The Systemic Lands

Chapter 524: Day 4,905 (5) – Scams And Plans

I sat with Clarissa in her office, sipping a strong alcoholic drink that burned my throat. It made the pain of what had just occurred sting slightly less. Clarissa was looking at a sheet of paper in front of her with all the options for the various builds at level 6.

There was a large reserve of crystals ready in case people needed healing. Since it didn’t need to be used, it was put into maxing out several of the upgrades and confirming there were no more upgrades on several of the structures.

Gates into the city could have double gates instead for 100 million points. A level 10 processing table for 100 million points and a level 10 processing rod for 10 million points. The primary City Shield now had level 9 strength, the max for 5 billion points. The Training Hall could handle level 6 monsters, and up to 200 monster types for an easy 25 million each.

A level 10 enchantment and alchemical table for 1 billion points each. The Regional Map could now cover a 15 by 15 area around the city for 1 billion points and each portion of road in a level 6 zone now cost 10 million points.

To the Southeast there was a portion of land that seemed separated by the void. It was a level 7 and level 8 zone. That wasn’t going to be a travel destination any time soon. But it was good to know there were islands out there in the void. Islands of certain and horrible death, but still islands.

Buildings could now have a sixth floor for 25 million points, a building shield for 50 million points, and 1 billion points for every floor after the sixth floor, increasing by 1 billion points per floor. So the eighth floor of a building would cost 2 billion points. This was per building unit, so the cost would quickly skyrocket.

The largest airship assembly was available to be built for 100 million points. This was just the building where you got the privilege of paying for the airship. The max level cannon was level 8 which cost 2.5 billion per cannon and 500 million per shot. Level 8 null skill walls cost 5 billion points.

No new materials, no new stats, and two new buildings that made me want to puke blood at their cost. The fact that other things at level 6 cost only millions of points while other things cost trillions of points, showed that there was a clear disconnect in how things were added to the store. That was all the confirmation I needed to know that the anything that cost a trillion points was probably due to a meta-point.

Stupid people wishing for stupid things or doing a scam of some kind. “How is the math?” I finally asked Clarissa as she let out a sigh.

“The city store pillars are just too expensive at a trillion points. Our 100 Day GDP is around 60 billion points. Just adding one store pillar represents our cumulative output as a nation for 1,600 days.” I sipped my alcoholic drink.

“I was thinking in terms of myself or buying stats. A trillion stats would make a demi-god. Just under 2 million stat points. I only have 280,000. That is almost ten times what I have. While the scaling would indicate they would only be one and a half to two times stronger than me, that gap is insurmountable,” I replied softly as I mulled over all the implications this upgrade had dumped on our laps.

It was the unfortunate reality of stat scaling and the sheer cost in points of these options. It would take me 16,000 days or 44 years to collect a trillion points in tax revenue. There were no more city upgrades either. Level 6 was it. No future upgrades, no more skill slots. I would be capped at 6 skills.

“We can’t hide this,” Clarissa said.

“I know,” I replied. The depression would be real across the population. Sipping my alcohol, I wanted to scream and rage, but it was pointless to make a fuss. Things were what they were. I had to deal with reality as it was, not how I wanted it to be.

“The voting option seems a path to pursue,” Clarissa said, and I shook my head.

“The highest level in the store that is referenced is level 10 for enchanting and alchemy tables. That means the crystal progression level theory is most likely correct. Level 10 is the max. What if the vote triggers a level 10 monster?” I asked.

Clarissa took a moment to consider that. “It would be the end. There would be nothing we could do,” she replied, and I nodded at this. “You want to pursue the slower empowerment strategy.”

“Yes. Accumulating votes will do nothing, except allow us to block another nation or group from obtaining a quorum and voting on whatever the Almighty System wants. Votes are given for the final city upgrade and climbing a tower. Whatever the votes unleash, it won’t be pretty,” I explained while thinking it would trigger a final boss of some kind.

“You believe level 10 will have human level intelligence?” Clarissa asked me.

“They won’t constraints or programming like the lower-level monsters. They will be completely fluid in their actions. A shame the portable store is overpriced, it would have been useful,” I said with regret.

“It is what it is. Perhaps someone wished for it, but thought about adding it to the System Store for everyone,” Clarissa replied.

“A complete and total scam. No one is ever going to accumulate a trillion points for any of those things. I might have been tempted at 100 billion, but a trillion, is too much,” I said, and Clarissa nodded slightly at that.

“There are two other areas of consideration with this being the final upgrade. The first is scouting out beyond the void zones by upgrading the Regional Map. We can gain a better understanding of our borders and perhaps spy on other nations. Also seeing the monsters would be useful,” she added.

“The monster observation doesn’t work on level 7 monster or zones, I looked. They cannot be observed on the map,” I replied.

“Then we can still scout and observe people, it would be safer and cheaper than other options,” Clarissa replied. That was a fair point.

“And the second consideration?” I asked.

“We can build vertically. The fifth layer begins about 5 kilometers up. To reach that height by buying more floors would take around 125 trillion points. It is impractical, but it is something to consider,” Clarissa said.

“And that is around 5 billion stat points. I would prefer the stat points, to a building that can be destroyed and possibly reset. It is an interesting thought experiment, but just like the cost for the trillion-point options, it is too much to be even considered in the ballpark of practical.”

I finished off the alcohol in one gulp and set the cup on a nearby table. “I am going to the roof to cool off and then to bed. Will deal with this-“

There was a sudden knock on the door. “Enter,” Clarissa called out loudly. A soldier rushed in.

“There has been an attack. Joyo’s caretaker is missing and he is as well. It happened in the last couple of hours,” the soldier quickly said.

“Sound the bells full lockdown! Now!” Clarissa quickly ordered. “Michael, with me please?” I nodded at this as we left her office. I looked at one of my personal soldiers.

“Secure Michelle, triple her guard, same with Doctor Katz. Full master-stranger protocols,” I ordered. They quickly rushed off. Who knows how this attacker was disguised. Just as we moved to command and control room, above her bunker, the bells began to ring across the city, as I heard them distantly chiming through the walls.

“Movement in and out of the Imperial Palace?” Clarissa challenged one of the people monitoring the map. Joyo had been inside the Imperial Palace when he was attacked.

“Everyone was cleared during the regular checks of all people present,” the soldier said while still watching the map. They had been trained to never take their eyes off of it. It was smart of Clarissa to integrate various city buildings into the Imperial Palace for situations like this.

“Full palace lockdown. Seal all entrances, double the guards. No one enters or leaves for any reason except with Emperor Michael’s permission. Now!” Officers quickly began rushing off to issue orders to their people. “Issue orders for the inner and outer walls and gates, no one is to leave, full lockdown for the entire city.”

More soldiers rushed off to have the orders transmitted to all the forces on the walls who would be staying out there for the night. The upgrade had finished late, and they had supplies out there. Doctor Katz entered the command room.

“What is it?” he asked quickly.

“Joyo has been vanished along with his caretaker in the last hour. Everything is going into full lock down. First thing, all senior staff will need to confirm their identities against issued command phrases under my authority. Clarissa and one other senior member of the government will confirm my identity,” I declared to the room of people listening in.

“Yes, we need to do this immediately to ensure chain of command,” Clarissa said.

“Whoever saves one life?” I asked Clarissa.

“Risks everything to do so,” she replied. I turned to Doctor Katz.

“The burden of many?” I asked him.

“Is the burden of one,” he replied and I nodded at this.

“Command phrases confirmed.” It would be a pain in the ass to come up with new ones, but they were for situations like this when we had to ensure we were all who we said we were.

“Primary surgical methods are cardiac surgery, endoscopy, laparotomy, and?” Doctor Katz asked me.

“Laparoscopy,” I quickly replied, and he confirmed that I had verified my identity.

“The good of the many?” Clarissa asked me.

“Is the good of the few,” I replied, and she nodded.

“Now that is done, full blood screenings. Doctor Katz you will supervise and Michael, please assist,” Clarissa asked me. I nodded at this. “Please come forward when your name is called.” This would also check if anyone else was missing.

Names were called from the people managing the command-and-control center. One by one they came forward while Clarissa pulled out a secret book, where they each had written down a verification word. All this would have to changed once the threat was dealt with, but having this ability during an infiltration attempt or assassination was key.

We had learned from my nonsense with the Divine Empress, the thefts of the treasury, and years of dealing with nonsense from people. While nothing this serious had happened before, there was a drill once every 200 days that Clarissa insisted I was present for.

I hadn’t argued. Being able to rapidly respond to a crisis was key in dealing with it. Responding with precision was even more important. The blood tests were a method of confirming the energy level people were displaying was correct and their energy signature.

Disguise techniques faded once blood was separated, and there was a brief period where the energy would not disperse. We had been saving this method of checking people until a critical moment, which was now. It wasn’t just the attack on Joyo, but taking advantage of the city upgrade. If it hadn’t ended so soon, the killer might have gotten away with it.

The command staff was cleared. Blood tests wouldn’t have worked on the senior level staff, with our stats, it wouldn’t be easy to for someone with lower stats to confirm, since the Sense stat was key for blood testing others. Groups of soldiers were checked next without incident. No unusual movements were found on the map either.