[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

I go over the notes with Bri and Rodrigo one more time, updating them on the new progress of the doubles I just sent out to expand the kingdom further west of the 8 Great Regions and south of the Dark Continent.

Once transmissions of large amounts of hunters arriving in the empty entrance hall begin to reach Rodrigo's tablet, orders are sent out for E and D class workers in the Apex base. They are to greet the parties from each region that arrive and escort them to the elevator.

Five to ten at a time, Regional Directors, B and A class hunters are all escorted down to the 18th floor of the facility, the A-Class training rooms.

It's the only room large enough and secure enough to hold this kind of meeting.

As the sun slowly rises, everyone that was invited arrives, and I decide to make my way toward the elevator with Bri and Rodrigo behind me, with Raven watching from an invisible point of view.

I take a deep breath in and out, and wait for the elevator to open with a ding on the 18th floor.

The chatter and small talk in the room go completely silent as I walk out onto the dense mana-shielded floor to see over 200 hunters waiting for me to speak.

All three of our footsteps echo through the silent room as we walk forward.

The crowds of powerful hunters are split into 8 separate groupings. Each region sticks together, and the sizes vary a lot. The Apex, Veridian, and Vice Region groupings are far larger than the others, who have less than 10 in each of them. Smallest of all, the Talton Region's only two people who showed up are Marcie and their leader I met once before when delivering goods.

There are a few other very familiar faces among the groups as I survey the crowd and walk closer until stopping about 10 meters in front of everyone. The old and new A-Class hunters stand in front of the Apex Region's crowd, while the Regional Directors stand in front of the other groupings. I see Dane beside the woman that runs the Silca Region, and even spot Nat next to the Veridian Region's leader.

Then, I release a wave of intimidation in addition to my Heavy Hand skill.

With very fine-tuned precision, I make sure to alter the gravity at which my Heavy Hand pushes down on people depending on the amount of mana control they're letting out of their bodies.

The instant I do, everyone in the room is hit with a wave of energy that frightens them to the core, and I'm the center of their full attention roughly two seconds later once I release this wave and allow everyone to breathe.

"I welcome you all to the Apex Region. As some of you know, I've been battling a very intense energy poisoning illness for many years. It has made me irritable, unreasonable, and paranoid... for this reason, I have kept the 8 Great Regions constrained to only benefit myself..."

There are mixed reactions that ripple through the crowds of people, as this is not the opener they expected.

Some hide their physical reactions very well, but I can sense each and every one of their emotions as clear as day while I continue.

"I've brought you all here today to tell you I've found a cure, and moving forward I will have far more energy to build our nation into an even more powerful kingdom. We will be doing a major restructuring of funds, contracts, leadership positions, and most importantly, the closely guarded rank of A-Class is going to be lifted. All of you in this room today have the opportunity to rank up a second time if you wish after our meeting is over."

The general skepticism and unease from my first statement completely fades when the final words leave my mouth.

I can tell there are many hunters that have been held back at level 990-999 among the Apex Region hunters who have many questions but are afraid to speak up and ask because of the surge of energy I let out when I entered the room. So, I continue and explain further.