Chapter 486

The music from the symphony was nice. It was really not Arthur's thing, but it was nice, and sometimes, when it got loud it was actually quite fun. There were multiple pieces being played at the start, meant to showcase some new arrangers, but he had to admit, for the most part, he tuned out the world and just thought about all the things he had to do, letting his brain pinball from thought to thought without any real direction.

It was almost meditative, but less focused. Useful, in a sense, but he was grateful when they had to get up and leave. Only for Casey to grab his arm, pulling him back into his chair so that they could have a private conversation in their little private balcony area. She jerked her head to the other side of the arena where Datuk Izzah and his wife sat, a plump, short woman who was happily chatting away with another female on her side.

Datuk Izzah was doing the same, but with a quiet, serious Indian man in a business suit, the two with their heads bent and so enamored in their conversation, it seemed they had missed the ending of the first part.

"You don't like them. I got that part," Arthur said. "But that seemed a little more..."

"My parents told me of it." She sighed. "When we were gone, and the Clan headquarters started facing trouble. They helped trace things back, with the help of Manager Chin."

"It was the TG group? "Why? We're not competitors with them." She shifted uncomfortably then, looking away from him to the crowd below. It didn't take Arthur long to draw a conclusion. "They chose to act against us because we're allied with you."

"Not only that..." Casey looked back, pushing some bangs out of the way over an ear. "They do want to block us, but they've been acting against Malaysian interest all this time. That man - he's from India. Some manager from one of their Clans there." She lowered her voice. "They keep joining with international groups, getting their backing and using their money to help them get around our laws."

Arthur nodded. Malaysia had, thankfully, put together a series of laws that limited the kind of influence various groups like the Adventurers Guild or other Guilds or Clans could have in the country. While it was impossible to stop organisations from creating or establishing buildings in a Tower, they could stop such individuals - or their Clan or Guild members - from enterring the country. Sure, there were ways around that, including smuggling and just not declaring ones affiliation; but what was the point when there were so many other countries with Beginner and Intermediate Towers that weren't as difficult to handle?

It allowed the government some control and allowed the Climbers and locals to grow in strength with minimal interferrence. Supposedly.

"Why us? Why not just go up to Thailand or Indonesia or..." Arthur groused.

"Lots of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis here," Casey pointed out. "Easier to get established that way, if they can break free. And for some of them, the amount of money TG asks for..." She grimaced.

"Selling themselves short." Mel agreed. "If you're going to sell us out, at least do so for more money lah."

Arthur could not help but chuckle at her words. It was a very practical, Chinese way of looking at things. Uswah, having listened to them, got up and wandered out of the room, making Arthur frown. He had a suspicion of what she was about to do but chose not to call her out on it or alert anyone else. He might be wrong and if so, how embarrassing would that be.

In the meantime…

“So, they’re going to be a problem ah?” he asked.

“Probably. Now that we know what they’re up to, we’ll be more careful. With the government helping us, it should be easier but…”

“But got unions and people don’t care about being fired if they get a better job afterwards,” Arthur replied. “And hard to fire people if you are just doing your job – properly.”

No surprise that half the time, corners were cut. Nothing dangerous, of course, but rather than multiple site visits, they might only do a couple of them towards the end. Or designs could be rubber stamped, or passed through faster while skipping the line. Inspectors could be asked to put the site visits ahead of others, or approval for purchase of restricted items could be expedited. There were a lot of ways for big projects – especially ones involving training equipment and weaponry for a Clan – to be held up.

“We can fix it. We got the headquarters ready at least.” Mel tapped the table, frowning. “But maybe the Datuk is right.”

“Mortal help?”

She nodded and he rubbed his face, regretting once again his own family’s lack of connections. Sure, there were a few people he might ask including a couple of distant cousins, but none that he trusted without fail.

“Let’s do it.” He glanced at Casey, smiled a bit as he delivered the next line. “Feel free to tell your friends. And Rick.”

He watched her twitch at that, since everything she complained about the TG group, the Durians were doing too. Of course, he was tightly controlling how much influence Rick had, but that did not mean they were not doing the same thing. On the other hand…

“Maybe we should have a longer talk too, about what kind of problems we can expect from the TG group. And what we can expect.” He grimaced, drumming his fingers. The first batch of new Durians who would be entering the Tower – mostly, people from his old martial arts club – were due soon. It would be his chance to get word in, but the slow relay system continued to frustrate him. Especially when his people could already be in trouble.

“Let’s also talk to the Ghee Hin and others. See who has an earlier trip in. We can pass word in that way, and maybe have them help out.”

“You want the triads to help the Durians? You sure?” Casey said, leaving the implication hanging.

“I know it’ll cost us. But if the TG group is already acting on us here, it’s possible Amah Si and the others are already under siege. They always had a bigger control in higher floors, remember?”

“I understand. Just wanted to make sure. You worked hard to get free of them after all.”

Or as free as you could at these levels.

“Ya lah.” He sighed. “Favor for a favor. But if they have international allies, we got to use our local ones.”

“Until it stops being local, and then we need friends outside,” Mel said.

“Which is why we have Rick.”

Of course that just made Casey look even more unhappy.