"Because I fucking can?"

Saquin's words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.

If the room was silent before, it was now practically a vacuum. The four holograms flickered, their visual data struggling to keep up with the emotional turbulence of the people projecting them.

"You..." The old man among the officials pointed a shaking finger at Saquin. "You closed a Tier 3 Access? A cleared, safe, stable Tier 3 Access?"

"I feel like I am repeating myself, but yes." Saquin leaned back, crossing his arms. "Is there an echo in here?"

"Are you insane?!" The young man exploded, losing his cool entirely. "Do you have any idea what you have just done? Do you have even the slightest concept of the magnitude of loss you have inflicted upon this sector?"

"A loss?" Saquin raised a brow. "I saved the city from a vampire that was actively depopulating it. I cleaned up the mess. I secured the area. Where is the loss?"

"The Access!" The old man roared. "The Access itself was the treasure!"

Saquin watched them with a look of mild curiosity, like a scientist observing monkeys fighting over a banana peel.

To the Federation, an Access point was not a disaster site; once cleared, it was a goldmine. It was the Holy Grail.

Since the First Fall, humanity had learned that while the Access brought beasts, it also brought Senar.

Undiluted, raw Senar.

It was the fuel of human expansion. It was the lifeblood of the Empowered dominion over the universe. Every Access point spread across the galaxy acted as a pump, filling the surrounding vacuum with the energy required to birth new Empowered, to fuel technologies, to power the very civilization they stood upon.

Closing an Access was akin to finding an infinite oil well, setting it on fire, and then cementing the hole.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Revenue," Nathasa spoke up, her voice trembling slightly, though she fought to keep it steady. "Resources. Training."

She stared at Saquin as if trying to find the defect in his brain.

"An open Access point is a never-ending stream of wealth, Eminence. The revenue generated from Empowered paying to utilize the Senar-rich environment for training alone could sustain a planet's economy. The resources generated from the mass reproduction of Senarbeasts, beasts that provide materials, food, and Cores... are incalculable."

"And you threw it away." The young man seethed. "You threw it all away."

"Not to mention..." The old man's voice dropped to a whisper, filled with pain. "It led to the Underworld."

Saquin tilted his head. "And?"

"And?!" The old man looked like he might have a stroke. "It was a Tier 3 Access. It connected to the Third Level of the Underworld. Do you know how rare stable connections to the Third Level are? The chances of it being an unexplored area were astronomical!"

The advantages of an unexplored area in the Underworld were self-explanatory to anyone with a basic education in the Empowered world.

New minerals and discoveries. Lost knowledge. Unique biological samples.

The resources that could be derived from having exclusive rights to an unexplored area of the Third Level were out of this world.

Quite literally.

It was the kind of discovery that could elevate a minor family to a Major House, or turn a rural sector into a bustling economic hub.

"Sure," Nathasa cut in, her eyes sharp. "You could not access it personally yet. We understand that. But that does not stop you from using it. You could have leased it. You could have used it as a private training ground for your subordinates. You could have simply opened the gates to the public and taxed every step they took inside."

She leaned forward, her hologram expanding slightly.

"You held a ticket to unlimited power and influence in your hand, Divine Saquin. And you crushed it."

Saquin listened to their lamentations with a bored expression.

He understood their point. Logically, financially, and politically, they were right. He had burned a winning lottery ticket.

But to Saquin?

It was a hassle.

Managing an Access point meant bureaucracy. It meant hiring guards. It meant dealing with the Federation trying to stick their noses in. It meant paperwork.

And most importantly, it meant keeping a door to the Underworld open in his backyard.

At least that was what his body language was conveying.

To tell the truth, he just did not fucking know beforehand about any of this. He had not even realized he could keep the Access open.

This was the disadvantage of gaining knowledge from the Net all by your lone self, you are bound to miss something or at worst be misdirected by the opinion of the one who published the source you are citing.

"Are you done?" Saquin asked when they finally paused for breath.

The officials stared at him, dumbfounded by his lack of remorse.

"You guys really love money, huh?" Saquin chuckled. "If you want Senar, go to Earth. If you want resources, go hunt. Why are you crying over a hole in reality?"

"It is not just about the money!" The young man shouted. "It is about the waste!"

Nathasa raised a hand, silencing her colleague. She looked at Saquin with a calculating gaze.

"Tell me, Eminence," she said slowly. "Is your backing okay with this?"

The room went quiet.

This was the real question.

They believed Saquin was a puppet, highly talented and arrogant but still a puppet, of a massive, shadowy organization or a supreme powerhouse. Surely, no organization would sanction the destruction of such a valuable asset. If Saquin had gone rogue, he might be in trouble. Or, perhaps, his backing was so obscenely wealthy that a Tier 3 Access meant nothing to them.

Saquin smirked.

"My backing?" He repeated the words, tasting them.

He looked over his shoulder at Shalis.

The artifact hovered silently, her expression unreadable.

"Hey, backing," Saquin called out to her. "Are you okay with me closing the Access?"

The officials' eyes shifted to Shalis. They knew she was also of the Master level, most likely even stronger than Nathasa, and was also the guardian assigned by this mysterious "backing." Her reaction would tell them everything.

Shalis looked at the holograms, then down at Saquin.

She shrugged.

"Do as you wish, Young Master," she said, her tone as light as a feather. "Who am I to stop you?"

Silence.

Absolute, stunned silence.

Nathasa felt a headache forming behind her eyes.

Who am I to stop you?

Did a mighty Senar Master just ask that question?

Just who was this brat?

Just who was standing behind him?

"You heard her," Saquin turned back to the holograms, spreading his hands. "I am my own backing. And I say, the Access stays closed. Now, can we move on? I have a schedule to keep."

It took a while for the officials to make peace with the reality.

They had entered this meeting thinking they would have a new strategic resource point in this rural sector. They had already drafted plans on how to integrate the Oke City Access point into the Federation's grid.

But Saquin's selfishness, or perhaps his transcendent arrogance, had killed that dream.

They had to let it go.

There was no point crying over spilt Senar.

"Fine," Nathasa said, her voice tight. "The Access is closed. It is a tragedy, but it is done."

She swiped a hand through the air, dismissing the invisible topic of the Access.

"Let us move on to the next topic," she said, her demeanor shifting back to professional rigidity. "Regulation."

Saquin groaned internally.

"Since you have decided to operate openly in this sector, and considering your... unique status," Nathasa began, "there is a set of regulations you will have to follow. As a youth under our jurisdiction, you must..."

"Pause," Saquin interrupted, holding up a hand. "I am not under your jurisdiction."

The young official scoffed. "You are in Federation space. You are a citizen. Of course you are under our jurisdiction."

"I am a Divine," Saquin countered. "And a Diamond Citizen. The last time I checked, that grants me a level of autonomy that basically says 'leave me alone, you have no authority over me.'"

"That applies to your movements and basic rights, yes," Nathasa admitted. "But politically? Socially? You are a powerful, unaligned variable in a delicate sector. We cannot just let you roam free without some form of... structure."

"Structure sounds like a cage," Saquin noted dryly. "And I don't do cages."

Not anymore... He thought to himself.

"It is not a cage, Eminence," Nathasa said, a small, crafty smile touching her lips. "It is a pedestal."

Saquin narrowed his eyes. "I am listening."

"You denied being under our jurisdiction," Nathasa said smoothly. "But you will be soon. Not because we will force you, but because you will agree to our proposal."

"And what proposal could possibly make me sign away my freedom to a bunch of bureaucrats?" Saquin asked, genuinely curious.

Nathasa leaned forward.

"We have decided," she said, her voice echoing with the weight of the Federation's authority, "to place you as the Face of the Empowered Youths of this sector."

Saquin blinked.

"The what?"

"The Face," she repeated. "A figurehead. An idol. A symbol of strength, talent, and potential for every young Empowered in this quadrant of the galaxy."

The other officials nodded in agreement. This was their pivot. If they couldn't control him through fear, and they couldn't control him through greed (since he clearly didn't care about the Access), they would control him through vanity and obligation.

"Think about it, Divine Saquin," the old man chimed in, his voice taking on a wheedling tone. "You are young, handsome, powerful, and wealthy. You have already accomplished a feat that veterans dream of. You are the perfect candidate."

"We will push your image," Nathasa continued. "We will grant you privileges that even Diamond Citizens don't usually access. You will have the adoration of the masses, the respect of the peers, and the backing of the Federation's PR machine."

"And in exchange?" Saquin asked, his eyes glinting.

"In exchange," Nathasa smiled, "you simply represent us. You attend the top Academy in the sector. You participate in the Inter-Sector tournaments. You show the universe that this rural sector... has a true Divine living in it."

Saquin sat back, tapping his finger on the armrest.

The Face of the Youth.

It sounded pompous. It sounded flashy. It sounded like a hassle.

But...

"A true Divine living in it, huh?" Saquin muttered.

He looked at Shalis. She didn't shrug this time. She just smiled.

The World Will's voice whispered in the back of his mind.

[ It sounds like the perfect cover for an Abomination, doesn't it? Hiding in the brightest spotlight. ]

Saquin smirked.

"Tell me more."

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