We reached a level 2 zone, where the road turned to the West instead of still going Northwest. There were several carts on the road, and I noticed there was another road going North to South. I slowed my approach, clearly seeing the different uniforms from the rags the other people wore around the Indian Sultanate.

They were light brown colors, with white turbans. Their stats were fairly high as well. I would put them at just below the elites of the Indian Sultanate. So basically, no real threat to me or my team. They had spotted us and were moving into a formation. The most recent level 3 zone had no grinders in it, which was surprising. Apparently, a no man’s land between nations.

The campsite had chairs, tables, and was clearly a long-term operation and outpost. They had set up on the road and the carts looked fairly worn. The soldiers were clean enough, which showed they took pride in themselves, or switched out regularly enough to have their clothes cleaned. White was not a good color for clothes, due to how quickly they could get dirty. But if they were patrolling on the roads, then it didn’t matter.

I counted at least twenty and more groups of soldiers were coming from the North to South road, that had been on patrol. They were forming up. I noted a shield wall coming togeather, with spears, swords, and there were even a couple archers in the back. I noted one-man summoning monsters as well. Weak monsters, so not too much of a threat.

Honestly, Michelle could have killed all of them by herself. Even one of my soldiers could wipe them all out without too much of a headache. Their skills might be a bit tricky, but in reality, they were so out classed it was a bit depressing.

There were no women in the group. Misogyny was alive and well out here apparently. While it made sense that women wouldn’t be in combat roles in the military on Earth, due to having a hard time carrying all the gear and their weapon, with stats that didn’t matter. The Almighty System truly was equal opportunity, which always made me chuckle in my head.

I could never tell if it was a socialist, liberal, conservative, or capitalist system. It was equally brutal to everyone. But only helped if you paid for stuff crystals. It was a tyrannical system, at least in my mind, since it controlled nearly everything about this place.

Focusing, I saw one man with higher stats than the others. Probably a level 4 combatant at best. He might actually be a slight threat to the other people on my team, matching up with my soldiers. But still completely outclassed. That was probably their leader.

If he was standing guard at the boarder, clearly he wasn’t that important. But it gave me a better idea of the power level of their entire nation, and possibly their top tier combatants. I wasn’t too worried looking at them.

I had slowed my pace down to a steady walk, with the rest of my team behind me. I was going to take the lead going forward. No more trying to scope things out first. I was just going to bull rush my way to the answers. I was never that patient when there was such a clear opportunity to get in get information in front of me. Like a thirsty man in the desert, I needed answers like they would need water.

“Hello,” I called out and gently waved my right hand in front of me once.

“Greetings,” the man with the most stats called back and waved as I continued my approach. I came to a stop a short distance away, so I didn’t have to shout. All the men had beards and they looked like they had imported a Middle Eastern dress code. After a couple of seconds of staring at each other, I decided to take the lead.

I would be more than happy to have a stare off, but it was clear, that they were either very cocky, had no Sense stat, or had some kind of trump card. I was personally going with the last option. There was no way they didn’t have a level 5 city by now.

“I was told you are all Al-Qaeda? Is that true?” I asked. It was incredibly undiplomatic, but might as well rip off the bandage and jump right into things.

“So, you aren’t dogs of the Indians or Russians?” the man asked.

“No. We are from the far East. From the Empire of Purgatory,” I replied. I could see some of the people muttering and translating to the others in the group behind their leader. I was just glad he spoke English. If he hadn’t then this would have been a lot harder.

“Then you have passed through the cursed lands and survived,” their leader said.

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“Yes, we encountered the monster,” I replied.

“No monster. A devil. It is a devil born from demons. I am Captain Hasad. And we are not Al-Qaeda.” I waited, but he didn’t give me a nation or polity name. That was slightly annoying.

“I am Emperor Michael,” I replied. I could see him frown and just smiled.

“Emperor?” he asked slowly, and I nodded. I could see a number of expressions cross his face very quickly. There was confusion, surprise, and then worry.

“And what brings you all the way out here,” Hasad asked.

“Exploration and understanding. I would like to speak to your leaders, about the situation with the devil monster, and the sword,” I said. Hasad spat to the side.

“The cursed sword. Well, I am afraid it won’t be possible. You will have to turn around,” he said.

“Why is that? There will be no official greeting?” I asked.

“No. Our boarders are sealed. We will have nothing to do with the other cities. That is the law,” Hasad said with clear conviction. I considered how I wanted to handle this situation. It was complex. I couldn’t just murder them all, since then I wouldn’t get answers.

“I am the ruler of over 10 cities and you turn me away?” I asked. There were far more than 10, but no need to give accurate information. I wasn’t lying, merely presenting the truth in a way that was favorable to me.

Hasad seemed to get constipated at the question. There was a long stretch of silence as he thought, and I didn’t rush him. Clearly this nation was incredibly isolationist. If he refused, I would just kill most of them and then torture answers out of the soldiers that lived to get answers. But diplomacy was the better option in my mind. I could always go to violence and torture as a last resort.

“I have my orders. No one is allowed to pass on this road. Our boarders are closed,” Hasad said. I took a step forward. And then a second step. “Stop.” I took a third step forward, and then a fourth. I cut the distance between us in half and he pulled out a sword and pointed it at me.

“Hasad, I have over 100,000 stat points. I could kill you with one finger. You don’t have the Sense stat do you?” I asked.

“I do, but I have my orders,” he replied.

“Brave but foolish. Did your orders include people outside the Indian Sultanate?” I asked and he frowned. After half a minute he shook his head and lowered his sword slightly.

“No,” he finally replied, and I nodded.

“I would speak to your leaders, or leader. You can send a group of people to escort us, or escort us yourself. But I will not be stopped. I cannot be stopped by you,” I clearly explained and began to advance again.

“I am warning you! Don’t come any closer!” he shouted. I stopped once more with the distance between us halved once again.

“Let us make a bet. You can use your best attack. My feet won’t leave this spot. If you can hit me, then we will leave. But if I block your attack, you will allow us to continue,” I challenged. Hasad winced at this declaration, but I didn’t care.

We were going to continue no matter what and get answers. Hasad made hand signs with his left hand and I saw energy gathering. Let’s see what he unleashes. “Fire Slash!” He called out the name of his skill and swung. It was a level 4 attack. A non-upgraded level 4 attack.

It was time to flex a bit. I raised my hand. It wasn’t needed but it helped me focus. I then swiped my hand through the air, leaving a trail of my energy behind. It would only last a second, but it was enough. The fire hit my energy and dispersed. Some traveled behind me, but my teammates were far enough away there was no threat.

I saw the fear on the soldiers’ faces behind Hasad. He looked crushed and fearful. With a heavy sigh he put away his sword. “Very well. I will take you to the Leader,” he said.

“Any other name beyond the Leader?” I asked.

“It is not for me to say. Give me a moment, I will need to arrange things for my absence and escort you,” Hasad said. He went back to his men, and I waved my people forward. An interesting standoff, but I would need to keep an eye out for attempted betrayal or assassination.

It took ten minutes for Hasad to sort things out and we left with a group of 15 men plus Hasad. I noted they surrounded my group, but I wasn’t worried. Our pace was a bit slow, so we would have one night out in the wilderness, before reaching the city.

“Thank you for escorting us,” I told Hasad.

“I will be punished. The Leader will not take failure lightly,” he replied as we walked along the road.

“That seems a bit unfair. Since I doubt your leader could threaten me,” I countered.

“Perhaps, perhaps not. I cannot say. The Leader is the Leader.” That was very ominous, and now I was even more curious about this Leader.

“Human?” I asked.

“Yes,” Hasad replied and gave me a confused look. I nodded at this. I definitely wasn’t worried now. If they were not human, then that would have been far more concerning.

“What is your nation called?” I asked.

“The Leader’s Domain,” Hasad replied. That was incredibly egotistical. But if someone had their name and title be The Leader, then it wasn’t a surprise. I was kind of expecting some more adjectives, glorious, amazing, all powerful, wise, virulent, and other such things to describe their leader.

They were clearly concerned about information control. With how little Hasad wanted to share. I asked more questions, but he refused to answer any more. It was highly concerning, but I didn’t see any brainwashing in play, but just observing a person’s energy wouldn’t always make such things clear.

I was honestly curious if this Leader was truly powerful or a man behind the curtain type of leader, like the Wizard of Oz. Well even if he had 5 cities, it would be a struggle to match my passive income and everything else. I would sort out this leader regardless and figure out what was going on with this place. Even the soldiers were quite silent as we traveled. Perhaps there would be a good fight at the end of this?