The military hated politics but couldn't just erase it. Every race tended to group under their own leadership, for good or bad. Thus, the higher-ups decided to use it against the races by keeping them together whether they liked it or not. If needed, the military could suppress the leader or exterminate the entire command structure with only a few unrelated casualties.
So, it was no coincidence that humans had appeared. There were also elves and elven-like races because of Luthdel, though few were high elves. A big chunk was red-skinned humanoids as the cultivators, almost half with similar blue hair. The rest were living trees like the remaining mana-wielding Junior Lieutenant.
It was unexpected for all human cultivators to greet Shen, though. Obviously, the Immortal Emperor knew Shen would be in this exact situation and had sent people to fill his slots. That, or some passing as the Emperor had staged this, but it was unlikely.
All 300 C-ranks had mastered at least one Law. It was either a test or a great honor. The greeting and calling him Field Commander suggested that the Emperor wanted to make amends rather than keep watch over or test Shen. Yet, Shen wasn't so sure after the poisoned gift that was the antidron. He would have to play it by the ear.
They weren't an extreme danger, though, not here. He wouldn't refuse the C-ranks. Instead, he would milk them for information and techniques.
Shen cupped his hands before himself and nodded. He didn't bow back because they already acknowledged his higher status. "I greet you." Then, he vaguely looked at the cultivators from the Association. "Just to make it clear, I'm not a noble. This is how we greet each other in the Republic of Imperia." Or so he guessed. "It's not part of the Association."
Everyone had kept silent at the cultivators' display. Most Guardians still looked confused, but a third of the over 9,000 cultivators not on Shen's side reacted to the news.
"Republicans!" a few whispered in wonder and others cried out in fear or defiance.
"To me!" three cultivators yelled, and about a fifth of the cultivators obeyed while getting ready for a fight.
"For freedom!" someone else created, and another tenth grabbed their weapons, prepared to fight the Imperian cultivators, who hadn't reacted.
"Enough," a deep male voice said.
He just spoke normally, but his voice covered everything. At the same time, a domain based on the Axioms of Darkness descended. It looked like a light gray film and didn't affect Shen, but every cultivator who had prepared to fight fell to their knees. They cried in pair and surprise, though the domain didn't let the sound leave their lips.
"Captain Abbav is speaking!" First Lieutenant Zyn exclaimed, and the six Junior Lieutenants immediately stood to attention with Zyn and Karlov.
"Old enmities will be left outside," Abbav added, and the heads of everyone under his domain's pressure hit the ground. The domain didn't deafen the cracking sounds most skulls produced. "Don't take my mercy for weakness. Infighting will be classified as demanded by regulations: treason. And treason will be punished with immediate execution. This is my first and last warning to you."
The domain disappeared right after.
Shen noticed none of the overexcited Association cultivators had blue hair. They looked as clueless and surprised as the three Lieutenants beside Shen. Obviously, the Republic of Imperia was fighting part of the Cultivator Association, but not everyone knew.
"At ease," Zyn said when Abbav's presence disappeared. "I'm First Lieutenant Zyn, and this is Lieutenant Specialist Karlov. The Junior Lieutenants before you will bestow you with introductory training in the military. They will decide among themselves who they want to train. Lieutenant Specialist Karlov and I will not interfere except to deliver punishment or ask any questions the Junior Lieutenants may have. Recruits are not to talk to us unless ordered otherwise." He turned to the Junior Lieutenants. "Your day starts now."
"Yes, First Lieutenant!" the six replied.
Zyn nodded and stepped sideways with Karlov, giving the Junior Lieutenants the floor.
----------------------------------------
With the commotion and danger out of the way, Shen finally allowed himself to smile at three of the 52 human D-rank Guardians.
| Alicia Winter (D) — Recruit
| Sai Mallik (D) — Recruit
| Mark Williams (D) — Recruit
Alicia, who had been biting her lower lip until now, sighed in relief and smiled back at once. Her entire body relaxed. She had grown taller, and her demeanor had changed. Her long hair was held in a bun, and she seemed to be almost hiding her green eyes behind the D- glasses. She wore D- black leather armor over E+ padded vests, and her Path now contained a Concept from the Axioms of Life.
Shen would be lying if he said looking at her didn't remind him of their swimming pool episode. He had been with Liya for a while and should be almost immune to the allure of anyone below peak B-rank. However, there was a charm to Alicia's imperfections, further fueled by the fact that she was the first female he ever saw wearing a bikini. It was hard to describe.
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It didn't help that he could now read her like an open book and notice her physical attraction to him. It was flattering, to say the least. Although their Paths were incompatible, a tiny part of his Will and True Boundlessness asked what sort of omnipotence would fear Path contamination or obey such boundaries. He had to remind himself that he wasn't omnipotent yet, and he was also more than True Boundlessness.
That wasn't enough to convince himself that he shouldn't pursue her.
Shen didn't feel like his thoughts were a betrayal to Liya because they weren't together anymore. It still felt a bit awkward. He had been willing to tie himself to her for eternity, yet here he was, feeling attracted by someone else mere days after he last saw Liya.
He turned his eyes to Sai next.
The light-brown-skinned man didn't smile back. He had been keeping a neutral expression, which became uncomfortable after Shen acknowledged him. Shen was sure the guy didn't think he was being so obvious, but even if he were better at controlling his body and microexpressions, he had no soul control, and the ripples made his feelings obvious.
Sai's hadn't held back on becoming the archetypal assassin. His brown eyes were hard and cold, and his black hair was gone. He wore a D black robe that rid his D- daggers and some vials. His head was covered by an E- black cloth that only made his eyes visible. His Concepts were still the same, coming from Darkness and Dagger.
Mark Williams made Shen curious. How had he been after he let the system heal his brain?
He at least looked pleased, albeit cautious, at seeing Shen. The redhead wore E+ black pants, a long white shirt, and an E- coat. He looked like someone wearing a magic business suit in a fantasy show. He carried no weapons.
Shen wanted to talk to them privately, but this wasn't the time. Acknowledging them would suffice for now.
Every Recruit was looking at the Junior Lieutenants, primarily at Shen. Although they were all Recruits, the C-ranks naturally had greater status. The Alliance valued power, and the military obviously cared even more about it.
Not that either C or D-ranks would be able to boss anyone, not even the eventual F-rank Recruit. They were all Recruits. They were meant to obey and obey only.
The other Junior Lieutenants were all looking at Shen, too. They had come to an agreement on the best way of doing things.
It helped that they didn't dare to contradict his suggestions after his display against Uya. They were protected from him by the regulations. Still, everyone from the Alliance learned not to offend the strong, and it was doubly true when said person had better chances of getting a promotion and bossing over you in the not-too-distant future. Some would call it politics, but it was just common sense unless things got into the realm of letting illegal things slip through.
It also helped that he had been willing to spend AP in a way they could benefit.
Shen stepped ahead and said, "I'm Junior Lieutenant Shen. My colleagues and I decided it's best to lay some basic foundations before we split you all up. System, I want to buy a multi-interface multi-energy extra-fast reinforced info cube. As good as you can make it at tier D."
| Purchased: Equipment (D) | -18,000,000 AP
| Remaining AP: 2,901,372
| You cannot purchase anything else for 1 Standard day
Shen took it as an investment. He would train humanity and needed a way of quickly sharing information with them. He had no doubt it would come in handy. Also, he didn't want armor or weaponry, and the expenditure wasn't significant, considering he needed 180 million AP to unlock his C stats. Lastly, he still had the B voucher if something urgent popped up and could even sell his favor for 10 million AP.
He would eventually buy it anyway, but he hastened the purchase because he had been given a command: teach Stangue and the regulations to those people in one Standard day. While he doubted there would be punishment for failing to meet an impossible task, he didn't want to fail his very first mission.
A two-foot-wide silvery metal cube with golden edges materialized before Shen. He grabbed it with his Gentle Breeze and touched it with his hand. The cube tried to form a connection to his mind, and he let it through. He then selected the memories he wanted—Stangue and the regulations—and pushed them into the cube. The golden edges shone for a few seconds, and that was it.
"From left to right, come one by one," he said as he pushed the cube to float between him and the closest Recruits. "The cube can take nine simultaneous connections. You connect to it by touching it with your qi or mana. After you learn everything inside, get back to your position. You can only ask questions after you learn everything in the cube and only to your designated Junior Lieutenant."
Shen had agreed to let everyone use his info cube because while the Recruits would be split into groups, the mission was collective. If one failed, he failed. There was a limit to how much Shen would do for everyone, though. He would focus on teaching his people.
He continued, "You will be split between groups and sorted while you wait for everyone to finish getting the information. You will keep quiet unless asked a question or given direct permission to speak. This is not a vacation or your home. This is the military, and you're here to fight the enemies of the Alliance while it's undergoing a Calamity. Don't behave like children."
Shen expected someone to try something like Erin had when she called him the teacher's pet, but it didn't happen. Not everyone was happy about how things were, but they obeyed. Captain Abbav's domain hadn't affected Shen, but it should've been terrifying if they were still that scared of misstepping. Shen would have to thank the Captain later.
It had taken Shen two Standard hours to learn everything from the military-provided info cube, but it had been in tatters, literally on the brink of breaking. The drow info cube had let him memorize the much more complicated Syron within minutes while he was at D-rank, but it had been mana-exclusive, and Shen believed the special pen he had held slowed things down and made the information harder to take. Moreover, he purchased an extra-fast cube.
The first C-rank took mere three seconds to take everything in. It surprised everyone, but soon they formed a quickly moving queue. Shen had ordered silence but didn't admonish the people speaking the new language to themselves to get a feeling for it.
D-ranks took three times longer. When it was Alicia's turn, she very pointedly looked at Shen. He nodded to show he understood she wanted to talk.
They were done one Standard hour later.
"We're on a tight schedule," Shen said after answering a question from one of his C-rank cultivators. "This behind me is an A- mobile fortress. It's enormous. I'll show it to you while explaining how things work in the military. Feel free to interrupt me any time with questions about regulations or any subject I touch."
The other Junior Lieutenants would also guide their people but had agreed to let him be the first. Shen stored his info cube in his Inventory instead of his ring because he doubted he would need it in an urgent situation where he had no access to the system. He then led the 3,300 troops to the fortress.
He didn't like playing guide, but he had been given a mission and would accomplish it.