Published: February 13, 2025
When Ye Zhongming arrived at the courtyard where the top-tier member gathering was held, he surprisingly found himself to be the last one to arrive, causing everyone's gaze to settle on him at the same time.
Fortunately, the King of Cloud Summit had seen many things and killed peak experts, so he calmly walked towards the only empty chair available.
Being the last to arrive had its advantages; at least the impostor knew where to sit.
After sitting down, Ye Zhongming glanced around the venue, which had a total of twenty people. Even if he lowered his gaze afterward, the earlier scene had already been etched in his mind. Upon careful reflection, Ye Zhongming began to gain a preliminary understanding of the significance of the masks.
Among the twenty people in the house, half of them wore masks whose color was slightly lighter than the ones Ye Zhongming and the others wore. In some inconspicuous places, like the edges of the masks, there were subtle patterns.
The remaining nine individuals had masks almost identical to his, differing only in the length of the patterns, which formed distinct designs in the gathering areas, representing different numbers.
The mask on Ye Zhongming's face displayed an ancient character from a certain language, somewhat similar to traditional Chinese. Actually, not many people recognized it now; Ye Zhongming had only learned about it after researching beforehand.
From 1 to 10, all were present today.
Ye Zhongming was a11, and the mask read 1; did that mean the others were a12 to a20?
Were those with lighter-colored masks the founders a01 to a10?
Was this gathering so orderly?
Based on Ye Zhongming's guess, the person wearing the a02 mask stood up and gently clapped his hands, saying, "Now that everyone is here, let’s begin."
"First, there’s a matter that requires everyone's consent: the expansion of top-tier members. This concerns our interests, so even as founders, we cannot act unilaterally."
As the second person spoke, he glanced around the room and continued, "The increase in top-tier members will naturally reduce the profit-sharing ratio for all, but at the same time, new members will bring fresh perspectives, new tasks, and greater income, which will offset the losses from the reduced profit-sharing ratio. Therefore, all ten founders agree to increase the top-tier members, and this time, we want to seek the consent of all top-tier members."
"Of course, if anyone disagrees, we founders will respect your opinions and cancel this expansion."
After listening to the second person's words, Ye Zhongming derived several pieces of information.
First, the ten top-tier members must all be individuals with considerable background and strength; otherwise, the founders wouldn’t be so concerned about their opinions.
Second, the top-tier members here were clearly different from those in other organizations; here, top-tier members held shares that entitled them to profit-sharing and decision-making power over significant matters.
Third, Ye Zhongming felt a bit endangered; the importance of top-tier members indicated that Kunz座's identity might be known to some.
On the surface, nothing seemed off, but Ye Zhongming's overall alertness heightened to its peak.
If someone knew that a11 was Kunz座, they would surely also know about the widely rumored Kunz座 death incident outside, meaning that he, as an impostor, would definitely be exposed.
He swept his gaze around again, and when he saw no one behaving unusually, he felt slightly relieved.
"Alright, here’s the list of candidates for the top-tier member promotion; everyone can take a look. Initially, we plan to promote two individuals, and if everyone agrees, we’ll choose two from these four. If anyone disagrees, just consider it as if I never said anything."
"Everyone, please review it."
After he spoke, a document appeared on each person's dedicated terminal, displaying their identification numbers. Since everyone's identities were confidential, the information included the tasks they had completed, tasks they had issued, the amounts they had earned and spent here, as well as analyses of task engagement and release ratios, task difficulty, and areas of expertise.