The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

The bunker got more and more frantic as time went on. I was content to sit here and wait, while things progressively got worse. We were losing contact with cities. The stones that used resonance to communicate were being disabled. Patrols and grinding groups were going missing.

There was not one single method used. Summons, people, some esoteric trick with energy. All of it came into play. There was no cluster either, to indicate a location of the person behind all these schemes. Clarissa was getting more and more stressed out.

It was interesting to see the government falling apart in real time. While the outer façade might crumble, as long as I remained the government would continue to exist. It was honestly impressive. Both the attacks and how well Clarissa was able to keep things togeather.

I forgot the quote, but it was something that the difference between civilization and anarchy was just three meals. "A public appearance would really help," Clarissa said to me. I looked and her and then shook my head.

"No. You wanted to manage things, manage things. I am going to stay right here," I replied.

"It will be harder to search with things so chaotic," Clarissa countered.

"That is your problem, not mine. You wanted to be in charge and that you are indispensable, well prove it," I said. While I had made peace with her, I was still angry. I wasn't going out of my way to resolve the wider crisis. I didn't care about it. No matter how many people died or the chaos that ensued, it would just give me a reason to crack down in the future.

I wasn't done with the situation, but I didn't want to deal with Clarissa anymore. I hated the position she had put me in. And I could tell that she resented me as well. The glances she sent in my direction. The tone of her voice. Our relationship had developed a massive crack that wasn't easily healed.

Some small words wouldn't heal the damage done. Even large words wouldn't work. Time would make the argument less raw, but our relationship would never go back to way it was. I knew I should probably get some sleep, but I wasn't leaving this situation room until there was something for me to act on.

There had been a surge of information during the night, but now things had trickled off. Airboats were dispatched, but still hadn't returned. What I wouldn't give for proper radio or satellite communication. That was something I knew, but didn't really feel until this moment. The time delay in terms of getting information was painful when you were reacting to events instead of dictating them.

The enemy had Jacob who could beat everyone but me. But they had no fixed places for us to attack. I really hated terrorism. I felt a pang of sympathy for the Divine Empress. Terrorism was cancer. Clarissa had already implemented martial law, but we needed more people.

All possible reserves had already been called up after the sphere had depopulated the surrounding cities, which had crippled the available manpower. I heard an explosion in the distance. That was probably a big one if we could hear it here in the situation room.

Soldiers rushed in and reported that the South tower and exit from Purgatory had collapsed. Injury reports came in and at least 13 people had been killed while another 58 had been injured to various degrees.

It was funny how we went from a population crisis with too many people, to too few people. Well we had people, but not enough people at a high enough combat level to fill in various roles. While Clarissa could sort out the personnel issues in a couple of deeks when there was no crisis, things were steadily getting worse.

The entire situation was like watching a train wreck. The front car of the train had crashed, now the rest were derailing one by one, making everything worse. I poured myself a glass of plain water from the pitcher that had been set in front of me and took a sip.

Whomever was attacking us clearly had planned things out to keep up this much pressure. But the real question was where it would end? Terrorism while making things difficult, ultimately would not impact me too much. Sure taxes would be impacted, but it would not be terrible. It wasn't like other people would be able to collect taxes. At most they could do is get away without paying.

Unless there was some kind of mass mind control, but even that wasn't a huge concern. Michelle was currently working at sending monsters to the rest of Purgatory to check for any issues and looking for any terrorists or bombs.

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I wasn't holding my breath in terms of her success. Jacob was skilled enough to not have his actions be unraveled by simple observation along with whomever was behind him. I was waiting for some kind of attack on the Imperial Palace and myself.

It was frustrating to just be waiting around, I preferred to be proactive about threats. But until we had more information it was better to wait rather than running off and making things worse. That was another reason why I wasn't giving a speech. I didn't want the enemy knowing my mental state. Speeches were meant when there was victory or before a large battle, not during the middle of terrorist attacks.

The more I thought about it, a speech would probably be part of some kind of scheme by Clarissa or she could just be checking my mood. I wanted to scoff at her small ploys. She was a good administrator but she was wearing out.

She didn't want to fight monsters but manage things. I had thought she had enough drive to keep going. Just like how I kept up fighting monsters and pushing the boundaries of the Systemic Lands. She had gotten too comfortable. She was having to build things back up while everything she had first built up was under attack.

"Emperor, I have news," I looked over at someone dressed as an bureaucrat walk over. I turned to look at them as they bowed their head. "My name is Greg Wilder, and I am responsible for keeping track of funding across various projects. I believe that Clarissa is embezzling various funds and I have the proof." He pulled out a stack of paper.

I slowly brought up my hand and took them. "I didn't know who to report this to, until you showed up." I flipped through the papers. I didn't feel like digging into them, but from what I could see was that Clarissa had funded a lot of her food ventures through the government. After half a minute, I set the stack of papers on the table, off to the side.

"I would be able to do a much better job." I turned to look at this man. He only had a combat level 2 and I didn't think he was hiding his stats. "She is clearly losing control of the situation and I have much more experience." He then began to list off his credentials from his past work on Earth. It took me a moment to process the sheer gall this man had.

He just kept going, seeming to think that I had any kind of interest in his nonsense. Our argument wasn't private, but this was ridiculous. You wanted me to replace Clarissa with an unknown? I looked at this idiot who thought he could benefit off the situation. He was a rat of the worst kind, an opportunist rat.

This kind of action might have worked on other people. But it wouldn't work on me. If you wanted me to give you a chance, then you needed to present results or an accomplishment. Just claiming Clarissa was messing about with the tax revenue was a joke.

I brought up a hand and he went quiet. I couldn't be bothered to remember his pointless name right now. "Give me your eye," I said calmly. Everyone in the room had quieted down and was looking over at what was happening.

"What?" the man asked.

"Making me repeat myself. Use your hands to scoop out one of your eyes and present it to me," I said. There was utter silence.

"I…what?" he seemed surprised and confused.

"Clarissa and I might argue, but you think you can undermine her. Right now? In the middle of a terrorist attack? What makes you think that you even matter in the slightest?" I asked slowly.

"Um, well, I have experience as I said." Each word out of his mouth was utter garbage. I reached up and grabbed his lower jaw before he could say anything.

"I gave you an order."

"MMMM!" He tried to scream, but when someone is holding your lower jaw and mouth, it is quite hard. He bit down, but it did absolutely nothing.

"Here is a speech. Do your jobs. If anyone undermines Clarissa, they will die. You aren't qualified to even think about our discussion and the current situation of the government. This goes for everyone else. Do you think I care about other things than what is happening right now. And you came before me without willing to put your life on the line, or at least an eye."

I then moved my hand side to side, forcing the man's head to move side to side. I could feel his teeth and bone twist under my grip. His hands were gripping onto my arm as he let out guttural shouts. He was absolutely pathetic.

Twisting and closing my hand, his lower jaw shattered as his teeth were driven into his flesh. I let go and pushed him away. "Towel," I said and a servant rushed over with a towel so I could wipe my bloody hand. "Make sure to kill him. Take at least six people," I ordered several soldiers. The moaning man was quickly dragged out of the room, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"The rest of you, work diligently," I said as I turned back to look at the room. No one met my eyes but Clarissa who gave me a small nod. I had no clue if she was thanking me or something else. I didn't care. Anyone who was that ignorant and thought they could just replace Clarissa was clearly incompetent.

If the man had scooped out an eye, then I would have considered him. It would have shown he understood his position and the situation he was in. The fact that he didn't, meant he was just an idiot looking to improve his position at the expense of others. I didn't do basic power plays. If you annoyed me, I was going to kill you.

I spared Clarissa since she was useful, but anyone else didn't have that privilege and they clearly needed a reminder. I wiped my hand clean and tossed the bloody towel to the side for someone else to pick up. I hadn't even bothered leaving my seat.

Now if only the current situation was as easy to deal with.