"It was time to deal with him properly."
"Traitors like him deserved death!"
Everyone looked at Jared with icy hostility.
Jared had once enjoyed everyone's deep trust. All four major factions of the Hub had trusted him greatly. Speaker Lemo and Legion Commander Darando did not get along, but they had both trusted Jared completely.
Yet this very man had betrayed them. Who could they trust in the future now?
Lucia the Gem Dragon gently flapped her enormous wings.
She said, "Actually, there had long been signs of Jared's betrayal. We simply failed to notice them."
"There were signs?" Everyone looked at her.
Lucia said seriously, "You are not as detail-oriented as us Gemstone Dragons, but I clearly remember that 1,235 years ago, Sheng Ge's assessment of him was—top-tier talent, an unyielding character, and exceptional fortune. However, his mentality was somewhat impetuous and slightly utilitarian."
"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember." Ashley chimed in. "That was Sheng Ge's assessment when Jared had just advanced to the Planetary level, right?"
"Yes." Lucia nodded her massive head.
"Slightly utilitarian..." Speaker Lemo mulled over those words, then suddenly understood. "Then it was no surprise."
"I see." Legion Commander Darando came to the same realization.
Sheng Ge's assessment of Jared had been "slightly utilitarian." It seemed this was the source of his betrayal.
In the Silver Federation, "utilitarian" was far from a neutral term. It was thoroughly derogatory.
Scholars had calculated that 99% of the Silver Saint People who had defected to the Glory Rebels had once been assessed by Sheng Ge as "utilitarian."
Director Soren clicked his tongue. "Still, Jared did learn from his mistakes afterward. He hid it very well."
"Yes." Speaker Lemo nodded. "Over the next thousand years, he showed no trace of being 'utilitarian.' On the contrary, he