“You do this constantly?” Bao Wang asked . It was clear he was struggling with the day after day of grinding.
“Yes. You are doing quite well. You upped your kill count to 80 monsters per day,” I replied.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” he complained. I wanted Naran back. At least we sang songs and got along. Bao Wang was miserable and liked to complain. I just ignored it for the most part. I needed him for the heist to get through disguised as a guard.
My Chinese was not getting any better. While I was learning various phrases it was clear that I was a westerner and not a native speaker. “The food is terrible. Raw fruits and vegetables.” I had held myself back from purchasing at after the last city upgrade in Neo Brasilia.
“I am counting the days until this is over,” Bao Wang said. I rolled my eyes. How he ever managed to beco a city Lord with that kind of attitude was making question him. He also survived going before the Divine Empress, so he should be a bit ntally tougher.
“You are complaining quite a bit,” I pointed out.
“Sorry. This just feels like slave work.” I wanted to slap him for his idiocy at that statent. That was the kind of thinking that got people into trouble and made them stop pushing themselves to get better and stronger.
The evil empire thinking had seeped into his brain and was rotting his mind. This entire grinding session could be considered detox in a way. To purge the evil empire out of Bao Wang.
“You need to adjust your ntality. Focus on improving, getting faster, and being better. Your grinding speed is limited by how much you push yourself. While there is an upper cap on the force generated for the Body stat, you need to learn to maximize that,” I explained for what had to be the third ti.
The Divine Empress was a master of movent. I recalled how easily she had handled during her complete smackdown of . She had sohow gotten above to hit back down to the ground. That was insane.
I also realized she was hitting quite gently and controlling her body the force generated perfectly as well. I rubbed my chest. That last attack of hers had completely blown apart my body. It was even more impressive that the force was directed and not spread out. That way the attack would go through .
If it had spread out, I would have probably died instantly from the internal hemorrhaging. Not like having a hole blown through was any better. It raised the question of which injury I would prefer. I chose to ignore that question and not get injured at all.
That was my biggest hold up to my heist plan. There was no way to know if the Divine Empress was in the city or not. It wasn’t like they raised a flag or did anything differently. The Sense stat seed to be my only hope out the predicant. Even I wasn’t reckless enough to attempt a heist with her present.
I felt a bit cheated. That one guy, the accountant I think, and the Ritualist had just stolen Purgatory’s treasury so easily. Now I had to jump through all these hoops. I guess that was the difference between a million or so points and possible billions of points worth of crystals. Like the local bank versus Fort Knox where the US gold reserves were kept.
“You do this all by yourself?” Bao Wang asked .
“Sotis. But it is peaceful. No one complaining. I get to be outside and not behind a computer.”
“I like interacting with people, which is why I beca a translator. This is hell,” Bao Wang replied.
“Fair. But there are far worse things. Think of this way, once you have the stats you can survive on your own and clear dungeons.”
“I am not that daring. After this heist I am going to hide away. Far away and avoid being caught and killed. The Envoy has what, 9,000 stats?”
“Yes. So if you have that much you should be fine. How does the Divine Empress manage dungeons?” I asked.
“Her Black Talons are at each one every ti they reset and go right in. That is why they are the elite.”
“Who controls them?” I asked.
“No idea. Their command structure is completely hidden, known only to the Divine Empress and the upper leadership.” Another person that might pop out during our heist. I would have to assu there would be at least three Envoy level combatants that would crawl out from their holes.
“Their selection process is brutal. Intense training. If you fail, you are put into the wall. The top people from each arrival are scooped up for their training. Fanatically loyal to the Divine Empress. They will literally throw their lting bodies at you when you attack. So be ready.”
Suicide attacks. That increased a person’s combat ability by quite a bit. If they weren’t going to dodge and committed to an attack, they would be trouble for sure. “Only a thousand?” I asked.
“Yes. That is known. But they have internal attrition from fighting each other. But the officers are supposedly quite skilled. Each at the level of one of the older city Lords that have invested into their stat points,” Bao Wang answered.
It was mind boggling that everyone was so poor in the evil empire. “They don’t go out and grind level 3 monsters?” I asked.
“Perhaps. But I don’t believe so. Stats are strictly controlled in the Dragon Empire. While the Lords are allowed so leeway, it has to be recorded. Soldiers and people are given ranks based on stats. It is incredibly complicated and restraining as you move up the ranks. The people purchasing stuff from the store aren’t allowed to purchase any stats at all.”
“How is that even tracked?” I asked. It was mind boggling to think about.
“Pendants and people know people. It isn’t like there is going to be surprise promotion all of a sudden. Soldiers chat and know who is at what rank. Sure people have tried to scam things, but they are found and tortured to death.” I nodded at this.
“Then everyone follows the rules, since that is the culture,” I replied.
“Yes. Since finding a person breaking the rules is the fastest way to get promoted.”
“Did you do that?” I asked.
“Of course. I turned in three people over my career. Two for stealing extra food. And another who was stealing from his subordinates. But it was my work on increasing efficiency that got the promotion to Lord.”
I considered Bao Wang carefully. While there was the change he could betray , I considered it very small. He had probably guessed my stat points and how many more I was getting. It wasn’t that hard to work out the math.
If he betrayed , he wouldn’t be able to get away alive. I was also minimizing the chances of betrayal. That was another factor I had to account for in my plans. Things would really heat up once the date ca. But the plan was coming together.
Sothing like this you didn’t want to over plan, but you also needed to think through it carefully. At a certain point I would be flying by the seat of my pants. If I had more ti, I would get an airship myself sohow and then fly into the Forbidden City to rob it.
Even if the Divine Empress was super strong and had ludicrous levels of stats, she couldn’t fly like the Astrologer could. And even that was more floating about. I would need to learn so crazy techniques or sothing.
I had been thinking about what I would do if I got a ta-point, but it was pointless to expect one to show up. I just had to do the best with what I had. If I got one, I got one. That reminded , I needed to ask Bao Wang an important question.
“Do you know the Divine Empress is called the Divine Empress?” I asked him.
“She earned the Mandate of Heaven. Granting her favor and power above all others while she was in the wilderness. Why do you ask?”
“Nothing about god-points or ta-points?” I asked.
“No, why? What are they?”
“That Mandate of Heaven you spoke about. Was just wondering if the knowledge was widespread, since knowing inhibits a person from earning them.”
“Oh,” Bao Wang replied. Oh, was right. Still, I wasn’t upset. I had overco my frustration about them and the unfairness of the Almighty System. It was about moving forward. Still, it didn’t stop from think about the possibilities. A unique skill, knowledge, an answer to a question.
The most practical thing would be to ask how to earn more ta-points. But I suspected that kind of question was a trap. There was no guarantee the answer would even be useful. That was the frustrating thing about them, their rarity and usefulness.
I needed to focus on my stats instead and it looked like Regeneration was going to be my first choice to target day 900 as the optimum tifra for stat grinding.
“So, the layout of the inner ring?” I asked.
“As I have said. The treasury is next to the palace, with the airship port being on the other side of the palace. Everything else I have no idea about. Lots of white buildings and black dragons painted on them. There are eight statues of the Divine Empress around the plaza facing outwards. Each in a different stance.”
“The tribute carts move in and it is highly encouraged to kow-tow to her place or the center of the plaza where her statues are.” I had learned a lot about the kow-tow. How to get on your knees properly. To place your hands forward and touch your head to them.
It was the only way to greet superiors a full rank higher than oneself. The Divine Empress sat at the top. Then her inner circle. Then the Lords. And then the rest. So, the soldiers would have to kow-tow to a Lord if they ca before a Lord.
Everyone had to kow-tow to the Divine Empress, even her statue. That was one thing got people hefty punishnts. It wasn’t just the language I had to learn. It was the mannerisms as well, even the social gestures.
If I was going to sneak in, it wouldn’t do just to follow Bao Wang’s lead. I needed to make sure I was on point as much as possible. The real trick would be dressing up in a uniform to move from the treasury to the airship port.
I had been considering several options. Bao Wang knew the design of the Black Talon uniforms and had purchased one. They were white with black dragons while the normal soldiers just had black uniforms and armor.
It was serviceable, but I wouldn’t be able to get enchantnts on it. That would likely give away. That was the part of the heist I was still working to figure out. The trip from the treasury to the airship port to steal the airship with the hope of not sending up an alarm.
If I could manage that, it would be amazing. But I had no doubt I would get challenged by various soldiers protecting places. It was sothing to think about. I had the strength to bullrush my way through and that was always plan B, but I wanted to get as far as possible without sending up the alarm.
Once the airship moved, that would be it and I would have to fight. But up until that point, I was hoping to get away with everything and give the Divine Empress a stroke from the sheer rage she would feel.
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