Chapter 537: Day 5,001 (2) – God Or Not A God

Chapter 537: Day 5,001 (2) – God Or Not A God

“My apologies Emperor Michael,” Oliver said and bowed his head.

“It is fine. Things got a bit heated, but we are having a conversation. Don’t worry about the people listening in. You are petitioning me. You. You want religion, but I cannot allow other public religions. While I can argue on a theological standpoint, there is a societal one as well,” I replied.

“What about mixed used spaces then? Like a school, that then is used as a church?” he asked.

“People can meet up. There is freedom of assembly. I know you probably have a church in your business after hours?” I asked.

“Yes, your grace,” he said.

“Then what exactly is the problem? No one is being persecuted for their beliefs?” I asked.

“No. We just wanted to be able to build churches, mosques, and synagogues,” he said.

“Absolutely not. One hundred percent denied. I also have banned more secular things that pretend they aren’t religions as well. Regardless, I won’t let any of it take root in my Empire. If you wish to battle me on theology, then I am more than happy to take any of you on. It is an amusing diversion,” I replied while I sipped my big drink again.

Samantha mentioned something about a business calling it the Emperor’s cup. I should sponsor it. A big cup, with a metal straw. Very sturdy as well.

“May, I have one my colleagues, who is better versed in theology speak?” he asked.

“Fine, up you stand. Next person, come sit down and introduce yourself,” I said. Oliver got up and an older woman sat down after doing a curtsey.

“Emperor Michael, I am Cassandra,” she said, and I nodded at that, waving for her to continue. “You believe in God?” she asked.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

“Only one God, the Almighty System,” I countered.

“And before that?” she asked me.

“When I was on Earth, kind of. Consider be lapsed, but well read,” I said with amusement. A big drink made this bearable.

“You named this place Purgatory. Perhaps, seeing it as a transition point. We could all be dead, and this is a waiting point for Heaven?” she asked. I was tempted to make a joke about Heaven being East, but that would be in poor taste. Or maybe it wasn’t. I was the Emperor and it was amusing, so I said it.

“Heaven is towards the East,” I said with a smile. There were muffled chuckles at that statement from the audience. I shook my head slightly when Captain Francis looked at me. “More seriously, we could be dead. But people arrive here unharmed from Earth. It appears we are teleported, not dying horrifically or naturally.”

“But you don’t deny it is the power of God?” she asked me.

“A God, not the God. An important difference. And this God’s true name is not Jehovah, but the Almighty System,” I countered. I would keep this up until my cup was empty. After that I was done with this conversation. “What are you trying to even convince me of?” I asked.

“That God is real, and we should be allowed to worship,” Cassandra said.

“Again, prove it. There is a factual basis for my religion and my God. You just need to check the store. You just need to look at the sky. You have beliefs you have clung to your whole life, but they no longer hold weight here in the Systemic Lands,” I countered.

“No upgraded airship?” she asked.

“In the future. But this is just a walk about. No need to go in guns blazing. I just need to lay eyes on the most powerful person and will have a good sense of how dangerous they are. Bring practicing my deception technique, what do you think?” I asked.

“Truthfully, poorly done. You are trying to imitate a high combat level 3, with a focus on Body. But, it is clear that you have more than you are showing,” she said.

“How?” I asked. She tapped her nose.

“Smell. One can train up other senses than sight. You are planning a visual deception, but anyone who knows about hiding one’s stats, will want to find them out. Smell training, uses fruit based smells, based on people with a lot of stat points in a single stat.” I recalled reading about this.

“You focus the Sense stat on smell and associate different stats with that sensory input,” I finished for her and she nodded.

“To truly hide your stats, you need to go all the way, like this,” she said. I blinked as I looked at Clarissa and she appeared to be a high combat level 3. Now a 2, and then a 1. “It is more impressive if you use other senses, but stats give off much more than light in terms of being able to sense them.”

“Truly the government, so far ahead,” I muttered.

“You can learn, but it honestly isn’t worth the time at your level. If anyone goes past the visual, that shows they either have a lot of knowledge, or have a lot of government support,” she replied as her energy went back to the baseline she showed when we were alone.

“Want to send someone with me?” I asked.

“Yes actually. A liaison. I will pick someone and two long term infiltrators. One of Indian descent, the other Russian,” she said. I nodded at this, since those were two big countries we hadn’t found. It was nice that America had such a diverse selection of people that arrived.

“I won’t try to start a war,” I replied.

“That is fine if you start one. But you better finish it,” she said and pointed a finger at me. “No Divine Empress type person running over here.”

“Hey, she did that, not me,” I countered.

“You pulled the tiger’s tail and were surprised when it spun to bite off your head. Don’t go doing that here. Also don’t die,” she added.

“Thanks for the last bit,” I replied sarcastically.

“Say what you will, but you are a stabilizing presence. Don’t melt too many people,” she added.

“How many is too many?” I asked.

“Shoo, I have more paperwork to figure out, now that I need to send people with you. Your departure date is day 5,015. It will give me time to sort things out and you time to relax. Don’t object, I can see you are wound up,” Clarissa said.

“A bit. I am just frustrated after the city upgrade,” I replied.

“We all are. Now I need to get work done. Plan out another assassination if you are bored,” she said. I got up and left her office. Honestly nothing fazed her anymore. She had better watch out. One day I would show up naked to get a reaction, but that was probably workplace harassment.