I had relayed the necessary instructions to the soldiers, though a detailed order would be relayed to them through their devices.

My speech was a sort of formality.

It was necessary for every soldier to know that I would be the one leading the operation.

I knew there was a lot of risk in it, but it was a risk that I had decided to take.

Keeping the identity of X hidden was to portray the power of D.X. and make people fear the organization in the future when its existence was finally revealed to the public.

As for why I wanted to reveal the existence of D.X.?

Well... hiding in the shadows wasn’t that pleasant.

When people actively feared you, that was when the pleasure of being a criminal could be truly enjoyed.

Heh.

Even on Earth, D.X. had never been hidden, so there was no need to hide it here.

The only reason that the existence of D.X. wasn’t revealed yet was because I wanted to do it in a proper way.

And the organization still needed some time to develop.

After this operation, I was planning to do some changes to D.X., which were necessary for its survival.

Was I nervous about the coming mission?

No.

And why would I be?

Everything was in my control.

All these soldiers had been summoned only to create an illusion, nothing else.

The teleportation passage was activated as I stepped through it.

It was time to meet Alfred again.

Arriving at Ares, I didn’t waste any time before heading towards where Alfred was usually present.

Looking to my right, Arthur walked beside me.

Alfred had specifically asked Arthur to be present, so I had asked him to tag along.

But looking at the guy’s face... he still hadn’t let go of his worries.

"Trust me, everything will be solved soon."

I reassured Arthur, but he didn’t seem to agree with me.

Well... his face had that look of disagreement plastered over it.

Haa...

Since the speech, Arthur had been constantly nagging me about the loyalty of the soldiers.

According to him, taking the lower ranks for the mission was risky, as they didn’t care much for the organization or its goals... which was perfectly normal according to me, but Arthur—

He had been constantly advising me against using them for this operation.

Why couldn’t anyone understand my point of view?

I wasn’t a fool.

I knew loyalty couldn’t be expected from criminals, who had just joined us to save their own lives.

Haa...

I knew they were using me... but so was I.

In the end, everything would surely fall into place, or at least that was what I had been trying to make Arthur understand, but he wouldn’t listen to a thing.

Loyalty...

Neither the lower ranks nor even the upper ranks had any of it towards D.X., except Arthur’s own men.

I knew that... Julien knew it too, and so did Arthur.

Still... according to him, the lower ranks were far more risky than the upper ones, who could be considered sensible enough to behave themselves knowing the real power level of D.X.

But—

All of them were just following us for money and protection of their lives.

Currently, everyone was just an employee working for a business. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

They had loyalty, which was limited to the money and benefits that they received from D.X.

All the soldiers performed their jobs... only because they benefitted from it.

And honestly, I wasn’t worried about it.

There was only so much that you could expect from criminals.

Still... having a bad apple didn’t mean that you had to throw it away.

Everything in this world had its own use... and I was going to ensure that all these soldiers fulfilled their own use to the best extent of their abilities.

As for the chances of their betrayal and all that...

Where would these criminals even go after betraying me?

The Authorities would surely hunt them down, so staying here was the best choice for them.

Though a few of them could be given some very good offers by the authorities in the future... like reducing their punishment for helping to eliminate D.X., but—

I had already taken all things into consideration.

Soon—

There would be a culling, and none would be spared from it.

A reasonable amount of fear, with benefits provided unlike any other place, would surely develop some feelings of loyalty in even the most shameless of criminals.

Still... who would be the ones to receive those benefits going forward would soon be decided.

Well... everything would have to wait until the success of the operation, which it would surely achieve.

Haa...

Taking a turn, I placed my hand on the scanner, as several different scans began, and soon the door opened, revealing Alfred, who was working on—

Hm?

Wasn’t that the blue potion that I had seen him working with on the screen?

Was he still experimenting with it?

Though I was curious... I had other important things to take care of.

"You are late."

Before I could utter any words, it was Alfred who greeted us, his eyes never leaving the potion before him.

"Go to the right, and you will find a small device."

Alfred still hadn’t raised his head and continued to add new contents to the potion.

"Insert Arthur’s blood into it... though remember to leave the mana signature and don’t erase it. Then just place the device near your core, and it would do its work."

Relaying the procedure, Alfred went silent, as if we didn’t exist for him at all.

Haa...

I had really begun to hate this place.

"Let’s get it over with."

Speaking to Arthur, I moved in the direction given by Alfred, before quickly reaching a table that indeed had a small sphere-shaped device placed on it.

Hm?

Was it necessary to make all the devices into spheres?

Weren’t there other shapes?

Sigh.

There was no use in analysing Alfred’s decisions, as I observed Arthur heading towards the table to pick the device up in his hand.

"Hm?"

Arthur looked surprised.

"What is it?"

"My blood... the device had already taken the sample."

That fast?