The City of Greensong, a Port City, broken and battered during a battle, was experiencing a void in leadership. Some guards had sworn allegiance to the New Emperor, but no one had seen him or even heard from him for almost a week. Many assumed he was dead, there were none in his palace, and the Tower that once stood at the edge of the City was not only gone, but nothing remained. It was like they disappeared off the face of the planet.
Manager Chou was one of such people that loved opportunity, but he was waiting for doubt to come over the guards. A rash amount of thefts and home breakins had spooked many of the survivors from the Devil Ammuru and the sacrifices. People were fleeing the City.
"I don't get it, what's left to steal?" Chou paced in the Rogue Queen's Chamber backroom, his feet pounding against the carpet in his office. "I wonder, what if I just claim the seat as his proxy.. right? Nah.. that won't work." His ambition was boundless, but he couldn't get things coordinated without his assistant, her last words... 'Goodbye' has really trampled his sense of accomplishment and pride. Vowing to get another slave, his ambitions were further dashed by the Emperor's Decree.
"Fuck." Chou kicked a table over.. it cracked the floor. 'great' Picking it up, he noticed that the table was wood, but the floor was stone. Then, he remembered that the Emperor himself had made the table in a hurry. To the Emperor, the table was a disposable thing. 'Maybe I should just sit down.'
He grabbed a seat, it crumbled. Chou sat on the floor among the broken pieces of the chair desperate. Dust clogged everything in the bar.
'This is bullshit.' Chou pulled out wine and walked out to the main table area, the tables were intact and cleared.. just dirty.
"Well.. at least I still have something to drink." The wine smelled quite nice when he uncorked it. The vintage, lingering aroma and aftertaste entirely to perfection. Unsatisfied, sitting in the dark among the dust, Chou poured another glass and looked out of the window.
'?eh?' There was a shaking sensation but the City looked fine.
He walked outside and looked up, there were no clouds, no storm was present. He turned around.
A mass of towers, a giant wall connecting them all. Like a giant Crown with the Pagoda at its center, dozens of extremely packed buildings began sending people outside of the Tower City.
In Masse. Before they had opened the Door, Qu had made a statement, "The City, except for the Tower is up for grabs, take residence where you choose, any fighting will not go well, our guards are prepared to make examples out of problem starters. Don't be the problem. There will be more housing, we need to get everyone out of the Tower City. Thank you. Please make your way out into the City."
Lines of people, humans, hundreds of thousands of them poured out into Greensong. the buildings themselves shook from the traffic, the roads sank under the weight, tempering themselves.
"Wow, this place is such a shithole. I thought this would be better? What's with all the sand and fish smell? Oh shit? Are those dead bodies?" Some of the incoming travelers were unprepared for the scenes they would have to endure in the future. The City was a strange place, even before the Emperor had come back, now it was utter chaos. The Stealth Corp was sent out on patrol immediately, they had to make sure people were not just killing or committing crimes on the local population.
The few thousand residents that had remained in the City were mostly beastkin, there were some humanoid species that were a bit more obsessed with hierarchy, but most of the people who frequented the public areas that remained were rat men. The Pirions had left after The Dragon King had a problem with them. Most of the slavers had been captured and killed by the Devil Ammuru for his sacrifices, it was a grim site on their arrival.
Manager Chou, a fat lizard man, opened his doors and started kicking off boards from the windows. It was time to open. He had a building, but he had no staff. He had some gold.. He was annoyed, he hated parting with his gold. It was all he ever wanted, more of it. more gold, more wealth.
Standing at the door, he called out "NOW HIRING"
"Hey, fuck.. its a lounge lizard." a latino man, no older than 30 rushed up to the lizard man to see if he would flinch but his stature was all wrong.
Manager Chou puffed his chest and hocked a fat spit right into the man's face. "Don't ever charge me again." He kicked the man across the street, he rolled to a stop, bleeding from his head. "This isn't a place where your attitude will keep you breathing, fix yourself and hope you see tomorrow." Realizing how stupid he just sounded, Chou walked back inside, a few of the passing people started trickling in.. guests were starting to flood into every room and building in the City.
Uninvited guests, sometimes people were downright ensistant on thier demand over control of a room. disputes broke out all over the City. Standing in front of the Tower City Walls, the Emperor could see fights breaking out between former neighbors who still held a grudge. Sighing deeply, Wu Hai stepped off the wall and started moving the spots to his core, turning into a Light Elemental, he strode across the City.
Like a third sun, he became a celestial body to the population. He stopped above the Palace, the Cheng Twins had come alongside him and raised pillars for them to stand over the audience.
"People. People.." Wu Hai didn't get everyones attention, he yelled. "SHUT UP. This world isn't a democracy, It will not be operated like one either... don't even try it, this is a savage world. Disobey the my countries rules and face execution or worse." Wu Hai channeled a light ring, then he threw it at a wall. "Now that I have your undivided attention, please listen closely. Those of you who wish to Join the Zao Clan.. may apply. Those that do not, can do whatever they choose, so long as they do not break the laws I have set forth. It is safe to say that If it was illegal to do it on Earth, It is likely a crime here. Rape, Robbery, Murder.. I will execute every fucking one of them. Don't do it." Holding up two of his fingers he continued. "Second. We don't operate on speculation, those who spread wild rumors and deception will be considered frauds, a crime. Third. You will not be taken care of, we are not your keepers. Freedom is a concept you must treasure, in this nation, slavery is very real, though It is the Zao Clan's wish to end the open practice of slavery and will not tolerate a slave market."
"The Dragon King will run this City, He is an Elder of the Zao Sect. He is my proxy, his words might as well be my own. He is Judge, Jury, and Executioner." The Emperor had another pillar made and Mike swooped down from the sky, landing in a heroic pose on the Stand. He was showboating.
'Pffft' Wu Hai tried not to laugh, his lips twitched. "Dragon King, I'm sure you have a plan to reshape the City, I give you the full backing of our resources. The Stealth Corp will remain here until you establish your own police forces." he looked back out at the crowd and pointed a few individuals that were earmarked for attention.
The stood up on pillars that rose under their feet, they steadied themselves as the pillars rose but none lost their balance entirely. Standing there, beacons of light came overhead.
A special ceremony was happening. The Emperor floated quitly up to each of them, passing them a letter, a box, and a ring. "Inside the letter is an explanation to what's inside the box. You'll figure out the rings. Mr. Munju, would you come up here. I have a special job title for you, and a position of statehood." Wu Hai passed over another set of items to Mr. Munju, there were question marks across his face, but he accepted them still.
"I have a gift for the Dragon King. Mike Cardelli, Dragon King. For your devoted service, I give you the Dragon's Share from our expedition." Wu Hai flew to the shore, he started parking boats along the waters edge, hundreds of boats, ships and watercraft started to appear. Outside of the City, he placed hundreds of trucks, still loaded with their cargo. "I don't know what's in them, but its a start. I have to return to the Sect, it is on the other side of an Ocean. Those who wish to go, will have to pass through the gate of tower City. If you do not pass inspection, you cannot go along with us. That is all. Wu Hai had no intention of staying, he had his brother and missing niece to think about.
Mike understood why he had to go, stopping him for only a moment, The Dragon King knelt toward the Emperor. It caught the eyes of everyone present, the moment captured in their eyes forever.
"So I swear. The City will become our capital in this region. Greensong, will become a Great City." he stood up and raised his hammer to the sky.
the crowd cheered. Wu Hai stepped off the pillar and floated slowly over and through the crowd back to the Tower City. "I go to the Zao Sect, those that wish to follow.. let us go now." They all seemed to misunderstand, many of them just stood with question marks.
"Okay" The priesthood and a few hundred thousand people had never left the City, choosing to stay against Qu's request to be evacuated. Many people never wanted to leave, the protection of the Tower's walls were unobtainable for the average person. They hoped to be grandfathered into the Tower City's population.
The Priesthood was likely to follow Zao Ho upon his return to the Sect. The Esper Emperor didn't intend to gather a cult, his feelings about the Priesthood were not bad but devotion, especially that sort of extreme devotion usually comes at a cost of higher reasoning. The Emperor knew it well, devotion betrayed makes people go Crazy..
They brought their drama along with them, dozens of families began ransacking the countryside, looking for a place to homestead, the people that didn't move into the Tower City had started to spread outside Greensong and along the bay.
Land, it was everywhere.
The Dragon King ordered those capable from the Sect to continually build throughout the day, hundreds of homes went up each hour and people began to disperse.
Mr. Munju walked up to the Rogue Queen's Chamber with three Dragonkin as an escort.
"Mr. Chou, you've been evicted by the Emperor. He has a job for you, here are the details. Get lost before he changes his mind." Mr. Munju had little patience, as a Corporate executive, he was in need of an office and location. The Esper Emperor had only one place in mind..
"You can't do this!" Chou kicked as he was escorted out, when his ass hit the pavement outside he started to read the letter. 'Oh? I can do this! Okay.' Manager Chou had been directed to serve the Dragon King personally as an attendant.
Once the Building was clear of people, it was torn apart down to the foundations and rebuilt. Mr. Munju had many ideas, he supervised while the team of dragonkin builders worked diligently. By sunset, a gleaming tower, modern and protected from all sorts of damage, it would become the new auction house, trade center and bank. He even had a name for it picked out. 'The Dragon's Share.'
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