Chapter 113 (1/2)
“There’s a problem, Mr. President.”
Luthor frowned. There was always a problem. Whenever the head of homeland security visited his office, there was never not a problem. In fact, over the years, Luthor had associated the man’s face with the definition of the word. “What is it this time?”
The head of homeland security tapped on his bracelet, and a hologram was projected into the air. A beautiful woman appeared, and Luthor recognized her as the strongest person in the Moon Lotus World, Ancestor Rachel. “This woman,” the head of homeland security said, “has murdered several police officers. While investigating, our federal agents were killed by her as well. We have lost twenty capable personnel thanks to her.”
Luthor’s brow furrowed. It didn’t seem like the head of homeland security was going to say anything else. If that was the case, then…. “Why are you telling me this?”
“One of the personnel we lost was a peak soul-seed cultivator,” the head of homeland security said. “You knew him: Officer Andrew Stone. At this point, there are only two ways to deal with her. As the president, you get to decide. The first method is to hold the Moon Lotus World hostage, use it to threaten her. We predict the likelihood of this method working is fifteen percent after taking the target’s cultivation method into consideration.”
“What’s the second method?” Luthor asked. The first one was distasteful and had a low percentage of success. Could it really be called a method?
“We call Maximillius out of seclusion and have him deal with the target,” the head of homeland security said. “There is a ninety-nine percent chance of Maximillius defeating her, but the difficulty of this method comes from convincing him to do our bidding.”
Luthor rubbed his temples with his fingertips. He could feel his hairs graying at this very moment. Every since he became president, choice after choice was presented before him, and the worst part was he never knew if what he was doing was correct. No one congratulated him for picking the right choice, but there were always critics no matter the choice he made. The pressure was nearly unbearable, but as the president, nearly a trillion lives depended on him. He couldn’t falter because of one criminal. “Persuade Maximillius to capture Ancestor Rachel. Killing her may bring about negative consequences.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” the head of homeland security said. He placed his hand up to the earpiece on his head. “Commence Plan A.”
Luthor’s expression darkened. Clearly, the head of homeland security already knew what he wanted. He presented the first choice as a dismal one before offering the plan he really wanted to implement. What would’ve happened if he had gone with the first choice? Perhaps the head of homeland security would’ve tried to persuade him to go with the second one. Luthor shook his head as his room emptied out. It didn’t matter. Logically, using a false immortal to subdue a peak soul-seed cultivator was the best choice. Maximillius probably wouldn’t like it, but if lives could be saved at the cost of a false immortal’s displeasure, then the false immortal’s feelings didn’t matter. Officer Andrew Stone was a good person, and Luthor didn’t want to see any other important officers die to a criminal. Coming to think about it, Luthor never asked why Ancestor Rachel had attacked police officers in the first place. Well, it didn’t matter. The situation had escalated to a point where Ancestor Rachel was in the wrong no matter how it began.
***
“Is it alright for you to linger in one place, Ancestor Rachel?” Azalea asked the woman who was cultivating in the middle of the room with her legs crossed. “If these people are anything like the sects we’ve dealt with, they’ll continue coming after you until you’re dead.”
“Or until all of them are dead,” Rachel said, keeping her eyes closed. Not too long ago, she had defeated and beheaded a very difficult opponent who was just as strong as her. In the process, she had suffered internal injuries. “This isn’t the first time I’ve offended an annoying party. In the past, I had a conflict with an arrogant prick. I don’t even remember his name anymore, but after killing him, I had to kill his brother, his cousin, his uncle, his father, his mother, his aunt, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather before it was finally over. Now that I’m at the soul-seed stage, I can probably skip all the way to the great-great-great-grandfather because the rest will know it’s futile to fight me without enough strength.”