Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 1162: Transcending influence

As Patriarchs of Upper Echelons, Gourdon and Wadeby had a tight control over all aspects of their company. They had to. They were in the presence of snakes and hungry lions just waiting for them to make a single mistake before they pounced.

That was why each and every single employee in their keep was imbued with a Nascent Influence. Nothing too complex. Simply a way to keep their employees absolutely loyal to their company, indulging in only products that their company made and such more.

After all, if they won’t use their own products, then their customers definitely won’t.

This kind of Nascent Influence may be simple, but its simplicity was also what made it almost unbreakable. One would need a tremendous amount of Nascent Influence to break this kind of thinking.

And even if they did break it, then they’d only be able to do so individually.

If they used a new Nascent Influence to change this kind of thinking, then both Patriarchs would be notified of such change.

And right now, they felt their Nascent Influence slowly fading away.

They couldn’t believe it.

Gourdon and Wadeby specifically ordered their men to leave the Rebornian products alone. They were the enemy. But just from looking at this soldier, they could tell that their Nascent Influence had been changed and bypassed. Somehow, their allegiance towards their companies were slowly starting to lean towards the Reborn products.

They immediately summoned the other soldiers. And they saw something horrific. The change had been spreading far too quickly. Almost every single one of their members have been influenced to become dependent on Reborn products!

Even if they weren’t showing it, the Patriarchs could see that their employees wanted nothing more than to return back to the so-called hot springs.

Gourdon and Wadeby counseled each other.

”Did the Reborn company do this?” asked Mr. Wadeby.

”You think they have a Nascent Spirit cultivator?”

”Well... how do you explain this?”

Gourdon countered with his own question. ”How do you explain the lack of shockwave?”

If the Reborn company did do something, then they should have felt it the moment it happened. It would have coursed through the earth like a wave.

Yet, nothing happened. They didn’t even know that something had changed until the soldier came in and they inspected him.

”Reborn must have known that we tried to make an obstacle for them,” Mr. Wadeby said. ”And now, they’re retaliating. They’re more sly than I thought.”

Mr. Wadeby began muttering about some kind of counter-attack. One in which they would try to influence the Rebornian members, those demi-humans.

But Gourdon disagreed. There was something strange with this. If this was truly done on purpose, then for what reason?

To provoke? No. if they wanted to send a message, then they could have sent out a Nascent Influence wave.

To counter-attack? No. By influencing these soldiers, they would be achieving nothing. Gourdon and Wadeby could easily reverse the Nascent Influence on their employees.

While Gourdon was thinking deeply about this, a deep shout cut through his thoughts.

”WHAT?!”

Gourdon turned to Wadeby, who had his hands outstretched towards one of his employees.

On his face was a look of disbelief and pure shock. He seemed unable to understand what he was looking at.

”This... this can’t be possible,” Mr. Wadeby muttered.

He then turned to Gourdon, and with grave words, said:

”They’re not Influenced.”

Gourdon’s eyebrows furrowed. What did he mean, ’they’re not influenced?’.

They could clearly feel their control over their members slip. Their allegiance towards the Zentmeister clan and the Moon Rising Company was slowly becoming looser, making way for the Reborn company to slip in.

That wouldn’t have happened unless it was done by a Nascent Influence.

”Look at your employees,” Mr. Wadeby urged.

Gourdon raised his hand towards one of his soldiers. The first one who had come and informed him of what happened earlier.

And as soon as he did, his eyes widened.

Inside this soldier, he could still feel the Aubility Power threads wrapped around his heart.

That was his Nascent Influence. The very same one that he imbued on each and every employee of his company at the day of their hiring. It hadn’t changed. He could tell. No sign of tampering either. It remained intact and kept the influence on the soldier, keeping him loyal.

But that didn’t make sense! If his Nascent Influence wasn’t broken and replaced, why would his soldiers break his rule?

Why would they start accepting the lifestyle of Reborn?

This kind of mystery was unnerving to the Upper Echelon Patriarchs. After all, the only reason why they were so confident in growing their empire was because Nascent Influence was a surefire way to earn loyalty.

Nascent Influence was the reason why they could have branches all over the world, where travel would take months, if not years.

Without it, those branches would either degrade or would split off into their own empire.

Yet now, Gourdon and Wadeby were faced with a new kind of power, one that could overwrite Nascent Influence even without Nascent Influence.

It was a frightening concept. The Reborn company, an organization that they had been fighting since the beginning, were in possession of a game breaking influence.

The two patriarchs looked at each other, a silent understanding coming over them.

There were two ways that they could go about this. First was that they fight Reborn and nip this problem in the bud, and possibly take this power for themselves.

If it was before, they might have considered this. But after seeing how Reborn kept on defeating their plan after plan, they now understood that they couldn’t underestimate this company.

So, they had to go with the second option. If you can’t beat them, join them.

They could help the Reborn company get into the Upper Echelons and earn their favor.

Sure, their entrance to high society would disrupt the natural order. A company would have to give up their place.

But they could simply make sure it wasn’t them.