Master of the System

Joanne was depressed. How did things end up this way? A planet that should’ve been easy to conquer ended up slapping her face, which was also slapping the federation’s face. Not only was she crushed while wearing her gear, but in the end, her gear was taken away from her and actually improved. Judging by her battlesuit’s new capabilities, it was quite obvious the way she used it was inferior. Even if she didn’t include the fact it was automated, the formations applied through blood by Grandpa Vremya increased the suit’s flexibility, strength, and spiritual-energy flow. If Grandpa Vremya patented and sold his formation vein patterns to the federation, its strength would rise by one whole level. Originally, the planet should’ve had nothing to offer but manpower, but with Grandpa Vremya’s set of skills, there was a pleasant surprise included. As for stealing Grandpa Vremya’s pattern and claiming it as her own, Joanne thought about it but dismissed it in the next second. These people weren’t people she was okay making enemies out of; if they did join the federation, they’d be able to get back at her at any moment.

“With this,” Grandpa Vremya said, placing the finishing touches on his new golem, “it should be able to exchange thirty blows with Rachel if she used the same level of strength as when she fought you.”

Joanne could tell Grandpa Vremya was telling the truth. Although he used a different method to increase the golem’s strength, she could still understand the formation after grasping the basics. Essentially, the old man had overclocked her battlesuit. Its performance was way better, but the user would experience extreme heat and muscle shocks. Most of the time, that would be considered a bad thing, but it was a perfect counter to Rachel’s frost-based spiritual energy. However, even if the opponent was a heat-based one, the battlesuit had been fully automated anyway through the usage of titan hearts. Joanne had never seen such a wondrous material before. It was the goal many biotechnological engineers were aiming to create.

“That’s great and all,” Azalea said, “but we’ve kept the sect leader waiting for quite some time now.”

Grandpa Vremya patted the golem, and it walked over to Joanne’s side. “Alright, shall we go?”

A puzzled expression appeared on the fleet leader’s face. “You’re giving me back my battlesuit? I already admitted that you’re able to exhibit more of its potential than I am.”

“You think I’m a robber?” Grandpa Vremya asked with a snort. Even a child knew stealing was bad. Grandpa Vremya was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a thief. Why would he risk the bad karma for a simple golem? Once a deal was established between his current planet and the United Federation of Bread, he’d be able to get all the battlesuits he wanted. “I was simply studying it before, and I only modified it to show you the sky outside the well. I’ve never stolen anything in my life, and I’m not going to start now because of a simple piece of metal.”

Joanne’s chest burned with shame. In this scenario, she was the frog in the well, not the native who had never left his planet, never seen the vast emptiness beyond the sky, never flew through the void and conquered it. All she could do was comfort herself in knowing she currently had more general knowledge than him, but she couldn’t fool herself. The instant the United Federation of Bread discovered Grandpa Vremya’s unique formations, his status would be even higher than hers. He’d probably be given quite a few benefits, and if he was capable—which Joanne was sure he was—then perhaps he truly would dwarf her in all aspects. For a brief moment, Joanne considered killing Grandpa Vremya by hugging him and self-detonating. However, she threw that thought away. She couldn’t let the federation suffer a potential loss just because of her insecurities.

The place where Joanne had been dethawing wasn’t very far from the elders’ meeting area, but there was still a quite a bit of walking involved. Joanne was sure she wasn’t being flown because the Moon Lotus Sect wanted her to experience its grandeur. Walking through the sect was like watching a video about ancient times. There were a lot of places in the federation dedicated as national parks, but they fell short in comparison to the Moon Lotus Sect’s grounds. The videos didn’t do the beauty of the place any justice; after all, a video couldn’t record spiritual-energy density; it couldn’t transmit smells; it couldn’t caress one’s exposed skin like the wind could. Compared to her planet, one which had been choked by pollution, Joanne couldn’t help but take in a deep breath. Molecularly, there wasn’t any difference between the air in the two places, but she swore she could tell the difference between this planet’s natural air and her home planet’s filtered one. She had always thought the man who had opened up an all-natural-air bar in her hometown was crazy, but at this moment, she was sure if she could import some air from this sect, a lot of people would buy the chance to breathe it in. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get on the sect’s good side. “Elder Vremya,” Joanne said, turning her gaze away from a snowy mountaintop. “It wouldn’t feel right for me to keep my battlesuit after you’ve spent so much modifying it. Why don’t I gift it to you?”

“I don’t want your gifts,” Grandpa Vremya said and ended his sentence with a grunt. He glared at Joanne from the corner of his eyes before focusing on the road. Who did this woman think she was? Would he accept a favor from just anyone? He wouldn’t interlock his karma with hers just for a golem. He already knew his capabilities, and he was sure he could make a lot of money once his current planet opened up trade with the federation.

Azalea cleared her throat. “What Elder Vremya means to say is our sect is the shining beacon of justice within these lands,” she said to Joanne, noticing the foreigner seemed a bit depressed. “The elders of the Moon Lotus Sect don’t accept gifts lest we’re accused of accepting bribes.”

Joanne’s expression changed. She didn’t expect such an arrogant figure to adhere to the rules. She had seen plenty of people behave in a domineering—borderline asshole-like—manner. They were usually second-generation rich, the ones who had unlimited money at their fingertips thanks to their parents. However, unlike those people, Grandpa Vremya seemed to be a straight shooter. “I’d like to apologize to the both of you,” Joanne said with a sigh. “In my mind, I had this notion that all of you would be barbaric and uncivilized thanks to the technological gap between our civilizations. Now, I see that I was the unrefined one thanks to my prejudices.” Her eyes cleared up, and she raised her head. “I’m sorry.”

Azalea raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t very long ago that the Moon Lotus Sect had started advocating for justice. If it weren’t for the sect leader’s decisions five hundred years ago to open up the sect to men, would Joanne respect them like this? It was only a few centuries ago that nepotism and bribery ran rampant within the Moon Lotus Sect just like it did in every other sect. If they had been discovered by the United Federation of Bread just a little earlier, how different would things be? In her mind, justice had always been something the weak used to attempt to control the strong; she never thought it a thing worthy of respect.

[Are you interested in—]

[Don’t you dare!]

Text flashed by Azalea’s vision so fast that before she could even register it was there, it was already gone. She glanced around, thinking a red cardinal had flown by, a rare sight to see in such a cold place. However, no matter how hard she looked for it, she couldn’t find it. How odd.