North American detective: From scoundrel to god among men

Chapter 80 High Table Showdown

"childish!"

"You think taking me away will make the High Table work for you?"

"After you take me under your wing, the High Table and the tribes will elect another elder. The High Table cannot be without an elder, but an elder is just a position, not a person."

Titus couldn't help but chuckle and replied:

"To put it bluntly, you're just a figurehead as an elder. The twelve families still hold real power at the High Table."

The elder opened his eyes with displeasure and saw Titus grinning smugly.

"Do you wish to reclaim your former power? — The elders hold supreme authority over the High Table."

"The elders at the high table in the far east seem to have divine right of kings, but you have granted too many fiefdoms. It is time to reduce their power, elders."

The elder shook his head and said:

"That's impossible. You think one person can change rules that have been in place for over a thousand years?"

"Once you take me away, a new elder will appear immediately, and your duel agreement will become invalid before it is even presented at the High Table."

Titus waved his hand and said:

"No, no, you're mistaken!"

"My duel treaty will not lose its validity, because its validity is not granted by the elders at all."

"It doesn't matter who the elder is—as long as he meets the damn rules and is an Assassin, that's all that matters."

"The effectiveness of this treaty lies in its inherent opportunity, and I am certain that once it is presented at the High Table, its effectiveness will be amplified tenfold, a hundredfold, or even countless times!"

The elder looked at Titus with surprise, his questioning gaze seeming to seek an explanation.

Titus slowly said:

"So, Elder, you've been in the upper echelons for too long and don't understand the world of assassins at the bottom—"

"A gold coin worth a million dollars, used to buy a life or a bottle of whiskey for a single service—don't you find that ridiculous?"

"The High Table has strict rules, including elders, twelve seats, marquises, judges, messengers, hotel managers, and so on."

"You are delusional to think you can control a group of assassins with a strict hierarchy, but you have forgotten the nature of assassins as people who live on the edge and are driven by profit."

Titus chuckled and continued, patting the elder's shoulder lightly.

"And you've gone too far. You think you can dominate the global assassin world just by setting up a hotel?"

"The hotel manager has a high degree of autonomy, is allowed to have a private army, and can even be someone who isn't a member of one of the twelve families, tsk tsk tsk..."

"They think they can use a few adjudicators to intimidate the entire assassin world? Don't they want to find a way to reform this? Are the people of the Twelve Families brainless?"

"That's incredibly unprofessional!"

(In the original story, the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York joined forces with John to rebel against the High Table, forcing the High Table to send an adjudicator to negotiate.)

Seeing the elder's increasingly grim expression, Titus changed the subject and continued:

"But it is precisely your lack of professionalism that indirectly caused this showdown agreement to have real effect—it is an opportunity to change the High Table, and the High Table needs to change."

"The duel treaty was initiated by me, the one who tainted the blood pact. Once the treaty is approved at the High Table Conference, the conservatives will have already lost even without me winning the duel..."

Titus looked at the endless yellow sand and questioned:

"Elder, you don't actually think the twelve families of the High Table are a monolithic entity, do you? Who wouldn't want to use this confrontation treaty as an opportunity to change something, to gain something?"

"Take my opponent, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, for example. He belongs to a French assassination organization, but his Gramont family is not listed among the Twelve High Table Families."

"Mr. Vincent has risen to the rank of Marquis. Above him are the twelve seats of the twelve families and the elders. As soon as John and I were wanted, he immediately took it upon himself to take down my adjudicator."

"Do you think he's just trying to impress the Camorra family behind him... or does he and his family want to take another step up the ladder and challenge one of the twelve families?"

"Furthermore, the Russian Camorra family stands behind him—the Camorra family is already among the twelve great families. Do you think that his secret support for Mr. Vincent, bringing him to his side, and the Marquis might be subtly exerting pressure on the other families?"

"Twelve families, twelve countries, one high table—are they truly evenly matched, checking and balancing each other?"

"Elders, why don't you guess who the true elders at this high table are? How many families will cling to this duel agreement? And how many families will use this duel agreement to their advantage?"

"The wheels of history keep turning, elder."

The elder glared at him angrily, but after a long while, he couldn't utter a single word. Then, a cloud of yellow sand swept over the two of them.

……

The next day, Titus and his companion took the elder back to New York, where they placed him in the basement beneath John's villa.

A treaty of the High Table, personally signed by Pharaoh and assisted by Titus, was delivered by a special messenger to the High Table headquarters' reception room.

After the treaty was sent out, Titus and John found that the number of people trying to assassinate them was decreasing.

For several days in a row, no one attempted assassination, which made Titus somewhat unaccustomed to the life of not being ambushed in the middle of the night.

John told Titans that his old friend Winston, the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York, had told him that the duel agreement they had issued had caused a bloodbath throughout the underground assassin world!

This is the fundamental reason why, despite being the most wanted individuals at the High Table, the two men, Titus and his companion, found themselves in the predicament of having no one to assassinate them—all twelve families were secretly exerting influence over that treaty!

Some wanted it to be safely delivered to headquarters, while others were desperate to stop its journey.

This ancient treaty of confrontation, from New York to the High Table headquarters and administrative center in Paris, spanned approximately 5830 km across the North Atlantic.

Countless assassins died along this 5830km journey. The treaty had long been snatched from the messenger by one assassin, only to be snatched back by another, and so on.

If the special envoy was also an assassin, or if the treaty was destroyed en route, and a vengeful family created another treaty, Titus would not be surprised at all.

One morning, he woke up to find that the elder's seal in the living room was missing, and the thief had professionally avoided disturbing Titus and his companion.

In the technologically advanced 21st century, why didn't he choose to scan a PDF and send it to headquarters?

The reason is simple: the elders' seals can be forged, but the materials used to make them confidential are kept secret, while headquarters has the corresponding materials to verify their authenticity.

But since the Elder's Seal was lost, it seems that Titus has seen anonymous users auctioning that thing on the Hunter's website.

About a week after Titus left the desert, the twelve families convened an opening meeting in the name of blood pacts and the old and new covenants!

The entire underground assassin world was plunged into chaos and anxious waiting!

On the morning of the third day, "Killer Secrets" was printed with this eye-catching headline:

"The Yakuza have launched a high-table duel against Marquis Vincent de Gramont, and the 'Number One Yakuza' they've sent is none other than the resurrected Undertaker!"

"The treaty of confrontation was jointly adopted by the elders and the High Table Council!"