Birth Of The Crafts-God

Being the focus of a Baylands City-state's government and authorities, the Central Prefecture district was truly the centre of the city. Compared to the other four districts, the Central Prefecture district was on a different level whether in terms of opulence or aesthetics.

The absence of any company headquarters —bar those of the top four forces— and industries made it such that the Central Prefecture district's urban layout leaned towards grandeur and consumption. The buildings were all unique with premium interiors, with even the streets displaying signs of advancements all around.

One of the most popular unique selling points in the Central Prefecture district were the 'floating islands' up in the sky. These 'islands' were actually buildings that were suspended with advanced anti-gravity propulsion systems. Most of them were fancy restaurants, recreational sports and entertainment centres like gambling dens and hotels.

To prevent the city below from being littered with shadows, there was a limit to the size and number of these islands. Considering the 'small' size of the Central Prefecture district, relative to the other four districts, there were only seven floating islands.

On one of those floating islands was a cluster of buildings that sprawled all over the place. In hindsight, it looked like there was not much thought given to the architectural planning; but on a closer look, there was a pattern. In truth, the majority of floating islands were like this. They were large complexes with a similar set of structures.

The seven floating islands were named after a certain ancestral lore from the Human race era; the six male Titans and their father: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus and Uranus.

The floating island, Hyperion, currently hosts a lot of dignitaries and influential individuals. At the centre of the floating island was an event hall that had been decorated just like a ballroom. A large function, with a formal dinner party theme, was currently taking place there.

Present amongst the guests were CEOs and other C-level executives of big companies; some reputed vestige-smiths; second generation figures from top families; and even senior officials from public bureaus. Even for an event at the Central Prefecture district, tonight's banquet was still on a grand scale.

This was because the main organiser of the banquet was none other than the Versailles Group —one of Baylands City-state's three stellar processor companies. It was also co-hosted by the Oder family's Böjer Oder and the Arkhen Corporation.

With three top forces organising such an event, it was only natural that the guests in attendance were all esteemed dignitaries. What's more, those in the know understood that this event wouldn't be simple.

"Ah~"

Vergil took a wine of champagne from the steward and downed almost half of it right away. He then proceeded to smack his lips and relished in the taste of the drink.

"Jacquirre's Oak, 75 years of aging. Good stuff. They really aren't holding back." Vergil said as he took a sip of the yellow-green liquid in the glass.

"Is it that special?" Lucas asked, confused by Vergil's praise.

Although he didn't really care much about alcohol and food, Lucas was currently bored and had nothing else to do.

"It's very special." Vergil suddenly turned serious.

"Made from the Palmetto Oaks that are native to Planet Jota, the Oak wine is one of the best alcoholic drinks you can find in any event. Nonetheless, Jacquirre's Oak isn't made from the same wild Palmetto Oak in Jota, since the Oaks are now grown in Eretre. Even though it's not on the same level as the wild oaks on Jota, it's still not something anyone can easily get their hands on. Only one hundred barrels are sold in Baylands city-state each year, which comes out at roughly thirty thousand bottles."

Lucas was surprised.

Thirty thousand bottles might sound like a lot, but that number was actually quite small for the entirety of Baylands city-state. Considering that there were lots of establishments that used wine as a beverage and there were also influential forces that kept a stash for various reasons, thirty thousand bottles were unable to satisfy them all.

The quantity was one thing, but with the quality of the wine, there was no way it would be sold for cheap either. This would reduce the number of people competing for it, but it still didn't mean that demand would be satiated.

"For this event, those guys probably had to prepare at least three hundred bottles. That's one percent of the total annual production for our region."

Interested, Lucas decided to take a glass from the next steward that passed by.

"You're a wine connoisseur?" Lucas stared curiously at Vergil.

"A connoisseur is a big word. I just pay a bit more attention to things I like." Vergil smirked proudly as he tried to fake a humble expression.

Lucas ignored him, instead focusing on the event.

Around eight days ago after he got back from the Silverine Factory, Lucas had received an interesting mail. The content of the mail was actually simple and was merely an invitation to a banquet scheduled right days away, which was today. However, what was interesting was the identity of the sender as well as the organisers. They were the Versailles Group as the head organiser, and Böjer Oder with the Arkhen Corporation supporting the event.

Interestingly, all three were the core members of the coalition; a group of forces that had teamed up to face off against Lucas and the Mertens family.

At first, Lucas intended to reject the invitation since attending meant spending time for research and vestige-smithing on some flamboyant event. However, he recalled his discussion with Maessen and was slightly interested in what his opponents wanted to cook up. In the end, Lucas decided to attend since it was still quite some time away.

Together with Vergil, who was representing the Mertens family that got an invite as well, Lucas made it to the venue on the floating island Hyperion. As for Melissa, coincidentally, Vienna had flown over from Belfargos territory two days ago for a business trip and was going to stay over for a week. With Lucas going for the banquet, she decided to babysit Melissa for him.

"There's a lot of folks I didn't expect to be present here. It's a good opportunity to network and find some partners." Vergil said after seeing that Lucas was ignoring him.

"For instance, that middle-aged man with the white hair over there is from the Silver Fig Consortium. While it's true that the consortium is more of an alliance between top merchant groups and companies, it still has a central group in charge of its operations. The group is called the Silver Fig Chamber of Commerce, and the current chairman is the father of that white haired fella."

The Silver Fig Consortium was a large alliance of companies related to the desolate beast industry. Whether they were vestige-smith companies, sare shuttle manufacturers, desolate beast part dealers, material and resource mining industries or even logistics companies, they could all be accounted for in the Silver Fig Consortium. Although there were many other major companies in these industries that weren't a part of the consortium, the majority of the consortium's members were big names.

Lucas remembered the Silver Fig Consortium from his early days in Baylands City. His first encounter with a vestige duel was during the Silver Fig Convention —an annual event organized by the consortium. Also, the Mertens family's Koper Trading Services was a member of the Silver Fig Consortium.

Seeing Lucas not so interested, Vergil decided to switch his approach.

"There are lots of other guys like him present but there are also younger folks more within your range. Like that guy with the red facial hair. He goes by the nickname Red Beard and is in his 30s. He's quite strong; a sixth level stellar practitioner from what I know, but that's not the main thing. His company is a direct competition to the Oder family's Prestige Star Ltd. Even their next generation , Red Beard and Callivan Oder, are rivals. The two are like water and fire, so it's quite interesting that he was not only invited, but also in attendance." Vergil had an interesting smile on his face.

At that moment, Red Beard seemed to have sensed their gaze and turned towards the duo. He smiled at Lucas and raised the glass in his hand as a form of greeting. After that, he turned his attention back to the group he was with.

'He's quite sensitive.' Lucas was surprised.

Noting Lucas' expression of interest, Vergil felt confident and began pointing out others.

"The stunning lady on the other side is Lady Giselle. Her father is the current chairman of New Rovers; a renowned company in the sare shuttle industry. They're also competitors to the Prestige Star Ltd, but not directly.

"You see, the Oder family is quite greedy even as a vestige-smithing family. They weren't satisfied with the weapons branch and tried to expand to all other branches. While they did fail in some and were forced to retreat, they succeeded in others. They own a sare shuttle branch company that specializes more in maintenance than manufacturing. However, after-sales services is still a core speciality of New Rovers, so they became competitors.

"Second gens aren't the only one here though. There are a few third gens, and even those from the public bureau. It wouldn't be bad for you to get to know some of them."