Chapter 731: Post-Battle 1

Word of this battle between the Holy Fist and the Death Apostles spread like wildfire. There were people who claimed they had felt the ripples of shockwaves from the battle from afar. Certain countries’ military satellite monitoring system also picked up strong signals from the area of the battle. Of course, all of these details were confidential and sealed away.

Only the highest ranked personnel had the security clearance to access this information.

Garen started pursuing Tu Lan Wellington from the Holy Fist Palace. On the way, Tu Lan had managed to evolve into a death apostle and successfully surrounded Garen with the help of the head of the Wellington household, but the two were easily defeated. If it weren’t for the interference of the Number One Apostle, the two would have been utterly annihilated by Garen.

This piece of information was obtained from the internal messages of the Blood Breeds.

Ashen had managed to escape. This was a truth admitted by the Number One Apostle himself. As the strongest Death Apostle, if he hadn’t personally interfered in this, the results of this battle would have been unpredictable.

As the message spread, it caused tremors throughout the world.

This shook up the entire Blood Breed civilization, both the Light Party and the Secret Party. Various investigations on the Holy Fist Palace immediately started, with countless resources and manpower all siphoned towards the tasks of finding the truth behind how a group could manage to become so strong in just a short timespan.

Various technological or even secret means were used in attempts to investigate deeper.

Word of the top tier martial arts from the Holy Fist Palace started to leak out, spreading throughout the world. Rumor has it that if you managed to complete the martial arts training at the Holy Fist Palace, you would attain a monstrous combat prowess similar to the Blood Breeds.

These rumors and legends started spreading more and more, painting an even more concrete image.

Since the Secret Party had failed to repress Ashen, after the former strongest Number One Apostle had escaped, the two factions were once again forced to return to the negotiating table, with the resources of both sides drastically diminished. Due to the immense pressure from the Holy Fist Palace and the witches, they were finally willing to talk.

Although there’s still a sense of hostility and rivalry between the two factions, it was now far less intense.

On the other hand, Garen and his men had escorted Tu Lan to the Bailey Group headquarters, only to find the building completely abandoned. Just as they were prepared to move to the headquarters of the Primary Colours, they received an invitation, stating that the people who targeted the Holy Fist Palace had been removed and that they would send the appropriate reparations to the Combat Club soon.

Facing the Holy Fist Palace that was strong enough to suppress the Blood Breeds, even a group like the Primary Colours had to be cautious not to step on their tail.

At this moment, the Combat Club’s networking circle has also been rapidly increasing. After the second batch of students left, this network started to spread throughout the globe, connecting them with influential people all over the world.

After the battle with the Death Apostle, as the representative of the Holy Fist Palace, Garen’s fame seemed to have been raised to unparalleled heights.

Although most people only knew about the most minute of details, to be able to defeat two allied death apostles and almost being forced to retreat with Ashen’s presence showcased Garen’s ridiculous strength.

******

Holy Fist Palace

A thick layer of snow blanketed the entire palace.

It was late at night, and in the empty meeting hall, the smooth black marble flooring could almost reflect a person’s appearance.

Garen sat at the highest point of the hall, while his captive, Tu Lan, stood behind him.

On both sides stood the top-ranked members in the Combat Club and the Nighthawks, in two orderly lines.

Dahm, Hochman, Quentin, Xander, Ninox, Baldy of the Nighthawks, and Caesar from the second batch.

These people all stood there giving off an imposing air, giving out their reports when instructed by their master.

The one speaking now was Xander.

“We’ve recently captured 423 people who attempted to acquire intel about our Holy Fist Style, most of them were from the intelligence and recon agencies from various countries. Most likely, under the orders of the Blood Breed or overambitious parties. After your battle with the Death Apostles, our name has been solidified in this world. Although our numbers are nowhere near the witches or the Blood Breed, from the standpoint of high-level combat, we have master sitting here. There’s no way anyone would dare to take us lightly. Under this condition, everything is progressing rapidly as part of the plan.”

Xander bowed and moved back in line.

Quentin, who was on his left, stood out to give her report.

“Regarding the internal movements of the Blood Breed. According to the spies we’ve manipulated and planted within the ranks of the Blood Breed, the situation between the two factions is slowly dying down. Although there were still a few violent clashes and confrontations, the number of casualties have drastically decreased. This is most likely the effect of our threat. On the witches’ side, AG has just declared Mount Enredour to be closed. However, on the same day, a witch from the Dark Colours was ambushed, severing 3 of her limbs. This is likely an attack by the extremists from the Blood Breeds as a revenge from the battle of Wellington. I suggest that we also set up some defenses in case they decide to attack.”

“That’s natural,” Garen said. “Dahm, have you finished arranging the schedule to get the Sleepless Face Mask I want?”

Dahm hastily stood out.

“Everything is set, we will be heading to Memphis Forest tomorrow. I’ve already sent my men to scout out the Moon River over there, preliminary investigations have narrowed it down to a few possible locations.”

“Update me with the good news then.”

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“Understood.”

“Oh, I also heard that you joined the National Security Agency and got a new position,” Garen usually didn’t care much about the affairs of the nation, but Dahm was from one of the most influential households in politics, hence becoming a civil servant or government official was only natural.

“It’s a special forces department, newly founded specifically for Spec-Ops. Officially, I am the director general of this department,” Dahm politely answered. As he dived deeper into the realm of the martial arts, he and Hochman had started to feel even more deeply that their absurd growth rate was completely abnormal. It wasn’t just him, everyone who had trained with Garen had the same amazing progress.

Obviously, that was the only explanation for it. The source always led back to Garen. He must have used some method to allow them to grow alongside him.

After learning about this and undergoing various investigations and experimentation, he and Hochman came to the understanding that their growth was based on Garen’s strength. Most of it wasn’t due to their own hard work.

After learning about this, any thoughts of malice towards the Holy Fist Palace were completely abandoned by the two.

Of course, that was also the reason why Garen completely did not care about the actions of those under him and gave complete control to the people under him. Except during his personal training sessions and the occasional confrontations, he completely relinquished his control on them, not caring about the internal disputes between his students.

This lead to the two shifting their focus back towards each other. Their mutual fighting styles were similar to Yin and Yang; they were the two polar extremes of the Waterbird Fist so naturally, they weren’t on friendly terms.

Recently Hochman had finally managed to capture his beloved cousin once again. After he found out that it was all Dahm’s doing, he was even more pissed.

The two’s confrontations once again escalated to a new height.

“What about the 7th mask? Hochman, have you found any leads?” Garen turned his head towards Hochman.

“We’ve already found some clues on it,” Hochman nodded. “According to our sources, the 7th mask is most likely in the hands of the Bailey Group Chairman. I’ve already sent out a command, ordering my forces to pour all their resources towards hunting Kabb and his accomplice Medis. However, even before this, the two seemed to have disappeared off our radar. They might’ve heard about our movements and went into hiding.”

“You can ask the witches from the Dark Colours for some assistance if needed. Their representative they sent to request aid should almost be here,” Garen answered. “As for the amount of aid from both sides, I’ll leave the negotiations to you.”

“Alright,” Hochman was now one of the heads of the largest conglomerates in the world. Unlike Dahm, he’d chose to take the path of economics and finance, but he had also achieved a similar level of influence in the world.

For these Monthly meetings at the Holy Fist Palace, he had no choice but to squeeze out some time from his regularly packed schedule.

Next, Caesar headed up to report on the progress of the Combat Club and its connections, some of their requests and the corresponding advantages it granted the Holy Fist Palace.

As for the progress of the Combat Club, they now own 3 of the biggest hotel chains throughout various countries, 5 private banks, and 1 media corporation. These were only the direct affiliations. Other intermediaries include various influences the members have throughout over 30 countries, with enough influence to affect the domestic economy and politics of numerous small and medium-sized nations. However, their influences on major countries are severely limited, as those are within the control of the blood breed and the witches.”

However, with this, the effective direct income of the Holy Fist Palace was more than 30 billion per annum, and this was only the first year of their growth.

The assets recorded under Garen’s name was valued at more than 100 billion, an unimaginable amount.

Even Garen himself was shocked when he heard this amount. He’d never expected his wealth to increase at such a rapid rate. Only after the detailed explanation by Caesar did he understand what was going on. A large amount of these assets were mainly from the gifts or discounts given by other forces in the world, trying to get on the good side of the Combat Club. In addition, with the support of the connections of the members themselves, the growth was boosted even further.

It had almost been a month since the battle with the apostles.

In actuality, it hadn’t even been a year since this palace had finished its construction. However, within such a short time, this place managed to become such an influential monster.

Tu Lan, who was standing behind Garen this whole time, was completely shell-shocked

Listening to the reports from below her, even she could not hide her shock.

These people giving reports all had supernatural abilities, and even the weakest amongst the bunch was at the level of a Middle-level Blood Breed. There were even 3 who have reached the level of Upper-level Blood Breeds. This level of strength has already far surpassed the old Blood Breed households. They had reached the level of a household of death apostles.

This was only the growth of a few years.

Garen was completely unworried about her leaking out the reports she heard, as he had no intention of hiding anything from her. He just allowed her to listen in freely on this entire session.

Was it because he could confidently suppress her completely?

Tu Lan started to bite her lip in frustration.

“Lord, Ms. Vivian has a message for you. She says that Mr. Emmer and Mrs. Trish wish to see you,” suddenly, a subject was brought up from below.

Suddenly the entire hall fell silent.

Garen, still sitting on his throne, paused briefly.

“Reply to her that I’ll return tomorrow.”

“Understood,” the subordinate below him bowed and swiftly departed.

“That’s all for today’s meeting. Cece, please stay back for a moment,” Garen calmly said.