I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 176: The Currency of Power

Adam’s main goal for now was to make his new group The New Warriors stable and self-sufficient.

He wanted it to be strong both financially and in terms of its resources. He had to do this within the complex competitive ecosystem of the United Academy.

The Principal Logan was also quite surprised by "Eric’s" audacious demands.

He understood immediately what the boy was doing. He was a very clever boy. Adam had asked for two things that would secure his new group’s future for the next four years.

While the members of a group could to a certain extent handle their financial condition by completing missions the real currency of power within the Academy was not just money. It was resources.

And resources—access to the best most advanced training grounds privileged sections of the libraries priority access to the mission building and even the ability to take on high-ranking dangerous missions—were not easily obtained.

Each of the four major groups used its influence its connections with powerful professors and important staff members its network of powerful noble families to gain an advantage.

These valuable resources were not distributed equally among all the students. They were hoarded by the most influential factions the ones with the most power and connections.

Currently the Golden Group with its long history of success and its powerful noble backers possessed the most resources by far. They had the favor of the most powerful professors at the Academy like Professor Margaret.

They had priority access to the best training grounds the ones with the most advanced features.

They had unrestricted access to the most esoteric hidden sections of the libraries where the most powerful and secret knowledge was kept.

And most importantly they were able to secure S-rank missions for their most talented students.

These were missions that offered not just immense financial rewards but also invaluable experience and great prestige within the Empire.

After securing their financial condition after making sure his group had enough money to operate securing access to these precious resources was the most important thing Adam had to do for his group.

In the few days he had been at the Academy in Eric’s body he had been unable to find any other way to achieve this. He had been waiting for the perfect moment the perfect opportunity to approach the Emperor.

He knew he had to deal with the Emperor directly. But he had nothing to offer the Emperor. He had no leverage to use in a negotiation.

Until now.

Adam was fairly certain that the Emperor would have agreed to sign off on the formation of his new group. That was the easy part of his plan. But he also knew that the real challenges the real dangers would begin after that.

The established factions both within the Academy and from the outside the powerful noble families who sponsored them would do everything in their power to crush his fledgling group.

He had been struggling to find a good plan to counter this inevitable overwhelming opposition.

And then the Emperor had walked right into the Principal’s office asking for a favor.

It was the perfect opportunity. It was a chance he could not afford to miss. He had to use this moment to secure his group’s future.

He had to be bold. And he was. He had made his demands. Now all he had to do was wait for the Emperor’s answer.

The moment Adam had sensed the Emperor’s arrival at the United Academy he had understood the situation. It was a simple political calculation. The Emperor had come here in person because he was under immense pressure.

The Empire’s powerful noble families were pressuring him to get Cian’s humiliating punishment pardoned.

And Adam seeing this rare opportunity this moment of leverage over the most powerful man on the continent was now exploiting it to its fullest extent. He was going to get what he wanted.

But then something unexpected happened.

The Emperor who had been listening to Adam’s audacious demands with a thoughtful almost calculating expression suddenly stood up from the sofa.

His earlier weariness his tired look was completely gone. It was replaced by a look of cold imperial authority. He looked at Adam his eyes narrowed.

"That is an absurd request," the Emperor stated his voice flat and dismissive. "I decline your offer."

Adam was genuinely surprised by this. A flicker of surprise the first he had shown throughout this entire negotiation crossed his face.

I thought he would agree easily to my terms, Adam thought his mind quickly recalibrating his strategy. It seems the Emperor is not going to be so easily swayed after all. He is more stubborn than I thought.

But the surprise was fleeting. It was replaced almost instantly by a cool confident smile. Adam also stood up from his own sofa. His posture was relaxed almost casual as he met the Emperor’s stern gaze.

"Then so be it My Lord," Adam replied his voice calm and completely unbothered. "You should also prepare yourself. The pressure you are feeling from your noble families is about to increase significantly."

With that Adam turned. He intended to leave the Principal’s office. The negotiation was apparently over. The deal was off.

But before he could take a single step towards the door the Emperor’s voice now raised in a low dangerous growl stopped him in his tracks.

"Do you really think," the Emperor said his voice laced with a menacing authority "that after this I will allow your new group to be formed at all?"

Adam stopped. He turned back to look at the Emperor. A slow predatory smile spread across his face.

"You may be able to break my group My Lord," he conceded his voice a soft almost conversational whisper.

"Perhaps it will never be officially formed. But I can assure you of this. For the next four years I will personally ensure that every single child from the Empire studying at this Academy will live their worst possible life within these walls."

The threat was not loud. But it was delivered with a chilling certainty that was far more terrifying than any shout.

The Emperor’s eyes widened in a mixture of shock and pure rage. A wave of immense oppressive power suddenly erupted from him. It was not as vast as the aura he had released in the auditorium earlier.

But it was far more concentrated a focused suffocating pressure that filled the entire room. It made the very air seem to crackle with his fury.

"Are you threatening me?!" the Emperor roared his voice a thunderous explosion of rage.

Adam simply smiled. "I am just a humble prince from a small insignificant kingdom," he replied his voice still calm almost teasing. "How could I possibly threaten the great Emperor of this realm? I am merely... telling you the future that is to come."

The Principal Logan who had been watching this high-stakes confrontation with a growing sense of dread was now caught in the middle of an impossible situation.

On one side there was the Emperor his old friend and his ruler stubborn and unyielding in his demands. And on the other there was this... "Eric".

A being of immense unfathomable power who was completely unwilling to back down from a fight. And the Principal the head of the most prestigious Academy on the entire continent was trapped between them.

He was a powerless observer in a clash of two immovable forces.

The fate of the Academy and perhaps even the Empire itself now hung in the balance of this single conversation. It was a very dangerous moment.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l