Chapter 22: The Intrigue Behind Power
In the capitalist world, money is God. Not just a metaphor, but an absolute truth that governs every aspect of life. However, for those at the top of the power chain, there is something even more valuable than money—the mysterious side of the world.
The general public lives in ignorance, dismissing mystical phenomena as nothing more than urban legends. Even if they directly experience something strange, their memories are quickly erased by Divine Enforcers, an organization tasked with maintaining Japan's balance. However, behind the scenes, conglomerates and rulers have long been aware of the truth.
They know that the world is not only controlled by politics and economics but also by magic, ancient artifacts, and creatures that should only exist in legends and myths. They hire mystical practitioners for personal protection, infiltrate their agents into Divine Enforcers, and use their wealth to gain access to information and power that ordinary people cannot possess.
But there is one thing that money cannot buy—the status of a Campione.
There are only six individuals in the world who hold that title, and now, the seventh has been born in Japan.
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Inside the Shinomiya family meeting room, an elderly man with a wrinkled face stared at the report that had just arrived in his hands.
Shinomiya Gan'an was the head of the Shinomiya family, a man who had spent his life building power and influence in Japan's economy. He had seen it all—people rising to the pinnacle of glory, only to fall into the abyss of ruin. However, this time, he was faced with something completely unexpected.
"Rokuhara Ren..."
A name that was not unfamiliar, but one he had never considered important before.
A young man who had once sold him porcelain from the Qin Dynasty, one of the rare artifacts that even the most influential collectors could not find. At the time, he had thought Ren was just a lucky kid who happened to stumble upon a treasure at a flea market. Nothing special. Not someone worth considering.