Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1816: Patience

"You."

[Vera Knox (FFF+)]

[Level: 0]

[Profession: Supply Chain Quartermaster (Legendary)]

[Special Talent: Infinite Allocation]

>[Instantly form any one supply line, merchant line, or trading line once a day]

[Favorability: 5/10]

^

Indeed, this Legendary Spawn would have probably been useless to most City Lords in Sylas' situation. Such lines were incredibly valuable, but only when you had other cities to connect to and trade to commit. When you were near a System City, it was even more valuable, especially when a city was just getting started and it was surrounded by smaller developments.

Sylas hadn't expected to gain such an opportunity here. This would actually make the coming attempt far easier than he expected. This would put him from 50/50 odds of success to easily about 70%.

"Form a supply line from here to here."

Sylas waved a hand, and the world around him shuddered. His Will formed a recreation of what Helena had just done, and suddenly Vera understood-even though she had never been to the second location at all.

Vera took a breath and spread out her palms.

There was a reason Sylas had chosen a supply line over the other options. The beauty of a supply line was that when it was active, depending on the level, it could be used to send resources from one location to another with increasing efficiency.

As one might expect, the weakest supply lines would have to be traveled through on foot. However, all supply lines had basic defenses-outposts at the weakest levels, and even level suppression and debuffs for enemies as one encroached onto the higher levels.

A supply line was the lifeblood of any army. Without one, it would be impossible to keep an army well-fed. However, this wasn't Earth. This was the wider universe, and the supply lines that could be formed by a Legendary City were on another level.

And supply lines that could be formed by a Legendary Spawn were on a level even higher than that.

Vera's face immediately went pale.

She was facing the same problem Helena had. She had to form a bridge between two worlds. Technically, the distance between their Sky Roaming City and the Secret Realm spanned practically the whole universe.

Their City was anchored to the Beast Heaven, while the Secret Realm was technically located in the Skai Heaven- though it might very well be anchored somewhere entirely different.

This was to say that on paper, Vera was attempting to connect two Heavens.

In practice, however, it wasn't exactly like this... that was because the system was already acting as a bridge between all of these places for them. It was the system that was sustaining the existence of the Hibernation Realm, after all.

And, most importantly...

Vera wasn't a Silver Spawn.

She was a Legendary one.

Chi.

The sound of glass cracking echoed, and a road of silvery blue began to expand. It unfolded in real time, and in one moment it was quite slow and labored, but in a flash, it was complete.

Vera's eyes opened, breathing out heavily.

"You can go and rest," Sylas said, pointing toward the surroundings. "Allocate yourselves however you wish."

"City Lord, it feels like there is a battle coming soon. I can feel it in the air," Helena said. "Should we prepare?" "Unnecessary," Sylas replied. He had yet to allow his militia to be born.

Helena frowned. Clearly, she wanted to be involved. She was the only Spawn that was technically also a combatant, though she was a backline strategist.

Sylas inwardly shook his head. It had only been a few seconds and he was already getting annoyances.

The problem with just doing whatever he wanted with these people, though, was that their potential was far too high. Technically speaking, they had the potential of Demi-Gods and Gods. They were only lacking the foundation.

It was like their bodies were vessels with endless potential, potential that could easily be tapped into with the right nurturing. The value of a Legendary City Stele was, well... invaluable.

That was to say, if Sylas pissed too many of them off and they broke off, he might have very well spawned people he wasn't even powerful enough to control by a certain point.

It was necessary to be diplomatic when he could be, and Sylas wasn't opposed to it.

That said... there had to be a very clear line. He didn't have any prestige from these people just because of his Title. In fact, Helena's Favorability had already fallen from 5 to 3.

It had ticked down to 4 after she failed to form the diagram. She was half embarrassed by her failure, and another half blaming Sylas' incompetence for asking her to do something beyond her means.

Something like this could easily spiral out of control, and other than the fact it was hard to move away from your City Stele after establishing it, this was another reason Sylas had taken so long to do this.

Helena probably had no idea that Sylas could practically read her like an open book.

In the silence, Vera's Favorability ticked down as well. But Sylas didn't even look over, his eyes still on Helena.

"Are you unsatisfied?"

"I would like to prove my worth," Helena said firmly.

"You have only just appeared. What do you know about the situation?" Sylas questioned.

Helena hesitated before her eyes became firm again. "I know that you summoned us in a dire situation despite knowing that most of us wouldn't be combatants. You tried to use me first and failed, so you proceeded with another strategy. You are desperate and need us, but now you've realized that we aren't as useful to you as you hoped and are backtracking.

"You're panicking, and you're not showing the signs of a good leader."

Sylas nodded. "Incorrect. I summoned you first not because I'm desperate, but because I was curious. Two of you happened to have abilities that might be useful, so I used you to confirm that a supply line would work."

Sylas held up a hand before Helena could reply again.

"If I had been in need of desperate help, why would I spawn you and not my militia first?"

Helena didn't know how to reply.

"In a time like this, I have to be especially strict. You may watch the battle. After the battle, you will be executed on condition of my victory."

Helena's eyes opened wide.

"This is not a democracy. My competency will be made clear to you once and once alone. Do not test my patience.

"Punishment and reward will be delineated clearly. Do not think yourselves clever or above it, and certainly don't think yourselves superior to me. I have stared at the ceiling of the universe. You are not special."

Sylas waved a hand, and a chain formed around Helena's neck. Her breathing was restricted and she found herself strapped high to one of the outposts.

She tried to struggle, but there was nothing at all she could do.

However, as he said... Sylas didn't kill her.

That would be saved.

He turned around and walked right out of the city, leaving the nine remaining Spawns shaken in silence.