Bai Yan thought about it, her mind a storm of conflicting emotions. She did not give an answer right away. Her entire life had been a struggle for freedom, for the power to not have to answer to anyone.

Now, she was being offered a choice between absolute servitude and absolute oblivion. Others, like Kael, had a clear motivator to keep them going, a burning revenge that made any price worth paying. Things they still wanted to do or had to do before they could truly die in peace.

She had no such thing. Her goal was simpler, and in a way, more absolute. She wanted to be stronger, yes, but the want of that strength was so that she could have the freedom to do what she wanted, to be left alone by a world that had always sought to control or destroy her.

If she had to serve another, to be at their beck and call, what kind of freedom was that? It was a betrayal of the very principle she had lived and bled for. She thought, for a fleeting, serious moment, that perhaps it was better to just be killed. Let her life, so full of struggle and strife, finally end here. At least in death, no one could command her.

As she looked over at the boy in front of her, she didn't know what she should say. Was it to agree, or just to die? Her mind replayed what Kael had said, his quiet confidence that joining this boy was not a bad decision.

She knew nothing of the boy, but from her life full of struggles, she had developed a decent, if not good, judge of character. She had survived this long by trusting her instincts, by reading the subtle cues in the powerful people who had tried to use her.

The look that he has just given her now, even though it was brief, sparked something in her mind. It was the look of someone who understood her. How that was possible she didn’t know, he was just a kid, how could he understand all of the struggles of her life and her goals. However, that look that he gave him, how he sounded when he asked her again, that pushed her to one direction.

She looked at Li Yu. She saw only a calm, weary determination. He didn’t seem like he was a tyrant. He was something else, something she couldn’t quite define. She looked at those people around him, not Kael, he had just joined. She was looking at the woman and the old man, two people that seemed to be completely different from one another but they were following him.

They too were people of power, not as strong as she was but nearly there. They too must have lived long lives, yet they were following this boy now. She didn’t know if they chose to follow him by choice or if he made them. However, with the way Cyra was looking and treating him, it was with a kindness that no forced seal could create.

The seal could only command, the person would follow but they could still hate the master. There was no hatred in Cyra’s eyes or in the eyes of the crazy old man over there. She decided to take a gamble, one final, massive bet with her own life and freedom as the stakes. She would see where this part of her life will lead her.

“I agree,” she finally said, her voice a quiet whisper, the words tasting like ash in her mouth.

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Li Yu was genuinely happy that she accepted. He raised his hand and, just as he had with Kael, began to weave the intricate runes of the master-slave seal. He pressed his palm to her forehead, and she felt the irresistible, soul-binding power wash over her.

As the seal settled, Li Yu felt a familiar backlash, a secondary, hidden formation within her soul that flared and then dissolved. Just like the Beast Faction, the Human Revolution Faction also placed a seal on the core, important memories of their high-ranking members. He wouldn’t be learning any of their deepest secrets from her either.

With the last of the enemies now a subordinate, the tense atmosphere in the ruined base finally dissipated completely. Li Yu took out his communication token once more. “Fat Pig,” he sent, “the situation has changed again. I have another seventeen people who have surrendered. Come to this location and take them. They have agreed to join the Guild and the White Paws. You can take them back to headquarters and you, Kui and Xylia can decide where you want them. I trust your judgement.”

There was a pause on the other end, followed by the sound of a weary sigh. “Understood, Wise Host. On my way. Again.” This was the second time he’s been asked to come in a hurry out of the blue by Li Yu recently. While he would listen, he was still slightly annoyed to drop all his tasks. However, as Kui has told him many times, after the king, the wise host takes precedence.

While they waited for Fat Pig to show up, Li Yu looked at his new, expanded team. He spoke of his plan, his voice echoing in the quiet canyon. “Now, we will go and attack the Beast Faction’s other hidden base, this time, the one in the south. We will continue to strike their nests until their true leaders are forced to show themselves.”

Bai Yan was surprised by the sheer audacity of the move. She had thought this was a one-time retaliatory strike. That they did something to this group and they attacked. Or they stumbled upon this place and decided to destroy it to help humanity.

She hadn’t realized she had just joined a proactive war campaign. “That is a bold move,” she commented. “Do you know the strength of their forces there?” When Li Yu looked at her expectantly, she just shook her head. “I’m sorry. I cannot help. The moment I made my pledge to you, I felt the information seal activate. My memories of our faction’s intelligence on our rivals… they are gone.”

“It is fine,” Li Yu said, not sounding surprised at the news of her memories being erased. He had felt it earlier and it was the same with Kael.

“I am stronger than I look. And I am wanting to test out my new strength if the situation calls for it. I hope I will not have to, but I am ready.”

He let out a long, weary sigh, a sound that seemed to echo Bai Yan’s own exhaustion. He explained to her, “I am tired of these shadows haunting my peace. I, too, just want to be left in peace, to do what I want and enjoy myself. My enjoyment, however, is in the mundane world, not in conquering it. But they will not leave this continent alone, thus not leaving my peace alone. So, I will destroy them so I can protect what I care about.”

That resonated with her. Deeply. So he, too, thought similarly to how she did. Now she understood why his expression changed earlier, when she had shared her brief story, when she shared her goals.

His ultimate goal was the same as hers. He was not a conqueror hungry for power, but a man trying to build a wall of strength around his own quiet life. Perhaps her choice, her gamble, would not be so bad after all.

He went on to explain, “My life hasn’t been as hard as yours seem to have been but yes, our goals are very similar. I am sure we each have our own idea of what our ‘peace’ is, but the overall direction is the same.”

“It is for that very reason that we are attacking the southern base now. Our goal is to draw out the leaders, not just the followers and end their hold on this continent if possible. We have learned that it is hard to move from continent to continent so if we set them back severely, they might just give up here altogether.”