Jike Darkrage considered himself a beholder of no small intelligence.
As one of the one-in-ten-thousand beholders afflicted with double pupils, surviving in the highly exclusionary beholder society, thriving in the Material Plane, and then, after many twists and turns, becoming the shadow double of the Shadow Thieves' leader—none of that could possibly be explained by luck alone.
During these two days of imprisonment, as Jike repeatedly replayed the battle in the Port District the night before last, he grew ever more awestruck by the mysterious force that had stirred Water-Drawing City's entire underworld into a storm of blood and carnage.
This was absolutely not something those neurotic idealists in the Harpers could have done!
Nor was it a force he could possibly stand against!
Fortunately, this was not Jike's first time kicking an iron plate. He had an exceptionally rich wealth of experience—both in suffering such encounters and dealing with them.
And his way of dealing with them was to abandon every impractical fantasy, lower himself as far as possible—down into the dust—and at the same time put himself in that powerful figure's shoes:
'What the hell am I keeping you around for?'
Once he figured that out, the rest was easy. He merely had to highlight his strengths as much as possible and make the other party believe that keeping him around was far more worthwhile than executing him.
He had one excellent advantage: Jike was all alone, unbound by any faction or moral restraint.
In short, whatever you say goes, boss. I, Jike, am a brick—move me wherever I'm useful!
So where did Jike's most useful advantage lie?
Well, as the Shadow Emperor's shadow double, he could gather the remnants of Water-Drawing City's Shadow Thieves at any time, then continue developing this dark force.
Perhaps that was why