Chapter 2866: Ungrateful Ned

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, Headquarters

"Let’s begin with the Border City. I want you to take control of the Southern Watch base on the Way Beyond side immediately and launch an expedition into it using your Houndragon legion. Verify and expand the existing maps of the Way Beyond there. I need to know which Supreme Beings are in that vicinity, whose territories lie where, and what their past relations with us have been like. I want verified, accurate information as soon as possible," I instructed the Border City members and their representatives, then asked, "Any doubts or issues?"

"No, my lord. It will be done," City Lord Tess said, bowing in agreement. Then, after a brief pause, she added, "However, I’m curious—do you plan to contact and befriend these Supreme Beings?"

At City Lord Tess’s question, the others in the room didn’t burst into laughter. Instead, they leaned in, ears pricked, genuinely interested. I had already proven to them that I was capable of such a feat as I had befriended two Supreme Beings already.

"Yes. The Blood Supreme and the Rock Supreme will lead our delegates on this mission. To ensure they have the best possible chance of success, we’ll need information as accurate as you can provide," I replied, laying it out plainly. It was a reminder that my campaign wasn’t just about endless war till we get what we want. There would be growth, alliances, and opportunities alongside it. We weren’t carving a path of ruin toward an idea—we were building toward it.

"Leave it to me my lord, I will personally oversee it," Tess said enthusiastically as this was in their favor. As the overseers, they stood to gain most from this.

I nodded to Tess and turned to face Henricks and Ned. Henricks, as the righteous leader, had the charisma and the drive to get things done, but Ned was the real mastermind. He left the final decisions to Henricks because he didn’t trust himself with them.

Take one of them out, and the entire Freedom Fighters faction would spiral toward collapse. What Sansa did to them was a very good example of this.

"The Freedom Fighters will immediately take over the Southern Watch base at the border between the west and the south. I want you to use your old connections to prepare for an invasion into the southern part of the western region—"

"What? My lord, we haven’t even secured the southern stretch of this region yet, and we’re already preparing for another? Don’t you think that’s too hasty? Our people are already stretched thin," Ned exclaimed, caught off guard by what seemed to contradict his plans for after taking the base.

He had intended to use the Freedom Fighters’ old connections to re-establish and relaunch their old black market businesses. Of course, he would hand over my share as tax—along with a generous portion of equity—but in doing so, he would quietly steer things in a direction that undermined my broader campaign.

Yes—earlier, when he suggested the Border City take over the Southern Watch base on the Way Beyond side, he wasn’t just pushing their forces under the bus; he was also undercutting my campaign, all in the interest of the Freedom Fighters who were currently alive and living off my support.

I had given him a second chance, and still he hadn’t let it go. Sansa locked him up, which was why he had no real sense of how desperate things had been for the Freedom Fighters before I stepped in—or how much I had done to pull them back from the brink. The Freedom Fighters, for all their rough edges, were loyal enough to lay down their lives for me after everything I had done for them.

But Ned didn’t see it. He didn’t recognize it, let alone appreciate it. Somewhere along the way, he seemed to have forgotten that he was only alive because of me.

"Corey, drag him out and throw him into the criminal R&R program," I ordered, offering no explanation to the others.

The room went still. Shock flickered across most faces, but a few of the sharper ones had already seen it coming. Ned had been pushing his luck for a while now—and it had finally run out.

Corey grinned as Lil’ Baem, coiled around her right wrist, slid into her palm and coiled around her knuckles morphing into a brass-knuckle armament, lending her its strength. She rose from her seat, ready to carry out my order, but before she could take a step, Henricks moved to block her path.

If anything, that only made her grin widen. Yet before she could act, Henricks bowed deeply and pleaded with her, "Your Highness Corey, please allow me to deliver him to my lord’s criminal R&R program."

Her grin faltered, her brows lifting in brief confusion as she couldn’t think of a response. She was prepared for a fight or at least a struggle but not this. She immediately looked to me, her partner in chaos, only to find me watching with quiet amusement. Behind me, that brat Aurelia was already grinning, clearly entertained by Corey’s rare moment of comical hesitation.

Understanding that she’d been given full authority to handle it, her expression firmed as she looked at Henricks and reminded him, "Aren’t you forgetting — Wyatt is still addressing the Freedom Fighters?"

"I am aware, Your Highness, which is why I sent my proxy, Luna Lorn, to act in my place. Please forgive my incompetence," Henricks said, continuing to politely press her for leniency.

Corey looked at Luna and couldn’t help but take a shot: "That traitor is your proxy?"

Listening to Corey, Luna’s smile turned into a dangerous grin as she challenged, "Your Highness Corey, perhaps you’d like to use that attack from earlier — see if I’m fit to be his proxy."

"Henricks, deliver him to the R&R program and join assembly." Corey said, eyeing Luna, who still wore a faint manic grin. "But tighten your ship soon — or I will."

If not for her reluctance to cause trouble here, Corey would have jumped on the first opportunity to show Luna the meaning of a death wish.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Henricks left with Ned. The former gave me a brief nod on the way out. I couldn’t help but shake my head, watching him try to patch the cracks in their leadership by appointing Luna as his proxy.

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