13 Founding Clans (5)
12.- Tarn Clan. Ruling over the All-Healing Region, located at the central-South of New Earth, with their capital being that of the Care and Worry City. It is the Founding Clan with the most quantity of medics of all kinds from nurses all the way to researchers of new elixirs, serums, antidotes and whatnot; of New Earth. And that's only to showoff from when time are peaceful; last expedition into the unknown, the Tarn Clan made their services free for all those who could come back to the borders as, and as long as they came in at least 2 to 3 pieces, those who came back will be able to either go back into fighting with just a few dozen days of repose or just go back home from how heavy their injuries were.
There were no exceptions and every single person/soldier treated like so, from armies that could round to that of a few billions; to be able to take upon the task of treating every single life that came back from outside their borders was a feat impossibly achieved. The Tarns were proud, but not totally lost in pleasure. If it wasn't for their sudden change of 'attitude' a decade ago, they would still be in the road to self-destruction in the long run. Of course, the way how they were now, there were still remnants of the previous 'school' of thought from the Tarn Clan. There was also an obvious tension between different parties that anyone could notice with just a look.
Their Main Branch clan members total for around that of 250,000 and their Side Branch clan members around that of 7,000,000.
13.- Flick Clan. With everything out in the open, all of the populated territory/Regions of the human race were successfully taken by all 13 Founding Clans except for the true center of the human territory. That being said, the Flick Clan operates very differently and especially, compared to the rest of the Founding Clans.
The Flick Clan has no Region to oversee, as they instead are in but all of the Regions possible, extending their hand towards everywhere where a group of people would be. Be it a solitary village, a far away town or the very same capitals of each Region, the Flick Clan is there.
Their focus is towards that of... 'passion'.
That's right; whether it is contraceptives, lotions, toys and tools as well as 'experience' written in books, the Flick Clan was sure to be the very master of all these already known. But it was obviously not limited to that, if it were, they would only be a second-best organization at best.
They 'had' food that could easily take one's spirits high up and... very durable; for both parties even. This wasn't an aphrodisiac, which in fact, thanks to having some help from the Crestfallen Industry; they were prohibited completely. Not only that, but there were security measures for such thing that were implemented by the Jones Clan that would allow any machine itself that was installed all around the streets to 'smell' the aroma of such already known illegal 'products', even if it was more than a few kilometers away. That given the fact that were installed every 100-150 meters away from each other, well, they worked well.
Like that, there were many of such other type of illegal products; be it originated from the Flick Clan or others...
Lastly, they did had a certain peculiar occupation; managing what could easily be called 'hotel brothel', it even fits with their last few letters on their words...
They were owner of very tall and very wide of such 'hotels' in every side of the world. Bigger as it came closer and closer to the capitals of each Region, while smaller and with less workers as it came closer and closer to distanced civilization instead. All in all there was no unneeded drama, the family bonds among the Flick Clan was incredibly well-balanced while they also accepted all kinds of love that aren't detrimental for both parties to take place, just like the Sol Clan is so know for as well. It wasn't that they were the only ones, as the Founding Clans, to allow it but rather that they were actively encouraging people to not have uncalled for troubles and heartaches. Once again, only towards those that were not detrimental to both parties.
They do have a HQ, and that was located in the same city as the one where the Crestfallen Industry's HQ were located at, the Nascent Herb City.
Whether they were seen as companions, business partners or so; it was unimportant as the Flick Clan had an obvious indispensable spot in the hearts of even the upper echelons of the Founding Clans themselves!
With their Main Branch clan members rounding up to 100,000 and their Side Branch clan members roughly 6,000,000. They each have an important and notable position in the Flick Clan's entire business, not allowing outsiders to take the highest position for each building as a sign of confidence rather than arrogance and disdain though.
'Sigh, I really need a spy team, huh?' Tongqiu though as he drank up his hot cup of tea while placing it back on the plate where the little cute maid was holding a small plate once he was finished, following one of the old men who have stayed along with the rest of the masters to a table that was seemingly not affected by 'Master' Dethor's previous powerful screams.
When he went up to guide them to the table, he only gave Diana a doting smile before giving the trio his back before he started walking to the thick, crystal table.
A couple of black short-haired young maids with asian aesthetics came right as they started walking, giving each of them a couple of snack as well as a hot drink.
Once arrived at the table made of glass, Tongqiu helped Miss Yona sit down first with her seat being all the way to the right where the wall would be half a meter away from her with no further seats; Tongqiu sat on the center while Diana sat on the left, there were no other seats besides those three. It was the same on the other side of the roundabout table, with only three chairs on their side. It really seemed as if this was the original 'plan' to attend the meeting, as for why it was suddenly changed before they came here, Tongqiu didn't care. He only knew that there were also a lot of males that went closer towards Diana right as they entered the Main Hall and that he remembers each of their images.
Finally summarizing all of his inner thoughts on his head from the 13 Founding Clans' information he had redacted back then and compared to the one he had come across recently, Tongqiu then decisively thought for an instant before turning to look at who seemed to be the Eldest Brother of the three old farts in front of himself.
The old man that guided them here took some time to asses the situation of the 6 of themselves; he then took a little breath in as he then spoke: "Why don't we... start with the introductions? Heh heh, ahem, I'm the Elder and Master of the Tarn Clan; Tarn Glorius. Heh heh."
The old man had a true; genuine large smile on his face as he looked at their already kinda confirmed in-law as well as Miss Yona and Miss Diana.
"Oh, umhum. You all already heard my name from the nosy rats a while ago." Master -Tarn- Dethor who had previously raged out completely spoke next, he then thought for a moment before adding: "Speaking of rats, Little Diana, when did you suddenly became interested in one, hah?!"
Tongqiu: "..."
Rolling his eyes indiscernibly and exhaling a small puff of air, Tongqiu then intelligently chose to not talk while setting his gaze on the 'older' old man instead.
"Ah, Third Uncle... he's... he's my, ah..." Obviously embarrassed, Diana took her time to talk of their relationship and to defend his honor (!) in front of the only ones she deemed as family, Tarn Dethor didn't had much patience from seeing his Little Diana try her best at defending such a rat, prompting him to rant about a little louder: "But what?! Speak up darling! You are the student of we Tarn brothers, where is that strong and determined voice, huuuh?!"
"HE'S MY MAN!!" Diana first became slightly nervous listening to her third uncle, fleetingly darting her eyes between her uncles and Tongqiu over and over again; by the time Tarn Dethor finished his words, she couldn't hold anything else back as she screamed at the top of her lungs and with her eyes closed, what should come shall come.
Everyone: "..."
Tongqiu and Miss Yona: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง
"Ahem... all right, we... we are glad our Little Diana has finally found a man, but, is he really doa-" Without waiting for her oldest uncle to finish her sentence, Diana spoke out abruptly while also taking Tongqiu's left hand in her right one: "He is! He is more than that, lots more than that!"
At her last few words spoken, Tarn Dethor and the other old man smiled in tenderness seeing her all flustered and decisive towards a man, at last!!
"Cough, in any case, he should also prove himself with more than words, ay?" The oldest uncle talked again before directing his still emotionless and non expressive face towards Tongqiu, engaging in a silent bout of glances; after a few minutes he finally spoke his words: "And you? Why don't you speak. Afraid. Nervous. Speechless, or are you just dumb, kid?"
Diana made a pout, a very adorable one, at her oldest uncle's words while Miss Yona clenched her tender fists. Tongqiu took in Miss Yona's left hand with his right one just like Diana had done, he gained an adorable thin smile from Diana and a blushing glance from Miss Yona before directing his calm and indifferent glance at Diana's oldest uncle.
"No."
1...
2...
3...
4...
5...
6...
They waited, and waited... and waited. By the time they realized Tongqiu wasn't going to speak again, the old men were taken aback so suddenly before starting to yell profanities at Tongqiu.
"Fuck? Speak more you bastard!"
"That's right, what the hell do you intend to do if we don't let you have our Little Diana you scumbag of more than one woman?!"
"The young are too ungrateful and arrogant! We should send another table towards this one, see if it breaks his attitude as well, hmph!"
Tongqiu: "..."
After relishing on hearing Diana's giggles among the endless cursing from the three well-respected old men, Tongqiu then spoke out first before them: "You haven't even told me your name, oldy."
Oldest uncle: "..."
At the sound of Tongqiu's words, the three old masters went silent in schadenfreude before the 'younger' ones looked at each other before looking at the oldest among them.
"Cough, that's right. It was merely a test of observation skills, kid, you passed. Anyways, you may address me as Master Haotian or Elder Haotian. Hmph, only Little Diana can call me Grandpa or Eldest Uncle, you spineless coward!" Tarn Haotian then spoke out casually and quite dull, not giving a single trace of being ashamed of his wording which caused the two little ladies to laugh out a few good ones.
"Ahem, you may all leave." Tarn Haotian then spoke towards the rest of the masters of a seemingly 'lower level' that remained at the side, they all made respectful bows before calling out to Little Diana, she greeted them politely and a little warmly in return. After all, Diana had more than one master ever since she was a little Diana in reality, these three were probably her main teachers of the oh so knowledgeable medical Tarn Clan's teachings, while probably also from body tempering if taking into account what was seen previously. Even being an Specialist wasn't out of the question.
Thinking of that, Tongqiu gave the glass table another look. He realized earlier but ignored it, now however, he realized how incredible tough this table was. It could be considered a strong, durable and reinforced metal; if that wasn't enough to get someone to pee their pants at the though of being stomped under a thing like this, then the fact that it was at least 20 centimeters thick, as a table; was more than enough to become afraid of being even swung away by this 'glass table'.
Sweating a little, Tongqiu licked his upper lip in response to his thoughts as he also took a deep breath of air in with his chest raising a little bit.
Tarn Haotian couldn't let such an obvious opportunity go and as Tongqiu was still fearfully observing the table with his head lowered, he bent over his aged back a little before speaking to Tongqiu: "Fear a little now? Hmph! If you know what's best, you'll 'invest' ten million at the very la-"
"You were there a decade ago."
"!!!"
Everyone except Miss Yona became wholly shocked with their eyes opening wide with their eyeballs almost dancing out of their eye sockets. To talk about that decade, which was so taboo among the Founding Clans, this kid...
Unfortunately, Tongqiu didn't gave anyone there -not even the frightened Diana- time to respond as he continued: "You didn't do shit, Haotian, yet still talk up to me like I owe you. Yeah I know, I couldn't see you, but I can now."
Tongqiu's meaningful words made even the oldest among them, Tarn Haotian himself to become confused and taken off-guard entirely. Master Haotian had his eyes tremble every second with his face growing sweaty and darker, his attitude was no longer senile nor lackadaisical against Tongqiu, growing pitiful and shameful instead.
"I... I-I..." Tongqiu waved his hand off at him, cutting his already shaking words before speaking himself: "No, cut that off. I don't need that. I'm only asking for a little help here, as long as you know..."
Frighteningly clenching his fingers into a fist where the sound of old bones cracking could be heard, Tarn Haotian then proceeded to defeatedly relax his entire body which was now taking in the sensation of cold, sticky liquid all over his own body before speaking up in a quiet tone: "Alright, even if you want to extort money from us instead I would still agree only once."
"I don't need your money."
Tarn Haotian took a deep breath in and out deeply so as to avoid growing tenser than he already was before continuing: "Then what is it boy; I won't treat you too badly. The Tarn Clan agrees to whatever you have... but what you have, must be worth it for the Tarn Clan to consider. This will also result in how we treat our 'cooperation', understood?"
"Mn." Tongqiu's response was as simple as that, with not even a nod nor a close of his eyes in agreement.
At this moment, a few more little maids came to their table with one of them whispering onto Tarn Haotian's right ear before respectfully and even fearfully moving out of the Main Hall along the rest of the little maids.
Tarn Haotian looked at the three of them before turning his head to set his eyes on Little Diana, whom in return looked back at him in attendance, only then did he spoke: "You pa... sigh, your adoptive parents couldn't come back in time, they'll remain in the Iron Will Region for a few more days so they won't be attending this meeting. I already told them that they were either present or nonexistent at all! So, you don't have to worry."
Finishing saying that, he looked at Tongqiu who was now drinking up his rather cold drink, it was slightly tasty but more than anything; it was nice to drink up as Tongqiu felt his own throat relish in the type of drink that this was.
Tap!
Heavily placing the cup down from his mouth onto the table, Tongqiu cleared out his throat as he took in the slight disappointment in Diana's entire being with some sorry feelings for him even, which made him think that Diana was a bit too adorable for her to even care about her adoptive parents meeting her man.
"Naty and I have been researching something together, it was something that she's been working since she was a child, I think it was?" Tongqiu made a more than obvious pause here to blatantly glance at the old men's reactions, sure enough, they all became astounded and even gratified as they incredulously looked at Tongqiu in return, specially the oldest amongst them. Tongqiu then continued: "We've managed to accomplish what the Tarn Clan hasn't been able for dozens of years, naturally I want it to be patent of this product, yet I'll allow the Tarn Clan and other associates to take profit from helping us spread it all across the world. I do have to say, that it is only effective in an elementary degree, it can't reach that much of a powerful results... Yet."
Tongqiu then looked at the three of them as his left hand cutely caressed Diana's fingers and knuckles while his right hands intertwined fingers with Miss Yona's left hand, he then spoke out in an almost barking manner as he spouted the following words with volume: " Hmph~, we called it the 'All-Mending Misery', how's that? Hahaha."
Tongqiu's obvious mocking and derisive words jolted awake the three old men from their stupor and inadequate behavior. They composed themselves up before Tarn Glorius spoke for everyone in the room: "Have you really managed to? W-what, to what ends can it meet now? Is there room for upgrading or at least improving it a little?"
"Yup, we've only been working together for a month, of course we are way too below what is expected to reach in the future for as what results refer to. So, are you willing? You old farts." Tongqiu's first few words were already astounding and heart-stopping for these 'feeble' and 'fragile' old men, let alone when they were suddenly insulted without a care for etiquette. Still... they ate it all up like it was mandatory. Little Natalia wasn't able to do it herself for more than a decade but... She did with this exiled young man that was thrown to the trashcan like it was even disgusting to do so?
Holy fuck... we've made it big!! Way to go girls!
Or so, were the old master's thoughts at the blatant 'new era'-opening discovery they've just made for the Tarn, no, the entirety of humanity!
...
V2: #3 9/10
