Not all countries have become addicted.
Some strong nations halted the flow of UD and prevented their populations from succumbing to addiction.
Alex III couldn't attack those countries, so he simply ordered the creation of new castles on the borders for defense and left it at that.
His plan of gradually building a wider union to gain power was not unique; it had occurred many times in history.
Unions, in general, tend to centralize power.
Of course, they also run the risk of dissolution, but with UD supplies controlled by Alex kingdom, it isn't likely in the case of the Mountains and Rivers Alliance.
...
Time passed.
Five years later, Alex's country, which seized considerable land in the war half a decade ago, has gotten much richer.
The legal system of these acquired lands differed, and their territory was far from Alex's kingdom's mainland.
Alex appointed his trusted military Generals as the governors of those lands.
As of now, these 'provinces' have been largely left untouched.
The newly appointed governors didn't disrupt things there too much. Instead, they focused on organizing the military and preparing for an invasion of the countries that hadn't joined the Mountains and Rivers Alliance.
Alex III planned to conquer the world with the least number of casualties. The impending war might result in millions of deaths, but Alex III considered these casualties acceptable.
He believed that the population would recover in a few decades.
...
Alex III was in a room, engrossed in reading a book.
In the room, there were two other people.
One was Jack, his right-hand man; the other was Lisa, his Minister of Foreign Treaties.
The Ministry of Foreign Treaties had been created to deal with the Mountains and Rivers Alliance matters.
While the Minister of Foreign Affairs could have handled it, Alex III preferred someone dedicated solely to the alliance.
In Alex's kingdom, gender equality was nonexistent. Few women held positions of power, but that was the past.
This was one area that Alex III changed.
After contemplating the dream fog and recognizing how much potential women were wasting due to discriminatory gender policies, his mindset shifted.
Previously thinking women were only suitable for harems, he acknowledged that women had as much potential as men.
It wasn't out of pity; he cared about the benefits, recognizing that allowing women to work and contribute would generate money and taxes for him.
Lisa, his new minister, was the daughter of one of his military generals and had undergone multiple background checks.
She was loyal and brilliant, standing out among his current ministers.
Jack said, "Your Majesty, our troops are in position."
Alex III put the book away and turned to Lisa, asking, "What do you think?"
Lisa responded, "Your Majesty, we should wait another year."
"Why?" Alex III inquired.
Lisa explained, "Your Majesty, our smugglers have successfully addicted many people in the Purple Empire and Candle Dynasty. Please give it more time; we can take them over without war."
The Purple Empire was the strongest country in the world, aside from Alex's kingdom.
It has a population of over 50 million and a massive army of over 2 million. It didn't always have such a vast army, but now it does.
It is ruled by an emperor, five kings, and twenty dukes.
As for the Candle dynasty ...
It has a peculiar system.
It is ruled by the Palace of Candles, which has a council called the Order of Candles.
Members of the Order of Candles are chosen from among ordinary people; whoever the Great Candle chooses becomes a member of the Order of Candles.
The Great Candle is a massive golden-colored candle in the Palace of Candles.
Candidates for council membership are brought before the Great Candle. They light the candle, and the person must sit there and wait for the light to go out.
The Great Candle is enormous, burning for months before extinguishing.
Most individuals sit there for a day or two before surrendering, but occasionally, some get lucky, and the candle goes out sooner.
These people are then chosen as Order of Candles members.
The majority votes of council members choose the leader of the Order of Candles and, once selected, cannot be removed.
Each council member is granted one life candle, which is placed in the Candles Palace.
The life candle is a giant candle; if it goes out even once, the council member whose life candle went out must die.
In short, those people are peculiar and are not the type to surrender.
Dealing with the Purple Empire is easier because they can surrender.
The Candle people, on the other hand, are the type who prefer to die than surrender.
Betrayal means a slow death by the candle of punishment.
They place the traitor in a cage and light just one candle beneath them. It is a terrifying death.
Alex III stroked his beard and ordered, "We will attack next year; Lisa, I give you one year."
Then, he waved his hand.
Both bowed and left.
After a while, Alex III sighed and called one of his servants. "Go and bring one of my concubines," he ordered.
The servant bowed and left.
...
Alex III has 9 sons and 10 daughters from various concubines.
One of his sons, Alex IV, was responsible for the royal palaces.
He manages the royal family's palaces in all cities, overseeing the royal harem, royal kitchen, royal bed, etc.
This arrangement may seem strange for Alex III.
After all, typically, Alex IV would have a vested interest in Alex III's demise; as the most senior prince after Alex III, he would become the king.
However, Alex III understands strategy.
He didn't designate Alex IV as the throne's hair; instead, he appointed his brother, Andrew II, as the heir to the throne.
Andrew II and Alex IV are at odds and harbor mutual disdain for each other. Alex III's death would mean Andrew II, Alex IV's blood enemy, ascends to the throne.
Also, Alex III trusts his son Alex IV a lot.
Alex IV is Alex III's favorite child.
...
Alex IV was sitting in a chair in the administrative building of the palace, engrossed in some papers.
Just as he was reading the documents, a servant came hurriedly.
"Your Honor, His Majesty has requested the company of his majesty's royal concubine," he said.
The servant was an eunuch.
Alex III's palace employed eunuchs, as he couldn't trust his regular male servants to work in his harems.
His most loyal servants, those whom he could trust as guards of his harem were usually placed in leadership roles; he didn't have enough of them to the point where he could assign them as ordinary harem guards.
Loyal people are the most valuable resource.
As a result, he decided to continue using eunuchs in his harems, following the practice of previous kings.
Alex IV sighed and wrote a letter ordering the eunuch responsible for the harem to choose someone to send.
Technically, as the leader of all royal palaces, he was the final authority to decide these matters. However, he delegated the harem to the chief eunuch there.
He handpicked the chief eunuch; He only chose suitable girls, and Alex IV wasn't bothered by it.
...
Lee has investigated the Dream Federation.
It is an exaggeration to call it the 'biggest and strongest' dream-related force.
In Lee's opinion, it is more accurate to say it is the most powerful 'independent force' specialized in dreams.
Even Clear Water Sect's Dream Division alone is more powerful than the entire Dream Federation. However, Clear Water Sect is vast and covers many other areas, not just dreams.
Dream Federation, however, is solely focused on dreams.
After exploring membership and its restrictions, Lee decided to join.
There are many benefits to joining a large dream research force.
The Humanoids Academy will be able to use its research and libraries. There are requirements, too.
One is a membership fee; the federation needs money to operate.
Two, any research results must be shared with the federation; That extensive library wasn't created just by luck.
Third, member civilizations are considered allies, so internal fights are prohibited.
Fourth, a member must pay a separation fee if they decide to leave. The separation fee depends on how much one uses from the library. If they only use the library sparingly, the separation fee would be small, but if they use it a lot, the separation fee would be huge.
In addition, reading the library would cost a bit of money, and sharing with those outside the federation is prohibited.
Sharing information among members is allowed, but if one wants to leave, the information they received from contacting other members would also count as the separation fee.
The conditions are not restrictive, so Lee, who wants to resurrect Alex, accepts it.
First, there is an experimental membership.
It is only for a short while of 50 million years. If no violation occurs during the experimental membership, they become a full member.
They would be expelled outright if they violated any rules during that short time.
After she decided, the Humanoids Sect contacted the Dream Federation, and with their approval, it entered the experimental membership period.
...
UISEC has become the strongest country by far.
It has progressed in all areas by attracting all kinds of talented people from all over the world, along with its rich resources and environment.
However, the most significant advances have been in medical science. Today, they can enhance an old person's brain to the point where it is even better than that of a young person.
However, the way to do it is extremely expensive, and only the wealthiest can afford it.
The process involves extracting the brain, essentially cutting the skull and removing the brain. With today's technology, the brain can survive outside the body.
Then, the brain is placed in a liquid, the brain rejuvenation elixir.
The elixir slowly and delicately removes all harmful elements and helps existing neurons grow to replace the lost ones.
Not only does no memory get lost, but even those old memories that one can't remember might resurface.
It makes the person quick, even better than when they were young.
However, the process requires great care and various highly advanced technologies, as well as the attention of many doctors.
Maybe in an advanced civilization, AI could replace doctors to perform all these tasks en masse, allowing even ordinary people to undergo the procedure.
But, with modern culture, humans must do these tasks, as AI may never progress that much.
They were already able to build a perfect body a decade ago.
Now, the bodies cultivated for those brains are much healthier and stronger than ordinary human bodies.
With this, billionaires and influential people could live for thousands or even thousands of years.
Ordinary people couldn't even dream of undergoing the procedure.
However, many drugs have been discovered that can rejuvenate the brain, although in much less impressive ways, simply by using pills.
Ordinary people could use them, so at least until the age of 100, they could maintain clear minds. After 100, the body starts to fail, so one can only live beyond that by changing the body.
Changing the body is less expensive, but ordinary people still can't afford it.
Rob has been very pleased. With these technologies, he could live for a long time, regardless of the result of the rumor.