Daz stepped through a previously-inactive teleportation gate in Waterford's Teleportation Station which was now linked to Las Vegas. He was pushing Rose's wheelchair while Mr Barrier sat on the girl's head and a very nervous and upset Jim was following behind the two of them.
"Ah, welcome back, King Daz," one of the Archons that ran the building said in greeting.
"Thanks," Daz answered the human-looking being bluntly and without emotion then promptly left the building. Naturally, the Archon kept a smile on his face as he returned to his duties.
"Smoke?" Daz asked softly.
Rose nodded. "From the report I'm now getting, a third of the outer wall of Fort Skip has been destroyed by a massive explosion of some sort. It seems like Sandy was able to warn everyone in time though, so no one died, though about 50 people are in critical condition, Sandy included. In fact, if he hadn't somehow figured out what was going on, the numbers I'm getting here suggest that upwards of 214 people could have died. It's amazing people even believed him, to be honest. He has a lot of trust put in him."
"Thank God for Sandy then," Daz said through his anger. "The man's a hero."
"Hah. The system seems to agree, anyway, we should talk and move at the same time. Alpha and Beta are there at the scene, but we don't have any fire-prevention services yet and no one really has any skills suited towards water or ice or, like, removing oxygen, so you might wanna buy something before the fire spreads," Rose suggested.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jim muttered under his breath as he tried his best to not earn the ire of the clearly angered Daz. If his trembling arms and twisted expression weren't tell-tale signs of a very pissed off man, then Jim clearly didn't understand people as much as he thought he did.
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As the three of them and Mr Barrier raced through Waterford to Fort Skip, Rose explained that a massive troupe of suicide bomber robots had suddenly appeared right outside of the outer walls. They numbered 100 strong but apparently there was supposed to be four times that amount.
Sandy had found the hidden teleportation formation that had been drawn into the grass just outside of outer walls. It had been made with invisible paint and Sandy had chanced upon it when he saw an unfamiliar man acting suspiciously in the area with a paintbrush.
Working off a hunch and thanks to his pre-warning from the system that an attack was coming, he knocked the man out with his renowned builder strength. Just as the suspicious individual was losing consciousness, he activated the incomplete teleportation formation.
Sandy, using some of his farming skills from his hoe-related class, Novice Farmer, was able to alter the terrain in a split-second, but even then, all 100 of the robots exploded, each with the force of a powerful missile.
The barrier from the Base Shield Generator that was a part of the Lightning Defensive Tower had absorbed roughly 35% of the damage while the Walls of Retylon had endured another 60%.
In fact, most of the injuries suffered by the affected civilians were from shards of the walls hitting them after the massive collective explosion had shattered them. Sandy and the suspicious man were the only people to suffer life-threateningly serious damage, and even now, both of them were at death's doorstep.
The other wounded civilians, while in critical condition, had no immediate concerns about passing away, thankfully.
"Who did this, Rose?" Daz asked as they were nearing the explosion-site.
"Timothy Marglow, if you want a name, though I guess you could blame the system if you look at it broadly," Rose answered as she used the back of her hand to wipe at her forehead. The heat from the smoke and flames was making her sweat.
Jim Tucker's face took on a strange look. "The governor of California?"
"The one and only," Rose answered with a lacklustre tone.
Daz frowned. 'The governor of California? Is this what the system meant by 'focus on California' with that hint? But Rose said I should blame the system... I guess this 'Timothy' person's semester goal relates to defeating me or something? Still, why didn't I get a notification about him attacking me? He can't be an emperor, can he? If he isn't an emperor then he needs to pay a lot of merit points and follow strict rules to attack a fellow king, right?'
Due to the host discovering the attack on their territory, the delayed announcement of formal war shall now be displayed to the host.
'Of course. I wonder how much it cost him to delay something like that? He really didn't want me to be here when he attacked, did he? Still, no one's dead yet, so what was his goal? To intimidate me? Was he actually trying to kill a good portion of my people with his robots but we got lucky with Sandy's discovery?' Whatever the answers to those questions were, Daz would find out eventually, no doubt, but for now, his vision was filled with a new system message.
Declaration of War! Governor Marglow, ruler of Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, Kern County, and San Diego County, has formally entered a war with you, King Daz, ruler of Waterford City, Gem Kingdom City, Atlantis City, and the city of Las Vegas. Conditions for Governor Marglow's Victory King Daz is either killed or willingly surrenders. King Daz willingly enters an alliance with Governor Marglow where King Daz is the lesser party. Rewards for Governor Marglow's Victory All land owned by King Daz in the State of California will be ceded to Governor Marglow. A system-bound promise from King Daz (should he still be alive) to never attempt to gain territories in the State of California ever again. Conditions for King Daz's Victory Governor Marglow is killed. Rewards for King Daz's Victory Everything that Governor Marglow owns (including his soul as King Daz is a race of reaper).
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
It seemed like the rewards were heavily skewed in favour of Daz, however, this was actually perfectly normal since he was the defending party in this war. Also, no doubt, Governor Marglow's meddling with important information and the announcement delay had more than likely added to the lopsidedness of the rewards.
As the host is at war, you may demand aid from your allied partner, Queen Emma Cromwell.
Demand aid? Y/N
As the host is at war, you may request aid from your allied partner, Emperor Nishikawa Shinichi.
Request aid? Y/N
As the host is at war, you may request aid from your allied partner, Hsiao-han.
Request aid? Y/N
'No to all three. I can handle this on my own.' Daz wasn't best pleased with the system right now and it showed in his tone. The omnipotent... thing stopped there. It had informed Daz of everything that it needed to so its job was done as far as it was concerned.
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Service Upgrade [Average] Water Mage Firestation Description Some basic public service, huh? Took you long enough. You'd think that with your home-base being in a place famous for wildfires that you'd have the intellect to invest in fire-prevention measures. Hindsight and all of that, huh? Actually, it'd be pretty rude of me to expect wise decisions from you at this point, so honestly, I'm the loser in this situation for even bringing it up. Upgrade Passively hires 40 Veteran non-mage Firefighters. Passively hires 15 Grolundian Water Mage Firefighters. Passively hires 2 Grolundian Water Archmage Firefighters. Includes a teleportation system that will allow the hired personnel to be transported to any dangerous fires in the host's territories (information about the fires will be relayed to the personnel pre-transport). The teleportation system will only work for the hired personnel and it will only allow access to dangerous fires in the host's territories. May be used as a workplace for citizens to learn how to become basic firefighters. Price 300,000(75,000) merit points. 25,000 Base Points.
Daz had willingly bought such a useful building and he had to agree with the person that wrote the 'flavour text' for once. He was a fool for not investing in such a basic piece of critical infrastructure previously.
The total merit balance of [Fort Skip] is now 24,375,000 [-75,000].
The total base balance of [Fort Skip] is now: 2,153,500 [-25,000].
'I thought it was wise to hoard these points for emergencies last week, but maybe it'd be smarter to spend both Fort Skip and Waterford's merit and base points preemptively? I kinda do with Waterford already, but I have been avoiding it as of late with Fort Skip... It'll require more forethought, but it's better to be proactive rather than reactive,' Daz decided internally as he watched the two-story building pop up out of the earth and into the outer layer of Fort Skip.
"Well, we can leave the fire to them then. I kinda want to watch the mages do their magic, but Daz, we have some pretty serious things to discuss," Rose said as she watched the fancily dressed mages - all female, funnily enough - run in formation between the 40 extremely well-built men wearing classic firefighter uniforms, though they were holding onto hoses that weren't attached to anything. Those hoses were magic items, no doubt.
"Yeah, we do," Daz replied. "Where's Sandy, by the way? I assume in Mave's clinic."
"Yeah, with Ben," Rose answered as she willed her chair to move in the direction of the central fort where Mave's clinic was located.
"The cosplayer?" following behind her with Jim at his side, Daz added, "Where's Crusher and Maddy?"
"Crusher is out forcing her band of merry little misfits to do some samaritan work recruiting isolated survivors. I sent her a message to return so she should get back here in, like, 30-mins or so assuming she rushes," Rose answered calmly.
"And Maddy?" Daz inquired.
His sister stopped moving and wore a troubled expression on her face. "Well, you have to kill him anyway to win... I guess that's why the system never bothered giving you any other victory conditions or options..."
Daz frowned. "What're you on about, Rose?"
"Madison was drugged and kidnapped. She's currently being held hostage by Governor Marglow in Los Angeles, though I'm not sure exactly where. My probes are being scattered. It'll take me longer to find out where they have her, but I promise, I'll do it quickly," Rose answered a bit hesitantly.
Daz simply kept walking as he nodded his head lightly. "I figured as much, otherwise, it would make no sense for Sandy to still be in critical condition. Unlike Crusher, Maddy is willing to help anyone in need."
Mr Barrier floated from Rose's head to Daz's and rubbed up against him in worry over its master.
Jim wanted to know who Madison was were he being honest, but he knew better than to let the cat be killed by its curiosity. He just silently kept pace with the two - in his opinion - insane siblings.
"Y-You're not mad?" Rose was beyond surprised. She was likely one of, if not, the most intelligent person on the planet, but people and how people worked still managed to trip her up at times.
"Oh, I am, I'm just not one to shout and scream like a child when I'm upset. What good'll that do?" the reaper asked stoically. "Maybe if this had happened a week or two ago when I was just regaining my emotions, sure, but now? I know that I should be concerned about the problems in front of me first, namely, Sandy and the other injured citizens."
"That's... surprisingly mature of you," Rose replied.
Daz chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly disappointed that I'm going to have to kill at least one more person today. There's no redemption for messing with my family. It's as simple as that."
"Even though he has a wife and three kids, the youngest of which is only six?" Rose asked testingly.
"He should have considered that before he foolishly chose to go to war with me and kidnap my lover," Daz coldly stated.
Rose snorted. "Fair. All of his kids weren't holding weapons anyway, so they aren't even on Earth anymore."
Daz gave her a funny look. "Then don't bring them up."
The girl shrugged. "I just wanted some reassurance that under all of your newfound care for Earth's citizens, you're still cold and calculative like Da-. Uh... I didn't mean th-"
"No, you're right. I am like him, but better," Daz answered confidently.
'What? He isn't denying it anymore?' Today was a day just full of surprises for Rose. 'He's really changed this past month... I think I like him more like this... It's great that he can admit that he's like Dad... Maybe one day he'll forgive him...'
Rose's hopes and goals for the future of their wider family were clearly very different from the young reaper's.
Meanwhile, Jim Tucker was screaming on the inside. 'Lunatics! They're both lunatics!'