The very first act of the Esper Emperor was to search for survivors and help the citizens of the City. The Second, was appointing the Dragon King, Mike Cardelli, as the City's Regent and his Proxy.
The Tower stood out among the City, its architecture did not match anything in the vicinity. It shadowed the great city and shoved the nature of change in the faces of everyone outside.
Deep inside the Tower, Kuzunoha was fiddling with the Prince's hair while they lay in bed. Their clothing scattered across the floor, the perspiration on their faces told a steamy story.
"What do we do now? You've got even more on your plate. You weren't exactly political material before, do you really believe the Zao Clan can hold this City? I've seen at least 20 species here, we are not the only Clans and no one knows what types of enemies we might make doing this." Stroking his chest hair, Kuzunoha looked out of the Window from the bedside.
A Pair of Neumal Birds flew over the City, their beautiful tail feathers were meters long, a symbol of stability throughout the nobles in their recorded history.
"I can't say what the future holds, but family is among the most important things to suffer hardships over. My Brother still searches for his daughter, I cannot abandon him." Wu Hai stood up and searched for his pants.
After finding them, he located the token, kissed Kuzunoha on the cheek and disappeared.
Sitting in the middle of a room marked communications was a somewhat large box with a slot on the side. The communication device hadn't been used much at all, Xuan Kim Li's hard work and research was thwarted with the ability to teleport on many occasions. Now, they didn't have the luxury of packing up quickly and vanishing.
A crystal popped into Wu Hai's hand and was fed into the side of the machine for power. The communication device whirled to life, it projected the image of the other device and its room into view. There were about a dozen people moving around in the Alchemy Department back in Zao City, when the apparition of the Prince materialized, his image fluctuated and startled the group.
The light flickered as he spoke. "This is Wu Hai, send word to my father. I must speak with him." One of the assistants that wasn't nose deep in research got up and quickly left the room. His footsteps could be heard as he hurried.
"Agatha, I have special orders that need attention. Please take notes and do the best you can." Wu Hai started to give another of the alchemists instructions while he waited for his father. The evening was filled with unfamiliar sounds, the City was so quiet that the life outside of the walls could be easily heard.
A Quarter of an Hour later, the Sect Leader arrived with the Matriarch. They were busy with the evening meal, but communication through such a means was difficult to plan for. Standing before the image of his son, Ooran started to hear his report.
"So you vanquished a Devil, this is good news." Praising his son, the Patriarch listened to more of the news.
"I see. The City could indeed be a stronghold for the Sect, but we would end up sacrificing so much that we have built here." The Sect had spend the last five to six years polishing their new home, It was a marvel of technology in the world even before the Prince's visit to Earth. Now, the City was a shining example of what could be done.
"It was you, my son, who found this home. Do you really believe it is time for us to abandon it?" Zao Ooran was always proud of his sons, he would put all of his trust in either of his eldest sons without question.
"I don't think we should abandon it, I think we should keep it to use as our Inner Sect. The Security of the Mountain is pretty good, we haven't had any recent attacks and Zao City is somewhat hidden." Speaking with his father so casually, Prince Wu Hai knew that things were changing and that he was growing as an individual. "I will be returning to the Sect to gather forces. We cannot hold a City of this size with the few soldiers I've brought along. If I intend to hold this City, I will need more hands to help me prepare its defenses."
"Hmm. The Western Mountain is full of people from Yunnan, I can ask them who would fight." The Patriarch had a good idea.
Prince Wu Hai stood tall and finished explaining what happened in the City. ".. And I've changed the name of the City to Greensong. I have some other plans in store, but I am going to leave Mike in charge of the City. He's become my proxy."
"I think Zhan would be honored by that sentiment, Marcus was a a bid deal to your Brothers. He took the place you held in his heart while you were away. Khan Ni even named their child after the boy." As a father, Ooran knew too well the importance of a family's safety.
Wu Hai told him about the Crystal, the Signet Ring and the Spot. It was of no surprise to the Patriarch, Wu Hai's ability to wrapped up in strangeness was nothing new. It was like oddities were attracted to him at every turn.
"When you come back, Your Mother and I will be remaining in Zao City. This is our home, Quiet or not, someone must manage this City." The energy in the crystal was running out, Wu Hai raised his hand in salute to his Father.
"I will see you once I've secured the City borders, I am glad to see you doing well. Please inform the remaining Elders. We will need as many volunteers as possible to repair and fortify." The Sect Leader and Elders had no idea how large Greensong was, neither of them really had a clear understanding of its size. The subject was something that had never come up in casual conversation.
Greensong was over eight times larger than Zao City, and that included the space under the Western Mountain. Thousands of homes laid abandoned or wrecked, requiring a lot of repairs.
Ending the Call, The Prince returned to his room and the warm bed that awaited him.
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Morning came with the sounds of birds. A sound almost always drowned out by the city's comings and goings.
A large section of the City outside was excavated, a mass grave with a seal of serenity above it marked the burial sight for the City's dead. Thousands of corpses were loaded into spacial rings and gently laid in rows. Personal items and property were ignored, someone would find a use for them when the time came. After the bodies had been laid to rest, the remainder of the rubble was quickly removed or stored away.
The Day was just starting, the morning fog was dissipated into the distance as it rolled to the countryside. Flocks of birds kept coming from the south east, migrations were happening.
"Emperor!?" Manager Chou shouted when he heard the news. It was a sequence of events neither he nor his female assistant had ever considered possible.
Theirs was a feeling of disparity and cheer. The bad news, was that they were indebted greatly to the new Emperor. He had caused a few problems as a customer, some of which almost resulted in violence and now the young man had been given the most powerful position in the area.
"We should figure out what is happening at the Palace. I will go." Sima pushed her apron into her bosses fat hands.
"Yes. That is a good idea." Manager Chou walked outside and to the stables with Sima.
After lashing the last mount, a twin tongue beaver to the cart, she grabbed the reins. "Goodbye"
Words she had been begging to say for years suddenly came out as she started to move.
'?Goodbye?' The notion of what had just happened finally came to realization in Manager Chou's head.
He had been abandoned.
"NO! Don't go, wait, wait." Rushing to catch up, he tripped in a puddle, landing face first into a pile of shit.
The nearest water was down the road. Manager Chou did his best to clear the crap from his nostrils and eyes. The stink burned at his senses. "What an unlucky day, at least I'm still rich. I can always buy another servant."
Ahead, another group of people were being led toward the Palace, some of them were injured. Sima slowed down and stopped to help them.
"What is she doing?" Manager Chou watched.
Reaching her hand out, she pulled the Security Operative onto the front of the Cart. Stepping off, she loaded the children into the back and walked with an elderly couple.
"What a fool." scoffing, Chou turned the corner and saw the last dribbles of water wash from the trough and into the dirt below. ""DAMMIT!"" Chou cursed and turned back to the Rogue Queens Chamber.
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People were arriving at the Palace, the Citizens were being directed to the Castle.
The New Emperor had commanded it, an audience of his citizens.
A large pillar of Elementium stood with a staircase in the center of a freshly paved courtyard. The Crowd slowly poured in from all over the City, trains of people. Some chained in a line, others distinctly expressionless. A sign of a forced life of slavery.
Emperor Wu Hai stood in the Sunlight, his figure unshaded from the rays of the day. His personification as Emperor brought a dignified atmosphere. The Slaves that had arrived had even taken to standing firm, eager to hear the announcement without a dare of disrespect.
Raising his hand, he brought the crowd to silence so that he could speak.
"Yunnan was a place of commerce, but it held a dark secret that was never hidden. Complacent, this City, this land and its people chose the shadows. As you have been in the shadows, now I become the Light." Moving the Spots to his core, Wu Hai's body turned to an elemental of light in front of the crowd.
"I AM THE ESPER EMPEROR!" Using the visual effects to his advantage, he floated in front of everyone. "ZAO WU HAI!" Speaking his name to invoke it, Wu Hai called the Elders to his side.
Yu and Mu helped raise them all on pillars that stood as equals in the center of the Courtyard.
"From this day forward, you are all freed men. If you're bound by contract, I will have it destroyed. If you're bound by collar, it will be destroyed. If you're chained up, they will be destroyed." Wu Hai nodded at the other elders of the Sect.
"Beside me are Elders of the Zao Sect. As my agents, they will have authority over all matters. The Dragon King will control the direction of this great city." Wu Hai shown a pillar on Mike. Icy Talons gripped a Great Hammer.
"Dragon King Mike" Looking into each others eyes, Mike saw the seriousness in Wu Hai's eyes while he was speaking.
"DO YOU ACCEPT? WILL YOU SERVE THE ESPER EMPEROR IN ALL THINGS?" Wu Hai did his best to mimic a scene he saw in a movie once. It seemed to work.
'fuck man, do you have to be so formal?' Protesting inside, Mike knelt down, humbled. He was to blame for the situation, not the Emperor.
"I SWEAR IT. LOYALTY TO THE ESPER EMPEROR, LOYALTY TO THE ZAO CLAN, LOYALTY TO ESPER EMPEROR ZAO WU HAI!" Mike stood up yelling, roared and fired a frost beam into the air.
The onlookers shivered for a moment. A cool breeze brought a refreshing feeling to the hot blood coursing through the veins of the crowd.
The other Elders knelt. One by one they were given praise and introduced.
The Onmyoji were named as saints, though they preferred almost anything else. The Cheng Twins were honored with drink. Harris had suffered injuries that were remedied with a healing potion and a light rest. He laid in bed, recovering from his embarrassment.
Abi and Genba were honored by the offer of a reward but they had their own ideas. With Mike as the Dragon King, the city would attract a lot of attention. Both of them wanted to remain in Greensong. It was easy to grant their request but the princes would suffer a loss. Leaving the decision up to themselves, Wu Hai turned the subject elsewhere.
"If you are currently a slave please line up so that we can remove them. All contracts restraining you will be undone.. When you leave, you leave free. Stay or Go. This City will remain and grow. Choose wisely but choose yourselves." A Pile of gold and Silver fell from his ring, "Trinkets. These items were probably used to buy your ancestors, cousins and mothers. This is the price of your lives.. and I dump it on the street below. You are not property. You are people. and Now. You are my people. Raise your heads and then your bodies. There is much to be done." Emperor Wu Hai flashed and appeared in the middle of the crowd.
He grabbed three people, seemingly at random and disappeared.
"You three. I have a special job for you." These three that stood among the crowd had auras that didn't agree with the new Emperor.
Handing them each a scroll and a bag of gold he looked into each of their eyes.
"I know you're not good at heart, you all have the smell of blood and an aura of death. I do not expect you to have willingly become slaves, so you're likely captured soldiers. Am I wrong? Take these scrolls back to your homelands, give them to your leaders. A bag of gold and your freedom. I only have this small request.
"I require a weapon." The Moriton Female stuck out the bag of gold.
"Keep it. Here." The Emperor scoffed and threw three swords to the ground.
"My shadow will never again grace these lands." She snatched a Sword from the floor and dashed out of the room.
Turning to the others Wu Hai had but one last statement. "And you?" Observing their reactions, he paused.
They knelt down in prostration, thanked their gods and received the weapons. The Swords were high quality, but failures in the eyes of their creator.
As they fled, none of them turned back. Keeping their eyes to the front, they dared not look. Be it fear, apprehension, excitement or worry, there was no purpose in thinking. It wasted energy.
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The City walls were completed in just two days. The original foundations had taken a bit of work to clear away. The new fortifications to the perimeter proved to be very strong. The Cheng Twins each tried their best to build a wall that neither of them could break once formed.
During the first two days, the Earth and Metal Espers had done their best to raise houses and clear sewer pathways. There were very few people in the City that were not helping to restore it in some way. Shop storefronts and roofs needed to be fixed, the roads themselves had become damaged in many places. It was a shameful sight.
King Mike had been interested in architecture most of his life, the formations on the outside of the Palace gave him some ideas. The Charging power source had been destroyed, slashed and skewered into abstract debris.
Below the ruins of the Palace, rested a large room sized safe, the Vault that wouldn't go into a storage ring. It laid upside down. A chunk of one corner had been removed, its integrity had been lost. The material was different than anything that Mike, Abi, Gefest or the others had documented. It resisted storage devices.
Clearing the rubble was as easy as slipping on a storage ring, but at the base of the Palace foundations laid the Vault and didn't seem like it would be possible to move.
Cables and Pulleys were pulled out by the Stealth Corp, they were proficient in binding things. Once the Vault was wrapped tightly in cables, a jointed effort was made to lift it from the ruins.
No matter how hard they tried, they could not lift it and were forced to give up on the idea. Mike didn't want to just bury it, so he had the construction crew create a cave under the foundations and work around the mysterious metal lock box. A five meter thick wall of metal and a 10 meter thick ceiling metal ceiling contained the awkwardly positioned and fallen Vault. A new Palace would be built atop it, one that reflected the Sect. No doors were left to the cave.
Banners were sent out to hang on all the entrances of the City, the Banner of the Zao Clan. The Flags were mostly the same, but with one major difference. A Dragon circled the white backdrop of the Sect's Crest, a black flame in the shape of an Arrowhead.
"The Emperor expects us to be done by weeks end." Crews worked round the clock to finish the repair work in the City. A lot of the buildings had been neglected, needing to be torn down and rebuilt in each district of the City.
Fighting left its toll on the population, many of them didn't know whether to flee or remain. The experience with Devil Emperor Ammuru had left a foul taste in everyone involved.
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Xuan Kim Li sat in his research lab. The Tower had many additions, retrofits and advancements that were installed for the sake of research. Memory crystals had been a large focus of the young cryptographer's work. Staring at the largest among them, he wondered if it was time.
Qu had been reading as requested, most of the books in the library that pertained to vital information had been absorbed. Qu's knowledge was to be downloaded into the Crystal, then consumed by another party. There were only three such crystals, deciding what material to input had been one of the more challenging aspects of the research. It had been over four years, But the amount of material kept growing. Now, the volume of knowledge somewhat exceeded the capacity of the Crystals and selecting what to put inside only became that much more complicated.
"Perhaps I should consult our new Emperor." Xuan Kim Li had some ideas he wanted to run past Wu Hai, but there were far too many variables at present. Sticking to his original plan to list the subjects in a matter of importance, he went to work.
By nightfall he had compiled a list of the library's content by order of importance and he was ready to speak before Elders.
Calling out to his research team, they stopped their work and followed behind. If praise was available, they would not miss it.
Making their way to the Lobby, Qu discussed a few points of their research and obtained their report on the subject. Qu was the focus of the experiment, he wouldn't miss the reveal. Zao Wu Hai and Nara Kuzunoha had already found their places at a table designed for the meeting.
In the center of the Table lay three head sized crystals. When everyone arrived, the Emperor spoke about the project he had commissioned some years ago.
"All the knowledge of the Library? This is absurd, even from a gamer standard its preposterous. With that much shoved into our minds, wouldn't we become shadows of our former selves? That sounds like a huge change in prospective." Kuzunoha had been wondering what all the fuss was about, her slight objection carried significant weight.
Looks went around the table of Elders, all of them knew that after it was fully absorbed that personality would definitely be impacted but they hadn't thought that it would be so dramatic. Each of them thought it over more and many sat back in their chairs looking for answers within.
"I have a feeling that I will be one of those who uses a crystal, but I like who I am. I also expect the Emperor to do the same." Xuan Kim Li nodded to Wu Hai and then looked at the group surrounding the table. "This means that there will be one more, but it might change you forever."
Everyone's eyes darted around. Their personalities were the core of their being, to give up such a thing for knowledge was a hard sell. Eyes kept crossing the room, looking for someone that would be interested, someone to be the guinea pig.
"Its a simple matter. Feed it to Jiao Jiao." Genba looked over at the Evolved Jiao, he was licking the floor. His hands were stained with blood and dirt, the innocent look on his face was deceptive. The Jiao was never a fool, he took opportunities whenever they presented themselves. It was rare enough for him to leave Khan Ni's side, but after Zhan's departure he had been sticking close to the Dragon forces instead.
There was objection and resolve. No one asked Jiao Jiao his own opinion, LuSha, having been permitted to live in the Tower full time came forward. "They don't know your magnificence, but if you were to use the Crystal you could speak to them as equals. You will not disappear, only change once more." Jiao Jiao didn't look like he was all too interested, his tongue scraped the floor once more and then he stopped to look up.
All eyes were upon him. His bottomless expression almost made the group burst into laughter, but the Emperor had seen through changes in the Jiao before. Placing his hand on Jiao Jiao's shoulders, Wu Hai tried his best to communicate. Jiao Jiao licked at Wu Hai's face, he tried not to laugh. "Very well. I don't think he will refuse, but we should be contacting Zao City to see if Khan Ni will find issues in your decision."
Xuan Kim Li had more to discuss, speaking softly he said, "Since we're on the subject of Crystals.. What are your plans for the Coffin sized teleportation crystal?" Nothing escape the eyes of Kim Li and his research time, it was also likely that Qu couldn't stop bragging about the find.
"That's a Secret." Wu Hai did his best as speculation was already running around the room.
"Don't give us that excuse. Spill it." The Cheng Twins had consumed large amounts of alcohol, they never had a problem telling others what they thought. It was one of the main reasons Wu Hai trusted them so much.
Staring at everyone, he caved. "Fine. I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up, but I planned to try to get back to Earth. My Sister, her children. Some of you have families that you want to see at least once more. I felt it appropriate to keep a secret in case I had failed. Morale is important, getting your hopes up when I'm not even sure how I managed it the first time.. would be wrong." The Emperor laid out his notes on the table and started to go over them with the group.
It seemed rather useful to literally table the idea and walk it through. Qu had been on sight when Wu Hai had first created the crystal that brought him to earth.
It wasn't difficult for Qu to play back an image of the event, all things in his memory were easy to display. The problem was the composition of the Crystals that were sucked in, as well as the objects.
"It all happened in an instant, you're going to have to play it back slower and we need to keep a tally of what went into its creation. If we can reproduce it, according to scale, perhaps we can use the Crystal. First thing, we have to identify every granule of material that flew in." Several whiteboards came out of The Emperor's storage ring, placing them next to everyone he passed out markers and they started writing.
It took all night, plus half of the next morning to get the majority of the items identified and listed. In total, the Original Teleportation crystal only weighted a few kilograms. The accidental manipulation of his experiment was what resulted in him grasping teleportation. The Prince's inner thoughts at the time however were the keys that drove the manifestation of the transfer. Taking him to a place he had been, yet had not been.
A place where others had little chance of reaching alone. The memories of his past life guided him once, and they could do it again. It took capturing a City in a foreign land and being crowned Emperor for Zao Wu Hai to open up completely about his reincarnation with the Elders of the Sect.
He had let many people know he was reincarnated while on Earth, it wasn't a secret but there was so much more. He began talking about his connection to Xuan Kim Li in detail, the fact that he was a student. The fact that Quanli Jigui's death was caused during an episode of espionage, about how he died uncovering a secret within the coding Xuan Kim Li created. His compression algorithms were at the very center. A life's work, Kim Li's life work had been fused into a digital domain.
There were things he couldn't even tell his mother, things he would never reveal. though inconsequential, it weighed on him not to discuss it. The origins of the world. He had many clues, they were right in front of him. He thought perhaps it was that he joined with an AI, he thought that perhaps he was in a dream, he though about the possibility of being stuck in a game. None of those made sense, the world was real. Shiyan was real.
"So who's coming with us?" There was one question on everyone's mind.
"It will take time. I think we should bring fliers and several of the larger beasts. I was sort of an asshole when I left last time. I expect that the police and government were searching for us long after our departure. We should take anyone in the sect that wants to go. Allow them to retrieve their families. The Earth is small in comparison to Shiyan, they wouldn't take but a day to retrieve and return from almost any location. The problem would be resistance." The Emperor went over his plans in detail, his objections, observations and his projections. When it came down to it he had only one thing left to say. "We could encounter problems, we also need a lot more space."
The last time that Wu Hai had come back with people from Earth, it numbered less than 500. This time he would be forced into something a lot bigger. They also had to secure two cities. The forces they could take would be limited. None of them were bulletproof, not even the Emperor.
"they might even be prepared for us to some degree, faster weapons.. things we can't block against. Traps. I bet we find ourselves in a trap. shit! Thats it.. we know it, we're walking into a trap." pacing back and forth Xuan Kim Li started driving everyone's anxiety up. Faces turned to frowns and Kim Li was finally able to read the room.
"He's not wrong, I expect a trap as well." Mike tapped his talons on the table. "We should go fully loaded and prepared for battle. I have a sneaking suspicion that some sort of fuckery is coming our way. I want to go, but I don't want to march into a trap half cocked.
The Group of Elders went over their contributions to the plan. There were details to iron out, no one was going to sleep.
"Oh hey, Did I mention. Khan Ni gave Birth. Its a Boy, she named him Marcus." The Emperor bore a smile, he had been in a foul mood during the entire discussion about returning to Earth. The change of conversation was a healthy one, everyone cheered.. for a moment.
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