Uya knew she shouldn't be doing this. This was wrong on many levels. Morally wrong.

But legal.

Allowed.

Encouraged, even.

The military had plenty of races that didn't condemn hierarchical power over a subordinate when it came to romance. It didn't forbid such relationships. In fact, most of the Alliance, her people included, found it perfectly natural that subordinates felt attracted to the power of those above them.

The issue was that she had once, long ago, cut her hair to make a Mating Whip but hadn't used it. She was to be considered a rejected pariah to her people. She had even sworn never to mate, which corroborated that understanding.

Yet, here she was, three years after she was placed above Zyn, cutting the hair she let grow to make a new Mating Whip. A Whip she would use on someone below her, who was thus forbidden from refusing her according to their culture. She could've refused a male, but a male couldn't refuse a female. She was upending social convention and abusing her power to revert her misfortune. Back home, she would be hanged for it.

But Zyn had given her a signal that he wouldn't care about such conventions and was interested in her.

Probably. That was a signal, wasn't it? She hoped she wasn't wrong.

The body mirror in her bedroom reflected her naked image as she pulled her hair one strand at a time. There was a ritualistic method to crafting a Mating Whip. She placed each strand with the others and wove them together before pulling another. The pattern mixed ancient design with signs of her Path. To most observers, it would look like a random whip made of hair to most observers. To Zyn, it would reflect her giving herself to him while he accepted her domain.

Well, she would have dominion over him in theory. The First Whipping would happen, but the Seventeen Lashes were weak nowadays, mere ceremony, and mates were of equal standing. She would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate the power play, though, even if it was just that, a play.

Uya looked at the naked Zyn, who was tied to her wall by metal chains. She had mentioned to him she would make a new Mating Whip, and he had come uninvited and asked her to tie him up.

That had to be a sign that he was willing to mate, right?

Right?!

She sang the Song of Heat while causing her body to produce very vulgar signs of arousal. She kept weaving the Mating Whip until it was done. Then, she turned to Zyn, who looked very ready and enthusiastic.

Uya really hoped she wasn't misinterpreting anything as she pulled her arm back, preparing to give herself to him once and for all.

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A giant shadow humanoid and a beautiful high elf floated high on the skies above the mobile fortresses parked in La'sing.

"Acting General, with all due respect, I wasn't asking," the annoying B-rank said.

The Queen of Spring and Autumn sighed. She had regretted banning politics in La'sing almost as soon as she said the words. But she had to. That was the deal with the dragon. Neither party would interfere with the ones the other cared about.

Now, however, that promise made it impossible for her to keep the drow boy under protection. That would greatly upset Luthdel. The Queen didn't care much about her children's feelings as long as they weren't treasonous, but she wasn't heartless. She had to interfere here and there.

Nepotism wasn't actual politics; it was merely how Reality naturally worked.

Unfortunately, the B-rank in front of her had gone through the very time-consuming official proceedings to make his request, which tied her hands. Saelihn couldn't delay SpecOps much longer, even though mere B-ranks controlled it. Not unless she abandoned her post and took control of them, but even A-ranks died very quickly when they took missions behind enemy lines, and she very much liked to live. Moreover, she wasn't sure she would even be allowed to leave La'sing. After all, her position had been directly assigned to her by a S-rank.

Still, she could postpone things just a little longer. That was the best she could do. She would have to push some boundaries and almost ignore the spirit of the law here and there, but she could adjourn the request one last time.

"Acting Colonel Tytt," she said, "I also wasn't suggesting I might refuse you. I already have. I'm afraid Lieutenant Shen is still under protection after his tale was almost harvested. I have reasons to believe it was a targeted effort, not the action of a single stray tale-harvester," she lied. "I'll keep him under protective surveillance for the full three-year period I'm allowed."

"It has already been three years since the episode, Acting General," the shashak barked. "I specifically waited until today to make the request out of respect for you placing him under protection."

The Queen looked at the B-rank, searching for signs of a lie, but found none. The biped was twice her height, made of pure darkness, and lacked features. However, he had a heart and blood vessels, a real marvel of biology and the elements, a miracle of Life. Shashaks were still sometimes confused for Void Spawn to this day, and the Queen honestly pitied them for it. They might've grown much more politically powerful if it weren't for their natural appearance.

She pitied Tytt a little more because he seemed genuine. She hated playing anyone who believed they were showing her respect. But the guy seemed not to realize that actual respect meant bowing to her wishes, which he wasn't doing.

Saelihn might even have educated Tytt if it weren't even more of a waste of time than spending time teaching anything to Luthdel. Both would die sooner or later. In Tytt's case, sooner.

"I'm naturally deducting one-fourth of deployment periods, as I'm allowed to do," the Queen replied.

"That's absurd, Acting General. The rules you're evoking were not meant for this. You know it."

"I know nothing of the sort," she replied uncaringly. "I can see how the rules could be applied that way for the protected party's benefit, and so can you. That's all that matters here."

"You're treading dangerous territory, Acting General."

"But am I doing anything illegal?"

"We'll see what the System Admin has to say to this, Acting General."

The Queen couldn't believe those words for a moment. Then, she laughed. Oh, that was pure gold. She kept laughing for minutes before she controlled herself.

"Acting Colonel, the System Administrator was very clear when she forced me into this place: she does not want me to cause her further trouble. She's busy watching over the Calamity and protecting Reality from dangers we don't have the clearance to even know about. Captain Abbav survived her ire and forced her to act because he has a special identity. I will also survive because I'm one of the few A-ranks posted on the front lines. But we both know you're just an effective bureaucrat and, as a Special Operative, your life is on a timer already. So, go ahead. If you hate the Alliance that much, throw your life away just to get a C-rank that lacks a single mastered Law into your select group. Or be a good boy and wait another six months to send him to suicide missions."

Saelihn couldn't keep Shen there for longer than that because there were limits to deployments, especially when it involved troops with as many Commendations as him. So, she couldn't just deploy him forever. She wouldn't cross those lines after she had already gotten very close to doing that to Abbav. The look of disbelief on the Captain's face when he was forced to return for another one-year deployment twice had been priceless. Yet, even there, she had already reached a limit. Speaking of which, the draggor should be returning in a few days.

Anyway, she doubted Tytt could even contact the System Administrator. The woman had been unreachable for the last few months, ever since the Calamity had peaked. It might go on for another couple of years or end anytime. A-ranks were already fighting, and the S-ranks might intervene to save someone they cared about at any moment. The final showdown wouldn't take long after that.

Tytt momentarily kept silent, then spat, "Six months, not a minute more, Acting General!" before teleporting away.

The Queen forgot the unnoteworthy figure as soon as it left and returned to watching over the Nodes of the Cluster under her purview. Six universes were under her protection, though only La'sing had the privilege of her instantaneous intervention if anything went wrong, and even the other Nodes in the same universe would have to wait for a few hours for her presence. S-ranks could affect an entire universe easily, but things became tricky when Nodes were involved.

She briefly checked the boy that SpecOps was so desperate to recruit and confirmed he was safe, then focused on things that mattered slightly more, like the continued existence of that big chunk of the Alliance and the countless lives therein.

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To Wu Bai, the six months Second Lieutenant Shen spent away, getting some secret training, had been a roller coaster of emotions and experiences. He had served under a few different Second Lieutenants and even been directly placed under First Lieutenant Uya once. It had been eye-opening in a way Wu Bai had never expected.

Except maybe for First Lieutenant Zyn, no Commander seemed to have the acuity that Commander Shen displayed on their every deployment.

"The Lieutenants are to filter every sixth Void Spawn, focusing on the weakest of them," the Battalion Commander ordered.

Wu Bai immediately went to deliver the order. The 1,923th Mixed Battalion was in a C-tier Voided Subnode that looked like an endless gray desert. They faced a horde of Void Spawn, though it was nowhere as numerous as what they had fought in the Void Farm. Wu Bai had only encountered a Stampede once after that. Still, every battle against Void Spawn was dangerous, and a Battalion had much fewer C-rank Lieutenants to protect the D-rank Sergeants and E-rank Corporals behind them.

A minute after Wu Bai delivered the order, Commander Shen's foresight proved its worth again. Not everyone could see the chain of actions and reactions that led to the order being brilliant, but Wu Bai was doing nothing but watching over the battle.

A group of weak E-rank Void Spawn almost overwhelmed a Squad, and a Sergeant had to step up to save a Corporal.

That almost cost another Sergeant their life because the missing Sergeant left a gap that seven D-rank Void Spawn took advantage of.

A Staff Sergeant protected the Platoon, but an unbelievable coincidence saw so many troops at the wrong place at the wrong time that it also created an opening that hundreds of Void Spawn took advantage of.

The Sergeants reacted fast enough, killing most of the enemies before they could get to the Corporals at the back of the defensive line. However, they focused on the stronger creatures, and a few of the weak ones went through.

There were precisely two Corporals ready to face the Void Spawn, but killing the foes cost the two Corporals the last bits of their qi and stamina. A single extra E-rank Void Spawn might've caused a tragedy before anyone could intervene to save the now-unconscious Corporals.

Commander Shen's orders to quell the weaker creatures saved two people without him ever spending a single stamina point or using a single particle of qi—and making people fight for themselves and learn from their mistakes!

Wu Bai glanced at Shen, who had returned from his special training wearing a B-rank black cultivator robe instead of the drow armor. His long black hair—another novelty—was held in a bun, but there were plenty of wild strands everywhere, and his face displayed a bad shave. The visuals made him look every bit the rogue cultivator he professed himself to be, despite him being the Republic's Field Commander in La'sing. No one could understand that, and neither could their families explain it.

Only the Grand Senator knew who Shen was beyond the fact that he had once belonged to the late Feng Clan, which people only knew because one of Earth's D-ranks had let it slip. As an expelled member, Shen couldn't even state his former clan's name out loud.

Wu Bai shivered when he recalled the cold rage Shen failed to hide when Wu Bai told the Commander that his clan had been executed for treason by the Grand Senator.

Commander Shen kept his hands behind his back and watched the battle like a phoenix watching over its chicks' first flight. He was fully focused and looking around, yet he felt Wu Bai's look at once.

"Anything to report, Staff Lieutenant?" Shen asked without looking at Wu Bai.

"No, Commander. I was just wondering how you could've predicted that."

"Water," Shen replied. "I understood the margins created by the moving pieces in the battlefield and where the Water would go through. The Void itself is unpredictable, but Void Spawn are 'corrupted' by Will and limited by Space and Time; thus, there are only so many ways they can act in Reality."

That was more information than many people were willing to reveal about their Paths. The Commander didn't state which Laws of Water he understood, but even saying that much would be taboo in the Republic.

The matter of secret notwithstanding, using Laws to predict Void Spawn movement was theoretically impossible. That's what Wu Bai heard time and time again. It also matched his experience with it. Yet, Shen claimed to be able to do it.

There was more, of course. Shen had to be using a lot of strategic and tactical training together with his Path's Laws to analyze a battlefield like this. But just the fact that he could use his Path for more than strengthening his mind and changing his outlook on things was already a wonder. In fact, it sounded like he was forcing a perspective on his very Path to make the Void Spawn parts of his understanding of Water somehow.

That... That didn't sound right. That's now how Paths worked... Or was it? If Commander Shen wasn't lying...

"That should be it," Shen said as the number of enemies dwindled. "You have permission to engage, Staff Lieutenant. Go get yourself some AP."

Wu Bai didn't need to be told twice. This was only the fifth time he was anywhere with that much Void Spawn to kill. His three years in the Alliance's ilitary were mostly spent guarding places the Void didn't attack or patrolling locations with too few creatures to kill. This was a unique opportunity.

And who knows, he might even find a way to put what he had just learned to good use.