Imri tapped his finger on the table while he waited for everyone to arrive. It had been several days since Sylvi had destroyed the Node. He had spent most of that time meditating or personally dealing with larger groups of Azala. None had posed any challenge for him; with their Node destroyed, they were uncoordinated and slow to react. However, he could only do so much, especially while he refrained from using Manifest Domain.
It didn’t take long before the conference room reached capacity. Most of the new faces were civil representatives from New Chicago, who glared at the former barons who had ruled over them. There were some not-so-subtle murmurs of people suggesting varying degrees of vigilante justice. The three remaining barons consisted of Horn, Dotson, and Coleman. Each of them sat uncomfortable, doing their best to ignore the hate directed towards them. Barons Burke and Pearson were unaccounted for and presumed dead.
The last two to arrive were Christoph and Russ. Both looked disheveled and exhausted, like they had just returned from an excursion through the city. Despite this, Christoph had his typical broad smile.
“We have a lot to discuss in a short amount of time,” Laura said, cutting the side conversations.
“Why are they even here? Shouldn’t they be in prison or something like that?” one of the citizens said, pointing at Baronesse Dotson.
“We won’t be lynching anyone just because of how things turned out in the last few days. If anyone has specific charges against these three, with proof, we can discuss that later. For now, there are more essential items to discuss,” Laura said.
There were some murmurings of discontent, but Imri quickly silenced them with a glare.
Laura started the meeting, speaking with the practiced ease of someone used to public speaking, “The first item on the agenda is immigration. Given the current state of New Chicago, we can safely assume that people will want to immigrate to Celestia. While Celestia is open to this, our infrastructure can only support so many people. In addition, we can only keep a doorway-sized portal open for a limited time. That leaves us with an important question: how will we decide who can go?”
“A lottery system,” someone suggested.
Laura quickly shot that down. “That would be the most fair way. Unfortunately, the situation is too dire for fairness to be the main criterion. We need people where they can be the most effective. Anything less could be disastrous.”
“It also shouldn’t be for anyone looking for a safe refuge. While it might seem unsafe here, it will be safer than Celestia, which could become a warzone soon,” Imri explained.
He wanted people going to Celestia for the right reasons, but he didn’t think New Chicago would survive if Celestia fell. Laura nodded, though a slight crack in her facade appeared. They had discussed this, and she had wanted to paint an idyllic picture, giving the downtrodden hope. Imri’s method would complicate things, but he wouldn’t manipulate people into war.
“I’ve given a list of classes and professions that are the highest priority. People will be decided based on their relevant abilities and levels for the first few waves. We can develop a more nuanced system when time permits,” Laura concluded.
“The next item is the outstanding Nexuses,” Emery intoned, keeping the conference from derailing into arguments.
“I have good news on that front,” Christoph said with a predatory grin. “We have secured all four of the previously unaccounted-for Nexuses. I’m willing to sell them to the highest bidder.”
Imri had to restrain himself from verbally assaulting the man. He needed five barons on the same page to create a county. The representatives from New Chicago also didn’t look pleased, as they had already been squeezed out of making any significant credits by the previous regime. If it became an auction, all Nexuses would be owned by people from Celestia or their previous owners.
“That hardly seems like an effective method for deciding who rules. We just survived the first regime of hoarders, and you're just going to replace it with another,” someone pointed out.
“Nothing states that the nobles have to be government officials. Sure, they benefit from proper governance and a well-run economy, but nothing forces them to be the ones doing that directly. Just look at Imri; he appointed people to run Celestia and simply reaps the rewards,” Christoph pointed out.
“That may be a valid point, but it is too important to base it solely on who has the most money. We need the most qualified individuals to gain the benefits,” Imri countered.
“Nothing is stopping you from purchasing all four of them and distributing them as you see fit,” Christoph said.
For a brief moment, Imri considered taking the Nexuses by force. He doubted anyone would stop him. Fortunately, he took a deep breath and used meditation to help him control his emotions.
“I’ll give you 1 million credits for all of them,” Imri said.
“Come now, Imri. The price of a new Nexus is 500 thousand, and that is for a level 1 tier 1 settlement. Surely, these four are worth at least twice that, 4 million for the lot?” Christoph countered.
There were murmurs as people considered the vast sums of credits being discussed.
“No one else has that amount of money, and I won’t bid against myself. Besides, there is a reason no one has purchased a Nexus from a Nexus,” Imri pointed out.
“Still, 1 million barely covers my expenses. If I can’t find a buyer willing to pay more, it would be prudent to wait until we have a more robust economy,” Christoph threatened.
“We both know that isn’t an option. We need tier 3 settlements for the auction and stronger people for the upcoming conflict with the Azala. The highest I’ll go is 2 million, and I’ll give you and Russ minor nobility titles,” Imri countered.
Christoph considered it, seemingly genuinely disappointed that he couldn’t extract more. He looked like he was about to push for more, but when he saw Imri’s expression, he reconsidered. “Those are acceptable terms,” he said.
There was a quick exchange of digital-like currency and items, and the transaction was done. He was immediately disappointed in the lords of New Chicago anew when he saw the Nexuses. None of them had even reached level 10, with all of them being between levels 7 to 9. Notifications informed Imri that they had lost 20% of their experience from being captured, but this didn’t account for more than a level. Still in a somewhat foul mood, Imri considered ways to recoup his capital. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see an easy way without creating an undue burden on whoever was appointed to run the settlements.
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“Next item was the crimes committed by the previous barons,” Emery read, causing the three remaining Barons to shift uncomfortably. Though, to their credit, none of them shied away from the angry mob.
“As I said, there will not be any mob justice,” Laura said, trying to cut off the most incensed individuals.
“We need to resolve this quickly. Whatever their faults, they were the most exceptional among you to become progenitors, and we will need exceptional people to survive what is coming. So, I propose we levy a monetary fine and put this behind us,” Imri suggested, surprising himself by coming to their aid. He doubted he would have extended the same offer to Burke and Pearson. This also gave him a convenient way to recoup some of his credits.
The suggestion was immediately met with loud opposition, but Imri didn’t care. The three remaining barons weren’t happy about it either, but they quickly came around when they heard some of the other proposed punishments people sought.
Eventually, the discussion shifted from what to do, to how much to fine them. Laura had Russ begin drafting a contract that would finalize the arrangement. The barons weren’t paupers, but Imri was disappointed to see their accumulated wealth paled in comparison to his own. They settled on 1 million credits each, a significant portion of their net worth. Half of the credits would go towards reimbursing Imri, while the other half would provide an operating budget for the new government. The barons were stripped of any claim over their former Nexuses, including Coleman, who was forced to surrender his title. In exchange, they were pardoned for crimes related to negligence, extorsion, or mismanagement of funds. They could still be held accountable if anything more serious came to light.
The punishment proved more straightforward to handle than the reallocation of the titles. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be put off, as Imri wanted to place the Nexuses and form a county as soon as possible. He immediately set aside two baronies, one for Sylvi and one for Emelia. However, after that, it became more complicated. Imri couldn’t give all the titles to competent people from Celestia, or they could be seen as another dictatorial force extorting the people. So, the remaining three baronies had to go to the most deserving people from New Chicago. The first choice was easy, going to General McCarthy at Colonel Harper’s suggestion. Imri considered reinstating Coleman and probably would if it weren’t for the significant backlash that would come from suggesting it.
After a lengthy discussion that spilled over into the afternoon, they had come to a decision. The fourth baron was the presumptive new leader of New Chicago, a civil activist and politician who had been on the city council before the integration. The final slot was taken by an energetic young scientist who was researching and developing theories about the system. There was immediate consensus that the minor nobility titles would be decided at a later date, or they would have been discussing it into the morning.
Russ was busy drawing up contracts to transfer the titles, which included a provision that they would agree to the formation of a county. It also included a clause that required the store function of the Nexus to be available to anyone. Russ also included several lengthy subsections related to the proper use of funds and permissible tax rates. Nothing was overly restrictive, but it would prevent the new barons from going down the same path as the previous.
Imri didn’t waste any time, immediately redeploying the Nexuses to their former locations. As they came online, he reviewed the arrays that had been purchased. A theme was immediately apparent: all five previous barons had selected the Security and Passive Income Arrays. Imri sighed, having considered those two underwhelming when he had chosen arrays for Celestia. The passive income arrays only gave a few thousand credits per day, and was easily outscaled by other methods of generating income. The security was helpful during invasions, but as recent events had shown, it couldn’t turn a battle by itself. Almost more concerning, the arrays had barely been upgraded. With the cost of upgrades resetting back to the lowest after each rank-up, this was a massive waste of resources. Especially considering that the upgrades compounded on themselves.
The final array choice was a bit more varied. The two missing barons had selected Physical Improvement, which allows physical training to improve stats at a slightly higher rate. He assigned those nexuses to Sylvi and General McCarthy. Leslie had selected an Information Gathering Array, which allowed her to buy and sell information packets. Coleman had selected Manufacturing, enabling the creation of better mechanical items. Finally, Dotson selected Bliss, enabling her to buy and sell luxury goods.
Imri was tempted to destroy the existing array configurations but resisted. He didn’t have the time or credits to micromanage multiple settlements, and he would need to trust the decision-makers at each individual settlement.
The rank-up quest for the settlements while in tier 3 caught his attention.
New Quest Settlement Rank Up (3F to 3E): Have a citizen count of 250,000, citizens have an average level of 10, build 25,000 buildings, and buildings have an average quality of at least 10.
Imri sighed, seeing why the settlements had stagnated at the first rank of tier 3. They easily had the population and could have built the prerequisite buildings easily enough. However, the building and citizen-level requirements were nowhere near being met. He was immediately thankful that he hadn’t rushed the buildings in Celestia.
With all five new barons assigned to a nexus of their choosing, Imri sent out the request to form a county. Creating a title of that level required him to pay another 500,000 credits, which he accepted. Within seconds, all five barons had agreed, and the county of New Chicago was formed.
New Title Count of New Chicago 53: increases primary stats by .1%/rank (5.3%)
Quest Completed Control New Chicago: Claim the New Chicago area and form a county under your control before the auction. County formed 1/1. Rewards: 1,000,000 credits, Uniter 5 title, experience
New Achievement Uniter 5: You have united the barons of New Chicago under your rule. .05% primary stats/rank (.25%)
Imri Padar has reached level 46 (+1) in Celestial Mage (2E) Imri Padar has reached level 46 (+1) in Manifestation of Gaia (2F) Primary Stats Strength 165 (+9) Agility 135 (+7) Constitution 162 (+9) Intelligence 318 (+19) Willpower 256 (+15) Charisma 138 (+8) Secondary Stats HP 390 (+9) FP 288 (+5) MP 1941 (+94) Mana Efficiency 1490 (+71) Crafting Efficiency 1950 (+93)
Imri felt an incredible surge of power that nearly threatened to overwhelm him. The title rank was equivalent to the sum of all the baronies that made up the county. The gains weren’t entirely on par with his tier-ups, but it was close. However, it came at a cost. The benefits his vassals received from their titles were reduced by 20%. Still, it always worked out to be beneficial to create the highest tier title possible. He just needed to use this power to defend his people.