Chapter 468: The Last Gathering Before Leaving.
The royal palace was the most luxurious part of the Great White Kingdom.
As the place of royalty where the chamber of the patriarch was built, it could be seen as a landmark of the city. The royal palace was the pride of this high-grade rural settlement, and it was also where the royal children lived.
Unlike the Anemone Domain, the Great White Kingdom was a more advanced high-grade rural settlement with a powerful Red tier predator like Domino as their patriarch.
Though Domino was not as strong as Eliana, he was stronger than the chief councilor of the Anemone Domain and the Ancient Basilisk of the Snake Kingdom.
Apart from Domino, the Great White Kingdom had 10 other Red tier predators. They also had over 150 purple tier predators which were frightening.
Of these pinnacle predators that represented the high-grade rural settlement, the majority of them were the children of the patriarch.
Of the 10 Red tier predators, 6 were the patriarch’s children and this alone was enough to send a message that the patriarch’s method of grooming his children to become powerhouses has been massively successful.
It was almost the same way Spartans of old earth trained their children.
To get the best warriors, they needed to be forged through fire like gold.
At this moment, at a large hall that was built inside the royal palace, the majority of the patriarch’s children were gathered as they got prepared to welcome their new brother enthusiastically.
Most of them here were purple tier predators, with only one of them being a Red tier predator, they were all there to see their new brother.
Between the children of the patriarch, there was something they called the initiation ceremony to induct all their new siblings into the ways of the kingdom.
The initiation ceremony was just a fancy name, in essence, it was a way for the older children to exert their dominance over the new and younger ones.
Due to the way that the patriarch trained his children, they were always competitive and rivalry reigned within them.
This intense rivalry caused the children to be divided into 7 main factions. The first 6 factions were all headed by each of the 6 Red tier predators, while the last faction was made by a coalition of a large number of the purple tier predators.
All of them competed and fought to prove that they were better to attract more attention from their father and get more resources for training.
In essence, being royalty in the Great White Kingdom puts you in a race. It is either you join one of the teams to get a baton, or you are squashed like an insect.
All the sharks here expected Sebastian to join one of the 7 main factions. Their job here today was to introduce him to the ways of the royalty, declare their dominance, and force him to choose a faction.
The wait started 45 minutes ago, and it was still ongoing.
"Where the f*ck is that burger? Doesn’t he know we’re waiting for him?" A frustrated Great White Shark could not help but lash out all of a sudden.
Once the first shark lashed out, the others were triggered as they expressed their dissatisfaction with this new sibling. It was just his first day in the kingdom and he was already proving all high and mighty.
They waited and waited, but no one showed up.
Though they did not want to admit it, after 1 hour, the probability of Sebastian not coming started increasing, and the awkwardness in the water increased.
"What is that piece of sh*t thinking?"
In their dissatisfaction, they kept on waiting, hoping for a miracle.
"When he comes, I swear I’ll bite his snout off!"
"He should better not come again, or he’ll receive the worst treatment of his life here!"
...
Since the Firelight Shark Clan didn’t enjoy the luxury of having a hall where they could engage in large meetings, they could only settle for doing it outside.
Once the news of Sebastian having called for a meeting became known to the higherups of the Firelight Shark Clan, they all dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to the location prepared for the meeting.
From Queen Heareth, Tungsten, and Strong, all the way down to Tosh, Verni, and other oldies who survived the volcanic eruption all convened.
Sebastian’s subordinates also convened for this meeting. All 5 bounty hunters that he stole from the Demon Inter-racial bounty organization were here, including Captain Omega who was an ex-Atlantian soldier.
After the meeting started, Sebastian first thanked all of them for honoring his invitation before subsequently thanking them for their efforts in the successful relocation and migration of the Firelight Shark Clan.
He engaged in a few more talks before he went to the point.
"What is the decision that you all came to about the future of the clan?"
Everyone turned to look at Tungsten, the clan head of the Firelight Shark Clan. Tungsten reacted calmly to the looks as he slowly floated up to reply.
"The Great White Kingdom has been extremely accommodating to us since we arrived here. They provided us with protection, food, and every other basic need to survive, our existence is not threatened here".
"On top of that, they didn’t strip us of our clan status the same way that the other Great White Shark clans that managed to migrate here enjoyed".
"This enables us to keep our identity, but our usefulness to the Kingdom also drops since they would always prioritize themselves before attending to us".
Tungsten paused for a moment before he continued. "After speaking extensively with the Queen and Strong, we came to a decision".
"We want to integrate completely with the Great White Kingdom".
On hearing this, Sebastian was calm as he read the reactions of everyone present. Clearly, all those from the Firelight Shark Clan already knew about this.
He nodded inwardly in his head, but he still gave his opinion.
"I have no decision-making power in the clan, but I know Old Mak, he saved me and we worked together for some time enough for me to know his personality".
"I already anticipated this decision from you all".
"Integrating into the Great White Kingdom is certainly not bad since it ensures your survival for the moment, but I don’t think Old Mak will be too happy knowing that his clan dissolved in the end and became part of another".
"Don’t get me wrong, I still want you integrated into the Great White Kingdom, but what if you can do it without becoming exactly one with them?"
"What if you can do that by becoming their sub-branch?"
"What I suggest is that you propose the plan of being a sub-branch to higherups of the Great White Kingdom".
"You guys will get to live here, everything will still be the same as if you integrated with them properly, the only difference would be that you get to keep your clan’s name, but now as a sub-clan".
Once Sebastian finished his speech, Queen Heareth and Tungsten went into deep thought.
Going through all this trouble just to keep a name sounded ridiculous, but knowing Old Mak, the both of them could understand what Sebastian said.
Since there was no harm to trying Sebastian’s suggestion, Tungsten looked at the Queen to get confirmation before he agreed to the plan.
After that, they talked more about the clan and how it would integrate into the Great White Kingdom for minutes before Sebastian deviated again.
"I will be leaving today, and if things go according to my plan, I intend to be in the Dungeon of Souls later today".
"My fleet is ready, but I have no soldiers to man it".
"The patriarch helped by providing 10 warships including the crew to operate them, but I am short of warriors to man these warships and give them an extra tooth to bite an enemy".
"Officially, I have only 6 warriors with me, I need more before I can decide to embark on my journey of jumping between Great Seas".
"This is why I’m asking for the help of the clan. I know the difficult situation that you are currently in, but here in the Great White Kingdom, you’ll be safe for a while where you can slowly rebuild your strength".
"As for me, I’m about to jump into the belly of the beast, I need immediate power, this is why I seek assistance".
Once Sebastian finished his speech, he looked straight at Tungsten but he was surprised when the clan head smiled the next moment.
"We already thought of this, Sebastian". Tungsten smiled as he turned in the direction of Strong.
Strong hovered up the next moment as from the back came to a group of powerful and fit Great White Sharks numbering 20.
Tungsten spoke again. "From our few, we were able to amass these 20 brave warriors alongside Strong to embark on this journey alongside you".
"Also, your friend, the Grouper Fish already recovered slightly after spending some time with us and is adamant to join you as a warrior under your command".
Sebastian was surprised by everything that just happened. He turned to look at Strong, surprised, and the Great White Shark straightened up.
"I am at your service, Lord Sebastian!"
"We are at your service, Lord Sebastian!"
Seeing this scene, Sebastian was overwhelmed. He had to confirm numerous times before he believed that this move was completely voluntary by the sharks.
A few minutes later, Verni swam into the meeting ground alongside Tosh.
Both Great White Sharks hovered before Sebastian, they were both the 2 army Commander elects of the clan, and Sebastian was given the honor of appointing them.
Sebastian solemnly placed his snout on Verni’s head.
"From today, I declare you a Commander of the Firelight army!"
He reciprocated the same to Tosh. "From today, I declare you a Commander of the Firelight army!"
All the participants of this moment clapped as the 2 young sharks suddenly got a huge weight resting on their shoulders, but they were determined to perform.
After the meeting, Sebastian finally left with all his subordinates.
