บท 139: World Gathers (I)
Chapter 139
World Gathers (I)
Tensions were palpable within L.A., its usually rowdy streets cleared in a straight line from LAX to the large building where the meeting would be held in less than four hours. Hundreds had gathered around and nearby, mostly observers, though the massive presence of the army deterred any untoward intentions so may have had.
The nations' delegations had already arrived inside the building during the night, through a set of underground tunnels, including Cain who was dragged off from his bed, half-asleep, by a furious Rick. Even now, while the latter was discussing the matters of the meeting with other delegates, Cain was lazily lying on a couch, one of his legs flung over the edge.
He'd already put on a mask and the reactions of everyone besides Rick were a good prelude to what would likely transpire once he entered that hall -- ghastly-pale faces, looks of confusion and terror, and the sudden urge to run away. Luckily, after Rick's repeated reassurances, President, Vice President, and the Secretary of Defense had calmed down somewhat, though none of the three looked at Cain directly ever since the group entered a small room designed simply as merely a place to await the meeting.
"--if they raise that point," the President said. "We can't give in. We have just managed to coin a resemblance of a steady army; if it's disrupted, we may never be able to recover."
"But how do we avoid it?" Rick posed a question. "If we just outright reject them, things will likely cool to the point nothing may be resolved in the meeting."
"We go simple," the Secretary chimed in. "We offer access to the first floor to our allies -- gated, six months exclusive. After that, they will be allowed on the second floor, while we slowly open the gates for other countries for the first."
"Uh..." the government trio mumbled lowly as they glanced at Rick knowingly, prompting the old man to tilt his head in confusion before he realized what they wanted. He sighed and turned toward Cain.
"Oi, get up," he roared at him, startling the governmental trio more so than Cain who merely groaned as he sat up. "You specifically requested to be here. What the hell are you doing?!"
"Taking a nap? It ain't my fault some deadass dragged me in the middle of the night, from my sleep."
"It was a safety measure--"
"You lot could have just met up here," Cain said. "Do you think I couldn't have entered this place without you?"
"..."
"Whatever. What's the problem?"
"What do you think?" Rick sighed and asked. "How many people can we let in at the same time without flooding the floors too much?"
"Millions," Cain shrugged. "But that'd likely spike the crime rate up through the roof. Why not just take the hard-ass stance?"
"The what?"
"Offer Mexico huge benefits," Cain said. "In exchange for them guarding the southern border. Appease Canada with some agreement as well. Ignore the rest."
"... i-ignore?"
"What are they gonna do? A naval invasion?" Cain shrugged. "There are really only three stances countries with the Tower can make -- ignore everyone and tell 'em to fuck off, try to play the nice guy like you're doing right now, or just give in to everything. Russia will likely make a deal with either China or India and flip a middle one to the others; India will look to make a deal with Russia since they're being pressed on from all sides. Germany is toast and will likely seek an outright alliance with either us or Russia. Japan will probably declare themselves a 'closed nation' or whatever. So, why are you trying to make the world a peaceful place? In the long run, none of these things will matter anyway. Give it a decade and the pool of people going inside the Towers will be diluted. Furthermore, what about the Tower in Brazil? Do you think they'll be able to defeat some of the really hard bosses with their five-supports-one-not system? No. They'll start sending invites. A similar thing will happen to other Towers, including our own, I imagine.
"It's just the initial craze," Cain added, yawning. "Besides, you've got me, don't you?" he smirked and winked at the governmental trio, startling them. "Anything goes awry, I'll be there to blow shit up better than your nukes ever could."
"... as... reassuring as that is," Rick chuckled bitterly. "What if dozens of nations band together and send Conquerors to invade us?"
"They'll still need ships and planes," Cain shrugged. "And you can just reply in kind. Do you think people will be able to use magic in the middle of the Pacific or Atlantic? Just drop a bomb on them."
"They... they won't?" the Secretary asked with a surprised expression.
"The further away we are from the Tower," Cain explained. "The less magic we have access to. At some point, we completely lose connection to it and are basically back to being just normal chads. If we're being generous, we can say that the moment you leave the rough area of L.A., you and your magic are done. While this means you can't use your army to invade others, it means that others can't invade you either. That's also why Mexico, for instance, could guard the south even without Conquerors. Just give 'em missiles or something and you're good to go."
"For someone who was so adamantly anti-geopolitics, you sure have a lot to say on them." Rick chuckled.
"How was anything of what I said even remotely geopolitical?" Cain chuckled back. "I basically said 'tell them to go stick a buttered spoon up their asses and sing 'Row your boat' till they drop dead'."
"Good point."
"What if... what if they start a ruckus during the meeting?" the President finally looked at Cain and asked, prompting the latter to smile faintly. "That's why I'm here. I'm kinda hoping they will."
"..."
"Ah, nothing morbid like killing them all, don't worry," Cain laughed for a moment at their terrified expressions before explaining. "It will be a good opportunity to see whether there's any talent we can poach. Or, well, kidnap, if I'm being honest."
"Are you confident nobody can match you?" the Secretary asked after taking a deep breath.
"... they can certainly try."
A loud bell rang throughout the entire building, signaling that the meeting would commence in ten minutes in the central hall. Delegations, one after another, began pouring out of their designated rooms and toward the central hall, slowly but surely filling it up. In no time, hundreds were present, seated around in a circle of dozens of rows heading up, each surrounding the central platform that sported a set of large TV screens that were there to transmit whoever was speaking directly to everyone.
Though there was some cross-national chatter, most groups kept to themselves, especially those with the Towers. The venue was well lit, and there was nary a place to hide from the countless eyes. As such, there was little that Rick's group could do when they entered in the mid-section of the hall, drawing all the eyes toward them immediately.
Rick and others merely sighed as they made their way forward since they knew those eyes won't be on them for much longer; just a moment later, Cain emerged from the hallway and into the open, the mask on his face shining faintly under the light. The chatter died down into heavy silence almost immediately, shallow gasps echoing out throughout the hall.
Cain silently followed after the other four toward their designated area, soaking in the gazes coming from across the hall. He was hardly accustomed to being in the light, which led to a slight tinge of nervousness to emerge within him, something that rarely even happened when he fought bosses inside the Tower. He didn't cower, however, even when he picked up on some low chatter that emerged a few moments after everyone processed who they were seeing.
"They... brought him?"
"Tsk, show-offs..."
"At least Americans are making their stance clear."
"Are they planning on killing everyone here?"
"He's just one man. We have over a hundred top Conquerors here. Let's just see him try and wild out."
The group hastily made their way to the few seats reserved for them and sat down, wiping off sweat from their foreheads. Cain casually sat on the edge, resting his head on his hand and yawning. By now, almost only Conquerors of other nations were staring at him -- and their gazes spoke loud and clear, at least as far as he was concerned. Most wanted to fight him, some clearly had even darker intentions, and there were even a few that looked ripe to rip him away from Emma, given the chance.
He smiled and even waved back, prompting quite a few to nearly jump at him, but he merely closed his eyes and drifted away from the whole hall. The trip wasn't a waste, not only did he sense at least six people that were almost level 50 like he was, he even recognized two superstars from his previous life. Not through their appearance, per se, but through their habits.
A moment later, the lights in the hall dimmed as the spotlight fell at the central platform where an older-seeming man emerged a few moments later, microphone in hand.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," the man spoke in a clear, British accent. "And welcome to the first annual meeting of the 'Union of Nations'. I would like to express my gratitude for such an unmatched attendance, and similarly express the hope that the meeting will be fruitful and beneficial for all parties involved. My name is Richard Deckar and I will be this year's presiding host of the meeting. As you have been informed previously, the meeting will last two weeks in total, and each delegation will be given a chance to speak. For tonight, we have seven speakers that will address the hall, after which we shall resume the meeting in the morning during which the first discussion will be held. The first seven to speak will be representatives of the nations with a Tower and I beseech all delegations to be proper and listen in peace. As such..." Cain opened his eyes faintly and looked at the platform. This will be long-ass two weeks... holy shit... if everyone speaks like they're writing their school essay and need to meet a minimal word count, we'll never fucking leave...
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