Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 371: The Grand Plan

Chapter 371: The Grand Plan

The Liberator, the False Man, the god whom he figured was apart of this elusive circle of anti-gods. Since the incident at the Endless Bar, since that fateful poker match, Dasha had long deduced the Liberator and his role in this world. It was far too obvious to him. Perhaps Daughter thought him ignorant.

Dasha was acting of his own accord, without the aid of the Whispers. He did not need them; they were but a small part of his spiderwebs. A series of grand plans to gather influence and sieze control of the White Abyss.

This grand plan spanned a week. A plan that would tip the scales of the Underground. A plan that would set down the moving pieces and turn them into grinding gears of Dasha Pang’s grand machine.

Wang Lun was deep into thought. Within the bottle had been an parchment outlining the grand plan. Dasha did not speak. He simply awaited his judgment.

"You and your master asking for much trust, messenger," Wang Lung decided to say, putting the paper down. "But I can feel the depth in your words. You are honest with what you claim to be able to accomplish." Wang Lun smiled and grabbed his blade, pointing the end right at him. "And the Inner Circle does not fail, does it?"

"We are failure incarnate," Dasha said. "We learn. We continue. Failure does not and should not matter."

Wang Lung of all people understood that sentiment of victory within loss. Yet...

"Do not misunderstand either..." Wang Lung’s Qi spiked. The ends of Dasha’s invisibility cloak burned. "The kill is mine."

Dasha raised a hand and the Qi faded. "You must be misunderstanding. This plan is not for the sake of the Inner Circle. It is for you, Wang Lun."

"The Liberator is not the kind to plan like this." The pointed sword fell. "So you admit it out loud. It was not by the Liberator, but by you, messenger."

"Precisely. He asked me for plan, I asked him for strength, and now we ask you together."

Lies within honesty. Lies to be brought and elevate confidence in arrogance. Wang Lun believed he had the upper hand.

"You are a Cultivator. I can see that. I presume you want to drink the Pure Water I created?"

Wang Lun—martial artist, a Nascent Soul cultivator, and a physician. A rebel that founded the Pure Water Sect and instrumented a type of water that was equivalent to the greatest of pills.

It was the only piece of information Daughter told him before he set out to the Underground. If possible, find Wang Lun and drink his Pure Water. Other than that, Daughter did not care what he did. She desired greater strength and how he got it did not matter. She would not nag like a mother.

So it was so. So Dasha descended to the Underground, walked, and schemed.

He did not need the Whispers to find Wang Lun. He listened. He slaughtered. He tortured. He did the same acts he did on Earth.

Now, he was all the way up here at the Dark Tower.

"So what? Do you seek greater power?"

"I merely seek power to better myself. That is all."

"Your soul is quite strange. I see a layer of nothingness and nothingness and more nothingness. But buried deep inside us, there must be something."

A trick he picked up from his observations of Rehan of the Alhambra Guardians. That was why, although Wang Lung could read the front page of his soul, he could not read the pages within.

"Theorize however you like. Call it simple ambition or an instinct for power. The greediness to rise from a simple messenger. It matters little."

"Hm, that’s right," Wang Lun said to himself. "I don’t care. I don’t. As long as you get me what I want, I will wait for your little signal."

"The Liberator appreciates your judgment."

’That is why I picked you.’

***

The soul of the Underground was the Dark Tower. It was where people watched for bloodshed, for the screams of the men and the honour of victory. Dreams and aspirations were cast here. Fists were exchanged for vengeance and power and history.

Such was the case with one pair fighting it out below. At floor forty-seven, operating at what the analysts muttered was a class four level, they fought for a woman. They fought because they wanted the hand of a childhood friend.

And so, one had to die.

"You seriously had me come all the way here for a lover’s spat?" Charles Mackley’s weight was impossible not to notice. The scouts took to noticing him even faster than Dasha did with his Qi Sense. A former Marshal that ran from the trade for the sake of his own ideals, he was among the strongest.

What were those ideals? The Underground probably already knew. It was drinking. Take drugs. Washing away the dirt of the past.

"Do you know where we are?" Dasha asked calmly.

"Is there something special about this floor?" Charles looked around. "Look, I don’t care for a history lesson."

"Humour me," Dasha said despite his grumbles. "Rumours go around that Jack made his first appearance here."

Charles bristled.

"I’m not talking about his current incarnation. I’m talking about the very first time he appeared. What year was it then? Ah yes, the year 151 of the Heavenly Era. You can still see the blood stains." Dasha pointed a finger but Charles did not need to look. He already knew where it was.

Charles was laser-focused. It was like he was seeing another world.

"It was so long ago," Dasha continued. "I am sure whoever the victims were, they have been long forgotten."

"No. No, they have not been forgotten. I remember them. I remember every last one of them. Except...except him."

"You saw him that day, didn’t you? Why didn’t you stop him? You were a Marshal. You are supposed to uphold the law."

"Shut up." Charles’ fists clenched, eyes flaring yet never looking. "Just give me the damn meth."

Dasha handed him the pouch without another word. Charles put it on his lap and remained still.

"Do you know the difference between Class Six and Class Five? It is like heaven and earth, it’s incomparable," Charles said. "You can gather a thousand men worth Class Five and they would never be able to defeat a Class Six entity. Never."

"Never?"

"Never ever."

"Even if a weakness were to be exploited?"

"Even then. During the war, there were lists for those that were Class Six and above. For anyone that wasn’t on the same level, it was flee-on-sight. And back then, I was..."

"You could have, but you didn’t. I wonder..." Dasha turned to him. "Did you have problems even back then?"

The expression and emotion that crossed him couldn’t be described. It was of reminiscing, of pride, and then a downfall.

"Did you drink?"

Did you cheer him on?

The unspoken remained unspoken.

"I’m not reserving judgment. I only want to confirm that you have the ability to keep dropping the requested ingredients. That you won’t go off to the wayside."

"Don’t worry," Charles said. He understood business. He understood profit and neutrality. He understood the way of the Underground. "I will bring them."

Below them, the two men that had been fighting killed each other, fists struck into their hearts. The custodians came to drag the bodies away. Dasha’s eyes followed.