The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

I rolled the die. "South this time," I said as the airship altered course. That way our flight path was randomized. It was the easiest way to disrupt any plans with randomness. At least that was my hope. The airship changed course.

Purgatory was left behind along with everyone there, for better or worse. Time to lure out this person who had caused this nightmare to begin with. I picked up the die and pocketed it. I would roll again in a little bit.

The Crystal Vortex would be doing triple bunking with all the people that were coming along. At least the bridge wasn't packed and I had my own room. The good news with having so many people was that they could all be watching around us for any kind of pursuit. Including from above.

The bad news was that the ship was completely and utterly packed. "Captain Francis, I am thinking we need training exercises and possibly grinding in a level four zone for the crew," I suggested.

"That would be a good idea if we are doing this long term. Do you have a location in mind?" he asked me. I shook my head at that question.

"The Rift. It has two very good level 7 zones next to each other, the place out of the way, but also close enough to a number of cities to leave our options open on where we want to resupply. Anyone that comes to that area isn't grinding, but after us," I said.

"We would be spotted from the Regional Map buildings in the cities. That is a risk," Michelle spoke up. "Being all alone in such a location, it would be obvious who we are." I nodded at that.

"True. Very true. But that is a risk we have to take. Park the airship in a level 5 zone. Michelle can clear that. Then the soldiers can work to clear the level 4 zone in groups. We can rotate them with the airboat we have acting as overwatch. The darklands monsters shouldn't be too bad, right?" I looked over at Michelle.

"Large shadow spiders. They are hard to see, nearly invisible in the dark," she replied since she knew the monsters much better than me. She had probably memorized the map.

"Anything they grind, they can keep," I suggested.

"It can be arranged. But the real risk is they are targeted," Captain Francis said.

"That is why send two groups at a time. One as over watch, one grinding. If they see anyone approaching or any sign of something suspicious, they can just retreat to the airship. I will be back once a day and Michelle will be here to provide support. With height, it won't be easy for anyone to approach."

"And with the Avatar, there won't be any sky monsters attacking us," Captain Francis said and I nodded at this. Before I didn't want to become dependent on her, but she was a human shaped item now. Items were meant to be used.

"How long will we stay?" Michelle asked.

"Quite a while. I don't have a precise answer, since I will decide at the last moment to keep anything spying on us guessing. Then we will go to a random city, get some news, resupply, and repeat," I replied. I planned to focus on grinding for a while. I really wanted to raise my stats up some more. While searching the edge of the Systemic Lands was all well and good, I needed stats.

That was the basis for my strength. Sure, skills helped quite a bit, but there was a distinct lack of level 7 zones around the edge of the Systemic Lands. I wasn't happy, since there were more upgrades, I could probably get, but stats were more important. Even the tower votes, I had cleared the towers in the level 3 zones, so that wasn't an immediate concern either.

It was a better idea to boost my stats so I would be better able to survive any kind of confrontation. That was what my meta-point was focused on, and it was the basis for my confidence. Better to lean into my strengths right now.

"We have what, 200 days, worth of supplies?" Michelle asked.

"If we ration. Realistically, I would want to restock after 100 days. Also to get regenerations for the soldiers. Along with new equipment," Captain Francis said.

"We won't be able to get enchanted gear, which is annoying," I muttered.

"Well, we will try to keep the smell reasonable, but things are going to get cramped, and people will get tense. I also want to move us to a three shift, six-hour schedule," he added.

"Why six hours?" I asked.

"So, the soldiers stay alert. Six hours on duty, six hours rest, and six hours sleeping. It will also allow the shifts to cycle through the time of day. Rather than locking one shift into a night shift. Submarine crews from Earth use such a system," Captain Francis explained.

Stolen novel; please report.

"The soldiers and airship operations are under your purview. Set the shifts in whatever way you think is best. We just need to maintain vigilance. A good test will be watching for my return each day. Might very things up. Whoever spots me gets a reward?" I suggested.

"A small cake can be made. We don't have a lot of sugar, but it would motivate people on watch duty. Especially if you vary the angle of your approach," Captain Francis said. "But I plan to keep us fairly high off the ground. Triple our normal resting height."

"That is fine. We can't let this airship become compromised no matter what. Also screenings on the soldiers who return from grinding. Master stranger protocols," I added.

"Challenge questions, eye exams, energy check, and arm pricks to check their blood," he replied.

"I know there are procedures. Use them. People might become mentally or physically compromised. Everyone goes through a screening, no exceptions. Including me. If you leave the airship, then you have to be screened."

"I will need the airship to do a pattern to clear out an entire zone," Michelle said.

"Once we reach the destination, that can be arranged. We will want to alter that pattern daily. Since we need the soldiers to go out and grind, we should have six patterns, set one at the start of the day, and then randomly pick one the next day," Captain Francis said and I nodded at that. That was what I liked about competent people.

I didn't need to hold their hands and explain every little thing or micromanage them to death. It was a balm on my soul that I didn't need to hold their hands while things were accomplished. My thoughts drifted towards Clarissa. Was she dead by now? Had Purgatory fallen?

It was bittersweet to be unburdened and leave everything behind except my core group of followers. I had 60 soldiers, Captain Francis, Michelle, and myself on board the airship. Those were the only people onboard, not counting supplies and other useful items.

The Avatar was strapped into a vertical harness and secured on the bridge. If I needed a shield, she would be the most useful thing on hand. There was one soldier standing next to her at all times. She was also wearing a diaper since she had taken to defecating and urinating whenever she wanted in order to make a mess.

That was the problem with biological items, they made a mess. But what could one expect from something that lived but wasn't human. I had asked Jacob one time, and apparently under the screaming throne there were several organs and digestive tracks. While they didn't need to eat a lot, the screaming heads were fed and the shit pile under the throne had to be regularly cleaned out.

It wasn't all fancy energy manipulation even if there was quite a bit. Otherwise no one would need to eat or drink ever again. I could only imagine that job, feeding and watering the screaming throne. That had to be the worst job ever. One mistake and you get added or fed to the throne.

Once we had cleared the zone, I rolled the die again to change our direction. We would do this four times after leaving Purgatory. So far no one had shown up to bother us on my retreat from Purgatory. I kept waiting for some kind of attack or someone saying something to suggest we go back. But no one did.

No one expects a person to run away. Like actually run away, and not do some kind of fake out. I really was leaving and was committed to that choice. Nothing was going to change my mind. Even if my mother appeared, I wouldn't be swayed. She was already dead the moment she was captured and nothing could change that.

Jacob wasn't known as the Master Fleshcrafter for his kindness and hugs. That title was given to someone who knew how to draw out the maximum possible suffering out of a person while ruining any future they might have had. My mother was probably already a chair my enemy was sitting on. My hands clenched into fists. They would all die. There would be no quarter or mercy. I didn't even care if it would doom us all, some things were unforgivable.

If they stood in front of me, I would kill them without hesitation. The only thing was to make sure there wasn't a trap, but once that was confirmed, they would die. Melted into puddles of goo.

Once the threats were dealt with, there would be no more civilian government. There would just be a singular monolithic military, answering to singular monolithic dictator, me. All the taxes not used to pay the soldiers would go to me. The only purpose would be to make me as strong as possible to deal with any major threats.

Only the most motivated would be selected to keep on grinding. People who got tired or complained would not be elevated to higher echelons of power. I planned to cultivate a true powerarchy civilization. The worth of an individual would be solely based upon their strength. People who didn't want to fight, they would become second class citizens.

Anything else was a loss of strength and focus. There would be a greater use of the Regional Map buildings to sweep the surrounding regions and the cities they were in, finding anyone who was trying to hide. There would be no more rats.

Researchers would be proven combatants who had a knack for energy manipulation and had proven themselves. We could do without a research team for a while. The more I thought about all these changes, the nicer they sounded. There would be a lot of problems, I had no doubt about that. But I wanted obedience, not creativity.

I was done playing the civilization game. I would treat this as a strategy game. Boil everything down to the bare essentials. Every citizen would be a soldier, no exceptions. If they didn't like that, then I would kick them out or kill them.

There would be no slaves or second class citizens. That just led to rebellions and trouble. Anyone going against the regime would be executed. It really was going to be the Dragon Empire, Version 2.0 once I took over again.

I guess that was what was meant by absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Elections and listening to others were a form of compromise and mentally exhausting. It was just easier to be able to order something. I trusted my judgement far more than anyone else. I was going to treat governing seriously when I took over in the future.

A part of me wanted to prove Clarissa wrong. That a military form of absolute dictatorship would work the best. Time would tell.