This gave leon a headache since technically this wasn't true even if he had sort of taken it over. the problem that arose from this situation was that the people of atlas as grateful as they were didn't want to be under another kingdoms rule. leon couldn't exactly come out in the open and explain that rather than being under another kingdom they were under him alone since that would be even worse. in the end ironwood had to show up and make a public speech telling everyone that atlas was still an under it's own rule but that unlike before they have to share the resources of the land with vale.
This assuaged some while others were now bothered by the fact that they actually HAD to play nice with at least one other kingdom. ironically despite needing to share resources the trading between the two cities had never been better. what was once a nearly several week long trip now merely took a few hours to complete. while the unique products of atlas took awhile to get back in full production , once it did neither group of people had ever prospered more.
Leon of course still played secret dictator in the new city with his fingers in almost every pie regardless of size. it wasn't all bad news when it came to starting from scratch for atlas however as the city had fully converted onto the path of science and discovery like they would have eventually done in their previous location. pietro polendina was honestly like a fish in water at this change of direction since he was a scientist to begin with. the man soon went on to teach at the new atlas academy as the robotics professor alongside penny his self made "daughter".
He never revealed that she was actually a robot and no one actually realized it either thanks to him getting leons help to upgrade penny to the point it was nearly impossible to tell she wasn't human. leon had gotten to know pietro fairly well during this time due to the mans constant badgering in regards to the stupidly advanced tech that leon had weaseled away in his lab. there was more than a few times leon had to keep the man from telling the world that leon was actually only giving them his mediocre tech.
Yes leon had space fairing type tech just lying around in his lab including a material printer that took in raw materials and atomically rearranged them into the desired shape before spitting them out. basically leon could 3d print anything using any type of material he felt like including a functional gun made of grass. this was just one amongst the countless other things he had stored away and out of reach. pietro had only seen the more mundane stuff that leon couldn't be bothered to hide when he was around and he knew it. still he kept his word and didn't spill the beans since leon kept his and basically made penny a real girl.
At the end of this time of transition however came a very tense meeting with salem herself who had sent one of her people to set the meeting up with leon. the room was tense as ironwood , leon and salem sat at a table in a local restaurant in vale. it had been agreed upon that they would be having the meeting in an area that was rather public to prevent any hostilities from being shown. salem was the one who made this arrangement since she was frankly at a big disadvantage in this situation.
Leon took the opportunity to closely examine salem much like how she herself did to him and both were surprised by what they found. for leon he could see that she was stupidly ancient from the strength of her soul that nearly blinded him to look at. he had honestly assumed that a soul with that sort of power would have belonged to a god but instead it was an immortal woman's. beyond that he could see how she was immortal and it made him frown since it was due to a ridiculously massive amount of pure lifeforce , just like his own.
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