I walk down a small curving path within a well-maintained park on the edge of the city.

It's dimly lit, leading to a portion of housing that looks like hundreds of people live in, near one of the local markets. Like most cities, the outer edges are less crowded than the center, where massive apartment complexes, towering association-run businesses, and the main dungeon hub sit.

I keep my stealth skill fully activated, and Raven does too, walking next to me and communicating telepathically as we move into the more populated areas of town.

"Tell me more about this island... I'll be the one taking control of it soon, after all."

As we walk further into the large city, it's a little eerie how clean and orderly everything is. The housing communities are identical, and even the level of hunters asleep inside are nearly the exact same, all sectioned off to certain districts.

There is about one guard awake, slowly surveying every block for every 100 residents, and the average level of these residents increases more and more as we get to the center of the city.

They all range from level 100 up to roughly 450. Most of the B and A-rank hunters are on the finger islands.

Raven's response to my question makes everything on this island make so much more sense but disgusts me all the same.

"It's as close to slavery as you can get. Over 70,000 residents all trapped on an island kilometers above sea with the closest bit of land nearly a thousand kilometers away. They may get to live somewhat normal lives, but the Kingdom of Palmyra is one of the highest-grossing raw dungeon loot exporters in the world. I've visited a few times over the decades; they often use raw luminite and pure mana farmed from central to trigger the creation of unique dungeons. In exchange for free housing and stable pay, long hours of dungeon farming are a mandatory weekly quota for residents."

I raise an eyebrow at Raven's mention of luminite, as I've never heard anyone speak of it other than Bri in my past. It appears the fluke of an experiment I tried out in the forest bordering Vice City to accidentally create dungeons has been replicated by the Association before.

There's no reason to pry further, so I raise a different question as we approach the center of the city with the taller skyscrapers, well-lit streets, yet still no one outside other than the occasional guard.

"So what? Like an extended contract with the association? They're allowed back to the mainland with enough money to live off for the rest of their lives once their duties are paid? Or—"

While the vibes this place gives off aren't savory, I want to give it the benefit of the doubt before doing a full investigation. Allies with morals that align with my own never hurt, but Raven's reply confirms the fact floating around in my subconscious.

"More like work or die. Sure, there's many contracts in place, but the terms are always extended for the most minor infractions. A single missed farming quota, failure to secure breaks in a timely manner. The King and Queen rule this place to profit, nothing more. Residents are hunted down by the high-ranking guards if they ever try to escape before their terms are up, and those that by a miracle manage to fulfill their contracts often have accidents on the way back home..."

Raven pauses, and I shake my head while replying.

"I bet it's quite the lucrative system... but it could be done with a little bit more humanity in mind."

I roll my eyes and turn my gaze to the thumb of the island far off in the distance that houses two dense yellow wells of energy and a single red one standing guard on the estate.

"The ruthless leaders are always the ones that manage to stay in power. At least I won't have to forcefully take over a kingdom run by saints."

I smirk while looking back down the empty street we walk on toward a very concentrated area of dungeons.

There's a guard out front, and a silver sign above the facility's entrance that reads [Palmyra Dungeon Gate Entrance E-004].

I sense quite a few of the entrance gates around the city. When letting my senses seep deep into the facilities with the densest mana shielding, I find the presence of many well-guarded dungeons in very symmetrical lines.

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Some are on ground level, while others are stacked inside mana-shielded towers.

This entire island is a dungeon farming facility run by tyrants.

Raven and I both wait nearby the entrance of the gate for about half an hour until a guard from inside the facility comes out and swaps places with the guard outside the door, allowing us to slip inside unnoticed.

During the time we waited, my senses seeped deep down and around the island, trying to figure out what this massive hand we stand on is.

I'm positive it's an originator artifact, or at least somewhat connected to the throne. However, the deeper my senses reach down into the depths of the ocean below, the more of a dead end I face.

With my visual senses, it's easy for me to see the entire black statue-like hand. And even with my mana senses, I can tell where the artifact is just by perceiving the dead space where a lack of mana lands.

However, once I try to perceive down into the planet's crust below the ocean, everything melds together, and I can't tell what is lodged beneath the dirt and rocks below more than a few dozen kilometers. Especially while trying to conceal my power, it's impossible.

The only thing of value I find before we make our way into the dungeon hub here is a small reading of raw Qi deep in the ocean floor. It's growing and forming around the base of the wrist of the black-hand statue, in proportions magnitudes above any amount farmed below Valor City.

As we walk inside the facility, we keep close behind the guard swapping shift places and make it past many layers of security with ease.

Automatic doors working with video surveillance and keycards open up, and we easily make it through three layers of security before one of the rows of E-Class Dungeons comes into my line of sight behind a thick mana-imbued glass wall.

The guard that unknowingly caused a major security breach greets a fellow guard on the way by this floor, and his friend opens up the clear glass door to give us direct access to the rows of dozens of dungeons.

As they complain about their night shifts almost being over, Raven and I slip into one of the nearest dungeons.

To my surprise, when we materialize on the other side, landing on the rocky floor of a mountainous forest dungeon, I feel the presence of dozens of hunters inside. While no one is out in the streets, it seems all of these dungeons are completely filled to the brim with hunters farming them to maximize the spawn rates of every single monster.

No one in here is above level 150, so they wouldn't be able to know what they're sensing even if both of us showed our full presence. I message Raven through our link while walking toward her general direction and putting out a hand, lifting my stealth skill so I'm visible again.

"Hold on, we're getting out of here. I've gained everything I need to move this portion of the plan forward."

A hand materializes out of thin air and grabs mine, and Raven fully appears in my vision once my purple barrier comes in contact with her. I activate my dungeon walker skill and bring us to the first floor of the Apex Region's labyrinth.

Within my body doubles instantly transmitted memories; I see that the sun here has already begun to rise, and the meeting with all of the regional directors and hunters is about to begin.

"Alright, this is going to take me about an hour. You can watch if you'd like; you may find it entertaining. If not, we can meet back up afterward to move onto the next phase."

I grin while using my concealment skill and master of illusion buff to completely change my appearance from its natural state into the illusion of the Sun God that Mr. Freeman used to show everyone that approached him.

Raven's eyes widen, and she grins while replying out loud.

"I think I'll stick around. There's nothing to do back in my territory anyway. Daily training of the hunters beneath me and maintenance of the facilities will be taken care of until I return. Plus, I don't think announcing our partnership publicly will benefit either of us just yet."

"Agreed."

I nod as she disappears from my senses, and I walk forward out of the labyrinth into the 20th floor, making my way over to the elevator.

On my walk over, I send telepathic transmissions to Bri and Rodrigo to notify them that I've arrived and the meeting can begin soon.

As I board the elevator, I send out three more transmissions to my doubles.

One of them is with Bri and Rodrigo now, greeting me at the door as I arrive on the 19th floor.

With nothing but a simple nod, we swap places. I walk into the 19th floor to prepare for our meeting, and my double heads back to the labyrinth to dungeon walk back to the Kingdom of Palmyra on a very specific mission.

I want to observe the daily life of all guards, hunters, and higher-ups throughout the main island. While my double can't sense Qi or divine energy, that isn't necessary for evading people's senses and taking meticulous notes.

The other two transmissions lead to my doubles that have recently finished the swapping of mana from the labyrinths. The Apex Region's labyrinth has been brought down to 60 floors, capping out at level 3000 as requested, and the labyrinth in the Crimson City has been brought up to floor 96, capping out at roughly level 6600 monsters.

The cost for creating new floors at this level is so high that even absorbing the entire 60 floors of the labyrinth wouldn't even add a single floor to this one at 96.

I task one of the doubles to head back to the Crimson City and retrieve some of the luminite in storage. I want many new dungeons formed in the dead zones of the dark continent and also to begin filling up the new forest region to the northwest with more dungeons as well.

These new dungeons will make for great seeds of cities, preparing for new expansion and civilizations to be built in these desolate portions of the world.

I task the second double with venturing out into the artificial mountains even further west. I want to condense as much of that raw mana as I can, bringing it into its physical form, and try to bring my labyrinth up to level 100.

If I do this favor, maybe the demon that runs it will have some insight on the recent world events that have me questioning how this impending war will carry out.