The council room fell into complete silence as they all looked at Eric.

Their eyes couldn’t leave the folder resting in front of him.

’How did he get this information? I had my secretary clear out all the documents.’ Bathilda thought to herself, a deep frown spreading across her face..

’It’s impossible... He’s bluffing.’ Martin thought, his sharp gaze fixed on the file as his pulse quickened.

’Interesting’ Larry thought as he brought his legs down, a smile cutting across his face as he glanced toward Martin.

"Well it’s not a surprise your name was in the list, I mean, you’ve been the most worried about the meeting. It’d be a shame if your name wasn’t there"

"Shut up Larry, this is a serious situation. The association might be trying to frame us for all we know!" Bathilda shot at him.

"My name doesn’t seem to be there, so I don’t think so" Larry shot back with a casual shrug.

Bathilda gritted her teeth, her glare sharp enough to cut through steel, but Larry only stared back with a persuasive smile on his face.

"Bathilda, please don’t waste your time speaking to him. You should know Larry has a childish streak." Martin shifted his gaze back to Eric.

"Please Sir Eric, continue. What proof do you have? Mind you, if this turns out to be an attempt to ruin my reputation, the Association will pay dearly for it" Martin said his gaze locking with Eric’s as he sat on the other side calmly.

Eric grinned. Seeing the council’s reaction was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

’I’d have to thank Phantom again for giving me this opportunity!’

Eric took a deep breath, his expression hardening as he turned his gaze back to the file. Eric pulled a single document from the folder.

"No. 17 Ashcroft Crescent, West Kevenhoff District, Kevenhoff City."

He looked up.

"Does that address sound familiar?"

’How does he know that address?’ The thought resonated in both their minds as they watched Eric, beads of sweat rolling down their faces, but still...

"Why would I know a random address? Enough with this already" Martin scoffed.

"The house was purchased under an alias owned by your company."

"The purchase date is listed here."

"The signatures match your board approval." Eric said pushing the document to the center of the table.

"As for you, Councillor Bathilda" he turned a sharp gaze at her.

"Your company imported experimental equipment from overseas after being denied authorization domestically."

"Those facilities have already been recovered and were found within this same building where the experiment was being held" He slid another document to the center of the table.

Bathilda’s gaze followed the document, her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

But it wasn’t over, not yet.

Eric continued, calling up two more councillors who were also involved, indirectly. Funding these experiments and supplying human test subjects.

’Impossible, I made sure to keep all this away! No one should’ve known, these transactions weren’t even recorded in the company’s system!’ Martin’s lips quivered in shock as Eric continued to read on.

Bathilda’s arrogance had completely melted into fear as she stared petrified, almost as though she’d become a living statue.

Colour drained from her face.

In that moment, both Martin and Bathilda realized how they’d been fooling themselves, from the start Eric already had all the information.

And even more than they’d expected.

The meeting room doors swung open as several agents dressed in black suits marched into the room,

"Councillor Martin..."

"Councillor Bathilda... and the two of you as well." Eric’s cold gaze swept across the councillors.

"You are under arrest." His voice echoed with a cold finality as the men walked up to the Councilors, lifting them up with seamless ease as they walked out of the room.

"It was Ronald! He was the one who put me up to it! I didn’t want to do anything!" Bathilda’s voice rang as she cried desperately, tears ruining her expensive make up.

"Let go of me! Eric this isn’t the best choice! You better rethink your actions! Don’t do this!" Martin’s voice echoed.

"You won’t have to worry about me, you’ll spend a really long time behind bars" Eric said with a chuckle as they carried them out of the room, Martin’s eyes wide with disbelief and shock.

Eric released a long breath as he stared at the two who were still left in the room.

’Now there’s only two Councilors left,’

Leaning casually on his chair, Larry stared at the scene as they carried the others.

"They really went extreme with all of that, it’s a good thing you caught them though. At least now I won’t get to hear those old brats anymore" Larry said with a laugh shifting his gaze back to Eric.

"Well I’ll be taking my leave manager Eric, do well to keep me updated on the new changes..." Larry stood closing the comic book he was with, tossed it on the table and slid his hands into his pocket as he walked away.

Right outside the door his eyes lit up as he saw a familiar figure, "Phantom!" His eyes lit up in sparkles as he saw Nicholas, "I’m a really big fan!"

~Riiing~

His phone rang calling his attention he quickly picked the call and talked a bit with the person on the phone.

"My goodness! I’ll be there right away!" He yelled as he turned his gaze back to Nicholas.

"I would’ve loved to talk with you but It’s a shame I have some office work to do. So maybe next time. Great job though." he said as he dashed past Nicholas who hadn’t spoken since their encounter.

Nicholas watched his figure as he faded into the hallway in a haste.

The other councillor left the room, glancing at Nicholas for a moment before leaving.

"Thank you for the information. It’s a surprise you decided to take it up yourself. I understand that you are only looking out for your siblings but I already told you there’s nothing to worry about. They definitely won’t try that again" Eric said as he walked up to Nicholas.

"You can’t say for certain. With everything the council has done. I don’t think adopting a kid was a crime to them"

"Well you’re not wrong, I knew they did some sketchy stuff but even I didn’t know they went that far" Eric said with an awkward smile.

"Now there’s only two of them left to deal with" Nicholas muttered glancing at the direction Larry bolted off from.

"Oh my, seems Ronald made you have a grudge on all members of the council" Dana said with a chuckle.

Nicholas glanced back at her, "I have a feeling there’s even someone worse than Ronald amongst them"

Dana let out a dry chuckle.

"You’re probably just overthinking it. The council won’t do anything stupid for now and those two can’t really do much without the backing of the others. As things are, the association can now pass laws more easily without much restrictions, the government will probably try to do some restructuring but it’ll be fine"

"Yes it’ll all be fine, you should relax a bit Phantom." Eric said supporting Dana, "That makes me wonder, I never asked how you gathered all this information." Eric asked with a chuckle.

"I asked their secretaries politely" Nicholas replied bluntly.

Eric’s laughter collapsed into an awkward one, ’I will have Dana check on the secretaries later’ he thought with a wry smile.

The warmth left his face as he looked at Nicholas, "That said, there’s something really important I would love to discuss with you. If you don’t mind"