James' head snapped toward the Cloud Race woman, his gaze filled with a hint of confusion. He didn't immediately respond to his father, it was just that that giggle sounded far too familiar.

"You, who are you?" James asked.

The Cloud Race woman blinked, tilting her head. She didn't seem to want to answer. Or maybe wanting to answer was the wrong way to put it. It was more like she disdained to or didn't feel like speaking with James.

"Hey, I asked you a question." James said coldly, his pale face slowly becoming more rosy. At that moment, he wasn't the same James that faced his father. That sort of fear was only something his old man could induce in him. To everyone else, he was a general who commanded respect and fear himself.

The Cloud Race lady snorted.

"James, did I not already dismiss you?" Governor Duke Bennett said coldly.

James clenched his teeth but didn't turn back to his father, instead taking a step forward.

"This land is Bennett land, these skies are Bennett skies, when I asked you a question, YOU ANSWER!"

James' voice boomed, a wild fluctuation of Force causing the nonchalant expressions of the Cloud Race individuals to change. In fact, even his own father fell into a momentary silence.

The Cloud Race woman recovered quickly, though, giggling again.

"Fine, fine. Is there a need for such a look? Did I not give you a good time?"

The face of the Cloud Race woman changed into a very familiar one for just a moment before reverting back. That face was none other than Samoa, the very prostitute his father had mentioned earlier.

James felt his heart drop to his stomach.

Did he care for Samoa? Hardly. He had never fallen for any woman, at best he just somewhat preferred her to the other brothel workers. She was beautiful, smart, and seemed to work there not out of necessity but rather because she enjoyed that line of work.

He felt that he could relax around her. He didn't need to worry about her having a mental breakdown because the last month's abuse had finally gotten to her, and he didn't need to worry about her trying to manipulate him into loving her so that he could "save" her, that latter story had happened too many times before and he always had to change his favorites as a result.

He could be said to be a veteran of brothels and he knew how to maneuver around them to maximize his fun and minimize the headache.

But ironically, it was because of this that a prostitute had become his only real refuge.

The nonsense about taking her as a maidservant wasn't even something that James had brought up to his father. The Samoa he knew wouldn't even want to accept such a proposition, even though it was a much higher line of work and much safer as well. He respected her choices so he never even thought of it.

However, it was very typical of his father to keep tabs on his actions and comment on them from time to time, so he hadn't thought much about it until he heard that giggle.

The laugh was slightly different, but the cadence was almost exactly the same. He had heard that laugh far too many times, more times than he could count. Samoa was the kind of woman that could laugh in any situation, whether that was while he was railing her from behind, or when some drunkard got too unruly and grabbed her collar.

It was the same laugh no matter what the situation.

"You are Samoa? You've been pretending to be her? Where is she?!"

The more James spoke, the more furious he became.

"James, that's enough."

Before James could respond to his father's words, the Cloud Race woman giggled again.

"Pretending to be her? Do you think I would let a human put his penis inside of me? Do I look like a masochist to you? Every time you thought you were railing your favorite little prostitute, you were just taking a nice nap."

It was the very same tactic Maia had used with Governor Duke Leum. When the latter had thought she was pregnant, she brought out embryos she had already conceived in the Cloud Domain and allowed them to grow on Earth, thus allowing them to gain Earth's talent boost.

The Cloud Race was far too adept at playing with the minds of their targets. Just as easily as they could imitate a target, they could fabricate one from thin air as well. How could they not monitor a wild card like Tames? Thev had known from the verv beginning that he was notentiallv a nroblem.

Governor Duke Bennett sighed and rubbed his forehead. Working with these people truly was annoying.

"James, that's enough. I won't repeat myself again, you can go now."

Suddenly, James turned back to his father.

"You knew."Têxt belongs to .

It didn't seem like a question. Rather, it was a statement, he seemed to already have his answer.

"Watch your tone, young man."

"You knew." James repeated.

Governor Duke Bennett frowned, his brows pinching together.

BANG!

He slammed his tea cup down, standing to his full height.

"Of course I knew. You lack discipline, going around sticking your dick in everything. Do you think the seed of the Bennett family can just be spread around as you please? If it wasn't for my actions, how many babies by how many different mothers would you have now?!"

For the first time, rather than cowering in the face of his father's roars, James' gaze turned crimson.

"You've done this other times?!"

Governor Duke Bennett seemed to have realized that his son had finally reached his limits, but he didn't back down either.

"James, I said that's enough. Leave."

BANG!

Suddenly, "Samoa" moved, appearing behind James and chopping at his neck.

"I'll just deal with this, what a waste of time," she said lazily.

SLAP! CRACK!

James suddenly turned, grabbing her wrist and forcefully twisting it.

A scream echoed in the courtyard, but James had already kicked out. The sole of his foot drove into her abdomen with such force that the arm he was still holding onto ripped out of her socket, the rest of her body flying out.

"JAMES!" Governor Duke Bennett roared.

"SHUT UP!"

A wild aura soared into the skies, suffocating everyone in the province.

James' gaze turned entirely crimson, plumes of Force coming off of him like hot steam.

With a thought, his father was encased in an energy shield he had no method of breaking out of.

James' gaze landed on those of the Cloud Race.

"This will be your burial ground."