Shen found Washington... claustrophobic.

To be fair, it had a good mix of open areas with few buildings, but the living quarters mainly consisted of people packed together like ants. Even the "mansions" were barely as large as average mortal houses in the Eternal Empire.

How could people live like that?

Shen wondered about that as he rode a black SUV. He had been convinced of the need by reports of crowds waiting for him to arrive in the city—and he had indeed seen those. He felt safe enough to be in a car now that he was in the country's capital. While he could dodge any crowds and get to his destination following his smartphone's GPS, he had been offered a city-wide tour and had accepted it on the condition that Alicia could come too.

He didn't know if she had visited Washington DC before, but she would likely enjoy the time off. After all, she had been very vocal about resting when he had trained her in the tutorial's second stage.

That's how he found himself taking selfies with her everywhere—though, at some point, it had primarily turned into taking pictures of her. She was exploiting the fact that all touristic points had been emptied for his visits, taking "the best pictures possible." She was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt.

Shen still couldn't understand how he had become almost an exclusive photographer. He didn't recall accepting the role despite his great memory provided by his expanded mind and learning ability.

"...really, really tiring," Alicia said about the tests as they finally got back in the car after visiting the Lincoln Memorial. She was looking at the pics on her smartphone. "The last test yesterday was seeing how long I could run max speed ahead. I think they were trying to calculate exactly how stamina consumption works and how stats affect it."

"Are you required by law to do these tests?" he asked

"Dunno, why?" Alicia replied, not even looking at him as she did her thing.

"They might be finding ways to kill Guardians more effectively," Shen explained. "For instance, knowing how far a Guardian's stamina can take them, and how fast that can happen, will let the US plan better on how to surround Guardians."

"Oh, yeah, makes sense." And that was the extent of her words on the subject as she added black hearts to the picture she was about to upload.

"Aren't you worried?" he asked.

"What?" She finally looked at him. "No. Why?"

"I don't like the idea of people studying how to kill me," he said slowly as if explaining things to a child.

"Dude, lots of people can kill me already. They always could, all my life. Nothing changes. And there are plenty of fucked up people out there, you know? I feel safer knowing my country isn't useless against psycho Guardians." She smiled. "If anything, it's the psycho Guardians who scare me."

Shen gave it a thought and realized that she felt about her government as he did about the Eternal Empire. He trusted the Immortal Emperor and most Imperial Officials. It wouldn't bother him to know they could kill him more effectively when his life was already in their hands.

He would, however, be bothered by another clan researching how to kill him better. That's why he was so upset by the American research.

Be it as it may, he was too weak to do anything about it even if he were willing to take control of the world by force—which he wasn't, at least not at the moment—so he just let go of the issue for now.

The day proceeded. Mortal monuments were... well, mortal. Shen didn't blame them for being unable to create truly grand things without qi—or mana, he guessed. That should change soon enough.

"Oh, look, they are talking about you again!" Alicia said, showing a video of an influencer commenting about the "King's Reckoning" as most people were calling his fight.

A vocal minority called it the "Royal Massacre." Those people definitely didn't like how a foreigner had been the one to do that to "good" Americans.

A PR battle of the likes Shen had never seen had taken hold of the American side of the internet.

To begin with, pictures and videos of the aftermath of his battle were everywhere, sometimes right beside the pictures of him shaking hands with the President.

A soldier had also photographed him on top of the recreational vehicle, uncaring about a nearby crying boy hugging a corpse.

Finally, images showing the Sorcerer King's lair pictured scantly dressed young ladies with leather collars waiting for their owner's return. One of the people who had stayed behind to protect the "Autonomous Guardian Nation" said those girls didn't matter because they were "normies" and thus inferior beings in the new world order. Yet, another interview showed not everyone in the camp had been briefed about the new social order.

Shen wasn't a specialist in informational war or hybrid warfare. They were part of the Concept of War, but things he hadn't invested in. He would need to meditate deeply to understand them better. That said, he could tell the US government was working hard on painting the entire group as terrible. That would counter any issues that might arise with the killings. It was impressive they had done so much work in so little time.

The skeptical part of him said it could be fabricated too, but it didn't feel like that. There was a sincerity in the abused girls' eyes that crushed the heart, and he felt it couldn't be made up—unfortunately.

It made him very glad for what he had done—though if he ever found out that the US had had random girls suffer terribly in preparation for a PR stunt...

He swore he would crush them like insects.

People had been divided about his battle at first, especially the aftermath. A girl in an interview said he had killed people who ran away, which made most people outrageous.

However, the support he had received after the Sorcerer King's lair was revealed was overwhelming. Only a minority of people claimed it was all lies created by the hidden Crusaders in government to justify the murder of innocents.

Shen read enough to get the general gist of it. He didn't care what people thought, but he did care about his survival. Whether they considered him a hero or a villain was relevant because it might determine whether the US government would attack him.

Speaking of which, news from abroad was worrying.

Some countries were killing all Guardians, while others had Guardians killing everyone. Italy had devolved into an all-out war painted as being between some mafia families and the government. Buildings were getting bombed in broad daylight—and some of them were government buildings. They all wanted control of the Maiden or her death, and the surrounding countries were the same. Some allied with Italy, others declared war. All of Europe was taking sides; there were even reports of an ICBM being shot down before reaching a major city. The US was keeping out of it because they were allied to nations on both sides.

On more personal news, Shen had been contacted by a lot of people. He ignored them all for now. Sai still hadn't emailed Shen back.

"When are we stopping to eat?" Alicia asked.

Shen frowned. "We don't need food to survive anymore."

"No, we don't," she said and went back to checking her smartphone. "But I like eating tasty food."

Shen, who had found the habit of talking to people looking at screens jarring at first, went back to his own smartphone to keep learning about the military capabilities of the modern mortal world.

"Oh, yeah," Alicia said while groaning in pleasure. "That hits the spot."

They were eating fast food burgers in the car. It was nothing compared to the burger Shen had had in the tutorial. In fact, he wasn't even sure it was real food.

Alicia ate hers as if it had been given to her by some descended Immortal Cook. He shook his head in disapproval and threw his back in the bag.

At least the soda, while not especially tasty, was pleasantly refreshing.

"Your apartment is in this building, sir," the Secret Service agent said as they stopped in front of a luxurious-looking tall building.

"Wow," Alicia said as she stepped out of the car.

"Most residents are high-class, discrete individuals," the man in a black suit informed. "There should be no issues with your identity here."

He offered Shen a key card, a paper with a password, and an ID with Shen's name. The latter had one of his online pictures—edited to look more "mortal"—and identified him as a Diplomatic Agent.

"One of the doormen should open the door for you every time you approach, sir, but in case he doesn't, this is the front door's password. The keycard opens your apartment door. It's the penthouse. And we would appreciate it if you carried your ID with you all the time and showed it anytime it was asked of you."

Shen nodded. "Thank you." He memorized the password and put both the card and the ID on his backpack.

"What about me?" Alicia asked.

She had avoided the day's tests. It was late night already, and they only had finished the tour now.

"I was told you can choose whether to pass the night here, if Mister Feng will have you, or back in the base. We'll pick him up tomorrow morning to start with the training proper."

She looked at Shen, who gave her a slight smile. "You're welcome to stay."

"Damn right I am. No use having a rich BFF if I can't use their fucking penthouse. Let me check the restaurants that deliver in this place," she said, picking up her smartphone from her pocket.

As foretold, a doorman opened the door for them. The man was polite but not as submissive as Shen's past servants. He knew from some social media posts that submissiveness was seen in a negative light in modern society, so he didn't complain—though any who joined his group under him would have to learn his ways.

Alicia and Shen split in front of the elevator.

"So you're going to be safe in the stairs but leave me to die in the potentially lethal elevator?" she teased.

"Yes," he replied shamelessly. "It's your choice to put yourself in a confined space that can be rigged with explosives. It's faster for us to take the stairs, too."

"Shen, don't be ridiculous," she said with a serious face. "If they were going to kill you, they would rig the apartment, not the elevator. Why do you think they gave you the penthouse? So they can throw missiles more easily at you."

Her argument would actually be great if the penthouse also didn't give him a better way to see incoming projectiles and escape if needed.

Despite the joke, he answered her seriously. "Even if the elevator isn't rigged, it's still a confined space outside my control. I'll only enter it if I can test my spear against the metal, but I believe the residents wouldn't like that."

He arrived at the top story before the elevator closed with Alicia inside.

The penthouse had three stories and was even more luxurious than both Alicia and Shen expected. Mortal luxury was different from cultivator's, but it was apparent enough, especially after Alicia showed Shen pictures of lower-class apartments.

They talked for a while and took pictures of the great view, but he told her he needed some space after a few hours.

"I'm here if you want to talk," she said seriously for once.

"I know, thank you," he replied with a slight smile.

And then finally, a year after he woke up healed, Shen found himself alone on a bed with no pressing matters pushing him forward.

Alicia had been partly right; he was extra vulnerable against missiles in the penthouse. Yet he allowed himself to relax completely for once.

He needed that.

Shen even took his armor out for the first time since getting it and took a bath. The walking closet had many clothes for his size, including clean martial arts robes, though their cut was slightly different from his. Still, he left his robe in a container labeled "dirty clothes" and put a clean one on.

He slept the entire night and ignored the people ringing the bell in the morning. He just stayed in bed, looking at the ceiling of the large room in silence