Daz was surprised that he and 1st Lieutenant Chau hadn't gone to Captain Wang's room but had instead gone to the tower's top floor.

"Why're we here?" Daz asked.

"Ah, well, it's in our custom to have a room dedicated to welcoming our grand leader. It's an ordinary thing in all our government-owned buildings. Even some non-government owned companies do the same on the off chance the general secretary visits," the lieutenant explained.

"I see," Daz answered with a nod.

"Now, Your Majesty, there are certain customs that must be followed when meeting with the gener-"

Daz raised a palm to stop the man from talking. "I am a king, not someone looking to impress your leader. So long as he treats me with respect I shall do the same. What more could possibly be needed than that? I am not a fan of unneeded traditions and pointless flattery."

"I-I see," 1st Lieutenant Chau said with a strained expression on his face. 'Dealing with a powerful foreigner isn't in my list of specialisations. I can't rightly stop him with force, now can I? I can only hope that he doesn't insult the general secretary...'

With no further reason to delay, 1st Lieutenant Chau opened the door and led Daz into the room.

The room itself was rather plain, much to Daz's surprise.

Sure, it had a little bit of Eastern flair with its dynasty-red walls - all of which were sporting images of Chinese Dragons and long traditional bridges - but the furniture itself seemed ordinary and modern enough.

The only living person in the room waiting to meet them was Captain Wang.

"I don't see Mu's father here," Daz pointed out.

Captain Wang stepped in for his subordinate and pointed at a disk that had been laid out in the centre of the room. "He will be using a holograph to speak with you."

"Ah. Alien technology. It's like a more advanced version of face-timing, isn't it? I see," Daz noted as he reached into his industrial Item Box and pulled out something he'd created one night on a whim - a throne made out of a grey crystal that was spotting with black and white.

Quite often after his Ore Collection skill had been upgraded to the Sentient Ore Collection, he would find random gems, crystals and metals in that skill's unique space gathered from his travels.

The space seemed to be limitless in size. Either that or just needlessly large considering how much stuff was in there.

Daz had fortuitously discovered several large deposits of a crystal called silver leaf jasper near El Dorado a while ago and he felt that it would make for a nice throne given its colouration.

Sadly, it had no benefits and his workmanship was still rough, giving the chair a more intimidating look than one of royal splendour as he had intended.

"... Is that a throne?" Captain Wang asked, disbelieve spread across his face.

Daz effortlessly placed himself in it and rested an elbow on an armrest as he supported his chin. "Am I a king?"

'Well, yes, but this isn't exactly your kingdom, now is it?' Captain Wang felt his annoyance rising but he'd been trained to not respond like a buffoon in all situations. "Yes, you are. How silly of me. Honoured General Secretary Bei will be connecting to the holographic communicator in a moment. It is in our custom to bow to those we respect deeply upon greeting them. This bow is done by making a fist with our right hand and then holding it in the palm of our left one at stomach level. The deepness of the bow represents the level of respect."

"Show me," Daz requested softly.

"Of course," Captain Wang happily did so. He perfectly bowed then asked, "Simple, isn't it?"

"Hmm... Is a bow of only a 15-degree-angle really respectful?" Daz asked as he tapped his cheek in thought.

'Fuck. I did it on instinct. I didn't even think of faking my bow to flatter him... For his age, he's surprisingly shrewd,' Captain Wang thought as he tried to come up with some sort of excuse.

Sadly, he wasn't afforded the time to do so as the holographic communicator flickered to life.

A man in what seemed to be his 60s appeared stood overtop the device. He was wearing an elegant black suit accompanied by a simple white shirt and a red tie.

'So this is Bei Jiang, Mu's father?' Daz looked over the man with interest. 'He's older than I had expected but he looks in shape despite that. I can certainly see some of Mu in him but the likeness isn't great. I guess he took after his mother.'

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

General Secretary Bei, the president and sole-ruler of China smiled and performed a traditional Chinese bow, angling his body at a 90-degree angle. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, King Daz."

Daz nodded as he remained seated on his crystal throne. "Likewise. Forgive me for not getting up and bowing but that is your culture's tradition, not mine."

"Haha, I do not mind," General Secretary Bei chuckled before he clasped his hands behind his back. 'What a disrespectful youth. As expected of the scion of an esper house, I suppose. His arrogance would certainly explain why the unfilial brat has taken refuge under him, at the very least.'

"Now, I'm sure you already know but I am not one for meaningless chatter. I assume you wish to talk to me regarding two matters today; one, about my declaration to Captain Wang here yesterday, and two, about Shen Mu - or as he used to go by, Bei Fan," Daz said stoically.

'He's trying to lead the conversation,' General Secretary Bei thought in annoyance. 'He is very similar to that father of his, I see.'

His holographic projection smiled warmly before he said, "Why the hurry? I thought we could sit and talk, get to know each other better as fellow leaders in this changed world."

Daz narrowed his eyes as he stared at the old man. "You're standing and we are talking. If you meant useless chit-chat, please, spare me. This isn't the old world where useless politics matter. I have the power to destroy a city in under a minute. I could survive several nuclear blasts if given a moment to prepare. I can go from one side of the planet to the other in less than a moment via teleportation. Cut the shit. Will you leave Taiwan or not? What do you want with your son?"

'... He's right. The disrespectful cur is right. What use is there for old-world political speak when force is such an effective method?' General Secretary Bei asked himself cynically. "Very well."

He straightened his back and wore a powerful gaze as he looked at Daz. "China will not be leaving what is ours. It is you, King Daz, that is encroaching on our territory. My men have been incredibly kind in allowing your presence in Yilan City to go unchallenged, would you not agree?"

Daz cocked his head to one side in amusement as he lay there on his self-made throne. "Do you really want to go down this route? Perhaps I didn't make clear just how powerful I actually am? In truth, it's been a while since I've seriously flexed my muscles."

"Is that a threat, Mr Hamilio?" General Secretary Bei asked, his tone just as chilling as Daz's.

"Need it be?" Daz asked back, still as relaxed as ever. "And I don't have a surname. I thought you would know that given your position."

The reaper sighed then asked, "Why is your presence required here? Taiwan is such a small island in the grand scheme of things... I would imagine that China, as big and full of oppressed people as it is, would be struggling to maintain total supremacy. Why then, would you risk killing yourself upon my blade for little old Taiwan?"

"Because it is ours. It has always been ours. Why must I justify not allowing you to take what does not belong to you?" General Secretary Bei challenged. 'He may be strong but he cannot match the combined might of my glorious army. No matter what, he can't be allowed to find the gate. The locals and those damned Indians are bad enough, I don't need a crazy esper manchild interfering as well.'

Daz slowly smiled. "One, that was a lie, two, I notice that you didn't deny that you'd be risking killing yourself when I said so. How interesting."

'This little...' General Secretary Bei's temper was rising.

He was never known for being very mature on a political level and that was started to show right now.

In the past, he controlled the media and basically every large company to never say a bad word about him or risk being shut down and even arrested.

Protests? Shut down. Online criticism? Heavily monitored and banned. Riots defaming his glorious name? Military suppression.

Sure, everywhere that wasn't China saw him as the dictator that he was and he knew it. Oh God did he know it, but so what? He was the supreme ruler of over a billion people! He was a god to them!

'And now... And now some ingrate esper is daring to threaten me? Me? Someone so powerful that even international companies bow in my wake in fear of displeasing me?! System or not, this child is too arrogant!' General Secretary Bei truly was locked in his ways of old.

"King Daz, you must be mis-"

"Ah ah ah!" Daz stopped the president of China from speaking as he held up a pointed finger. "Before we go declaring war or anything, you want to talk about your son, right? Let's do that first then circle back. I'm in no hurry."

'To so casually mention going to war... Does he even understand the implications?' General Secretary Bei asked himself. 'He's right though. I was being... rash. I really can't afford to continue being like this. Not a single person under me has the qualifications from the system to use nuclear weapons...'

He narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the seated Daz. 'He doesn't know that nor will I let him but from what I know he isn't the type to get scared from idle threats. If he truly can detect lies then all the worse... He had to be a Hamilio as well, didn't he?'

"Right you are. I apologise for losing myself there. All of these changes to the world have been stressful for an old grandpa like me. Needless to say, stabilising the empire has been challenging. My son, Fan'er... How is he?" General Secretary Bei asked with apparent sincerity but Daz could see the lack of actual care for his son's wellbeing in his eyes.

"Empire? I suppose that makes sense. So it's Emperor Bei then, not President Bei?" Daz asked with a faint chuckle.

"General Secretary Bei is fine but as you are a friend of dear Fan'er then I wouldn't be opposed to you calling me uncle, haha," the man replied as he closed his eyes and laughed.

"Okay, Uncle." The general secretary was a bit taken aback by Daz's willingness to so easy call him 'uncle' like that, in truth. "You want to know how he's doing, right? Give me a second to collect my thoughts, if you wouldn't mind. There is a lot to discuss regarding 'Fan'er'."

"Of course," the holographic projection answered. 'What's he up to? He was all pointed swords a moment ago but now he chooses to be amiable? Suspicious...'

Daz tapped his chin softly as he thought, 'It's pretty safe to say that this asshole's an enemy, right? I know Mu wants to make up with him and that is his business, but for right now, yeah, I don't see any reason to not do a little bit of snooping. Crystal Digger's Master Identification. Secret Override. System, also show me his crime list, please.'