“Wow,” I said while looking at the Regional Map. “It really is a Rift,” I muttered. There was a long row of void zones going from North to South, blocking our way to the West. There was low zone land across it though.

“We had issues trying to cross before. Are we going for the peace of land to the North?” Captain Francis asked me. It was a tricky question. Crossing the void zones in full was important in my mind. Even with the turbulence.

“How far did we go, last time, would you say?” I asked Captain Francis.

“About a quarter of the way at best. Most likely a fifth. No good landmarks and the monsters are moving. But the turbulence, is the main concerning. The Crystal Vortex would take some damage,” he said.

“But still be flight worthy?” I asked him.

“Yes. It should be. You don’t want to go the land route?” Captain Francis asked me.

“We can, but I would prefer to cross a void zone in full that isn’t isolated. There are probably floating islands to the Southeast,” I said.

“High level. Very high level. Maybe max level,” Captain Francis countered. I shrugged a bit.

“True, but I also want us to have confidence if we need to retreat back across the void in a straight line. Based on the maps we have looked at, there are only three land passages if I had to guess. One in the North and South, which are way too high level. Then one at the middle, North of The Abyss,” I said while pointing out the places on the map.

“You are probably right. You want to avoid detection as well,” he replied.

“To a degree. We can see people moving about to the West,” I said and looked over at the lead person Clarissa had included for this expedition.

“Indeed,” Fiyaz said with a nod. “We want to avoid connecting by road if at all possible.”

“If, and this is an if, if there is trouble, we have no place to set down. Crossing void zones is a huge risk. Monsters can come from below as well,” Captain Francis said.

“We just need appropriate speed,” I countered.

“And then the turbulence is too much. I can try and thread the needle, but it seems a pointless risks. Even if we do gain knowledge, it is clear we will need a bigger airship for such a thing. Smaller airships have trouble on the smaller isolated void zones, but then we upgraded, and it was fine,” he said. I nodded at this.

“All right, the safe way, which means going up North and then West. Only level 5 zones. Then do we swing North or South?” I asked while looking around.

“North,” Doctor Katz said. “There is only one void zone if we need to retreat rapidly. Instead of the void zone, strip of land, and then another void zone across from The Abyss.”

“I would argue that this makes the South better. It is harder to figure out where we came from, even with an airship,” Fiyaz said.

“North seems the most prudent from a safety perspective and a rapid retreat,” Captain Francis said.

“I don’t have an opinion,” Michelle said.

“North it is then. Cross over to the West side of the Systemic Lands, and then swing North,” I said with a nod.

“I suggest we keep to the void zone’s edge the entire time. At least that would be my flight plan. Unlikely to be spotted. Stop in the level 3, level 4 zone boarder to the North, and then you go by foot. Depends on the terrain, but hopefully mistlands. Or at least we can find some,” Captain Francis said.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“I would object to you going alone at the start,” Captain Francis told me.

“Heard, but I want to make my own impressions first,” I replied. I didn’t want people tagging along if I could help it.

“You need a translator. The cities are most likely Indian or Russian,” Fiyaz said. I nodded at this. That was one of the reasons Clarissa had sent him with us since he spoke both languages. It was a good point.

Stolen story; please report.

“I am going to take a look around first myself. Then I will worry about such things,” I replied. He nodded at me respectfully. I had ultimate command and I wanted to do a bit of adventuring while being overpowered. I had been working on hiding my stats for a while.

It wouldn’t hold up to anyone who trained their Sense stat in a weird way, but it would pass visual inspection. If that failed, well, that was information on its own. “Of course, Emperor Michael,” Fiyaz said.

“Anything else we need to discuss?” I asked. Doctor Katz let out a heavy sigh. I could already tell what he was going to ask.

“Let’s try to learn and see if they have any knowledge before burning it all down,” he added.

“Of course, Doctor. Learning from others is what we do. But I won’t go around melting people willy nilly. I want to find out about my counterpart without alerting them. That is the primary purpose of this exploration. The secondary purpose is to gain knowledge on the general strategic situation, technology level, and anything else that might have been discovered.”

It hadn’t escaped my notice, that research over the last 10 years was dragging compared to the couple of years of conflict before that. While it might have been the low hanging fruit being plucked, there was also the aspect of pressure forcing people to adapt and discover things.

Whatever energy based techniques the other nations in the Systemic Lands had, we needed to discover them and counter them as quickly as possible. That was why I considered summoning a huge, but temporary advantage. Too many people in my Empire knew about summoning to put the genie back in the box.

But we could limit its spread for as long as possible. I glanced at Michelle. She didn’t want to kill people or be used as a strategic weapon. It was naïve, but ultimately not worth arguing about. I was going to be doing the poking, she would be defending the airship while I was away. Also, a massive force multiplier if needed.

“If one nation wants to open up a dialogue, I will consider it. But I need to evaluate their strength first. Specifically, I need to lay eyes on their top tier individual to assess their stats,” I said and there were nods at that. While everyone might not be war crazy, no one wanted another Divine Empress.

That was the biggest threat. Another crazy person with an insane amount of power. That was why there needed to be a lot of focus on finding the most powerful person out there and seeing how big of a threat they actually were.

I didn’t think they could match up to me, but I wasn’t going to assume anything. The way of assumptions, was the way of death, and I had been wrong in the past too many times. We would not be negotiating from a position of weakness, or equals. Or at least I wouldn’t be.

While I might say nice things for the good doctor and the others, the more I thought about the situation, the more appropriate a preemptive strike was in my mind. To go out there and crush whatever was the threat or could be a threat.

It was something I had been thinking about for a while. A surprise attack was very powerful. But looking at the people around me, I didn’t think I would be able to pull something like that off. There would be objections and hesitation to just straight up assassinating someone.

There would have to be discussions and talking most likely. While I didn’t like it, I wasn’t a hammer, and everything wasn’t a nail. Perhaps there would be another Truth situation, where the person in charge just gave up completely and was done with it all. I could send them to one of the retirement cities and remove them as a threat.

Not everything had to end in death and despair. “I am glad you will consider opening a dialogue. I know you plan to unleash people due to the population crisis, but thank you,” Doctor Katz said.

“I will do it out of respect for you. But I won’t bow my head and do not ask it of me,” I told him and he nodded. I was glad the good doctor understood things. He might have a bleeding heart, but he was a realist. That was why I respected him and would listen to his advice, even if I thought it was stupid sometimes.

“What is our operational timeframe?” I asked Captain Francis.

“We are fully restocked, on crystals, points, and supplies. We have a 100 day operational capacity, like our normal departures. I had some of the tax revenue rerouted here in anticipation of this,” he said and I nodded at that. Captain Francis was clearly on top of things for the Crystal Vortex, which eased my mind.

“I doubt we will need all 100 days, even if sleeping arrangements are a bit tight,” I said.

“My team and I appreciate it Emperor Michael, Captain. We will make sure to stay out of the way,” Fiyaz said and I nodded at this. It was nice that Purgatory pulled people from America. We got a melting pot, which allowed us to set up a team of five people. Two Russian looking individuals, and two Indian looking individuals, with Fiyaz, being Indian.

It would make the airship quite cramped, but it was manageable by double bunking. They would be a long-term infiltration team depending on what I found. Clarissa had really done a good job putting them togeather and getting Fiyaz.

“The soldiers know about the information protocols?” I asked Captain Francis.

“Reviewed multiple times and they have been quizzed as well. There will be no issues there,” he replied, and I nodded.

“Good. Then that should be everything. Unless there is anything else?” I asked once more. No one answered. “Alright, we depart tomorrow morning,” I said. We all left the Regional Map building. There was a celebration going on outside in the city of The Abyss from all the upgrades I had done and endorsing their summoner school.

Once we left, we would be going into the unknown. Not the unknown of monsters that had been going on for years, but the unknown of people. I felt both excited and worried about this. It would be a good change of pace, and it would make me feel like I was making some progress after the frustration of the level 6 city upgrade which had been the last possible upgrade.

It was frustrating to feel so trapped, which was why I was doing this. I needed to know the full scope of the Systemic Lands, even if there was danger. Sticking my head in the sand and waiting around even longer was no longer a valid strategy.