"I'm sure the 2nd site is being attacked. But I heard it's hard because the Dragon G.o.d Droyan is there."

"Droyan? The one that uses Dark Dragon Flame Setting?"

"Yes, sir. The 1st and 2nd Captain are there. I heard the 1st Captain alone isn't enough."

Yoonhwan remembered what happened in the meeting room 3 months ago.

1st Captain of the Rupture, Budda, the G.o.d of Reincarnation.

He was one of the few 8 G.o.ds of who could fight against two Lords alone. He was the one who had stronger power than Gerome of Darkness, the strongest Lord.

'Who would've thought that Budda was the 1st Captain…'

The appearance of Budda was shocking news for all low-ranking Awakeners of Rupture. The meeting turned upside down after Budda appeared and every condition was in Rupture's favor.

"Oh, I heard you were a secretary at the meeting then?"

"…Yes."

Adel was curious, "Then, do you know what exactly they talked about that day?"

"I do."

Yoonhwan remembered the topics of the meeting. He could still remember it clearly. There were three main topics:

The Alliance of and .

Asking the Lords to help with Rupture's Depth Invasion attack.

Requiring the Lords' inaction when attacking Big Brother.

Adel became pale as Yoonhwan spoke of those words.

"Is-is it okay to tell me that?"

"Everyone will know soon. You are my lieutenant, so don't worry."

Adel then bowed.

"Don't thank me. It's nothing."

Adel then continued, "I heard about the alliance between the Lords. But it is surprising to hear about asking them not to fight when we fight against Big Brother."

"Actually we decided to talk to them about that."

Allying with the Lords? Yoonhwan didn't think it was right even then. But considering the Master or Captains' point of view, it was understandable.

"It's for the greater good."

Yoonhwan wasn't really sure what the 'greater good' actually meant. His only guess was that it was to destroy Big Brother.

Yes, that was important. Everything that happened was because of Big Brother after all. But was that enough to justify everything? Yoonhwan wasn't sure.

"I see, Big Brother. So that was our condition."

"Yeah."

"What did those Lords ask in return?"

If Rupture had conditions, then the Lords must have had conditions too. It was obvious, but Yoonhwan was surprised by Adel who had calmly listened to his words.

He then thought he should tell Adel about what went on that day. It was a decision that was hard to understand. Even if Adel was his lieutenant, it was against the order to tell him everything happened that day. Yoonhwan himself couldn't understand his question.

Yet, he still thought he should talk. He had to.

Thinking back now, Yoonhwan maybe guessed that something was coming. Telling Adel gave Yoonhwan an important motive to go onward.

And after a while…

Adel made a comment.

"I see. So, it was that."

Yoonhwan became nervous at the calm and careful voice. It was as if he was a kid waiting for his homework to be graded.

"Providing [Fruits], not interfering with the reconstruction of the [Palace of Reincarnation] and help cleanse …"

"Yeah."

Yoonhwan sighed with relief that he had given accurate information. Yoonhwan wasn't really sure what the conditions actually meant and the gravity of the situation since he did not have much knowledge about , or the Palace of Reincarnation.

Adel added, "It's bad."

"Bad?"

"Yes, sir. It's bad."

"How bad?"

"We might not have the word 'Human' in Rupture anymore."

It was not an exact description, but Yoonhwan felt the seriousness of the Lords' conditions.

"…I didn't know it was that bad. I was more shocked by the last condition."

"Last condition?"

As the meeting progressed, Yoonhwan was most enraged by the last one. That one was something he could not just ignore. It was about the [Cultivation].

-All [Products] cultivated onward from [Cultivation] will be divided up in a 1:1 ratio between Rupture and the .

Yoonhwan couldn't accept this.

It made sense to get help from the Lords to fight Big Brother. It made sense to provide them whatever they required Rupture to do for the greater good.

But what was this? Divide [Products]? Didn't that mean accepting Cultivation?

Yoonhwan remembered 5th Captain Mirel talking to the enraged Yoonhwan in a low voice.

-I know what you are thinking. I know. But think about what we have to go through to defeat Big Brother and the Lords eventually.

-But… but…!

-Rupture can't just stop being Rupture. We must make sacrifices for greater change. The cost of our pride can bring the change.

Yoonhwan hated himself for not being able to speak out loud. He felt as if he had been denied everything.

Adel nodded.

"I see."