I decided to be nice or mean depending on how you looked at things and offered this Richard something everyone here wanted to do. “Well for the apple, you get to ask one question. And I don’t want any more food than this, in case other people were getting ideas.” I took a bite of my apple and looked at the nervous soldier standing in front of where I was seated.

“Um, well, what advice do you have to get stronger?” Oh, now that was an interesting question.

“It comes down to stats and skills. So grinding your way up to higher level monsters would be the way to go. Also to train your stats and don’t just go with what the Almighty System gives you. It is a baseline, a starting point, but like with movement and Body, there is a lot more depth to work out Richard,” I replied.

“Thank you sir Champion,” he saluted me and I gave a lazy salute back before he ran off. That had been amusing. I noticed Abdullah and his four captains come over and take seats near me. I guess Richard had opened up the possibility I wouldn’t bite, and they couldn’t appear to be weak.

“That was nice of you,” Commander Abdullah said.

“He was brave enough. So, a question seemed like a good reward for an apple. Too bad he didn’t ask to the secret to my powers and all my hidden weaknesses,” I said and there were chuckles at that, even from the soldiers listening in. “But since you are the officers, I will let each one of you have a single question and the Commander can go last,” I said. They all perked up at that.

I was the old man source of knowledge around these parts. Might as well dispense some wisdom. They all looked at one of the men in their officer group.

“I am trying to understand the power levels of various people. I get stats play a role, but where do monsters, and people like the empress line up?”

“I would refer to their effective combat level. What level of monster can you fight. All of you would be anywhere from a high two to a mid three. A level 4 monster would rip through you all like nothing. They are smarter and can attack in groups, on top of their power boost.”

“I would estimate myself somewhere around level 5. None of you would be able to do anything to me. You might be able to hit a level higher with teamwork, but I would say it is impossible two level’s higher. As for the Divine Empress, high level 5 or low level 6 I would have to guess.”

“Thank you Champion Michael,” the officer said and the lone woman asked the next question.

“Is the Dragon Empire really as bad as they say? What is the truth and what are lies? Like a throne, demonic babies? Rape buildings?” I could see the anger within her at each question.

“All true. I will be honest and didn’t believe it myself at first. But I have fought her demonic babies, I have seen and melted her Throne of Tortured Souls. It was made of screaming heads that were really screaming. As for the rape dens, I have not seen any personally, but there are no female soldiers in the Dragon Empire. Those babies have to come from somewhere. In addition, I had it confirmed to be by the various sources, from the Butcher of Beijing Bao Wang, to Ren the leader of the Rising Sun Alliance, the rebels over there.”

“I see. Thank you for letting me know it wasn’t all just lies,” she said. I gave her a nod and the next officer asked their question.

“So, any clue on what did all of this and why?” I smiled at bit at this. This was the one universal question everyone had to speculate on. From the lowest slave to the Divine Empress herself.

“The Almighty System that is god of this place. It sees everything, is all powerful, and is everywhere at all times. Well maybe not everywhere, but close enough it makes no difference,” I replied. “It clearly isn’t human, or I don’t think so. So alien, since there is an intelligence behind the Almighty System. I have confirmed that.”

There was shuffling at that and I could tell everyone was listening in to every word I said. “But beyond that, I can only speculate as to its origin and purpose. Alien tv, matrix, rouge super weapon, the list goes on.”

“Regardless, I call it the Almighty System for its power. I have seen it act directly once and it is no joke. I would say start at level 100 and you might be in the ballpark, maybe. One day we might escape or leave, but I have long buried that hope inside of me.”

The officer thanked me and the fourth one asked their question. “Any idea on the age or size of this place?”

“Well, the oldest person I have heard about is from eight years ago, but that was second hand. So, the Systemic Lands could be older than that or not. It is hard to say. As for the size. Well, our territory and the Dragon Empire’s territory combined, make up half to a third. Supposedly. Again, this is all secondhand information I haven’t verified.”

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After getting thanked it was Commander Abdullah’s turn. “What are your long term plans?” That was a tricky question.

“Winning the war. Which I am afraid falls under top secret. So, you can go again,” I replied.

“I meant after the war,” Commander Abdullah replied.

“Planning for victory already?” I asked back.

“A bit, I mean, I am hoping it ends one day. I just want to know if I should stick around in the military or do something else,” he replied.

“It is impossible to say. Winning isn’t simple and I am focused on that right now. Afterwards, well the government will probably reform as an empire.” I could sense everyone really staring at me now. “The simple fact is, that I could just get up and leave, and could survive hiding out. But to stop someone else coming in and rampaging, I need to be a deterrent.”

“A democracy is impractical based on the nature of power. I refuse to listen to stupidity or allow stupidity to take hold. In effect, I would be in charge like always and Chief Administrator Clarissa would arrange for a bureaucracy to take shape.”

“The military would transition to grinding and only have elite guards, protecting important locations, and guards to maintain order in general. But real power is invested in individuals.”

“Is there a way to reach your level?” Commander Abdullah asked. I considered that question.

“Yes, but it isn’t easy or simple. Just work harder, grind more, and you will rise up. It is called grinding for a reason, not monster slaying. It is repetitive and boring for the most part. If you rise up high enough, then you will be the one poking new and interesting monsters and pushing the boundaries of knowledge.”

“I see, thank you for indulging me Champion Michael,” Commander Abdullah told me and I nodded at him.

“It is fine, and you were respectful. Once someone is at combat level 4, they are worthy of respect. Even the Divine Empress. I don’t expect you to call her that or anyone else, but her and people that have reached those heights are not simple and their danger exceeds your imagination, I can promise you that.”

“Is she really that strong?” One of the captains asked.

“Yes. While I was weaker then and have gotten much stronger since my loss. She has as well. But seeing is believing. No skills, but you have the highest Body stat here, right Commander Abdullah?” I asked, he nodded.

“Alright, all four captains and yourself can come at me. No skills, since I want to demonstrate exactly what the Divine Empress is when she is toying around so you can understand the vast gulf between you and me, to better understand the gulf between you and her.” I got up and moved away from the campsite. The soldiers spread out as well.

I scanned for anyone else nearby, and there wasn’t. I double and triple checked, but there was not even an unusual fluctuation in the ambient energy as far as I could tell. “Feel free to strike to kill with your swords.”

“Very well, let’s not hold back. We have our own pride,” Commander Abdullah said, and his captains agreed. They drew their swords while I stood there calmly. They charged at me.

I had 20,000 in my Body stat, which was more than twenty times any of them. While I wasn’t twenty times faster, I was more than fast enough to deal with them. They were moving in slow motion.

Unfortunately, I had to use two hands instead of one. As I stopped their attacks in mid-air and pushed back their swords with my bare hands. I knew the officers had enchanted weapons, but they were low level enchantments and didn’t do anything to me as they all stumbled back.

“Did you just grab our swords and push us back?” one of the captains asked.

“Yes. At a certain number of stats, you cannot do anything. I could let your blows hit, but they would damage my armor, but not me. Even with enchanted blades, the enchantments are not a high enough level to do damage to me.”

“Ah, I see, thank you for the demonstration,” Commander Abdullah replied and sheathed his blade. The rest of them did it as well.

“It is the unfortunate truth of this new world. That power decides the rules. Which is why the Divine Empress can run her empire like she has and no one can do anything.”

“There is no check or balances?” the female captain asked me.

“None. Only other people strong enough, but even that is risky. High level fights are not beam attacks from a distance. They are close up, where life and death is decided in an instant.” The officers nodded at this, since they had clearly seen a lot of fighting.

“So no way for us to compete,” one of the captains let out a sigh.

“Your best option is to run and delay. But running is impractical once someone with my amount of stats sets their sight on you. They can outlast and out speed you. While stats aren’t everything, the greater the difference the more quickly it becomes an insurmountable gap.”

“That is why I will be doing the majority of the fighting in the upcoming operation. Your job is to show up and look intimidating for the initial attempt at diplomacy and a fallback position when things become a mess.”

“I won’t say no to staying at the back in support, if the fighting is going to be at that level,” Commander Abdullah replied.

“At most they will have one to three combatants who can fight me and not die instantly. But we shall see. If anything, they will have to team up to have a chance against me. That leaves everyone weaker who might rush you. I will also be employing wide ranging attacks. So teamwork isn’t an option.”

“I understand. Well we should all get some rest, double watch shifts since we are in enemy territory.” Commander Abdullah got to work getting everyone settled down from the question and answer, and then the very quick demonstration on how pointless they all were.

While it wasn’t nice to put it that way, I was bringing them along to give me more options, but in terms of combat, they were all useless in my opinion. They wouldn’t be able to do anything worthwhile and I would only entrust them with books, if the Divine Empress showed up and they needed to run.

But hopefully diplomacy would work. Hopefully. Hope was working overtime just to even be present as a possibility.