In the room there were a total of 8 people.

Myself and Vrusha were standing just behind me. Mr. Kodai over there was sitting across from me. There were two other people sitting to his left and right.

There were three 'guards' standing in the room. One was by the door, and the other two were standing behind their City Lord.

Looking at their setup, I guess Elder Zal and Greja were right to tell me I needed my own guards and servants and such.

It does kind of add to the prestige of the City Lord in front of me.

"Would you like any tea, Lord Raizen?"

"Sure."

He waved his hand, and the guard by the door left for a moment before coming back in with a young lady following him with a tray in her hands.

She walked over to the table and poured a cup of tea for everyone that was sitting down.

I took a few sips.

Ah, it's ginger tea. Not bad.

"Thank you."

She bowed and departed.

Time for business.

"Well then, City Lord Kodai. I appreciate the hospitality, but I'll get straight to the point now. You should have received the notification, and it should have given you two options. Which do you plan on choosing?"

"Ah, please just a moment. I would like to introduce the people at the table as well. I think it would be beneficial to this meeting."

Hm. Sure, I guess.

I nodded at him.

"Thank you. To my left is Raj, and he is the head of our finances and economy. To my right is Ahmad, and he is the head of infrastructure in the City. There are a few other members of our little government; they make up the bulk of our deciding body.

"Now, we do know of the Planetary Lord notification and the two options it gave us. We would now like to ask some questions if you don't mind."

Hm.

I think they have misunderstood the situation a bit.

"Wait a moment, City Lord Kodai. I need to make something clear. This is not a negotiation. Either you will submit peacefully, or with force.

"If you choose the first option, then you may continue leading this City in whatever manner you were already doing so. The second option will be a lot less pretty.

"So again.

"Which do you plan on choosing?"

City Lord Kodai and his fellow government officials seemed extremely taken aback, and honestly, it was understandable that they would be. Someone whom they've never met just rolled up into their City and told them to submit peacefully or be forced to.

Stolen story; please report.

My villainy is growing by the day.

Of course, I don't actually plan on being a villain or treating anyone in any of these Cities badly, but it was good that they understood the power dynamic here. This was not a democracy.

I wasn't really bothered by their reactions, or even the fact that the guards in the room drew their weapons, but that was just me.

Vrusha apparently didn't take too kindly to people drawing weapons at his Patriarch.

"Unacceptable."

He didn't make any movements, nor did he say anything else, but a loud thud was heard in the room as the guards suddenly found themselves slamming into the ground against their will.

I raised my hand.

Vrusha bowed slightly behind me and released his hold on the guards.

"City Lord Kodai. I won't repeat my question."

The City Lord seemed to be going through a few different emotions as he came to terms with his situation.

There was anger, confusion, but most of all there was fear.

Deep and immense fear.

"…Are you with those people who attacked our City?"

Ah, he must be referring to the Vamps. Well, hopefully, my answer to this question will help him out.

"No. I helped to remove them from the Planet."

He then closed his eyes and sighed heavily, stress clearly painted on his face.

"…I will submit."

Ding!

City Lord Kodai of New Asia City has officially submitted to your rule.

Do you accept?

Yes/No?

I accepted.

"Good. Don't worry, City Lord Kodai. You can keep being the City Lord of this City. At least for now. To ease some of your worries, I can tell you now that a full Planetary Council will be configured between all the official Cities on Earth.

"It will be the first time in the history of the planet that Earth is united under one banner. I don't know how many lives this City lost during the attack, but that won't happen again. Not while I'm the Lord of this Planet."

Again. I don't plan on being a villain, and this is something that all the other Cities will find out about too.

Damn, maybe I should have explained all of this to City Lord Sasha.

Anyway.

A few more words were exchanged with City Lord Kodai, but I could tell he wanted to rest and think about what just happened. Which of course was fine with me.

By the time we walked out of the office, the guards were still picking themselves up off the floor.

It makes me wonder how they managed to fight off the Vamps.

I had 10,000 Infernals with me.

How did they manage to do the same thing without those types of numbers and support? I suppose it depends on whoever they contracted with from the Tutorial, but it still seems far-fetched.

Whatever, I'll find out eventually.

When I exited the City, the group I told to go scout was lined up in neat ranks, patiently waiting for my return.

I wonder how they knew to come back so quickly? I don't think I was gone for even two hours.

It didn't take me long to find out why.

A bit further south of the City, where most of the people were currently heading, was the wide expanse of ocean, a small port, and two Dungeons.

Two of them.

One of them could be cleared by Body Tempering Cultivators, while the other needed Qi Refinement.

How convenient was that?

But the surprises didn't end there.

The reason for the existence of the port wasn't for people to go on fishing trips. No, they apparently got all the fish they wanted from one of the Dungeons. The port was for nothing but transportation.

Apparently, there was another City somewhere southeast from here that called a massive island home. Both Cities had a constant back and forth between them all day, and everyone standing around the port right now was just waiting for the next ship to come back.

I didn't see any reason to linger here.

Nor did I really feel like waiting for the boat to come back.

It would be a much longer run, but I doubt it was one we were unable to do. Though there was a part of me that kind of wanted to avoid the City located on this island.

There was a chance I was wrong, but I have a really good feeling about what City I was about to run into. Or at least the faction that was tied to the City from the Tutorial.

The Aquatila Empire.

It was one of them that tried to push marriage on me out of nowhere and even sent an Immortal Princess here to meet with me about it. She hasn't visited me once, but I know she was here and there was a good chance I'd be meeting with her in the City.

I don't really want to hear anything else about marriage, but I have a feeling that I can't avoid it unless I threaten war or something… maybe that's not a bad idea…

No… I can't start a war to avoid marriage talks.

…

…Can I?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.