[New Eridu Special Report—Major News: Defense Force Exposed in Major Scandal.]
[According to reliable sources, the Defense Force has been involved in numerous heinous acts since the fall of the old capital.]
[These include, but are not limited to, the persecution of heroes who fought bravely during the fall of the old capital, the creation of illegal human clones, and cooperation with illegal organizations.]
[HAND and the HIA have both issued statements condemning the Defense Force's actions and demanding an apology.]
...
In a remote base, news of the Defense Force scandal was being broadcast.
The sudden scandal had tarnished the image of the most powerful of New Eridu's three official factions. The higher-ups were in a panic. This was supposed to be a top-secret matter. How had it been leaked to the public, and to HAND and the HIA, no less?
In the blink of an eye, they had gone from heroes to villains.
While they scrambled to suppress the news, they also tried to locate the faction that had been in charge of Number 11. But when they found the base, all the high-ranking officers were gone, and the only ones left were a group of unconscious soldiers.
All they knew was that some terrifying individual had single-handedly broken into their base and taken them all down. The conference room where the Major and his officers had been was a scene of utter devastation, as if it had been attacked by a giant Ethereal.
The disappearance of an entire faction was another blow to the already beleaguered Defense Force.
But Mo Wang, the perpetrator of it all, was calmly sitting in a chair, unconcerned.
Cui Ji was lying on a surgical bed, her clones watching over her anxiously.
Mo Wang slowly channeled his power into her, and a verdant light enveloped her body. The wounds on her body began to heal at a rapid pace.
Even more astonishingly, her missing eye began to regenerate.
"My... my eye is healed?" Cui Ji covered her newly restored eye in disbelief, and then looked at Mo Wang with a mixture of shock and awe.
To restore a human organ with his bare hands, without any technology... it was a feat worthy of a god.
"How's the new eye? Any discomfort?" he asked.
"It's... it's perfect. It feels just like my old one," she said, a blush creeping up her cheeks. In this moment, she looked even cuter than Anby, a far cry from the arrogant little devil she had been before.
"Hmm, are you sure you don't want me to fix your limbs too?" he asked, completely oblivious to her blushing.
"N-no, that's alright. I've gotten used to these," she said, though her heart was pounding. She wanted her real limbs back, of course, but she had just joined his faction. She couldn't just lie around and recover while everyone else was working.
"Alright, then. Get down. Next!" he said, his mind already elsewhere. He was having a bit of an existential crisis. He was a follower of the Path of Remembrance, so why was he suddenly so proficient in the Path of Abundance?
And then there was the other, more pressing matter—he was broke.
Looking at the room full of beautiful sisters-in-law, he couldn't help but wonder where the money was going to come from. Now that they were no longer involved in illegal activities, he was their sole source of income.
The title of my life story should be: "Regarding the Matter of Me Being the Strongest in the World, Yet Still Worrying About Money Every Day."
"Um... if you're worried about funds, we can earn our own money," one of Cui Ji's clones, a girl named Nina, said timidly. "We have a lot of money saved up from before. If you need it..."
"No, no, that's not necessary," he said, waving his hand. He couldn't possibly take their "coffin money," especially not the money they had earned by "selling their bodies."
"Awooo~"
Outside, a giant dragon lay on the ground, looking at him with pitiful eyes. A group of little girls were curiously gathered around the Blue-Eyes White Dragon he had summoned.
The poor dragon, a being with the power to slay gods, was now being used as a plaything for a bunch of little girls.
What a tragedy, he thought, shaking his head. But then again, a card spirit doesn't need a salary or food. He's the perfect black slave.
...
By the time he had finished treating all his new sisters-in-law, it was already late at night.
I have the titles of legendary Proxy, army destroyer, and leader of the Silver Squad. None of those sound like a good guy. It looks like I'll have to find a way to launder my reputation.
He was considering officially joining the HIA to take on some official jobs. The commission was high, but the volume was good.
Just then, he saw a familiar figure standing under a streetlight.
It was Number 11, looking lost and afraid.
"Yo, if it isn't my dearest Xia Lin. What brings you here today?" he said, walking over to her.
"Y-you... why are you calling me by that name again?" she stammered, but didn't protest.
"Hey, you look a little worn out. Not used to the new leadership?" he asked, his tone as casual as ever.
"A little," she said with a wry smile. "But because of the news, I've been put on long-term leave."
"Oh, oh, that's great! Paid vacation~ Official personnel really have it good. Unlike me, who has to work 365 days a year, sigh~"
"You were the one behind it, weren't you?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Hmm? Ah~ yes."
"Thank you," she said, much to his surprise. "If it weren't for you, the truth about the Silver Squad would have been buried forever."
"Huh? Huh huh huh? You're not mad?"
"And... even if it was a crime, if it was you, I would..."
"Tsk tsk tsk~" he clicked his tongue.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking about how much you've changed since we first met," he said with a smile.
"S-so... I've been really lost lately. After finding out about the military, and about Anby... I don't think I can trust myself anymore."
"So..."
"So?"
"So, please let me be your tool," she said.
"Huh?"
Mo Wang blinked, and suddenly had a vision of a certain someone, who was currently in prison, waving at him.