We came to a stop at viewing distance from the city walls. I had Hope wait with the cart of supplies to the South of the city. I quickly made my way towards the gate. There were soldiers in black armor and black helmets.

It was like a teenage edge lord had designed them for maximum edginess. All they were missing were the random spikes. Oh, their boots, helmets, and elbow pads were spikey. Maximum edginess achieved. I walked towards the gate and counted 20 soldiers standing outside and another 40 on top of the wall.

One of them shouted something in what was probably Chinese. I kept walking forward. This time they shouted in English. “Halt in the name of the Empire and the Divine Empress!”

“Oh, is she still alive?” I asked loudly. There was a long pause of silence at that and the soldiers all turned their heads slightly to see how their leader would respond.

“The Divine Empress is an immortal demi-god. None may question her. Surrender and you will be sent to the fighting pits, instead of the flesh crafters for your insolence.” I smiled at that. My insolence had achieved legendary levels after talking smack her majesty, the Divine Empress.

“I talked smack to her. To her face and called her an ugly hag that was no better than the scum off the bottom of my boot,” I said as I kept walking forwards. All the soldiers went dead still. I vented some of the massive rage I had accumulated against this woman. “Oh, you don’t-“

The leader of the soldiers shouted something and pointed at me. They rushed forward. “Acid Shot,” x20. “Acid Shot,” x20. I wiped out the soldiers with two attacks, one low and one angled up to take those in the back. I kicked off the ground and leapt into the air.

Air Burst. Air Burst. Air Burst. “Acid Shot,” x20. “Acid Shot,” x20. “Acid Shot,” x20. “Acid Shot,” x20. I swept the top of the wall clean of any soldiers as acid poured down over the sides. I then unleashed more acid on the far side of the wall, melting the soldiers on the other side.

I jumped down and made my way to Clarissa’s safehouse. There was no one there and it was empty. I then made my way to the plaza. I snuck in close and saw hundreds of soldiers and people being put in chains and loaded up into carts.

I pulled forth my sword. It had survived the trip out of Purgatory and the crawl from hell. I stepped out into the plaza. Soldiers turned to look at me. I found an obese man sitting on a platform wearing black robes. He looked important.

Some of the soldiers shouted something. A lot of them began to approach me. I cut one down and kept advancing. There was shouting and a lot of soldiers rushed over drawing their swords. I let them all rush at me deflecting attacks and maiming a few as I kept moving forward. They all began to cluster around me.

“Acid Shot,” x20. “Acid Shot,” x20. I kicked off the ground as soldiers melted and screamed in mass. I cut down the soldiers next to the man in robes on the platform. My sword flicked out, removing several fingers from his hands. He screamed and fell to his knees.

I stepped around him and put the flat of the blade against the back of his neck. “I hope you speak English?” I asked.

“Yes, yes,” he cried out in pain and with an accent.

“Good. Acid Shot,” x20. I melted a wave of soldiers who had decided to rush me. The rest were scattering to the edges of the plaza. I carefully put my blade away but he didn’t do anything. I got behind this Asian man. I wrapped an arm around his neck and applied pressure carefully.

His bloody hands shot up to my arm, but I had learned a bit after the Ritualist about strangling people. He went limp. I loosened my arm up. I then lifted him up in a bridle carry and brought him over to the store pillars. I bandaged and secured his hands. I then purchased some metal chains and bound him. There was no rope in the store.

“Help us!” The people in chains were shouting. I went over to the chains and the people bound in them.

“Shut up!” I called out and they quickly got quiet. The soldiers were still watching from the edge of the plaza. I gripped the metal between my hands and pulled it apart. It was tough at first, but then shattered.

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“Make a line at the center of the plaza. Don’t ask or talk to me about anything or I will kill you,” I called out. People quickly got silent and formed a line. There were some whispered conversations in a foreign language or two, but I didn’t care. I broke chain after chain.

The chains were clearly meant to be permanent in some way, since they had bolts locking them in place. I was only freeing these people to cover my tracks and cause chaos. I didn’t care about them in the slightest. They were all going to die horribly performing the only useful action during their time in the Systemic Lands, covering my exit.

People left my bound captive alone and were already purchasing weapons and organizing. They made sure to leave me alone as the pile of chains grew. The wagons were broken open and the people in chains brought over to the line.

Once everyone was freed I picked up my squirming and moaning captive on my shoulder. I could finally get some answers about this Empire. There was no way in any kind of hell, I was ever going to be the Divine Empress in a straight up fight. I had to look at all the other angles.

Since Clarissa’s team had been wiped out when the city was taken, everything was going to land on my shoulders. I immediately set off ignoring the cheers of the freed populace of Esperanza. My debt to you people had been repaid. Now I just owed Naran a debt or two.

He was probably laughing it up with Clarissa and wondering what I was doing. The one bad thing about removing property from my name, there was no way to check if I was still alive like I had done with Ruth and the Ritualist.

I reached the City Wall and went through the South gate. There were no soldiers, and I didn’t spot anyone following me. I made my way to the cart, where Hope was sitting on it waiting. I dumped the captured person in the back.

“Who is that?” Hope asked me.

“Someone who is going to talk. Don’t loosen up the chains or bandages. Check is limbs to make sure he isn’t losing blood flow,” I told Hope and gestured to the back of the cart. She got in.

“He works for the Divine Empress?” she asked me as I took up with the cart, our supplies, and two passengers.

“Yes, now focus on him. I can’t afford him causing trouble or trying to escape,” I told her. I raced back the way I had some from Neo Brasilia.

We made good time and I kept going through the night, melting the occasional monster when I went off our previous path. I made sure to keep my distance from the void zone and any of the cracks into the land extending from it.

It was late evening of day 681 when I finally stopped at the edge of the level 3 mistlands to the South of Neo Brasilia.

“You speak, grunt, or make any noise when I am not asking a question. It won’t be fun,” I said and then I ungagged the captive’s mouth. “Understand?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Feed and water him,” I told Hope. She looked at me and then at the captive.

“Alright,” she replied softly. I hate my food as she took care of him. Once I was done, I took him a small distance away from the cart to use the bathroom. An unpleasant experience for both of us. I then dragged him back and sat him down against the cart.

“I am going to ask you questions. If you answer truthfully and don’t hide information, I will let you go,” I said.

The man let out a sigh. “I am dead anyways. Better to die than be fleshcrafted.” Wow, that was a lot easier than I was expecting. “There is no tolerance for any kind of failure, and I failed today.”

“Well to make you feel better, I insulted the Divine Empress to her face and called her an old hag,” I told him. He paled and then began to laugh madly. He collapsed on his side on the ground and kept laughing. I noticed Hope was watching and giving me a look. I just shrugged.

“Oh, that is brilliant. An old hag.” He calmed down after a few minutes. “And you live. Well, at least I know whatever I will suffer will be nothing compared to you. How are you still alive anyways?”

“I escaped,” I told him.

“Then you are the first to ever escape from her personal grasp. The stars of the heavens align in your favor. What do you wish to know?”

“What I really need to understand is how her Empire works exactly. The layout of the cities and any other information you can provide.”

“I am one of her Lords, but I know very little. Or was one of her Lords. English is not my first language.” He shook his head, and I didn’t say anything to let him speak. “Then I shall tell my story to you…you?” he asked.

“Champion Michael,” I said and he nodded.

“Champion Michael. Remember my story. I am Bao Wang. A third ranked Lord formally under the service of the Divine Empress of the Dragon Empire. I used to be a professional translator at a shipping company back in China.”

“When I first arrived in this land. I entered the city of New Beijing. It lies to the West of here and maybe a bit South. There everyone is questioned. Anyone who was in the party is taken away. They thought they were getting rewarded, but that was a trap. They were sent to the Forbidden City, the Capital of the Empire to the South where they would be fleshcrafted.”

“The Empress despises the former Party in control of China. No one speculates about why. But she was probably persecuted by them or a family member. It matters not. No one returns from the Forbidden City alive or sane.”

“People with useful skills like knowing English like myself were assigned jobs. People without any usefulness were made into slaves to kill monsters and kill monsters just to eat. Many die, but a few survive. There is no way to escape or anywhere to go beyond the areas where monsters are killed. So people are sent out.”

“They have devolved into roaming tribes, getting crystals and offering them up as tribute to the cities to live another day. Absorbing other tribes or killing each other just to last a bit longer. That is for the men. For the women, old people, and people who complain it is far worse.” He looked at Hope.

“Keep going,” I told him and he nodded before continuing.