The Systemic Lands

Chapter 610: Day 5,103 (2) – Viewpoints 55

Young Michael

I disliked the city shield, it hurt my head, but it was better than dying. There had been no arrival either while the city shield was up. Which was useful, since there was strict rationing going on. Most people had gathered or were staying near the center of the city, where there was light coming down from above.

While the shield gave off some light, it wasn’t enough to light up the entire city like the light source did. The kids who weren’t lifers called it a sun, but they were idiots. It was the light source. Several businesses and building owners had purchased more lights as well. Even with all that, there was a gloom around the city as were mostly stuck underground.

People were talking about what would happen once the shield ran out. Would we all die? Would Emperor Michael have resolved the crisis? Would Purgatory be stuck underground? There were no good answers, just pointless speculation. I swung my practice sword again. Other lifers were practicing around me as well. The only thing to do was to get better and stronger while you had a chance. You couldn’t wait for others to save you.

It hurt having to wait, but that was exactly the reason I needed to get stronger. The next time Purgatory was attacked, I would be the one doing the saving, not Emperor Michael. I swung the blunted blade again.

“I don’t get why these idiots are practicing,” one of the non-lifers said. I ignored them. They were chubby and weak. All they were useful for was dying and hoping to be a distraction. The caretakers were worried and classes had been put on hold. They would probably get into trouble for that in the future. But it was hard to focus on anything other than swinging a sword.

“No defeatist talk. You can start running laps,” one of the caretakers said.

“But-“

“No. Now start running, or no dinner. We have to believe in Emperor Michael,” the caretaker said, and the kid started running. I shared a smile with the other lifers.

“What do you think this is?” Nobu, a kid with black skin asked me. He would be able to blend into dark terrain much more easily than me. A good advantage in some situations.

“A super monster. Maybe a level 10? I heard Emperor Michael was beating level 7 monsters,” I responded.

“He did that before,” Rachel, another lifer, replied.

“That was just one. But he is clearing out level 7 zones. At least that is what I heard. Probably beat a level 8 boss,” I countered.

“Well, that is a different story. Still, a level 10, that would be hard even for him,” Nobu said.

“Maybe, but he has pulled through tight situations before. Like the Ritualist, Divine Empress, and the Astrologer. I heard there was even some kind of super monster out West that he beat as well. If he can beat all of those things, he can sort out whatever this is, no problem,” I replied.

“Hopefully. At least the caretakers have points for decent food. It is getting rough out there,” Rachel said.

“That is why you save up points just in case. That is your insurance policy when things get rough. Don’t ever want to be caught without an insurance policy,” I said. Whenever Emperor Michael had visited or anything related to surviving, I had paid attention to over the years. I couldn’t let him down. While he claimed he wasn’t my father, and my mother said that as well. There was a reason he stopped by occasionally. But if he didn’t say anything, I wouldn’t say anything either.

“Smart. Well good news is that a lot of grinders are going to be gone after this. Lots of opportunity to get a good zone,” Nobu added and I nodded at that. While it was a shame all those people died, they should have been smarter, stronger, or just better.

“Hopefully. I just hate how gloomy everything is,” I replied. I really wanted the light source to come back. “Also, the shield makes my teeth ache.” A caretaker looked at us, but we kept swinging, so they let us talk. That was the nice thing about being in shape and respected, unlike the idiots who showed up.

Clarissa

“Any riots?” I asked.

“Not yet, but it is getting close. After your last message, everyone is fleeing West. What little revenue there was, has completely collapsed,” Samantha said.

“All we can do is endure and hope,” I replied. The door to my office opened and Jacob entered. Samantha gave me a short bow and then left. She was alive and competent enough to manage a good chunk of the administration. While she was normally under Michael, it was all hands on deck to keep things running in a war time situation.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I am guessing bad news. How bad?” I asked with a heavy sigh. Everything was falling apart.

“Good news this time. A bubble device. It can absorb the ambient energy while active. You won’t have regeneration, and it has limited amount of use before it fills up. But this way, we can do longer term experiments and investigate on our own,” Jacob said. That was good news.

“How long?” I asked.

“About three days. But I would say two to be safe. Then it takes a while for the energy to drain out. Now the bad news. Each one is person sized, and I can only make five of them,” Jacob said.

“You need more crystals?” I ask.

“It isn’t crafting crystals, but the high energy blood and flesh samples. I used up a third of my supply to make the five devices. The rest I am keeping in reserve, unless you want more?” Jacob asked. I considered the question and then shook my head.

“No. I am guessing you want all of them for your research?” I asked.

“Yes, preferably,” he said.

“That is fine. We will be waiting on Emperor Michael regardless. Any hope of a long term solution?” I asked.

“I have been testing different crafting combinations, as well as astrolabes. The problem is the sheer volume of energy. There is just too much, and it keeps coming. I have no idea where the System energy is coming from, or if it is even being created.” Jacob shook his head.

“There must be a limit, right?” I asked.

“Impossible to say. We have no idea where energy comes from. Or what it is exactly. It is psychoactive, but that is well documented. I attempted communication with whatever is out there a couple of times, but nothing.”

“Keep up the work, and let the team know your updated measurements, so we can better model the rate of expansion,” I said, and he left my office. Doctor Katz entered a minute later.

“Yes Doctor?” I asked him.

“I need permission to feed and water the Avatar, or she will perish in time if she doesn’t eat or drink,” he said. Now that was a problem. I couldn’t have her dying uselessly, since she might be able to provide some insight into what was going on. Still, having her die would not be a bad thing.

“Do what you think is best in terms of keeping her alive. But she is not to be let out from under guard no matter what,” I answered.

“That is fine. You think Michael will fix things?” Doctor Katz asked me.

“Maybe? This isn’t something that is melted or punched in the face. But if he can’t fix things, then I suspect there will be no solution and we will have to prepare an evacuation and attempt to leave the Systemic Lands,” I replied.

“We wouldn’t survive the energy,” Doctor Katz said. He might not survive, but I had enough stats, that I would live, or at least I hoped so. Jacob’s energy absorption devices could come in handy crossing the void. There would be at least five people that lived for a while longer than the others. One thing that wasn’t going to happen was my death.

Thankfully the military was still answering to me. If things got desperate, then I would only be able to rely on my personal guards. I had a meeting with the governors or their representatives this afternoon. That was another bad thing about going public about this disaster, but we couldn’t contain it.

The announcement had just come right before the news had broken. It was lucky we had lasted as long as we had. That was the big advantage about this place. Without the internet, the flow of news was highly controlled. But now that the cat was out of the bag, I would have to talk to the people managing various cities.

They had no power over me, since the Empire had moved to a war time footing, but it wasn’t something that I wanted to manage. There would be push back, complaints, and everyone would be looking to save themselves as if we were aboard the Titanic. While things hadn’t gotten that desperate yet, we were sinking and there was not enough lifeboats.

Even if Michael managed to resolve the situation, it would still be a mess. At least there would be room to appoint new people and give us a lot of breathing room. It was a shame that we had already invested so much into New Kochi already, when the population issue solved itself for at least the next five years. If the disaster could be harnessed, then we could use that to wipe out several cities at once and move to take over the entirety of the Systemic Lands.

Just clear out a bunch of cities every ten years or so. It would solve the population crisis. But that would be the best outcome and that wasn’t going to happen. As much as I wished that we had control of whatever had done this, that wasn’t going to happen.

I hated waiting, but all the plans had already been made. Research was being done. There was no solution for me to work on, or people to redeploy, like there had been when fighting the Dragon Empire and the Divine Empress. That time period had stressed me out and gave me gray hairs. I guess it was because I had to exert myself.

This disaster, calamity, whatever it was, wasn’t something I could fight against in any way. It was liberating in a sense. I just had to worry about my survival and try to keep things from crashing around me. But it doesn’t matter how well you manage the Titanic after it was hit by an iceberg. It was still going down and people were going to die.

Even if everyone obeyed me perfectly and there were no mistakes, there just wasn’t anything that could be done except delay and rescue a handful of people. That list of people I would be taking was in my head and wasn’t something I was going to share. My personal guard and key people in the government would be saved. There would be no room for anyone else.

While I had lied and planned to lie to the governors, there was nothing they could do. The military would fight to the end as long as I had Michael’s support. His existence shielded me from any blowback. Unless the energy wave was rolling over at that moment and people were literally dying and they were rushing for an airship, I would have no rebellions.

The threat of any kind of retaliation was too much. They would have to force me to rescue them and my inner circle was too strong to let that happen. Only one person could threaten my position and I knew they wouldn’t. After working with Michael so long, I knew his red lines and his buttons. It just pissed me off that everything I had built up was being wrecked and there was no explanation as to what was doing it or why.