Chapter 76: The Dinner Of The Pillars [1]
Liliana shifted into the seat beside Carl and glanced at the other two beside Klaus.
As her eyes fell on Carl, she frowned and mumbled in her head, ’A kid?’
At that moment, Carl raised his head and looked at her.
Their eyes met for a brief second, and then Carl asked in a flat tone, "You are Liliana Palmer, right?"
Hearing her name didn’t make her feel odd because she was pretty famous because of her work.
But what he said next did.
"You are twenty-eight, you work for Global Summit News, you graduated from Briscon High, you were awarded Mark of Excellence by the university, you have a monthly salary of 250,000 dollars. Was I wrong about anything?"
Liliana’s jaw fell open, and she stared at him with an extremely shocked expression.
A few seconds later, she asked, "How... How do you know that?"
Carl returned to his laptop and said, "I just checked it."
Liliana fell speechless, and her gaze shifted to Klaus, who was looking at Carl with a proud smile on his face.
’What kind of monsters did I join?’ She asked herself, feeling slightly scared.
However, before she could calm down, the door to the room opened, and an old man walked in.
Although he looked old, he actually wasn’t.
He was Trenton Schwartz, who had donned a dark green suit over a blue shirt. His hair was slicked back, making it look fuller than it actually was, and a bright smile stretched across his face.
The moment he entered, his gaze fell on the four figures, and he said awkwardly, "Ah... I was sure that I would be the first to arrive."
Then he bowed deeply to Klaus and said, "It is my great pleasure to have dinner with you, Mr. Maker."
Unlike the others, Trenton had been deeply scarred by his past, making him almost fanatical toward the only person who had given him hope.
Klaus smiled at him and pointed his open hand at the chair beside Martin and said, "It is your pleasure, Trenton Schwartz. Take the seat."
Trenton nodded and glanced at the others as he walked to his seat.
Lillian’s eyes glistened in recognition, and she remarked inwardly, ’Trenton Schwartz from Hephaestus Technology and Powers... He looks much healthier than the images.’
After Flinn was caught, she had secretly checked on Trenton and found out that he had returned to his old self and had started to earn his influence back.
And to think all of that was happening due to a single person, she couldn’t help but shiver.
Trenton stared at Klaus with a faint smile, seemingly uninterested in others.
Feeling his gaze, Klaus remarked inwardly, ’Why is he staring at me?! They probably already think that he is gay.’
To prove his thoughts right, Martin was glancing at him with a peculiar, amused look on his face.
For a few seconds, silence filled the dining room, and then the door opened once again.
Clyde strode into the room with his usual prideful expression, but it changed as soon as his gaze fell on Liliana.
’So Liliana Palmer is one of the people under Mr. Maker?’
He knew her because of her anchoring.
He gazed at Klaus and bowed down. Then Klaus appointed him to the chair beside Trenton.
"Thank you for inviting me," Clyde said as he walked to his chair, sat on it, and looked at others with an impassive expression.
Liliana was the only person that he knew there.
As his gaze fell on Carl, he frowned because the teenager was looking at him with a narrowed gaze.
"Is something wrong?" Clyde asked.
Carl slightly leaned forward and asked in a low voice, "How did you not find those leakers? They were one of the stupidest ones that I have seen."
Clyde’s frown deepened. "How do you know..."
Before he could finish, a thought appeared in his head, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"It can’t be," he mumbled under his breath.
The door opened once again, and everyone turned their gaze toward it.
The sound of steps echoed as the remaining two of the seven pillars walked into the silent room with faint smiles on their faces.
Marcel first glanced at the others while Erick looked straight at Klaus and waved at him. "It’s good to see you again."
Right on tune, Marcel placed a hand on his heart and said, "It’s an honor to join you for dinner, Mr. Maker."
Klaus nodded and said, "Take your seats."
Marcel and Erick nodded, and the latter looked at the two chairs in confusion before the former pointed at the one on the left and said, "That is yours."
Erick looked at Marcel with an irritated look and asked, "How do you know that?"
"That’s the only pattern that makes sense," Marcel responded as he walked to his seat.
Seeing their small conversation, everyone frowned or furrowed their brows, and suddenly Marcel muttered, "I didn’t know you would surprise me so soon, Mr. Maker."
Klaus frowned, unable to understand the meaning behind his words.
Marcel’s gaze shifted to Carl, and he said while pointing at him with a wide, excited smile, "In this whole building, that teenager is the only person that I know nothing about... Where did you come from, little one?"
Everyone in the room fell silent and stared at Marcel as though they were looking at someone who was trying to sound more dangerous than he actually was.
Klaus, Martin, and Carl, on the other hand, were shocked by his statement.
After all, a person named Carl Snitzer didn’t exist in any of the records.
Carl stared at him with a serious expression before saying, "Marcel Levy. Detective at Mentina Investigation Firm. Born in Sydney on March 27, 1987. You have completed every case you’ve taken without failure. You have connections within the government and the underworld. You once killed a man because you believed the justice system wouldn’t be enough."
Marcel blinked. For the first time since entering the room, his smile disappeared.
Carl leaned back in his chair.
"As for me..."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I am from the Seventh Continent."
Marcel stayed silent for a while, and then his eyes lit up. "Antarctica, huh..."