I woke up face down in the dirt of my greenhouse.

  The morning sun was filtering through the smart glass, heating the Verdant Jade Loam beneath me as I groaned, peeling myself off the ground. My head felt like it had been split open by a wedge.

  It wasn't the physical exertion of the walk back from Detroit that had drained me but the mental toll of the teleportation. My brain felt stretched, as if my consciousness had been pulled through a straw.

  I sat up, brushing soil off my cheek.

  "Coffee," I rasped.

  I walked into the kitchen of the mansion and the new organic appliances lit up. I grabbed a cup from the cabinet—bamboo, naturally—and poured a dark roast from the pot.

  Grace and Aiya were already at the dining table. Today was our monthly debrief.

  "Morning," I said, sitting down.

  Grace didn't look up. "You're late for the debrief."

  "I had a long walk home," I said, taking a sip. "But it was worth it. I secured an alliance."

  I launched into the recap. I told them about the meeting at the Riverwalk, the dossier on White Hill and Seaside, and the deal I had struck with Misty. It was a diplomatic victory—a necessary step to secure our flank while we expanded westward.

  "So," I finished, leaning back. "We have insurance as the Cove watches our back, we push into the Wilds and win the Race."

  Aiya ate a slice of orange and Grace stopped typing.

  She slowly closed the laptop lid.

  "That doesn’t sound like a win," Grace said.

  "We have an alliance," I argued. "We are the first faction to officially enter the race. We are setting the pace."

  "We aren't first because we're better, Kaz," Grace said, her eyes locking onto mine. "We're first because we're irrelevant."

  I frowned. "Excuse me?"

  "Seaside, White Hill, The Cove," she listed them off on her fingers. "Why do you think they haven't announced a campaign for the Wilds? Do you think they forgot it exists?"

  "They're focused on consolidation," I said.

  "They're focused on things that matter," Grace corrected. "For White Hill, the Wilds is just a customer base. They sell guns to the savages. You don't conquer your customers; you exploit them. For Seaside? The Wilds are invisible. If they are trading with New York and Montreal, do you think they care about a settlement of fifty starving people in an abandoned warehouse?"

  She stood up and paced the kitchen.

  "Misty didn't ally with you because she respects Eden. She allied with you because she saw a battering ram."

  "A battering ram," I repeated.

  "She played you," Grace said ruthlessly. "She realized that if Eden expands into the Wilds, we drain our resources and spread our forces thin. We become the noise that distracts Seaside and White Hill. And in exchange? She gave you a 'Defense Only' contract. That means if we get into trouble out there, she does nothing. If we start a fight, she does nothing. But if someone attacks us here, she gains a buffer zone."

  Grace leaned over the table.

  "The thirty minute waiting game? The humiliation afterwards? That was theater, Kaz. Psychological warfare. The potion was the cherry on top—a shiny toy to get you out of your comfort zone so you wouldn't read the fine print. She steered that entire meeting and you let her."

  I opened my mouth to defend myself, but the words died in my throat.

  I thought back to the Riverwalk and the way she had sat next to me, invisible. Then I thought of the way she had dismissed my powers and the way she handed me the potion before asking for my resources.

  "You gave away our premium export for a potion and a promise," Grace said. "We don’t even know if the information she gave you is reliable. You negotiated like middle management. Why did you go alone? I am the head of this company. I am the Beckenfein. Negotiations are what I do."

  "I..." I faltered. "I thought I needed to show strength. Leadership."

  "You showed incompetence," Grace said. She sat back down and opened her laptop again. "We are now leveraged. Heavily."

  "The universe balances all things," Aiya shrugged. "Confidence without wisdom creates a vacuum. One that Misty filled."

  I felt small. Smaller than I had felt in months.

  The respect in the room had evaporated. I was now the guy who got tricked by the first mysterious woman he met.

  I needed to fix this. I needed to remind them—and myself—why I was in charge.

  "We still have the tech advantage," I said, standing up. "Come with me."

  I led them out the back door to the greenhouse.

  "I've been working on something," I said. "For the expansion."

  I placed my hands on the soil and I summoned the image I had been refining in my mind since I built the train.

  "Grow."

  I poured 500 Qi into the earth.

  Vines braided together, rising ten feet into the air and bamboo stalks shot up, forming an armored chassis while roots twisted into legs.

  It stepped out of the dirt with force that shook the glass.

  It was a bipedal walker made of organic matter. Or in simpler terms, a tank.

  On its "shoulders," two pods of Sky Piercer Bamboo swiveled, tracking movement. The cockpit was a hardened Gourd, glowing with bioluminescent eyes.

  "The Eden Guardian Treant," I announced. "Special Grade. Tank Variant. This will ensure that no one—not even Misty—can take advantage of us in the field."

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  I looked at them, waiting for the awe.

  Aiya tilted her head. "It looks like an angry broccoli."

  Grace said nothing.

  She turned and walked back into the house.

  I stood there with my angry broccoli, the silence ringing in my ears.

  The magic trick hadn't worked. My miracles didn't work anymore. I needed competence.

  An hour later, I met Sal and Bells at the main gate.

  The massive bamboo wall parted, revealing the convoy of trucks Sal had prepared. We were heading out to establish the first forward operating base for the expansion.

  "It's time," I told Sal.

  "About time," Sal said, adjusting his tool belt. He looked ready to build. "I was getting bored of renovations."

  I looked up. Bells was hovering twenty feet in the air, his arms crossed, looking down at us.

  "You coming down, General?" I asked.

  "Air superiority," Bells yawned. "I prefer the view."

  He didn't even salute us.

  I watched him float there and I realized the rot had spread deep.

  It wasn't just Grace. It was everyone.

  Bells had never really respected me, but he used to be wary of me. After the retreat from White Hill, the "Coward" label had hurt him much more than it hurt me. Then came the duel where he beat me effortlessly. That was the final straw. He knew that outside of my garden, I was just a regenerating turtle.

  And Mayah... she hadn't reported in a week. She was running Adam like a personal fiefdom.

  And now Grace.

  I was losing control of the faction I built.

  "Let's move," I said.

  I signaled the Diamond Boys—my only truly loyal unit, mostly because I fed them magic oatmeal. Joakim led the scout team out in their modified trucks.

  "Find struggling settlements," I ordered. "Starving and desperate people. You scout ahead, the main force will follow after."

  The scouts roared off.

  I walked alongside Sal’s truck as we exited the safety of Southfield.

  The further I walked from my garden, the weaker I felt. Not physically—my stats were still insane—but conceptually. I was leaving the source of my power. Again.

  I thought about Stephen.

  The manager of the 24/7 Mart.

  Since we established Eve, Stephen hadn't been seen outside the store once. John had told me a couple of days ago that Stephen had installed a self checkout system so he didn't even have to come to the counter anymore.

  Before, I thought he was lying and did go outside. Then I thought he was lazy. Or trapped. Now I’m starting to think differently.

  "He's not trapped," I muttered, stepping over a pothole. "He's smart."

  Stephen never left because inside the store, he was God. Outside, he was mortal. He understood his Domain.

  I was the only idiot who kept walking out of his own temple to play soldier in the mud.

  I stopped walking.

  We were a couple miles out, near the ruins of the old movie theater. This was the designated spot for the first camp.

  "Stop the convoy," I said.

  Sal hit the brakes. "Boss? We're not there yet."

  "Close enough," I said.

  I looked at the overgrown parking lot of the cinema.

  "I'm trying something new," I said.

  I unhooked the Gourd from my belt and poured out a circle of Verdant Jade Loam Soil in the center of the lot. Not enough for a colony, but enough for a foothold.

  "Sal," I said. "Wait here."

  "Where are you going?"

  I focused on my garden back in Southfield.

  [Botanical Garden] activated.

  One second I was standing in the cold wind of the Wilds; the next, I was stumbling into the warm air of my greenhouse.

  I took a deep breath and felt my authority return instantly.

  I walked to my seed bank.

  I dug through the collection until I found it.

  Acmella oleracea. The Toothache Plant.

  I held the seeds in my palm.

  "Awaken," I commanded.

  I poured Qi into the seeds. I guided the mutation, focusing on sensory input. The plant was known for its numbing properties, for dulling nerves. I wanted to invert that. I wanted it to feel everything.

  [Synthesis Complete.]

  [New Plant: Goros (Awakened Heavenly Toothache).]

  [Effect: Numbing Pollen / All-Seeing Eye.]

  The plant grew rapidly in the pot and looked like a large fern, but in the center, a single, yellow flower bloomed. It looked suspiciously like an eyeball.

  "Perfect," I said.

  I placed my hand on the pot.

  "Dominion."

  I visualized the patch of soil I had just laid down at the movie theater.

  "Transport."

  The pot vanished.

  I closed my eyes and activated the [All-Seeing Eye].

  My vision shifted.

  Suddenly, I was looking at Sal. He was standing in the parking lot of the movie theater, scratching his head and looking at a fern that had just appeared out of thin air on the patch of soil.

  "Boss?" Sal poked the plant.

  "I'm here," I said.

  My voice vibrated from the plant itself, modulating the air with its leaves.

  Sal jumped back. "Whoa! You're... in the plant?"

  "I'm in the greenhouse," I said, my voice echoing slightly.

  I sat down and looked at the holographic interface projected by the plant’s connection. I could see the perimeter. I could see the structural integrity of the theater. I could sense the Qi levels of the surrounding area.

  I felt a massive weight lift off my shoulders.

  I didn't have to be there. I didn't have to sleep in the dirt or eat rations. I could conquer the world from my backyard.

  "You're... micromanaging from home?" Sal asked, grinning. "That's the dream, Boss."

  "It's the new doctrine," I said.

  I filled my Gourd with more soil—tons of it.

  I realized something fundamental. With the Botanical Garden Dao, my soil was signal. It was Wi-Fi. If I planted soil somewhere, I had coverage and I could project my Dominion anywhere I could drop a seed.

  "This is how we win," I whispered.

  I teleported back to the camp and spent the next seven hours building it. I was an operator. I directed Sal’s crew, monitored the perimeter, and created the infrastructure (walls, power, food) needed for the camp.

  Evening fell.

  I saw headlights.

  A Diamond Boy scout vehicle roared into the lot. The scout jumped out, looking breathless and grimy.

  "Report," I said.

  "Sir! We found a settlement. Seven miles north. It's called Crisbol."

  "Status?"

  "Dire," the scout said. "It's ruled by a council of three cultivators. They used to be under the Black Hand—a major Wilds faction—but they broke away due to excessive tribute demands. The Black Hand retaliated by salting their fields and poisoning their well."

  "Black Hand," I noted. Stephen was right. There were organized factions out here.

  "They are starving," the scout continued. "They are eating leather and Cannibalism is... imminent. They have maybe two days left."

  "What are your orders, Sir? Do we mobilize the Second Division? Do we send a relief convoy?"

  The old Kaz would have. The old Kaz would have put on his armor, driven out there, given a speech, and handed out potatoes personally to feel like a hero.

  The new Kaz telepathically picked up a small sack of Verdant Jade Loam Soil from the greenhouse floor.

  "No convoy," I said.

  "Transport."

  The sack of soil vanished from my greenhouse and appeared in my hand.

  "Take this," I ordered. "Run back to Crisbol and plant it in the center of their town square."

  The scout picked up the sack. "Just... plant it?"

  "Just plant it," I said. "Tell them Eden is coming and then leave."

  "Yes, sir!"

  The scout ran back to his vehicle and sped off into the night.

  I teleported back home and leaned back on my bench in the warm greenhouse.

  I closed my eyes, extending my senses through the earth, waiting for the seed to be planted.

  "The world will soon become my oyster," I said to myself. "And I don't even have to get my boots dirty to shuck it."