Gardner Martin's butler, Faustino, took Lumian into the room and did not leave. Instead, he opened his arms and said with a smile, "Welcome, new brother."
"You are also a member of the Iron Cross." Lumian was a little surprised at first, but then he took it for granted.
The butler is the eyes, ears, and hands and feet of the master. It is unlikely that many of Gardner Martin's secrets can be hidden from the butler, so either he develops the butler into a member of the Iron Cross, or he finds a member of the Iron Cross to be the butler.
Lumian's eyes swept over Faustino's slightly graying temples, relatively sunken eye sockets and light blue eyes, and he returned the hug and said, "Thank you."
Faustino, who had a more serious temperament and was dressed close to the butler, walked to the dining table, pulled out a chair on the west side, and said to Lumian, "Sit here."
Lumian nodded slightly and sat down in a relaxed state, as if he was back home.
Of course, thanks to Aurore's teaching, he no longer had the habit of lifting his legs, crossing his feet, and placing them on the edge of the dining table.
Faustino sat down next to Lumian, and Janna explained, "A few more brothers will be here soon."
A quarter of an hour later, the remaining members of the Iron Cross arrived. After Faustino's introduction, Lumian hugged them one by one.
They are: Vincent Lorraine, who represents Gardner Martin in the operation of Lister Wharf. He is less than 30 years old and does not wear glasses. He has the black hair and blue eyes common in Intis. He has a gentle appearance, a thin figure, and his hair is neatly combed back. He is not much different from an ordinary company employee.
Lumian intuitively felt that he was not a Beyonder of the Hunter Path, and was a little confused about this. How did he pass the Night Watch stage
Parsifal, who helps Gardner Martin manage the yard and freight company, looks like an ordinary middle-aged man with brown hair that is neither long nor short and slightly messy. When his brown eyes are smiling, he looks quite friendly. But when they are emotionless, he looks very cold and makes people dare not approach him.
Albus, who was not in charge of any specific affairs and seemed to be walking in the dark, had hair that seemed to be dyed a little red, and his brown eyebrows and eyes were extremely sharp. Overall, he was a good-looking young man, but he seemed unlikable.
There was another person who was Lumian's acquaintance, Bloody Palm Black of the Savoy Party. This manager of the Honest Market was in his thirties, dressed in formal clothes, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a round face. He always had a warm smile on his face and always smoked a cigar at a leisurely pace.
Lumian had always suspected that there was an official member of the Iron Cross within the Sava Party, representing the will of Gardner Martin and secretly monitoring the various movements of the market area and the Sava Party. However, he did not expect that it was the Blood Hand Black, who had a very weak presence.
He had thought it was Baron Brinell or the mouse Christo.
He felt that the latter might have played the role of observer in the last transaction. Now looking at Blake again, Lumian felt that he had a temperament quite similar to Gardner Martin.
Including Faustino and himself, the number of members of the Iron Cross present had reached six.
Lumian used to always complain about the Savoy Party, thinking that it was too much for such a regional gang to have five or six Beyonders. But now, he took it for granted.
As a secret organization with a history of two or three hundred years, it is normal for the Iron Blood Cross to have such a foundation. Even if it is just its peripheral branch, it will enjoy a lot of resources.
After exchanging pleasantries, butler Faustino introduced the items on the table to Lumian.
"In the following ceremony, the wine glasses are our weapons, which can also be regarded as cannons. Red wine is ordinary explosives, white wine is powerful explosives, food is materials, and knives and forks are swords."
Lumian listened quietly. The more he listened, the more he felt that there might be something wrong with these people's brains. They were too self-conscious.
Or perhaps there was some mystical meaning to this. When Faustino finished speaking, Gardner Martin, who had changed into a tuxedo, walked into the room.
He wore an Iron Cross medal inlaid with a red gem on his chest and stood on the east side of the long dining table, facing the six members sitting on the west side.
In a flash, the five members except Lumian stood up at the same time, very orderly.
“Yo,” Lumian said to himself as he stood up.
"Good evening, sir." Faustino, Blake and others bowed and greeted him one after another, but Lumian was a little slow.
Gardner Martin pressed his right hand down, motioning for everyone to sit down, and then said with a smile: "We will officially start the ceremony after the supervisor arrives. Charles, let me first tell you what the core layer you are about to join represents."
Gardner Martin looked into Lumian's eyes, his tone gradually becoming serious: "We all belong to a secret organization, a secret organization with hundreds of years of history. It is called the Iron Cross."
Lumian did not deliberately show surprise or astonishment. After all, it was a relatively ordinary-sounding name.
The dark red-haired young man sitting at the edge of the dining table opened his mouth without thinking, as if he wanted to say something, but was glared back by Gardner Martin.
The leader of the Iron Cross turned his gaze back to Lumian's face. "Nearly three hundred years ago, several great men jointly established the Iron Cross. They believed that gods were just more powerful Beyonders, and no matter how you look at it, even the weakest Beyonders are fundamentally different from ordinary people. Our philosophy is that no matter how you gain Beyonder powers, you should be recognized and given corresponding status and treatment, superior to ordinary people. However, the two major churches and the government are only willing to recognize the Beyonders they have cultivated, and stipulate that Beyonder powers should not be exposed to ordinary people as much as possible."
"This is an act that goes against nature and the trend of history. We must change it. This also means that we will have to go to war with the government and the two major churches. But you don't have to be afraid. We are powerful enough and have a true fighting god."
"In the future, if the two major churches are willing to allow extraordinary people to appear in the world and are willing to recognize the status of wild extraordinary people, we can cooperate with them. Simply put, the ultimate goal is to overthrow the government and establish a country where extraordinary people serve as managers at all levels."
Lumian interpreted Gardner Martin's words from his own perspective.
Gardner Martin glanced at the six Iron Cross members sitting opposite him and smiled again: "The power of our Iron Cross is mainly concentrated in Intis, and more than one-third of it is in Trier. As you can see, we have so many powerful and not weak brothers in the market area alone, and there are even more Beyonders under our control indirectly."
“I am the commander, responsible for leading you and handling all matters in the market area. Above me, there are several branch presidents, who can also be called deputy legion commanders. Each of them is a true and powerful demigod.
"Above the branch president is the general president of our Iron Blood Cross, also known as the legion commander. He is mysterious and terrifying."
"Under me are the non-commissioned officers. When our brothers in the market area exceed ten, I will appoint two non-commissioned officers to help me manage. The non-commissioned officers will be able to obtain more resources and more powerful help."
Is this a military game? Lumian started to guess based on the names of the different levels of the Iron Cross.
Gardner Martin glanced at the door and said, "In addition to these, we also have supervisors. Each supervisor acts independently and patrols the jurisdiction of different supervisors."
"From now on, if I have any problems or behave abnormally, you must find the supervisor immediately and report the situation to him. Similarly, if you find that the supervisor has done anything abnormal, tell me immediately."
At this point, Gardner Martin said to Lumian with a slightly playful smile, "Char, let me introduce you to Olson, the supervisor in charge of the market area."
Lumian followed Gardner Martin's finger with a little doubt and looked towards the door.
The next second, a tall and thin man wearing a blue vest and black suit walked in.
The man had short brown hair, brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and a thick and messy beard, like a very hungry male bear.
Lumian's eyes instantly widened and he recognized the supervisor. Who on earth is Olsen
He was the trader who met Lumian, Christo and Simon underground.
Lumian clearly remembered that he was a monster, with only his head and a bloody spine left, and he was being chased by another headless monster, both of which were very dangerous. But now, he had come to the ground and appeared in Gardner Martin's home.
Lumian couldn't help but look at Olsen's hands, seeing the pale skin and the small suitcase he was carrying. Did he have a body again? Did he merge with the headless monster
Lumian looked at Olsen with mixed thoughts and walked to Gardner Martin's side.
He began to suspect that the two monsters he met when he completed the transaction were phantoms created by Olsen, and there was nothing abnormal about him himself.
Since the transaction is a test, the monster is fake and it is not worth being too surprised, but it is too real.
Lumian looked at Gardner Martin and Olsen suspiciously as they each took a goblet and said to everyone present, "Load the explosives."
Albus, Parsifal and other members of the Iron Cross placed a goblet in front of them and poured attractive red wine into it.
This is how you load the explosives? Lumian remembered Faustino saying that the wine glass was the weapon or the cannon, and the wine was the explosives.
When he had loaded the cannon with explosives, Gardner Martin called out, "Stand up and hold your weapon in your right hand."
The next second, everyone stood up and placed their right hands on the goblets filled with red wine.
"Arms up." Gardner Martin gave a new order.
At the same time, he raised the glass to his chest.
Lumian clicked his tongue in amazement while imitating the actions of the people around him.