Later on, Lawrence would often ask himself how he was able to keep a serious face as he heard Christiane talking. He would come up with nothing.

"The first thing you did as you realized you had been empowered was carrying on with your normal routine." She dusted her glasses with the rim of her skirt. "My guess is that, behind that, you were already planning your first move."

That couldn't be more wrong, as a matter of fact. Lawrence still remembered the feeling of panic crawling and clawing him when he found out he was a villain. Although that was all over now.

"But then, something 'unexpected' happened. The girl who had stolen from you last night had returned, escorted by a cop."

Mika interrupted her. "Why do you say 'unexpected' like it wasn't that unexpected at all?"

Christiane giggled. "Please, even someone like me would notice something so obvious..." She stopped on her tracks, as if realizing something. Then, her smile grew wider. "Mr. Lawrence did that on purpose as well. My guess is that he knew he was getting his power even before the Root told him. He planned for you to be his minion beforehanded. You have excellent infiltration skills after all."

Lawrence arched a brow. "Christiane. I hereby forbid you of using your powers on Mikaella or I, unless I tell you otherwise. Don't let it happen again."

"Yes sir."

"Continue."

"Yes. Well, as I was saying, it was the very first day and Mr. Lakewood already had a useful, if maybe not yet loyal first minion." Mika looked like she wanted to protest, but Lawrence shut her off with a stern, but 'I trust you' kind of look. She nodded. Christiane smiled softly at this little exchange and continued. "Then the explosion happened. I suspect Mr. Lakewood didn't know of it beforehanded, but that only makes his actions even more surprising."

Lawrence gave her an interrogatory look. "Explain yourself."

"Well, the fact remains that you knew nothing of the enemy. Still you went to get them. That leads me to one of two options: Either you are very stupid" Lawrence furrowed his brows at that, not because it hurt him but because she was right "or you had confidence that you could take them on. If the second was the case, then you weren't relaying on your physical power only. One could never be sure enough the opponent is weaker than them. There is always a bigger fish." He nodded. "That meant you either had a backup plan, or your strategy involved offering them something they couldn't refuse. in my personal opinion, I believe it was a mix of both."

He stopped a second to reflect. She was right, going straight at the enemy was the stupidest thing one could do. He shouldn't repeat that, unless absolutely necessary.

"Either way, you defeated them. As you found the information you needed, you were already accommodating you plans. In fact, this was even better for you. Depending on how your meeting with Mr. Chase went (yes, I am sure you planned that as well), you would not only gain a connection with a very powerful person, and get him to owe you a favor, but you also had an excuse to gather information of them and the rival organization. It was the perfect stratagem" she clapped.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"And that's how you discovered an efficient way of dealing with the Yakuza."

Lawrence nodded. It all made perfect sense...

...

Wait.

The Yakuza?!

The rival organization was the Yakuza?! Ruthless Japanese criminals who melted corpses with acid?! Who turned you into salami chunks with their insanely sharp katanas?! Those Yakuza?!

Lawrence felt a headache coming up. This was bad, very bad. He wanted to slap himself. See, Lawrence?! This is what happens when you play Rouse Roulette with the bad guys! Sometimes, you get the bullet!

He sighed. He would have to rethink his whole point of view from the beginning.

At the same time, he was intrigued. Christiane believed he had a plan to take them out. A viable plan. What could Lawrence do against an international criminal organization?

He looked at her, expectantly.

"And?"

Christiane pointed her finger at him.

"And then it came to you. Why not getting rid of all the evil in this city, and emerge as the one and only criminal leader of Worne YK? It could be done. It would be difficult, yes, but possible. And simple."

Mika was already looking at the chief with twinkling stars in her eyes. She knew he was awesome, but she never imagine it was to this point!

And now she saw. The chief's plans. Taking everyone at the same time and receiving no damage. All he had to do was...

"All you have to do is start a holy war. Make them fight like dogs against each other while you laugh of them from the distance. Then finish off the last one standing. I am sure you also plan on absorbing all the other criminals in the city. Of course there will have to be someone to take all the blame. A scapegoat, if you like. They will be framed for everything, and you will lead the newly formed coalition against them. In the end, you will be the hero. Those who try to oppose you can be disposed off, but you try to build a dream world for evil, not a slaughterhouse. Silencing them peacefully will prove more difficult, but rewarding on the long run."

Lawrence was honestly shocked. That was a scary plan. Scarily good one, at that. There was a problem: he had no idea of how to carry on with it.

But he would figure it out. He had a flawless strategist by his side, and he himself was starting to learn how to plan ahead one step or two.

"Very well. I see you grasped the basics of my stratagem. But I'm intrigued: how did you know?"

She smiled. "Please, Mr. Lakewood. You don't have to play fool anymore. I already noticed."

She did?!

Wait. Noticed what?

"It honors me. That you purposefully left security holes in your plan. Not too obvious, but just subtle enough that someone with good observation skills could notice. And you did it in a way that whoever noticed saw your brilliance. 'If you want power, follow me' is the message that you wanted to send. But within that message, a hidden, deeper message. 'But I can do this without you. Get in my way and I'll show no mercy'. In summary: you wanted to force whoever that noticed to join your side. Truly splendid."

In times like this, Lawrence couldn't but thank the Root in all its grace for granting him the Facade skill. Without it, he would be doomed.

"Wonderful." He spoke in a 'I know everything and you know that' tone. "I see you have talent as a commander, Christiane. You have shown skills capable of reading my plans, even if I wanted you to do so. If a child cannot read a book, the teacher cannot fully help him to grow. You can read the book, Christiane. It is time that I help you grow. And in exchange..."

"Yes, Mr. Lakewood" she put her hand on her chest, her eyes gleaming with appreciation. "I will dedicate my life to serve you."

"Very well" he nodded.

Later on, when he looked back, he would also find that he had a small urge to slap himself in the face to act like he did. But then he would look at the big picture. And to be honest...

He had done a pretty darn good job handling things.

He wanted to pat himself on the back now.