Lyle was nothing if not efficient. He had set the conference up in a way that each reporter was allowed to ask one question and one follow up question at most.
As high king though, Daz was of course allowed to ignore these questions if he so wished. He had no plans to do so but it was made clear he could do that if he wanted to.
Without a single additional person speaking or interrupting him, a journalist from the United Kingdom who was given first rights to question opened up with a heavy hitter.
"Your Majesty, when you said, and I quote, 'I will unite this planet' what exactly did you mean? Could you please elaborate? Is world domination your end goal like some sort of comic-book supervillain? I find that unlikely but we're all curious," the man asked.
Daz smirked a bit in amusement at the comparison before he shook his head. "I can certainly understand the parallels without further context. Let me explain."
He took a second for the cameras to focus in on him before saying, "It's no puzzle. I intend to lead all of humanity as one to prepare for the coming trials. Division is foolish when we are so few. In fact, it was foolish when we were many."
Daz sighed deeply. "Our greed, selfishness and pride stopped us from truly tackling genuine global issues like climate change, the homeless, organised crime, judiciary injustice, system corruption, and so, so much more."
His mind wandered towards Mu's father and how he ruled over his people with an iron fist and seemed to care very little about the idea of a peaceful world without him as its leader.
"Even today, while some of those issues have vanished, new ones have appeared. The semester goal failure fines, monster packs, rogue survivors drunk on their power causing chaos worldwide, the sudden unnatural cold. We, as a whole, stand to gain not a single thing from arguing over nothing of substantial worth like nationality, race, language or anything else that is simply a superficial separation of our species. The future is all that matters. It's all that has ever mattered," Daz stated.
The reported stopped taking notes and asked his second question, "And if such an outlook leads to disharmony and disorder, what will you do, Your Majesty? I can't imagine people are willing to bow and accept your views and goals just because you're strong, commonfolk and powerful persons alike."
Daz smiled faintly. "Time will show that I am right. Taiwan, Korea and west North America live in harmony with a record-low crime rate and more equality and opportunities than they could have ever dreamed of in the former shambles of what was once known as 'modern society'."
He scoffed. The politicians of old were pathetic. He would stomp out the habits that had formed over hundreds of years of ass-kissing and power lobbying.
Habits such as giving out false promises to the point that every citizen had to simply hope for one or two of the 'guaranteed' politics to be enforced.
"I am working tirelessly to solve the issues that plague us now. I personally go on hunting expeditions to eradicate monster threats and negotiate with leader-class beasts for peace. Homelessness is a thing of the past in my kingdom, only serving to stand as a reminder of the prior generation's failures. Most impressively of all, only a little over 8,000 people failed to complete their semester goals out of the nearly million that call my kingdom home. Those that did fail, I personally paid their fines for them, sparing them from a fate worse than death," Daz revealed in a calculated move.
This wasn't yet public knowledge, so Daz announcing it here was massively substantial. it sent waves of shock through the journalists recording everything.
A great deal of the leaders listening from the safety of their sovereign nations gaped in horror upon thinking about how grotesquely expensive such a burden would have been to shoulder.
Daz was likely the only one to do so out of all rulers. Even the Hamilio Empire hadn't done such a thing.
He knew that many of the tens of millions of people watching from their homes all around the globe had struggled to gather 10,000,000 merit points and even more had witnessed their loved ones or friends disappear to become slaves to the system.
Now knowing their leaders could have prevented that... he hoped that would light a fire in their hearts.
The British reporter clearly wanted to speak further and inquire even more, but he was stopped by the next reporter, a local from New Earth who immediately asked her first question.
"A month ago, Your Majesty Crowthorne, you implemented a system that required every citizen of New Earth, whether new or founding, young or old, to put away a negligible sum of money into the savings account of the Midechhe Travelling Bank where it could generate interest from the 20% weekly compounding rate. Was this in an effort to combat the inevitable failed goals of semester two?" the woman questioned.
Daz nodded as he held his chin aloofly. "Indeed. It was a plan devised by our brightest minds. It is the perfect counter to the system's joke of a 'trial'. Sadly, the longer a person takes to join my kingdom, the more they need to invest in their safety since time is not stagnant and the end of the semester draws ever closer by the week. Thankfully, every new citizen of New Earth is rewarded with 100,000 merit points and we have nothing if not occupations that can easily generate enough of the system's currency to passively build up enough money to forget that your very life and freedom hang in the balance."
The lump sum of merit point was news to no one ever since the Grand System Auction. Needless to say though, the absurd interest rate of the bank was massively appealing to just about everyone, he reckoned.
"Thank you. My secondary question, Your Majesty, regards how you mentioned in your speech that the Truthians draw their power from a 'mythical city'. Can you explain what a 'mythical city' is, how you discovered this, what this means and how significant it is?" the young American woman asked.
"That is a lot of questions hidden behind one," Daz noted before nodded, "but very well. I shall explain."
He tapped his index finger against his throne's armrest thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "A mythical city is a city of power that existed on Earth before the system's tests began. New Earth is in possession of two such cities. I will reveal one to the public now. Atlantis calls my kingdom home."
Practically every reporter immediately began yelled questions, all trying to be louder than their neighbours to learn more about this groundbreaking revelation.
Daz frowned. He exerted some of his Archreaper's Aura, forcing the throne room into absolute silence. "I made my rules clear when I started this press conference. You will stay quiet until it is your turn to speak. Talk out of turn again and you will be escorted out of my castle. Am I clear?"
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He didn't care that the world was watching him. His rules had to be respected. He couldn't care less if it was commonplace in the journalistic scene to be as rude and disrespectful as possible. He would not stand for it in his court.
Not a single person present refuted him even if they had been ordered to by the powers that backed them.
His Archreaper's Aura combined with his Ember of Majesty and all of his boosting items and stats would have entranced a rock to sing his praises, let alone these fairly ordinary reporters, he thought.
With calm restored, Daz spoke once more. "I will not talk much on Atlantis as there isn't much to say. At least, not much that the system will allow me to reveal. I will say though that it is a scientific city founded on research by a long-dead civilisation. I invite all bright and brilliant minds to my kingdom to explore the possibilities it offers. Who knows what will be made possible by using the technology and research of an extinct group of sapient natives who once ruled the entire world?"
Daz hoped that would draw in the attention of the people out there who had used the system to further their minds instead of their strength.
"As for how I discovered the Truthian's use of such a place to harness the power of suppressing the system, I didn't. The chief of the New Central Intelligence Agency, the one we simply call 'The Flower', was the one to learn of this. I can guarantee the validity and truth of their findings," Daz said.
"As for what it means and how significant it is... It means the terrorist organisation known as the Church of Truth is founded on misplaced faith. No god grants them power over others, a set of ruins does. That also means that power is easily taken away. All I need do is destroy said city," he announced coldly.
The next reporter, a man from China this time, asked, "Would that not be a crime against our shared culture as citizens of Earth? You claim these mythical cities have been here since before the system arrived. Would that not make them a heritage of sorts? We, as Earth's custodians have a right to what they offer."
Daz laughed mockingly. "What do you think I value more, a bunch of rubble and ruins or the lives and freedom of every single person remaining on Earth? What an idiotic question."
The man blushed and tried to refute Daz's claims but a glare from Lyle shut him down.
The next reporter was the one who represented the Hamilio Empire. Daz listened carefully as the petite Italian woman smiled softly and made her question known.
"You stated you would be accepting help from foreign countries in your efforts against these terrorists, correct, Your Majesty Crowthorne? Emperor Hamilio is willing to offer everything he can in this noble endeavour of yours," she said in a pleasant and soothing voice.
Daz's eyes narrowed and his mind began spinning.
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At the beginning of Daz's broadcast, in Rome, Italy, Davido Hamilio watched the television in his manor's lounge with great interest.
"He's grown so much," he mumbled to himself in joy.
In one hand, he held a glass of wine, in the other, he was caressing a strange medallion of sorts which had a large closed, golden eye etched onto it.
"To think he even let one of my assistants into his conference..." Davido muttered.
He chuckled faintly as he listened to the speech his most prided son was making. "To think he chose her name... Crowthorne... Independence is a beautiful thing... Call yourself whatever you want, Darenzo. It matters not."
His smile never left his face and it only widened as time passed. Eventually, his representative had been given the chance to declare his intentions.
"To not outright refuse in your hatred..." Davido felt shivers run along his entire body. "How exhilarating... Such wisdom will be needed for your coming trials, My Son. How, I wonder will you answer, though?"
After a good 15 seconds of thinking, the high king of New Earth finally replied to his spokeswoman.
"Provided the help offered by Emperor Hamilio has the means to fight the powers of the Church of Truth, I will welcome them tentatively. Forgive me if I'm not overly keen to allow masses of foreign troops into my armies even if only temporarily, but this situation is dire. Under strict supervision, I would be happy to accept his offer."
Davido exhaled slightly in ecstasy as he slowly stood up, stared at the face of his son in the television, then shattered the glass he was holding, covering his hand in both blood and wine.
"My pride knows no words nor bounds, My Son! None at all!" Davido yelled in exhilaration.
His eyes shined golden for a moment and his entire body rumbled with emotion, pleasure and power before returning to normal.
He used some simple magic to clean himself up and it was only after his son had answered several more simple questions the other reporters had that he was able to calm himself down.
"If only your mother saw what I saw in your future... Perhaps she would have shared my vision. Greatness is all that remains for our family with your capable hands at the helm, Darenzo, hahaha," Davido laughed faintly.
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Emperor Bei wanted to sneer upon hearing Daz declare his intent to unite the world but he couldn't bring himself to. Not when he knew it was possible.
'The one who can use nukes... We need to find them and kill them. That, or find our own person capable of the same...' Mu's father thought as he sat upon his golden jade throne. 'I also need to get stronger personally.'
A large part of him hoped Daz would lose against the Church of Truth, solving the problem all at once.
A small voice in his head, though, reminded him that they were just as big of a threat as the young high king was to him, if not an even larger one.
"Peace is so foreign to the old," he mumbled as he shook his head and recalled his long and torturous climb to power.
He closed his eyes and sighed. 'Shangri-La needs to be found and Amaravati must become mine... I need time, the question is, how much do I have before the church defeats that arrogant brat and sets its sights east, or when will the scion of the Hamilio best them and make good on his promise to control the entire planet?'
Peace was indeed a foreign concept to the wisened and embittered ruler of the Chinese Empire.
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"So your intentions are to let most, if not all, existing countries and governments maintain what they have now just under the umbrella of your growing kingdom, Your majesty Crowthorne?" a second Chinese reporter queried a bit pointedly.
Nodding, Daz replied, "That's correct. United Korea is still autonomous and we are taking steps to rebuild Taiwan to be the same. All my greater rule ensures is no wars and minimal crime as well as pushing nations to ignore meaningless issues and focus on real problems. Think of New Earth as old-world China and everywhere else as old-world Hong Kong, except I'm not petty, weak-minded nor hungry for total control and I'm not keen on stripping the masses of their voices nor of their freedoms."
The reporter from the great eastern empire frowned deeply upon hearing that.
The next journalist in line asked, "Is New Earth not a dictatorship though? Specifically, a monarchy, granting absolute rulership to one family, no? Specifically your family."
Daz tapped a finger against his chin. "Yes and no. My family has no control over the kingdom, the system affords me and me alone all power. However, I previously once stated I would step down should someone best me in combat."
He sighed and shook his head. "A foolish declaration and an almost impossible challenge now. I will declare here and now, though, should I see a more capable person to lead all of Earth to a brighter and better future, the throne to my kingdom is theirs. I do not do this because I wish it, I do it because I must. Someone must."
A few more simple and easily answered questions saw the end of the press conference. Well, almost.
Daz looked straight into the mass of cameras and said some closing words. "While the union of our planet is very important, it is also, unfortunately, a problem for the future. Our present remains threatened by the existence of religious fanatics wielding power far beyond their or anyone else's worth."
A sense of deep sadness took ahold of his expression, rare considering he'd been as cold as stone during the entire conference thus far. "132,436 dead. That is not just a statistic. That is 132,436 individuals. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters... people. Each and every one will be buried personally by me or one of my clones. I care not for how long it will take. I knew every single one of them. As this kingdom's ruler, these deaths feel like wounds on my own flesh."
He sighed softly. "This atrocity will not be forgotten and on my life, it won't be forgiven. Tonight, I will be holding a funeral for Alistair Cliff, otherwise known as Sandy. Citizens of New Earth, I implore you to come personally or watch live as I will be broadcasting each and every funeral and burial to pay homage to the lives lost in the wake of yesterday's attacks. Sandy was a hero and he was instrumental in the founding of New Earth. He'll be treated well enough to properly reflect that."
Daz got up from his throne and softly repeated, "Not forgotten and never forgiven."