134: Chapter 134 The First Resolution of the Board of Directors

That voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a small file, scraping away at the taut nerves of every noble present, stroke by stroke.

Levi could clearly see the Adam's apple of a baron in the front row bobbing uncontrollably, as if he were swallowing his fear.

This deathly silence lasted for less than ten seconds before it was broken by a wave of irrepressible commotion.

The nobles began to whisper among themselves; their faces, which had been flushed because of the financial reports, were now stained with a layer of uncertain, startled pallor.

They looked toward the woman in the purple dress standing tall on the stage.

Her Highness the Princess was openly defying the Emperor's decree!

"Your Highness!"

An aged and agitated voice, like a stone cast into a boiling pot of oil, rang out.

Baron Valerius stood up from the crowd, his wrinkled face trembling slightly with emotion.

His gaze bypassed the others and fixed onto Ella, his voice carrying a hint of desperate interrogation: "Do you... do you know what you are doing? This is pushing the entire North into opposition with the Empire! This is treason!"

The word "treason" exploded over everyone's heads like a thunderclap.

Panic was instantly ignited, spreading through the crowd like a plague.

"The Baron is right; we are just merchants, we just want to protect our industries..."

"Oppose the Empire? Insanity! The wrath of the Radiant Family is not something small characters like us can withstand!"

"Lord Levi, this is not what you promised at the beginning!"

The commotion grew louder as the nobles' reason was being swallowed by their deep-rooted fear of imperial power.

One moment they were immersed in the ecstasy of profit; the next, they seemed to see the terrifying future of the Imperial army pressing down on them, their castles razed to the ground, and their families sent to the gallows.

Levi's face remained expressionless; he simply watched it all quietly, observing how easily fear triumphed over greed.

He made an extremely subtle gesture toward Evelyn beside him.

Evelyn understood immediately and silently turned to leave the podium.

A moment later, accompanied by a heavy "clang," the two thick oak doors of the council hall were slowly closed from the outside, and the cold latch was dropped.

This loud noise acted like a musical rest, causing the noisy discussions in the venue to instantly cease.

Everyone subconsciously turned back to look at the closed doors, an ominous premonition seizing their hearts.

They were like trapped beasts locked in a cage, and the panic on their faces deepened.

"Everyone."

Levi finally spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but through some strange resonance, it reached everyone's ears clearly.

He stepped down from the podium one step at a time, walking into the midst of the nobles, his calm gaze sweeping across faces filled with fear.

"Silence, please," he said, his tone as gentle as if he were hosting an afternoon tea party. "The shareholders' meeting just now has concluded. Now, I declare that the first emergency board meeting of the North Recovery Foundation has officially begun."

Board meeting?

This novel term left the nobles somewhat dazed.

But the unquestionable aura emanating from Levi made them involuntarily shut their mouths and watch him nervously.

Levi ignored their confusion and instead nodded to Evelyn.

Evelyn then walked to one side of the podium and pushed a large, enchanted white crystal board to the front.

Her slender finger tapped lightly on the base of the crystal board. With a faint hum of magical power, a light projected from the crystal, forming a clear image in mid-air.

It was a document with a title written in striking Common Tongue: "Proposal on Evading Systemic Political Risks and Establishing an Independent Economic Circular Zone in the North."

Political risks? Independent economic circular zone?

These tongue-twisting terms left most of the traditional nobles present feeling bewildered.

They only recognized a few of the words, but when put together, they didn't understand the meaning at all.

Levi seemed to see through their confusion. He picked up a long, thin baton and, like a patient teacher, began his "lecture."

"To put it simply," he pointed at the map on the projection with his baton, "the Empire's decree is the 'systemic political risk' we currently face. It could cause our goods to be unable to go south, break our capital chain, and ultimately make all of our investments a total loss."

Hearing the words "total loss," the nobles' breathing noticeably quickened, and their attention was instantly pulled back.

"To evade this risk, I propose that The Foundation funds the construction of three brand-new, dedicated trade routes that do not pass through official Imperial stations and checkpoints." Levi's baton drew three thick red lines on the map; they were like three main arteries, tightly connecting Blackstone Territory, Silvermoon City, and several major mining and grain-producing areas.

"These three roads will belong only to our Foundation and serve only our shareholders."

"At the same time," he pointed to over a dozen flickering light spots on the map, "we will establish an independent messenger tower system along the trade routes. It will use encrypted signals we developed ourselves to ensure that our commercial information is not monitored by the Imperial intelligence network. It will be faster, safer, and... cheaper than the Royal Griffin Messengers."

As Levi's voice fell, there was a deathly silence in the hall.

The younger, more flexible-minded nobles already had a sharp glint in their eyes.

They might not understand the complex terminology, but they understood what "bypassing Imperial checkpoints" and "faster, cheaper" meant.

It meant no longer having to pay those damned road taxes and commercial taxes to the Imperial tax collectors!

It meant their costs would be significantly reduced, and their profits would multiply!

However, the faces of Baron Valerius and some old-school nobles turned increasingly ashen.

They understood something deeper.

Building private roads, establishing a private intelligence network... this wasn't commercial behavior; this was undermining the Empire's foundation!

This was the embryonic form of a separatist regime!

"This is impossible!"

Ella's cold voice rang out. She stood up from the podium, her violet eyes burning with flames of anger.

She strode to Levi and pointed at the projection, making no secret of her stance.

"This is not a commercial proposal at all! You are splitting the Empire! Building roads and messenger networks independent of the Imperial system is something only rebels would do! This is substantive treason!"

Her voice echoed in the cavernous council hall, every word powerful and carrying the innate majesty of a member of the Imperial family.

The young nobles who had just been starting to stir were frightened back into submission by her words.

Faced with Ella's accusation, Levi just looked at her calmly, neither admitting nor denying it.

He waited for her to finish before slowly speaking. His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a precise scalpel, stripping away all her anger to strike at the core.

"Your Highness, please mind your status. You are currently the Chairperson of the North Recovery Foundation. Your duty is to be responsible for every shareholder here and for their assets."

He turned sideways and lightly tapped a line of small text on the projection with his baton.

"This proposal, after precise calculations by my team, is estimated to bring an eighteen percent net profit growth annually for The Foundation once completed."

He turned back, looking directly into Ella's eyes, his tone flat to the point of being cold.

"May I ask, on what commercial grounds do you intend to veto a proposal that can bring such immense benefits to all shareholders?"

Ella was instantly speechless.

Commercial grounds?

All her rebuttals were based on politics, loyalty, and Imperial law.

But in the logical loop constructed by this man, those things were worthless.

He had cleverly packaged a nakedly political issue as a commercial choice, then handed the power of choice to everyone present.

Option A: Stay loyal to the Empire and then go bankrupt together.

Option B: Sign this 'treasonous' agreement and then enjoy an eighteen percent annual profit growth.

Levi stopped looking at her and turned to all the nobles.

"Now, we will conduct a vote." His voice rose a few notches. "According to The Foundation's charter, voting rights are linked to the number of shares held by each of you. Those in favor of this proposal, please raise your right hand."

As soon as he finished speaking, that speculative baron whom Ella had first singled out raised his right hand high without hesitation, his face wearing a morbid excitement.

He seemed to already see rivers of gold coins flowing on the private trade routes.

His action acted as a signal.

Immediately following, hands were raised, some hesitantly, some firmly.

Those young, less-propertied new nobles who didn't have much sense of belonging to the Empire made their choice almost immediately.

The expectation of massive profits outweighed the fear of a distant Imperial power.

More than half of the hands in the hall were raised.

Everyone's gaze focused on the remaining old-school nobles, especially Baron Valerius.

Baron Valerius's face turned a deep shade of purple. He stood there, his body trembling slightly from anger and internal struggle.

He could feel the gazes coming from all around—some urging, some mocking, and some sympathetic.

He knew that if he didn't raise his hand today, then in this mad feast called the "Foundation," his family would be the first to be kicked out, completely marginalized, and eventually, like those seized old powers, not even a bone fragment would be left.

He thought of his several good-for-nothing sons, thought of his family's tottering finances, and thought of the Snowtop Wheat in the warehouse that was about to go moldy.

Finally, under the watch of a deathly silence, Baron Valerius seemed to use all his strength to slowly and humiliatingly raise his right hand, which wore the family signet ring.

The proposal passed with an overwhelming majority.

The meeting ended, and the doors of the council hall were reopened.

The nobles filed out with complex emotions, their faces a mix of excitement and unease about the future.

In the empty council hall, only Levi and Ella remained.

"You used me." Ella stood before Levi, her voice sounding somewhat raspy from suppressing extreme anger. "You used me to declare war on the Empire, used my identity to drag the entire North into an abyss of eternal damnation!"

Levi didn't speak. He simply took the freshly printed, warm resolution from Evelyn's hand and, along with a brand-new charcoal pen, handed it to Ella.

He looked into her eyes, his tone as calm as water.

"As the Chairperson, you need to sign this document to make it officially effective."

He paused, every word like a branding iron searing into Ella's heart.

"From this moment on, your signature represents not the glory of the Radiant Family, but the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands in the North."

Ella stared at him intensely, her chest heaving violently.

She reached out her hand, her fingertips turning slightly white from the force.

That charcoal pen felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

She knew that once she signed this name, there would be no turning back.

She would go from being a Princess of the Empire to a traitorous sinner.

Just as her finger was about to touch the pen, the doors of the council hall were suddenly thrown open.

Evelyn rushed in with a travel-worn messenger, her expression more solemn than ever before.

The messenger's attire was not the standard of Blackstone Territory, and his body bore the blood and mud of a long journey. He didn't even have time to salute before kneeling on one knee and reporting urgently in a hoarse voice:

"My Lord! Your Highness! Urgent military news! Duke Silverwind has responded to the Emperor's secret order. Yesterday morning, in the name of 'suppressing rebels,' he assembled three ten-thousand-man legions under his command and has completely blockaded all trade routes and passes leading from the North to the South!"

The Empire's economic sanctions had come faster and more fiercely than anyone had anticipated.

Levi's pupils contracted imperceptibly.

He turned his head and looked through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the council hall at the nobles outside who had just dispersed and were gathered in small groups, discussing the beautiful prospects of the future.

A true storm was about to arrive.