We trudged Southwest through the shadowlands, keeping our pace consistent. There were some monsters at the start but after that we kept walking. Occasionally I saw people at a distance, but they didn’t come close to our group.

The number of spikes on my armor was frankly a bit ridiculous. If my stats carried over to my armor or it was enchanted, I could literally be a human wrecking ball. The black color didn’t help either. There was a reason I called it the Edgelord armor set.

Fuyuka had elite Black Talon armor on, which was white and beat up a bit. She was holding herself together, but the real tests were about to come up once we got to the Forbidden City.

Abs as the Divine Empress was in the lead of our little group. I constantly made small tweaks to its movement to get it just right and improve the illusion that it really was the Divine Empress. The wound on its neck and mouth were there, mostly hidden by the clothing, but clearly visible on the front face.

There was going to be no small talk or casual conversation from this point forward. We had to remain in character and not stop moving until the heist was complete and we had escaped the Forbidden City. We had gotten a lot of rest the night before, including myself.

I had no idea how long I might be fighting. But it a fight broke out it could last for days possibly. I needed to be at my peak performance going into this. I wasn’t about to half ass or quarter ass any part of this heist.

While Fuyuka doubted Abs, it was comparable to wax sculptures I had seen before. The movements and micro-expressions on the face were a bit off, but I thought it looked quite decent. Also, who would dare question the Divine Empress? The answer, soon to be dead people as part of plan audacity.

It was mid-day when a group of ten people approached us. We didn’t stop moving or alter our heading in the slightest. They called out something. I had Abs paused and turn and look. I then had it make a hand gesture.

They wore barely functional clothes, and their spears were worn. Their faces were covered in facial hair and there were no women in the group. Calling these people tribes was made clear by how much they had regressed as human beings.

It was saddening but not unexpected. It was a dog eat dog world out here, and I was one of the top dogs. But still a dog at least according to the Divine Empress.

I moved at the group. The massive sword I had cutting out. The people screamed and ran as many of them of died, splattered and shattered on my buster stick. This buster stick I had specifically prepared. The blood and gore would hide the engravings on the massive blade.

Once the confrontation was over, I had Abs keep moving and returned to the group. I didn’t clean off the blood splatter on my armor so it would add to my appearance.

These tribes were the key support mechanism of the evil empire since they gathered crystals. I had no doubt Clarissa would target them after my little stunt, shattering the armies of the Divine Empress. Since they didn’t have stats or skills, they were weak and easily killed off.

Without a peer opponent since the UCS, the evil empire had not experienced total warfare and had lost control of their boarder. Without the Divine Empress to act as a stabilizing factor, the empire would soon crumble. With the heist, that process would rapidly accelerate.

We didn’t stop moving. We had two zones to cross on foot to reach the North Road about 40 miles or 65 kilometers. Then another two and a half zones of travel South along the road to reach the Forbidden City.

We should hit the road by late evening and then the Forbidden City tomorrow morning. I tried to think of anything that I might have missed. But it appeared I had covered and done everything I could leading up to this moment. All possible roadblocks were addressed in one way or the other.

There was also such a thing as overplanning. Now was the time to act before the Divine Empress crawled out of whatever grave she had been blasted into.

Another glance around showed people keeping their distance from us but some of the people were trailing us at a far distance. I didn’t mind that. Let them spread the word of the Divine Empress’s return to herald our arrival to the Forbidden City.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The Divine Empress would never allow herself to be carried, so we were stuck at this walking speed. It was annoying, but I had to accept that, so we didn’t break character. I was Hei Nu. The loyal and silent servant of the Divine Empress.

I obeyed her slightest twitch without question or complaint. I had aided her and now she was rewarding me for my great service. Elevating me to be above the Envoy. Let all who question her die. I did not have any skills. Just my buster stick.

There were plans for the buster stick. If we managed to get through the heist I was looting the palace of everything and leaving gifts behind for the Divine Empress. Thinking of all the presents I would leave her had been a hard task, but I had wanted to make them as impactful as possible.

The more rage I could induce, the more hopeful I was she would die by heart failure or stroke. I estimated the chance as less than one percent, but it was still a bigger percent compared to fighting her head on.

We continued our trek without interruption. I was looking forward to getting an airship. No more walking around. Even if it was expensive and there were sky worms, I would be traveling in style. In my mind the poorest of the poor just walked around on foot and had packs. The middle class of the Systemic Lands had carts.

The elite upper class, the best of the best, had airships. Air superiority was a huge advantage. With an airship one would be nearly unassailable. I didn’t think it would slow the Astrologer, Divine Empress, or myself that much to get to an airship floating in the air, but for the vast majority of people it would be the ultimate high ground.

It started to get darker, but our direction was set. As the light source was about to go across the horizon, we ran across the people who had set up camp in our path. We didn’t stop and kept moving. I needed to adjust Abs movement over rough terrain, that was why I had it come to a stop as I killed the tribe that was in front of us.

Their screams echoed out through the night. We didn’t touch their supplies or crystals and kept going. I had no doubt that was why other tribes people were following us to pick up the left overs or perhaps change locations. I neither cared nor was interested in the drama of the tribes that survived outside the evil empire’s cities.

I knew they were there and how they functioned. That was enough for me. There were many people in the world and the Systemic Lands. Their stories were their lives. Important to them, but very rarely important to other people.

These people who I had killed had hopes, dreams, plans, and wide range of other things. But their deaths enhanced the character of Hei Nu that much more. A small footnote in my life. I already considered myself a famous person, but this would truly make me a legend.

Each step I took towards the Forbidden City was another reminder of this fact. That I had the drive and the daring, to do something that would change the direction and be etched into the history of the Systemic Lands forever.

Even if the Divine Empress killed me, she would not forget about the person who had robbed her treasury. I wouldn’t be a Robin Hood, since I wasn’t going to share any of those crystals, but people would appreciate the Divine Empress being humbled.

One did not become a powerhouse of the Systemic Lands by playing it safe. One had to seize destiny and climb up over others. For me to succeed, I would have to kill and step all over countless people. I didn’t mind doing that in the slightest.

The Divine Empress had solidified that belief in my mind for all eternity. The strong make the rules, and the weak are crushed under their boot. If she was ever defeated I would need to make my own Empire. A better empire. One that was efficient and people weren’t constantly terrorized. We would keep the child experimentation in the back rooms and out of public sight.

It was a nice dream to have. Especially since Clarissa would have to manage it all. But I was not about to let another Divine Empress rise up. I had learned my lesson with the Ritualist. Make sure the threat is ended and nip similar threats in the bud before they can grow.

We entered the flowerlands to the East of Qingdao and kept making our way Southwest. It was quite dark once we reached the road. But now our course and path were easy to keep. It was flat all the way from here to the plaza of the Forbidden City.

I noted that the tribes people who had been following us had called it a night. It didn’t surprise me they stayed away from the roads. The soldiers would have no love for them and the risk of losing a tribute cart to the Forbidden City was too dangerous. They would attack first and not bother to ask any questions.

With no monsters on the road, unless the tribes people were moving about or ambushing some tribute, there was no need for them to be on or near the road.

That played to our advantage since it was dark and I didn’t want to deal with any complications right now. The journey was done mostly in silence. From the occasional glance over at Fuyuka, she seemed to be holding up well.

I had Abs stop. Fuyuka looked at me. I had carefully scanned our surroundings there was no one that I could tell. “Water and short break,” I said. She nodded and got water out. I lifted up my face concealing helmet and had a bit to drink. She drank as well, and we relieved ourselves.

After about five minutes we started walking again. We couldn’t afford to be caught with our pants down around our ankles. The Divine Empress would not tolerate anything like that. Not even bodily functions. That had been what Bao Wang had speculated and I had no reason to believe he would lie or make up stories about such things when he had been alive.

Regardless, we couldn’t really rest. Better to get tot the Forbidden City early in the morning and get the heist done in one day.