"What did you say?"

Vega furrowed her brows. 

The current situation was completely unlike what one would expect from such a powerful disciple. Vega wasn't in the middle of some hard training, nor was she practically a technique or cultivating her strength. Instead, she stood behind an enormous desk. 

Despite the fact she was standing on her feet, the number of documents she was rifling through was still enough to obscure her face. The subordinate that was reporting to her right now had to talk through a wall of this stacked paper or else they would never be able to get access to their Faction leader. 

In truth, the documents here were worse than they usually were. But, because Vega had wasted so much time with Aina, they had built up. Now she was paying for it. Such a thing only made her more infuriated with Sceio for butting into her matters. But, that little weasel had vanished and she couldn't find him. 

"… We've been keeping an eye on young Aina's movements. She spent most of her time in the hospital, but a few hours ago she entered a Senate Branch and accepted a mission. But, she returned not long later and accepted another one. 

"We weren't able to learn what these missions were, but she completed the first one smoothly. It was a mission that should have taken a week, but she completed it in just about 6 or so hours."

"What level?"

"Level 1 Gala—"

"Not a big deal, move on."

Vega didn't look up as she continued to rifle through the documents before her. Others might have used pendants to accomplish this task, but she didn't like the vulnerable state it put her in. 

The Void Palace was dangerous, especially for Faction Leaders and even more especially for beautiful women. She always had to be in top condition to handle every and anything. So, she was the type to refuse to leave herself vulnerable, even to the point of doing things like this. 

"The main issue, Faction Head, is that she's now entered a Three Star Void Mission."

Vega's hands froze. "What?"

"She's entered a Three Star Void Mission and a Galaxy Ranked disciple has begun to take bets on her odds of coming out."

The reporter seemed to completely ignore Leonel's presence. But, this wasn't due to any disdain on her part, it was rather because she understood the personality of Vega well and didn't want to step on her toes. 

After what happened with Sceio, Vega was especially sensitive to women she had taken a fancy to being lovestruck fools at the beck and call of men. Of course, 'fancy' in this context was for their power. As much as she seemed to dislike men, Vega was, in fact, straight. 

In truth, it wasn't even that Vega disliked men. She just found things easier to deal with if she lorded over just a single gender. 

But, everyone had emotions, so she had been soft when it came to managing relationships. Unfortunately, it was coming back to bite her now. So, she was wondering if she should change her approach. 

The trouble with doing that was that she also understood how the hearts of people worked. If these were the rules from the very beginning it would be fine. But, taking away a right after having already given it was a recipe for disaster. 

If things were handled incorrectly, the Faction she had labored decades over would collapse. 

Hearing what Aina had done for just her second mission, though, Vega's expression couldn't help but darken. 

She had, obviously, not given up on Aina yet. But, she needed a method to bring Aina in. If Aina died, though, it would obviously all be for naught.  C0pyright © 2024 Nôv)(elDrama.Org.

Vega's expression flickered. 'Maybe this is an opportunity?'

"Move some funds around in the third vault. Bet 10… No, that's too much for a bet that'll be mostly Galaxy Ranked disciples. In that case, use vault five. Bet a million Void Points on their failure."

"But Faction Head, she's with…"

"You mean Leonel Morales? His climbing of the tower was weird, but I have a feeling that it was more related to Dream Force than anything else. I sensed the concentration being exceptionally high."

If Leonel knew that Vega had drawn a conclusion similar to the Void Elders, it was difficult to tell how he would react.

Vega's thoughts were clearly far more vague and even quite off base, but the fact she realized that she had been affected by Dream Force at all spoke volumes. 

"I'm aware of these things already. But, the only Three Star Void Mission they could enter should be the goblin castle mission. I have some inside information on that mission, they'll definitely fail."

"But if she dies…"

"There's about a 20% chance she comes out alive. In that case, she'll need my help to get out of manual labor and the penalty. By then, she won't be able to escape my grasp even if she wants to."

Vega's grasp of the rules was deep, but it was clearly not as deep as Leonel's. 

"Even if she dies, we'll make back my investment in wasting so many days on her and we'll move forward with the original timeline of things."

"Yes, Faction Head."

"Oh, and keep my bet anonymous."

Vega's irises flashed as her hands began to move again. She would cover all her bases. In the slim likelihood they really succeeded, she wouldn't offend Aina any more than she already had. 

**

"Interesting. So the little girl who cut my Void Merit pool down by so much is seeking her death? I've heard some inside information on that Zone. They planned to send some Sector disciples in to deal with it within the century, it's already that close to beyond what Galaxy Ranked disciples could handle. 

"At the very least, if she dies like this, I'll regain my spot on the current leaderboards."

Treanna shook her head, seemingly not satisfied with this. 

"Bet the last year's supply of Void Merits on their failure."

Treanna clearly didn't care as much about remaining low profile like Vega did. In fact, when she learned that Leonel was also with Aina, she doubled her bid again.