I sat brooding in the situation room where Clarissa worked to try and salvage the situation. While I had a seat at the central table, with Clarissa opposite , I wasn’t saying anything. Since everyone who had t the woman who was likely my mother was dead, there was a wish that the woman wasn’t my mother. There was no way to confirm one way or the other.
There was nothing to do but brood and wait until there was a lead for to respond to. I saw people glancing at waiting for to blow up but no one said anything. I had no stomach to want to go out and grind or try to get more upgrades to my skills.
“Michael,” I looked at Clarissa as she ntioned my na. “There have been several terrorist attacks, bombings, both in cities and targeted at grinding teams.”
“And?” I asked, annoyed that she was bothering about such an issue. That was a her problem, not a problem.
“We are looking at implenting martial law everywhere,” she replied. I let out a scoff. Now we were going right into a military dictatorship, only with more steps.
“Do what you want to. Set it on fire, martial law, there is nothing for to do,” I countered. If she wanted to be in charge, then she could be in charge. I wasn’t going to micro-manage Clarissa over every decision. I wanted results. That was the only thing that mattered right now. If the Empire began struggling, it would be easy to reclaim cities and take things back over.
“Your portion of the tax revenue, would go a long way to helping with the situation,” Clarissa said. I just looked at her as everyone quickly beca quiet. I let the uncomfortable silence stretch out before responding.
“No. There will be no touching my tax revenue anymore. Ten percent. No exceptions,” I said clearly to make sure the point was clearly conveyed. I was not going to let my tax revenue be touched any more to help out the Empire. That had been a mistake. I wasn’t going to let anyone take what was rightfully mine any longer. “Why don’t you use your inco from your businesses to help out the governnt?” I asked.
“That is being considered,” Clarissa said and then began quietly talking with one of the nearby soldiers about the recent terrorist attacks. I noted a map on a nearby table with more and more markers being laid out.
I really hated terrorism. It was just impossible to deal with. When I wasn’t the governnt, it was easy to bla the people in charge when terrorists attacked. Now that I was in charge, it was incredibly frustrating. Terrorism was a cancer. Anyone even indirectly related to terrorism going forward was going to be tortured to death publicly to make a point.
Even if they were brain washed, or there were skills in play, it wouldn’t matter. It was too easy to make bombs, since materials to make bombs, crystals, were also the currency of the Systemic Lands. If terrorism beca a daily facet of life, that was fine. People would adapt and eventually the perpetrators would make mistakes and be caught.
At the end of the day, the only way to win was to kill . I was the governnt. Sure there could be cracks and without Clarissa it would be a terrible governnt, but there would still be a governnt. The recent rebellion showed that there was no chance for anyone to resist my power.
It would be annoying, but eventually the survivors would realize they had to get with the program or be killed. Perhaps that was the plan, annoy to death and deal emotional damage. I didn’t think it would work, but there was always a small chance. I expected to get pieces of my mother any day now. Her head in a box would be a ssage.
Or they would strap her to a lot of bombs and use her as a trap. That wouldn’t work. With everything I had survived so far, it would need to be an incredibly massive or powerful bomb. I had survived so many previous attempts on my life that I wasn’t going to take the situation lightly, but I wasn’t panicking about the threat posed to either.
The gap was just too big. Still there was a concern that Jacob could use the sphere in so way. That was a threat, but I was the only person who would survive its ambient energy. Everyone else might die, but I would still be around and as strong as ever.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
At the end of the day terrorism could only cause so much damage to things I actually cared about. Each bomb was just a mosquito biting . I might lose so blood and be annoyed, it wouldn’t kill . The taphor broke down when you looked at diseases, but the power gap was just too big between a bug and a human.
I didn’t know how to kill . If I didn’t know how to accomplish that, then no one else would. There could be ta-points with unique and crazy skills, but it wouldn’t be enough. Why else would Jacob be targeted instead of ? If I could be controlled, then it would be an instant win condition for whatever enemy was out there.
Whatever kind of leverage was being held over him was clearly sothing he couldn’t fight. While I doubted many things about him, the man was a rat. He would cling to the last piece of debris on a sinking ship before going into the water. I didn’t doubt his intelligence or his will to survive. He would leave the Systemic Lands if he thought he could survive. Or he would have taken out an alpha attack with multiple fall back attempts.
While I was emotionally compromised, unless I jumped into the void of my own will, there was no way for him to actually take out. And I was the biggest threat to his life. Stirring up trouble and killing people, kidnapping my mother, they were not the actions of soone who wanted to live comfortably. They were the actions of soone who wanted to hurt .
That’s why even with the reports about his actions not being entirely sure if there was another figure behind the scenes, I was. He was too much of a self-serving toady for anything else to be the case.
He was still going to die horribly. I knew I had to ntally commit to this course of action now. I could just imagine cornering the piece of human trash and he would plead for rcy and pull out so reasonable sounding explanation in order to spare him. I could imagine him claiming he was the only one who would be able to counter the sphere or sothing like that.
That’s why decisions had to be made ahead of ti and stuck with. I wouldn’t even let him speak if I could help it. Or I might. I didn’t want to lose out on information. He could trade out information for a quick death instead of torture, but I would pretend to offer him his life instead to squeeze out what little worth he had left.
As for the person behind the plot, they were dying for sure. I had to be extra careful since they clearly had a ta-point if Jacob went over to them like he had. Nothing else made sense. Unless there was a secret organization out there with more power or knowledge, but that was highly doubtful.
No, this was soone who got too big a head and had a grudge against or my governnt. Then they lucked into a ta-point and managed to make a ss of things. Or there could be an outside influence. One or the other. But saying aliens, was not the right approach until other options had been ruled out. There had been several ta-points but only one sphere, so probability still leaned in favor of ta-points.
Looking over at the map, there were several more markers and updates being added. Whover was behind all of this really was going all out. Clarissa looked stressed, but I wasn’t going to micromanage her. She wanted freedom, she was going to get it. I would make my decision on if she should still be alive depending on how the situation turned out.
The only thing holding back was the entire tax system and getting higher level grinders to pay up. If the governnt collapsed, it would be a nightmare to get people to manage all of that. Everything else was a lesser priority. The more I thought about the situation, the more I realized I had been too free with my share of the tax revenue.
I would need to hire my own auditors independent of Clarissa. “Captain Francis,” I said out loud and he quickly ca to my side. “How closely are we monitoring the taxes?”
“There was a small staff, but they are dead along with Samantha. Soone would need to be appointed to her position first,” he explained. I hadn’t paid attention to her death since it was trivial in my mind.
“You are promoted. I want my people watching and auditing the flow of taxes going forward,” I said.
“And your personal guard? Who will be in charge?” he asked.
“You appoint people who you think are acceptable. They need to be loyal to first, not anyone else. Look for people for my personal guard. I want the numbers brought up to a hundred. Personality and trust are the most important factors, stats can co later,” I replied.
“That is double the size we currently maintain. That will increase expenses,” Captain Francis said.
“It is important. Long term we are going to be separating my portion of the governnt completely from Clarissa’s portion. The Imperial Palace should be my ho, not the administrative nexus of the governnt. I want us to have a clear line of separating my portion of the governnt from Clarissa’s.”
“That will raise tensions,” Captain Francis said and I nodded.
“I will not be held hostage by anyone. Clarissa is capable, but I want my staff separate from hers. Even if it raises costs.” I wasn’t sure what I would be doing in the future, or if she would be sticking around, but I was going to take a more active role in governance how I wanted to.
That ant focusing on the taxes. The Divine Empress was right again. That was the most important thing, everything else was just noise. While she might not be the best role model, she was the most valid source of comparison in my opinion in the Systemic Lands.
Reviews
All reviews (0)