[MA] 161. That's Why You're Here (Patreon)

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[A/N: 1/3 chapters this week. I owe you 1 chapter, which will be released with Thursday's chapter for sure. I wanted to release it today, but I failed.]

Shen was surprised yet again when he found Sai and his family midway through to the front desks.

Madam Pihu had a small, strange smile on her face. Shen would love to get her into his aura to analyze her better. However, even without the benefits of his aura's extra senses, he was still a master of his every Concept, had the experience of studying people these past days, and still had high learning ability.

So he knew she was feeling a mix of schadenfreude—a dishonorable feeling the Eternal Language had no word for—triumph and annoyance.

He could come up with various guesses as to why that was the case, yet he wouldn't know without interacting with her—which he wouldn't do. He was fed up with all the time he had wasted since Sai's arrival. War was upon them, yet instead of focusing on it, he had been discussing private clan matters and dealing with corruption way below his paygrade. It had been almost an hour already. While he would like to deal with most of those things, now was not the time for them.

So, on top of his personal aura ethics, the time constraints also made him stop before his aura surrounded Sai's family. He took his smartphone out; Sai did the same.

"My mother and sister are going underground," Sai said as soon as he picked up the call, then continued hesitantly, "I... Don't mean to be disrespectful, but I would like to talk about this... episode... after the war is over. If it's alright with you, I mean?"

Shen suppressed a frown. His clan member was afraid of his reaction just because they had requested an audience with their clan leader. That was...

Absurd. Wrong. It left a terrible taste in Shen's mouth.

Was he such an awful leader to inspire fear into his troops instead of anything more positive?

They indeed had to talk if things like this were happening. It was past time for Shen to explain to everyone what being a cultivator actually meant.

During his month in the US, Shen glossed over some of the "xianxia" literature and concepts Sai had mentioned during the tutorial. While the web serials contained many truths—enough for one to wonder how they had gotten that right—they were closer to the chaotic times before the Eternal Empire or just plain off. Worst of all was how the clan leader was usually portrayed as some aloof almost-yet-not-quite benevolent tyrant.

Where were the responsibilities? Where was the care for their people beyond just the loss of face? Where was—

Shen shook his head out. He was once more getting lost on things better left for later. Now was not the time.

"Yes, we should talk later," he replied.

He was about to give an order but made a brief pause. Shen had noticed that modern people who had never served in the military resented his straightforward assertiveness. That had become even clearer in the recent interrogations when even the Guardian assisting him started getting annoyed at his brisk commands.

In the Eternal Empire, honor was closely tied to respect, yet cultivators didn't waste time with pleasantries during wars. Every communication was clear, quick, and efficient. Even he, a cripple who couldn't assist in any way, had been thoroughly educated on it, just so he wouldn't get in the way when things mattered the most.

Cultivator battles could take seconds or rage forth for days, but you never knew when the final blow would happen until it did. A single second lost on a salute before a report could mean the difference between a timely rescue of an ally's downfall. Moreover, commanders were always full of things to do, and their time was too precious to waste on niceties.

Yet, as the interrogations continued, Shen had found himself saying "please" and "thank you" to his subordinate every time he talked to the man. He had also stopped calling the Guardian with an aura-touch to the shoulder; instead, Shen had started half-yelling carefully worded requests. It had increased the guy's mood considerably but made Shen waste all of three extra minutes—he had counted.

So, right now, Shen reworded how he would speak to the fearful Sai. Shen would make it sound like a request instead of a command—even though both knew it was the latter. Really, modern humans were so strange in their desires to make pretend. Hopefully, the effort would help assuage his guard's trepidations.

"I would appreciate it if you found me once your rest time is over, if it's alright with you?" he said with the more pleasant and caring voice he could muster.

Marzia, behind Shen, widened her eyes. Sai became visibly tenser—so much so that he froze for a few seconds.

When he finally spoke again, his voice was filled with even greater anxiety. "Actually... I would like... If I can... I mean, I don't want to impose..." Then he widened his eyes in panic and quickly added, "I also don't want to sound ungrateful!" He paused, breathed, and continued, "Could I take my time off after the battle, please?"

Shen wasn't good at social dynamics, but neither was he stupid. Obviously, the people he had interacted with during the tutorial had an image of him, and deviating too much worried them. He would keep being himself with them.

"Of course," Shen replied, reverting to his usual tone. "Take your family to safety, then come find me as soon as possible." Then he turned, said a "Come" to Marzia, and left.

That felt much better than mending his words and manners.

As much as he could change his way of addressing people, he would stop playing pretend with anyone as soon as he introduced his culture to the world. Shen consciously disregarded many offensive things because of the cultural gap between modern humans and himself. He expected the same courtesy from others when he merely acted like himself and didn't intend any disrespect.

Understanding someone else's culture was honorable, but it went both ways.

He heard Marzia whisper, "Not ever let him give a public speech without a script," to Yui Hina and let himself smile. His father had been a bold speaker, sometimes criticized by some clan members.

His smile turned sad when he remembered the man's betrayal. His boldness had destroyed—

Now was not the time.

Shen focused on the here and now on the way to do his job.

= - = - =

When Sai arrived in the camp, Shen had been on his way to instruct fifty peak E-ranks. He found them waiting at the exact place he should've met them an hour earlier, the Staging Area with a six-mile radius around the portal.

Hundreds of other groups were in the dead zone, training or being taught by other people—Alicia included. Most groups were a hundred yards from each other. However, the group Shen was moving toward was almost a mile away from everyone because what he was about to tell them was still confidential. Their privileges and responsibilities would only be disclosed to everyone at the last minute to prevent revolt.

His group was the usual assortment of Guardians—mismatched weaponry and mixed races. They didn't look any special, to be honest.

But they were the hidden gems that had shown great power and, almost more importantly, sound capability in the past days despite not having the Pioneer Achievement.

It had been five days since Shen had requested help from everyone on Earth in his video. A few hours after he had uploaded it, the first people arrived. Less than one day after that, the first official military detachment came. Introductions, planning, and organizing things had taken another day.

In the three days since, everyone who arrived went through a series of quick tests to assert their capabilities and willingness to follow the chain of command. They filled out forms, attended interviews and lectures, took part in examinations, displayed their fighting ability, and were closely watched. No step was forewarned to also test their patience and humbleness. Some were left at lower ranks at random just so no one could predict what would come next or determine how everyone was evaluated.

Whoever did things well and showed the right attitude—no rebels or overly-aggressive idiots allowed—were deemed fit for commanding positions directly below the generals. They then underwent more training and were observed so those with specific traits for specialized jobs could be found.

The ones willing to do whatever was necessary to protect Earth—without showing psychopathic or plain evil tendencies—came to be introduced by Shen to their new tasks.

This would be the third and last group Shen would deal with because they were out of time. He would train them as much as he would test them even further. His aura would help him sort out anyone who couldn't withstand it—no mana cocoon allowed—and identify seedy elements who had managed to get this far despite all the testing. Finally, he would personally analyze their fighting ability because the job was not for weaklings.

His approach was preceded by his aura and the Guardians' discomfort. Yet, they all resisted well. A few didn't even clench their jaws or fists.

"I apologize for the delay," Shen started after stopping in front of them.

Shen didn't mind apologizing when he had done something wrong; that was only proper. What annoyed him was coddling supposed warriors for no reason.

The Guardians formed rank and file without his prompt. It put a slight smile on his face.

"Let's start at once." He opened his arms and gestured around him. "Look around you, Guardians. I know you have been waiting for me for an hour and had nothing else to do but look around. But I insist. Open your eyes and truly notice everything."

While they did, Shen described it to them. "Look at the other Guardians and armed commoners training nearby. Look at their desire to do their best, improve themselves, and protect the world. They will fight to the last man to protect their families and loved ones.

"Look at the wall of modern military steel, thousands upon thousands of death-promising weaponry ready to take on our enemies. They shall bombard the invaders from the ground and from the skies. The world will be tainted red with explosions and the blood of gnolls.

"Look at the tents beyond. How many are them? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Imagine all these people, all here, united in a single purpose.

"Look at the people walking everywhere with drive. Armed with guns or tablets, wearing armor or uniforms, a mix of modern, medieval, and fantasy. Their skin color, political agenda, and past sins don't set them apart. Only their desire to protect our collective future matters here.

"Look at them and feel their commitment, hopes, and dreams."

Shen paused and let them see that all and whatever more they could. Some, the smarter ones, saw through the guise of order if their frowns were any indicator. Shen gave them a positive mental mark.

"This entire setup looks impressive," he continued, and their eyes turned back to him, "yet the truth is that we have a hastily assembled army of unknown and unprepared people in our hands. This is Earth's hope, yet it's not enough to deal with what I saw in the rift—unless it performs at peak efficiency all the time.

"But we've run out of time to guarantee such efficiency the usual way.

"Less than three days remain to the rift's opening, and it's nowhere near enough time to make everyone battle ready. That's most noticeable when dealing with Guardians with no prior military experience, but it's especially worrisome that we cannot investigate everyone and remove all troublemakers."

The mastered War in his Path—in himself—told him that the short time might be for the best. Keeping so many people from different cultures focused on a goal would be impossible for a lengthy time. Low morale and infighting would be the death of Earth much before the gnolls came.

Then again, maybe not. Committed warriors could be unpredictable. War told him that too.

Either way, they would have to make do with however much time they had.

"Anything can go wrong when the battle starts," Shen continued, "from well-intentioned mistakes to betrayal. We're doing our best to prevent both, but only the arrogant believe their best will always be enough.

"That said, with enough preparation, sometimes our best is enough, and we have no choice but to try. We're planning for the best and the worst.

"That's why you're here. When the worst happens, it'll be your responsibility to deal with it. And you're all peak E-ranks because doing so will require your direct intervention.

"Imagine a platoon is not where it's supposed to be, and people are dying because of that. After direct communication, nothing changes. Further investigation suggests it to be an intentional mistake.

"That's where you'll come in.

"You won't be told to go somewhere to give orders to anyone doing something wrong. We have other people ready to take command of troops misdirected by an inadequate leader's honest mistakes. There are also elite troops in reserve for helping others who find themselves in a pinch.

"You, however, were selected to dispose of your supposed allies. To pinpoint and kill turncoats and betrayers with swift efficiency."

Shen made a pause to let that sink in.

People shifted their feet uncomfortably, but the tests in the past days had selected the right people. Most still looked at each other for comfort, but only a few breathed expletives under their breath.

Two raised their hands to show they had a question. "Questions later," Shen said and continued, "You'll be sent to investigate any place we suspect a rogue element might be. You'll be trained to recognize the proper signs of intentional mistakes by people better at it than me, but you also don't have enough time to become experts. Unfortunately, the qualified people are almost all too weak or slow to accompany you where you'll be needed. You'll have to trust mostly your gut and whatever experience you have to reach a conclusion.

"That's why we selected only people we deemed to have a good head on their shoulders for this job.

"You won't be needed in camp investigations, though you're welcome to watch and learn. You'll only be deployed when a battle is going on. Your every decision in these situations, anything you do, will be considered the right decision while the battle rages. Only after it's over will we review your actions.

"This is a heavy burden we put on you. You'll have to sometimes make split-second decisions on whether or not to kill a fellow human based on very little information. If you make a mistake, an innocent will die in your hands, or many more will die at a betrayer's. I wish this wasn't necessary.

"Alas, it is.

"Yes, it's a heavy burden, but let me repeat it to make it crystal clear: you're expected to kill your targets if you deem them guilty.

"Don't try to convince them to see the light; just report back and execute them as soon as you reach a conclusion.

"You won't be sent anywhere where time is not of the essence. We don't have the time for indecisiveness if someone is causing chaos in our ranks under the guise of being on our side while people's lives are at stake—while the entire planet, our whole race, depends on us.

"If you believe someone is compromised, attack them to kill without forewarning or mercy. If they survive first contact, shout aloud that they are betrayers so fewer people will interfere with the ensuing battle. Only stop attacking when they are dead.

"Accept no surrender, take no prisoners, leave only corpses behind.

"If you find them not guilty, report it and return swiftly. You'll be needed elsewhere." He looked at their eyes—every one of them, one by one.

Sai arrived then and took position nine feet to Shen's back and two to his left. They only swapped a nod, and Shen went back to his lesson.

"You'll be our Intervention Colonels.

"You'll have the official rank of Colonel, just below our generals. That way, you'll have official authority in the army, even if no troops will be assigned to you. No one but the generals, your direct bosses, will have the power to bar your passage anywhere.

"All troops will be briefed on what your job entails, but during times of chaos and stress, the Colonel badges on your clothes might be the only thing a confused soldier will notice to decide whether or not to attack you for doing your job.

"You'll be free to deal with whoever interferes however you see fit."

He paused again, letting people think through his words.

Intervention Colonels would be incentivized to kill incompetent albeit innocent leaders; if the leaders were betrayers, they could destroy many more lives than the single one the Colonels would be taking. It was a sad, terrible state of affairs.

Shen recalled his tribulation. He had been an idealistic fool, believing he could make a perfect army.

He still was.

He was merely lacking the power to solve wars by himself instead of needing to risk the blood of innocents.

One day, he promised himself. One day.

But now, Intervention Colonels were a necessity. Not acknowledging and preparing for traitors was stupid. Many people on Earth were angry with the system and would use this opportunity to try to end the nightmare. Many more were angry with Shen and would try to get back at him regardless of the cost—maybe because they didn't believe him.

He couldn't risk it; he couldn't risk Earth. Not even if it meant accepting the blood of innocents in his hands for the greater good.

Did that make him a tyrant; was Sai right? Was he a disguised dictator? How hard had he tried to kill himself during Valentina's spell? How many of those killings had been just him letting some hidden part of himself kill to its contentment?

Things to think about after Earth was saved. Only then would they matter. If he failed, no one would be alive to resent him anyway, nor would he have a living mind to care.

"Questions?" he finally asked.

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