“So, you called the Divine Empress an old hag?” the translator whose name was Fu Ge asked me.

“Yes, I did and stole all her crystals and child too,” I added on. He munched on an apple looking between the sulking kid who was poking at the chain collar he wore and then back at me.

“Well, you are now his caretaker,” Fu Ge was giving me a look like he didn’t know if he wanted to strangle me or just scream. Probably both if I had to guess. The target on his back for even talking to me was massive.

I felt bad for the guy, but I needed a way to talk to the child and Fuyuka had lost her head. So, this guy was the next best option. Who knows, he might even survive and raise up the ranks of Clarissa’s hierarchy.

If he did manage to live and got get squished or flesh crafted, I would see about doing something nice for him. It was unlikely, but one could hope. He clearly understood that as well since the despair was slowly entering his soul by the expressions his face was going through.

“Why did I ever speak up. Get a Doctorate in the US my mother said. It is good for your career. Now, I am going to die horribly,” he muttered.

“Perk up. If anything the Divine Empress hates me. If you see her, gently sent the child down and kill yourself is my suggestion,” I offered. Fu Ge glared at me as I grinned at him.

“That is not helping!” He threw the apple core at me, which I casually flicked to the side with a single finger. I let him vent. Normally I wouldn’t have let someone disrespect me like that, but Fu Ge was under a lot of mental strain at the moment. I needed him to cooperate until I got to Clarissa at the very least.

It was going to be a trip, but at least the end was in sight and I had the stats. I smiled at that. Nothing could take that away. Well death could, but that didn’t count. Stats were forever. That is why I prioritized them over gear.

Gear could come and go like the wind and had a shelf life. Stats, those stuck with a person and couldn’t be taken away. Well maybe by the Almighty System could, but it was god of this place and didn’t count.

“Well, you need to buckle up. We have a long trip back to the East and we need to get moving. You will be hidden in some far off corner, have no doubt about that. Also well taken care of,” I added.

“Back to being carried?” Fu Ge asked. I nodded at this.

“Yes, since I can manage the forces impacting you much better than if you were gripping me. Or you can do piggyback. It will be tiring,” I offered.

“Piggyback. Being carried like a sack of rice is not fun.”

“Alright then, well translate to the kid we are going and I am carrying him. If he needs to use the bathroom he needs to use it now,” I explained. Fu Ge translated for me.

“He can’t go with that on his neck he says.” I nodded at this. I expected something like that of course.

“Then tell him he can piss him shit himself. And make himself feel nasty and he will be punished for that. But the collar isn’t coming off no matter what, unless his head comes off from his body. Make sure to add that last part in vivid detail,” I said. Fu Ge gave me a look and I waved a hand at him to hurry up.

He translated and there was a lot of back and forth. I let it play out. Better to let the kid get it out of his system both physically and emotionally before we set off. I didn’t want to stop once we got started. Qi Ji Long took a while, but eventually he did his business.

I had him wipe with pieces of the blanket I ripped up. Thankfully he had been potty trained. I couldn’t even imagine the Divine Empress doing that. The very thought gave me a headache. It was hard to reconcile the Divine Empress in all her despotic glory and being a mother as well. It was just mind boggling and hard to wrap my head around.

Once Qi Ji Long was set, I got everyone ready to go and set off. I had been calling him kid or child. I had wanted to distance myself from him, but if I was going to sacrifice him as a living bomb to save myself and everyone else, then I would remember his name and use it.

He deserved that much at least. It was something I had decided. No matter what, the Divine Empress had to die. It didn’t matter if I had to pile up the children in front of her, she had to. There was no alternative.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

After seeing her Empire up close the Astrologer hadn’t been lying. It boggled my mind. I never understood how people could believe mass genocides had never happened on Earth. With all the evidence that came out after the fact.

But I had just heard there was an evil empire next door, and I knew they were evil. But the Throne of Tortured Souls had been real. The Divine Empress even kept up the Avatar of the Almighty System locked up and tortured. Well that one was less evil. Like right below kicking a rabid dog. Screw the Avatar.

Well Qi Ji Long was mine now and I would make sure he got back to Clarissa safely so he could be tucked away somewhere and turned into the trap to end all traps. If the Divine Empress was killed without the kid, which was very unlikely, then I had no clue what we would do with him.

Imagine Hitler had a son. What would you do with said son? He clearly was too young to understand right and wrong. I would keep an eye on him, but let him go if I could, I decided. Just like Fu Ge. I was hoping everything would work itself out.

At least with Fu Ge on piggyback I had one hand free to melt monsters with. The gestureless upgrade was important if I was going to keep being a chuffer. It was honestly frustrating and degrading to have to carry grown people around like this, but there was no other option.

They were too slow and we needed to move. If the threat of the Divine Empress hadn’t been so real, I would have made them walk instead of carrying them like a pack mule. That was the sad thing about being so powerful. Anyone else moving me about or carrying me would just be stupid with my stats.

It was a mental exertion not a physical one. Well that wasn’t entirely true, there was still physical movement, but managing the forces generation and nullification was all mental. I was probably one of the best, but the Divine Empress was still above me even in this.

The blow she landed on my chest went straight through. It didn’t disperse through my body. I had a hard time recalling if I thought of it back then, but I hadn’t been in a good state physically or mentally after landing near Hope.

The Divine Empress had channeled the force of her Body stat in a particular direction to punch through me. Sure the force bled off, but that strike was meant to pierce anything with sheer power. A blow like that would be crippling no matter where it struck.

What I really needed was a skill so I could escape easier or a healing skill so if I was wounded and got away I would be crippled. First the Ritualist and then the Divine Empress. There wasn’t going to be a third time. No more being crippled and having to suffer afterwards. Dying was a lot worse, but it just aggravated me I had been put in that position twice.

Unlike the treasury getting robbed, there weren’t really safeguards I could put in place except to get stronger. That was always the answer. It was the answer when I first came here, then I didn’t take that to heart after I thought I was the strongest, and now it was the answer once again.

We crossed into the stonelands and kept heading East. We would loop South of the Forbidden City and then up to the city of Nanjing. There we would resupply and get Fu Ge a restoration. After that we would continue North and then East along the road connecting the two halves of the Systemic Lands.

The way the airship had flown off after the battle, the Avatar was to the Northwest. The evil empire was shaped like a reverse capital letter ‘L’. That empty space in the corner was where the Avatar’s nation was.

Well, if the Divine Empress was ever dealt with, I was going to pay her a visit to collect. Or send an assassin to kill her. Hmm, that might not be a good idea if the Almighty System responded. Kidnap then, since I was already in that business.

Then I would wipe out her nation and stuff her in a pit to never talk or interact with anyone. Just locked away in some remote corner of a city. Probably the East Bastion. That place was really out of the way.

The stonelands transitioned into swamp and I frowned. I had at least half a zone of them to get through. I paused and we took a short break. It had only been a few hours, but I could tell they need to move to get blood flow back and stay sane.

It wasn’t easy being carried on the Michael express. No drinks or other accommodations provided, death possible. After 15 minutes of wasting time, I gather them back up and we set off again.

I kept Qi Ji Long high up, but Fu Ge would be getting wet in the swamp water. I hated swamps and this one was no different. It also had spiders. Of course it had spiders, why wouldn’t it have large green spider monsters.

Well they were only level 2, so more of a joke really. I saw them approaching easily and wiped them out without thinking. The fact it was another swamp with spiders was something that got to me. Well, these ones weren’t giant like the ones South of Purgatory. But they were still big. More dog size than car size.

Level 4 monsters were much more esoteric. Not like the animals or simple fantasy monsters in the lower level zones. It made me wonder what a level 7 would be like. Nothing good of course, but would it be some energy being, or something even crazier.

I had been a lot more introspective lately, but my last defeat had made me feel weird. I didn’t lose, but I still lost. Not against a person but against the circumstances surrounding the situation. It had gotten out of my control. That was why I was thinking back on a lot of things again, double checking assumptions and considering the new threats and new tactics that had been shown.

I wasn’t going to be getting more stats anytime soon. Grinding for me to make an impact would have to be measured in years now. That was how ludicrous my stats had become compared to everyone else. It would be faster to make my own evil empire than grind. Well, at least I had Clarissa for that.