Yes, I had to make the call, otherwise, Rene might do something stupid himself.

But to whom?

Would calling Johansson turn out to be the stupid move instead? Should I call Novak directly instead? And what if Rene was working with the drug dealers himself?

No, that was ridiculous. Still, I couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility that someone had nudged him into this conversation just to set up this exact phone call — maybe they'd even bugged the office with some specialised equipment.

I had no clue how that would work, considering that part of the hardware was literally my own brain, but the idea of dropping Novak's name here gave me a real bad feeling.

But why? He was literally my mentor's master. That connection wasn't exactly a state secret.

I hesitated.

Logic told me to call Novak.

My gut said Johansson.

Honestly, I really wished I had a coin to flip. I'd have made up my mind faster.

There was no more time to delay. Sometimes it's more important to make a decision than to make the right one.

I called Novak.

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

"I'm in Rene's training hall. He compared my use of Iron Head in the tournament to what I showed here during the accident. Now he wants to talk to someone from the Hall of Order, to make sure I'm not working for drug dealers."

"And why does he think you might be working for drug dealers?" Novak asked.

"I don't understand his logic either!" I replied, a bit more emotionally, shooting a glance at Rene.

Novak paused for only a second or two before asking, "How public is this?"

"We're in his office. The acoustics seem isolated, the windows are dimmed, not fully, though."

"No one can see in from outside," Rene clarified, and I passed that along to Novak.

"Then he'd better not keep you long. He'll be getting a call within ten minutes."

Novak hung up without saying goodbye.

"You'd better not keep me long. You'll get a call in ten minutes," I told Rene.

"Then you've got ten minutes to enjoy your tea," he said flatly.

So I had to enjoy it.

Frankly speaking, the taste wasn't all that balanced — too much honey, not enough citrus. And the usual clarity of thought and hyperfocus just didn't kick in.

"Definitely not red quality," I muttered, mostly just to needle Rene.

Still, it was Pure Thought, and it did kick my processor up a gear.

"Wait," I said. "No one mentioned drugs. Yes, they were involved, but how did you even make that leap? How did you connect me with the Hall of Order and Lao with the drugs?"

Rene raised his teacup in a mock salute.

"It was this tea that made the link. His progress was too sharp, same as Arnaud's. Yours isn't exactly normal either, but it comes in jumps, and I've known you longer. I've seen some of your 'breakthroughs' myself. Lao, though — he was pure average when he first started coming here. Then he took off like a rocket."

"I only recently realised that the whole acceleration happened in a single day," Rene said, glancing out through the glass wall at the training hall. "There are nearly a hundred people cycling through here every day. You can't keep an eye on them all."

"And how did you tie me to the Order?" I asked.

He never got the chance to explain. I don't know who called him or what they told him, but from a few clipped phrases, it was clear they were assuring him that I had nothing to do with any drugs and that what happened in the hall had just been a coincidence.

Rene grumbled something about people feeding him crap, but didn't press for details. He ended the call and waved me off.

Good thing he'd made me tea. I honestly don't know how I'd have gone back to training straight after that conversation otherwise. Though I was still curious how exactly he connected me with the Hall of Order.

Then again… I was the assistant supervisor. That role basically made me a top candidate for full Order membership.

By the time I got to training with Kate, our first session since she'd stopped being subbed in for by Adam, I'd processed it all and mostly settled down. But another surprise awaited me. A smaller one this time, and entirely logical given the last: training was postponed, instead, I was 'invited' to Novak's residence.

Kate and I arrived together; Adam was already there, seated in my usual spot at the tea table. The room was filled with the rich scent of high-grade Pure Thought.

I greeted Novak politely, watching his expression for any hint of dissatisfaction, but found none.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I relaxed slightly and mentioned that Rene had already served me Pure Thought earlier today. It had been overly sweet.

Novak glanced at the cup in front of me and said the tea was already brewed — he wasn't about to pour out such a rare product. Besides, one extra cup wouldn't hurt me.

The truth was, the previous dose had already worn off. Still, I felt obliged to clarify. When it came to cultivation-related substances, one had to be careful. Unlike Bao Feng, I had no idea what you could mix, or in what amounts. I usually relied on Kate for that sort of thing.

The moment I settled into the one chair I hated — the one with its back to the stunning window view and its front to Novak — Vaclav started talking.

"Rene uncovered a flaw none of us had anticipated…" Novak raised his hand and locked eyes with me, likely to stop me from interrupting.

Not that I planned to. I had things I could say, but none I intended to voice, so the gesture was unnecessary.

"I don't blame you, Jake," he said. "If anything, it's my fault. I encouraged your participation in the tournaments, and I didn't forbid you from using Iron Head. It would've been a waste for you not to take the opportunity once you saw it.

"Also, congratulations on the third place. Given how it all played out — a brilliant strategic move." He offered a rare word of praise.

Not exactly what I expected from this conversation, but 'what I expected' wasn't long in coming. Novak gestured to my teacup, and I obediently took a sip.

"Now we have a problem," he continued. "If Rene noticed, others might too."

"But Rene's a trainer," Adam chimed in cautiously. "A good one, and he knows Jake well."

Novak held up a hand to pause him.

"I've taken that into account," he said. "But the chance that Lao gets exposed has increased. We don't know how much longer he can keep following our instructions. And we can't be sure the demons won't take countermeasures."

Novak took a sip of his own tea.

"I see a few possible scenarios. First — the demons miss it. They don't have the manpower to watch every crack, review every video. Accidents happen.

"Second — they realise it was a setup.

"Each option branches out. They could ramp up activity, go underground, or change nothing at all. That last one's still possible even if they uncover the deception.

"They've spent years constructing this system. Making any drastic change might hurt them more than they realise. But if they do catch on, it's logical to expect them to start cutting ties. We've already seen them behave that way."

No one jumped to speak this time. Novak motioned for Adam to go ahead.

"Lao's not the only tie we know," Adam said with a shrug. "Cold as that sounds. And besides, he's already given us nearly everything he could."

"True," Novak nodded, fixing me with a meaningful look. "But you're forgetting about Jake. He's the tie that leads back to us. The whole stunt with the injury was meant to legitimise Lao's identification as a drug user. Now that Rene's shown the trick doesn't work, we need to consider countermeasures."

"Put him into sleep mode," Adam suggested at once.

"Already done," Novak said.

Adam raised a questioning brow. I could almost hear the thought behind it: Without me?

"Lina," Novak answered.

Adam's brow lowered. Apparently, both of them had been running Novak's errands on this.

Novak turned his eyes to me again.

Too many meaningful looks. He wanted something from me, and whatever it was, I wasn't going to like it. That's why he was circling the conversation, trying to make it sound like a last resort.

"Don't drag it out, sir," I said. "What are you thinking?"

"That call to Rene cost me," he said. "I asked Johansson to cover for me, and he asked for you in return. For a week."

"Me? What's he planning to do with me?"

"No idea. But I know and respect him well enough not to ask. Especially since he's done the same for me. He also said it'd be safer than whatever it is you're doing here."

"Do I have the option to refuse?"

"Unfortunately, no. He asked me to remind you that you already owe him for every call you've made. However, you can refuse what I'm about to ask of you."

I raised an eyebrow.

Novak took a sip of tea.

"While you're working under Johansson, start a few conflicts with the names I'll give you."

"What names? And why?"

"As a distraction. And a countermeasure. I'll give you the names of a few junkies. You stir up enough trouble to get them sent to the infirmary, where they'll be diagnosed."

"You're blowing up the whole plan?" I blinked.

My mental processor kicked into overdrive. If it weren't for the Pure Thoughts tea, I'd have given myself a migraine. But the tea offered a path.

"No," I realised — and it wasn't a pleasant realisation.

I even let a little sarcasm slip through.

"So… you respect Johansson enough not to ask unnecessary questions," I said. "But at the same time, you're fine using him as a decoy behind his back, without a hint of guilt?"

"And while I'm at it, I'm giving the demons a little nudge," Novak added calmly. "Killing a cadet whose loyalties are unclear is one thing. Attacking one of Johansson's protégés is another. He doesn't take kindly to that sort of thing, and the demons know better than to piss him off."

Sure, I'd like to hear that story, but something told me Novak would only share what he felt I needed to know.

"And how do you think he'll react to being used like this?"

"Oh, he won't mind. He'll probably thank me," Novak said confidently. "After all, free junkies are always welcome in Order ops."

This plan reeked of shit. And I had a strong feeling it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Novak wasn't the type to loop in subordinates on the finer details. Take the case of Nur's demon. Two months had already passed. Plenty of time to torture him to death, revive him, and do it all over again a dozen times.

What secrets had he spilled to Novak by now?

Vaclav was watching me closely, gauging my reaction. I stared down into my teacup, avoiding eye contact like it might somehow stop him from reading my thoughts.

I didn't like this.

I didn't like not knowing the full picture.

I looked up and met his gaze.

"No," I said. After all, at some point, I had to test how tight this leash of his really was. "I refuse."

"Very well," Vaclav nodded, as if instantly losing interest in me. "Then I've got another offer. Next week is the first monthly tournament for first-years. Take part. Place in the top three and we'll consider our tournament arrangement fulfilled."

"Not first place?" I asked.

"Anywhere from first to third," he said. "I'll even throw in a crystal if you manage first."

That was bait I couldn't ignore. Still, with that monster Gunter in the picture, first place felt completely out of reach.

"Make it the next monthly tournament," I tried to bargain.

"That won't help you," he shook his head. "By the time the next one comes around, some cadets will already be breaking through to the second stage. Your chances against them are even worse than against Gunter," he added, reading my thoughts again, it seemed.

Breakthroughs?

Shit.

With how chaotic the rankings were, and the high level of dispersion, I'd completely forgotten that some cadets had access to crystals that could shave off weeks, even months of cultivation time.

"A crystal!" I countered. "Small crystal for third, medium for second, large for first."

Kate nearly choked on her tea.

Adam's eyes bulged out.

Vaclav burst into a proper laugh.

"Let me remind you," he said between chuckles, "large crystals are defined as anything between five hundred and a thousand units of qi. They cost anywhere from two to eight million credits.

"So, for obvious reasons, I'm going to decline that generous offer. But I am willing to give you a crystal worth around 150 qi, give or take, for the first place. 100 for second, and 50 for third.

"However, that's a separate deal from our previous one. You won't receive the breakthrough material if you take this deal."

"Deal!" I agreed quickly.

Right now, crystals were more valuable to me than breakthrough materials.

"Excellent!" Vaclav looked satisfied. "Then I won't keep you. Johansson is waiting.

"You don't have to report back to me about his assignments, but do keep your mouth shut about our little shenanigans."

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