Montreari and Marcus stared each other down...
Marcus was first to speak: "Let's get down to business... I want you to step down as a candidate..."
"Hmph. Step down? Is that why you called me here? Do you also want me to give you all my fortune next?" Montreari sarcastically retorted.
"Hohoho, preferably yes..." Marcus laughed off Montreari's display of annoyance...
"If that's why you called me here, then you're wasting your time..." Montreari snarked.
"What can I do to convince you then? Why would you, the great Montreari who's been part of Hyper Politics for all these years suddenly step down to a remote location like this?" Marcus probed.
" "Great" is that what you call me now?" Montreari avoided Marcus' probing...
"Well... it's better than old, right?" Marcus jeered.
"Bah hahaha, and what? You're the young one now? You're almost as ancient as me! Gahaha... Ho, oh little Marcus, let me ask you the same... Why did you come here when you could've been mayor of a much more developed Hyper City? Hmm?" Montreari turned the question over to Marcus... Thinking himself sly for not falling into Marcus' interrogation.
"Me? I want to help 53 of course, bring it to newer and even greater heights! I'll make this place the economic center of the Hyper Galactic Federation!" Marcus clearly stated as if he was making a speech...
"And of course, I also plan to legalize Lent here... What you did, banning Lent has done more damage than good! No longer shall the marginalized Gorgrog be ostracized for something biological in nature!" Marcus continued like a superhero reading off from a script as his tone became hostile and taunting towards Montreari...
"Huh?! What bullshit are you suddenly spouting?! Are you some superhero now? Decriminalizing Lent? Do you think the higher-ups would let you do such a daring move even if you hold the position of Hyper Mayor? What wishful thinking my little Marcus..." Montreari sneered.
"And why wouldn't they? Isn't Lent harmless? It's only making things worse for the Gorgrog!" Marcus continued with his awfully scripted voice.
Annoyed with Marcus' weird voice that seemed to mock him, Montreari lashed out: "So what?! So what if it's harmless? The whole reason we Arachii criminalized it in the first place was to target those annoying Gorgrog communities! With their annoying Pizzas and undeniably tasty Spaghetti!"
The top dogs of the Empire consisted of many different races, but one prominent race that took the some of the top spots were the Arachii, their positions were undisputed within the HPG until the Gorgrog communities suddenly started to accumulate wealth.
Much like how most minorities integrate into a larger and more diverse society, the Gorgrogs followed the well-proven historical pattern of integration.
First, most of the newly registered citizens suffered poverty, and sometimes some of the members of the minority even joined criminal groups and perform criminal activities, slowly gaining and accumulating wealth. Then over time as the society as a whole became rich, so did the minorities that had just integrated into them, overtime becoming part of the majority itself as their presence in the community became normalized.
But unlike most of the minorities that joined the HPG, the Gorgrog had another community whom they were at odds with for centuries.
That's right, the moment the more politically powerful Arachii noticed the sharp rise of the Gorgrog's wealth, most of the Arachii became fearful of them.
The last straw that made the Arachii petition for the banning of Lent was when a Gorgrog politician almost won on an election against another Arachii of their own.
As Montreari's uncontrolled voice rang out a victoriously arrogant yet chic smile appeared on Marcus who remained calm throughout the whole "meeting" they had proposed...
"So you admit that Lent is harmless?" Marcus slowly reiterated with a clear voice.
"Of course it's harmless! Do you think I'd be using it myself if it was harmful?! You've been talking non-sense this whole-!" Then Montreari realized...
[Thi-This whole time Marcus has been talking eerily like an interrogation!!! No! Don't tell me?! But it was Wang Xialong who presided over this meeting! It would be impossible for Marcus to record... us... unless...] Montreari looked to his side with a horrified expression as if his soul left his body.
What he saw was Chung, an old Yu Guai eerily smiling at him.
Montreari had realized his mistake... [Chung was never neutral, to begin with...]
Montreari only accepted Marcus' invitation for negotiation because he thought Chung was only moved by money. And no amount of money Marcus had could ever move the Ancient Yu Guai, especially since he wasted most of his money with actual projects that benefitted the people...
Wang Chung was famous throughout the underworld of the HPG as the immovable money grabber for his distinct disposition that he would never betray the highest bidder.
Even if you were the enemy, as long as you could pay the most, Wang Chung was on your side. The best part about Wang was he never broke a contract without contacting the contractee first, it was common to hear something along the lines of {Sorry, the other side has decided to pay more than you... Would you like to increase your payment to counter?}.
Didn't this make Wang Chung a lot of enemies?
Of course, it did... Never was there a time in the Ancient Yu Guai's life where he wasn't at war with another faction. But what made him a legend in the underground as he was never dethroned no matter how many enemies he made.
Over time it was just accepted that Wang Chung was like a natural disaster that you could pay off with Money. And over time, people stopped hiring him, and just bought from him instead, turning him into a Guns and Information Dealer. (Wang Chung's gun- I mean "noodle" business is very successful! Yes yes)
[Wang Chung was never a person who only moved for money! The rumors about him were all false!!!] Montreari realized.
But it was too late...
*WEE-oww-WEE-oww* HyperCop sirens resounded outside the building as everything around Montreari suddenly slowed down.
Newscasters and reporters flooded the room as the last thing Montreari saw before he was taken by the police was the flashing light from the cameras...
And Marcus' smirk.