Chapter 447: Day 872 – Ceremony

Chapter 447: Day 872 – Ceremony

I approached Purgatory in the morning along with everyone else. The city had been rebuilt in the wake of the disaster that the upgrade had left it in. I walked with Clarissa and the rest of the people trailed behind. More people were also showing up as well from other nearby campsites.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.

One thing I had missed, was that the arrivals in Purgatory had been killed off on day 870 while I had been running around. I hadn’t even thought of them. Since the tower, my day counting hadn’t been that great.

They didn’t stand a chance, and all died. I didn’t even notice any of the super slimes going off to kill them. Clarissa didn’t want to risk pulling level 5 monsters into her people. That would have been a massacre. So, the 250 people who showed up on day 870 were wiped out by accident and I didn’t even notice.

It was a testament to how focused I was on the long fight with the super slimes that I had missed their deaths completely. It was similar to the mindset I had while grinding. Just getting into a combat flow state, where I would run and repeat the same actions while only paying a bit of attention to my surroundings.

Only the start of a fight tended to be complex. At a certain point, once I reached an equilibrium, it was just focusing on not making mistakes and maintaining what was already working. That was probably the first accidental murder I had ever done that was entirely my fault, so manslaughter.

I only felt bad about not feeling bad about what happened. I knew I should be more upset about people just accidentally dying due to being overconfident about the upgrade, but after all the killing I had done, I was numb to it all. That numbness was what I felt bad about, since I knew I should feel something more, but after two years in the Systemic Lands and two wars, against the Ritualist and the Divine Empress, it was hard to care about random people.

It was the same way, that people cared more about if their friend died than if 10,000 people staved to death somewhere in Africa. A person could logically understand the numbers, but feeling the impact of those numbers was not something most people did. The few that did succumb to worrying about every single death and bad thing that happened would probably be completely unhinged.

I noted that the building layout hadn’t been maintained after it had been wiped away when the Divine Empress had shown up and half the zone had vaporized along with the city. That would be another expense that would have to be paid for.

Checking the pillars again, seven were still damaged, and only one was working. Seven hundred million points, what a scam. I shuddered at the thought of a level 6 upgrade, and 1,000 level 6 monsters rushing the city. At least that upgrade could be accomplished in a couple of years.

Anything beyond that, the timeframe would stretch out considerably. I thought about how I could get a meta-point from the fight. It just wasn’t possible unless I had the stats to stay near the pillars while wiping out one super slime after another.

Well, if I could my skills up to level 5, then fully upgrade at that level, Acid Shot would only be 20 energy. I would be able to use it 500 times, not counting Regeneration. I could probably upgrade the city in a day if it had a shield.

The ability to pick cost upgrades had have those carry through on skills was incredibly broken at the higher combat levels. The hard part was getting a skill upgraded without the silent and gestureless upgrades until the very end.

It only cost me a minute of my time and was expected. While I might not like politics, I knew what I needed to do to make myself appear acceptable as an Emperor. I wasn’t a complete idiot like the Divine Empress. She would have just murdered a bunch of people and told them all to kowtow to her and possibly motivate themselves.

Thanking people, mourning the dead, were easy things to do to make me appear caring and compassionate to these people so they didn’t question my position. I was above the pointless squabbles and wanted to present myself in that manner. Let the governors take the heat instead.

“Thank you, my people, for your sacrifices and perseverance in the face of overwhelming hardship. I shall address the most difficult question first, why form an Empire and take up the mantle of Emperor,” I said, and everyone was listening attentively. There was something intoxicating about speaking to a large crowd who paid attention to everything I was saying. I could easily understand why politicians got big heads and became conceited.

“This decision was one I made based on simple truths and our new reality. On Earth human technology and guns allowed for democracy to flourish and to move away from the rule of a few elites. Here in the Systemic Lands, only power, granted through skills and stats, allow a person to decide the future.”

“While I hold no love for the Divine Empress and killed her personally in a hard-fought battle, there are other people like her out there. Numbers don’t matter after a certain point. Only the power of an individual can combat another such individual.”

“That is why I must take up the mantle of Emperor. To ensure stability and good governance of all cities that have fallen under our control. That is why our nation’s new motto is Peace Through Strength!”

“Peace Through Strength!” People shouted and cheered. Eventually they quieted down.

“But I am a fighter, not a true leader. That is why there will be a central Imperial Government headed up by Supreme Governor Clarissa. Each city will be managed by an appointed Governor. In addition, the war time taxes are now officially over!”

The cheering was the loudest it had been since the start of the speeches. No liked taxes. That was a universal sentiment apparently. “There will be a standard tax rate of thirty percent, to build city buildings, upgrades, and maintain the strength of our new nation. There will be no slavery, let all people come together as one nation, one empire!”

There was more cheering at this. I smiled as it was time to wrap things up. Long pointless speeches were boring and exhausting for everyone. While I didn’t mind public speaking, I wasn’t that in love with the sound of my own voice to keep dragging things out pointlessly.

“Let us feast and celebrate our victory, our new nation!” I raised my hands up again and there was more cheering. Clarissa had already put people on preparing food. They had portable stoves, due to being in the wilderness, so it wasn’t that hard to have grills going and food was already being laid out on buffet tables.

I went up to my throne and took a seat. The next part was to allow people to eat and to come and speak with me. The podium was cleared away as people spread out.