Chapter 53 Infiltrating The Faction Members

Kaze walked from location to location, helping people work through their problems. Every situation was different.

Sometimes he provided suggestions on increasing efficiency; other times, he focused on creating incentives for leadership.

The locations of the scrolls were set up so that there was at least one group in sight of another. As a result, once he introduced the circle method, it spread in a chain reaction.

But when he got to the thirtieth group, there was an anomaly.

The only group in sight developed a time-based method for cultivation training. As a result, the twelfth group took turns, and the thirteenth mimicked them.

However, the groups were incomparable. While one was organized, the other simply took turns, which developed into a major issue.

"You're holding people back, asshole!" A tone male athlete yelled at a blonde woman.

"I still haven't learned it because everyone's been yelling!" She snapped, "Can everyone be quiet so we can increase the speed people can learn?

I've been up here for two minutes, and everyone's been yelling or pushing me. I haven't even concentrated on the thing once."

"It's been three hours. Thirty people won't get a chance to learn this technique today!" The man yelled.

"That's because no one will let anyone learn it!" The blonde snapped in annoyance.

Kaze clapped loudly, capturing everyone's attention. "Hey, everyone. I don't think this is productive. I've just—"

"Shut up, asshole." The athlete snapped, "We don't need another person wasting our time."

The emperor's cheek twitched when quite a few people scoffed or turned away.

The majority that agreed turned away with pitying gazes, understanding but unwilling to voice their support.

Kaze watched everyone closely, taking note of the situation. After a few more minutes of bickering, the blonde turned around in frustration and walked away.

Four men and three women consistently yelled at everyone who tried to learn the technique. If someone tried proposing a solution, they shot them down.

If people are causing a communication breakdown, those people need to be punished or thrown out.

"I have a solution!" Kaze yelled out. As expected, the same people turned around.

"Shut the hell up! You're new, right? Do you think we haven't tried everything?" A redhead snapped.

"Is that so?" Kaze mused mockingly, "It looks to me like nothing has changed, no one has learned the technique, and a group of you are just yelling, Tanya."

Her eyes widened in surprise that he knew her name, but the other six didn't grasp the disparity.

"Do you have a problem or something?" The male athlete scoffed.

"I do, Omar." Kaze replied loudly, "We were given orders to help people learn. I'm trying to help, you seven are preventing anyone else from speaking through fear of violence, and now I can't learn."

"Hah. So it's our fault?" The Hispanic man laughed.

"That's what I've said, yes?" The emperor asked with a slight smile, "As I've said, you're preventing people from problem-solving, and you're currently giving a strong demonstration of why."

Omar scoffed in anger and turned to the women near him.

"I'm going to 'talk' to this man. I'm coming back to my place in line." He declared aggressively.

"Or what?" Kaze laughed, "If she doesn't hold your position, what will you do to her, Omar?

Threaten her? Harm her? Prevent her from learning?

Just how many of the Emperor's rules are you planning to break?"

Everyone in the line was excited by the development. Two equal-sized men were facing off; one was helpful, and the other was a tyrant.

The members were excited to see how everything played out.

"Hah! You're starting a fight right now when people are trying to cultivate." Omar chuckled angrily, moving out of line, "And you're claiming I'm at fault?"

He walked up to Kaze and stared off with him from a foot's distance.

The atmosphere's pressure multiplied as the two stared into each other's eyes.

Omar had murder in his olive-colored eyes. Amusement was in the emperor's, and he didn't release his slight smile or take his hands from his pockets.

"Wipe that fuckin' smile off your face, pretty boy." The athlete seethed.

"Or what?" Kaze smacked, "You'll continue breaking the rules?"

Omar threw a sucker punch, but his entire froze six inches from the Emperor's face.

The athlete froze like a statue, sweat dripping down his face. It was an eerie sight that left everyone shaken.

After a few seconds of silence, the emperor clapped his hands.

"Fascinating." He chuckled, "It seems like you're paralyzed in the perfect position to prove you've broken the rules.

I suppose I should find the Emperor now. I think this is perfect proof that you seven are causing problems."

"W-Wait! Y-You goated him into a fight, did some crazy shit, and now you're trying to bring us down as if you're not also to blame?"

"Y-Yeah! You broke the rules!"

The other six immediately threw out excuses.

"Hoh? I'm pretty sure I'm helping people learn." Kaze smiled, "There's already space behind you from people moving forward. You're in everyone else's way."

They looked around and saw that people had already moved forward, trying to learn the technique and leave as quickly as possible.

The group of six shook in fear.

"L-Look, man. There are seven of us and a lot of witnesses that will attest to you starting a fight with that man." Tanya, the first woman, stuttered.

"He looks like he's in pain, so you're clearly hurting him and preventing him from learning, right?"

"The rules are against people threatening, hurting, or preventing others from learning." Kaze laugh-scoffed, "He was doing all three; now he's not standing in anyone's way."

"That's faulty logic, and you know it!" A man yelled, stressed and losing control.

"Oh, I forgot. You're interrupting people cultivating." The emperor laughed, looking at the people in the area who had stopped cultivating to watch.

"U-Um, what's wrong with him?" A meek blonde near him asked, looking at Omar in concern.

"This?" Kaze chuckled, "I've wrapped his body in Qi. It's not a special technique; I'm just using the environment to grip him."

Everyone fell silent in disbelief, shocked by what they were hearing.

"While he looks in pain, he can relax his who body and stay standing." He continued, "That [pain] you're seeing is fear and panic."

"S-See! You're causing fear and panic!" A female troublemaker stuttered.

"No, he was threatening people." Kaze argued arrogantly, "I'm just holding him in place.

That fear comes from knowing that he's frozen in a position that proves he broke every rule here."

"You're making up the rules to suit you!" Tanya yelled in a panic.

The emperor scoffed in vexation. "Don't any of you get it? If people are causing trouble, you incapacitate them to prevent it.

Is the Emperor supposed to walk around policing everyone like he's their mother?"

"You can't just make the rules and then enforce them!" The panicked man yelled.

Kaze looked around. "Let's put aside my actions for fifteen seconds and return to them.

Does anyone think anything I've been [wrong] or that I'm misinterpreting the meaning of the rules? Raise your hand."

"You can't do this! The issue isn't the rule; it's what—"

"Be quiet." The emperor said coldly, "I said we'll return to my actions. In the meantime, I'm asking about the rules you've claimed I'm making up."

He turned back to the line. "Does anyone agree that I've misinterpreted the rules, or is the only thing in dispute here that I incapacitated this man in a non-harmful way?"

Everyone was silent. Many people shook their heads, and a few people affirmed his point. After a few people began, people began agreeing openly.

"WAIT! YOU—"

The emperor rolled his eyes and waved his hand, and the man yelling got frozen. The members were stunned by the action, and many shook in fear.

Before things could get out of hand, he snapped his fingers dramatically, and his body warped.

Within two seconds, the Chad was now the teen at the podium earlier in the afternoon.

They stood before Kaze Lexicon, the Emperor and Faction Leader at Immortal Skye.

Everyone gasped in shock, and the seven people causing trouble shook with fear.