"All is well?" the Yaoguai asked as it noticed Daz's return from the tower.
Shrugging, the reaper answered, "As well as it could be considering I chose not to lie or try to manipulate the emperor of China."
"China, what is that? I am also unfamiliar with the term 'emperor," the Yaoguai admitted as it allowed Daz to get on its head once more.
"China's a country- well, actually, an empire now, I suppose. An easier way to look at is that it's a large landmass a bit north of here," Daz explained. "An emperor is just the ruler of over 1,000,000 people according to the system."
"I see. And you are not an emperor but a lower class of ruler, correct?" the Yaoguai questioned.
Daz nodded. "That is correct. I am a king. I have a little over 400,000 citizens in total. I will be promoted to a high king when that number reaches 500,000, though it does not matter."
"It doesn't?" the demonic bear asked as it began to walk away from the Chinese encampment.
Daz shook his head. "No. They are all just stepping stones on my path to becoming Earth's sole Sovereign."
"I see. Shall I take us back to Yilan City or have you other plans?" the Yaoguai asked.
"No. There is plenty of daylight left. I see no reason to not try to meet the Indians who have also set up camp here. Head in that direct-" An internal alarm issued by his Survivor's Instincts stopped Daz's next few words from leaving his mouth.
"King Daz?" the Yaoguai called in confusion. Usually, the child of the system sat upon him was extremely confident with his words whenever he spoke, so for him to so abruptly stop concerned the beast.
"... Bring us back to Yilan City," Daz said as his brow furrowed in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
"Why?" Naturally, the Yaoguai's interest was piqued by its ruler's sudden change of heart.
"My instincts told me that going there with just you and I would be dangerous. My instincts are never wrong when it comes to my safety," Daz explained.
"I see. Can all those of your kind do the same? I am unfamiliar with your system-given species' capabilities," the Yaoguai asked as he ran through the countryside of Taiwan back towards Yilan City.
Daz shook his head. "No. This is a thing that, to my knowledge, only 3 people can do. Myself, my father, and my grandfather."
"A hereditary ability then. Very interesting," the Yaoguai commented.
Daz saw no point in speaking beyond that so he instead closed his eyes and began thinking of what he should do now that he was aware of the fact that visiting the Indian force on the western shore of Taiwan may prove to lead to a fatal encounter.
'I wasn't expecting this upon coming to this place... To think that something here can actually put my life at risk... It should just be a branch of an army of one of India's 8 kings... Can one such branch really threaten my life? How? Can they sever the link to the system as well? Surely not, right? I can't believe that's such a common power,' Daz thought.
He stroked his chin before sighing. 'It would be foolish to not consider the possibility, at least. Okay, let's look at this from a different angle. So if I think about going alone... Yup, alarm bells. What if I don't go with just Yaoguai? Still getting a lot of ringing but it feels weaker. So more people will help. That wouldn't be the case if they could shut off system upgrades like the Truthians can. I could easily kill thousands and thousands of ordinary system-stripped people, after all.'
Daz was pleased with his revelation. As much as he detested the power he had inherited from his father, he would be a liar if he said that it wasn't incredibly useful and a lot more versatile than it might first appear.
'Okay, and if I consider going with Crusher? Ah, considerably less of a risk to my life. Lovely. Now, let's keep mentally adding people until I can't sense these annoying warnings anymore,' Daz decided as he peacefully sat atop the Yaoguai's back.
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Daz wished he wasn't surprised when he returned to the heart of Yilan City only to find Crusher bench-pressing with a building somehow attached to her head, but surprised he still found himself to be.
Noticing his and the demonic bear's return, Crusher grabbed her hammer - also named Crusher - and waved it, resulting in the building on her head floating away somewhere into the city.
She then moved her body so as to jump up onto her feet without using her hands. "'Sup?"
Daz shrugged as he landed after vaulting off of the Yaoguai's head. "Same old same old. You know how it is, meet the friend of your father who's the evil dictator of over a million people, tell him to fuck off and warn him I can launch nukes, then try to go for a nice stroll to meet even more eastern friends only to find out that they may not actually be friends."
"Hahaha! Funny shit but, like, ain't you technically a dictator too?" Crusher asked.
Daz nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Technically, yes, but I'm one of the good ones."
"Hahaha I bet every dictator says that. Anyhoo, unfriendly Indians or unfriendly locals? Has my chance to treat some heads like watermelons at a Japanese beach party finally come?" Crusher questioned with a toothy grin on her lips.
Daz squinted at her. "You are such a strange person."
"Really? First time anyone's ever called me that." Crusher scratched her head. "You'd think it'd have come up by now."
"I can detect lies, remember," Daz pointed out.
Crusher sighed then said, "Yeah, Uriel, you can, but you sure as hell struggle with sarcasm... Anyway, Indians or locals?"
"Indians. I considered going to visit them to see what kind of attitude they have like I did with the Chinese," Daz explained.
"Let me guess, the ol' instincts gave you the 'fuck no, bro, bro, no, don't go there! We gunna die if we go there!' spiel?" Crusher speculated while she started chuckling, clearly, she was amused by herself.
"Yes. Not quite in those words since, you know, my powers don't talk to me, but yes, that was the message more or less," Daz responded.
"'Kay, so what's the plan, Uriel? Smash an' grab? If so, let me know what need's grabbin'," Crusher said as she hoisted her hammer over her shoulder with confidence.
"Well, for right now, It'd be rather helpful if you could grab Dorian for me. Master Merit too," Daz answered with a curt smile.
"Ahab and the plump weasel? Sure. Gimme a minute," Crusher said as she sniffed powerfully to clear her nose then cracked her back as she stretched.
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The next moment she bolted into the mall behind her and had returned in under 10-seconds. Under her left arm could be seen the dangling Dorian who had an expression of resignation on his face as if he were used to this.
Under Crusher's right arm was the wildly thrashing Master Merit who, quite clearly, hadn't expected to be picked up like some sort of sack of produce. "Unhand me this instant, you barbarian!"
Crusher nodded quite happily. "Sure thing, buddy."
With a loud thud, Master Merit slammed into the concrete beneath him. Quickly picking himself up and dusting his suit off, he plucked his top hat that had rolled off of his head from the floor and put it back on. "I should have expected that."
"Yeah, you should've, haha," Crusher laughed. "Careful what you wish for and all of that."
Uncaring in regards to the minor quibbling of the two, Daz requested something of the system. 'Show me their loyalties, System. Just their loyalties, please. I do not need to see their entire statuses.'
Confirmed. Displaying the [Loyalty] of citizens [Dorian Elkwood], [Crusher] and [Jeremiah Merit] to the host.
[Dorian Elkwood]'s [Loyalty] to his ruler [King Daz]: Slightly Low.
[Crusher]'s [Loyalty] to her ruler [King Daz]: High [up from Slightly High].
[Jeremiah Merit]'s [Loyalty] to his ruler [King Daz]: None.
Daz immediately frowned though he tried his best to blend his sudden reaction with his normal attitude, attempting to pass it off as mere disliking of Crusher and Master Merit bickering.
''I knew he only cared about money so Master Merit is no surprise at all but Dorian? Slightly Low? What the fuck? It's slightly low even with all of the passive boosts that are forced on my citizens from my quest rewards? Just how little do you respect me and value me as your ruler? After all I've done to help keep your father alive and after giving him a chance to turn his life around and try to repair his relationship with you?' Daz was surprised at how furious he was.
He felt betrayed. Dorian was one of his first citizens. He numbered among the initial 50 he had taken under his wing along with the late, Ger, Sarah, Jorden and a lot of Fort Home's most influential persons like Ellie, Crusher, Sandy, Heather, Lyle and Mave.
'Wait. Think for a moment... Perhaps I've left him alone with Crusher for too long? It wouldn't be unreasonable for him to see her as his protector and the person most worthy of his loyalty, even if she forces him to partake in her growing list of hobbies,' Daz came to such a conclusion after a split-second of thought. 'It would be easy to see that he isn't under my umbrella, ironic as that is given his class.'
He paused to stroke his chin, happy to see that Master Merit wasn't allowing Crusher to just drop the matter of manhandling him.
'Still... System, can you show me all of the Loyalty levels and what they actually represent?' Daz requested.
He was quite pleased that Crusher was more than willing to continue to play along with Master Merit. It was giving him plenty of time to get his thoughts in order since his instincts seemed to insist that this group was the best possible one to increase his chances of survival upon meeting the Indians.
Crusher noticed Daz's thoughtful state and smirked. 'I wouldn't have noticed before, but this Ember of Clarity shit is pretty helpful for telling what Mr Brick Wall over there is thinking. Need a minute to sort out your thoughts? A minute you'll get, pal.'
Meanwhile, the system had responded to Daz.
Confirmed. listing the different levels of loyalty and detailing what they each mean.
Loyalty Level Meaning None At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to betray the target of loyalty at the first given opportunity. Very Low At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to seriously consider betraying the target of loyalty should doing so benefit them. Low At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to begrudgingly work to help the target of loyalty should they ask for help or issue an order. Slightly Low At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to, at most, make very minor sacrifices to help the target of loyalty. Average At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to willingly help the target of loyalty with whatever they need or order so long as the need or order does not conflict with the host's morals and core beliefs. Slightly High At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to willingly make decent sacrifices to fulfil the needs of orders of the target of loyalty. High At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to stop questioning the whys in regards to the target of the loyalty's needs or orders and instead consider the hows in regards to fulfilling those needs or orders. Very High At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to actively seek to fulfil the target of loyalty's needs or orders before being told or given them. Max At this level of loyalty, it is expected for the host to willingly offer their life for the target of loyalty should the need arise. Incalculable The system cannot give an apt description for what this level of loyalty entails as it varies from host to host far more than the prior levels.
'Nothing concrete and it's all rather vague and presumptuous since despite being at none I don't see Master Merit sticking a knife in my back under any circumstances unless he's offered a ridiculous amount of wealth, but still, this is helpful... I obviously need to keep a close watch on Master Merit regardless, however, for Dorian... I suppose not asking too much from him would work. As for Crusher, well, like always, I can freely rely heavily upon her as required... Good to know, at the very least,' Daz decided.
"Are you two done acting out?" he asked of Crusher and Master Merit.
"Ahem," coughing as he adjusted his bowtie, Master Merit nodded. "Indeed. My apologies, Your Majesty, for such an unsightly display. I wonder what need you have of us?"
Crusher smirked knowingly at Daz but said, "Didn't I say when I grabbed you? We've got some Indians to slaughter."
"I doubt that's what the king said for some reason," Dorian chimed in with a roll of the eyes.
"Right, as you said Dorian, not quite. I need some back-up when I go to meet them. I don't know in what way but they pose a threat to me. I assume none of you mind tagging along?" Daz asked.
Crusher replied, "I'd be fuckin' pissed if you excluded me if anything."
Master Merit smiled. "I am always happy to meet new people, Your Majesty."
'And see if you can profit from them... Depending on how this goes I may or may not have to have him killed. As dirty as it is he's a huge potential threat to me and New Earth as a whole given what he is the champion of. While the risk of betrayal is low, Father still has more merit points than I do. Giving Master Merit to Father is far worse of an option than simply killing him,' Daz thought as his eyes turned to Dorian.
Shrugging, the metal-armed umbrella-wielder answered, "Sure. I don't mind."
"Great." Daz looked back at the Yaoguai and asked, "I assume you don't mind carrying us all?"
"No. I do not. Get on," it replied as it lowered its head.