Integrating the Federation

Mu Ye carried Little Red's greatsword on his shoulder and walked up beside Situ Xuan. He glanced at Lan Muzi as he was dragged away, then at Situ Xuan, and sucked at his teeth.

"Kid, you're pretty ruthless."

Situ Xuan shrugged.

"I gave him the chance to leave. He chose not to. Who's he supposed to blame?"

Mu Ye thought about it and decided that was true. Situ Xuan had indeed told Lan Muzi to get lost earlier. Lan Muzi had been the greedy one, wanting to stay behind to watch more, hear more, and gather more intelligence. Well, now he had stayed behind, all right—along with his arm.

Vasha walked to Situ Xuan's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Her orange-red hair drifted in the night wind, and the six-pointed star mark on her forehead shimmered with a faint glow. She looked in the direction Lan Muzi had been dragged away, her voice ethereal and calm.

The next day, Chen Xinjie brought Guan Yue, Dong Zi'an, and the others, who had had their wounds briefly treated, to the Mingdu Federation government building.

The Federation government building had originally been the Council's affiliated administrative office building, but it had now been temporarily requisitioned as the Grand Presidential Palace. The original nameplate still hung on the outer wall, not yet replaced.

The soldiers standing guard at the entrance had been swapped out for Situ Xuan's men. They all wore black uniforms, standard-issue Soul Tools hung at their waists, their gazes were cold, and their backs were ramrod straight.

Chen Xinjie walked at the very front, with silver hair and a long beard, wearing a dark-blue robe embroidered with subtle patterns of waves and anchors. The golden anchor emblem on his shoulder gleamed in the sunlight. A smile hung