Shen Tu shifted his gaze to Li Yu.

  ‘A sharp blade,’ Shen Tu assessed. ‘However, unpredictable and unknown. A bit unrefined as well but that could just be an act. He cares nothing for our politics, our history or our face. He is a mercenary in the truest sense. But he gets results. That's all I really care about right now.’

  Shen Tu weighed the scales of the war.

  If he stepped in and brokered a peace, he would save face for Crimson Fang. It would also save a bit of face for the Alliance since so many groups were now caught up in it. He would keep the Crimson Fang stable and keep their forces and resources for this war.

  But he would also be preserving the rot. He would be telling Li Yu that the Alliance protects its bullies as long as they were useful, which is true. The reason Shen Tu had put up with them so long was because they were indeed useful. Their forces were strong and they produced enough results to offset their bad deeds.

  If he let it play out…

  ‘If Li Yu destroys them,’ Shen Tu thought, a cold pragmatism taking over, ‘it will be chaotic. We will lose the Crimson Fang’s immediate resources and their forces. There will be infighting as other sects scramble to fill the void. Not to mention all the sects and clans that Li Yu also promised to destroy. However, they too are rotten.’

  ‘But…’

  Shen Tu looked at the massive form of Tekton.

  ‘One Sky-Iron Dreadnought, controlled by a man who cleared the Weald in a single day, is worth more than them all. If I can have Li Yu for the duration of this war, which is something he seems willing to do. He seems interested in resources above the rest. Perhaps to get stronger himself or perhaps securing it for this ‘Crab Cult’ of his.’

  ‘Either way it doesn’t matter. What matters is he wants to contribute and has already completed a massive task. And more importantly, seeing Valen humbled might wake these other fools up. It might remind them that in the face of the apocalypse, political maneuvering is a death sentence. We all must fight together.’

  Shen Tu made his decision. He would do nothing. He would continue to watch the cloud he had taken a fancy to. He would let the iron plate break the foot that kicked it. It was a gamble, but war was nothing but a series of gambles and good decisions.

  The representative from the Northern Continent continued to lean against a stone pillar, his arms crossed over his thick fur cloak. His eyes were crinkled at the corners, not with warmth, but with a deep cynical amusement.

  ‘Look at them,’ Torben thought, scanning the faces of the Eastern elders. ‘Look at these peacocks. Feathers so bright, voices so loud. But show them a wolf and they turn into chickens. This boy Li Yu is more and more to my liking the more I hear him talk and act. Perhaps he would be willing to become a friend of my sect...’

  He despised the people he had met since coming to this Eastern Continent. He despised their softness. He despised their greed.

  ‘Valen,’ Torben mused, looking at the man in red. ‘You thought you were a king because you built your castle on a hill of dirt. Now the tide has come in.’

  Torben watched the fear in Valen’s eyes and felt a grim satisfaction. This was the reality of the world. The strong ate the weak. The North knew this. The demons and beasts knew this. Only the East, the place that so proudly claimed that the strong ruled, seemed to have forgotten. They wrapped themselves in layers of bureaucracy and "face" to hide from the truth.

  ‘Go on, boy,’ Torben silently cheered Li Yu on. ‘Don’t let them off the hook. Make them bleed. Or make them kneel. Show them that their schemes don’t apply to people who can actually fight.’

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  He adjusted his stance and was getting more comfortable. He wouldn’t intervene. If Valen attacked and Li Yu slaughtered them all, Torben would simply nod and go back to his quarters. If Valen knelt, Torben would laugh about it over ale later.

  ‘At least someone here has a spine to stand up against true injustice,’ Torben thought while looking at Li Yu. ‘Even if he is a Southern mercenary. He’s more of a warrior than any of these silk-wearing cowards. I suppose the real warriors aren’t here, they are the ones busy fighting and protecting the people right now.’

  In the center of the storm, Li Yu continued to stand where he was. His face was a portrait of intense and unyielding judgment. His eyes were narrowed, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line.

  To the onlookers, he looked like a god of vengeance contemplating which punishment to mete out. That he was thinking of all kinds of scenarios and what he would do depending on what Valen was about to do next.

  Inside Li Yu’s head, however, the dialogue was significantly different.

  ‘I’m actually starving,’ Li Yu thought, actively suppressing a stomach rumble with his cultivation base. ‘I skipped food earlier to fight that beast tide. Then the incredible smell that the beasts gave off while Tekton cooked them was intoxicating. I didn’t get a chance to eat anything at that time either because I had to collect and sort. Then this damn old man is causing trouble here, I should have been done and eating some good food already.’

  He kept his glare fixed on Valen and anger surfaced to his face now and again as he got annoyed by being so hungry. Others thought he was getting more upset since they were trying to rob him. Some started shaking more when they noticed the anger on his face, but Li Yu’s peripheral vision was scanning the distant buildings of the fortress, looking for tell-tale signs of smoke or steam that would indicate a kitchen.

  ‘I wonder what the local specialty is. The Eastern Continent is mountainous… maybe they have good game meat? Roasted mountain goat? Or maybe specialty stews? I heard the region near the Weald uses those strange herbs in everything.’

  He visualized a bowl of noodles, clear broth, topped with chunks of tender roasted goat and other vegetables. The image was so vivid he nearly drooled. Now he was really getting upset, not at the situation at hand but because he was so hungry.

  ‘Focus, Li Yu. You’re in a standoff,’ he chided himself.

  He looked back at Valen. The man was sweating. He was also clearly shaking. He looked like he was about to vomit or pass out.

  Li Yu felt zero sympathy. In fact, he felt a mild annoyance that Valen was taking so long to decide.

  ‘Hurry up,’ Li Yu thought. ‘I have two plans and I’m fine with either, just pick one so I can go eat.’

  Li Yu ran through his own mental checklist again, just to be sure.

  Option 1: Valen attacks. Action: Cripple him. Then drag his body and head to their headquarters and destroy it. Loot everything. Continue rampage through all their holdings to get all of their wealth.

  Option 2: Valen backs down. Action: Accept the surrender with maximum condescension. The damage is done and figure out a way to loot them later.

  ‘Honestly, Option 1 is better for my wealth but Option 2 is better for my stomach,’ Li Yu weighed the options. ‘I’ll let him choose his own destiny, at least for now.’

  He began tapping his foot on the stone pavement. Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound was quiet but in the silence of the square it sounded like a countdown.

  Valen flinched at the sound.

  “Well? What is your decision? Or are you going to make everyone here wait all day?” Li Yu finally said.

  He didn’t shout. He hadn’t screamed. He spoke with the casual and bored tone of a customer waiting for a slow clerk to count change.

  “My leg is getting tired, Valen. And Tekton is getting hungry. He prefers to eat metal but he also likes to eat meat. Especially meat from strong cultivators and beasts.”

  ‘I would,’ Tekton projected to Li Yu. ‘He smells like fear. Does fear taste like salt? I like salt.’

  “Make a decision,” Li Yu said again before Valen could even answer him the first time. Li Yu’s voice dropped an octave, becoming a low growl that vibrated in the chest of everyone present. “Fight me and die. Or get out of my sight and stop treating people so poorly. But do it now.”

  The ultimatum hung in the air. The tension was at its absolute peak. A pin dropping would have sounded like a cannon blast.

  Valen looked at his trembling hands. He looked at the terrified faces of his "allies" who were silently begging him to retreat. He looked at Shen Tu, who was ignoring him. And finally, he looked at the abyss in Li Yu’s eyes. Valen couldn’t remember a time when he was so scared and couldn’t make a decision.

  Valen opened his mouth. His lips moved but no sound came out at first. He stood on the precipice of his decision, the weight of his entire life’s philosophy crumbling under the pressure of a single boy.

  The world seemed to pause, waiting for the first domino to fall.