Everyone’s gaze landed on the old man who, despite his age, maintained an upright posture. He was the grandfather of Olivia Thornfield and the 41st family head of the Thornfield Family, Henry Thornfield.

As soon as the family head entered the meeting room, all the board members, including Maxwell Thornfield and Olivia, stood up to show their respect. They remained standing until the family head had taken his seat.

Once he took his seat, the family head nodded, acknowledging the greeting from the board members and gesturing for them to take their seats.

After the board members sat down, the board chairman turned to his secretary. Taking the cue, she made her way to the podium and assumed her role as the secretary for the day’s board meeting.

Without any delay, the secretary called the meeting to order, officially commencing the board meeting.

The roll call followed promptly, and it passed without any issue, as everyone was present, and the secretary could already see that.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate heiress Olivia for gaining such a powerful Warlock Bloodline and becoming a Warlock in the game and... being the second-ranked player in the game," Henry said in a pleased tone, though it turned slightly sour when he said the last words.

Everyone’s eyes snapped toward Olivia, looking at her with a mix of respect, awe, and excitement, but a few of them had dark looks on their faces, like Owen and Maxwell, especially Maxwell, who looked grim.

Olivia stood up and said in a respectful tone as she bowed, "Thank you, Family Head."

Henry merely nodded as Olivia sat back down in her seat.

Henry grabbed the mallet on the table and banged it down as he said, "The 208th Thornfield Family meeting commences now."

As soon as his voice rang out, all sorts of topics involving politics, business, and the game began to be discussed over the next two hours.

Then Maxwell stood up, and every eye fell on him.

"Family Head, I would like to bring an urgent matter to light, if you grant me permission."

"Continue," Henry said in an indifferent tone.

"I would like to bring up the matter of Heiress Olivia opening her personal guild and selfishly refusing to aid the family guild. I think she should disband the guild and join the family guild. Her operating solo does not bring any benefit to the family," Maxwell said, and everyone looked at Olivia, who was looking at Maxwell with an amused smirk.

"Heiress Olivia, do you have anything to say about his accusations? He makes a valid point," Henry asked.

Olivia gracefully stood up.

"You should get your facts checked before saying my guild does not benefit the family," Olivia said coldly as she handed a pen drive to an attendant.

Seeing Olivia’s confident expression made Maxwell’s smirk falter. He had always been suppressed by Olivia, and whenever he gained an advantage, this bitch would dismantle his plans with the same look she was sporting now.

"First of all, since I opened the guild using the influence of top players like me, Andrew, and Rachel, 70% of the most talented Awakeners have joined my guild, and when it becomes full, they join the family guilds of Rachel, Andrew, and the Thornfield family guild."

"Second, every time we find some kind of special loot or information, we share it with the family guild and sell rare items to the family guilds at a discount."

"Cousin Maxwell, you should get your facts checked. Maybe instead of acting like a spoiled child, you should focus on improving yourself in the game," Olivia Thornfield said in a mocking tone, which caused Maxwell Thornfield to flush with embarrassment.

"Family Head, I still believe those guild members and her should join the family guild," Maxwell said when he saw the cold look, followed by disappointment, on Henry Thornfield’s face.

"I support Heiress Olivia," Henry said, and Maxwell felt his stomach drop, but hope returned when he heard his next words. "Let’s have a vote then. You two don’t have any problems with that, do you?"

"I don’t have any. What about you, Olivia?" Maxwell said with a smirk. This had been his target from the very beginning. He had, in recent weeks, turned some of Olivia’s allies against her. He was confident the vote would not be in her favor.

"Fine by me," Olivia shrugged.

"Those who do not support Olivia running an independent guild, raise your hands."

Henry spoke, and many hands shot up. Maxwell’s smug grin widened due to seeing the surprise on Olivia’s face as some of her supporters voted against her, but it froze when he noticed many of his own supporters had not voted against Olivia.

He turned to look at Ivana, who refused to meet his gaze, and his stomach dropped as cold sweat broke out across his back.

"Those who support Olivia running her own independent guild?" Henry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Woosh

This time, a huge number of hands rose up, which dumbfounded Maxwell, Sebastian Thornfield, and even Henry.

’Heh, looks like I am growing old,’ Henry chuckled inwardly.

"Good, the decision has been made that Olivia will keep running her own guild," Henry said as he banged the mallet.

Maxwell slumped into the chair as he thought, ’How... how did she get them to change sides... damn it, I will deal with them later.’

"Alright, let’s start the main agenda of this meeting," Henry said seriously, and the secretary behind him played a video of a small circular fist-sized red wormhole appearing out of thin air.

Seeing this, many furrowed their eyebrows, except for a few like Olivia and Maxwell, who already knew about this as they were both competitors for the position of heir of the Thornfield Family. Even though Olivia was the confirmed heiress, her position could still change to Maxwell if she made a blunder, and that was why he still had support from many of the members of the family. Until she officially took the position of matriarch, her status was still under threat.

Just as Henry was about to explain— 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Rumble

Tremble

"What!" Olivia screamed when she felt the whole building shaking violently, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw a familiar notification.

[Ding Dong]

[Akashic Record will establish connection after the game updates]