Leverage in the power game

Outpost Base, Nightwalkers headquarters.

When the automatic door opened, Ling Feng looked up from the report he was reading and saw his adjutant, Lin Yang, walk in with a wry smile. The man was already past forty.

Ling Feng nudged his glasses up. "Let me guess. That kid caused trouble?"

Lin Yang had to admire his superior's insight. "Not exactly trouble. More like something that left everyone stunned."

"Oh?" Ling Feng's interest was piqued. "If he managed to surprise even you, he must have done something remarkable. Don't tell me... he went after his former captain?"

"To be precise, he killed his former captain."

Lin Yang activated a control interface on the wall, temporarily turning it into a projection screen. It showed a scene from the bar, and Ling Feng spotted the two key figures.

Tianyang and Qin Wu.

After watching the whole incident, Ling Feng's lips curved into a rare smile. "Not entirely flawless, but meticulous enough. So he wanted to become a Nightwalker and an Upper Citizen to lay the groundwork for revenge."

Lin Yang scratched his head. "He's quite calculating, but he thinks too small. He's already an Ascender. Why bother settling scores with a mere squad captain? Even if he wanted revenge, couldn't he have gone through the proper channels? Why go to all this trouble?"

Ling Feng folded his hands beneath his chin. "I disagree. Precisely because he's an Ascender now, this was what he should have done."

Lin Yang looked surprised. "Why, Chief of Staff Ling?"

"Ascenders must not be crossed!" Ling Feng's gaze turned cold. "That's an ironclad rule of the Fortress. If that young fellow were just an ordinary person, yet insisted on revenge despite the gulf between their status and class, I would still consider him a fool even if he succeeded. Because afterward, he would have to weather an even greater, more violent storm."

"But he's an Ascender now, and Qin Wu plotted against him first. If he still went through the proper channels, what would people think? Someone could even exploit it to undermine the Ascenders' standing in the Fortress. Over the years, quite a few voices have questioned whether we should continue investing so many resources in Ascenders."

Lin Yang snorted. "Those fools who do nothing but sit in offices have no idea that only Ascenders can suppress high-level Children of Darkness."

Ling Feng looked at the young man on the screen, who had slit a throat with a single stroke. "That's exactly why the dignity of Ascenders must be upheld. Today's incident will serve as a warning to certain people. Even if you're an Upper Citizen, unless you're an Ascender yourself, you have no right to offend one!"

Lin Yang felt a chill. He could roughly guess that the young chief of staff intended to make something of this incident. That young fellow probably had no idea that his single act would become leverage in a power game among the higher-ups.

Tianyang indeed had no idea.

All he knew was that after leaving the bar, he could no longer stop his hands from trembling slightly.

Despite how calm and casual he had seemed in the bar, killing amid easy conversation...

In truth, he had been extremely nervous.

The Fortress had a rigid class hierarchy, and everything he had learned over the years told him one thing: the standing of Upper Citizens was unassailable!

At least, that was certainly true for Lower Citizens like him.

Yet just now, he had killed an Upper Citizen.

Everything had played out exactly as he had planned. Now, Tianyang felt the thrill of breaking through rules and constraints.

At the same time, he keenly felt the privileges of being an Ascender.

There had been so many Upper Citizen officers in the bar, yet none had dared give him trouble. In the past, that would have been utterly inconceivable.

All those arrogant Upper Citizens had lowered their heads wherever his gaze fell.

It gave the young man the strange sensation that the world lay beneath his feet.

His nerves kept firing signals of tension and excitement, so much so that Tianyang had no idea when he had returned to the Gathering Team's dormitory.

Only after sitting on his single bed for five minutes did he calm down. Then he remembered that his class information seemed to have changed before he left the bar.

As that thought surfaced, some information appeared clearly in his mind.

Class: Avenger

Rank I: Assassin

Rank abilities: Weakness Sense, One-Strike Annihilation

Ascension progress: 25%

Next rank: Eradicator

Tianyang immediately spotted the crucial point.

His ascension progress had suddenly increased by eleven percentage points!

What was going on?

As far as Tianyang knew, Ascenders had to increase their concentration of star essence to advance.

Now that he had become an Ascender himself, he understood it in greater detail. The concentration of star essence was his ascension progress.

And the standard way to increase that concentration was through combat.

During combat, star essence would be mobilized and consumed, then accumulate through cellular regeneration. As this cycle repeated, its concentration would gradually increase.

The other method was to absorb energy from a Star Marrow Pillar, but Star Marrow Pillars were themselves vital resources. Even though Ascenders were irreplaceable to every fortress city, none could afford the extravagance of supplying them with Star Pillars at will.

From that information, it was easy to conclude that the concentration of star essence should rise gradually. It should never increase by a full eleven percent all at once, as Tianyang's had.

That was far too outrageous!

Tianyang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Could it have something to do with taking revenge?"

That was the only possibility.

Considering his class, it seemed even more likely.

If that were true, then different classes should each have their own corresponding method for greatly increasing the concentration of star essence.

Ascenders held far too many secrets. Even in this age of hyper-information, some secrets would never be made public.

At the very least, Tianyang, who had still been a Lower Citizen yesterday, had not been entitled to learn them.

Bang!

The dormitory door was suddenly shoved open, and a heavy reek of alcohol surged in from outside, rushing into Tianyang's nostrils.

The overpowering smell of cheap liquor!

The young man frowned slightly. He disliked that smell, especially with sweat mixed into it. Blended together, they were unpleasant by any measure.

"You... how are you still alive?"

His teammate Dong Yan spoke. He and another fellow soldier each held a bottle of liquor. By the look of them, they had just returned from Holiday Time, a bar open only to soldiers.

Tianyang spread his hands. "Well? Pleasantly surprised?"

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, and Dong Yan lifted his foot to kick the door shut.

"Does the captain know you're back?"

The other soldier looked nervous.

Tianyang said calmly, "You can ask him yourself."

Rebuffed, the soldier's face flashed with displeasure.

Dong Yan struggled to put on a smile. "Tianyang, we're all glad you made it back. Look, we had no choice but to leave you behind. You won't report us, will you?"

Tianyang smiled back. "What do you think?"

The smile instantly vanished from Dong Yan's face. "Tianyang, you need to know what's good for you. Since you didn't die, just let it go."

"I didn't die, so I should overlook it?"

Tianyang shook his head. "Then if I beat you until you're barely breathing, would you overlook that too?"

"So you're definitely going to report us?" Dong Yan's tone had turned distinctly hostile.

Tianyang corrected him. "To be precise, the higher-ups should already know all about it."

Word of him killing Qin Wu in the bar had presumably spread by now. There was no reason the higher-ups would not know. But the Nightwalkers would certainly handle this matter, which was why he had wanted to join them as soon as he returned.

He needed someone to back him.

Both Dong Yan and the other soldier immediately paled. Although Qin Wu had masterminded the affair...

They had not stopped him, after all. Under the Fortress's laws, they were accomplices.

They could be stripped of their military status or even sent to prison. If that happened, their lives would be ruined!

At that thought, a vicious gleam filled both soldiers' eyes.

They exchanged a glance, then nodded together and approached the young man seated on the edge of the bed.

"Rookie, you brought this on yourself." Dong Yan's face twisted menacingly.

"We're going to prison either way. I don't care if I add another charge to the list," the other man said.

Tianyang knew exactly what they intended to do. "A word of advice: you still have time to back off. Trust me, this is for your own good."

"Oh, really?"

Unfortunately, they paid no heed to Tianyang's warning.

Just as violence was about to break out, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open, and a startled shout came from outside.

"What do you think you're doing?!"