Chapter 445: Day 871 – An Empire Is Born

Chapter 445: Day 871 – An Empire Is Born

Water was poured in a cup for me, and I sipped it. “What’s the agenda?” I asked Clarissa. I looked at the men and a few women at the table in front of me. I recognized Doctor Katz and Commander Abdullah. Everyone else was a new face.

“The first thing we should do is have you confirm the appointments of everyone into your government,” Clarissa said. I looked around and some people shifted uneasily and looked away from me.

“Are there any objections to my title of Emperor?” I asked slowly and calmly. No one spoke up, then finally one older woman stood up.

“I have something to say,” the woman said with a slight accent. I couldn’t place it or her ethnicity.

“Who is she and what is her background to sit here at this table?” I asked and looked at Clarissa.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

“That is Captain Ruiz, who is on the short list for a position as a governor. She has been handling various incursions deep into enemy lines against the Dragon Empire in the Southeast portion.”

“Very well,” I said and waved my hand slightly. I took another sip of my water.

“I have seen the terror that the Divine Empress has unleashed upon the Dragon Empire and the Systemic Lands. Taking up a similar title and structure of government will only heighten the tensions and divisions in our nation. I propose a Parliament is formed, elected by the people to manage and govern our nation,” Captain Ruiz said and remained standing. Everyone then looked towards me and was completely silent.

“No. While cities can be run differently. I am the final authority across the nation. I will not cede power. I will delegate my responsibilities as I see fit. But the nature of combat has regressed and changed, so too has the nature of power. If you wish to question my authority and position, then speak, otherwise bow and say no more,” I countered. Everyone’s heads swiveled back to look at Captain Ruiz who bowed and then sat back down without a word.

I was surprised she had been that smart. If she had done that, I would have killed her here and now without hesitation. That was something the Divine Empress was right about. Purging any and all dissent. While people would be allowed to speak up, I wanted to make my position on my rulership very clear.

Emperor Michael did not answer to the people or any kind of government. The government and the people answered to the Emperor. That was how the structure of my rule would be set up.

“Do you wish for a ceremony, Emperor Michael?” Clarissa asked me.

“A short and sweet one. Maybe an artistic crown if someone has the art skills. But the title is by way of my power and ability, not by the trappings of the office I hold,” I replied.

Long term he wouldn’t be in charge of the city, but that was something that would have to be discussed. He would have some demands, but I had made clear to Clarissa, that he was not allowed to build up a power base. The best option was him going off to grind level 4 monsters. That was his punishment for not helping me against the Divine Empress. If you don’t contribute, don’t expect to get rewarded.

What we had spoken about in the past was wind. Treaties and terms were all about power and what could be enforced upon others. I had learned that several times. A treaty wasn’t worth the paper to wipe my rear with if the stronger party didn’t adhere to it. He would have to suck it up, or he would be killed off. There was no way for him to play off two nations against each other like he had done before.

Also, a delegation from the Fifth Caliphate was invited as well to work out terms for the border between our nations. The boarders would be fairly harsh, and I planned to ignore them when I began clearing more towers.

What was the Avatar going to do? Say no? Her nation couldn’t afford war and she was back on speaking terms with me now. I wouldn’t trust her, and I was trying to let go of my hate for her. There was still a lot of it but trying to kill her and making more enemies sounded exhausting. I needed less enemies not more.

That was a mistake the Divine Empress had made. She created too many problems for herself, and didn’t try to smooth them over. That didn’t mean one had to be a wimp. She just went too far in the other direction in terms of running her evil empire.

Even if a governor did use up a lot of crystals to get more powerful, they would be constrained by the tax rate, while I got a clear-cut ten percent without exception. There would be no dipping into my percentage for other expenses. It all went to me, and I had the final say on how the points were spent.

Clarissa got ten percent per city to play around with and the authority to auction off or appoint clearing the various dungeons. We had spoken a lot on this issue and there would be two types of sales for the dungeons. A full upgrade set of 10 dungeons with less useful skills in level 2 zones for upgrades and then individual dungeons with useful skills.

Spreading skills out too much wasn’t useful for getting people up to the level they needed to be to clear level 4 zones. The only loans would be from the central government if they got a skill upgraded and advanced to the next level.

There would be base requirements like a minimum number of stats, good combat history, and then a pledge to give up half their income after taxes to pay back the loan. Loans would be set at zero percent interest rate, but the base rate of the loan was a bit complicated to assess.

A person would need multiple skills upgraded to level 4 to fight level 4 monsters easily. While they could beat bosses in level 3 dungeons, it wasn’t enough to grind at level 4. Ten thousand total points was the base requirement to get a loan for a full set of upgrades.

That was where the real money was for tax revenue, people grinding level 4 monsters. With the number of level 4 zones, it would take a long time to get enough people to grind them all, but each person who could kill 100 level 4 monsters each day would bring in 360,000 points. That meant an additional 36,000 points per day for me.

In 100 days, which would be 3.6 million points. While not a huge amount, it was a lot compared to lower-level monsters. Get enough people and that number would go up. The key thing was to get people who weren’t idiots and invest in them, to make sure they understood the risks of level 4 combat and survived their first fight.

Once we had a couple of successes, it would be easier to move people into safe fights at the start like the Bulwark Shield I had grinded for points quite a while. That would be a good starting point for people. Also, there were discussions on doing two sets of upgrades at once, so a person could pick cost the first two times, so they could use their skills more easily later on.

Regardless of the final decisions, the goal was to set up a development pipeline for people who had proven themselves.