Published at 7th of October 2026 6:06 am

Chapter 1182: Fifteen Minutes

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’Why didn’t the system give me the Devour ability or at least some broken ability? I just keep awakening Affinity after Affinity.’

Asher thought to himself with a mental sigh, but he didn’t complain much. At the end of the day, he was grateful to the system, as without it, the only thing he would have was his intelligence, which would be useless if even a Dust Faintstar Life Ranker could defeat him.

But his gratitude didn’t stop him from imagining if he was the one with the Devour ability. He wondered how many abilities he would have gotten in the span of two years. And according to Lyra’s explanation, any ability she devoured, she didn’t need to train them ever so slowly, as she could automatically use them at the level of control someone of her Life Rank and raw talent should be able to.

If that wasn’t broken, Asher wondered what else could be.

’Whatever, if my Physique ever evolves, I’m sure I would gain something extremely broken.’

He concluded to himself with a small, soft smile, then he snapped out of his thoughts, focusing his attention on Lyra as he needed to focus back on the task at hand.

Lyra didn’t speak; she simply took in her own transformation as though she was admiring her own beauty. After all, this was the first time she was in this ’state.’ A smile appeared on her lips for a moment, then it vanished the next moment as she sensed Asher’s attention on her. While she may have lost her Crownstar Life Rank combat strength at the moment, she didn’t lose her senses.

"Let’s discuss the strategic places where you would be planting these black orbs."

Asher began to speak as he saw Lyra was now paying attention. He stayed silent for a moment as his mind ran through the places he and Lyra had been to since they entered this silver metallic underground bunker.

After a moment of thought, Asher began to speak.

"We will be planting the black orbs in places and locations where the soldiers are gathered the most, like the large dining chamber where they eat, for example, the training chambers, the rooms where they rest."

Lyra nodded as she listened, as she felt that made sense. Mixing in with the crowd was the greatest cover for her, as no one would specifically pay attention to her, as women weren’t exactly rare here, considering she had counted over a million women here.

"By planting these black orbs in these places, the sound of you doing anything would be mixed in with the noise and sounds the Velkarin Empire Soldiers are making. That way, the First Regent would come to investigate. And with this method, we can be sure to kill more of them when the bomb goes off."

Asher stated as a small smile appeared on his lips, as though he was some sort of villain who loved watching things blow up.

"I understand, Young Master."

Lyra spoke as she understood every word Asher had spoken.

Asher stopped smiling as he stared at Lyra and asked.

"Any questions?"

Lyra fell into her thoughts for a moment as she thought of what to ask. After a moment, a simple question occurred to her.

"How do I know when to set it off? Since you would be invisible and I can’t sense you, and you can’t show yourself, I won’t be able to receive a signal to set off the black orbs?"

Her question was practical in every possible way.

Asher arched an eyebrow, as he indeed hadn’t considered that. He couldn’t communicate telepathically with Lyra while they were inside the silver metallic underground bunker. After a moment, Asher chose the timer approach many bombs back on Earth had.

"From this moment forward, set off the black orbs in exactly fifteen minutes."

He instructed, not fifteen minutes after planting the black orbs, but fifteen minutes from this very moment he spoke. Lyra perfectly understood, as the moment Asher was done speaking, they both began a mental countdown, as fifteen minutes was enough time to walk around casually and plant them.

Asher stared at Lyra as he asked if she had anything else to say or ask, without actually speaking telepathically.

Understanding her Young Master’s gaze, she shook her head as she had nothing else to say, ask, or suggest.

"If anyone questions your identity or stares at you in any way that isn’t sexual or anything of the sort, abandon the mission and retreat. We aren’t here to plant the black orbs at all costs."

Asher instructed, as he wanted her to understand this perfectly. For all he knew, the Commander and three Vice Commanders could already be here and were merely assessing the situation as stealthily as possible so as not to tip off the people here.

"I understand, Young Master," Lyra said telepathically as she nodded.

Receiving a response, Asher sighed mentally, then turned as both of them vanished from their spot as they headed towards the door while he maintained the Astra Camouflage skill.

As they got to the huge silver metallic gate, Asher vanished in totality as he slipped back into the Second Layer of Space. Lyra’s body became ethereal for a moment as she phased through the gate and left the tunnel.

Lyra turned to her right as she walked down the corridor with a flat expression. As she walked, she came in contact with a Soldier, the man simply stared at her, his eyes lingering for a split second longer before he gazed away and walked past her.

Lyra didn’t make any eye contact as she walked towards the dining chamber. The door was already open, so she stepped in. Upon entering, she didn’t pause to look around; she simply walked towards the buffet-style serving of cuisine like any other Soldier.

Although she walked calmly and indifferently, her Crownstar Life Rank senses were active to the highest degree as she watched to know if anyone was watching her. As she served herself, she dropped a spoon to the ground, which didn’t attract any attention, as the place was noisy like a marketplace.

She bent, picked up the spoon, and the moment she did, a black orb appeared in her hand, and she placed it underneath the table upon which the food was placed. With that, she turned away, found a random bench and table, then ate with a bored expression as she played her role perfectly.

After spending two minutes eating, she stood up and placed her plate in a dirty pile where Soldiers who were done eating placed theirs. She turned and left, but she hadn’t forgotten to place two more black orbs under the table she had eaten at.

The next place was the training chambers. On her way there, nobody spoke to her, as everyone seemed to understand that she didn’t want to talk. Although she sensed a few men turning around to glance at her ass after they walked past her, she didn’t react to any of them.

Entering the training chamber, she moved around as she tested the training equipment. She tried her best not to draw any attention, and in this place, she didn’t even have to try, as nobody had time to glance at a random Soldier; they were all focused on their own training.

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