Karl was dumbfounded. For the first time in his life, he had encountered a problem that couldn’t be solved with money. He offered to invest in the Moon Lotus Sect to get a cut of the profits when they sold their combat robots to the army, but he was rejected. Not only was he rejected, but he received a detailed description of how he and his family would be put to death through a torturous method. If it weren’t for the fact he was fascinated by the woman’s voice, he would’ve hung up on her the moment she brought up his parents!

After a few minutes of staring at the corner of his desk in a daze, Karl slammed his palm onto the table. Could he, the CEO of one of the richest companies in the federation, take this kind of insult lying down? Of course not! It didn’t matter how bewitching the voice of that lady was. This was the federation! It might not be a perfect place, but it was still a civilized place. Death threats were a crime, plain and simple! With that, Karl dialed the number for the police chief of the capital city of Bread. This intergalactic world wasn’t a lawless one. It was a world where the strong ate the weak through the use of the laws!

The phone rang three times before a sleepy voice picked up. “Karl? What the hell? It’s 3 AM, dude.”

“You’re a golden-core cultivator,” Karl said and snorted. “Do you even need to sleep? What are you doing?”

“Oh, some of my boys confiscated a mountain of illegal goods bought from the Moon Lotus World,” the police chief said, his voice still slurred. “I recommend you go there one day. This stuff is some good stuff … if you know what I mean.”

Karl shook his head. How did someone like Dave become the police chief? “Speaking of the Moon Lotus World, I’ve actually called you because I have a problem relating to the Moon Lotus Sect. My life and the life of my family was threatened by the sect’s leader. I have everything recorded.”

Dave grunted. “You heard about how lawless that place is, right? What do you want me to do about it?”

“If you can’t do anything about it, who can?” Karl resisted the urge to raise his voice. Speaking calmly would get him much further with Dave than yelling would. “Listen to the recording first, and see if speaker is breaking any intergalactic death threat laws.”

“Couldn’t you have just filed a regular report and turned it in at the precinct?” Dave asked, his voice finally clearing up. “I don’t see why you had to call me, the chief, for something so trivial. You shouldn’t get mad over a few words spoken from so far away. Think about it; they’re just words. Can the Moon Lotus Sect really kill you? It’s like a child threatening to blow up a bus with a paper gun.”

“Just listen to the recording first,” Karl said. He pressed a button on his table, and an audio recording played.

“You audacious pig, how dare you suggest such a thing? Do you think the Moon Lotus Sect is filled with useless, pretty flowers? We’ll find out who you are. We’ll find out where you live. We’ll barge into your house, overpower every living thing, and publicly execute all of you as a lesson to everyone else. When I say every living thing, I mean every living thing: your wife, your children, your parents, your cousins, your aunts and uncles, the family pet, even the fruit flies won’t be spared. Your remains will be frozen as an eternal display of what’ll happen to those who displease the Moon Lotus Sect. Do you think I can’t follow up on what I’ve said? Two of our sect’s elders are already in the capital city of Bread. That’s more than enough to wipe out your familial line. You’ll regret the day you ever set your grubby sights on the Moon Lotus Sect. Goodbye. Enjoy your trip to the afterlife.”

After a moment of silence, Dave’s dazed voice came out of the speaker. “Damn, dude. What the hell did you do to them to elicit a response like that? It almost sounds like one of those responses you read on the internet that people copy and paste because of how over-the-top it is.”

“Nothing! Nothing I said could ever warrant a response like that,” Karl said. His brow furrowed. “And you’re right. It really does sound like someone trying to be more impressive than they actually are.”

“Great,” Dave said. “It’s settled then. It was just a joke, so you can forget about it and go on with your life. It’s great that you rely on me and all, but try to rely on me in the afternoon or evening, not during ungodly hours like this.”

“I didn’t want to correct you because I wanted you to realize it for yourself, but it is, in fact, not 3 AM. It’s 3 PM.”

There was a momentary silence followed by something that sounded like window curtains opening. “Oh, shit,” Dave said. “Where the hell did the time go? These confiscated goods are crazy, dude; you really have to try them. I think my cultivation base has actually gone up too.”

“Dave…. You know what, forget it,” Karl said and shook his head. “Let’s get back on track. What legal actions can you take against the Moon Lotus Sect with this audio recording?”

“Huh? Didn’t we agree that the whole spiel was just someone blustering about?”

“Not exactly,” Karl said. “I did some investigating of my own, and some of her words were true. There really are two sect elders of the Moon Lotus Sect here in the capital.”

Dave sighed. “You know, it’s usually our job to do things after a crime has been committed. We don’t preemptively arrest people for things they haven’t done yet.”

“Damnit, Dave,” Karl said. “You heard the recording. Regardless of how immature it sounds, it’s still a death threat. My life is at risk here!”

“I really want to help you, Karl,” Dave said. “I really do. You know me. If my hands weren’t tied, I would definitely be out in the field personally to arrest this sect leader, but I don’t want to stir the pot before my big promotion.”

“You’re the chief of police!” Karl’s eyes widened. Clearly, his so-called friend had no intentions of helping out. If that was the case, why should Karl hold back his temper? “What the hell can you be promoted to!? You’re already at the top!”

“I’m going to be a politician,” Dave said. “The Moon Lotus World might be a backwards civilization recently introduced to the federation, but they have lots of people. Do you know what people are, Karl? They’re votes, votes that I need.”

“Why the hell would they vote for you?”

“Well, they certainly wouldn’t vote for me if I arrested their world’s leader,” Dave said. “I’m not going to cripple my dream before it’s even begun.”

“Dave! You—”

“I’m sorry, Karl. I really can’t help you.” There was a clacking sound, followed by Dave’s muttering, “Holy crap. It’s real?” Then, the phone hung up.

Karl stared at the corner of his desk with his teeth clenched. A moment later, he picked up his table and threw it across the room while screaming. Why wasn’t anything going his way!?

***

Karta stared at Pravos. “So, the god of justice is allowed to bribe police chiefs now?”

“It isn’t a bribe,” Pravos said. “It’s a reward for adhering to the call of justice. Doing good deeds will surely result in good things happening to the one who did the deed. Why can’t I expedite these good things? There’s nothing wrong with a little encouragement.”

Karta placed her tail on Vremya’s thigh. “You corrupted her.”

“Nonsense,” Vremya said. “She was always like that. Gods never change.”

“Didn’t I change after absorbing Rynok’s divinity?” Karta asked, tilted her head.

Vremya snorted. “Changed? How? You’re still stinky.”

“…I’m really going to bite you while you sleep one day.”