New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 733 Cozy Office

But one was never too cautious, especially when you had led troops into battle and gotten men killed by the hundreds. He was sure he had his fair share of hidden threats.

Jack heard the footsteps long before the four people arrived at his door. Which was why he had already put away the paper files he had been looking at.

"Ahh, there you are. A bit late, but it gave me time to sort out other minor matters. Please. Have a seat," Jack said, pointing to the side, where two large sofas were nested before a coffee table.

On the table, a few freshly baked cakes were waiting under a glass canopy, and a pot of steaming coffee was waiting under what looked like a pour-over pot.

He rose from his desk, headed toward the couch closest to him, and sat in the middle, leaving some room for Mr. Gu. Jack waited for all three of them to be seated before pouring himself some coffee.

Mr. Gu followed suit, pouring himself and the guests a cup before raising the cake bell and pushing some dessert plates forward.

"Please help yourselves to some. These aren\'t your everyday fresh cakes. Mrs. Boudreau made them herself," Mr. Gu said, smiling.

Jack was puffing his chest out, with a smile the width of his face, as he looked at the cakes with pride. It wasn\'t often Margarett made sweets, but they were on a level of their own.

He, of course, knew she had learned this skill for one of her many past infiltrations and undercover missions. But that was irrelevant to their taste.

Kary did not need to be told twice, as she was already grabbing a plate and some tongs to grab a colourful cupcake. She almost drooled through her enormous grin as the smell hit her nostrils.

David leaned back on the sofa, uninterested in such offerings, and stared at Jack, waiting for the meeting to truly begin.

Alex had heard snippets of how Margarett operated in New Eden. Considering with whom she was married, he had already assumed Jack\'s wife might be an assassin.

So he eyed the cupcakes with a measure of distrust.

Jack saw this and bellowed with laughter.

"Boahahahaha! Don\'t worry, Mr. Leduc. If Margarett wanted you dead, you wouldn\'t wake up from your gaming pod one morning. Poisoning food is not her MO."

Alex looked at him, eking out a forced smile, which turned into more of a weird grimace than a smile. Meanwhile, Kary was already stuffing her face with the colourful little cupcake and moaning in pleasure.

"\'Ell your wi\'e \'ese \'up\'a\'es are \'eli\'ious!" Kary blurted through her mouthful of sweets, careful not to spill a single crumb.

Jack grinned at her, raising a thumb, before looking at Alex and motioning at the table.

Alex shook his head no, saying, "Thanks. But I\'ll pass if you don\'t mind."

A slight disappointment flashed on Jack\'s face, but it was gone as fast as it got there when he noticed Kary smiling wider.

"More for me, then!" she exclaimed, having just swallowed the last of her cupcake.

Instead, Alex sipped his coffee, letting out a light sigh of appreciation. This was some excellent coffee.

Once he judged everyone was comfortable enough, Jack smiled and leaned forward.

"Alright. Let\'s get to the reason I called you all here today. I can already feel the curious stares from one of you, so let\'s get this over with."

David lightly scoffed, knowing the comment had been about him. But he nonetheless kept his mouth shut.

"As most of you know, the next municipal elections are coming up in a few months. I know you probably don\'t care much about those, given your age and centers of interest, but I am different.

"Unfortunately, I will also need help from you three in the coming elections, as I am presenting myself as a candidate. And you will be part of my campaign."

David grinned. He had expected this to be the case.

Otherwise, it made no sense for Jack to suddenly start making moves so openly about promising safety to the citizens through protection from the rogue players. The pieces were now slowly falling into place.

Kary stopped shoving sweets into her face, her eyes locking on Jack. Her attention was now entirely on him.

She was aware that Jack had ulterior motives for every action he took, as most sly old men did. But this went beyond owing people favours.

She pushed the sweets back on the table, taking a wet napkin and cleaning her mouth before becoming serious.

"So this is why you were pushing Alex as a hero to the public. Marking him as under your wing means you are the symbol of safety. Not a bad idea," she commented.

"But what about us? How do you plan on tying us to you?"

Jack smiled at her.

\'Smart woman. Exactly as I had expected,\' Jack thought.

"You are understanding this in the wrong way, Ms. Deveille. I don\'t want to bind you all to me. What I want us to work together for a safer future. I\'m sure Mr. Magnus here knows that this is a safe bet. The world is changing, and we should change with it."

David nodded his head. The old man wasn\'t wrong.

He also had his reasons for accepting to be present today. There was something he wanted to share with the people in this room, and having them already meet up saved him time and effort.

"I\'m more curious about how you intend to present me to the public. What\'s your angle? I\'m not exactly PR-friendly," David remarked with a snicker.

But Jack was well prepared.

"Then let\'s put all the cards on the table, shall we?" Jack said, taking a remote from his pocket and pressing a button.

The room went dark the following moment before a hologram appeared over the table they were seated around.