“You do this constantly?” Bao Wang asked me. It was clear he was struggling with the day after day of grinding.

“Yes. You are doing quite well. You upped your kill count to 80 monsters per day,” I replied.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” he complained. I wanted Naran back. At least we sang songs and got along. Bao Wang was miserable and liked to complain. I just ignored it for the most part. I needed him for the heist to get through disguised as a guard.

My Chinese was not getting any better. While I was learning various phrases it was clear that I was a westerner and not a native speaker. “The food is terrible. Raw fruits and vegetables.” I had held myself back from purchasing meat after the last city upgrade in Neo Brasilia.

“I am counting the days until this is over,” Bao Wang said. I rolled my eyes. How he ever managed to become a city Lord with that kind of attitude was making me question him. He also survived going before the Divine Empress, so he should be a bit mentally tougher.

“You are complaining quite a bit,” I pointed out.

“Sorry. This just feels like slave work.” I wanted to slap him for his idiocy at that statement. That was the kind of thinking that got people into trouble and made them stop pushing themselves to get better and stronger.

The evil empire thinking had seeped into his brain and was rotting his mind. This entire grinding session could be considered detox in a way. To purge the evil empire out of Bao Wang.

“You need to adjust your mentality. Focus on improving, getting faster, and being better. Your grinding speed is limited by how much you push yourself. While there is an upper cap on the force generated for the Body stat, you need to learn to maximize that,” I explained for what had to be the third time.

The Divine Empress was a master of movement. I recalled how easily she had handled me during her complete smackdown of me. She had somehow gotten above me to hit me back down to the ground. That was insane.

I also realized she was hitting me quite gently and controlling her body the force generated perfectly as well. I rubbed my chest. That last attack of hers had completely blown apart my body. It was even more impressive that the force was directed and not spread out. That way the attack would go through me.

If it had spread out, I would have probably died instantly from the internal hemorrhaging. Not like having a hole blown through me was any better. It raised the question of which injury I would prefer. I chose to ignore that question and not get injured at all.

That was my biggest hold up to my heist plan. There was no way to know if the Divine Empress was in the city or not. It wasn’t like they raised a flag or did anything differently. The Sense stat seemed to be my only hope out the predicament. Even I wasn’t reckless enough to attempt a heist with her present.

I felt a bit cheated. That one guy, the accountant I think, and the Ritualist had just stolen Purgatory’s treasury so easily. Now I had to jump through all these hoops. I guess that was the difference between a million or so points and possible billions of points worth of crystals. Like the local bank versus Fort Knox where the US gold reserves were kept.

“You do this all by yourself?” Bao Wang asked me.

“Sometimes. But it is peaceful. No one complaining. I get to be outside and not behind a computer.”

“I like interacting with people, which is why I became a translator. This is hell,” Bao Wang replied.

“Fair. But there are far worse things. Think of this way, once you have the stats you can survive on your own and clear dungeons.”

“I am not that daring. After this heist I am going to hide away. Far away and avoid being caught and killed. The Envoy has what, 9,000 stats?”

“Yes. So if you have that much you should be fine. How does the Divine Empress manage dungeons?” I asked.

“Her Black Talons are at each one every time they reset and go right in. That is why they are the elite.”

“Who controls them?” I asked.

“No idea. Their command structure is completely hidden, known only to the Divine Empress and the upper leadership.” Another person that might pop out during our heist. I would have to assume there would be at least three Envoy level combatants that would crawl out from their holes.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Their selection process is brutal. Intense training. If you fail, you are put into the wall. The top people from each arrival are scooped up for their training. Fanatically loyal to the Divine Empress. They will literally throw their melting bodies at you when you attack. So be ready.”

Suicide attacks. That increased a person’s combat ability by quite a bit. If they weren’t going to dodge and committed to an attack, they would be trouble for sure. “Only a thousand?” I asked.

“Yes. That is known. But they have internal attrition from fighting each other. But the officers are supposedly quite skilled. Each at the level of one of the older city Lords that have invested into their stat points,” Bao Wang answered.

It was mind boggling that everyone was so poor in the evil empire. “They don’t go out and grind level 3 monsters?” I asked.

“Perhaps. But I don’t believe so. Stats are strictly controlled in the Dragon Empire. While the Lords are allowed some leeway, it has to be recorded. Soldiers and people are given ranks based on stats. It is incredibly complicated and restraining as you move up the ranks. The people purchasing stuff from the store aren’t allowed to purchase any stats at all.”

“How is that even tracked?” I asked. It was mind boggling to think about.

“Pendants and people know people. It isn’t like there is going to be surprise promotion all of a sudden. Soldiers chat and know who is at what rank. Sure people have tried to scam things, but they are found and tortured to death.” I nodded at this.

“Then everyone follows the rules, since that is the culture,” I replied.

“Yes. Since finding a person breaking the rules is the fastest way to get promoted.”

“Did you do that?” I asked.

“Of course. I turned in three people over my career. Two for stealing extra food. And another who was stealing from his subordinates. But it was my work on increasing efficiency that got me the promotion to Lord.”

I considered Bao Wang carefully. While there was the change he could betray me, I considered it very small. He had probably guessed my stat points and how many more I was getting. It wasn’t that hard to work out the math.

If he betrayed me, he wouldn’t be able to get away alive. I was also minimizing the chances of betrayal. That was another factor I had to account for in my plans. Things would really heat up once the date came. But the plan was coming together.

Something like this you didn’t want to over plan, but you also needed to think through it carefully. At a certain point I would be flying by the seat of my pants. If I had more time, I would get an airship myself somehow and then fly into the Forbidden City to rob it.

Even if the Divine Empress was super strong and had ludicrous levels of stats, she couldn’t fly like the Astrologer could. And even that was more floating about. I would need to learn some crazy techniques or something.

I had been thinking about what I would do if I got a meta-point, but it was pointless to expect one to show up. I just had to do the best with what I had. If I got one, I got one. That reminded me, I needed to ask Bao Wang an important question.

“Do you know the Divine Empress is called the Divine Empress?” I asked him.

“She earned the Mandate of Heaven. Granting her favor and power above all others while she was in the wilderness. Why do you ask?”

“Nothing about god-points or meta-points?” I asked.

“No, why? What are they?”

“That Mandate of Heaven you spoke about. Was just wondering if the knowledge was widespread, since knowing inhibits a person from earning them.”

“Oh,” Bao Wang replied. Oh, was right. Still, I wasn’t upset. I had overcome my frustration about them and the unfairness of the Almighty System. It was about moving forward. Still, it didn’t stop me from think about the possibilities. A unique skill, knowledge, an answer to a question.

The most practical thing would be to ask how to earn more meta-points. But I suspected that kind of question was a trap. There was no guarantee the answer would even be useful. That was the frustrating thing about them, their rarity and usefulness.

I needed to focus on my stats instead and it looked like Regeneration was going to be my first choice to target day 900 as the optimum timeframe for stat grinding.

“So, the layout of the inner ring?” I asked.

“As I have said. The treasury is next to the palace, with the airship port being on the other side of the palace. Everything else I have no idea about. Lots of white buildings and black dragons painted on them. There are eight statues of the Divine Empress around the plaza facing outwards. Each in a different stance.”

“The tribute carts move in and it is highly encouraged to kow-tow to her place or the center of the plaza where her statues are.” I had learned a lot about the kow-tow. How to get on your knees properly. To place your hands forward and touch your head to them.

It was the only way to greet superiors a full rank higher than oneself. The Divine Empress sat at the top. Then her inner circle. Then the Lords. And then the rest. So, the soldiers would have to kow-tow to a Lord if they came before a Lord.

Everyone had to kow-tow to the Divine Empress, even her statue. That was one thing got people hefty punishments. It wasn’t just the language I had to learn. It was the mannerisms as well, even the social gestures.

If I was going to sneak in, it wouldn’t do just to follow Bao Wang’s lead. I needed to make sure I was on point as much as possible. The real trick would be dressing up in a uniform to move from the treasury to the airship port.

I had been considering several options. Bao Wang knew the design of the Black Talon uniforms and had purchased one. They were white with black dragons while the normal soldiers just had black uniforms and armor.

It was serviceable, but I wouldn’t be able to get enchantments on it. That would likely give me away. That was the part of the heist I was still working to figure out. The trip from the treasury to the airship port to steal the airship with the hope of not sending up an alarm.

If I could manage that, it would be amazing. But I had no doubt I would get challenged by various soldiers protecting places. It was something to think about. I had the strength to bullrush my way through and that was always plan B, but I wanted to get as far as possible without sending up the alarm.

Once the airship moved, that would be it and I would have to fight. But up until that point, I was hoping to get away with everything and give the Divine Empress a stroke from the sheer rage she would feel.