The questions were closed off and a soldier brought me a plate with two burgers. It was impressive how quickly the food was prepared, but cooked meat was a luxury for the most part. I sat on my throne as a couple of people had instruments. They were used slightly, which showed people had been busy purchasing animal products from Neo Brasilia.

Clarissa came over and I decided that sitting above lording everyone was boring. I picked up the chair with the flag of Purgatory draped over it and easily jumped down to the ground. “Join me?” I asked Clarissa as I sat again.

“Sure,” Clarissa replied, and another chair was brought over along with a tablecloth. I slowly ate my burger, savoring the delicious mystery meat. The Almighty System didn’t clarify the type of meat or product one got. Someone could specify the tail hair of a horse, but there were differences. Things like tension, elasticity, and other subtle properties were different.

That was why I considered it all mystery meat and mystery animal products. “The upgrade failing wasn’t a huge loss in terms of items, from what was reported about the Forbidden City,” Clarissa said.

“Oh, why is that?” I asked. I hadn’t checked all the items I could purchase while doing the heist, not wanting to slow down or risk claiming all those points. I had been wondering about the items that I had missed.

“The new food product is sugar. That’s it, sugar,” she replied.

I thought about that for a bit. “Can’t we make our own sugar with fruits?” I asked.

“It takes time and energy. One of the many things that will need to be started up again. There are a couple of governors that were aiming to produce the stuff. Also, a special material, Magnite. Which appears to some kind of super material.” She pulled out a small bar and handed it over to me.

I carefully tried to bend it and poke at it. “Better than the steel stuff from a level 4 store. Lighter too. I might consider a set of armor with this.” That was way down on my priority list. The actual armor and equipment I could wear that would actually help me.

That was the bad part about being Emperor and so far ahead of everyone else. The infrastructure to make the level of gear I needed wasn’t available and the crafting crystals would have to be gathered by me. Well, it was something, way, way down my list of things to do.

I handed the Magnite bar back to Clarissa. “Any structures?” I asked. It felt like I was cheating a bit, finding out what the upgrade options were after failing the upgrade. If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying, should be the secret motto of my Empire.

“Just a portal building for ten billion points,” Clarissa said. I blinked at that number.

“That isn’t happening for forever,” I replied.

“Not even curious?” Clarissa asked.

“Not really. A portal building will probably connect to other portal buildings, or a hell zone with level 10 monsters. So, no. Better to focus on purchasing everything else first and improving our economy. Those level 4 zones won’t grind themselves,” I replied.

“That is a ways off. Getting the level 3 zones filled up is the first priority. A more spread-out approach. We are cutting back on consumption as well,” Clarissa said.

“Cutting back or stopping I asked?” Out of curiosity.

“Stopping as soon as possible. While there are rumors about the process, there is no need to keep it ongoing. Better to let it fade into the background. There is also a limit to how much it can improve a person. If we want people able to easily grind all types of level 3 zones and go into level 4 zones, then they need stats and skills,” Clarissa explained, and I nodded at that while finishing off my second mystery burger. There was music happening in the background and some people were dancing.

I noted off in another corner of the plaza, there were summon battles happening. “Summons?” I asked.

“Will still be used, but no hybrids. We are trying to avoid rebel groups from forming. Better to just kill people if we need to remove them,” Clarissa answered. She was clearly on the same wavelength as me. Hybrids were good for a quick increase in low level combat strength, but not that great for grinding. Even summons weren’t great for grinding, but that ship had sailed.

“Licensing summoners and mental evaluations?” I asked.

“That will be done. One of the many things that Director Gretchen will be handling as part of her role as Director of Social Responsibility.” I recalled the woman from the meeting the previous day, but I didn’t really know her in any capacity.

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“Your delegation is quite impressive,” I replied.

“Well, I have been screening and searching for the best of the best during the war. Both her and the Director of Finance Lin Taylor are quite intelligent and capable,” Clarissa said. I had forgotten what she had told me about their credentials, but I trusted Clarissa to make informed choices about the Director level positions.

I wasn’t about to micro-manage her decisions. If she said they were competent, then that was enough for me to trust that they were competent in their assigned roles. “So, what is your salary now?” I asked.

“My salary will be 100,000 points per day and the Directors and Generals will get 20,000 points per day. Assistant Directors and Captains will only get 5,000 points per day. Those are the officer level positions. The rest will only get anywhere from 100 to 500 points per day,” Clarissa explained.

“Surprised you didn’t take more, that is a small fraction of the total tax revenue,” I said.

“It is to prevent bloat of the government. While officer level roles will be paid quite a bit, there is a clear separation and also expectations between officer level people who I personally interview and everyone else. This will encourage people not to look to the Imperial government as a source of employment,” Clarissa explained.

“The Governors, can pay out whatever they want?” I asked, wanting to be sure. I hadn’t been paying that much attention to some of these details yesterday with how tired I was. While they might have been mentioned and in the documents, I wanted to double check some things to make sure they were working how I thought they should be working.

“Yes. Control over their third of the tax revenue is the source of power. They can invest it in themselves, invest it into the city, or invest it into clearing teams. It will be interesting to see how the cities change over time as they each go a different direction. I know food development is going to be huge,” Clarissa said.

“What about Governors controlling businesses?” I asked.

“No inter-city businesses without the approval of the Imperial Government and the Governors Council. They can own all the businesses, invest and sell them off, just do research and then hand it off, it is all on them to decide. Just no skirting around the tax requirements,” Clarissa explained, and I nodded at that.

“Since they can only governors and directors don’t need to pay taxes, right?” I asked.

“Only on what they cash in, and only from tax revenue. If they run businesses, they need to account for that separately from the tax revenue.”

“Well, you appear to have things well in hand. Research, that will continue?” I asked.

“Yes. Along with weapon development. But it won’t be the only focus. Looking more into skills, stats, and energy types. Lots of long-term research and careful testing on a small scale. Also, devices as well.”

“The Astrolabes, did they work?” I asked. Clarissa let out a sigh.

“Maybe. It is hard to tell, and we have broken all the ones in use currently except one out by East Bastion for long term testing. I have tried to train up Diviners, sticking people with a high Sense stat in a box, and there is a disturbance. My guess is that it clocks spikes of energy. More useful to hide high level people like yourself if I had to guess.”

Now that was interesting, and good to know. It would take time to work out all the details of the various pieces of equipment, enchantments, and interactions we could exploit. The research budget, while large, wouldn’t be the sole focus it was during the war.

“Emperor Michael, sorry to bother you, but there is a woman who wants to thank you.” A soldier came over from the perimeter around our dining table. I looked over and my eyes went wide.

“Of course. Please bring a chair for our guest as well,” I replied. The soldier went off and I got up. The woman made to bow but I quickly went over and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

“You have earned the right not to bow to me Hope. It is good to see you,” I said and she smiled. This woman had helped saved my life after the Divine Empress had visited Purgatory, yeeted me, and I was left with a broken spine. Her help crossing a swamp and getting to Neo Brasilia had been invaluable. While I had given her a lot of points, I still had a very good opinion about this woman. After all, my life was worth infinite, so saving it was the most valuable thing anyone could do.

“Thanks Emperor Michael. It is good to see you,” she seemed more settled than the last time I had seen her, but time and war changes people.

“Come sit with us,” I said, and Clarissa greeted her as a soldier brought over a chair and Hope sat down with us. “So, what have you been up to since I saw you last?” I asked.

“Mostly delivering material between Neo Brasilia and the research facility. Clarissa offered me a governorship, but I turned it down.” That was surprising. “I was thinking of traveling a bit.” That sounded utterly stupid. There was nothing new to see, but that was up to her.

“That sounds quite fun. Maybe we can give her an official title, like Imperial Auditor or Inspector?” I asked Clarissa.

“I can arrange something like that. That way you shouldn’t run into any trouble traveling about,” Clarissa said.

“That would be amazing, thanks. I just wanted to take a break from the fighting for a bit,” Hope said. I could understand that mindset, but it didn’t make any sense to me. Only with power could one decide their own fate. But some people were content with being sheep. There could only be one Emperor after all as shepherd of the nation.

“Well, I am glad you survived. So many people, a complete and utter waste. When you get back after traveling, I am sure Clarissa can find you any position you want, if you want to be part of the government. You don’t have to answer now, but consider it an open invitation Hope.”

“Um, thanks Emperor Michael. That is a lot. I really just wanted to say hi.” Never change Hope. Your name and appearance are like a breath of fresh air from the constant gloom that grips everything.

I sipped some fruit flavored water and thought of Naran. He had been avenged. It had taken ages, but I felt like he could finally rest now. While it had been a battle and a half, I had won in the end.

BOOM!

An explosion engulfed part of the plaza. I quickly stood up, my throne falling backwards. Checking with my Sense stat I didn’t see anything odd. There was another explosion and then a third from different areas of the plaza. I noted bits of annihilation effect mixed in with the explosion itself.