Shen kept the two Brigades inside his aura and in place until he also forced them through a B-tier system check and into Samir-6. And in the end, Maryon and Nucio had the last laugh. Leading over a million prisoners to the Detention Department with only six thousand troops was a logistical nightmare. The corridors were long, and the Detention Department was deep into the fortress. He wasted a whole day dealing with that, and he considered it a win.

Speaking of prisoners, he couldn't talk to Martino, which was annoying. He had imprisoned her for being part of a competing Brigade that had attacked him. As the Commander of an Exemplary Brigade, anything he discussed with her before someone interrogated them would be improper.

After concluding his babysitting duty, Shen finally gave his people one hour of rest, the first opportunity since they started. He approached Luthdel and Rayna and created a privacy bubble around them with his Laws. No one outside could see or hear anything from the inside.

"You knew," the high elf sourly accused as soon as they were cut from the others.

Shen had asked Rayna to remove the rope constraining Luthdel, who elected to remain sitting on the floor. There was real betrayal in his eyes when he looked at Shen.

"I knew Martino was related to your bother's execution," Shen confirmed and crouched to match Luthdel's eye height. "But although I'm sorry for your loss, I'm glad your brother is gone." The elf flinched as if slapped. "You call me young master, and I accepted you to a certain extent, yet I also didn't kill Martino for touching your family. What does all that tell you?"

The high elf would have screamed at Shen three years ago, but the front lines had helped him mature. Not enough to avoid being led astray—or making stupid decisions, as Shen still hoped wasn't the case—but enough to think things through when rebuked.

"You're protecting her because she's a friend," he couldn't stop himself from saying, but then added, "or he did something wrong, and my cousin lied to me."

His words made Shen relax a little. He had been fooled. That was less terrible.

Shen nodded. "Precisely. I'm disappointed in you for not having personally checked your brother's status. I taught you better than that. But I understand it, all things considered." Shen had shared some common sense with his friends and direct subordinates in the past years.

"Why did you tell me he was dead like that?" Luthdel asked after a long pause.

"It was an opportunity to showcase your growth to anyone looking. And I wanted you to deal with it alone. Alone-ish. With a very loose safety net."

The high elf frowned. "Why, though?"

"Some things can't be said." Shen had been ordered not to reveal he would join SpecOps, but he could give tips. This should be enough. "How did your investigation end up with you captured?"

Luthdel wasn't happy about having his question dismissed but answered, "I asked a cousin in the Investigation Department about it. He told me my brother fell in love with a woman, but she plotted against him to have him wrongly accused of treason. At the time, he was in a deployment and got killed before he could explain himself."

"Your cousin didn't tell you Martino's race or name?" Shen asked, surprised.

The high elf shook his head. "I got her location directly fed to my Interface. I knew the name of where she was and, if we were in the same place, in which direction and how far away she was. It disappeared a little after I was caught."

"Using the system against a Guardian is treason of the highest order. Is that why you're not saying your cousin's name?"

Luthdel nodded. "If he wasn't caught yet..."

There was zero chance the cousin would survive after what he did. He had effectively killed himself to get Luthdel to die. More than that, everything and everyone the guy knew would be scrutinized to exhaustion. One didn't simply abuse the system like that. That was the stuff of horror stories for every Guardian.

More interestingly, whoever was behind the guy had only risked it because Samir was on lockdown during a Calamity. In any other circumstance, an A-rank would already have appeared to check everything as soon as the puppetmaster gave the guy authority to use such a powerful system function. The hand behind the curtain had used the lockdown against Long Hei.

By now, Long Hei had already been told what was going on. The lack of a name only meant he had to check the list of Luthdel's cousins in the Investigation Department to know who the man was. The important part was that it still required direct input, as the system didn't connect such indirect clues unless someone asked. Long Hei was already investigating, but perhaps at his own pace, giving the cousin time to make a mistake that would reveal more about who was behind him.

However, if Luthdel said his cousin's name, the system would inform the Acting General, who would need to act against the guy immediately. Traitors weren't tolerated; they were investigated after being disposed of. It was an understandable loophole because traitors with so much power over the system were too dangerous to be given a chance to do something else. However, it allowed people to use kamikaze tactics under very specific circumstances.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"I'll inform the Acting General," Shen said and sent the dragon a message through the system. He had to do it after what Luthdel told him. The high elf wouldn't get punished for withholding information because no one had asked him to reveal it. "So, the Interface led you to Martino?"

The elf nodded. "I prepared a place and used my mother's influence to get some people to invite her to get there. When she arrived, I saw her name and Racial Title. You mentioned Martino a few times before, the last time being when ordering Lieutenant Rayna to find her. I knew something was wrong."

Shen sighed. "Thank you for trusting me, Luthdel. You're a good friend, and your loyalty is worthy of praise. We're both glad you didn't kill an innocent woman, right?"

Luthdel nodded again. "What really happened?"

"Your brother abused his power for years. In the last months, he got bold and took a liking to Martino. The Acting General killed him before he forced himself on her."

The elf's frown returned. "Who told you that?" Then, he added, "Young master?"

"Acting General," Shen said, not adding any article.

The high elf did a good job pretending not to understand the hint, but his soul revealed the truth. Shen wasn't supposed to let Luthdel know his mother had talked to Shen about him, or the Queen would have called her son to the meeting, too.

But Shen was already headed to SpecOps or some desperate escape likely to end in his death. He had considered the latter, though he currently felt he was more likely to survive suicide missions than desertion. Whatever the case, he was giving Luthdel his goodbye gifts, including helping the guy not get manipulated through his sense of loss and letting him know that his mother, while an overall cold woman from some things he had shared, still cared for him in her own way. After Shen left, she would be his most reliable backer.

He had also considered asking Luthdel to watch over humankind now and then, but after this fiasco, it was better for him to stay away. Luthdel had also become stable in the past years, but who knew what would happen after Shen got deployed somewhere the high elf couldn't follow?

Luthdel said nothing for a while, then sighed. "I'm sorry for shaming the Brigade, Commander."

"You should be," Shen replied. "Unless everyone else is a moron, you lost any chance of getting the big prize. We're currently on a mission, so I'll postpone your punishment until we're done." He then took Luthdel's sword from one of Maryon's spatial rings. The Detention Department had tried to get those items, but Shen "refused to depart with any evidence he found during his mission until his mission ended."

"Thanks," Luthdel replied.

Shen nodded, turned to Rayna, and asked a single question, "Will you tell me everything, or should I kill you for treason?"

She feigned confusion. She was very good at it, but not good enough. He had been trained by Liya and could see through Rayna. "What do you mean, Commander?"

"Lieutenant Rayna, if you force me to voice a formal complaint, this will only end one way. This is your last chance."

She said nothing for a moment, then started asking, "How did you find out I was—"

He interrupted. "I'll not allow you to try to infer how much to say. I'll take your attempt to mean you chose not to cooperate. So be it, regretful as it'll be for the drow to lose their Maiden." Not informing him about the lack of drow in Samir after he asked her to find them was a medium offense. In an Exemplary Brigade, things would get very ugly for her. "I want to denounce—"

"Alright!" she barked. "Can we at least get rid of the bystander?" He looked at Luthdel.

"No. You're colleagues, and we're building camaraderie through sharing."

"This is about the drow," Rayna insisted.

"This is about the drow, Commander," Shen corrected, clarifying that this was military business first and drow business second.

His words also offered her a chance to keep some things for herself. He was only interested in information relevant to the matters at hand, not using his authority over her to force her to reveal all her secrets to him.

That small mercy seemed to surprise her. Of course, it would. When drow established their internal hierarchy, even those of the same rank were supposed to obey their superiors almost blindly.

Rayna softened a little and nodded. "Commander, when the Calamity started, all drow C-ranks and lower were supposed to come to Samir. Things changed at the last minute, and we were told to keep it a secret from everyone not in our Node." Shen noticed she didn't state the Node's name.

She continued, "A few B-ranks came with us to ensure the drow weren't exploited. Drow Maidens candidates are trained in crafting by C-ranks and by B-ranks for decades after they are selected. Acting Colonel Darla trained me there, and I didn't expect to see her here. After I was selected for the Exemplary Brigade, she told me there are twenty drow in Samir, one B-rank and nineteen C-ranks, all deserters from the Shar'Talon. I was to follow military rules instead of killing them on sight." She looked in the direction Shen had fought outside the tent. "Seventeen C-ranks, now."

So, she had kept quiet about it because the drow ordered her to. As drow himself, Shen wasn't entitled to know more than what his superiors wanted him to. However, as he had clarified, this was the military, not Shar'Talon. She should've told him.

Frankly, Shen didn't have a moral high ground. By giving her a chance to come clear, he was being less strict than he should have been in an Exemplary Brigade. He was setting a bad example, but losing a C-rank assistant would make things much more challenging than the punishment he might receive later.

He was more or less putting Darla's teaching about paying the price to good use. Part of him wondered if she had planned all this but dismissed it as implausible.

"Is that all?" Shen asked.

Rayna hesitated a little, then said with a challenging face, "Yes, Commander."

"Alright. I'm not interested in whatever other things you want to keep for yourself," he stressed, and she relaxed a little. "But do not let something like this happen again. I will not be lenient the next time. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Commander!"

Rayna looked legitimately grateful at him not demanding more from her, and Shen wondered if this was the first time a drow superior allowed her to take a breather. That was possible. He didn't know how much pressure Maiden candidates were put under, but he doubted it was a walk in the park.

"Well, it's good to have you back, Lieutenants. Anything any of you want to add?"

Rayna looked sideways at Luthdel before saying, "Sergeant Marzia Martino asked me to send you a message, Commander."

Shen raised an eyebrow. "Oh. That sounds interesting. Go ahead, unless it's about Luthdel."

Rayna shook her head. "It's not, Commander. She asked me to tell you, quote, 'The dreamer's lightning is coming, darkness approaches, trust no one.'"

It took Shen a second to understand, and then frowned and asked seriously, "Are you sure she said the Dreamer's 'lightning,' not light?"

"Positive, Commander," Rayna confirmed.

Shen remembered only one lightning the Dreamer had summoned in the tutorial.

Black lightning.

He immediately yelled the translated version of Martino's message, "Full alert! Void invasion imminent! There are traitors among us!"