In the infinite whiteness of teleportation, Sun Weisheng received a message.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): Hello, cultivators from the Republic of Imperia. I'm First Lieutenant Shen, currently stationed in Samir, your destination. Acting General Long Hei has asked me to take care of your arrival and assimilation with our troops. In case you're wondering, yes, the General and I are both from Imperia, though I don't know which position he occupied before he came to Samir. I was expelled with dishonor from a clan. I apologize someone like me is dealing with you, but it's the General's orders. That reminds me that Grand Senator Carl Jones assigned me as Field Commander for some of you who were previously assigned to La'sing. I'm unaware of whether that classification holds for Samir or even how much authority it gives me, but I'll take anything. I'll broach a delicate subject next.

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Weisheng would've sighed if he had a body while teleporting. The Brigade Commander's opening message was passable but showed the disconnect with Imperia's culture.

Both Shen and Weisheng were in the Ethereal Harmonization realm, but Shen, while the Weisheng was in the Confirming Stage. Or, in Alliance terms, Shen was a C-rank placed above a B-rank. In the Alliance's military, that was only barely legal enough for A-ranks to throw C-ranks at problems they didn't have a B-rank to solve. It might create the issues Shen was afraid of.

However, in Imperia, someone in the military obeyed whoever was in charge, even if they weren't cultivators. One's ability meant more than one's power. There were honorable means to replace a leader who shouldn't lead. No one would care if a C-rank was bossing B-ranks as long as the C-rank was the right person for the job.

As one of the thirty B-ranks who had served on the front lines these past three years, Weisheng had seen no signs of Imperia's denizens forgetting the proper way of things. Their culture held firmly against the Alliance's way of doing things because they believed Imperia had developed the best geopolitical and cultural structure to ever exist.

Seeing a former citizen so disconnected from them was a bit sad. High Senator Long Hei had left not long ago, headed somewhere Weisheng wasn't privy to, but he knew Imperia. As the Alliance's Acting General in charge of Samir, he would have seen Shen's opening. He knew it was weak, at best. Yet, he allowed it to go through, showing how much he trusted the boy not to mess things up despite differences in perspective. It also revealed Long Hei, whom the Grand Senator had named Superior Commander right before the teleportation started, was either too busy or didn't care enough about Imperia to accommodate them adequately.

In other words, Shen was the best they would have, and if anyone had a problem with it, they could just shut up and obey anyway.

Weisheng could think of a few High Senatorial families who would take offense to that, but the Grand Senator had prepared for it. Karma bound most B-ranks stronger than ever. The Grand Senator hadn't said why the boy was important, but every B-rank had been told in no uncertain terms they were to obey him as the Field Commander—unless the Superior Commander said otherwise or the orders were illegal in Alliance military law. Even now, Weisheng felt his debt to the Grand Senator demanding he listen to Shen. Anything else would affect his Path.

As if that wasn't enough, Superior Commander Long Hei was there to oversee everything. Shen's words were currently both the words of the Superior and Field Commanders. There was no going against it.

Shen continued after a few moments.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): During my time in Imperia, honor was a core tenant of every cultivator's life. I believe in it, and I hope everyone is the same. Therefore, I respectfully request every Bounty target to surrender as soon as you arrive.

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That was slightly better than the opening lines. More direct. Still, Shen was too afraid and a B-rank would undoubtedly replace him as Field Commander in a matter of minutes. Such weak will couldn't be tolerated in such a post. At best, if Shen was a genius strategist, he would become a Tactical Auxiliary Commander.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): That said, during my admittedly short life, I have come to learn respectful requests are rarely enough. Every Bounty target will, therefore, be assigned a unit filled with mostly people who dislike them, with a few allies around. I urge all of Imperia to keep the bloodshed to a minimum, but I remind you that dead Bounty targets are better than free ones. If you surrender and are killed, I promise your killer and everyone around who didn't intervene will be killed for treason. If you don't surrender and die in the ensuing attempt to capture you, I'll mourn your passing.

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Oh. That was more interesting. The borderline taunt would make him lose his Field Commander status even faster, but he would at least not go down as a complete coward.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): If you have a Bounty on you that demands your execution, I have used my authority to give you Dutiful Judgment of Valor. For the ignorant, that means you'll be assigned missions under supervision. You'll not be allowed to keep any equipment, but you'll have the chance to gain enough Merit to offset your Bounty debt. It sounds bad, and it is. It's the best you'll get.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

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Sun Weisheng didn't have much to say about that. He could see the pros and cons of that small mercy.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): I'll send separate messages to every unit telling them who they'll arrive with, each Guardian's position, and what the Bounty target did.

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There was a longer pause, and Sun Weisheng analyzed the messages. It was interesting but too polite and too scheming. Weisheng supposed he could give a C-rank Field Commander a passing grade for that. Shen was doing what he could.

Unfortunately, it would fail.

Shen had called for honor, but honor would see Imperia protect itself against the Alliance's Bounty Subsystem instead of fighting internally. Perhaps the ones who had committed terrible crimes would get captured or killed, but the general belief was that it was best to let criminals fight beside the factions that supported them and let it be their problem, even if it ended in betrayal. The overall sense of security from having more people fighting a common enemy, as long as those people weren't too bad, came before most clan conflicts.

Instead of giving enemies a reason to attack each other, Shen was giving the clans a reason to negotiate hostage exchanges or safety. Bounties weren't part of the military structure, so they could do that without disrespecting the spirit of the law.

Shen's following message changed Weisheng's assessment.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): Yet, I still feel that might not be enough. So, I have a reminder and an order for you. From my previous messages, it's evident that I was given the authority to reassemble your units. That means until they are officially created, you are all outside most chains of command. You'll be Samir warriors under its Acting General and no one else. The Acting General made you my problem. You are technically beneath me until your units are formed, which I'll decide upon. In other words, you officially belong to an Exemplary Brigade.

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Sun Weisheng could see where that was going and approved it.

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| 7th Exemplary Brigade Commander (C): Most of you don't know what it means, but you only need to know one thing: disobedience is harshly punished. I'm directly commanding those with Bounty targets to surrender and everyone else to capture them with no bloodshed unless they resist. My Brigade is currently deployed. Going against my direct orders will be treason. I'll then command traitors to be killed. If anyone disobeys then, it'll also be treason. As a mere Lieutenant, I'll have to ask Acting General Long Hei to deal with it for me.

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So that's where Shen was going. His approach was much better when seen as a whole. He had appealed to their culture while placing himself as a half-outsider. Under the right light, you could call it as making himself a bridge between Imperia and the Alliance.

He had respected Imperia by appealing to their sense of honor but planned around it just the wrong way. It reinforced the sense of alienship. Yet, it didn't matter. His last message was clear: Imperia's cultivators were going to an Alliance's Node. They would obey or be culled—and by Imperia's Superior Commander to boot.

Indirectly, Shen had also made Long Hei a bridge, and one that no one in Imperia could shake. One that allowed Shen to send those weak messages first. One that would likely help him kill traitors instead of removing the power from someone who some might argue was acting as a tyrant.

The chain of command was clear and vertical. The orders were direct and unambiguous. The commands were lawful both in Imperia and the Alliance's military and came straight from the top. And Shen even had the Grand Senator's support in a time of war—when Carl Jones became the Supreme Commander and couldn't be refused.

Imperia had a choice to make: submit or die.

Sun Weisheng approved of it, and his sister agreed, as shown in the message she sent him.

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| Sun Chunhua (B): The Xia Clan plan should be enough.

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He agreed with the statement. One of the things the Grand Senator had commanded was for Shen to keep his post as Field Commander unless he did something wrong. That order was less binding than the orders, almost unimportant, but still slightly strengthened by Karma. Even so, his weakness would've been enough reason until he showed he meant business.

Sun Weisheng had discussed with some Pro-Republic factions a way to let a C-rank boss them—to a point—and the only answer was attaching someone from the Xia Clan to Shen. They would teach him the ways of Imperia and advise him in most matters. There would be a line for Shen to walk between independence and obedience, a balance to strike, but it could be done.

And if he refused...

Well, that would be considered him doing something wrong. They would replace him as Field Commander.

He replied to his sister, telling her they were of a similar mind. The High Senatorial Clans exchanged countless messages in the following minutes. No one from Imperia ever answered Shen. They needed to show they would comply, but his forcefulness had lost him prestige and connections. In other words, he had strong backing now, but he'd better start thinking about the future.

Sun Weisheng supported Shen, but showing too much approval would weaken Weisheng's own position. Even for a supporter of the Grand Senator, his clan and considerations about the future always came first.

Let it be a warm reminder to Shen about how Imperia's clan inter-relationship worked.

Half an hour later, Weisheng got the list of the people in his unit and their arrival position. The Bounty target with him would be an old enemy. Weisheng would rather negotiate for benefits with the damn woman's clan, but the orders were clearly against that. He would also rather not become a traitor.

Yet, Shen's orders had been for everyone without a time limit. In the military, that meant not delaying, but a slight wait would be accepted to avoid casualties. The clans could still discuss some things to prevent unneeded humiliation.

More messages were exchanged, and Weisheng agreed to exchange his enemy for a stupid, far-removed descendant who had chosen to abuse the Bounty thresholds by stealing from his rivals during their war against the Cultivator Association. Everyone had wanted the collaboration points in that war, and not all played fair. Weisheng's descendant had been on the lower end of power but still gotten some nice "prizes." Now Weisheng knew how that had happened.

That imbecile had lied to his clan. That couldn't be allowed. Weisheng was tempted not to exchange the boy, but the humiliation of having an enemy clan capturing your people for the Alliance would be too big. He would solve it in-house after the Void Tide was over, as almost every clan would.

The teleportation finally ended, and Sun Weisheng materialized in Samir beside five B-ranks.