The holographic screen showed all of the families' misdeeds one by one. Not even the neutral families were exempt from it, as all their records that showed their crimes, which they had tried so hard to ignore, were being revealed one by one.

They were utterly terror-stricken. How was it possible for him to recover these records?

They had made sure to erase them from all the databases, yet they had resurfaced again.

"Most of you are pretty impressive." Grey spoke as he gazed at the holographic screen with a faint smile. "To be able to do all these things and go unnoticed shows your experience in doing dirty work without being found out."

Both Valeria and Werner, who stood behind him, wore surprised expressions.

They had not expected this.

There were even records of the people from Ashspire City. All of them had committed something bad one way or another, and it was not just ordinary crimes. The list ranged from large-scale business fraud to human trafficking, and even darker things buried beneath sealed documents.

Valeria gazed at the Moltenfang family head and the Sunstride family head with a cold expression.

They were undeniably the ones who had been doing human trafficking all this while.

"Brother Grey." Valeria spoke with cold eyes. "I believe we should completely eliminate this Moltenfang family and the Sunstride family."

Grey shook his head. "Wait until you see what the Frostpetal family has been doing."

He snapped his fingers again and the holographic screen flickered. Soon, the crimes related to the Frostpetal family surfaced, and their faces became even darker when they saw it.

"Frostpetal family is known for their industrial business, and in Silverguard City, they have plenty of these industrial plantations."

"But because of these industrial plants, the AQI scale in Sector Five, Sector Three and Sector Six is very high. Especially near the industries, the air quality index there is almost at deadly levels, and because of that, the majority of the ordinary civilians who live there suffer from all sorts of diseases and even die a lot. In fact, in the entirety of the three provinces, the highest death rate is in Silverguard City."

"Not to mention, the waste coming from the industries is pushed straight into the river that flows through Silverguard City, which is connected directly to the outer ring and to the entirety of the city itself. The majority of the civilians cannot gain access to purified water or a built-in water purifier. It is simply too expensive for them to buy."

"As for why they cannot buy it? Let us not go there." Grey's gaze swept across the other family heads, his voice carrying a cold weight.

What the citizens did not know was that every single water purifier in Silverguard City was manufactured by the Frostpetal family. They used advanced technological components, then deliberately inflated the prices. How? By first creating the problem in the first place. The sudden drop in water quality, the near-toxic contamination, the so-called unavoidable environmental decline, all of it was orchestrated by them.

They caused the crisis, then sold the cure.

Naturally, the profits were unimaginable. Ordinary civilians were forced to scrape together every coin just to drink safe water, and many could not afford it at all.

In truth, none of this was a mistake. None of it was accidental. Every move the Frostpetal family made was intentional, calculated, and malicious.

In the process, millions suffered and thousands died.

Yet what mattered to them in the end was profit.

Sure, they were making a lot of profit for the city, but in the end, it was profit built over the bodies of millions. Grey did not want that.

"And now that you have some insight into what the Frostpetal family has been doing, they are no longer needed in the Ascension Province. Henceforth, each and every family member of the Frostpetal family will be branded as criminals, and the family head of the family will now be ruled for execution." Grey's voice was indifferent, but it sent a wave of terror across everyone's face.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing could escape from him.

How was this possible? He had only become a city lord a day ago. How did he manage to obtain all this information so fast? Even the brightest mind or a byteripper following the cyborg evolutionary path would not be capable of pulling out these documents.

What they did not know, however, was that everything within the internet left a trace. For Grey, recovering it required only a mere thought, because the information layer had it all.

"You bastard!" The Frostpetal family head exploded, his face turning blue and green from rage. "You cannot do this! Just you wait, our media corporation is already moving! Once the reports are out, your reputation will be in shambles! Just you wait!"

Despite his furious outburst, everyone present could see the panic flickering in his eyes. As a long-time schemer, he already knew he had lost the negotiation the moment the evidence surfaced. There was no room left to bargain and no angle left to exploit.

But a cornered rat bites.

Realizing he no longer held any power, instinct took over. He began threatening Grey, clinging to the only weapon he had ever relied on: media manipulation.

"The media?" Grey burst out laughing when he heard this.

The Frostpetal family head flinched. The tone alone was enough to tell him something was wrong. Despite his earlier bluster, a chilling doubt crept up his spine. With trembling hands, he quickly opened his wrist communicator to check.

A small holographic projection emerged from it, and immediately his expression turned ghastly.

"This... this...?" He was stunned beyond words.

He looked closely. The White Buzzbeat Media, the media corporation under him, had published an article, but the article was not about Grey. It was an article on the Moltenfang family, Frostpetal family, and Sunstride family.

It detailed everything they had done so far, from the Frostpetal family's industrial movements to the other two families' human trafficking business.

The article was currently trending, and that was because Grey, who was connected to the main network, pushed it to the very front, making sure everyone saw it.

....

Across the Ascension Province, the moment the article hit the front page, chaos erupted. Citizens flooded the streets with cries of disbelief and outrage as the truth behind the three families spread like wildfire. Social platforms, public forums, and even live broadcast channels were overwhelmed by heated arguments, furious condemnations, and desperate messages from victims.

Countless civilians trembled in anger as they finally understood why their children fell sick, why clean water was a luxury in Silverguard city, and why people vanished without explanation. Hate surged toward the Moltenfang, Sunstride, and Frostpetal families, and countless voices demanded immediate punishment. Even evolvers who once remained silent now stepped forward, swearing that justice must be served.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.