[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-kill-the-sun":3,"chapter-kill-the-sun-kill-the-sun-chapter-652":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Kill the Sun",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},665378,896,"Chapter 652 – Influences","kill-the-sun-chapter-652",652,"\u003Cp>Eventually, the biggest Manufacturer compromised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They bought all the remaining companies that sold water and directly sold water to the market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This got rid of the original 100% profit margin of the water sellers, essentially halving the original price of water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made water more accessible than it was originally, but 30% of people still couldn't afford it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next message from the terrorist just said that this didn't fulfill their demands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That message pushed the stressed CFO over the edge, and he commanded that they would be selling no more water to anyone!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Heroes around him tried to tell him that this was a really bad idea, but the CFO didn't care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been living in fear for months!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had enough of this terrorist!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within five hours, Nick retaliated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They did what?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bad news upon bad news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So many pieces of bad news!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, the consoles of all the Containment Units housing Demons were utterly destroyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These Containment Units were indestructible by anything weaker than a Fallen or Protector, but the same thing wasn't true for the consoles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the consoles destroyed, it became impossible to interact with the Containment Units.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant that the Manufacturers couldn't access their Demons!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only accessible Demon was the Water Pillar since it resided in the middle of the city due to its size and non-aggressive nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even worse, this hit every Manufacturer!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that wasn't the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, alarms broke out everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors of several Containment Units were opening!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fanatics and Elders were being released!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, due to security reasons, all Containment Units needed over three minutes before opening their main doors, which gave the Manufacturers enough time to stop the process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a single Specter was released.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, the alarms didn't stop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every couple of minutes, another Specter was about to be released!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This continued for hours!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Working with Specters was deemed too risky under these circumstances, and all the Extractors were put on watch duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, the Containment Units still kept receiving the command to open!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone could keep the console in their eyes the entire time, and somehow, it would still activate the release command!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Extractors were under immense stress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a horrifying thought that some unknown power entered the room in which they were staying, did something horrible, and just left again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing stopping that malevolent force from killing them was its own disinterest in their deaths!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other Manufacturers immediately became aggressive towards the biggest Manufacturer, specifically its CFO.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were being pulled into this conflict!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn't even sell water!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, the CFO was forced to relent, and he reinstated the selling of the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, the chaos ended, and no more Specters were being released.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a short moment of relief, the other Manufacturers put more pressure on the CFO.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had had enough!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were done with this shit!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fulfill the demands, or so help me the Champion, I will do something!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The CFO was still resistant, but after the shock of what happened, he was ready to negotiate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, he agreed to fulfill the demands, but the other Manufacturers had to pay to make up for the loss in profits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the desperation, the other Manufacturers immediately agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn't even think about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were talking about a couple million credits per month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a normal person, that was a lot of money, but for Manufacturers with Heroes, this was barely a couple of hours of profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were more than happy to spend the credits if that finally meant the end of this absolute chaos!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, it was important to point out that they knew that they were getting the raw end of the deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The CFO was taking advantage of them, and they knew that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And they would remember that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the deal was signed, the second-biggest Manufacturer pulled out from the alliance against the terrorist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the biggest Manufacturer decided to be such an ass about things, they would not help them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third biggest Manufacturer followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, only the Governor and the biggest Manufacturer were left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some hours later, cheap water \"flooded\" the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, the people could buy cheap water again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the next few days, nothing happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No message arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one was killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A month passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the biggest Manufacturer slowly increased the water price again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water price increased some more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it gone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the terrorist gone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another two weeks passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, it was gone!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The price returned to the original one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people had no access to water again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, nothing happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another month passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, the assassin was gone!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were free!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, reality hit them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had gotten careless!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The CFO had been assassinated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thing the terrorist had threatened had happened!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first time the CFO had been left alone, he had been killed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The assassin had never left!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, there was a message on the CFO's corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you had kept the price down, you would still be alive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An Initial Hero had been killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terror broke out among the Manufacturers again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The terrorist was strong enough to kill a Hero almost immediately without being noticed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, the water price was immediately lowered to the demanded price again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sadly, the Governor still refused to call Aegis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weeks passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A month passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No new message.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After six months, one of the remaining Heroes of the biggest Manufacturer suggested increasing the price a little to keep up with the changing economy, but the other two immediately shut that down very aggressively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>DO. NOT. TOUCH. THE. WATER. PRICE!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Obviously, the water price wasn't changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And like this, Gluttony's influence had been banished from the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nick had looked at the Water Pillar a couple of times, and he found out that it was actually a Possession Specter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Possession Specters rarely had any kind of intelligence, and Nick doubted that it was one of Gluttony's servants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its values just so happened to align with Gluttony and Famine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as things stayed like this, Nick's job was done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the time, Nick was focusing on training his Zephyx Manipulation and conjuring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was only checking up on the city every couple of days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the matter with the water had now finally been dealt with, the city was not yet done changing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the next months, the other Manufacturers got progressively more annoyed at the money they had to pay the biggest Manufacturer for the loss of revenue in the water trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were not involved in the water trade at all, but they still paid for that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, the other Manufacturers pulled their funding back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The biggest Manufacturer was livid since the other Manufacturers broke an agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The biggest Manufacturer complained to the Governor, but the Governor just deflected everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Governor did not want to get involved in any of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this were the past, the Governor would have backed up the biggest Manufacturer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, something crucial had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the biggest Manufacturer's Heroes, the former CFO, had been killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On top of that, they had lost a couple of Specialists, including a Peak Specialist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The biggest Manufacturer had been hit the hardest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second-biggest and third-biggest Manufacturers were working together very closely now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their shared enmity for the biggest Manufacturer had made them allies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This created a formidable force, and a battle between the two sides would no longer have an obvious conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Governor was the key factor in this conflict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The side he chose would win.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, he received many new privileges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as he kept being neutral, he would be in control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A full year had passed since the CFO had been killed, and the terrorist hadn't shown themselves again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The city was quite sure that the terrorist was gone, but they still didn't dare to touch the water price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The terrorist was no longer the focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the focus was on the weakness of the biggest Manufacturer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other two Manufacturers wanted to use this chance to push them from their throne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The conflicts between the Manufacturers ramped up, and the mood between them soured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nick watched as the Manufacturers fell into a state of conflict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second part of Nick's job was somewhat done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nick had gotten rid of Gluttony's and Famine's influence and had introduced Wrath's and War's influence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this city didn't need one of Wrath's servants to influence it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, the city was not as heavily under Wrath's influence as a city with one of its servants, but it still leaned towards Wrath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a net positive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The influence profit for this city was almost identical to the influence revenue since there was no influence cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just to be on the safe side, Nick decided to watch over the city for another year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to make sure that nothing strange happened before he went to the next city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>WHOOOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then, something very strange happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Nick was focusing on his training outside the city, his ability deactivated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, the Sun became brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>",1546,"2026-06-02T07:52:46.382Z",1,"novelbin.me","d42bb8ee4696578d064eea3876d31ac9ebfd65925a60a8934a2475be4957bf65","kill-the-sun-chapter-653","kill-the-sun-chapter-651",992,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fkill-the-sun-cover.jpg"]