At that time, in East America, things had taken a turn for the worse. The Syndicate had lost contact with 3 out of the 13 zones. However, that wasn't all. Even the parties they had deployed to go and investigate the scene had gone missing in action.

These strange and sudden occurrences weren't random and were following a pattern. The Zones were being taken over serially. And if the pattern continued to follow, Arnold's zone would've been the next one the syndicate would lose contact with. They had tried contacting Arnold to notify him about the scenario but for some reason, they couldn't connect with him. 

In Arnold's absence, the Syndicate was holding a meeting to decide their next plan of action. They couldn't just sit idly and not do anything. They had already lost a fairly big chunk of their army thanks to these disappearances and now they couldn't afford to lose anything else.

"We don't have much time," Allen was the first to speak since the matter involved many of the people he knew from his days as a soldier, "If we don't do anything now, we'd end up losing an important strategic location. I'm not speaking because-"

"We are well aware of the importance of Zone 4, Mr Black," Adolfo De Luca, the newly-appointed head of the Luca family, interrupted Allen, "But is it reasonable to send in warriors from our side to fight against something we have no idea about? What if we end up losing even more soldiers? Who would be able to save us if an emergency arises here? Have you thought about that?"

The room was filled with murmurs. Adolfo might have raised a few important and intriguing questions, but no one managed to notice the underlying objective of his words.

Standing 5'9" and had a stocky bottom with brown skin, Adolfo had an authoritative feel about him and was very competitive by his nature. Adolfo wanted to solidify his position in the Syndicate as soon as possible and that's why he was targeting Allen who was also a new member of the Syndicate like him. 

It wasn't like he was not knowledgeable of the influence the Blacks had over the Syndicate. After all, they were by far the strongest family even after Arnold had left them. It could be said that no one wanted to mess with them, but as long as Allen was the only one present in the room, the others had no difficulty in dominating his views.

Allen was also aware of the fact. He was sure even in the Syndicate, there would be a few people who would see him as someone who only got his position just because he was closely related to Arnold and was the only biological son of Nathaniel.

Moreover, the fact that he almost got disowned by his father was no secret. These things would work heavily against him in the council meetings. But Allen had already been prepared by his father and his brothers, Arnold and Nathan, to handle such situations.

"I'm well aware of that fact, Mr Luca." Allen spoke in a calm and friendly manner, "And your concern is well appreciated. However, I wasn't asking for your opinion on the matter. I was merely stating a fact."

Allen's words were followed by absolute silence. Most of the leaders were intrigued by Allen's sudden change in demeanour while the rest, like Adolfo, were taken aback by it. They thought it was the most suitable time to try and reduce the Black's influence over the country. 

But it didn't look like Allen was going to go down without a fight either. He was no longer a pup who required protection from others, but a grown-a*s American Pitbull. And unlike Nathan, Allen did not give a crap about his image in public, so he spoke his mind whenever he wanted to. His thinking was clear, If someone was going to try and rebuke him, then they better be prepared for something far worse themselves.

"E-Excuse me?" Adolfo's inflated ego took a big hit from Allen's simple and non-confrontational words, "This is supposed to be a meeting to decide on our next course of action. Not a forum to announce your plans!"

"Well, the way I see it, the Zone we're discussing about tonight, belong to a dear friend of mine. Someone whom I refer to as my brother." Allen completely ignored Adolfo's statement, "Also, I've spent a good chunk of my life in that Zone. So in a way, I think the Blacks have a duty to protect that place."

"I get what you're trying to say, Allen. I really do." Morrino intervened after seeing that the meeting was getting out of hand, "But we can't make decisions based on emotions. We have a country and its people to take care of and hasty decisions would inevitably lead to our demise."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Morrino, as usual, he was the wisest among them. If someone could reason with raging youth, it was him.

"I'm glad, Mr Morrino could see my reasoning unlike few-" Adolfo started muttering about his reasoning but was quickly shot down by Morrino.

"That being said," Morrino continued, "I don't think it's wise to ignore the possibility of Zone 4 slipping away from our hands. The Zone is simply too important for us to do that."

Allen kept his smile to himself when he saw Adolfo all huffing and puffing. He knew Morrino would never go against his words of comradeship. After all, Morrino and his family had been allies of the Blacks ever since the dungeons started popping up in America.

"I object!"

Adolfo couldn't take the blatant disrespect anymore. He had worked his butt off to get to where he was now, unlike Allen who, in his eyes, got everything handed to him on a silver platter. He would not take disrespect from anyone. Not even Morrino.

Sadly for him, the leaders trusted Morrino more than anyone in the room. Thus, if Morrino had a plan in his mind then the least they could do was to hear him out and that's exactly what happened. While Adolfo Luca was ignored for the rest of the meeting. 

"So it's decided." Morrino proclaimed their collective decision, "The Black along with my family would undertake the task of protecting Zone 4 from the unknown enemy, any objections?"

Adolfo was about to raise his hands, but his advisor stopped him. He wanted to solidify his position in this meeting, but he ended up making a mockery of himself instead.