Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

The brown-haired dissident shuddered when he heard the Ice General's voice reverberating through the hallway, dry ice smoke spreading through the room.

Only then did Mick's anger management problem calm down, allowing him to thoroughly regret his decisions. He gulped, awaiting his fate.

A beautiful nineteen-year-old blonde in black tactical gear walked into the room. While she looked like a typical college teen, the very sight of her created a suffocating environment. No one could breathe as she walked through the throngs of exhausted soldiers approaching the dissident table.

Before the man could process the situation, the Ice Demon was standing before him.

"Just to make sure I understand your argument, you're saying that Immortal Skye needs you and thus we should treat you like normal soldiers." Evalyn said dryly, "Is that correct?"

Mick felt cold sweat drop down in shoulder blades when she addressed him. "Yes, mam. That's correct."

"Rational viewpoint." The Ice General smiled, "And since Immortal Skye is a small place with selective members, if someone were to kill the fifty soldiers here, we'd be forced to acquiesce or die. Is that right?"

The atmospheric pressure multiplied to a crushing degree after everyone realized Evalyn was listening to them the entire time.

Loyalists feared that Mick and the dissidents proved her skepticism right, thus eliminating their trust gains. Unrelated dissidents were afraid their complaints would be lumped together with his. Naturally, those at his table feared for their lives.

Mick gulped nervously, feeling sweat drip down his brow. He didn't know how to confirm her assertion without getting executed instantly. "I...."

"Hypothetically speaking." Evalyn smiled sinisterly, "Naturally, you wouldnt do something like that."

"H-Hypothetically speaking…." He replied with a sharp breath, "I-It was just a thought experiment. Without the soldiers you'd be forced to accept us; how they disappeared is irrelevant."

"I like your honesty." She smiled ominously, "It's good to find someone who stands behind their words in the face of punishment. I have a question, though…."

Mick felt a sharp pain of anxiety, looking into her piercing eyes. "W-What is it, General Skye?"

"How, in the countless reminders of General Peyton's actions, did you forget that you're training with ex-Maltian soldiers' families?" Evalyn mused, "There's quite a lot of them here.

Tell me, how many soldiers do you think soldiers are Immortal Skye?"

A tidal wave of anxiety crashed through the room as people saw her vicious smile.

"I-I don't know." Mick stuttered, "Isn't this… half your soldiers?"

"Why do you think that?" The Ice General asked mockingly.

The dissident opened his mouth to speak but stopped, choosing his words carefully.

"I just focused on your recruitment." He justified, "It's common knowledge that few people got into Immortal Skye and were civilians and teenagers. So I didn't think about the soldiers."

"Again with a logical argument and honesty." Evalyn smiled wickedly, "I like those traits in a person. However—"

The room held its breath, awaiting the man's execution.

"—you argued that lethal force would give you leverage without knowing what you were up against." She smiled, "So let's see how you'd fare in this [hypothetical] scenario.

Take a guess how many people Immortal Skye has."

Mick averted her gaze, trying to avoid the thousands of eyes staring at him. "I-I don't know."

"Oh, come on Mick." Evalyn coaxed playfully, "Take a guess. It's not like you were actually planning on fighting us, so give us an answer."

"Two hundred?" He gulped, doubling his estimate.

"Come on, Mick." She smiled mockingly, "Do you think that Immortal Skye could crush the Maltian army without with just a few strong cultivators and a bunch of [civilians and teenagers]?"

Her gruesome sarcasm crushed his entire argument. Even if the Immortals were exclusively civilians and teenagers, they were strong enough to crush the Maltian military!

"F-Five hundred then?" Mick asked, trying to avoid the ridicule.

"You're getting warmer." Evalyn smiled, "That's around the number of special forces soldiers we have, but we still have trained trade soldiers."

The room froze, hearing her words. Everyone knew that the fifty soldiers that Evalyn had with her were ex-special forces. They were monsters, and she just informed them that there were around ten times as many in Immortal Skye—with regular soldiers in reserve.

"A-A thousand?" Mick asked, trying to avoid the petrified gazes of his fellow soldiers. Now that they knew what they were up against, they felt he led them blindly into a suicide mission.

"Waaaaaaaarmer." Evalyn hummed playfully.

"1,100?" The dissident cringed.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaarmer." She smiled brightly.

"1,500?" Mick gulped.

"Close." The Ice General announced with a beaming smile, "That's how many we started with.

We've lost about sixty between fighting your military and the Sky Plane cultivators. So you're up against around 1400 trained soldiers if you kill these fifty.

You're also facing just under 2,000 overpowered civilians and teenagers. And, oh, the families here aren't just going to sit around if you try to kill us. So they'll fight you, too.

Tell me, Mick. Do you still think that killing 50 soldiers will affect us?"

"N-No…." Mick gasped for breath, feeling frozen carbon dioxide scorching his lungs, "I was very off. B-But you're up against those cultivators, you still need as many people as you can get, right?"

"Hmmm… let's see." Evalyn hummed, finger to her lips, "There are around 3,500 Immortals with sky-grade techniques that Emperor Lexicon personally taught.

We also have all the civilians here, Emperor Lexicon, Crux, and myself.

Meanwhile, as you eloquently pointed out, you're pathetically weak liabilities that can't land a hit on me but consume enormous amounts of resources.

It would be nice to have another few thousand trained soldiers. But right now… what benefit will we get using you in a war against people stronger than my soldiers?

Night now, I can only see you being a burden."

All resistance to her works shattered at that moment. The soldiers realized they were alive by the mercy of Immortal Skye, who was feeding and training them for an unknown reason.

Mick gulped, understanding that he was wrong. However, as a [communal narcissist], he couldn't say sorry lest he wanted to break his [infallible] righteous image. So he just stood silently, awaiting his fate.

"Interesting; it seems that there was no other reason for your drastic viewpoints." Evalyn commented, "You just threatened everyone's lives and undermined the goodwill and trust of the people around you have built. And you did it on pathetically shaky assumptions.

Say sorry to the people around you, Mick."

The man gulped, looking around, taking a sharp breath. "I…."

He stopped, unable to continue. It would crush his entire sense of self-worth in the world if he did. It wasn't just a bad personality trait—it was a disorder.

Evalyn knew about it because her father had an extreme form of narcissism called borderline personality disorder, so she was intimate with the symptoms.

She also couldn't say sorry genuinely. While she said it outwardly, internally, it was just a manipulation tactic to get people to move past resenting her.

Like father, like daughter.

For those reasons, she understood that her ask was brutal torture for the man near her, who sought approval from everyone—and exploited it to solve her problems.

"What?" Evalyn asked straightly, "You just put everyone's lives at risk for no gain or benefit, yet you can't say sorry to them?"

Mick's face clearly showed remorse and acceptance that he was wrong. However, he struggled even to open his mouth. "I-I… am…."

The Ice General spun in a full rotation, panning everyone's faces. Disgust. Hatred. Resentment.

Friends and foes expressed every negative emotion imaginable toward Mick.

She smiled inwardly, seeing their reaction. It was a sensitive situation, so she needed full support from everyone. The more they hated him, the more severe his punishment could be without causing internal strife or panic.

"It seems you're the only person who feels your baseless actions were justified." Evalyn chuckled murderously, "Even now, as everyone awaits judgment for your actions, you can't say sorry?

You've got some serious balls on you, Mick."

She looked at his sweating face with vexation and looked around to ensure everyone was still on her side. Noting that they were, she looked him in the eyes. "And that's a problem."

An icy wind hit the man, freezing his lower half instantly. The man's eyes widened in shock but his voice didn't work, as he inhaled frozen carbon dioxide and couldn't breathe.

CRaaACk! BOOM!

Everyone winced and groaned when the blonde raised her foot and push-kicked his crotch, cracking the ice on his lower waist and sending him flying into a table.

"Eat and get some rest." The Ice General said loudly but without emphasis. With that, she left the room without a speech—she had already said what needed to be said.

So she left a traumatizing demonstration that showcased [leniency]—as everyone expected her to kill the whole table of dissidents—but demonstrated consequences far more brutal and tangible than death.

═─┈─═─┈─═

-

"We were lucky that Mick Karr is a narcissist that can't say sorry." Evalyn asserted, "Killing him would've made him a martyr and spread fear.

Crushing all the dissidents would break everyone's will to fight—the [opposite] of what we need.

That's why I gave everyone the day off. Each person can fulfill their personal needs without interacting with people they hate. If they're miserable after, they don't have an excuse."

"General… the problem isn't whether people can solve their needs—it's that you're giving them them time and space right now." Sandra replied nervously, "That will worsen tensions significantly."

"Why?" Evalyn asked, eyes snapping open in horror.

"Last night's arguments were a rehash of every other night this week." The captain asserted, "The only thing preventing a violent conflict is being too tired and Qi-deprived to fight.

With rest and time, people can plot, and our supporters will attack dissidents to prevent another incident like last night."

"Are you saying there could be a violent conflict today?" Evalyn cringed, feeling her heartbeat quicken.

"It's possible." Sandra replied straightly, "I've already ordered our soldiers to keep order. However, they're spread out, and the numbers in every area are high.

If dissidents gang up on our individual soldiers, we will lose. We should separate the families to prevent hostages and revenge. Worst case scenario...."

"I know; we'll have to start killing them." The Ice General said boldly, "In a fight between our people and those we barely know, I'll always accept the former—no matter the cost."