and so do I."