A minute later, Eduardo and a few of the other captains ran up the stairs behind Sam, and stopped on the top.

“Faction leader? What are you doing here?’ Eduardo asked. As Sam turned around, the sentry paled, realizing who he had been talking to the entire time. Sam raised his hand to cut off the tide of apologies that were sure to ensue, and the sentry fell silent.

"I wanted to see how our soldiers were dealing with the aliens, but my question was answered as soon as I came up here. They seem to have it all under control.”

Eduardo and Lao peered over the side, and withdrew their heads, smiling.

“Under control certainly describes it,” Lao responded. He patted the sentry on his back. “Well done, soldier. You and your fellow sentries are invaluable to the city.”

The sentry puffed up a little at the praise and saluted. Lao smiled and started down the stairs again. Eduardo and Pyotr followed him down, but Sam remained. He wanted to see this one sided slaughter finish. The artillery emplacements on the walls reloaded and fired again, picking off the enemies one by one. Three volleys later, they were all dead.

“Why do they not attempt to flee?” Sam asked.

“From what we can tell, some of the armies are under System contracts, and they are unable to flee,” the sentry responded, casting Sam an awe filled glance. There was something about standing next to a man with the power of a demigod that inspired a sense of amazement in those weaker.

Sam nodded in satisfaction and walked down the stairs back into the city. The defenses were doing well, and his input had not been required once. Even better, this was producing a steady stream of essence for those within the city. With the security of his city ensured, Sam started for the Dao tree. It was time for a visit to the Interweb and some light cultivation.

Upon reaching the Dao tree, Sam saw that there were a few people in there, cultivating their Daos. Sam paused. A few people had actually formed their Daos already. All of them were quite weak, but the power of the Dao tree was already showing its worth. Sam would have entered, but they all seemed to be in deep meditation. His needs on that front could wait. It was time to visit the Interweb. As he left the Dao tree enclosure, Sarge sidled up next to him.

“I can sense that you are F Rank now, a worthy opponent for me. Care for a sparring match?”

“Not right now, but I will be free soon. I have some errands to run in the Interweb first.”

“Very well then. It has been too long since I have fulfilled my true purpose. Acting as a guard robot works within my operational parameters, but I was built for bringing out the best in cultivators. Be sure that you remember.”

I will,” Sam said, before leaving Sarge behind and heading towards the city hall. Sam realized that he did not actually have any sort of permanent residence in the city, and he was basically bumming around the place because he had no need to sleep. However, he did not want his people to think that he was some vagrant, so he needed a house. In addition, it would provide some much needed privacy for his cultivation needs.

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Sam headed to the Metropolis Core and scrolled through the list of available houses. He did not want some grand affair, fit for a king, merely a place to live. Sam had no delusions of grandeur, the benefits of having earned one’s power rather than being given it. Eventually, he settled for a small two story abode, which he placed next to the city hall.

Walking out of the hall as his house was constructed, he purposefully took his time so that it would be ready when he reached it. When he exited the city hall, his house was waiting for him there. As Sam entered, he saw that there were no furnishings, just the skeleton of the house. He could work with that.

Sam walked up the stairs and found a quiet place to access the Interweb, his enhanced durability making it so that he felt no discomfort from the hard ground. Settling down, he entered the Interweb. He appeared outside of the Adventurers’ guild headquarters and he turned around. He would not get sidetracked today.

Opening up his fast travel interface, Sam teleported to the Novices’ Library, arriving outside of the library a moment later. Sam pushed the doors open, and felt a small twinge of nostalgia as he looked at the lines of booths that filled the room. He made his way over to one of them, and plugged in. He had a few things that he wanted to research, but the first one was to do with the conflicting information that he was receiving from his quests. The Engines of the End Times quest had the reward of Planetary Dominance, but the position of governor that he had been offered upon reaching F Rank offered Planetary Governance. They seemed quite similar, but there was undoubtedly a difference.

Sam searched for Planetary Dominance first, and was met with a host of results, many of which were unrelated to the topic, only mentioning it once. It was somewhat like searching something on the internet, as what came up was regulated by keywords, unless it was something extremely important or specific. Eventually, he found a passage of a book that answered his question.

Upon assuming the position of Planetary Dominance, Alagon cemented his control over the planet. All avenues of the economy were open to him, everything was under his control. His vast power ensured that none of his old rivals could hope to contend with him, but in the shadows of the world, a rebellion was brewing. Alagon might have held the planet in an iron fist, but he was not recognized by the System as its true ruler.

That paragraph answered both of Sam’s questions in one go, but he wanted to make sure that he understood Planetary Governance fully before he made any assumptions. Further on in the same book, he found his answer.

The shining light of the rebellion, the face of justice within that world, Denvari the Merciful, slew the tyrant king Alagon with his blade in single combat, earning the approval of the System. Elevated to the position of Planetary Governor, he gained true control over everything on that planet. He was a just king however, and none contested his rule.

It seemed the Planetary Dominance was simply a term to describe tyranny, while Planetary Governance meant that a person wielded the authority of the System. The first one was far easier to achieve, but the latter was better in the long run. Sam knew that he could not let anyone else assure the mantle of those positions, especially not the Overlord or Rodney Kane. Sam closed the book, and took a quick break to collect his thoughts before diving into the next part of his research. However, as he started to look into the subject of the effects of higher ranked beings on lower ranked universes, he was met with a warning.

You lack the power to gain access to anything pertaining to beings above the D Rank. Such information can be found in libraries further into the Interweb.

Sam had wanted to find out more about Isabella Dantorian, the A Rank cultivator who had trapped his father within his own mind, but it seemed that he would be unable to do so. Sam realized that there would be no more value in the library as his final query pertained to this matter as well. Sighing, he disconnected himself from the interface and left the library.

Perhaps it was time to look into the Adventurers’ Guild again and see if there was anything that he could do to raise his rank.