Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang stayed for a while on the first floor, getting an update on what happened on the first floor. The situation within the city was peaceful. No one bothered the Tang Empire after the battle against the Gondar Alliance outside the tower. They were doing it on their own, but the Gondar Alliance seemed to vent their frustration toward the new Earth Alliance.

The Etherna and the Valuer Empire totally ignored the Earth Alliance, but The Gondar Alliance was not so forgiving. The Gondar Alliance had taken a few rare resource points from the new Earth Alliance. The United Sovereign, The Whitney Kingdom, The North Federation, and the Kingdom of Napoles tried to lead the alliance to fight back, but the result was disaster.

“The United Sovereign’s messenger came two days ago, requesting to meet you. I put their request on hold, but I will tell them the answer once you return. What do you think?” Wei Xi asked.

During Zhang Mengyao and Tang Shaoyang’s absence, Wei Xi and Alton took charge of the Tang Empire inside the Dimensional Tower. Wei Xi was inclined to help the Earth Alliance. Regardless of their past problems, he did not want the new Earth Alliance to be wiped out. Once they declared the Earth Alliance was under their protection, the three worlds would no longer dare to touch the Earth Alliance.

“Deal as you fit. As long as you don’t put our people into unnecessary danger or taken advantage of by them, then I don’t care,” Tang Shaoyang had enough of those people who loved their political play. He was not going to talk to them personally anymore.

“Wait!” Wei Xi called out as Tang Shaoyang was about to leave the room.

“Does that mean you agree to protect them?”

“You have my words, and I trust you not to repeat the same mistake again. So, deal with it as you see fit as long as you don’t jeopardize our people,” Tang Shaoyang left and closed the door before Wei Xi could utter another word.

Wei Xi was left speechless, unsure what to do. If Tang Shaoyang told him not to help them, it would have been easier for him. But the decision was in his hands now, but he was too afraid to make the decision. He was afraid that they would be played again, turning him into a fool.

“I guess being in power is not as easy as I thought it would be,” Wei Xi let out a sigh as he made a call for a meeting. He did not forget to notify his superior, of course. Zhang Mengyao and Li Shuang were above him.

*** ***

Tang Shaoyang did not immediately go to the thirteenth floor. He stopped by the second floor, checking on Delia. But his wife was not at the village when he arrived. The Village Chief told him Delia was out to hunt with her instructor, Akumbo.

He could find her if he wanted through his connection with Gluttony, but he decided to leave her be and went to the third floor. Forlan and Hemlin asked to meet him, and they agreed to meet in the Adventurer Guild.

Even though he stayed here for less than a day, he easily found his way to the Adventurer Guild without a guide. He entered the guild, and it was a similar experience. The hall quieted down before buzzing in whispers. He could hear everyone talking about him, how he almost cleaned out the quests for Grandmaster Rank in less than a day. The amazing thing was that he never left the Adventurer Guild.

Tang Shaoyang ignored the crowd and headed upstairs. He met the female elf, Levine who made a hole in the building to stop Steven from hitting him.

“The Guild Master is waiting with your people,” She came over and said with more politeness but she had become more polite than his last visit.

“I thought… never mind.”

Tang Shaoyang followed Levine, and they arrived in the room, not the Guild Master room, but it looked like a meeting room. Hemlin and Forlan were inside, and they had gotten closer to the gorgeous Guild Master. He could tell how comfortable they were as they were chatting about something related to the nobles.

“What is this about, Hemlin? I don’t have much time to spare,” Tang Shaoyang did not sit, standing next to the door.

“I thought you were…” Hemlin stopped when he saw Tang Shaoyang’s expression, “Alright, it’s about the Adventurer Guild. They agreed to join us, and we need your—”

Tang Shaoyang raised his hand to stop Hemlin from finishing his words, “I have told you, Hemlin. You need to speak to Zhang Mengyao and Li Shuang. They have my authority to decide whether they can join us or not.”

“I have spoken to Zhang Mengyao and Li Shuang. They would evaluate the Adventurer Guild when they reach the third floor, but it’s too long. We don’t know what the nobles might do to the adventurer before they reach the third floor. But you are different, Your Majesty. You have the authority to get them out right away. Don’t worry, they can be trusted, Your Majesty. We have—”

“You have stayed here for how long? Six days? Seven days? And you say we can trust them?” Tang Shaoyang shook his head.

“We have seen how they operate, and we did a little bit of investigation of all the quests, including their—”

Tang Shaoyang raised his hand once more, stopping Hemlin, “Have they told you why they are in this prison, Hemlin? Do you know what they have done to be imprisoned in this place, Hemlin? Have you confirmed that they would not repeat the same mistake again, Hemlin? Can you guarantee it with your life that our people will be safe from the System’s wrath, Hemlin?”

“Can you guarantee that every single person in this Adventurer Guild is clean, Hemlin? Because if they repeat their mistake again that puts them in this place, the System will imprison us all in a similar place or maybe even worse.”

Hemlin opened his mouth, but then he closed it again. His investigation did not go that deeper yet.

“But I heard you recruited a lot of people from the previous tower, Your Majesty. You did not do a background check. You even took a tribe of monsters to be—”

“What’s wrong with those monsters, Hemlin?” Tang Shaoyang approached the table and sat across Hemlin, totally ignoring the Guild Master and her Vice Guild Master, locking his gaze on Hemlin.

“They are monsters, Your Majesty. They are dangerous—” Hemlin burst out and was about to stand up, but Forlan grabbed his friend’s shoulder, pulling his friend back to his seat.

“HEMLIN!” Forlan raised his voice at his friend.

“Monsters are indeed dangerous, and so are humans. I have fought more dangerous people than dangerous monsters, Hemlin,” Tang Shaoyang turned toward Guild Master, “And this one is a dangerous woman. A week is what she needs to manipulate you? Let me guess, did she propose that you make a new faction and get them out of this place?”

He just made a wild guess, but he was spot on when he saw Hemlin’s expression, and Forlan was also surprised when he saw his friend’s expression.

Tang Shaoyang turned toward Guild Master, “Great plan, and you might pull it off if I am not here, but you don’t know about one thing. Even if you pull it off, it will not last long. I will make sure to get rid of all of you before you jeopardize my people’s safety. Hemlin and Forlan should know better that I am capable, more than capable to do so.”

Forlan let out a sigh, realizing what was going on. He knew something happened with his friend, but he did not know his friend would fall for the Guild Master. The worst part was that it seemed like his friend had fallen deep into Guild Master’s charm that made his friend quite daring even toward The Emperor.

“Don’t worry though, you still have my word, but there will be some necessary changes to the procedure. I will see and hear the report before making the final decision, but what happens today, I am more inclined not to take anyone from this floor.”

Tang Shaoyang looked at Hemlin, “I have heard about you, Hemlin. I have heard the Adventurer Guild is not accepting The Lycanthrope, the Demonic Ape, The Light Bombyx Mori, and the Beast Coven. I thought you were just not used to working with them. You need some time for adaptation. That was what we told them when they came to us.”

“It looks like I am wrong. You have prejudice against them, it’s because of your personal feelings, your dislike toward them. You let your personal feelings get into your work. I thought you were better than this, Hemlin, and I am quite disappointed with you. We need to talk with them to reevaluate you again, whether you are fit or not for your seat in the guild. Because to me, you don’t work for the empire’s interest, you are creating a disagreement that could lead to a bigger chaos in my empire! We are not going to talk about this recruitment again, Hemlin!”

Tang Shaoyang stood up and looked toward the Guild Master, “Congratulations! You have created a discord between me and my people. However, you overlook something bigger, Guild Master.”