Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
Why had the High Table once been regarded as the absolute authority of the underworld?
Because it controlled immense force.
Behind the High Table stood the vast power and countless weapons of the twelve ruling families.
That reality made Caine understand something clearly.
Strength and influence were everything.
At the very least, he had to ensure that the orders he issued would not become meaningless scraps of paper, but would instead be carried out thoroughly from top to bottom.
"Thank you, Uncle Caine!"
Mia was quick-witted. She immediately seized the opportunity and obediently changed the way she addressed him.
"Mmm."
Caine nodded slightly in satisfaction, then gestured for Mia to take Akira outside.
He still had matters to discuss privately with Koji Shimazu and John Wick.
"Koji. John."
"I need your strength."
Caine went straight to the point.
He didn't waste time with pleasantries.
Not only that, he intended to cultivate them personally and even revealed some of the secrets surrounding the Hassan Family.
When they heard Caine describe the terrifying strength of Patriarch Hassan, both men couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.
Caine himself was already incredibly powerful.
He could kill a master at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage with a single sword strike before anyone could even react.
So just how terrifying must Hassan be—someone hundreds of times stronger than Caine?
Neither of them could imagine it.
After all, people struggle to describe something they have never seen.
"Caine, I'm willing to help you."
John Wick spoke without hesitation.
"We both clawed our way up from the bottom of society. We've endured enough."
"It's time the High Table changed."
As someone who had suffered under the old rules, John understood Caine's intentions better than anyone.
And he was willing to lend his strength.
"Well," Koji Shimazu said with a small smile, "if the two of you have already decided… what reason do I have to refuse?"
Koji had always been a man who valued loyalty and brotherhood.
For his friends, he would face fire and death without hesitation.
Even his own life was secondary.
So, when he saw John and Caine standing together, he naturally chose to join them.
…
…
From that secret meeting onward, a quiet revolution began brewing beneath the surface.
Koji and John started reconnecting with old contacts and recruiting trusted subordinates from across the world.
With the vast amount of spirit coins provided by Caine, many of them broke through their cultivation bottlenecks and successfully reached Foundation Establishment.
Their strength rose rapidly.
And as Caine's trusted lieutenants, they also began dealing with anyone within the High Table who remained stubbornly loyal to the old order or harbored rebellious intentions.
Their actions were swift and ruthless.
In a very short time, the atmosphere within the High Table changed completely.
After the rules were revised, the entire underworld seemed to fall into an unusual calm.
Even the Continental Hotels scattered across the globe became quiet once more, silently performing their original duties.
The reason for all of this was simple.
The rise of Koji Shimazu and John Wick.
Caine had been powerful before, but he had been alone.
A lone wolf.
Now everything was different.
With Koji, John, and their vast networks supporting him, Caine possessed enormous wealth, countless operatives, and overwhelming strength.
Faced with such power, the Continental Hotels had no choice but to submit to the High Table's rule.
Otherwise, they would end up like the once-mighty twelve ruling families.
As time passed, the authority of the High Table expanded even further.
Everything seemed to return to its previous order.
But one thing had changed.
The way the High Table treated its assassins.
In the past, the manager of the Casablanca Continental had been forced to hide his own daughter.
He dared not meet her.
He didn't even know where she lived.
Every day, he buried his longing for her in silence.
Now things were different.
The High Table no longer targeted assassins' families.
Emotions were not weaknesses.
They were motivation.
So, the High Table began protecting the families of its members.
Caine even established a special residential district within the Oasis Sanctuary for this very purpose.
There, the relatives of assassins could live safely.
They could reunite with their loved ones whenever they wished.
Their families would no longer be used as tools of threat or coercion.
As long as an assassin did not betray the High Table, their loved ones would remain safe.
Although the rules themselves had not changed, the effect was enormous.
Many assassins who had once fled because their families were targeted had their bounties revoked.
Gradually, they returned.
And the entire organization underwent a profound transformation.
The terrifying regime that once ruled through fear and coercion was gone.
In its place stood a united collective built on loyalty, belief, and shared interests.
"Sofia… it's good to see you again."
John Wick smiled warmly as he watched a familiar figure enter the sanctuary town.
The woman walking in was Sofia, accompanied by her daughter and her beloved dog.
Since helping John in the past, Sofia had been forced into hiding, hunted relentlessly by the High Table.
John had never stopped searching for her.
Now, seeing her return safely, the burden on his heart finally lifted.
Sofia gently stroked her daughter's hair, relief visible on her face.
For a long time, she had lived under the shadow of constant pursuit.
She had nearly fallen into despair.
At one point, she had even prepared herself to say goodbye to her daughter for the last time.
But then Caine appeared.
His sudden rampage shattered the old High Table and forced them to redirect all their strength toward dealing with him.
That chaos gave Sofia the chance she needed.
With the help of an old friend, she managed to hide and survive.
And when she finally returned to the world again, she discovered that everything had changed.
Caine had destroyed the twelve council families.
He had taken control of the High Table.
And he had personally revoked the bounty on her head.
Now she had been recalled to the organization.
Looking at her old friend, Sofia sighed softly.
"It really is good to be alive."
"And all of this… is thanks to Chairman Caine."
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