Clarissa

I watched Michael’s airship take off very early this morning from the roof of the Imperial Palace. He left without any fanfare or excitement. People would notice his airship was gone and report back to their masters. The governors all had a house here in the inner city.

When they weren’t in residence, they had people here reporting back to them. I didn’t mind such things. It was expected for them to keep an eye on the Imperial Government. Michael could upend the gameboard at any time.

Doctor Katz had dumped quite a bit of work on one of my assistant’s laps. His ideas were questionable, but it was his project. There would only be some minor tweaks to how things were going to be done. Nothing serious, but just a bit of managerial reorganization to make things more efficient.

“Think there will be problems?” Samantha asked me.

“Of course there will be problems. We need to prepare. We need to move mobilization up to 50 days, not 200,” I said. She looked at me in surprise.

“Won’t that mess up the timelines?” Samantha asked.

“We are running a nation. Not a business. Don’t forget that. We will just borrow out of Michael’s share of the tax revenue and lock down the dungeons on a more widespread scale. There will be some complaints, but it is necessary to ensure our safety,” I explained to her.

“Very well, I will make the arrangements,” she said.

“I will take responsibility for this decision. But the most important thing is our safety. We can’t afford to risk it. And making preparations during a conflict is near impossible,” I said and waved my hand. Samantha scurried off.

I knew in my gut that there was about to be a lot of trouble headed my way. There was a reason we had held off on poking the other nations out there for so long. There would be complications, and high-level combatants out there.

The overall risk for the Empire of Purgatory and myself would increase massively. Still, it was the right call. We couldn’t afford to be passive anymore after the last store upgrade. We needed to take a proactive and more aggressive approach to the Systemic Lands if we wanted to get it under control. Not that it would ever fully be under control, but the removal of all threats that could hurt Michael or myself.

That was why I was okaying so many research projects that Jacob was interested in. We couldn’t afford to not take those risks anymore. Every day this place felt more and more like a prison or a cage that we were trapped in.

It felt weird, since I never felt that way on Earth, but here in the Systemic Lands, I felt that pressure. The Crystal Vortex disappeared in the distance. I turned around and made my way back inside. My protection detail checking everything around me.

I was never going to be put at risk again. I had come too close to death far too many times for my comfort. It was aggravating that such events had come to pass. I refused to be put at risk ever again. Now that I had come so far, I was not going to be stopped.

“General Abdullah, a surprise to see you, up here,” I replied as I came to a stop on the roof.

“A message reached me. You are increasing the mobilization timeline?” he asked.

“Yes to 50 days. You will have your crystals and the dungeon schedules have been cleared.” It had taken a little bit of planning, but I had blocked off a large chunk of days. “Recruitment won’t be an issue?” I asked.

“It will be rushed and the units we make will be rushed as well. Do you expect something to happen?” he asked.

“Yes. Emperor Michael poking the other nations is sure to invite a response of some kind. I feel trouble on the horizon general. We must be ready for such trouble. We are also reactivating the A. B. S. superweapon program. Using level 6 crafting crystals.”

“Wouldn’t level 8 cannons be a better choice?” he asked me, and I shook my head.

“Their price is too much. And the store cannons only work on airships or in the city. They don’t work out in the field. Airships are too big of a target. We have miniaturized stuff enough that we can have hand cannons,” I replied.

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“You want a unit of 10?” he asked.

“Yes. We should have enough crafting crystals. It will push our capabilities, but we need to get ready. The summon stockpiles?”

“All set. We can mass deploy an army, if necessary,” he said, and I nodded at this. If quality didn’t work, we had quantity. I would drown whatever monster in human skin showed up with hordes of monsters. The number of beam attacks, mental attacks, and everything else that could be brought to bear on a single target was immense.

If another Divine Empress showed up, she would have no chance against the overwhelming barrage. While we would hope that Michael would succeed and not run into trouble, it was better to have a backup plan. I was not going to be running and hiding in the wilderness again.

Upgrading the cannons would take time and was expensive. It would eventually happen, but the most important thing was protecting the inner city. If the outer city was lost, that would be unfortunate, but acceptable.

There were very few things for the continuation of the government, but I needed to ensure those things survived no matter what. That included knowledge and key personnel. While I would scream into my pillow if I had to rebuild everything again, it could be done, and I was mentally prepared to accept that.

I hoped it wouldn’t come to the point where we lost the capital and would do everything to prevent it from happening. But I plan and the Almighty System laughs. “Do you want to begin hybrid mobilization?” he asked.

I considered that question carefully and then shook my head. “No. No hybrids until a conflict starts and even then, I would want to evaluate the scope of the conflict. If we use them again the secret will get out,” I replied.

“Very well. I will make the arrangements,” he said and gave me a salute, which I returned. I was the supreme military commander after all. Michael while technically being in charge, had no authority to make military decisions. Many would listen to him, but he wasn’t in the direct chain of command. He was more like a President. They might give directions, but they wouldn’t handle the deployments.

Well not like a President, more like a nuclear missile that was Emperor shaped. If there was a conflict, he wouldn’t be responsible for getting personnel moved about, I was. General Abdullah would handle the formation of the military and sure it was up to snuff. He would also take command in the field if necessary.

The soldiers in the Imperial Army and Air Force would be at a low combat level 4. The Captains were mid-level 4. It was less about the individuals and more about their combined teamwork. That was the key. That had been trained excessively. The 200 people we had would be solid, but the new recruits would be broken in quickly enough.

They could train with the more experienced soldiers until an actual conflict broke out. My hope was that they could delay or make whoever was attacking hesitate by their sheer numbers and the volume of attacks that would be unleashed.

I wasn’t that hopeful they would accomplish much, but every little bit was important. My main investment and one area I was putting a sizable amount of my personal funds from my food businesses, was my personal guard and myself.

No matter what happened, I would be ready.

General Abdullah

Clarissa was moving up the timetable, which was not a good sign. The biggest headache was recruitment. It wasn’t enough to find someone who had just arrived with military training. We needed people who had fought monsters and didn’t panic.

That was the hardest part. There was a pipeline, and I was going to be pulling from the various cities. No doubt the governors would complain about the early recruitment orders I had to send, and the dungeon spots I would be taking up, but it was necessary.

While there might be token protests from the governors, Clarissa ruled them with an iron fist. They just complained for the sake of complaining and having something to do. But they were all under her thumb. I knew about her secret stealth soldiers she kept around herself at all times except when Michael was nearby.

It was a constant reminder not to mess with her. I shook my head. I couldn’t worry about that right now. I had a job to do, and I had to make sure I did it well. I didn’t want to get retired into a void zone. If I won this upcoming war, I might be able to retire, but even then it wasn’t worthwhile.

There was nothing else to do. I knew some cities were trying to showcase themselves as retirement destinations, but that was idiotic. While I didn’t want to go facing high level monsters, I wasn’t an idiot who would stop getting stronger and stick their head in the sand.

The sheer power of high-level monsters was stupid. The tentacles that showed up during the city upgrade had been a nightmare. I wouldn’t have stood a chance. And that level 7 monster, that wasn’t a real level 7, was also quite impressive. Fighting such things was not something I wanted to do.

That was why I was content that Michael was the Emperor and also exploring. I didn’t have the capability to go out and face the unknown like he did and for that he had my respect and support.

I had also been keeping an eye on Clarissa to see if she was up to something or a plot to overthrow him, but there was no sign. I would still keep my eyes open, but she wasn’t one to put her life on the line. She wasn’t a fighter like Michael was.

If there ever was a coup, I wouldn’t be supporting her. That much I knew for sure. If you aren’t willing to go out there yourself, then the grinders, soldiers, and other stronger people just wouldn’t respect you. I knew she had stats, when I had seen her control lapse. But she kept them hidden the majority of the time, letting people think she was weak.

Only an idiot would believe that. But she wasn’t a fighter or willing to risk herself. I knew I would be sent out there in the thick of it to deal with whatever horror Michael dragged back. I was thinking it would be a level 10 on day. Some super monster, chasing him across the Systemic Lands, back to this city for a desperate last stand.

I could only hope that I would survive such an event.