Spreading a rumor doesn't need war.

It needs a story.

If a story is compelling and interesting enough, it will spread naturally.

Alex III already thought of a story.

In history, many of the stories that spread far and wide are from people who committed acts of horror beyond imagination.

Some become famous for doing good, but that is harder and will take more work and a longer time.

Simply put, it's far easier to be hated and feared than loved and revered.

Alex III, of course, chose the evil method.

He ordered an army to be formed.

After three months of preparation, an army of 120,000 gathered.

Then ...

Invasion!

He ordered the invasion of the West Forest country.

Months before, he had already sent people to spread a rumor: "Alex III can become immortal by drinking human blood."

Alex III already had a reputation in the surrounding countries, so the news spread fast. Still, it was just a rumor, so even though people talked about it, they didn't care much.

That was, of course, until the incident in West Forest City, the capital of the West Forest country.

After Alex kingdom's army took over the city, they captured everyone, killed thousands, and collected their blood.

Tens of thousands who were allowed to flee witnessed it.

They even brought a fake Alex III to drink the blood in front of everyone.

Alex kingdom's army cleared the way and ensured the population in other countries would know what happened.

The surrounding counties became alarmed, and everyone started discussing it with fear and worry.

The world has over 100 counties, some of which are only a bit weaker than Alex kingdom.

Many of them fell completely after the dream switch incident, but some managed to hold on until the void-chasing problem got better.

The chaos closed many ways and caused great problems for trade and the dissemination of information.

So, just this one act was not enough to spread it worldwide.

At most, some surrounding countries would know.

So, Alex kingdom invited dignitaries from all countries they had contact with.

They set the date in three years to discuss how to solve problems caused by the dream switch; of course, that was an excuse.

The real reason was to display Alex's habit of drinking blood.

They set it for late because many are far away and busy with their affairs. If it was set sooner, many would be unable to come.

Alex III continued and killed thousands, made hundreds of thousands watch, and spread the rumor.

He wasn't afraid of any other country.

At the moment, everyone is busy healing their wounds from that incident; nobody can think of an attack.

Even if they do, all neighboring countries combined aren't as strong as Alex kingdom.

Some powerful countries that can threaten the Alex kingdom are far away.

There is one complication, however.

The rumor would make Alex III immortal 'only if he drank human blood.' Fundamentally, a vampire.

He was aware of this but chose this anyway for one main reason.

Legends about vampires, immortal undead creatures who drink human blood, already exist all over the world.

There is already fuel, and he is just igniting it.

He wants to be known as the king of the Alex kingdom, who is a vampire. If everyone believed it, he would become a vampire, not genuinely immortal.

Vampires have unlimited lifespans, but only as long as they drink blood; Alex has no problem with drinking human blood but is uncomfortable with needing it for survival.

Vampires also have weaknesses, like sunlight.

However, becoming a vampire is the best option for the moment.

It's because this world and the other world, Five Star, must believe in the same thing.

For some reason, legends of vampire creatures are prevalent in both the Alex kingdom world and the Five Star world. The rumor is already there, and Alex only makes them believe he is one of the vampires.

If he had tried to create a new legend from scratch of another immortal creature that people are unfamiliar with, it would have taken much longer and had a lower success rate.

After looking at the future using the dream millions of times, he already knows which way has a higher chance of success.

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After he becomes a vampire, he would gain an unlimited lifespan and then try to eliminate the need for blood and the weaknesses of vampires.

When he spreads the rumor, he must be careful to keep it focused on himself; after all, he doesn't want people to believe that vampires are common.

The rumor also spread in the Five Star.

Because many people on both sides of the two worlds were linked, when the rumor spread on one side, it spread on the other.

But the effect was weaker.

Many people on the Five Star side were modern people who barely believed in anything.

Even after the Dream Switch incident, they mostly remained skeptical of everything supernatural.

The more advanced societies get, the harder it becomes for belief in the supernatural to remain relevant.

Some still continue to believe it, but most won't bother thinking about it.

Fortunately, Alex III has a pawn on that side: Rob.

This young man was quite naive at the beginning, but after Alex's 'teaching,' he got more and more ruthless.

He was initially uncomfortable with Alex's actions, but gradually, he started not to care.

Alex himself was a bit surprised at how much he changed.

...

Rob is reading a report from the deputy minister of the interior in a dimly lit room; it is a report about the new elections in just a month.

"Hmm!" Rob touched his face and sighed.

The report was about polling.

The polls show that his party, Alex party, was getting 3.1 percent of the vote.

Only 3.1%!

It would translate into 15 seats in the 500-member parliament.

With that low representation, he would have trouble maintaining his current influence, let alone gaining more.

"I guess there are disadvantages to pretending to be a vampire!" Rob sighed.

Alex's party had been getting 10-15% of the vote a while ago, but as the rumors of Alex III being a vampire spread, he turned many people off.

"Democracy is a pain!" Rob became frustrated.

As long as the system is dependent on elections, he would have trouble increasing his power, especially with his association with Alex III, who is committing new, creative, horrifying atrocities every day.

Essentially, only psychos would vote for him.

"Is there only 3% who are psycho?" Rob was surprised.

After the Dream Switch incident, he expected more mass murderers, sexual assaulters, and, in general, crazy people who would overlook Alex III's evilness to exist.

"Maybe their turnout is low! We should make voting mandatory!" he thought.

The polls show Alex's party would do better with higher turnout.

"Ah, Alex III, you have to help more!" he said loudly, ensuring Alex III would hear it after the switch.

As things are, he would lose much of his influence after forming the new parliament.

Many of his powers are temporary, so they would go away after a proper parliament is in place. Also, the new parliament can pass laws that weaken him.

Until now, he kept his power because of his influence in the Supreme Court, but the parliament can overrule the rulings of the Supreme Court with a 2/3 vote.

Both the government and opposition, as well as the autonomous territories, are opposed to Alex kingdom having more power, so they would vote to overrule supreme court rulings in his favor.

At least, he must prevent them from gaining a supermajority of 2/3 to maintain his power.

But, with 3.1%, that is far from possible.

"Alex, let's get rid of the election! Use your influence and install me as prime minister. I can help you spread the rumors!" he told Alex.

Cheating in the election would have been a better option, but it's difficult with so many autonomous regions, all eyes watching, and all the polls.

If he suddenly wins 30%, when polls show him winning 3.1%, even those normies would know something shady is going on.

"I should have taken over the polling agencies!" he regretted.

If he disallowed independent polling, he could have released polls from the Ministry of Interior showing his party at 30%.

Then, after the election, nobody would have been surprised.

"Alex III, I can't help you if they weaken me!" he pleaded again. ...

Alex III stroked his beard.

After a while, he nodded. "We will help you!" he switched to his kingly talking mode.

"Elections, in general, are dumb! How can ordinary people know what is best for them? Those idiotic poor people wouldn't have been poor in the first place if they had good judgment. Here, in Alex kingdom, we don't give a damn about people's thinking!"

Then, he ordered his minions to start torturing bosses of the gangs and autonomous regions' leaders and only stop if they promised only to follow the Minister of Interior, Rob's orders.

Until this day, they haven't managed to find a doppelganger of the prime minister.

But they have the president's doppelganger, Sebastian IV.

Sebastian IV is the most loyal servant to Alex III; he is 'almost' a friend.

But only 'almost'!

He ordered his soldiers to arrest Sebastian IV, too, and start torturing him, and only stop if the president agreed to the conditions.

Alex III felt no even slight sadness about torturing his most loyal servant for no fault of his own. In the first place, if he is the 'most loyal' servant, he should have no problem with being tortured for the sake of Alex III.

Even an 'almost a friend' could be sacrificed if the benefits are strong enough. There is nothing in the world Alex III would not give up on if it brings enough benefits.

Most gang leaders, governors, mayors, and leaders of autonomous regions gave in.

The president, though, didn't give in.

After a day of torture, he resigned from his position.

This way, he wouldn't have to betray his country and also remove the incentive for them to continue torturing him.

But Alex III was very unsatisfied with it.

The vice president, who became the new president, had no doppelganger on Alex's side. Her doppelganger died long ago.

Alex kingdom no longer has any leverage over the president, the military's commander-in-chief.

So, he ordered his subordinates to continue torturing Sebastian IV indefinitely without killing him.

It was solely to set an example.

The president thought he could get away with resigning; Alex wants to make it clear that quitting is not a way out.

The subordinates complied, but in their hearts, they were frightened. If Alex III is this cruel to his 'almost' friend, what would he do to them?

Some started to believe rumors of Alex III drinking human blood, even though many of them personally knew all of that was an act.

Feeling the frightened eyes of many of his servants, Alex III sensed danger.

The most terrifying thing is if his servants betray him.

So, he framed Sebastian IV, making it look like he betrayed Alex kingdom in the West Forest war.

"He betrayed us, and that is why we are torturing him! See him as an example of what we would do with traitors, even if they are 'almost' friends of ours," he said.

He ordered a room with transparent windows built.

They would torture Sebastian IV in that room so all could witness.

It would seem suspicious if he tried to hide it, but if he encouraged all to see it, many would believe that Sebastian did something terribly wrong.

...

Rob received many letters of support from the autonomous regions.

Because the local leaders appoint the military generals in autonomous regions, the president being the commander in chief is not worth the paper it is written on.

When the sh!t hits the fan, they will take the side of the one who appointed them, not the theoretical commander in chief.

With autonomous regions supporting him, Rob can count on the support of half of the military.

But only half! Nowhere near enough for an overwhelming victory.

The central government has gotten smart recently; they put people whose doppelgangers died in all leadership and crucial positions. So, Alex III was unable to help with them.

"A war is inevitable," thought Rob.

The central government would not sit around and watch them stifle the election.

That's right! The plan is to stuff the ballot boxes with Alex party votes, ensuring the Alex party gets 50% of the vote.

But it would be obvious they cheated.

In that case, the current prime minister would not clear the way for the new Alex party MPs to enter the parliament. It would eventually escalate into a civil war.

There is just no way around it.

"Damn! Those idiots will cause a lot of needless slaughter," he sighed at their stupidity.

If they just surrendered and let him take over the parliament and become the prime minister, then there would have been no war.

Rob might have let them live peacefully or at least released them from prison after a few short years.

But now, it's all moving to a war that can cause the deaths of tens of thousands.