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The Green Tea Party wasn’t the only one who was shocked by the news...the whole world was.

Nobody could understand why, but all of a sudden, a new rule was imposed on everybody and every party...

From here onwards, all parties must refresh their registration information. People forming a party with members coming from other cities aren’t allowed anymore. From now on, they could only find members from within the same city where they were born.

Citizenship doesn’t count, so neither do permits. Not even the City Lord’s grant will work on this.

It’s a decision made by both the Grand Martial Union and the Emperors.

This took effect immediately. Every party was given a deadline of a month to refresh their registration details. Failure to comply will result in their party badges being disabled.

One could only imagine what kind of uproar this caused.

A lot of people don’t have an idea how many parties were formed with its members coming from different corners of the human world.

The Archstone Plaza is a hub that connects all and made all this possible. Hell, even one of the strongest parties of the current day will be heavily affected by this rule!

This made many people confused and outraged. Why, all of a sudden? What is the reason behind this drastic change?

Were the GMU and the Emperors unaware of how much this will affect humanity as a whole? There are dozens of parties that will be affected by this rule! This will severely disrupt the flow of income and resources of the whole civilization! Why would they do something like this?

If the ’viral outbreak’ and its additional rules already made the situation tense, adding this just made the whole pot explode.

Riots began, and protests became even stronger and harsher. Panic and chaos ensued. A lot of people went on a strike. The news affected so many people, yet neither the GMU nor the Imperial Court responded just yet.

**

Meanwhile, within the Rosewater Inn, the mood was somber.

The Green Tea Party looked at each other in dismay. They could still hear Sir Justin’s words, followed by the replay of the broadcast that made the new rule public.

"Damn it! Why now?" Derek cursed and sank into his chair.

Everything was fine and well. Even though there was this sudden outbreak and all, their party did very well. So much so that all of them were looking forward to making it onward, together.

But the sudden emergence of this new rule threw all of that out of the window, unapologetically at that.

All their hard work, blood, sweat, and tears...wasted.

They will lose another member. This time, because of this outrageous rule.

Derek didn’t understand why. Why fix something that isn’t broken? Parties formed with people all over the world? What’s wrong with that? Everybody was human anyway? What’s so bad about that?

Why make this outrageous restriction all of a sudden? Why make it difficult for parties to excel? Why must they do something like this out of nowhere?

Derek wasn’t alone in this. Pretty much everybody with a functioning brain would question this abrupt change regardless of whether they’re directly affected or not.

The news was made public after all.

They couldn’t even blame Sir Justin for this, because the man was also fuming and caught completely off-guard by this sudden reveal.

The Green Tea Party wasn’t the only party he’s managing. He handles five parties in total. Derek once met the other parties, and he could distinctly recall them saying that they too have other members from other cities.

This means that pretty much every party that Sir Justin handles was affected by this new rule, this new law. And he was, no doubt, raging over it. And unfortunately for him, there’s nothing he could do about it. His voice wouldn’t be heard since it’s the leaders themselves that made this decision.

"Can’t you just, like, move to Q-City? It’ll be troublesome to find another teammate as good as you," Jen groaned as she spoke. She sounded whiny for some reason but too exhausted to complain.

"I mean, I could, but...I don’t think that’s how it works," Ren smiled wryly. "Moving here won’t count me as born and raised in Q-City, so even if I did move here, I still wouldn’t be able to be with you guys."

"Man, that sucks." Jen sank further into the couch, staring blindly at the ceiling, unable to think of a solution.

She wouldn’t say it out loud, but she had long accepted Ren as one of them. She never forgets about Travis, of course, but even he would feel the same, that she’s sure about.

Jen realized how much they lucked out when Ren joined them, and she sincerely doubts that they’d find another member as good as him.

She wasn’t alone in this. Everybody in this party, even Sir Justin himself, could say the same. Hell, even the ones that Ren would join in the future would say the same about him.

So this new law really hurts, because it’s back to square one for them.

They could complain here all day long; they could join the protests and the riots to oppose this new law, but that won’t change a thing. Ren would still have to return to Central City, and the Green Tea Party would have to find another member to continue onwards.

The new law was already passed and in effect. The riots and the protest won’t do anything to change that. Not unless the martial gods themselves step forward to challenge it. But given that both the GMU and the Imperial Court agreed to pass this law, anybody could tell that the Martial Gods were in this as well.

Ren felt bad. He really does. But he saw this coming. Somehow, though, that makes it worse.

This was one of the turning points of this story. One thing that has been discussed so casually in the novel had a lasting impact on human civilization.

Actually, this could’ve been worse. So much worse. And it was supposed to be so much worse.

The cult’s schemes would’ve forced the Martial Gods’ hand.

They would’ve captured cities at this point in time, creating strongholds and danger zones within human territory. The operations of the cult would be more active because of how many spies they have planted with how much time and opportunities they have.

This would’ve created so much distrust and conflict against people. So much so that both the GMU and the Imperial Court would agree to impose this new law to contain the damage.

In the story, there were more people who were more accepting of this arrangement. After so many deaths, betrayals, and pain, they would think that this option was definitely better.

But Ren exposing the cult’s schemes eliminated their biggest threat. The deaths of tens of thousands of people, in addition to preventing any more accidents stemming from that one event, were prevented.

He wasn’t able to eliminate every scheme they had. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t. He doesn’t even know half of it. He just knew the ones that the author felt important enough to mention in the story, and it was said there that there were more than that.

And all of that was made with Terrence Brian Patterson—the successor to the cult’s pope—at the lead.

But even though Ren exposed him, the Martial Gods themselves were still forced to use drastic measures. This law was still passed, and Ren could guess why.

Because even though the main threat has been contained for now, the schemes’ cult and their contamination have already spread pre-emptively.

The Dungeon Gates had been compromised. And so was the Archstone Plaza.

Since they seized Terrence and learned all he knew, they would’ve learned this too. But even if they knew, it was already too late. The schemes of the cult had taken effect already.

Soon, the results of their actions will begin to emerge, causing more chaos and panic in civilization.

This is why, even with Ren’s interference, the leaders still have to resort to drastic measures. They didn’t want to do this, either. But it’s the best way for them to contain any further damages.

And all of this was just the start...

The cult is aware of humanity’s peril. The one behind the cult’s foundation times his schemes perfectly. He knew that humanity would soon face more difficulties because of their precarious position, and he used this time to start making his presence known to gain the best results he could ever hope for.

This is just the beginning of humanity’s descent to real danger. A preview, if you will. Yet it’s already this bad.

And this is precisely why Ren had been working so hard. This is why he never missed a day of his training, why he had been diligent ever since.

But it’s not all bad.

As they said, opportunities and danger were pretty much both sides of the same coin.

For Ren, this is also the best time for his rise.

And so, even though he feels bad about it, he also couldn’t miss this chance.