Mystical Journey

Garen slammed the car door behind him and walked into his uncle’s house.

The car was slammed again and Cynthia stood still behind Garen, with a black full body tight leather shirt.

"I don’t like causing such a scene. It’s too troublesome." Cynthia whispered.

"This situation is a must since the Federation’s government had failed their operations a few times already. I don’t want to forget that they are still supporting and assisting me." Garen calmly replied. "These are all small matters. The federation is so huge that it would take at least a few decades before it falls. With such a big treat ahead of us,we need to be careful to not bite off more than we can chew."

"A hero appearing in our most desperate times?"

"Sort of." Garen turned his head and looked at one of the cars.

A middle aged man with a beautiful, curled beard appeared from the car. He was in a white suit and held a white cane in his hand.

"Sir Garen, please go ahead."

"That’s very kind of you Minister Difana." Garen nodded.

This minister was in charge of the whole of Galantia Province’s econom and investment. He was ‘coincidentally’ passing by Huaishan City so he had met up with Garen. He was also a member of the Golden Hoop inner circle, the uncle of the Seventh Hoop.

He heard that Garen was going to visit his uncle Tyr Anjer. Since he had seen Anjer once in a party before, he decided to visit him as well.

In his eyes, Garen of the White Cloud Gate had obviously became a strong force that he could not afford to ignore. No matter if it was in terms of personal strength, or in the military, he had an irreplaceable influence.

Since the Federation’s Government was at a disadvantage, there were rumors of separatist regimes blooming up all over the province. The powerful White Cloud Gate was the most concerning of all to the Governor. This was especially true since the White Cloud Gate had been expanding at an incredible rate recently and had been involved with almost the half of the districts in the whole province. Their members were increasing on a daily basis and they were also representing the martial art in the civilised community and the underground world. In addition, Gate Master Garen was also one of the high ranked leaders of the Golden Hoop, who had a lot of power and support.

If the governor really wanted to become a king, he must first face the two major forces, military and the White Cloud Gate. He could only truly control the whole of Galantia when he obtained the support of these two major powerhouses.

This was one of the main reasons he had sent the finance minister Difana to investigate Garen’s attitude.

Both of them walked into the building with lunging steps.

Bodyguards flanked and followed them as they walked up to the fifth floor together.

Uncle Tyr had already been waiting for their arrival at the front door.

"Long time no see, my beloved uncle." Garen walked up and gave his uncle a gentle hug.

"Long time no see indeed Garen. This is…?" Tyr looked at Difana who was standing behind Garen. "Is this Minister Difana?"

"It’s a pleasure to meet you again Sir Tyr." Difana placed his cane onto another hand and greeted Tyr with a handshake.

"That is rude of me. Please come in." He took off Difana’s jacket and the three of them walked into the living room.

"I have a gathering going on currently. I hadn’t expected that Minister Difana and Garen would come over, I’m sorry if my hospitality isn’t up to my best." Tyr smiled as he introduced.

"Lombarth and Phelia, come over now!" He shouted.

Both of the kids had been waiting at the side as they had already heard the fuss.

Tyr Garen and Minister Difana was at the center of everyone’s attention the moment they entered the house.

Lombarth swiftly went into the room to call his sister out. When she heard the call, she quickly went out and greeted obediently with her head bowed.

"Nice to meet you brother Garen and Minister." Lombarth bowed with respect as he greeted them.

Phelia held her knee height shirt and greeted them as well. "Nice to meet you brother Garen and Minister Difana. Long time no see brother Garen."

"Long time no see indeed." Garen reached out his hand and pinched Phelia’s small cheeck as he smile gently.

Difana who witnessed this at the side took note of it in his mind.

"These two are the kids from my wife’s side of the family." Tyr gestured Delai Ando and Vaeneris to come over with his hand. These two are the most outstanding teenagers on my wife’s side of the family. They had no choice but to lower down their head when they met the finance minister of the whole province. This person was on another level compared to their family background so they had to becareful.

"Good to see you minister." Delai Ando’s face was stiff when he walked over to greet him. As he finished greeting Difana, he looked at Garen and his faced turned red as he didn’t know what to tell him. He had had a conflict with Garen in the past. The current Garen was far above him and was looking at him from above. The feeling of knowing someone looking down on him made him embarrassed and wanted to find a hole to jump into.

"Brother Garen… about the past, it’s our fault. Hope you can forgive us." Vanaeris smiled awkwardly as he apologised to Garen.

"I don’t hold any grudges on it. You should be more careful when doing your tasks next time and don’t assume what you do will definitely go well. Don’t rely on others too much because you’re not as bad as they are most of the time." Garen smiled and he said. He didn’t have any hostile intent towards these two who viewed him as an enemy. These two more or less was at a loss under him and since he was on the winning side, he naturally didn’t have any hostile intent towards them.

"Alright. We will talk about the past later. Minister Difani and Garen, this way, please. We will go to the meeting room." Uncle suggested as he leaded the way to the study room.

Garen and Difana followed closely behind, with multiple strong body guards and Cynthia guarding the door ensuring no one comes near the occupied room.

As the black door was shut tight, Lombarth, Vaeneris and Delai Ando looked at the meeting room with complicated feelings.

"Looks like us taking him for an enemy was useless after all. He is no longer at the same level as us." Vaeneris whispered helplessly.

Delai Ando was completely silent as held his fist tight and exhaled intensely, as if he had just released a load from his body.

Lombarth felt awkward within. He was very cynical towards Garen back in the day, and Garen hadn’t given it a second thought at all. However, he was slightly relieved as well, Garen was currently much stronger than his father and the relationship between his sister and Garen had always been good. Not to mention his father had treated him even better than his sister. Based on this, Garen’s power would be a strong force towards his family as well.

Just like the three of them, Phelia was staring at the meeting room quietly, her mind seemingly churning incessantly.

***********

Inside the meeting room

Garen, uncle Tyr and the finance minister Difani were sitting opposite each other, forming a triangle from the round table.

The big study room was quiet as there were the only the three of them. None of the bodyguards had entered the room at all.

"I think Sir Garen should know the purpose of my visit today. I come here on behalf of the Governor Wahana."

"I clearly understand Governor’s Wahana current point of view, however the extent of your power and influence is still unknown to me. The White Cloud Gate is just a small sect, and we have been through a lot lately, and we can’t have any more on our plate at the moment." Garen said calmly as he crossed his fingers.

"You’re too modest. The Governor had hoped that you would come and support our work. This would be a huge contribution towards the stability and safety of the whole Province." Difani smiled. He paused for a moment, and it dawned on him that it would be better to talk about the issue directly to a martial artist like Garen, as martial artist didn’t seem to like to beat around bushes. "As long as you show your commitment and improve the stability of the province, the government would definitely help the local development. In this era, it is very difficult to become a leading country. Hence we need to focus on local development to prevent the foreign economy from invading our country."

Difani added on as he looked at Garen.

"Not too far from now, the government plans to release a series of supportive measures that would help in economical development. However the overall structure is still under observation and they need the comments of the district to maximise our efforts."

Garen had finally understood his intentions.

This meant that as long as he agreed to support the Governor, as long as it was within the scope, any recommendations were welcome. Furthermore, if there were any good things from the government, he was sure to get his share as well.

He started thinking about it. He personally didn’t mind about it but there were a lot of people who worked under him. Hence he needed to improve the whole organisation’s development and profit.

Uncle Tyr was sitting at one side in shock as he looked at the other two negotiating between each other.

In the past, he knew the power and influence of Garen and the White Cloud Gate. However, they were still a small sect at the time and had little influence. At the most, they could only influence the local city. Who would have thought that the influence of the White Cloud Gate had grown so fast that Governor Wahana had to take note of his existence and lower his position to request for a cooperation. Compared to his nephew that he knew so well, his influence hadn’t even reached that kind of level yet.

It was at this moment that he realized that he had underestimated the influence of the White Cloud Gate, or the speed at which the White Cloud Gate was developing once Garen had become the successor.

After the discussion between Garen and Difani, they finally came up with a exaggerating mutual agreement.

Garen would tacitly approve of the Governor’s actions and in return the Governor would go against the White Cloud Gate’s current industry policy: The workers of the White Cloud Gate shall not be imposed of any taxes and at the same time the would had the rights to the internal criminal department.

The rights to the internal criminal department! This meant that if anyone related to the White Cloud Gates had committed a crime, it would be internally sorted and the police department had no say in it.

They allowed such a ridiculous policy towards the White Cloud Gate.

Speechless, Tyr looked at the two of them signing the agreement and each of them kept a copy. It was obvious that the power the Governor gave to Difani had not reached its limit and Garen could have requested for more. However Garen had stayed his hand for more.

After the agreement, Difani started to consult Tyr on the local economy and recommended an overall rectification. It was obvious that he was giving face to Garen and at the same time keeping an influencer like him in check and offered a series of offer conditions.

Ultimately, the three of them reached an agreement and everyone obtained what they wanted.

Difani left the house after they left the meeting room.

After Garen and his uncle sent the minister off, both of them went into a single room to reminisce about the past.

They also called Lombarth and Cynthtia to enter as well.