Chapter 415: Keeping Cissel at Arm’s Length

"As for the Public Relations Department," John continued, "your test is to design a comprehensive, practical strategy based on the various academies we are going to compete against in the near future.

This strategy must identify the academies we can realistically befriend, those we are destined to be enemies with, and, most importantly, the specific names of outstanding individuals we should recruit to our own academy."

"Recruit?" One of the department’s students asked, his voice laced with scepticism. "Are we really going to attempt to recruit from the opposition during a competition?"

"That’s a no-brainer," John said, raising an eyebrow at the student’s exclamation. "In such a grand gathering of international talent, why should we only compete for the glory of winning the competition? We should be competing for the future. We need to snatch the best talents and the strongest students for our academy. This is how the top-tier academies across the globe ensure they maintain their dominance. If you aren’t growing, you’re dying."

John framed the entire objective around his own ambition for the future of the academy and the upcoming tournament. But his reason was for something entirely different. He was hunting for suitable recruits for his own secret, long-term faction.

"And while we are on the topic," he added, as if the thought had just occurred to him, "filter out anyone with confirmed ties to the Paragon factions. They will be nearly impossible to flip given their deep-seated loyalties and the resources their Paragons provide. Focus on the independents and the dissatisfied."

He coated the directive carefully, making it seem like a tactical measure rather than a strategic avoidance of enemy spies. The Public Relations Department students looked at each other, realising the sheer difficulty of the task, but they couldn’t deny the logic. This was the pinnacle of their field: talent scouting and risk assessment.

"Ben, this will be your responsibility," John said, nodding to his friend. Like the others, Ben was now tasked with overseeing the flood of reports that would soon be pouring in from the PR hopefuls.

"The next test is for the Business Administration Department," John said, his eyes landing on the handful of remaining students. "I want you to take a macro-level look at the neutral zone the academy occupies. Consider all available resources, like mineral, logistical, and political.

I want you to hypothesise a scenario where the RBM Club is established as the absolute strongest force in this zone. Plan a roadmap for taking control of those resources, and detail how we would reorganise the various local forces in the zone under our command to facilitate total control of the territory."

A ripple of unease went through the remaining students. To hear a third-year student talk about ruling and controlling the neutral zone was both terrifying and intoxicating. John had framed it as a hypothetical scenario to showcase their potential, but the scale of the ambition was unlike anything they had thought of or heard in the academy halls.

"Mond will handle this task for us," John said, delegating the oversight of the aspiring administrators to the calmest member of his team. This left only the Engineering Department and Ricky.

"Let me guess," Ricky said with a slight, knowing smile. "You want me to use the cannons as the test subject? See who can build a better battery?"

Ricky thought he had read John’s mind, but to his surprise, John shook his head.

"We need talent capable of creating specialised weapons," John said, his casual words carrying a hidden weight. "Think about what we currently lack on our side. Give the engineers some direction, but let them innovate."

"Got it," Ricky said, catching the subtext immediately. Back in their zone, they were vulnerable to aerial threats, and their perimeter defences lacked sophisticated traps.

If the students managed to replicate the heavy cannons, that was a bonus, but John was looking for engineers who could think outside the box, people who could innovate the weapons he and his zone desperately needed.

Ricky turned to the last remaining group of students from the Engineering Department, waving them over as he began to outline the specific, gruelling parameters of their challenge.

Finally, the crowd dispersed, leaving the courtyard empty and silent under the cold moonlight. John was left alone with Cissel. He turned his head toward her, his expression a perfect, unreadable poker face, matching the ice-cold mask she still wore.

"You have no specific duty or role for the time being," he said, his voice devoid of the warmth that usually colored his interactions with her. "You’ve just woken up from a serious injury and a traumatic event. So you should go and rest. I’ll send someone for you if and when your specific skills are required."

"You do know that treating me like this won’t make things easier for either of us," Cissel said, her voice steady as she turned to leave. "Just treat me normally, John. Treat me like you treat the others. Even if we aren’t lovers anymore, we still share a long road ahead and a greater goal to achieve. Petty coldness is beneath you."

John watched her walk away, her words entering one ear and exiting the other. He hadn’t withheld a task out of petty fury, though the anger was certainly there. He had withheld it because he no longer fully trusted her cognitive state.

Until he could be sure that her mind wasn’t deluded by Mark’s lingering hallucination, she was a liability he had to keep at arm’s length. He needed to observe her, closely, to ensure that even if her heart had changed, her allegiance to him and others remained intact.

"Now," John whispered to the empty air, "it’s time to see what this fragment can really do."

He entered the club base alone, his footsteps echoing through the darkened halls as he headed straight for the elevator leading to the basement. He had two goals for the night. First, he needed to test the Machine Factory Fragment. He wanted to see the result of merging the core with the massive, circular metallic platforms that formed the outer perimeter of the RBM base.

Second, he needed to reactivate the Instant Dungeon core. But for that, he had a theory he wanted to test and see if he could pull it right before activating the dungeon core.