Chapter 364: Demands
(Twin Fang Planet, Outer Housing Ring, Leo’s Apartment)
The dim glow of a single mana-lamp lit the room, as Leo reclined on his bed, one arm lazily folded behind his head while the other held up his personal communication crystal.
The soft hum of the crystal vibrated gently against his palm as Mu Fan’s projection flickered to life, her face beaming with barely contained excitement.
“I have some good news,” she said breathlessly, “You’re going to be taken in. After this mission, you don’t need to keep living with the enemy. You’ll officially become one of us.”
Leo nodded without emotion, his expression unreadable, as if Fan’s words carried the weight of a casual weather report to him and nothing more.
“And the best part? You don’t have to steal anything yourself. All you need to do is drop the dimensional portal point somewhere inside the vault. Once it’s active, the cult will handle the rest.”
She grinned.
But Leo didn’t.
“Respectfully, Fan…” Leo said, his voice like glass—cool, sharp, and with the threat of shatter. “I don’t trust a single one of your operatives to complete this mission.”
Her smile faltered.
“And I certainly don’t trust the cult to honor its word and leave my family unharmed after I deliver the scroll you’re so obsessed with.”
The projection flickered slightly, the expression on Mu Fan’s face now stiff with tension.
“You don’t trust us to keep our promise?”
“No,” Leo answered, immediately and unapologetically.
The room fell into silence, heavy and pointed.
“You know exactly what this is,” he continued, sitting upright now, his tone darkening. “You’ve manipulated me from the start. Not as an ally, not as a chosen agent, but as a tool. A weapon you thought you could aim. And I played along, because I had no power.”
He leaned forward, voice quiet but venomous.
“You stole my memories, you threatened me with the safety of my family to do your bidding, and you forced me to join Rodova and the Black Serpents, but that streak of you making unilateral decisions for my life ends today.”
Mu Fan looked stunned, as if she hadn’t expected Leo to say such harsh words out of the blue—at least not with this much heat behind it.
“If you want that portal placed, if you want that scroll retrieved… then these are my terms.”
He raised three fingers.
“First, I want my family moved to whatever planet you plan on relocating me to.
I want them to have a mansion to live. Full security detail. And a live video call with all of them—healthy, safe, and sane—before the two weeks are up.
As I will not carry on with the mission before confirming that they are indeed alive and unharmed.”
“Second,” he continued, “you’re going to retrieve my pet, Dumpy. He’s on Planet Palkia as far as I can recall, in a universal government grooming facility.
And I don’t care if you have to steal him, or burn the facility down.
I don’t care if it’s possible or not possible for you to retrieve him on such short notice.
The fact of the matter is…. No Dumpy means No scroll”
Mu Fan opened her mouth, but Leo cut her off with a raised hand.
“Third… I want you to access the Lost Heroes Program operated by the Universal Government, and recreate my master—Ben.
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The cybernetic copy, the one from the game logs, with his memories about our interactions intact.
Reconstruct him. I want him there too, standing beside my mother and Dumpy when I speak to them. Not a minute later.”
He lowered his hand.
“If all three conditions are not met within the next fourteen days, this deal is dead. I won’t plant anything. I will enter the vault and pick whatever ‘I’ want from inside it and you will lose your chance to get the scroll, forever.
And after that, you can tell your cult to pack up their dreams of ever getting it back.”
He stood up slowly, walking to the small window in his apartment, as he looked out at the street below with dead eyes.
“Because the days where I played the role of the obedient puppet are over.
I don’t work for you, Fan. I don’t serve your cause. If you want what I have… then meet my price.”
Mu Fan remained frozen, the light in her expression extinguished, her excitement gutted by the sudden, brutal clarity in Leo’s voice.
For the first time, she realized something critical.
By suppressing Leo’s autonomy and deceiving him during the formative stages of his growth, the Cult hadn’t forged loyalty in his heart, but had rather sown distrust.
Fan had always believed that their actions were necessary, that every manipulation they did was justified in the name of helping Leo evolve into a powerful Dragon Candidate.
But now, with even a sliver of freedom back in his life, Leo no longer viewed the Cult as his saviors.
He viewed them as manipulators.
And the loyalty they had hoped to cultivate had been replaced by quiet, simmering suspicion.
“Just so you know…. This is not an us versus you scenario.
The Cult is your future home.
And we are your extended family.
We don’t mean to deceive or manipulate you.
Nor do we wish to bring harm to your family.
I will forward your demands to the elder I report to.
But do know that your words today have greatly saddened me.
We are not your enemies Leo.
You don’t need to watch your back against us,” Fan said before disconnecting the call, as Leo simply scoffed at her last words.
“Woman, I couldn’t care less if you feel saddened.
You have brought this on yourself—” he muttered, shaking his head, as he couldn’t believe that Mu Fan had thrown such a childish barb before leaving.
*Thud*
He tossed the communication crystal aside, letting it clatter onto the bed without a second glance.
For a few seconds, the room was silent again.
Not out of peace.
But because Leo was thinking.
He had finally said it—drawn a line that couldn’t be erased. And it felt… right.
Because if he didn’t take control of his own fate now, then when would he?
After the next forced mission?
After the next betrayal?
He had been patient. Obedient. Cooperative. But none of those things had earned him honesty from the Cult. Or a promise to not harm his family anymore.
Only more manipulation.
So from now on, if the Cult wanted anything from him, they would have to pay for it in full.
Because while Leo knew he’d soon be forced to live among Cult operatives, branded a fugitive by 90% of the universe, he was determined to live that life on his own terms.
As then, at least the choices leading to his rise or downfall would be his own, and not something forced upon him by someone else.
‘Sorry Fan, but there will be no more free obedience. No more silent suffering.
Just business—’ Leo thought, as he cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders.
Because if the cost of looking out for himself was looking cruel in other people’s eyes, then he was ready to pay it!
He wasn’t here to be liked.
His priority was his own survival and his family, and if others felt offended because of it, then he really did not have any fucks left to spare anymore.