Ilis's Promotion Problem

After taking down the middle-aged man, the three of them quickly gathered all the bodies in one place.

Emma even found time to collect their guns to take with them, but Su Yi took the guns from her and threw them straight into the fire.

"What are you doing? Those are worth money!"

On the way there, Emma had asked Su Yi roughly how much the guns cost.

Those twenty-one guns would cost seven or eight hundred even at wholesale!

They could sell them for twice that!

Su Yi said, "Remember, some things you can take, and some things you can't."

"These people were well trained and fully equipped. Unless I'm wrong, they were private soldiers from a large organization."

Emma didn't understand. "So?"

"The serial numbers on these weapons are registered," Su Yi said. "There may even be trackers inside the guns."

"Taking them would be asking to die."

Emma's face went a little pale. "They can do that?"

Sefni walked over. "Boss, I found this."

Su Yi turned and saw a soldier's dog tag.

The information on it had been scratched out and was unreadable.

But a fresh brand on the back showed the image of a venomous snake.

A cold glint flashed through Su Yi's eyes. "So it was you."

The Silver Snake Legion was a band of raiders made up of former militiamen, deserters, criminals, mercenaries, and fallen space pirates.

The organization was enormous, with outposts all over the planet.

Its total membership reached 1.1 million.

They were militarized predators through and through: brutal, fiercely aggressive, and tightly organized.

Robbing trains, killing merchants, holding up banks, trafficking people, smuggling drugs—there was nothing they wouldn't do.

Compared to them, the Wolf Fang Gang in Rootvine District belonged at the children's table.

"Now isn't the time to deal with you. Enjoy yourselves while you still can."

They scurried everywhere like cockroaches, and neither the company nor the Alliance had been able to stop them.

Wiping them out would be a key target in Su Yi's future promotions and raises.

Su Yi poured in the last of his energy, and the twenty bodies burned to charcoal in the strange, tangible flames.

The three of them left at once, slipped into the pipes, and hurried back to Rootvine District.

About fifteen minutes after they left, Lisa and Cole cautiously approached with their people.

When they saw the guns melted beyond recognition in the fire, they were both pained and stunned.

"The three of them wiped out a raiding platoon from the Silver Snake Legion!?"

The flames had begun to die down. Charred bodies lay among melted guns.

Amid the glowing embers, the sight was shocking beyond words.

Cole stood with his mouth open, his face full of horror and lingering fear.

So it wasn't his own powers of persuasion that had made them dare to enter the camp.

It was... because they could have slaughtered everyone there with ease!

Lisa's expression was grim too. "Looks like we need to reassess this Arthas."

On the way back, Emma badly wanted to ask Su Yi what ability he had used to block that man's punch.

But one sharp look from Sefni silenced her.

The boss's secrets weren't hers to ask about!

At half past three in the morning, the three of them made it back to Rootvine District.

After saying goodbye, Su Yi dragged himself home, exhausted.

He set an alarm, then collapsed into bed.

As Su Yi slept, exhausted, dawn came to the Bright Twin Towers in Vine City.

Inside a vast, bright office of a hundred and fifty square meters, floor-to-ceiling windows lined three walls.

The rising sun shone through the glass and lit the office.

It brought the warmth of dawn into the otherwise cold, empty space.

Ilis leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples.

She hadn't closed her eyes in the two days and nights since the charity fundraiser.

That photograph had been perfect. After numerous newspapers published it, it caused a huge stir throughout the Kaido No. 11 Star System and even across six neighboring star systems—a total of thirty-one habitable planets.

The wealthy merchants and companies she had negotiated with were delighted by the striking image.

But when it came time to give generously, they suddenly changed their tune. They wanted deeper business ties with the Black Sun Group.

In short, they wanted discounts on the Black Sun Group's jump routes.

The Black Sun Group was one of only two powers in the entire Mountain River Star Sector capable of relatively safe short-range jumps through the Dark Universe. People hoping to curry favor with it could have formed a line around Rhode Star's low orbit.

The problem was that Ilis belonged to the Planet Operations Department.

Though the department wielded great power on a planet and could shape its development, its influence between planets paled beside that of the Navigation Department, which oversaw interstellar routes.

More importantly, the two departments' conflicting interests had left them on bad terms.

There were only two slots for promotion to L25 on Rhode Star this time.

One had already been secured by Major Logan of the Armed Department.

Three people were competing for the other.

One of them, besides Ilis herself, was Charlie Keynes of the Navigation Department, who had always been at odds with her.

The door opened, and Rick entered with a respectful expression.

"How are things going with Keynes?" Ilis asked.

"Not well," Rick said. "The surges in the Dark Universe show signs of gradually subsiding, but they're still fierce."

"At least four hundred people have died over there in the past few months."

Promotion assignments varied by department. The Navigation Department was generally tasked with opening new routes or carrying out extremely dangerous jump transports.

Those assignments were difficult, but completing one made promotion virtually certain and gave it the highest priority.

Ilis's assignment was to throw the Rhodes Alliance into chaos, bring the entire border region under her control, and supply the group with at least three hundred thousand able-bodied laborers to mine Void Abyss Coins.

Compared with opening a new route, the assignment was simpler and safer, but it was still far from easy.

Unlike Keynes, whose budget was as large as it could be, Ilis had only a hundred thousand Void Abyss Coins to work with.

That was barely enough to get started.

The charity fundraiser alone had cost over sixty thousand Void Abyss Coins.

Yet after she fulfilled her end of the bargain, those old foxes had suddenly gone back on their word!

And now they wanted her to beg the Navigation Department for help.

That was the exact opposite of what they had agreed on at the start.

Ilis's violet eyes were icy. "Those old foxes must have gotten enough promises from Keynes to dare break their agreement with me so openly."

Rivals sabotaging each other was nothing unusual.

Cut off that donation, and no matter how many plans Ilis had, none of them would get anywhere.

No money?

Then who would play along?

Rick asked tentatively, "Miss, things seem to be going well with Gheros. He's preparing to build hospitals and schools in your name."

Ilis raised an eyebrow. "Gheros? Who?"

"The stray dog who saved the child," Rick said.

"Oh." Ilis said, "Don't concern yourself with things that don't matter. I need you to take control of the Rootvine City Defense Force as soon as possible."

"Then kill every last one of those damned Silver Snake bandits."

She had never expected anything from Su Yi.

He was fairly clever, but at her level, he didn't even count as an insect.

The odds of an insect helping her gain control of half a planet were lower than the odds of the goddess blessing her directly.

Rick knew how pragmatic his mistress was. He nodded earnestly. "Rest assured."

"Captain Liu En has agreed to meet with me. That's a good sign."

"Once he tells us what he wants, taking control of the city defense force will be in the bag!"