Rugal was feeling somewhat irritated.
He had already prepared everything in advance. First, he would acquire an organization qualified to host a global tournament, then personally send invitations to all the powerful martial artists and fighters he could uncover through his investigations, bringing them all onto the same stage to fight him.
This world was not a peaceful one. In a world where demons and monsters had truly existed, anyone capable of becoming nobility or amassing great wealth inevitably had some real ability.
Either they themselves possessed overwhelming strength, or they recruited talented sons-in-law into the family, or they spent enormous sums hiring powerful martial artists to protect them.
No matter which path they chose, the final result was the same:
None of the truly influential elite families in this world were ignorant of martial arts.
And more often than not, they themselves were first-rate martial artists.
After all, learning qi techniques and training the body were extremely effective methods of self-defense. They sharpened the senses, improved health, and extended one's lifespan.
In other words, practicing martial arts was practically a required qualification for the world's top elite families.
Because no matter how much wealth you possessed, if both you and your family died, then your fortune simply became someone else's; that reality existed in this world too.
As a result, an unspoken rule had formed among the upper class.
Without several top-tier martial artists backing your family, you could not truly be considered part of the highest echelon.
A powerful martial artist could remain poor, but a true great family could never lack powerful martial artists.
But unlike other business tycoons, who trained only to protect themselves from assassination or similar threats from rival elites, Rugal's reasons for pursuing strength were different.
Yes, part of it was for power, and part of it was to obtain entry into the ranks of the world's supreme elites.
But more than anything else...
He loved fighting.
He loved combat.
Having thoroughly understood the rules of this world, he was convinced that for people at their level, ordinary business tactics had long since become meaningless.
There was only one way to truly stand above the world.
That is to become the strongest!
Once your assets reached a certain level, if you also became the unquestionable strongest person in the world, then becoming the ruler of the world would happen naturally.
Because no other family would dare oppose you.
Even if they maintained appearances publicly, behind the scenes they would no longer dare reject your will or decisions.
So, to Rugal, becoming the strongest was practically the same thing as conquering the world.
The path to becoming the world's strongest and the path to ruling the world lay right before him.
How could he possibly not strive for it?
So, why exactly was a man like him feeling irritated?
Simple...
"What do you mean the King of Fighters tournament has been bought out?"
He clenched the phone in his hand in fury, the sheer force of his grip causing cracks to spread across the phone's casing.
The person on the other end of the line was clearly terrified, yet still forced himself to continue explaining.
"M-My apologies, Mr. Rugal, but this is the Douglas family's decision. You know very well there's nothing someone like me could do about it."
His words made caused Rugal to narrow his eyes. He let out a cold snort before immediately hanging up the phone.
"The Douglas family..."
He muttered the name of the people now interfering with his plans.
Although their family was not particularly prosperous, they were unquestionably one of the world's top-tier families. If they had suddenly decided to pour massive amounts of money into acquiring the King of Fighters tournament, then this truly wasn't the fault of his subordinate.
After all, among families of this level, their underlings would never dare interfere in such matters on their own.
But the problem is, why were the Douglas family suddenly sticking their hands into this?
Where exactly was he supposed to find another company qualified to host a global martial arts tournament at this point?
"Wasn't Douglas very interested in those so-called ninjas? Why did he suddenly start organizing a King of Fighters tournament?"
Rugal knew a little about Douglas's plans.
Nothing more than biological weapons.
And he utterly disdained the idea.
What use were biological weapons compared to tanks and artillery?
The latest Metal Slug tanks could easily crush the vast majority of first-rate martial artists.
And without a true will of their own, no matter how powerful a body became, their qi would never become especially strong. Which meant they could still be killed easily.
And if a biological weapon did possess its own thoughts and will… then how could it possibly be controlled reliably?
So, in Rugal's eyes, this was just a niche pursuit of a relatively weak wealthy family like Douglas's. He neither valued it nor cared about it.
But the problem was, why interfere with the King of Fighters tournament?
Although registering a new organization himself would be fairly quick, only about a year of work, the issue was that if he failed to make it happen this year, then Goenitz would never agree to his request.
"These people are truly irritating."
Rugal rubbed his forehead. At this point, the only solution left was to seek cooperation with those people, but that still annoyed him.
After all, it would mean giving up a significant portion of the benefits.
"Forget it. There's no point complaining about something that absolutely must be done."
He suppressed his irritation, and then suddenly realized something.
"Where's Goenitz?"
He hadn't seen Goenitz for quite a while now. Normally, that bastard Goenitz would show up from time to time just to mock him, but for some reason he hadn't appeared recently at all.
And just as he thought of Goenitz, a violent gust of wind suddenly erupted inside the room. The next moment, a sanctimonious-looking priest appeared, carrying two women covered in blood into the room with him.
~~~~~~~~~~
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