The reaction was immediate.
Conversations faded.
Participants stopped moving.
Merchant districts quieted enough that even the people still negotiating prices paused.
Across countless gathering areas, faces turned toward the enormous projections.
No enforcement formation demanded silence.
Nobody threatened punishment.
People simply recognized her.
Vivian had represented Lootwell publicly for years, and whatever people thought about Lucien, nearly everyone understood one thing.
She was his family.
More importantly, she had earned her own place in Lootwell long before the organization reached its current scale.
The Thousand Races gave her their attention.
Vivian heard the silence spread.
Somehow, that was more frightening than the noise.
She raised the megaphone.
The wind spirits immediately gathered.
Her voice traveled outward.
"Welcome to the first Lootwell Grand Intercontinental Competition."
The sound remained clear despite the impossible distance.
