Yama Rising

Surprisingly enough, the news of the 4,000+ patent applications submitted by the Cathayan Underworld didn't spread, and the Cathayan Underworld didn't take any further measures, either.

Some forms of competition were silent, yet lethal. Furthermore, retreat was not an option. In fact, not even the slightest compromise could be made.

The one who managed to clinch the pulse of the new era would be the ruler of this world, and there was no need for any verbal communication in a competition like this, everyone was simply forging ahead in silence as quickly as they could, striving to get to the end goal before their opposition did.

11 years ago, the subject of the new energy resource was presented to all of the netherworldly citizens for the very first time.

10 years ago, during the Great Revelation Debate, the Cathayan Underworld had presented decisive evidence, but the entire academic world had still been rather unconvinced. There was no way that the three pillars would simply stand by idly and watch as the Cathayan Underworld rose to ascendency in the new era, so they had joined forces to establish the Prometheus plan, and thus began this technological battle that had already been raging for over 10 years.

No one had explicitly declared the existence of this technological battle, but it was common knowledge among the parties involved, and all sides were doing everything in their power to reach the finish line as quickly as they could. Seeing as the battle had already begun, there was no turning back for anyone, and on this day, the first shot was finally fired.

It was the Cathayan Underworld yet again.

Perhaps this was a reminder to the rest of the world that it was time to take sides.

Alternatively, perhaps this was a last resort and an acceptance of defeat. Perhaps their research and development had failed, and they were going after the patents instead. So long as they held the patents in their hands, they could allow their competition to develop the new energy resource and still profit from it.

Not many death gods were aware of this turn of events, and among those that did, none of them said or did anything. They were all aware that at this stage, nothing they could do would have an impact on the final outcome.

The Cathayan Underworld was on the move, and this was clearly not just another jab being thrown.

The sword had been drawn, and it had to taste blood!

Inside an antiquated building in the city of Paris, the capital city of the Franks Underworld, which was part of the Argosian Underworld's territory, an elderly man heaved a faint sigh as he nodded in the direction of the person standing in front of him. "I understand."

"Thank you for your understanding." Around a dozen bodyguards in suits were standing in front of him, and the man at the center of the group was around two meters tall, with dense blond hair, pronounced sideburns, and a physique that was on the thinner side.

He was also wearing a suit, yet even the suit was unable to conceal the muscles bulging beneath his clothes, presenting a contradictory image to his thin figure. However, none of the underworld emissaries present were amused by this.

This man was Epaminondas.

He was the man who had waged a historic battle against the invincible Spartan army at the time and crushed them in that battle. He was renowned as the most brilliant general in ancient Argosia, and he was a nascent death god. It was also him who had battered down the resistance of the Franks Underworld during the invasion of the Argosian Underworld. The formidable Teutonic Order was no match for the Argosian Underworld's devastating army, and in the end, the Franks Underworld became part of the Argosian Underworld's territory.

Currently, the Franks Underworld was known as the Franks Province of the Argosian Underworld.

Epaminondas continued, "We are not trying to force anyone, this is your duty. There are still a year and 10 months left until the commencement of the international trade conference. Prior to the commencement of every international conference, a world organization must inspect the venue to ensure that the hosting party can provide suitable conditions and facilities to host the conference, isn't that right?"

A wry smile appeared on the elderly man's face. "That's correct, but there are still four months left until the appointed time…"

"That's not important," Epaminondas said as he reached out to grab the elderly man's hands with his own large hands. "All of the death gods are eagerly awaiting further news from you."

After that, he turned strode toward the door, and all of the Yin soldiers instantly parted to grant him free passage.

The entire room fell silent again.

Right at this moment, the chime of a clock rang out, indicating the conclusion of the workday.

The elderly man heaved a faint sigh, then packed up his bags before exiting the hall.

On the familiar road, one carriage after another was quickly traveling past, drawn by a collection of different Yin beasts. At this hour, the streets were always full of pedestrians, and he quickly made his way around to the back of the GTO office. There was a large stable there, and as a Yin spirit of his status, he naturally had a carriage of his own.

He wasn't walking very quickly, but right as he rounded the corner and disappeared from the field of view of those on the street, he couldn't help but lean against the wall as he heaved a long sigh.

Something was about to happen, and it was definitely not just some minor event!

His soul was trembling uncontrollably, and only in a place like this, where he was completely out of sight, did he dare to display his fears and insecurities.

As one of the directors of the GTO, he had witnessed far too many economic dealings during his time in this role, and the more of those he saw, the more horrified he felt. He had even submitted a resignation to his higher-ups several months ago, but it wasn't approved.

He clenched a tight fist and leaned his forehead against the fist, while the other side of the fist was resting against the wall. His teeth were gritted tightly, and various events that had taken place during this past year quickly flashed through his mind. 10 months ago, the Russian Underworld had suddenly begun to sway in its stance and stopped supplying tea leaves to the Nipponese Underworld.

There were only two major tea consuming nations in the world: the Nipponese Underworld and the Cathayan Underworld.

The Russian Underworld only produced one type of tea leaf that was grown in extremely cold conditions, known as Frost Jade Elixir. Of course, the Yin spirits of the Russian Underworld had no interest in tea, so it was the perfect export to the Nipponese Underworld and the Cathayan Underworld.

Now that the Russian Underworld was refraining from exporting their tea leaves to the Nipponese Underworld, where was it planning to export this product instead?

There was no answer to this question as they hadn't exported their tea leaves anywhere!

Eight months ago, the five nations of Northern Europa had begun to purchase large amounts of compass rocks. In fact, all of the compass rocks in all major areas were beginning to be purchased by some companies. These transactions weren't facilitated through the international trade platform, and they were viewed as transactions between companies. At the very least, that was how outsiders saw it.

In the beginning, he was also under the same opinion.

Only after seeing an investigation report from the Aegyptian Underworld did he realize that 80% of all of these compass rocks had been purchased by Asia. More specifically, they had all been purchased by subsidiary nations to the Cathayan Underworld!

Seven months ago, the Cathayan Underworld had increased its metal ore trade volume, and the three major iron ore mines of the Alkebulan Underworlds had increased their output by 200%! One ship after another had crossed through the Red Sea into the Hindustani Ocean, and even though they were intercepted by the Aegyptian Underworld for a few months, they couldn't be intercepted forever. In the end, they were granted passage into Southern Asia, which was also part of the Cathayan Underworld's territory!

Many more similarly nondescript-looking economic maneuvers had taken place in the past few months, and it was as if the entire world had sprung to life and was silently preparing for something, much like a living organism preparing for a big move.

There were things constantly happening every single month, and it was clear that a massive storm was brewing.

No one mentioned the word "war", but even he couldn't help but be struck bye a bone-chilling sensation at this moment.

What was going to become of this world?

All of a sudden, a voice rang out from behind him. "Sir, there's a very good chance that there's going to be a storm tonight, do you want to use your carriage?"

"No, it's alright." The elderly Yin spirit shook his head with a distracted expression. Having served as a director at the GTO for so long, he had developed very sharp instincts, and for some reason, he was being struck by a premonition of extreme peril, the magnitude of which exceeded even the renowned Aegyptian Underworld's credit crisis from 300 years ago and the massive inflation of the Aegyptian Underworld's drachma 700 years ago.

Prior to the arrival of any international crisis, countless abnormal signs would definitely appear, and that was certainly happening now…

He heaved another sigh, and just as he was about to separate himself from the wall, he abruptly faltered on the spot.

The person who had just spoken to him was a woman, yet his coach driver was a man!

Furthermore, a coach driver only ever followed instructions, they would never ask a carriage owner what they wanted to do with their carriage!

In that case, who was standing behind him?

He gulped nervously before turning around, upon which he was greeted by the sight of a woman wearing a kimono.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, to the point that the elderly man was momentarily entranced. The woman extended a respectful bow, then slowly stepped away to reveal an incredible scene.

Clatter… The elderly man's briefcase fell onto the ground as he looked on with a stunned expression.

There were several dozen bodyguards, all of whom were wearing immaculate suits, lurking behind the stable's pillars, squatting on the nearby trees, or hiding in the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings.

All of them were in different hiding spots, but the crossbows that they were holding were all directed at the elderly man.

However, this wasn't why the elderly man was so stunned.

In fact, he didn't even feel frightened by this situation. The only emotion in his heart was astonishment as he stared at the three elderly men at the center of the group of bodyguards with a slack-jawed expression.

This was an extremely old trio who resembled wizened zombies, and they were wearing casual clothes. All of them were seated on wheelchairs, which were being slowly pushed toward the director of the GTO by Yin spirits with powerful builds.

"This is impossible…" the elderly man said in a trembling voice as he cast his gaze back to the building.

Epaminondas had literally just been here a few minutes ago! How had these people managed to avoid being detected by a death god?

If Epaminondas were aware that these people were here, then he would've never allowed them to meet him!

"Listen up, Perkins." The elderly man at the center of the trio was the first one to speak, and he gently tapped his gem-studded cane onto the ground as he said, "I want you to tell me why Epaminondas came to see, and I want detailed records on all resource transactions that have taken place in the world, particularly in Southern Asia. I need to know the parties involved in the transactions, what was transacted at what time and what place, everything! Make it as detailed as possible, do you understand me?"

Perkins gulped nervously upon hearing this.

"But that's illegal?" was what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to utter even a single word.

None of the members of the GTO were unfamiliar with this group of elderly Yin spirits.

Fujii Heihachiro, current chairman of the Sacred Treasure Consortium.

Faizal Eben Abdullah Aziz, current chairman of the Abbasid Consortium.

Archbishop Antonio, current chairman of the Psalm Consortium.

"We don't have any time to waste with you here! We came here in person precisely because we don't want anyone to know that we've come to see you. As you're aware, our quasi-divine artifacts are embedded directly into our souls, and only they can go undetected by all death gods."

Perkins's mouth gaped open like a spluttering fish, following which he collapsed to his knees and wailed in an anguished voice, "What the hell is going on? What is happening to this world?!"

No one offered a response.

After a long while, the elderly man on the left smiled and said, "As expected of a director of the GTO who has already served for several centuries, I knew you would've sensed that something was happening."

He made a casual gesture, and a burly bodyguard immediately stepped forward to help Perkins to his feet. At the same time, the elderly man stood up from his wheelchair, supported by his cane, as he said with a sinister smile, "Something massive is going to happen, of course. The wheel of history is upon us, and if we can't negotiate it well, then it'll crush us. There may even be members of the four pillars falling from grace. I think that's quite serious, wouldn't you agree? Hence…"

He made his way over to Perkins, then violently stabbed his cane deep into the ground right in front of Perkins as he continued with a hint of urgency in his voice, "We really don't have time to listen to your excuses."