True freedom was difficult to find anywhere in the world.

The companies and independents had rejected military administration and scattered themselves across the camps, but even outside the Command's direct authority they weren't really free. Their weapons and ammunition came from the Command. Their scientific products came from the Command. Even their ability to hunt jin beasts and gather resources depended on the Command as a backstop. Unless they could sustain themselves entirely on their own terms — the way Shen Cong could — the independence was an illusion with carefully maintained edges.

And even Shen Cong wasn't genuinely free. He still needed a large organization to serve as a trade partner and intelligence source. The alternative was total isolation, which was its own kind of constraint.

Human intelligence was the root of the problem. Animals with limited cognitive capacity needed to manage a handful of concerns — food, sleep, territory, reproduction. The moment intelligence climbed high enough to enable complex thought and ambition, it made frequent interaction between individuals not just possible but inevitable. And frequent interaction between intelligent beings generated schemes.

Sometimes Shen Cong imagined a world where everyone's intelligence dropped below fifty. An end to plotting. An end to people spending their days calculating how to use him. Perfect, in its own bleak way.

Eastern Theater Command headquarters.

Political Commissar Liu Yiwu had just come from a meeting and was back at his desk when his aide set a file in front of him.

"Commander — the Logistics and Supply Section just forwarded this. It's about Colonel Chen Kun, per your standing watch order."

Liu Yiwu didn't open the file immediately. He rubbed his temples. "Give me the summary. What's Chen Kun been up to?"

"Commander, the Logistics and Supply Section received word from Administrator Sun Kai at the Xuyi County camp today. Colonel Chen has solo-hunted a salamander-type jin beast, approximately forty-two meters in length, estimated weight around fifty tons. It's currently at the camp and he's looking to sell it. The Section has no precedent for a company or independent killing something this large, so…