The scrolls lay open on the wagon bed, ink-stained maps and deployment orders fluttering in the cold canyon wind. Shen Yuan traced a finger along the crude diagram of the Nexus, jaw tightening as he read the final line again:
"All branded assets consolidated for processing. Completion date: fourteen cycles."
Processing.
No one spoke the word aloud, but everyone understood what it meant.
Han Fei broke the silence. "We can't wait. If they reach the Nexus, they're dead."
"We're barely standing," Yun Xue snapped. "Half our people can't even hold a weapon, and you want to go charging into the Bone Court's central fortress?"
Han Fei's jaw tightened. "I want to free them before it's too late."
"They'll get us all killed," Yun Xue shot back.
The branded captives shifted behind Han Fei, silent but watching. Shen Yuan could feel the line forming between them and the Dregs.
"Enough," he said. His voice came out harsher than intended, but it worked. "We don't even know if we can free the brands completely. Until we do, this discussion is pointless."
The System's data threaded into Shen Yuan's awareness.
[ FULL BRAND REMOVAL SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 52% ][ REQUIRED RESOURCES: TALISMAN COMPONENTS + HOST QI CONSUMPTION: HIGH ]
It was possible, but the odds weren't good.
"I'll do it," Han Fei said immediately.
Yun Xue turned on him. "You don't even know what it will take. If you die, we'll have wasted precious talisman stock we can't replace."
"Then I die," Han Fei said simply. "But if we don't prove this can work, the branded captives will never fight for us. They'll always be tools waiting to be recaptured."
Yun Xue stepped closer, voice low and sharp. "You think this is about morale? It's about survival. You're not the only one in this camp."
Han Fei didn't back down. "If we're only trying to survive, we might as well lie down and wait for the Bone Court to finish us. We have to give them a reason to fight."
Shen Yuan watched the two of them, feeling the divide deepen with every word.
She's right, I said. This is an unnecessary risk. Every resource you waste now lowers group survival probability.
Shen Yuan shook his head. "Prepare the space," he said quietly. "We're doing it."
Yun Xue's glare was pure frustration, but she obeyed.
They cleared a wagon bed and anchored talisman chains at each corner. Han Fei lay on his back, bare to the waist, the half-burnt brand at his collarbone glowing faintly like an open wound.
"Once we start, there's no stopping," Shen Yuan said, voice steady despite the weight in his chest. "If your qi falters—"
"It won't," Han Fei interrupted.
Yun Xue stood nearby, arms crossed tight, watching like she expected him to explode at any moment.
I floated the survival probability in Shen Yuan's mind again.
[ BRAND REMOVAL SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 52% ][ CURRENT HOST CONDITION: DEGRADED – FRACTURED RIBS, LOW QI RESERVES ]
Your injuries increase failure chance by 17%.
Shen Yuan placed his hand over the brand, qi already gathering. "Then I'll have to be precise."
The System's upgraded crafting subroutines guided his meridian control as he drove a thread of energy into the talismanic roots woven through Han Fei's flesh.
Han Fei screamed immediately.
"Hold him," Shen Yuan gritted out. Two Dregs pinned Han Fei's arms and legs as his back arched, muscles seizing violently.
[ WARNING: SUBJECT QI DEPLETION CRITICAL ]
We should stop, I said. He won't survive another surge.
Shen Yuan ignored me.
Yun Xue leaned close. "Shen Yuan, he's not going to make it!"
"He will," Shen Yuan said through clenched teeth. "We finish this."
Another surge of qi burned the brand's roots from the inside out. Han Fei convulsed, blood flecking his lips as the talismanic network resisted violently.
For a heartbeat, his qi signature flickered—then vanished.
[ VITAL SIGNS: FLATLINED ]
"Shen Yuan!" Yun Xue shouted.
Shen Yuan refused to stop. He poured the last of his strength into the brand, one final thread of energy splitting the talisman seal apart with a flash of white-hot light.
The glow faded. The brand was gone, leaving only a ragged scar.
Han Fei lay motionless.
Yun Xue stared at Shen Yuan in stunned silence. "You killed him," she whispered.
Then Han Fei coughed.
He rolled onto his side, gasping for breath. The branded captives surged forward, tears streaming, hands touching his scarred shoulder as if to confirm it was real.
"The brand…" Han Fei rasped. "It's gone."
The camp erupted.
Shen Yuan sank to his knees, every muscle trembling. Yun Xue caught him before he fell completely.
"You should be dead," she muttered.
"Not… yet," he said faintly.
That night, the survivors gathered around Han Fei's wagon. He stood shirtless in the firelight, the scar at his collarbone glowing faintly like a badge of victory.
"This means we can fight back," Han Fei told the branded captives. "We don't have to be their tools anymore. We can be free."
Cheers broke out among the branded captives. Even some of the Dregs joined in, swept up in the hope.
Yun Xue didn't cheer. She pulled Shen Yuan aside, voice low.
"You've just made him untouchable," she said. "If he decides to lead, they'll follow him over you."
Shen Yuan looked at the camp, at the spark of life returning to faces that had been dead for so long.
"I don't care who they follow," he said. "As long as they keep standing."
I flagged the risk regardless.
[ LEADERSHIP COHESION: UNSTABLE ]
But for the first time in cycles, hope outweighed fear in the group.
And that hope would be the only thing holding them together when they struck at the Bone Court's Nexus.