֍ Updated, Revised, and Edited: 11/08/2022 ֍
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"Carter, stop touching yourself and tell me what is with this place.
Also, what the fuck just happened to my phone?"
Esmond wasn't furious at his phone breaking, since he couldn't sense its weight in his hands, due to the transformation of his body from a molecular point.
But even so, nothing happened to phone because of his grip, instead the functions of the hidden world interfered and improved the makeup of the phone.
"Well… if I tell you, it will be hard to believe but…"
"Come on… we've been through enough shit.
Just be up front."
"Fine…
Think of this Space as another world… separate from Earth and its existence in the grand scheme of things.
Rather this 'Hidden World' is bound to your Mind and Soul, and deeply embedded within you, making it impossible for another to steal or take away for their own gain.
Sorry about the 'ands'…
Right, so like I was saying this is another Space, also known as a Hidden World, based on your strength which can add data like ores, minerals, and other materials like the stuff from the device in your hand to the clothes you have on.
The phone for example has been, for better or worse, improved by this space.
Think of it like a natural upgrade function of the Hidden World.
However, its nothing in comparison to the Hidden World's ability to have an infinite amount of resources at your beck and call.
Essentially your own world to harvest and use as you so choose to…
Problem is… I'm the only person here… so I need your help for now with managing this place to a state where its possible for me to control without your assistance or aid…"
Esmond had a proper look around this time, looking at the mounts that replaced the small hills and the meadows that were filled with forests and plants.
"What the fuck is this…"
"Hey… try and practise… hoe…"
Esmond wanted to say something back at his friend, not wanting to let the insult pass so easily, but his cheerful mood was too precious to shatter… not just yet anyway, so Ben let Carter continue like a clueless moron.
"I'll help with buying everything we need from the System Store, but I will need your help setting up a few things and where you believe we should make our first significant set in this Hidden World, alright?" Carter stated, waiting for Esmond's reply.
"Fine, but only after we've made this place capable of operating on its own and enough for us to rest in peace.
When we can relax and live in comfort without any problems over our head, then we can finally play around and learn more about the Hidden World." Esmond said, much to Carter's amusement.
"Yes please!"
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The two discussed how to start a business using the resources available in the Hidden World to aid them.
First, they agreed to acquire resources of all kinds from across Earth, including fresh produce, animals, plants, insects, and so on.
By having their own source of resources that couldn't be harvested freely was rather pleasing to know, since their businesses wouldn't need to bother with overly complicated transportation networks for resources.
The supply chain would be rather difficult to manage without massive teams and governments aiding the business operations, all for an extra few dollars on the side.
To remove unnecessary funding of fraudently enterprises, Esmond and Carter agreed to build an impeccable supply chain available to others too, but in the format of a business, like a supermarket for resources.
With Carter's help, Esmond eventually left the Spatial Ark Land once the meeting was concluded.
As it turned out, Esmond needed to only visualise the Spatial Ark Land in his mind to transport over, and similarly do the same for Earth when he wanted to leave.
He was about to make a call through his improved phone, which operated much faster and unlocked through visual scanning functions, much to Esmond's delight, only to discover Carter was linked to his phone through the Spatial Ark Land.
It also meant Carter was connected with the internet from the moment Esmond first entered the Hidden World, helping him complete one of his Side Quests.
Yet he didn't bother checking the notification list to see since there were other matters to attend to.
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'WHY. IS. THERE. SO. MUCH. PORN. IN. THE. FUCKING .WORLD!'
Carter had a data dump of information when he made his connection with the internet that continued to build in size with every byte he processed.
The main subject that would continue to appear was porn in all of the data he'd processed so far, which blew his mind when he considered the amount of data that contained porn alone on the web, compared to the overall size of the human populous.
"Carter, are you ok?"
'Just… highly traumatised dear friend…
Also… what is it with the fucking stepsister sex genre?!
Fucking hell!
Humanity and their fetishes… like the whole thing with toes and feet.'
Esmond couldn't help but laugh at his friend's troubles and the woes he was going through.
'Hey Esmond, could you do me a favour and go purchase some smarty pants from the store.'
"What?"
Carter was connected with the Primordial Galactic (?¿?) System in most ways so he knew most of its mysteries, even if there was a whole lot more than left him blind and uncomfortable for both himself and most of all Esmond.
'I need someone who help process all the information I am taking in.
Like those Artificial Intelligence's from the films you use to watch.
Not like Skynet though… that bitch is terrifying…'
"Fine…"
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When he went through the System Store, he couldn't believe the items before him.
Some items were directly from anime's he loved to watch like Dragon Ball and Gundam, but there was movies characters and items like the death star for example.
'You saw it didn't you?'
"How could I not? The death freaking star!
Do you remember how long it took to build that that sphere monstrosity?"
'Well, I didn't believe you when you said you could do it…
As the former Crown Prince of the Qriknis Galactic Empire, you really had some ambitious plans…'
Esmond couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the Emperor, his father in the lifetime he was known as the Crown Prince of the Qriknis Galactic Empire.
To build a fully functional Death Star was no doubt a mammoth project, yet the final product when constructed was so powerful that Carter didn't need to explain to his other half it was time for his death.
After one single test fire, the Emperor sent out a single to all that his son was to be killed.
His father was afraid Esmond would usurp the throne from him using the Death Star, taking out the Capital Planet of the Empire.
Unfortunately for the Emperor, his idiocrasy and impatience left him blind to the obvious signs that Esmond would never forcibly take the throne.
It was only after Esmond's death that the Emperor realised the Death Star was in fact a present from his son and Crown Prince to ensure to safety of the Imperial Capital Planet.
When the news of the gift reached the Emperor through his spies, it was far too late to stop the assassins who killed everyone that stood in the way to protect the Crown Prince from death's door.
Sadly, the Emperor soon felt into deep depression even after gaining the Death Star that stopped all the Empire's enemies from taking any aggressive actions.
Nothing gave him joy, not even the news of the Death Star aiding the Empire to increase their borders, since the Emperor only saw it as futile, because the other children he'd sired weren't up to the task of managing the Galactic Empire.
Not only that, but he'd also lost his first son and child that came from the consummation of love with his first wife, who died during labour.
After the love of his life passed away, the Emperor became more cold and calculative, even he understood this, but he never believed he would kill his first born.
Especially when Esmond meant the world to him, even if he didn't show it so much.
In the end, another child of the Emperor was awarded the throne upon his death.
Much to his surprise, the heir was a daughter of his raised by Esmond to the point she could easily take over the leadership role without opposition.
All of the supports who aided Esmond in the past were on her side based off the last order's he left.
The woman who became Empress never forgot her older brother, the sole person who showed her love and compassion.
In fact, all of her siblings dearly loved their elder brother who collectively treated them better them like his own children.
Esmond made sure they all got to experience a life full of life and adoration from an older familial person they were related to.
Most of them hated the fact they couldn't ever build a relationship with their father, but after their brother died, each of them was ready to fight a bloody war against the Emperor.
Thankfully the final 'Will', left behind by Esmond told them all to support their sister and to forgive their father, who knew no better after listening to fellow paranoid advisors, like himself.
While it took some time to remove their father from the throne, all of the siblings grew closer with their father, which only stung the Emperor more since he lost the one child that needed his attention the most.
But it was far too late for that now.
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"Well, we aren't building that shit again… fucking pointless…
I couldn't even blow anything up before the old bastard took it away from me…" said Esmond, cursing the Emperor, though he understood the reasoning for his 'father's' actions.
'Hey look!
There are Gods here!'
Carter pointed out the block of Gods from various mythologies of Earth which could serve Esmond and shape his Empire.
It was something that really caught Esmond's attention, and he was someone that dealt with a great deal of mythological beings in the past.
Unfortunately, the cost to purchase a single God was far beyond the one billion credits he had to his name.
What Ben could currently afford was some buildings, and items he never expected to be sold in the System Store.
'Virtual Labs… isn't that the thing that the Galactic Empires primarily used to teach their demon spawn children…?'
"Mmm, I had one as well, though it was fit for royalty, it still had many problems over the long run.
Thankfully I had you to help offset those issues."
One of the know assests of the Virtual Labs was its ability to provide a near physical realisation within the virtual world.
It was unbelievably realistic to the point all scientists that made major accomplishments for science and technology would credit the Virtual Labs for its tremendous help in achieving what was naturally impossible due to costs and manpower.
Problem was, there would be a deadly cost for using the Virtual Labs and their reality bending capabilities, affecting the minds of the users.
Eventually the minds of the scientists would begin to degrade from highly active tumours or worse, outright death from the pressure sent to the brain, leading to organ failure from operating the Virtual Labs.
Ben decided to avoid the Virtual Labs for now and instead bought the basic level of Artificial Intelligence programming from the System Store for 50,000,000 Credits.
He didn't want to operate the Virtual Labs without an Artificial Intelligence monitoring the functions of the simulations, because it would be suicidal otherwise.
Both Carter and Esmond expected some sort of hardware issue or little bug that would be built into the code of the newly purchased Artificial Intelligence programming, but thanks to Carter, nothing was found.
Rather the program seemed airtight and impressive for a Basic Artificial Intelligence programming code.
Even so, it didn't stop Esmond from making some adjustments with Carter's help so the first Artificial Intelligence initialised would be able to manage the information from the internet that was flooding the Spatial Ark Land through Carter.
Instead, when Esmond finalised the code of the Basic Artificial Intelligence programming, a golden light flashed across the Spatial Ark Land and disappeared into Carter's body.
Shrouding Carter in the same golden light that flashed across the Hidden World, sensed everything that happened in the Spatial Ark Land, including the golden ligh fading away, only to leave behind an unconscious Carter on the ground.
Esmond could sense the internal issues Carter was dealing and thought it best to jump back into the Spatial Ark Land, yet he stopped once the System voice rang out in his mind.
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*Ding*
[System Spirit Essence has integrated Basic Artificial Intelligence programming into its coding!]
[System Spirit Essence has evolved into an Artificial System Spirit Core!]
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"…Carter?
Please tell me you're ok and not some fucking robot whose lost all sense of emotion and dark humour?"
"… H.e.l.l.o M.a.s.t.e.r…"
Esmond was petrified he lost his friend because of the System for moment, but he soon heard the laughter coming from Carter, closely matching hyenas cackling in a pack.
"FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!" Esmond screamed at his phone, before throwing it away.
For a moment, Esmond believed his phone was broken from his newfound strength, yet after closer inspecting after retrieving the phone, there wasn't a single scratch present on the item.
No clue how it work or how it was possible, but Esmond found the upgrade to his phone from the Spatial Ark Land made it nearly indestructible.
This was evident by his phone being recently stuck into a brick wall, without as much as a single scratch on the touch screen smartphone.
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'My bad man! Hahaha! It was just the perfect timing, you poor sod!' Carter barked out loud, laughing his head off after sensing the worry from his other half and sworn brother.
"Fuck off man, I don't need your shit.
Just tell me your improvements asshole…"
'Fine Princess…'
Esmond decided to leave the house and head to the shops to get some clothes as he was told by Carter moments earlier that his current wardrobe was small for his size.
He thought about calling for his parents to send through some money as he was about take the bus to the city, however he remembered there was some spare money on his personal metro card used for accessing public transport.
Reaching for his wallet and bag, Esmond was about to leave for the door when Carter stopped him.
'Hey dumbass, listen before you leave without hearing me…
Now, you've fucking got the baddest Artificial Intelligence at your beck and call, who can easily control the whole internet grid of the globe without much trouble.
Nobody will be the wiser of my actions or my intrusion, within reason…'
"Go on then… take my heart with your spicy words Carter."
Esmond laugh, while Carter took it as a challenge.
'Let's do this bitch!
First of all, I just transferred some stolen funds I have found trafficked through the web…
Ahh 'web'… such a lovely word we take for granted… anyway, the amount isn't much, but it is more than enough for you to manage a start-up, BAM! Another word that's mad!
God this lingo shit is tight!
Tiggghhhtttt.'
Carter sounded so similar to Esmond's father that it was troubling to listen to.
There were times, Esmond wanted to tell his dad to shut up, but he remembered it was Carter talking, and not his old man.
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'Anyhoo, I can do pretty much everything in the Spatial Ark Land without you now, buttt… don't be a prick and leave me alone here.
Right now, I've ordered you a car that will take you to a specific store I've chosen for you to order some nice suits.
They'd be sent to tailor who'll fix them to suit your body size and proportions perfectly.
After that we have a meeting with some candidates I have organised to act as our accountants and lawyers that I believe have considerable space for growth and would be beneficial to our plans.'
That wasn't all, as Esmond entered the hire car outside, he was going through the vast last of information continually being sent to his smartphone, the first-generation iPhone from Apple.
Esmond kept his headphones in and continued to chat with Carter while the driver took him to the store.
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'You won't believe it, but I've managed to order some steel and other materials we need analysed and stored within the Spatial Ark Land, but it will take some time for it to come in.
Also, I've got a warehouse where everything will be delivered under your name, near the Prospect suburb.
Since its just off from the city, the warehouse isn't overly far from any future offices you decide to set up in the city business district.'
"So… what am I supposed to do in the meantime, Carter?"
'Wait, you ungrateful, impatient bastard!
I've slaved so hard for you!
And this is how you repay?!'
"Enough with the Al Pacino voice you prick.
Settle down, cowboy…"
Carter just laughed, happy with the knowledge he was taking in from the internet at record speeds.
Esmond wasn't checking much with the System as the constant sounds of notifications left him numb.
The unnecessary notifications couldn't be stop ever since Carter gained the operational capabilities of an Artificial Intelligence through an upgrade.
Even if Esmond wanted to mute the sound of notifications ringing off, he needed to listen out for any specific notifications released by the System or Carter's voice calling him out.
'Esy if I may… We need a shit ton of help and crap ton of resources if we want to compete with the might and sheer will of the Astrok Empire, even if they are a scrappy empire, they have some serious firepower that can devastate Earth with a single shot of their cannons.
Preparing for the Astrok Empire isn't our only problem. Since we want to stop the end of all life in 2025, so we need to move fast.'
Esmond couldn't agree more and initiated Carter to make some sound choices and decisions based off the knowledge they gathered in the past lifetime.
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As a former Prince in a past lifetime that was close to an Empire near Earth, he was able to gather some information regarding the past and heard of many companies and organisations that came up and swooped the world over till 2025.
Based on that knowledge, Carter could begin making choices with the markets to earn himself some serious coin.
In the meantime, Esmond needed to get a suit and get ready to interview some people.
"Carter, could you do me a favour… look into Mom and Dad's bank and pay off their debt with the money you've gathered so far."
'It's done.
First thing I chose to check out once I gained access to financial systems across the globe.
Right now, I'm making sure to cover our tracks and prevent trails from popping up that could lead anything back to us.
Honestly the shows out on the internet and films help enough to indicate how much one should cover their tracks whenever they do anything, even if its legal.
Sometimes a paper trail isn't wise, no matter how innocent or simple it seems.
People sneaky as fuck…' said the man who stole more money than most career criminals could ever get their hands on through drugs and smuggling.
It was made unlawfully, though now it served a purpose in the hands of Esmond, being used up as start -up funds for various business enterprises.
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Once they reached the city, Esmond was about to reach out and pay the driver, but Carter alerted him, 'It's been paid… you can leave already.'
Not wanting to bother the man further, Esmond jumped out the taxi and entered a specified skyscraper on King William Street, as per Carters instructions.
Arriving at the specified level by Carter once he entered the tall, busy looking tower, allowed Esmond to realise the shop for suits wasn't normal in any damn way.
From the beautiful artistry on the walls to the materials used to construct the shelves for shirts, coat hangers, chairs, and even flooring revealed attention to detail whenever a customer entered.
It was clear enough for Esmond to accept the hidden store as his permanent tailor even without meeting a single person.
When Esmond entered the store, his jaw dropping appearance made the ladies behind the counter blush out of attraction to Esmond's primordial natural charms.
Some of the ladies wanted to dive straight over the counter and set their lips on Esmond;s smooth lips and stare deeply into his piercing eyes, yet they contained themselves.
None of them wanted to lose their job that paid a great deal for simple and honest work that included a little flirting from time to time.
It largely depended on the type of customer, since younger and attractive individuals were usually brought to the store with parents or grandparents.
So, for the ladies to see Esmond alone and striding into the store without any hinderance to his confidence, they immediately smelt wealth and discipline.
His muscles were well defined through the tight clothes that barely fitted him anymore since the transformation, but in the eyes of the girls, the package downstairs was tightly shaped enough to let them know what the young man would be 'gifting' them if they got the chance to dig claws into him.
Each of the ladies working behind the counter raced to help Esmond, asking for his name, either with girl on each of his arms, while the third and final girl was taking down Esmond's contact information.
Mind you, the third girl was hurt the most because she couldn't be in contact with Esmond in some physical manner in one way or another.
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"What's happened to the women?"
'Your face dumbass, your new natural looks are beyond anything normal people have seen or can withstand without going absolutely nuts.
Of course, it will cause some women to find you incredibly desirable.
However, I urge you to take control and pull those natural abilities back.'
Esmond couldn't figure out what Carter meant for a moment, but then he remembered he just needed to control his body's operations.
With the transformation of the body and the use of the Training Manual from an Imperial Galactic Empire, Esmond could control his body to heights unseen in this world.
In his case, the people on Earth could reach roughly 5 maximum per most Status Categories used to grade each individuals capabilities through a numerical value.
But with his strength being 4 times the max amount for anyone on Earth, Esmond was virtually invincible with added problems of trying not to shatter everything because of a small slip up.
Even sneezing could be a hassle as it could kill someone if he wasn't careful or take down entire buildings like it was nothing more than dust.
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"Arghm… Excuse me sir and for my staff's rude behaviour.
As specified by your assistant, we are to rebuild your wardrobe from the scratch up, is that correct sir?"
An elderly lady came out mind, when Esmond saw the dashing mature woman who controlled the out-of-control situation.
"If you would follow me, we shall get everything sorted."
Esmond was quietly led to another lounge where the mature miss who'd shown him the room, poured him a cup of scotch before handing it to Esmond.
In the meantime, she along with some other ladies who didn't rush Esmond, came over and took his measurements before leaving shortly after without a single lady groping Esmond in any inappropriate way.
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