Chapter 20 - 16

Four days ago,

On the 25th December, cities all around the world was busy like always during Christmas, but with more vigor as today was the launch day of the most popular game called ERA, the developer RIDDLE COOPERATION has promised full hundred percent immersion, with a lot of popular gaming professional and world leader vouching for the game saying the same thing as Riddle Cooperation on various social platform, there was a leak video of the Russian president in a national conference telling everyone in the meeting that it was the second world.

This video spark a new trend on every post named the #SECONDWOLD#, this trend and the low sales price of the gaming set boosted the sales of ERA around the world with a total number of gaming set sold to be 2 billion of the total population of 7 billion around the world in two weeks setting a global record becoming a new sensation.

This most talked game was launching midnight, giving time for everyone to enjoy their festive break, but not all were using this time for festivity, many businesses both big and small were establishing a new department just for gaming, buying many esports enterprise, headlines everywhere as clans like luminosity gaming, Team Liquid and others being sold to Microsoft, Google and many big companies, smaller establishment started setting up their own gaming group, even group of friend with big ambition were texting each other hoping to make money ingame.

It was no shocking that you could earn from the game, since beta tester said that there are many legacies, scrolls and other items that players can sell if they want money and this transaction is private, meaning even Riddle Organization can see the transaction of players making this game the safest to make money on.

In New York

Chaos ensued both seen and unseen, many gangs and other underground organization began their own mass recruit, invitation were sent both online and physical for tryouts with lucrative benefits. These organization even began buying orphanages, Why? this was because they saw their main rival and major enemy Reaper started making movement a day after the second son of the White family head Medes took over.

Yes, they knew who was taking over the Reaper organization hours after the announcement, these organization started contacting their spies trying to find out Medes plans. They knew him as a genius businessman, and what they wanted was his plans business wise to benefit from him, organizations like Dragon were thinking of various nefarious plans for an inner takeover of Reaper while hiding Medes until they get all his value before killing him. All this became nothing but inner thought the day of Medes arrival.

That day the several spy business around the Reaper headquarters building reported the rapid gunshot and scream that echoed out of the building each were loud enough to make pedestrians passing by to run or try calling the police but even if they come, they won't dare enter the Reaper building recklessly, all they could say it was a drill by the military and promised that it would end by the end of the day, this promise made many pedestrians calm but still they avoided walking close to the fence, while the policemen that arrived drove away. 

Hours later though early, the police report came true and the shooting stopped and the building became quiet, making the civilians sigh of relief but those organizations couldn't sit still, all contacting their men in the building. Getting no reply from them, all of them chose to wait to the next day to contact them again but all of them got their answers that night, as boxes with the heads of their appeared in various of their establishment and branch making them feel that all their thought was seen through this gave them all chills down their spine all contacting their superior on what happened.

Following the superiors word, these organization lay and wait but also trying to get any information on what Reaper were doing, they felt that their enemy had changed from their secrecy and movement and when trying to follow them they always return empty handed until today. The news from their scout said that Reaper had been recruiting orphan children in masses into their organization and from the number of Riddle Cooperation trucks moving in and out of the building the past few days, they knew that Reaper was venturing into ERA, knowing this, they all made contact back to their headquarters informing them on what their rival was doing.

 Shanghai, China

A 40 floor glass tower stood opposite jiangyin road, this building was the Dragon Group headquarters headed by Tian Dagon the current head of the Dragon family, it was said that his family ancestors drank the blood of an earth dragon Fucanglong therefore getting the surname Dagon therefore he was a proud man, this pride also comes from the Dragon group he headed as the strongest underground in the world.

This man was sitting at the 40th floor going through every paper sent to him, until he heard an hurried footstep and a barge to his presidential room, he raised his head seeing that it was his secretary, looking at her heavy breath he knew she came with an important news, he asked:

"Is it about Reaper as was written before" 

"Yes Tiántián jiāzhǎng, we just received information that Reaper has been buying and recruiting orphans around the world" she replied.

"Do you have any information on the amount recruited?".

"No Jiāzhǎng, they have been secretive about it but from where we got the information we all know that in Brazil the orphanage they bought had over 80 children from the age group of 2-19"

Useless!!

He slammed his fist on the fine wood table, he was angry; as the strongest family both on the surface and under they couldn't get information on an organization they had at the palm of their hand all because of a person that was in prison days ago, the person may be a genius but they themselves had nurtured and killed many of them over their family history.

All he wish for was to send the Dragon squad and kill everyone in Reaper and be done with it, but that was just him wishing because even if he sends them other families will likely intercept them wanting to eradicate them and weaken the Dragon family. This was the burden of being the strongest family in the world each forces want to bring you down from that very top.

Sighing, he look at his secretary asked:

"Do you have any idea of why he is recruiting them?"

"Yes Jiāzhǎng, from the number of Riddle Cooperation vehicles frequently visiting their headquarters its like the he wants to venture into the virtual game", she answered.

"Oh ERA, looks like he and strategist Zhang have the same thought in that case we should do the same as the boy but bigger use the family asset and acquire various esport team, orphanages"

"Yes Jiāzhǎng"

she continued " Sir about the Riddle Cooperation we don't have any information about them, whenever we send spies into their company they don't come back, should we continue sending more personnel"

He replied:

"No, don't send again just investigate them on the surface since we can't find anything about them even during their establishment lets not continue.

Also tell Elder Fu that he is authorize to manage the Dragon family with the other elders".

!!!!!!!!!!!! The secretary was astonished she couldn't help but ask

 "Jiāzhǎng are you going into seclusion?"

"Su you know me very well you know even if I enter cultivation I wont be able enter a higher martial rank at least with the little amount of qi on earth today I wont be able to progress till death, I'm entering into ERA I have a feeling that I will get enlighten when playing.

Su get my gaming pod I'll play ERA here this night also tell everyone not to disturb me except a life and death situation"

The secretary now named Su looked at her Jiāzhǎng and saw how much time has pass, the once vigour martial warrior in the world was now different, more matured in his late fifty with two sons and a daughter, as his longest serving secretary she would be proud of her standing in the Dragon family, she couldn't since her patriarch has been stuck in his cultivation for ten years now, he was the pillar of the the clan and the strongest in the world. She knew he was bored, and as a martial person he was looking for a place to improve himself and since ERA is also a martial world she knows he would seek to fight in that world.

Yes world since she don't believe a company who came out of nowhere years ago to be able to build a game to that caliber, she always felt there was something wrong with them and the game, since her patriarch has ordered so she would do, she bowed and walked out of the office giving several order. After that she went to her office and called her assistants to bring two gaming pods, one for her patriarch and the other for her as she would continue to do her work even in the game.

The same happened in several other organization, each waiting for the launch tonight.