Ed walked up a flight of stairs and knocked on the door of the first room. A moment later, a young Chinese man opened it, revealing a total of 10 men inside a relatively small room. In fact, it looked similar to a soldiers' quarters, as all of the men slept on small beds and only seemed to have backpacks with them.

"It's time?" The man asked.

"Mm." Ed nodded while turning around.

The men must have already been informed of why they were here, as they all followed behind him immediately. They were all in good physical condition, though they were just ordinary humans.

When they returned to the first floor, the ten prisoners were kneeling on the ground. One of the men glared at Ed. He had long black hair and an ugly face. "Shitty Gweilo! You'll regret betraying the council! The Long child is a complete fool! Do you think Nexus will just let this go?!" The man's rant seemed to incite the others, as they began yelling obscenities as well.

'Nexus?' Ed rubbed his chin as his curiosity grew. He glanced at the guards. "Keep an eye on them for a moment. I want to talk to this one alone." He walked towards the prisoner and grabbed his arm to lift him up.

The guards seemed hesitant, but the leader amongst them nodded.

"But Captain." Another guard interrupted.

The Captain glared at his men. "Sect Leader Long told us to follow Forge's orders to the letter. If there's a problem later, then I'll take responsibility. Sect Leader Long doesn't make mistakes."

Ed forcefully dragged the unwilling prisoner upstairs. He entered the empty room that the ten men from earlier had been staying in, and he threw the prisoner to the floor. Seeing no chairs in the room, he activated his powers to meld the wood into something resembling a stool. He sat down and stared with interest at the prisoner.

The ugly prisoner seemed somewhat nervous, but his eyes remained defiant. "Do you think torture will break me?" He asked through clenched teeth. "I am loyal to the council, the true leaders of the Fire Dragon Sect! The traitorous son will get what's coming to him! Nexus will not let this stand!"

Ed smiled. "Do you know who I am?" He asked.

"A filthy Gweilo!" The Chinese man yelled.

Ed frowned. "You know, we don't take well to racism in the west. You don't even want to know what I did to the last group of racists I met." He chuckled as he shook his head. "But fortunately for you, I don't have to be your enemy."

The prisoner frowned but remained silent as he continued to glare.

"You see, Nexus and I actually have a bit of a history, and it would be fairly convenient for me if that organization was destroyed." He grinned. "On top of that, I'm actually a close ally with the Purple Origin Sect. As Tai trusts me, I was sent here as a spy. In fact, it's not impossible for me to save you prisoners, as I need to make my escape soon anyways. In exchange, you just need to betray Nexus by telling me what I want to know. A fair trade, right?"

A skeptical expression appeared on the prisoner's face, though it seemed a hint of hope had sparked in his eyes as well. He hesitated a moment before speaking. "How can I trust you?" He asked.

Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out a purple medallion. He tossed it to the prisoner. "I'm an honorary elder of the Purple Origin Sect. You should know that these medallions are only granted to foreigners that have aligned themselves with the sect. Additionally." He lifted up his hand, causing purple water to swirl around it. "I don't walk the path of fire. The only reason I'm here is because Tai and I have a friendship dating back to when he visited America."

The prisoner hesitated as a complicated expression appeared on his face. "Is this all the proof you have?" He asked.

Ed rubbed his chin as he held up his other hand. A burst of light appeared from his mana-batteries, followed by a chunk of earth, a swirl of green wind, and a spark of lightning. "I have a five-elemental mana-core." He smiled. "I've only mastered the paths of water up until now, but I'm afraid I have no affinity with fire at all."

The prisoner's eyes widened in surprise. It had to be known that five-elemental mana-cores were very rare. Even higher numbers of elements were like unicorn horns or qilin feathers. The chances of finding someone with one were extremely slim. His eyes wavered as he started to believe Ed's story.

"Look." Ed continued to strike while the iron was hot. "It's not like you have anything to lose by talking with me, right? Sect Maser Long and the sect elders have already passed, and nothing can change that. But I need as much information as I can get in order to help the Purple Origin Sect win this lopsided war. I haven't been able to obtain much from Tai nor the other sects. Do you know what Nexus's plans are? Tell me, and I'll do everything in my power to save you."

Tears appeared in the Chinese man's eyes, and his voice turned hoarse. "The sect elders didn't deserve this! They were loyal to Nexus and that unfilial son! How could he possibly label us as traitors when we were just following his orders!" He looked up to Ed. "Nexus tried to recruit Sect Master Long and the Fire Dragon Sect to join the other six sects in war against the Purple Origin Sect, but he vehemently refused! Our alliance goes back to the very beginning, and he is close friends with Sect Leader Fang! How could he possibly accept? But the sect elders disagreed, and they supported the unfilial son! After overthrowing Sect Master Long, everything should have been settled! We were all loyal to Nexus! We all supported the unfilial son!"

"Mm." Ed nodded. "But what's Nexus's goal? And to what extent is Tai working with Nexus?"

"That..." The man hesitated a moment before sighing. "The New World Order." He answered. "It's not just China, as many other countries have also recently been thrown into chaos. Ever since Nexus has appeared, things have begun to change throughout the world. Regions are thrown into chaos, and the local overlords are overthrown. The new leaders that rise up always conveniently join the World Hunter Association." He frowned. "A sect elder personally told me that Nexus has completely intertwined itself with the World Hunter Association, and the goal is to create a New World Order that controls all countries. As the Fire Dragon Sect joined Nexus, it should only be natural that we join the World Hunter Association after the war is over."

'So, Feather isn't just after sect techniques?' Ed frowned. 'If the World Hunter Association is backing her, then everything makes more sense... Her rapid growth and vast access to resources and information would be perfectly explained. Even with her powers, she should have certain limitations. Hell, she even has an esper that can easily teleport resources, but such a power is far too rare for her to obtain so quickly on her own.' He looked towards the prisoner. "But why?" He asked. "What good is a New World Order? What does Nexus possibly have to gain from it?"

"That..." The man hesitated before shaking his head. "I don't really know. All I ever heard mentioned about it was that they were after the seven keys."

"The seven keys?!" Ed's mouth widened in surprise. 'Nexus and the World Hunter Association know about the seven keys?! In other words, they're after the inheritance the thing underneath Reef City told me about? But how does creating a New World Order relate to obtaining the seven keys...? If I assume my previous theory was correct, then the seven keys should be related to the seven nightmares. Do they want to leverage the united forces of the entire world to try defeating the nightmares to obtain the keys?'

"Sir?" The Chinese man interrupted Ed's thoughts.

"Hold on. I'm thinking." Ed held up his hand towards the man. 'Moving past the other details... The guard captain downstairs had mentioned that Tai doesn't make mistakes. That definitely wasn't a casual slip of speech.' He looked towards the prisoner. 'Tai wanted me to interrogate the prisoners. This had to be set up on purpose. He also blocked the dining room earlier with his path of silver darkness, as if he was afraid of being eavesdropped on. He's clearly being cautious of the eyes and ears of Nexus... But why would he do that when he's currently working with them? Why have me interrogate a man that supported him and the elders? Why execute the elders and capture these men if they support Nexus?'

Ed frowned as he pulled his hair in frustration. 'This is a hint. Everything isn't cut-and-dry. For one, it's clear that Tai hasn't truly allied himself with Nexus. If he really wishes for China to rise as a strong sovereign nation, then that makes sense. There's no way he would sell out his country to the World Hunter Association. If we look past that, then we can assume he's only supporting Nexus on the surface while actually seizing greater control of sect by centralizing its power. But if that's the case, then why assassinate his father? It would have made more sense to just continue the alliance with the Purple Origin Sect. Speaking of which, would Tai really not know about the ancient formation in the Purple Origin Sect? This is Tai after all. His planning isn't necessarily any worse than mine... Right, he must have known about it. In that case, why would he leave Fire Dragon Sect elites behind in the Purple Origin Sect? He easily could have started extracting them earlier. I know for a fact he didn't, as I saw plenty of them when I was leaving the sect.'

Ed leaned over and began rubbing his temples with his fingertips. 'I need to change my course of thought by going back to the beginning. This all started with Tai having his father assassinated, but did it really? There were no signs of battle, and he claims that his father was poisoned. How ridiculous is the idea of such a powerful esper falling without any struggle? Additionally, I now know that Tai doesn't truly plan to work with Nexus, which falls in line with the thoughts of his father. For the sake of argument, let's assume none of this ever happened. Sect Master Long would have sided with the Purple Origin Sect. The war would have dragged on between the two sides, inflicting heavy damages to the entire country's military force. Other nations would then sweep in and take over, or the World Hunter Association would install a new puppet government. In other words, the only possible result was the World Hunter Association winning.'

Suddenly, a wide grin appeared on Ed's face as he felt himself connecting the dots. 'Sect Master Long and Sect Leader Fang would have known this was the only possible result. As for the other six sects, well, it should've been obvious to Sect Leader Di of the Earth Dust Sect. Who knows about the other five. There's no way the six sects nor Nexus would believe in Sect Master Long betraying the Purple Origin Sect. So, they needed to replace him with a coup d'état. Who better suited to such a plan than Tai and the elders? A young ambitious man that wants more power, and a group of greedy councilmen that wish to increase their own influence. Together, they're the perfect pawns. But Tai and Sect Master Long are not fools, and they may have seen this coming. What would I do if I was in Tai's situation? Two possibilities. One, play along with Nexus and seize control for myself. On the surface, this appears to be exactly what Tai has done and is continuing to do. Even if Nexus suspects him of it, it's fine with them as long as the Seven Sect Alliance joins the World Hunter Association after the war. The second possibility, pretend to play along with Nexus and plot together with Sect Master Long and Sect Leader Fang in the shadows. If we assume this train of thought, then Sect Master Long was never assassinated. The entire assassination was a sham, which is consistent with the lack of evidence for any type of fight breaking out. Tai would then take over while pretending to be loyal to Nexus and ceding more control to the council. He could play the role of a foolish young master in search of power and authority. At the Seven Sect Alliance meeting, he would have pretended to know nothing about the ancient formation and feign shock when he discovered his forces in the Purple Origin Sect were to be sacrificed. However, if he is secretly working with the Purple Origin Sect, then that means that his forces won't even be sacrificed.'

Ed glanced at the prisoner. 'Now that the war is about to begin, we're actually entering the final phases. All of the elders and cultivators that truly supported Nexus? They're actually the traitors in Tai's eyes. He wishes to clean up the sect and eliminate them while maintaining maximum military power. The man he wishes to hand control of china over to? It's either Sect Leader Fang or Sect Master Long. When the war actually starts, the Seven Sect Alliance will be shocked to find far more forces in the Purple Origin Sect then they originally expected. Additionally, the Fire Dragon Sect forces will be in the center of all of their war formations. They'll be attacked from the front and from within, absolutely tearing apart their forces. In this manner, the Fire Dragon Sect and Purple Origin Sect can win a swift victory with low casualties. From there, they can quickly reconsolidate the remnants of the six sects into their own sects, uniting China under a single strong tree. They'll need this strong centralized power to continue opposing the World Hunter Association and Nexus in the future. This aligns well with Tai guaranteeing me a strong ally after the war. In fact, they would want to replace the person in power in America for their own benefit. America is currently the primary supporter of the World Hunter Association, so me taking over the country would be a huge win for them. Sect Leader Fang is also supporting various organizations throughout the world... The world stage is being set by two sides. The World Hunter Association on one end, and a crude alliance of many countries and individual powers on the other.'

"Heh." Suddenly, Ed began to laugh. "Hahahahaha! It's madness! Complete fucking madness!" He grinned. 'Things really are starting to get interesting. Dupe must be fucking ecstatic. Hell, I bet he's even helping swirl shit up in the background. If I'm assisting Tai, and my deductions are correct, then I've technically never even betrayed the Purple Origin Sect. That would also explain why no one ever pursued us after leaving the sect. It's likely that Sect Leader Fang already predicted where I was going and allowed me to leave unimpeded.'

"Tsk." Ed clicked his tongue. 'I'll need to find another way to get payback against Sect Leader Fang later.' He grinned while he looked at the prisoner. 'Now, how should I maximize my own benefits from this war? For now, I might as well get started with the power transfers.'