NOVEL NEXT Chapter 376: The Thousand-Year Family Collapsing Overnight
The Lion Heart Empire lost the Quenching Furnace, causing a great upheaval after the incident.
Although this Quenching Furnace was brought back from the Abyss World by the Round Table Knights, the Grace Quenching Service Company had already been operating for a year, with countless collaborating Quenching Masters and capital groups.
This Quenching Furnace is no longer just the property of the Round Table Knights; numerous national capitals, including those from the White Eagle Federation, have invested in the Grace Quenching Service Company.
Investing in this company essentially means investing in this Quenching Furnace.
Originally, the Human World only had two Quenching Furnaces: one exclusively owned by Da Xia, and the second by the Lion Heart Empire.
Since many capitalist families from the ASE Alliance failed to invest in the Flame Emblem, they eventually focused on the Lion Heart Empire's Grace Quenching Service Company.
In just one year, the valuation of the Grace Quenching Service Company rocketed into the top hundred globally.
It's indeed staggering, as this is considered a monopoly-level resource, profiting from Superpower Users.
Controlling a Quenching Furnace is akin to mastering the future global landscape.
Thus, the loss of the Quenching Furnace by the Lion Heart Empire not only shook the Empire but the entire world.
Such a significant loss, combined with the collective death of key Planter family members and the sudden reversal of the media's narrative on the Great Xia superpower user's threat,
All these are interconnected; anyone who understands the situation doesn't need evidence to know who took the Quenching Furnace.
This is why Lu Heng didn't bother hiding from the outset.
Taking the Quenching Furnace means it must be used; with the Quenching Castle suddenly having an extra Quenching Furnace, this couldn't be concealed.
Since it couldn't be hidden, might as well do it openly.
On the second day after the Lion Heart Empire lost its Quenching Furnace, the Quenching Castle launched two quenching service lines.
The number of Quenching Masters arranged by the Flame Emblem doubled, reducing waiting times from one month to just half a month.
This made it known worldwide the next day that the Lion Heart Empire's Quenching Furnace appeared at the Quenching Castle.
With this information, the ASE Alliance quickly deduced who was behind this.
Once again, Lu Heng became a thorn in the ASE Alliance members' sides.
However, this time there was no public opinion war.
The fate of the Planter family had already proven that slandering Lu Heng through media is futile.
In this era where order is on the brink of collapse, some people are no longer bound by order.
In fact,
Before the Abyss Descent, many ASE Alliance members, including the Planter family, were already beyond the constraints of law and order.
They controlled vast wealth in the Human World, capable of controlling the lifeblood of developed nations; they could do as they pleased, unrestrained by the law.
During the Abyss Era, a new group emerged above the law—those whose combat power reached the summit.
Had it been in the past, after Lu Heng eliminated six core members of the Planter family, he would have been obliterated.
However, it must be said, before the Abyss Descent, no one could have touched the Planter family.
Now, Lu Heng had no intention of hiding his actions; the ASE Alliance families all know what he's done, having openly taken down the Planter family.
Not only does the ASE Alliance know, but the Great Xia Military does too, yet does it matter?
The instant the incident occurred, a report was placed on the desk of the Southern War Zone Battle Zone Chief, Li Guining.
After reading the report, Li Guining handed it to his adjutant with just a single statement: "Top secret, never to be declassified without special reasons."
Never to be declassified—this is the Great Xia Military's stance on this event.
In every country's military intelligence department, there are files marked "never to be declassified."
These files usually involve very high-level events.
This incident also has a subtle aspect.
The Special Forces member Lu Heng used to control the Planter family was Liao Zhenghong, who came from the intelligence analysis section of the Southern War Zone's Third Intelligence Department.
In other words, this man belonged to Li Guining.
Now it is Dragon Power that controls the Planter family, but this matter remains under the control of the Great Xia Military.
Li Guining will not let the Southern War Zone intervene, as the state cannot engage in such matters.
Dragon Power, as a mercenary sequence, acts with much greater freedom than a military sequence.
...
The Planter family, as a member of the ASE Alliance, faced significant internal turmoil.
Those who know a bit of the inside story could roughly guess what happened.
Regarding what happened on the Margaret cruise ship, beyond the warriors who boarded for the mission, no one knew.
The various forces and branches controlled by the Planter family only knew that overnight, six of the seven family heads died.
Only the youngest, Warick Edward, remained.
Therefore, there are many speculations about the internal upheaval in the Planter family, with some suspecting Warick Edward killed the six to seize power.
Only those ASE Alliance members who truly know the inside story understand who is really manipulating events behind the scenes.
Since that night, Warick Edward began consolidating the forces and wealth held by the Planter family, with ruthless methods.
There were many factional divisions within the Planter family; originally, the resources were controlled by seven people, and now only one remains.
The six deceased family heads all had successors, and Warick Edward found it not simple to seize the forces, companies, wealth, and stocks from these successors.