Keynes opened his eyes.

How long?

Three days, came an immediate reply.

So it had taken him three days to fully synchronise his senses with those of his dominion. It showed a quality of dangerous time sink that wasn’t controlled or curated by hunger, thirst or other necessities. Keynes’s mind had been completely consumed by his dominion.

Synchronisation had been only a part of reason for its misguided time management; Keynes had watched dutiful men and women gather remnants of dominion monsters, and experts measuring and scribbling notes. They were doing what Turtelli had come for. But those were Keynes’s people and he didn’t feel bad giving away rare materials to them.

Even these observations paled in comparison to a feeling of unobstructed freedom granted by the dominion. Keynes had moved through the ground, the lake and the sky and had been the soil, water and air all at once. These weren’t sensations easily processed by a Level 3 Perfect State ascender and as he emerged from the synchronisation, exhaustion was catching up to him. His mind felt fried.

Keynes sighed, half-satisfied, half-pained.

During those fleeting moments—as he remembered them now—Keynes had felt as if he could shift anything within his dominion by his willpower. His efforts had remained fruitless though, the matter ever elusive and untouchable. The ordeal had made him wonder though—was it possible to modify a dominion without resources? Unlikely, nonetheless, the possibilities offered by a dominion were daunting.

I think it is time to leave the dominion, master.

Her words made a part of him bristle in ferocious defence like a cornered animal. The unfortunate consequence of a thorough synchronisation was a newly strengthened connection and thoughts of impending separation terrified him.

At the same time, Alice was right, his time here came to end.

With the island scrubbed clean of the monsters, his people were about to leave for Emerald City. Columbus wasn’t going to leave him alone though. They knew that the Solar Council had never left the other side of the lake where Keynes’s dominion ended. It was unlikely they’d know if Columbus left or not but it was better to err on the side of caution.

Apart from an extra Orb of Dominion, Keynes didn’t really have many resources to start upgrading his dominion. Besides, he didn’t know in what direction he wanted to take his dominion in the first place. The sheer number of possibilities was staggering. He’d need to consider his options carefully, given the cost of upgrades.

He was surprised to find Vivena’s dominion in the System - House of Poison. It made him realise that he hadn’t named his dominion. Another item on his to-do list.

A moment of panic seized him when he noticed her dominion had a location listed next to the name. Alice stepped in and assured him that she’d set his dominion to ‘secret’. It was not visible to anyone in the System.

As his thoughts returned back to the unusual resources required to upgrade the dominion, his mood darkened. Upgrading the dominion would take a substantial momentum away from personal development.

That is the way of the System, Alice added vaguely.

***

His way back to Emerald City was a slog but after four days, he and Columbus entered the bowels of the underground city. It had changed more than Keynes thought possible. Previous building materials were replaced with higher level materials, more people populated corridors now and here and there Keynes saw formations and runes on the walls, floors and ceilings.

“Wagner has moved all our people here,” Columbus explained on their way to the meeting room. “Having everyone here is going to speed up our development efforts by a lot.”

Keynes wouldn’t argue with Wagner’s logic but it still felt strange to have their entire company in one place.

“Actually, not everyone is here,” Columbus corrected himself as they entered a lift. “Wagner and his closest staff have remained in Geneva but the headquarters is here now.”

“Why leave him there?”

“Geneva’s role as a trading hub has been reinforced with the emergence of the Solar Council. Every major company has their representation there. Logistically, it’s easier this way.”

Soon after that, their conversation was interrupted by a bustling activity of the office wing. With the headquarters moved here, the number of office employees increased manifold.

Their steps carried them to the centrepiece of the section. Here, things took an unexpected turn. Most materials used in the underground city were Level 1 and 2 with only a hint of Level 3.

The heavily defended metal door before Keynes and Columbus was made entirely out of Level 4.

Two Level 5 guards stood watch in front of the door. Their light, red armours were custom made out of Level 4 materials.

The pieces must at least provide 20 points to each attribute, Alice informed him.

It was a serious security upgrade compared to what Keynes had witnessed earlier. A quick calculation in his head gave him a staggering 55 points per attribute. This was far beyond a Level 10 human ascender. It appeared that Wagner had stopped taking half-measures. It gladden Keynes. He didn’t want to needlessly worry about his employees. This led to a small incident, of course.

They stopped before the guards at their command and Keynes felt a prickle.

The Purifying Body buff prevented [Inspect].

The leftmost guard frowned, then his eyes narrowed, focusing on Keynes.

“You have to let me [Inspect] you, sir.”

Columbus glanced Keynes’s way with unrestrained curiosity but didn’t say anything.

“Why?” Keynes asked, feeling defiance building up inside him like a hurricane.

“Every person entering the Command Sphere must pass inspection.”

“What about the clearance card?” Keynes produced the card from his dimensional pouch.

“These are not sufficient to enter the Command Sphere, sir.”

“Let them do their job,” Columbus said eventually, growing impatient with the issue.

“Fine.”

A moment later, the same guard nodded, satisfied. The rightmost guard placed his hand on a wall palm scanner. The heavy door slid open revealing a small, cage-like metal chamber. Damn, they surely outdid themselves here.

Once inside, the door behind them closed soundlessly.

“Now, you can use your card.”

They touched their cards to a card scanner—consecutively—and only after it had flashed green, the next door opened into a much less populated, but wider corridor. It lacked the luxurious feel of the executive offices outside but its sturdiness of Level 4 materials and metallic interior added a futuristic feel like a spaceship bound for an interstellar voyage.

Two additional control points barred their way as they moved closer to their destination. These were lighter and only required a scan of their cards. Eventually, as the outer layers of the Command Sphere peeled away, they entered the command room itself.

A room wasn’t the right word. It was as large as a cavern. A beating heart of Emerald City. Rows upon rows of screens of various sizes with several gigantic ones taking space on the furthermost wall flickered with numerous information and graphics. Hundreds of people worked in the command. Keynes spotted several elevated positions that had to house higher ranking individuals, overseeing this madhouse. He didn’t see any familiar faces.

The command room was behind a thick sheet of clear glass while the corridor split, flowing around it, diving further into smaller corridors.

Everyone here is Level 3, minimum, Alice informed Keynes. It is impressive what they have achieved in barely two weeks.

It was, indeed, damn impressive.

Their destination lay several turns away though. An unassuming door with a sign ‘Meeting Room’ didn’t hint at housing the leaders of the very company.

Columbus opened it and entered the room without a word. Keynes followed him inside.

The room had a large circular table made out of Level 4 polished dark wood. Several comfortable chairs were arranged around it. Esopp occupied one. He didn’t glance at them, instead remaining focused on an electronic tablet in his hands.

Another important feature of the room was a screen. Wagner glanced at them from it, looking worse for wear, even for Level 7. He’d clearly pushed himself to unhealthy limits. Esopp wasn’t any better. He clearly had come straight from a rift, not bothering to take a shower. His battle robe had some minor damages and was stained with blood. Esopp himself appeared sombre and quiet.

“Finally,” Wagner said, sounding relieved.

“We had some minor security hiccups,” Columbus said, offering no further explanation. Neither Wagner nor Esopp asked for any.

Keynes and Columbus took seats.

“Let's us start.”

***

Keynes hadn’t been thrilled to be part of these newly established monthly meetings but if he wished to have any input into strategic decision-making, he had no choice but to be here.

A tablet came to life in Keynes’s hands, recognising his face and logging in his profile.

Wagner gave them a moment to absorb the first point on their itinerary.

Consequences of Syberius Sael’s death.

“They pinned Sael’s death on the sub-boss,” Wagner reiterated the information from the tablet.

Why? Weren’t they going to use it against Untainted Paradise? Esopp appeared unbothered but Columbus showed signs of slight distress. This was what he was afraid of.

“They’re planning something ugly,” Columbus said.

“Certainly,” Wagner agreed. “But our intelligence isn’t fully fleshed out yet.”

“Intelligence?”

“Our spies,” Esopp answered mirthlessly without peeling his eyes off the tablet.

They had spies? Keynes needed a moment to process this. Were they becoming like the World Government? In fact, given the size of their company and amount of resources generated through rifts, they were one of the larger institutions in the world. Why was he surprised to learn of having an espionage department? Many lesser businesses used such practices to varying degrees.

Likely, the answer was simple; because this time the company doing this was his, or at least 25% of it. Even now, sitting in the heart of Emerald City was difficult to process and comprehend that it was his, that he had control over many things.

“If you want, I can involve you in our weekly meetings with a master spy,” Wagner said.

Keynes considered the offer but he knew better than wasting his time.

“Maybe another time.”

They returned to Sael. The consequences of his demise were spreading like a wildfire throughout the world. The House of Sael had split itself into two warring factions; this worked in Untainted Paradise’s favour. The Sael Holding’s potions production suffered terribly. Keynes briefly wondered how Vivena would react to the news of her grandfather’s death. She’d seemed to despise that man.

Without a powerful leader, the Old Blood Houses were vying to fill the void but their efforts were akin to a pack of hungry hounds fighting for scraps of meat. If they chose to escalate, things would become bloody.

Untainted Paradise wouldn’t much care for such a turn of events but the Sael’s schism had an additional and unforeseen effect—the Old Blood’s position in the Solar Council was threatened. Nothing official but once again, their intelligence had learned of plans to remove the Old Blood from the council.

Keynes didn’t need to be politically savvy—which he wasn’t—to see the absurdity of the move. Columbus beat him to the question.

“Why kick an ally though?”

Yeah, it made no sense and this made it much worse. The Solar Council weren’t fools.

“It’ll be the true end of the Old Blood’s grip on the interplanetary affairs. Their power will be significantly blunted,” Esopp said darkly and a little mind absently. Columbus and Keynes gave him curious looks. Wagner seemed to had gone through this discussion already. “It’s about time.”

It sounded strange, coming from Esopp who was the head of the Earls, one of the most powerful Old Blood families on Earth.

“Wasn’t it Freeman’s goal? Crippling the Old Blood.” Columbus asked.

“It was,” Esopp replied.

Keynes could almost feel the gears in their heads turn. Then Wagner had an ‘aha’ moment.

“They are purging the council to streamline their control.”

“Or they are bringing in stronger allies,” Esopp countered.