Grey naturally noticed them. He was especially more aware of the Gravesons. He remembered Alex, a very sharp individual, something extremely rare in this era, and hence he had a good impression of them.

Then, he swept his eyes toward the heads of the Valenford and Langford families. They were top families with prominent business empires in the entirety of the southern region, and they were in the top ten among the strongest families there.

Both heads were old, and they kept a calm gaze when facing Grey. They had experienced this world for many years, and they knew how to stay composed under pressure.

Then he swept his gaze toward the people from Dawnwatch City. They too had four families, the Dawnflare family, the Sunstride family, and the Ember family and finally Stoneveil family.

The Dawnflare family were one of the most respectable families in the entirety of the Three Guards Province. This was the family from which the majority of the law enforcers of the province emerged, and the one sitting in the seat was without a doubt Orion, the head captain of the law enforcement.

Grey remembered him calling yesterday to congratulate him after he was done bombing the Interwire Corporation.

And he had actually come as the representative of the family.

Because he was, in fact, the current patriarch.

As for the rest, they three were middle-aged men who obviously seemed uneasy as soon as Grey entered the room.

Next, it was the people of Ironveil City. The Ironcrest, the Moltenfang, and the Blacksear families were present, and then there was the Hale family.

The Hale family's representative was an old man with a calm look on his face. He had the aura of a middle-stage second ranker, and he sat there calmly gazing at Grey.

This was the ancestor of the Hale family, who also happened to be Dorian Hale's grandfather, the former city lord.

The Hale family was absolutely furious. They had been angered beyond words. Not only had Dorian lost his ability to cultivate, he had also lost his status as the city lord.

This was what he received after trying to protect the province. Absolutely nothing.

People did not even mention him once or talk about his heroic deeds. All they cared about was the new city lord who saved them from the High Order's attack.

Today, the ancestor was not here to speak terms. He was here to rightfully claim what was theirs.

He would not leave without receiving a heavy compensation.

Grey naturally saw through him and had already pulled out information about him using his Mind Interface. Now that he was the city lord, everything could be taken out of the database within seconds.

From all their dirty businesses to all their good deeds that contributed to the province and more.

Nothing could escape his sight.

Then, finally, he turned to the Silverguard City's representatives. Just like the rest, they had four prominent families that controlled the city from the shadows, the Silverblade family, the Cloudriver family, the Frostpetal family, and finally the Valestorm family.

The Silverblade and Cloudriver families were extremely close. They had both followed the martial path since young and were very powerful fighters, and most of the geniuses of the Three Guards Province emerged from these two families.

Their representatives sat there, one drinking water and the other closely examining Grey.

The Valestorm family was secretive. They kept to themselves and hardly concerned themselves with the city or its matters, but each individual in their household was a talented bloodline warrior.

Then there was the Frostpetal family. Seeing the information about them, Grey frowned slightly. He realized that the majority of the information related to them was missing.

"Oh?" Grey was interested. Since there was nothing in the normal database, he would directly link to the local one.

His network could now travel far and wide. As long as he could sense the connection and had sufficient psionic energy, anything was possible, even hacking directly into the local database of Silverguard City from the Azrael Corporation here in Ashspire City.

His interface, which was connected to the main database, quickly sank into the entire server of Silverguard City. Everything from the local news to the local network was managed within that server, and within seconds he had found relevant information.

And the information he received made him raise an eyebrow.

"Looks like we have some matters to take care of." Grey smiled.

"What was that?" Valeria tilted her head as she contacted him through telepathy. "I did not catch it."

"Nothing, my Miss Valeria." Grey said with a laugh. "Now, shall we start the meeting?"

"Of course." Valeria smiled beautifully. "The seat in the center is for you."

"Hm? Is there no seat for you and Werner?"

She shook her head and spoke jokingly. "How would we dare sit while the city lord himself is sitting?"

Grey smiled hearing this. "Then how about this, Miss Valeria, you can sit on my lap instead. A great and beautiful lady like you should naturally not stand for long. It will wear you out."

Valeria giggled, her eyes curving like crescent moons.

"Then I will gladly accept that offer," she said. "You should feel honored, you know. A fine lady like me choosing to sit on your lap, and maybe, if I am in a good mood, I will even wrap my arms around your shoulders."

She was more than willing to sit on Grey's lap.

"Hey, I was joking." He spoke speechlessly. "Do not sit on my lap. It will be embarrassing. How will I make them fear me if you sit on my lap? They will be too focused on the strange situation."

Then, he ended the telepathy with Valeria and sat down on the chair.

Immediately, the already silent room became even more silent.

He swept his gaze toward everyone and began.

"Everyone, you should already know who I am by now, but let me introduce myself once again. My name is Grey Lockhart, and I am the current city lord of the Ascension Province."

"Starting today, I completely own the Ascension Province. All provincial matters pass through me. Resource distribution, infrastructure approvals, federal funding, city budgets, and even security deployment. All will be personally done and managed by me."

The instant the family heads heard Grey's words, their faces drastically changed.

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