Among the crowd of bigshots that Chairman Deacon had invited were two who were listening in rapt attention.
The diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kandrian Empire, and a rank-four Martial Commissioner from the Martial Union.
The Kandrian Empire was certainly one of the largest foreign stakeholders when it come to the supply of esoteric resources from the Shionel Dungeon. Both the Royal Family and the Martial Union had dispatched a huge number of Martial Squires from the Royal kandrian Army and the internal members of the Union to the Shionel Confederation to obtain a large number of resources for them.
Even though the Martial Union did not have as much of a heavy need for the esoteric resources of the Shionel Dungeon, it was still very important for the Union to maintain a foothold in every new shift in paradigms, in order to maintain their economic and political capital.
Thus, the matter of the Voider had been irksome to the nation and the Martial Union, although neither side had any intention of pursuing the matter aggressively of their own volition. The reason for this was fundamentally due to the large distance between then the Shionel Confederation and the Kandrian Empire. The former was outside of the latter's domain of influence. Although Martial Squires could cross the ten thousand kilometers that separated the two nations, it was still too much of a geopolitical separation for the Martial Union and the Kandrian Empire to throw a fit about getting dominated in the dungeon.
Had the dungeon been within their domain of influence like around the Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana or the Kingdom of Violis, they would have taken a much more active and aggressive effort, but due to it being in the Shionel Confederation, they had to more or less make do and mitigate their losses.
Distance meant that it was more expensive to transfer the necessary capital, resources, and manpower to the Shionel Confederation just to match the dominant forces in that part of the eastern side of the continent. They simply would not be able to outcompete powerful nations within their home turf, for the same reason that those same nations could not outcompete the Kandrian Empire within their domain of power.
However, both the Kandrian Empire and the Martial Union were interested in what the Chairman of the second most powerful company and the largest enemy of the Voider had to say when he gathered them all there. They did not have particularly high expectations from this meeting.
The Kandrian diplomat was intrigued by the intelligence on the Voider that Chairman Deacon went on to present to them but ultimately was not too stirred, though he didn't allow his expressions to betray his reactions. Although there was a chance that whatever Chairman Deacon seemed to have in mind would pay out, the Kandrian Empire had already altered their expectations and plans in the Shionel Confederation, accounting for the suffocating success of Esosale Suppliers backed by the Bradt Distribution Service.
In reality, the Martial Commissioner of the Martial Union should have also been in a similar position, yet when he went through the intelligence that Chairman Deacon had done onto present them, he narrowed his eyes as something clicked in his mind.
('Appearing and disappearing Martial Squires?') He raised an eyebrow. ('If that's due to a technique, then…')
As a Martial Commissioner of the Martial Union, he was extremely familiar with all the Martial Squires registered with the Martial Union. It was a necessity since he was required to commission Martial Artists of fitting internal missions from the Martial Union.
That was why when he came across that detail in the intelligence he couldn't help but recall the currently only existing Martial Squire in the Kandrian Empire that had mastered a grade-ten Martial Art technique that would allow him to do exactly what the Voider had done according to the intelligence that Chairman Deacon had presented all of them.
He didn't even bother finishing his thought as he felt that the probability of it being true was extremely low. Still, he couldn't help but feel as though he was onto something.
('I should look into this when the meeting is done,') The Martial Commissioner narrowed his eyes.
"As you can see, the intelligence clearly indicates that the Voider is a small group of Martial Squires that has some kind of potent stealth technique, that allows for evasion of monsters to a level that is unsurpassed," Chairman Deacon explained. "We gather that the Voider is most likely an unassociated, and unpatroned group of Martial Squires putting on a facade when they're not in the dungeon. These, along with other pieces of clues that we have gathered or inferred, gives us enough of a foundation to conduct a genuine investigation that can significantly narrow down the list of possibilities."
"That will most likely require extensive resources, capital, and manpower, more so than Deacon Industries alone can handle," One of the invited members remarked.
"You are correct," Chairman Deacon nodded, not denying the woman's words. "However, that is the reason that I have conferred this meeting. With aid from your nations, companies, and organizations, we can do what it takes to find and eliminate the Voider. I have already gathered support from the domestic stakeholder merchants and businessmen who have been shafted by the Voider, with your support, I am confident that we can take down the Voider."
His words seemed to succeed in a certain degree of persuasion, as by the end of the meeting, most of the members of the meeting tentatively expressed a willingness to participate.
"The Kandrian Empire is willing to aid you in our mutual benefits depending on the proposed manner of operation," The diplomat of the Kandrian Empire gave a positive but flexible answer. There was no harm in participating as long as it wasn't too much of a liability.
"The Kandrian Martial Union will consider the proposal," The Martial Commissioner replied non-committally.
