Book 9. Chapter 23: Zhuge Liang - Traps within Traps
Zhuge Liang slowly swept his feather fan through the cool, sterile air of the Sector Council amphitheater, his dark eyes tracking the micro-expressions of a thousand Tier 3 nobles.
He didn't care about the words echoing from the central podium at the bottom of the steps. Words were just wind. He cared about where the wind was blowing.
Currently, it was blowing toward a slaughter.
Zhuge’s turned to look behind him and upward, past the squabbling bureaucrats, to the highest, most opulent rings of the amphitheater. They were entirely empty. The Tier 4 Nobles–the true apex predators of the Sector–were absent, busy fighting the cosmic fronts of the multiversal war, leaving the daily administration of the Sector Council to the Tier 3 establishment and a handful of ambitious Tier 2 upstarts. And of course, his Brother Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were sitting next to him, with the other members of the Accord.
“The resolution stands,” Administrator Kintrel’s voice tolled, resonating with absolute, impassive authority and bringing Zhuge’s attention back to the front. The Administrator was less a man and more a manifestation of crystalline law, hovering above the central dais. “The First Stage of Sector 87’s War Trial shall execute as a Group Elimination event. A grand theater of war. All participating worlds and their vanguard forces will deploy simultaneously into the contested zone.”
A murmur of approval rippled through the lower seating tiers.
Zhuge Liang snapped his fan shut, the sharp thwack drawing a brief, sideways glance from Marcus Aurelius seated two rows down.
A secure, heavily encrypted mental link pulsed between the Accord noble members present.
“A chaotic melee,” Ramses muttered across the telepathic connection, his regal tone laced with the immortal disdain of an ancient pharaoh. “A beggar's brawl in the mud. True kings conquer where the sun may witness their glory. This format is but an invitation for jackals to hide their knives in the reeds.”