Sam paused, and turned back towards the statue. It glowed with a far greater light now, beckoning for him to choose it. He could feel a sense of profound resonance with it and with who he was. At that point, there was hardly a choice. He picked the class, almost in a trance. As he emerged back into the real world, he was met with a new notification.

For picking the same class type three times in a row, you have gained a permanent bonus to all of your current class effects.

Sam felt as if a lightning bolt had run through his body, opening the connection between himself and the Dao of the universe around him. Still, there were more notifications.

You have assumed Planetary Governance!

As the leader of the sole remaining faction, you automatically gain the entirety of Earth’s support.

Your Metropolis Core has been upgraded to a Planetary Core.

New options are now available at a planetary level from the Core, and the range for basic upgrades now extends across the entire surface of your planet.

You have gained access to the Planetary Governance Array.

Sam closed the messages, and opened up the Array, which he could feel blinking at the corner of his awareness.

Planet Earth(#143256789)

Planetary Governor: Sam Atlas

Dominant Faction: The Arbiters of Justice

Planetary Rank: F

Sapient Population: 4.35 million Humans, 1.24 million alien invaders.

Dungeons: 1000 G Rank, 250 F Rank, 10 E Rank.

Current Planetary Defenses: None

Sam raised one eyebrow. That was the first thing he needed to check out. With a simple expression of will, every cell in his body moved forwards, propelling him out through the door at massively increased speed. Every part of him was now one inseparable whole. It felt strange not having bones or organs, but everything worked perfectly, in fact, it worked far better than it normally would have. He truly was something beyond human now. His Perfect Ascension meant that he was one, body, mind and soul, in a way that few would ever understand.

People had gathered in the streets, drawn by the explosion of energy that his ascension had prompted. He blitzed past them, and towards the city hall. There would be time for speeches later. For now, he needed to cement his control over Earth.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

As he ran though, one final notification spiraled into his vision.

As a newly ascended E Ranker, you are now eligible to enter the Tower of Transcendence. This must be done before gaining any levels within that Rank, or else you will be forever banned. While in the Tower, time will pass at a faster rate than normal, allowing you to condense what might very well be a year’s journey down into a few weeks in your home universe.

A token dropped into his hand from thin air. It was made out of burnished gold, emblazoned with an infinity sign. It was undoubtedly how he was to get to the Tower in the first place. The revelation of the level requirement put a far shorter timeline on his future than he had expected. He would need to wrap up things here before departing, but he wanted to wait until the Overlord himself was able to ascend to E Rank. As much as his trust in the man had increased recently, he still did not want to leave him here on his own, as the strongest person in the faction.

For now though, he had another task before him. Increasing the defenses of the planet. He reached the city hall a moment later, but rather than simply walking in, he was instead met by what looked like every one of the captains.

“We all felt your ascension,” Talnor said, striding forwards. “Congratulations. Reaching E Rank is a feat to be proud of. Within a few months of receiving the System no less.”

“I have some things to check with the Metropolis Core,” Sam explained. “However, once I am finished, we can go over what this means for the faction.”

“I see. Did you gain Planetary Governance?” Talnor asked.

“Yes. It upgraded the Core. I can now buy defenses for the whole planet.”

Sam walked towards the hall, the lines of captains parting before him. He was followed into the hall by them, but he paid them no heed. The glorious power of his ascension still thrummed through his body, filling him with euphoria.

He reached the Core, and froze. It had changed a lot. Rather than being a ball of crystal filled with energy, it now looked like the planet itself, a swirling ball of green and blue. It had expanded in size dramatically, now almost twenty feet in diameter. Sam walked up to it and laid his hands on it.

Low E Rank Planetary Core #1

Construction Options(Basic)

Construction Options(Planetary)

Defence

There was only one extra option, with the base functions of the core remaining the same, save for their scope. Sam selected it, and was greeted with a very small list.

Planetary Defense

Orbital Defence Platform: 500,000,000 Credits

Atmospheric Railgun: 1,000,000,000 Credits

High F Rank Planetary Authorization Array: 5,000,000,000 Credits

Planetary Force Field: 10,000,000,000 Credits

The options were all incredibly expensive, but for what they achieved, they were actually quite cheap. A forcefield that extended around the entire planet was apparently only worth ten billion credits to the System. Though, that was likely because it was subsidized by the energy polls of the planet’s inhabitants. What Sam was more interested in now was the Planetary Authorization Array. From the name, it seemed like a way to bar everyone under a certain level of power from entering the planet’s space without permission. Presumably, it would banish the invaders currently on the planet. It only extended up to High F Rank, meaning that some invaders could still come through, but it would winnow out the chaff that would otherwise be a waste of time.