We had cashed in the points for Dylan and just spent one full day grinding. He was barely able to handle a level 7 zone, but he could move and pick up crystals. The cold and lack of air were rough on him, but he was capable enough. We had only cleared two zones today and planned to clear three tomorrow.

"Vegetable stew," Dylan said as he served me a bowl. The frustrating part was that the nearby cities didn't have a high enough level to sell mystery meat from their stores. It was a minor thing, but annoying.

"Thanks," I replied and took the stew. Spending so much time togeather had slowly lowered the barriers. With the addition of stat points, Dylan most likely felt a lot more confident about following me.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dylan asked.

"You just did, but you can ask another," I joked.

"Why not hunt down Qi Ji Long? I mean, you mentioned he lost his airship. We could have tired to ambush him," Dylan suggested. I shook my head while I enjoyed some warm vegetable stew. At least it wasn't raw food from the cart like the old days. I was going a bit soft.

"He isn't an idiot. He might be a lot of other things, but he isn't an idiot. He will know that I know, and take precautions. Even if people are watching the stores in all the nearby cities, he would easily defeat them. To beat back Michelle and to do everything he has done, I am the only person with a guaranteed chance of beating him. It comes down to a small chance of a huge payoff or grinding with a guaranteed pay off," I answered.

"Don't you have like super spies or something?" Dylan asked. I turned to look fully at him, and he clearly felt a bit embarrassed. "I mean, it was a common discussion and rumor."

"Clarissa had her auditors or whatever name they are going under. But the sphere killed most of them, and there was no long term presence set up here in the West. While there are hidden bunkers scattered about to support such groups, they aren't super spies. They are just people with the kind of stats you had previously who are good at energy control and chose that direction for their future," I explained.

While I hated the timing of Qi Ji Long's attacks, it was the perfect opportunity after the sphere had devastated a large chunk of my core Empire. Things were in chaos as Clarissa tried to reorganize everything and stretched our forces thin. We hadn't been ready or prepared for an attack at just that moment. Combined with Jacob's betrayal and knowledge, the Empire of Purgatory was too easy to topple over.

"What about you? If you were in my shoes? What would you do?" I asked Dylan. If he wanted to put me on the spot, turnabout was fair play.

"Not sure. He is very skilled as you say. That battle was a nightmare. Get stronger does seem like the best choice," he said.

"It isn't the best, but the safest. I could try some convoluted scheme involving proxies, spies, and trying to lure him out of hiding. But he would send in a fake, or do something else to keep the battle ongoing. Until there is something valuable enough for both of us to commit to a fight to the death, I hate chasing after enemies who run away," I replied. The Monster had been a massive headache.

After that experience I refused to chase things down. It was just an exercise in frustration. It was no surprise the Divine Empress was frothing with rage. There is nothing more frustrating than chasing someone down, only to have them run away once again.

"I still don't get how the Astrologer and the Divine Empress had a child. You say he is probably her son?" Dylan asked.

"From the Master Fleshcrafter himself. There were shenanigans and the System is clearly interested in his fate. That was part of the reason I spared him previously. I think the Avatar just claimed that to make my life difficult, but at least she is gone forever. Her dying in the battle was a very positive outcome," I replied.

The fact that the System didn't blame me was even better. While she was useful in keeping flying monsters away, bringing her along had allowed me to dispose of her in a safe manner without eliciting blowback. That was a bright spot of everything that happened that warmed my heart. Captain Francis, you will always be remembered for that deed, more than anything else.

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Getting rid of that nuisance once and for all. With my luck some other idiot would use a meta-point to make themselves a new Avatar or something and the process would start again. Hopefully they weren't a spiteful and insane human nugget, but I wasn't holding out hope.

The choices people made for their meta-points were incredibly stupid. Just look at Qi Ji Long, he wanted some way to control Jacob. That kind of specialized skill was a huge waste. The risk to reward was just too high. You needed to worry about survival first.

But his mind was clouded by thoughts of revenge and targeting me. So of course, he picked a skill that wasn't useful. I had long ago accepted that the Systemic Lands and the System controlling them were unfair. Now that I thought about it, Qi Ji Long was born from immaculate conception. The Divine Empress was probably a virgin, so did that make him System Jesus?

That was a terrifying thought. Since if that was the case, I would take the role of the devil or Rome in the story. Each victory felt like I had to work ten times harder compared to other people who just got things handed to them on a silver platter. I know the Astrologer claimed that individual aggressiveness was rewarded with meta-points, but I wasn't so sure anymore after all these years.

The System clearly played favorites. It wasn't just a number crunching System, there was some kind of judgement. It was depressing not to be able to get an actual answer about specific things. Why not just say, you want trait 'X', so do 'X' and you get 'Y'. A clear reward structure. But even that was clearly messed up.

Qi Ji Long was the kind of person who pissed me off. They didn't do anything, but somehow things always worked out for them. Need a helper, get a meta-point to steal Jacob. Ignore all the effort I put into letting you live and not suffer the consequences. It was insanely aggravating.

"Why don't you announce who he is?" Dylan asked me.

"It would put him more on guard. Let him think, I am committed to grinding out here. What is he going to do? He can't take cities and get tax revenue, since that would expose his location. He would have to spend time grinding as well. And that is one area I know I have almost everyone beat, doing this day after day," I replied.

"He is probably planning another trap. Take a city to try and lure you in," Dylan said. I shook my head at that statement.

"You are thinking too simply. He will know that I know that, and expect me to go after a hidden location which will be the real trap. I have his measure now, and he will think two layers deep and call himself clever," I reply.

"You sound really sure about that," Dylan said.

"Yes. He likes to scheme and have layers. But if he was truly smart, he wouldn't be focused on revenge and look at the bigger picture. We could have worked togeather. If he had picked a smart meta-point, and then possessed a fraction of the Divine Empress's close combat ability. We would have been unstoppable," I replied heavily. It was a huge regret, not being able to ally with other powerful people.

We would have easily crushed the sphere and all other threats. But he focused on revenge. That was why I knew he wasn't as smart as he liked to think himself as. He lacked perspective to the greater dangers. Perhaps he thought he could handle the sphere better than I had, but I wasn't holding my breath. If he could do that, he would have already challenged me directly in a fight to the death.

He wanted power but wasn't willing to work hard. That wasn't the kind of thing you can easily fix. He wanted power without having to claw his way to the top. The very reason why I disliked him, was the result of him being coddled far too much to the harsh realities of the Systemic Lands.

All the fights and grinding I had done had given me a perspective that he lacked. I would fight if presented the chance, but it was just an ego contest. Also, revenge was a hard emotion to sustain. In a couple of years, would it still burn just as hot? Probably. But would he be able to channel that rage into something productive, probably not.

So, while I was getting stronger, he would stagnate even more. He also probably had the wrong idea about why I had an Empire. I created an Empire to not pay taxes. Now, with my strength, taxes were a joke. I just needed to mention my name, not conceal my stats, and then everyone would be pissing their pants or screaming in fear.

I was beyond taxes at this point. So, while the Empire collapsed, and I lost a lot of my support structure, it had also been weighing me down. I had to deal with issues. Have the occasional meeting. While I did push a lot of it off onto Clarissa, it was not something that I relished. I was power hungry, but for personal power, not political power. While others might have confused the two types of power, I didn't.

Qi Ji Long was probably plotting revenge plot after revenge plot. I am sure he would be able to work out my position, but what could he do to harm me that I couldn't instantly counter? I would let him waste his time with his fantasies, while becoming stronger.

"The smart thing is not to play. Or fight in this case," Dylan said.

"Exactly. Fighting to the death is a zero-sum game. One person will be dead, and one person won't be. Never underestimate the resolve of someone truly desperate. I was in tough spots myself, and anything can happen in a battle." He would whip out crazy energy techniques, I would blow them away, he would counter with summons, I would blow them away.

"I have first watch, you can take second," I told Dylan and he nodded. It was my way of saying it was time to go to sleep. I insisted on having a watch at all times. I couldn't afford to lose my airboat. Each night we stopped at a different location to rest. Qi Ji Long might make an attempt, but there was no need to make it easy for him or have bad wilderness habits.

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