The Systemic Lands
Chapter 643: Day 5,201 – Holding Pattern

I looked out over Purgatory as we flew back into the city. The side walls of the pit were being shored up by blocks of material from the city. I wondered how that would work with the terrain reset, but there were enough people around, things probably wouldn’t hence the construction.

Clarissa had probably run tests if I had to guess. There was much more work around each of the cardinal gates with massive amounts of vertical construction having been completed. I also noted people moving dirt out of the gate entrance. So, a tunnel was being done as well, with carts being used in the process so it didn’t just disappear like the other underground bases.

I could see large swaths of Purgatory disappearing if the population ever dropped massively. Without active observation the terrain just reset. It would also make it harder to repair damage in the future. It was tempting to move the capital, but there was a symbolic and emotional attachment to this place.

After all the attacks, deaths, and setbacks, this was my home. I saw people cheering as the Crystal Vortex returned. My popularity was still quite high. On one hand I thought it was insane with how I ran things, on the other hand I wouldn’t say no to being popular. It lowered my opinion of the people of my Empire while making me happy at the same time.

Captain Francis brought the Crystal Vortex to my airship port without any issue. There were other ones set up for our navy and other people with airships, but Clarissa and I got our own. One of the small perks of being Emperor.

“Welcome back,” Samantha greeted me at the airship port.

“Sorry for the delay. Took a bit longer than I thought, but I cleared all the known towers in level 3 zones. Anything happening back at home?” I asked my personal assistant.

“Clarissa has stabilized things. There have been no rebellions. Grinding teams are spreading out once again. There have been some concerns about the demographics,” Samantha stated.

“More Chinese?” I guessed and she nodded.

“That is a Clarissa problem. If they know English, then they can be hired for official positions. Same as anyone else that is competent. I don’t care about their former nationality,” I replied. Everyone was equal under my authoritarian boot. “Tax revenue?” I asked.

“Stabilized, but it is an ongoing process to get it back up to where it once was,” Samantha said. That was annoying but predictable. I soon made my way to Clarissa’s office where she was dealing with paperwork and reports. She glanced at me when I entered and asked me to wait a minute.

I poured myself a glass of fruit flavored water from a pitcher set up in her office and took a seat. “And done. Sorry about that, but I wanted to finish reading that report,” she said while writing down a note.

“That is fine. So, what is happening?” I asked and she let out a sigh.

“That is a loaded question. Empire is stable. Purgatory is on track with rebuilding. I got word back that you put pressure on the Holy Kingdom, so that isn’t an immediate concern. That just leaves the sphere and research into it,” Clarissa said.

“And how is that going?” I asked.

“Jacob needs more time and resources. I have been reviewing his progress, but there are a lot of issues that are being worked on. Major technical issues. Like getting back, navigation, movement, and environmental concerns,” Clarissa said.

“I am guessing there have been human experiments?” I asked just to confirm that there were.

“Yes. The problem is distance. Once a portal closes, it is hard to get a person back. Even with tethers, they aren’t fully breaking through, they are merely skimming the boundary between us and the lower layer,” she said.

“So, no fourth dimensional summons?” I asked.

“Exactly. Also, why Jacob thinks that the sphere exists in the lower layer and here at the same time. Since it had to be to enact whatever it was doing and still is doing,” Clarissa explained.

“And creating a return portal?” I asked.

“The first portal needs to be bigger than the second portal, since we can’t construct it on the other side. And even then it doesn’t work,” Clarissa explained.

“But blinking is possible,” I said.

“And that involves the System doing something like moving the portal to make it appear like teleportation.” The Astrologer would have known. The man was a genius in working out this issue over a decade ago. While I disliked him on many levels, I would not deny that his understanding of esoteric energy effects was second to none.

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If we had the Inquisitor from the Dragon Empire, then she might have been able to provide more insight with her skill, but she was dead now. At least Jacob had learned a little bit, but it was a struggle.

“I was told things would be ready by now?” I said with a slightly annoyed tone.

“I personally checked Jacob’s work multiple times myself. There are a lot of technical issues. If we want to send a person on a suicide mission, we can do that, but to send a team and have them come back is a completely different challenge,” Clarissa explained.

“I want to review the research myself,” I said slowly. I was thinking about if I should make the attempt myself. Just like I scouted out the sphere the first time, I would do it again.

“I will arrange to have the documents sent to your office. Jacob is set up on the edge of the site at the moment,” Clarissa explained.

“Trying to look through a portal?” I asked and she nodded.

“The resistance to breaking through increases on a gradient and nothing has been spotted so far. But the costs are immense and even cutting corners, it just takes time,” Clarissa said while rubbing the sides of her head.

“I don’t like it,” I muttered.

“It is what it is. Unless you want to help him figure stuff out, there is nothing to do. Doctor Katz is working with him extensively and everyone with a decent head on their shoulders,” Clarissa said. I nodded at this statement as I tried to think about the problem. He was sorting out complex interactions of energy. While I had a basic knowledge, I had been left behind in terms of precise understanding of complex interactions and higher order interactions.

My focus was on my skills and combat. While I did learn about energy, I had never fallen for the more technical research side of things. I would study up on what had been done so far, but matching engineering solutions to energy-based problems was not simple. At a certain point, it was just easier to mentally focus and manipulate the energy yourself.

To have a manual way into the lower layer was already a huge accomplishment. The fact it was possible without a skill was huge. But it was not enough unfortunately. I considered the other avenues I could take. I could begin clearing out level 7 zones to get the ultimate skill upgrade or I could clear out towers in level 4 zones.

The votes seemed like an option to finally get some concrete answers about this place. It was the last thread we could reasonably pull. The other option was to get stronger, which was never a bad thing. Increasing the versatility of my skills and increasing my stats would make me stronger. Strong enough to survive future fights.

It was not an easy question. In the past the answer had always been to get stronger to face whatever threat was coming after me. While there were strategy and tactics involved, they only went so far. And those fights had been against human opponents. Right now, I was facing an inhuman intelligence.

Getting the votes seemed like a way to gain more understanding of the System and possibly leaving this place. While becoming stronger felt like a safe choice. It might not be the best answer, but it wasn’t the wrong answer. I needed more strength to fight and win.

While it had been fun stopping on the tower monsters and easily clearing them, that was just a delusion. Also, the power curve was less than expected for level 8 monsters as well. I wouldn’t be turning any of them into crafting crystals any time soon, but they weren’t as difficult as I thought. The same for the sphere.

That’s why I hesitated on deciding one way or the other. If I focused on the votes, it could trigger another crisis where I needed strength but there might be an exit. More strength might not necessarily help me win against the sphere in another fight. Also, the votes would give answers, which I desperately wanted. It felt like when I would have the votes then I would get answers, but that was also a lie.

I sipped my fruit flavored water. It had a melon taste to it. There was a third option. I could go on my own to confront the sphere and drag the Avatar along with me. But that felt like a suicide move. While I wasn’t afraid to fight, I wouldn’t risk my life like that unless it was all or nothing.

In the end the answer was to build up more strength. That was always the answer. While getting the votes was good, towers in level 4 zones could have another trick to them. That was why it was better to get strength so that way if I did encounter something surprising, I could easily handle it. That had been the correct answer in the past and it would be the correct answer going forward.

Regardless, one thing I decided was that Jacob would be coming along on any expedition. That way if there were issues in getting back, he would be the one to deal with them and not me. I trusted him to preserve his own life. “Jacob isn’t investing the points into himself?” I asked Clarissa.

“I double checked the accounting myself. Beyond his salary, there hasn’t been any embezzlement,” Clarissa replied and that set my mind at ease. I would not be creating another Ritualist. One crazy made scientist enemy was more than enough for ten lifetimes. I didn’t need to have more enemies. At least Clarissa was on top of things. I trusted her enough that when she said she checked something, that is was properly checked.

I sipped my water again and nodded slowly. Jacob would want to resolve this issue was quickly as possible and when we did go on this expedition, I would need the strength for it. That meant upgrading my skills as much as possible along with my stats. Stats would take longer though while finding level 7 zones would require a lot more exploration of level 6 zones on foot.

While I could get an airboat through, I would have to clear each level 6 zone and scout the corners to see if there were any level 7 zones. That would take time, quite a bit of time. Time I could be using to get stat points. Now the next question, skills or stat points. I was leaning towards skill upgrades, but I would have to give the issue some more thought.

“I will head out tomorrow then. There isn’t anything I need to do here?” I asked.

“You showing up here was enough. Check back in regularly. Also we will use the resonance stones from three different locations at set times, if they go silent, then we will know there is an emergency,” Clarissa said and I nodded. It was important to keep lines of communication open.