Kapitel 28: 27th Move | In Science and Rationality We Trust
I walked right behind the podium. Thousands of pairs of eyes were all on me and I felt a sense of deja vu.
So similar was the current situation to the opening of the Metropolitan Academy of Higher Thought and Learning...
There was only silence as I grabbed the edge of the podium's countertop in front of me and looked down, finding numerous pieces of white paper that served as cue cards from which Rimuru read aloud and performed his speech.
The silence dragged on. No one dared to speak. All waited for my next move like a gazelle staring at a pack of lions even when they were hundreds of meters away.
While the tension was palpable, I acted entirely nonchalant. [Orator] was passively combing through the prepared speech I had in my mind to make any last-minute patchwork.
Then, without warning or giving any hint of change, I started.
"'In Science and Rationality, We Trust'." My voice contained the same eerily perfected smoothness as always, "These words define the motto of the only beacon of liberty in this world. We know that progress and prosperity can only come through reason and innovation. But, as we all know, these ideas are not universally embraced. The world we live in can be a hostile place, where those in power seek to suppress ideas that threaten their authority.
I took a brief pause. The thousands of pairs of eyes on me never left. Next, I looked down, as if intentionally avoiding eye contact.
"Our world is filled with challenges and obstacles. In it, there are powerful individuals who will crush ideas and inventions that could lift the masses from poverty and hardship. Here, beyond our borders, if you are not born into the right family you are automatically relegated to the bottom of society. Here, beyond our borders, it is a world where birthright, not merit, determines one's future. Here, beyond our borders, if one wishes to achieve greatness, one must overcome society itself holding them back.
I then held my head up high.
"But, those are only beyond our borders. Within the Jura Tempest Republic, we have created a society previously unseen in the world. We champion freedoms of expression, speech, and press, but we must remain vigilant, for there exists those who would use our liberty to manipulate us."
I paused again and started once more, my gaze softened.
"I am... a dreamer." Being given [Inspired Inventor] was arguably the best thing that's ever happened to me. Through technology, I was able to achieve things I've only dreamed of, "I dream of a world where oppression no longer exists. I dream of a world where all are equal. I dream of a world where no one goes to bed hungry. I dream of a world where death no longer exists. I dream of a world where rationality reigns supreme. I dream of a world where the measure of someone is through their character and merit, not by their physical abilities. I dream of a utopia. But... dreams aren't enough. We must combine our dreams with willpower, steadfast commitment, and most importantly: action."
I raised a hand. My palm faced the blue sky above me, it looked as if I was offering others something.
"We gather here today, to mark the beginning of a new chapter within the Grand Military of the Jura Tempest Republic. The opening of the Officer Academy. This institution will stand as a monument to the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of those who come here to learn."
Then I swung my raised hand down as if I was making a slash with a sword.
"We are here to celebrate the dedication, bravery, and commitment of those who will join us and be trained into the leaders of our armed forces. The individuals who will walk through this building will be the ones who will be called upon to defend our nation, uphold our values, and protect our citizens. As those of you within the crowd join to become an Officer, you will be trained in the art of war, but also in the principles of Freedom, Honor, Duty, Mercy, Efficiency, and People. Freedom, the very thing that differentiates our nation from the others, and something which we must defend at all cost." I repeatedly tapped the countertop of the podium as I uttered the first tenant to place great emphasis on that information.
"Honor: the principle that guides us to do the right thing, even when it is difficult," I didn't tap the countertop. "Duty: the commitment to serve our country and our people, and to always put their needs first. Mercy: the compassion to realize that our enemies are also similar to us, and deserve respect and dignity. Efficiency: you will be trained to be efficient in your actions, to be able to make quick decisions, and to be able to improvise and adapt to rapidly changing situations. And finally: People. Our military exists to protect our people first. It shall not be used as a tool of oppression wielded by the leader to destroy dissent, that is why the military is completely insulated from all matters of politics."
History was a subject I loved back in grade school. Thus for a sixth-grade history presentation, I decided to choose the Cold War, specifically, the CIA's coups. It was from that presentation onward that I think I developed a bit of a fear of the military, considering how easily the CIA convinced Generals to turn on the people's elected leader and turn the whole nation into a brutal despotic state.
"As those who choose to join graduate from this academy, you will be tasked to serve your country with pride and distinction. You will proudly wear the uniform of our armed forces, and we, the General Staff, will be proud to have you as a member of the Officer Corps. Now I shall allow the one who spearheaded the creation of the Officer Corps to fully announce the opening."
I then gestured to Ririna, who quickly stood up and walked over as I stepped down from the podium.
The female hobgoblin gave me a quick salute before taking center stage, "Greetings everyone. I am Field Marshal Ririna and it is my honor to welcome you to the Metropolitan Military Officer Academy. For those of you joining, I wish you all the best of luck, and I hope you remember that you are not alone. When you join us, you are joining a family. With your brothers or sisters in arms, you will march on and attain glory for both yourself and your country. We stand on guard for thee!"
That last one was the motto of the Officer Corps. Two drones each shaped as a flying four-pointed star with a blue glowing core in the middle came up from behind the stage. The drones were connected to each other via a red ribbon.
They were Autonomous Security Drones. Each is piloted by a 'simple' Narrow Artificial Intelligence but connected to a near General-level AI that serves as the centralized brain behind the new police force of the Capital. Each Security Drone was armed with none of the lethal weapons you'd find on the military version, instead replaced with Containment Foam Sprayers, and either a Temporal Accurator or Spatial Isolator. The former of which creates a bubble of stasis around the target while the latter isolates the target inside a pocket dimension.
Ririna next opened the cabinet within the podium and took out a golden scissor. Using it, she cut the raised red ribbon in two, signaling the start of the Jura Tempest Republic Military Officer Corp, or to shorten it: the MOC.
*Feeeesh*
*Boom*
Multiple flares of fireworks rose up from behind the building and exploded several dozens of meters in the air.
The firework made everything darker as its explosive sound temporarily eclipsed that of the loud clapping from the crowd below before it then rendered mute.
And so, it's done. The edge of my mouth tilted upward in a calm smile. It seems the ceremony was a great success.
Getting up, I walked over and tapped on Ririna's shoulder.
"Commander?" The hobgoblin looked confused when she turned around to face me. As she does, her back straightened and her head raised up high.
"I'll need to talk with you and Rubedo after the ceremony." I leaned in and whispered, "I'll be in my office inside the building."
With that, I left them to the mass of people who were here either to join or journalists who wish to document this historic moment.
It is my wish that in the far far future when the last light within the universe has died out when it has finally entered into the Black Hole Epoch, the stories of the Officers of Tempest will still be shared until life itself has been extinguished.
As I walked inside the main administrative building, everyone inside it stopped and saluted with a "Commander," when I passed by before continuing on to their destination.
It's a wonder how Ririna managed to instill so much discipline into her subordinates so quickly.
I walked for several more minutes and up three flights of stairs before turning a corner and finding my office at the end of a hallway.
Pushing in the door, I was greeted with the silence and privacy of a large windowless room containing a set of couches, a table with an office chair, a desktop, and an empty bookshelf. On the bookshelf were detailed models of the A.A.A. in various configurations.
Sitting in the chair, I turned my focus onto the desktop. The monitor itself is thin, about a few millimeters across. The time it took the computer to power on was less than a fourth of a minute.
Signing in once the computer was fully powered on, I was met with a wallpaper depicting Metropolis through the inside of the Doughnut arcology.
I, of course, don't really need to use the desktop given how I can use holograms but I figure I'll use it at least once for old-time's sake.
Everything was arranged almost exactly like my office in my previous life after all. In fact, if I were to ignore how I appear shorter, I could almost pretend I never left my old life.
Opening my E-mail, I found the weekly logistic report made by Rubedo. It was an excel sheet depicting what the military currently has in stock and what is recommended. [Mathematics] helped me scan briefly scan over the whole document and found no discrepancy from the one from last week.
I clicked off the document and signed into the Blueprint Auction House.
The Tinkertech Blueprint Auction House is currently a website, but it's only for now as I plan to expand it into a physical location. Here, every week or so I'll auction some tinkertech blueprints that a corporation or individuals can bid on. Due to the fact that whatever products I produce are many times better than anyone else can think up, there exists next to no private R&D.
After the blueprint is sold, the buyer will have a one-year exclusivity deal for that product before it's going up for free.
Of course, to prevent the creation of a monopoly or oligopoly, I would also either personally fund some competitors or have the Ministry of Economy break up the corporation.
I'm not going to have a Robber Baron situation on my hands. If I do, Capitalism becomes flawed Capitalism with the lack of competition.
Clicking on an Auction closest to completion, I'm greeted with the sight of 20,500,600.00$ Tempest Dollars for the blueprint of a tinkertech pillow that allows its user to gain better rest. The current top bidder is a company by the name of... Bedroom and Beyond.
"Hmm..." I scratched my chin. This is one of my largest 'official' revenue streams. just as I was about to open another auction about an alternative fuel source, the door to my office room clicked open.
Looking up, I saw a Sergeant-rank orc carrying a large number of files. When he fully came into the door, he saluted, "Commander," before placing the files onto the table and leaving.
The files collectively were as thick as entire textbooks. I was happy that so many people applied to join the Officer Corps but seeing how thick it was, I fear Ririna may need more instructors.
Taking the file, I saw that on the sides were tabs that arranged the files alphabetically. Flipping it to a random page, I looked at the picture that displayed those who wanted to join.
Goblins, orcs, and lizardmen made up a majority of those who wanted to join, with one or two humans mixed in. All of them looked relatively unassuming from a glance, and wouldn't look out of place if you encounter them on the sidewalk.
They aren't ready. But that's not really a problem: the Academy will whip them into shape.
However, as I was flipping through the pages, I found a particular candidate that gave me pause.
Eren Elward.
The space between my eyebrows shortened at the sight of the name. My head shifted to the side to stare at the wall as I tried to imagine another human having the same first and last name only to come up blank.
I then peeked at her photo to confirm that it was who I thought it was.
"Eren's... joining?"
She's... what? I thought the girl left after the Guide Master had gone back to Blumund! My internal alarms were going off. Now she wants to join the Military?
She's a runaway noble— the potential fallout of the truth being revealed would put us in a tough spot. Especially since Sarion could accuse us of using Eren to gain secret information.
The ramification of this spills over into international politics and was a time bomb just waiting to blow with an unknown timer.
I can almost imagine this event blowing up at the worst time possible. Maybe that was just me reading too many works of fiction where a companion of a character betrays at the worst time for said character.
I took out her file and placed it to the side, deciding to deal with it later while returning my attention back to the other candidates.
I was almost through all the candidates of the files before the door to my office opened again and Rubedo alongside Ririna quietly walked in, both having serious expressions on their faces.
Uniform-wise, Ririna is wearing a much less extravagant version of her ceremonial outfit. The one she currently wore is dark green with red accents covering the seams, making it look like something out of a WWII film.
Rubedo on the other hand is wearing something similar to Ririna except he has a tinkertech sheathed saber on his side.
The Kijin said it was apparently a 'cultural thing'.
Of course, I granted him that request since it would be not advantageous to start an employer's contract with a bad impression. The saber I gave him is a worthless one made from magisteel and contains a single monomolecular edge on one side of the blade. Due to it being for use by others, I carved a microscopic rune of self-repair and another of self-maintenance to ensure it would never dull or break as long as Rubedo continues to supply it with magicule.
I think it's really something that I consider a monomolecular blade, what is considered 'exceptional' in many works of science fiction, to be 'worthless'.
Looking up, "You're all here. Good. Sit."
I waited until the two settled before pressing a button underneath the desk.
While this may look like an ordinary desk, like many of my creations, it is far from it.
This desk is made out of material that is chemically almost identical to wood, yet is as hard as Magisteel. More than its hardness, the desk also contains a pocket dimension generator. Once activated, the generator will deposit this office into its own private pocket dimension, allowing for absolute privacy and ensuring nothing would escape the confines of this room.
It is a bit disorienting for those unused to being in a subspace bubble, as clearly shown by the fact that Rubedo clutched the armrest of the couch harshly and the barely concealed nauseousness of Ririna.
"Now that privacy is guaranteed, we can start."
A port on the desk opened up and a map of the world manifested itself in the middle of the room. It is both a geographical and a political map of this world. Large enough that it took up a majority of my office's floor space, the map was extremely detailed in showing all the settlements in the world.
Within the borders of the Republic, there were two additional dots to the star that represented our capital which resides north of the Kusha Mountain Range.
"I'm sure you already know, but let's recap anyway. Our official municipal cities expanded from one to three now with the establishment of the port city of Trantor in the Bay of Ashdapor between Fulbrosia and Sarion and the city of Rimuru at the mouth of the Ameld River going from lake Shisu, with both having a population of 8,000 and 10,000 respectively.
Both of them nodded at the information before I continued, "now, I plan on transforming Trantor into a partial military port."
Rubedo looked surprised while Ririna had a neutral, yet intense look on her face to show that she's been paying attention even if she likely already knew this information.
"But," Rubedo interjected, "we don't have a blue-water navy—"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Ririna interrupted with a tone of annoyance that a person would use when they've run out of patience.
A blue-water navy refers to a navy that is capable of operating across the oceans. An excellent example of a blue-water navy is the United States Navy with its eleven carriers.
"Now, Rimuru City has been getting trade from Eurazania while Trantor has already been receiving products from the various Western states, El Dorado, Sarion, and ugh, Ulgrasia. Nigerdo thinks Trantor can become one of the centers of commerce of the south, right up there next to Metropolis." As I spoke, I opened the cabinet built into the desk and took out a bottle of water before finally pausing and taking a sip.
Then I placed the bottle onto the side of my desk and crossed my fingers together as if I was some kind of supervillain in the process of masterminding the hero's defeat.
"He has also petitioned Congress for the creation of an additional Hyperloop beyond the highway we have already built two weeks ago." I raised my right hand to point at seemingly nothing, "I want that to be delayed. The Hyperloop is a sign of friendship, it serves no purpose beyond maybe being an extremely fast form of transportation that just isn't cost-effective enough until more countries recognize our existence."
Ririna nodded her head with a determined look on her face.
In contrast, Rubedo looked a bit disgusted with the edge of his mouth veering downward in a grimace. "Nigerdo has waited hours under the hot sun to get that petition into Congress and you would seek to delay him through undemocratic means?!" he said with a bit of rage in his voice.
I began to rub my forehead as I am once again reminded of the rather... strained relationship between the two of us despite me being the one who gave him his name.
"I'm not removing his petition." I firmly stated, "I'll admit, having a Hyperloop would be great for travel between cities but it's not economically feasible until there's more of a demand for such things. Hell, maybe besides a potential one to Blumund but the Hyperloop to Dwargon is running at a 200,000 dollar loss every month." That seems to calm him down a bit, but the red Kijin's face is still twisted in discomfort at what [Psychology] deemed he saw as the 'undemocratic nature' of what I'm asking.
Next, I maneuver to reassure him. My raised right hand was pointed at seemingly nothing flattened itself until it was parallel with the floor. It looked as if I was a tour guide and was gesturing toward a specific section of a monument.
"Besides, it's not undemocratic. I'm just going to give a bill about Albedo's proposal for integration of magic into daily life for Congress to chew on until after Rimuru's visit to Ingrassia, persuade them that it's more important and put the Hyperloop project on hold." Waiting a few moments to let that sink in, I then move to why they're REALLY here for; "there has been an enormous amount of escaped slaves from Jistav, Eurazania, Fulbrosia, and the other western nations, especially Falmuth."
I saw Ririna's hands tighten her face still passive but I saw the twitch in her left eye, with Rubedo gritting his teeth in anger.
[Silenced Emotion: 40%]
Oh boy. It seems slavery is as emotionally charged of a topic here as it is in my old world, which is strange considering this is a Tolkien-esque fantasy world and slavery is everywhere.
"Now, I have no problem with them coming into the Republic in seeking a better life. We could always use more manpower," Both blinked at the last part, seemingly unprepared for that cold statement.
For such an issue, cold logic is needed.
"What I am concerned about are the slave hunters that effortlessly cross the borders and the trafficking rings established within the Jura Forest." I firmly said with authority clear in my voice, "the real purpose I've asked you all to come here is to ask you guys how would you guys solve this issue?"
It was also a secret test.
Ririna raised her hand like a student waiting to be called by a teacher. What...?
"Ririna, just speak, this is a meeting, not a classroom. There's no need for you to raise your hand,"
Ririna had this small blush on her face before clearing her throat, zooming into the Jistav-Republic border, "I propose we set up some military bases 50 kilometers outside of the border, that way we can send out drones that monitors the area which will 'accidentally' ignore the escaped slaves and instead focus on the hunters, maybe even creating a capture-on-sight order for any illegal border crossers. Due to our relatively lax Visa requirements, we can let them stay for five years, more than long enough for them to become a Tempest Citizen."
Rubedo looked at Ririna in a new light, one of respect and admiration if the agape mouth is anything to go by. I had a smile on my face, "Good idea Ririna."
Ririna preened under the compliment.
"Now Rubedo, what do you think? How do we combat this issue?"
Rubedo had an intense look in his eyes. His lips thinned as his fist tightened almost like he was about to throw a punch. [Psychology] thinks he must've had a bad encounter with slavers in his past given how emotional he's getting.
The Kijin then turned to face a part of the wall where both I and Ririna won't be in his line of sight.
"I say we kill those hunters. We can create a new directorate for the Office Corp, which perhaps every three months of a year, many Officer-in-trainings get real-world experience in leading a small bridge of soldiers and Autonomous Military Drones in combatting the problem. Get them used to blood if you will."
I snapped my fingers, "that's an interesting proposal, but not good enough."
Rubedo instantly turned to me, his eyes wide and full of disbelief.
His answer is just so... thoughtless. Such thoughtless treatment of symptoms is what caused the War on Drugs.
"You're treating a symptom, not the actual disease."
"What are you talking about?!" Rubedo was appalled, "that we shouldn't kill them?! Those who violate one of our Freedoms within the Constitution?!?"
"Rubedo!"
That came from Ririna. I didn't reply. Instead, I waited until he calmed down.
I leaned on my left hand as if it was a scaffolding and I was a tower, "Why does slavery exist?"
"Wha—?"
"Tell me honestly, why do you think the institution of slavery exists?"
"I—"
"Rubedo, tell me why slavery exists?" I stared unflinchingly into Rubedo's eyes.
"... To..." Rubedo seems to be struggling to find an answer, so I turned to Ririna.
"Ririna, why does slavery exists?"
"To oppress people? To show that one species is better than the other?"
"Close. In truth, slavery exists primarily to serve one purpose." I held up one finger, "cheap labor."
I could tell that it was slowly dawning on Ririna, but Rubedo seemed to need some extra catching up to do, so I elaborated, "I personally believe economics is the main driving force of history."
Why did the Bolsheviks rise to power in Tsar Russia? Poor economic conditions. Why did Spain conquer the Mesoamericans? For god, glory, and gold. Why did so many Chinese emperors get overthrown by their people? Because they trashed the nation's economy.
"Unlike us, those pre-industrial civilizations need slaves to fulfill the niche of cheap labor. Unlike us, who have machines and vocational educations that can make an individual hundred of times more productive than your average peasant, for them, the world is a zero-sum game." I then simplify it, "the world is a cake, and in order to have a larger slice, you must take it from others. Thus, to be more productive, you must take from other people, whether it's resources or people."
Such are the thoughts of Mercantilism, where it was believed that one nation can only get richer if another nation became poorer.
"We of the Jura Tempest Republic have the ability to create more cakes thanks to the effect of technologies. Our economy is growing at such a rapid pace that in less than half a year, we'll make up 50% of the global economy, more than the East and West combined. Here, in our Republic, our technology makes slavery uneconomical and unprofitable. With our technology, we have created a proper Middle-class. This doesn't happen elsewhere outside of our borders."
There is a reason why the number of pre-industrial great civilizations that don't have any form of slavery can be counted on one hand.
The Founding Fathers of America wrote in 'All Men Are Equal' because slavery was already unprofitable and on its way out. It was solely due to the creation of Eli Whitney's cotton gin that made farming cotton actually profitable since instead of picking out enough cotton to weigh one pound, a single slave with the cotton gin can make 50. In fact, a year into the American Civil War, Lincoln even wrote that he would do whatever it takes to preserve the Union, even if it meant not freeing any of the slaves.
While many may think the Abolitionist movements ended slavery, I personally believe it was Industrialization that ended slavery. It gave power to the workers and made slavery unprofitable. One just needs to look at how badly Tsarist Russia did against Germany during WWI to see how much the Industrial Revolution changed things.
Economics is the prime driving force of history. If slavery was still profitable I know for a fact that it would still exist, Abolitionism be damned.
"So what do you recommend that we do huh?" Rubedo asked bitterly, like a person who knows he's been defeated.
"Why we reduce the demand of course!" I said simply, with an undertone of joyfulness, "being the main driving force behind history, we'll use economics to solve our problems. The Law of Supply and Demand dictates that so long as there is a demand, there will be supply. Instead of attacking the supply like what Rubedo suggests, I think we'll focus on the demand side of things."
I then lay out my grand plan.
"Obviously to reduce demand, we'll need to expand. We'll need to expand our influence and spread our technologies. While the march of progress for us has continued, it isn't for others. So we'll need to drag other nations— this whole world— kicking and screaming into the future."
That shall be my foreign policy, and also the unofficial foreign policy of this nation. The true purpose of why the Republic interacts on the geopolitical stage.
Rimuru... my eyes partially softened, wouldn't understand. He's too gentle and idealistic to perform the necessary evil of being the President of the only beacon of liberty in this world.
Rubedo crossed his arms, "And what about resistance and retaliation to our influence? I highly doubt people like Emperor Rudra would allow us to give his people ideals of freedom."
A smirk appeared on my face. If soft power won't work, then it comes down to the military's hard power.
"Oh that's easy, I have the Endbringer Initiative to serve as our shield and sword to use against people like Rudra."
"And... What is the Endbringer Initiative?"
I blinked once, twice, before it dawned on me that these people aren't Shizue nor Arcueid. Chuckling morbidly at the fact that I talk more with machines and 'aliens from other worlds' than native beings, I silently made a note to talk more with Arcueid and Rimuru right before he goes to Ingrassia.
"I'll give you the files."
A holographic screen projected replaced the world map. It was three files under the Endbringer Initiative labeled as 'Thaumiel'.
"This is the Endbringer Initiative." the image of three beasts appeared as the file opened, revealing Directive-level secret data for my two topmost military officers whom I trust. The only reason I'm not telling Rimuru this information was the fact that I'm afraid of his reaction to it. "Needless to say, it's beyond Executive-level."
These war machines are designed to fight against multiple S-rank threats at a time, potentially even an S+ like Milim if all three gathered.
They are the ultimate planetary invasion troops. It took multiple charges into [Material Science], [Dimensional Physics], [Quantum Physics], [Power Creation], [Sensor], [Space-time Engineering], [Exotic Biology], and over a dozen other specialties to create these monstrosities. These superpowered monstrosities.
Rubedo and Ririna looked on in awe at the projected 3-D blueprints of these weapons.
Project Behemoth: a massive vaguely humanoid-like thing seemingly made out of black jagged rocks with a single 'eye'. It has dynakinesis, otherwise known as 'energy manipulation'. For the Army.
Project Leviathan: a top-heavy lizard that seems to jump straight out of a Godzilla film. Macro-hydrokinesis or large-scale water manipulation grants the weapon the ability to sink entire coastlines underneath a biblical wave of water. For the Navy.
Project Simurgh: the hardest one to build. This weapon has the appearance of an angel with multiple wings. In reality, it uses precise manipulation of gravity to give the appearance of 'telekinesis'. Its precision with gravity manipulation is great enough that the angel can gently move the organs inside a person's ears to simulate 'sound' and give information that only said person can hear, creating a type of telepathy. In fact, the Simurgh has such precision with its gravity manipulation that the weapon can perform brain surgery without the host realizing it.
Being linked to the Doormaker network, the Simurgh also has planetwide post- and precognition through observation of light from the past and calculations of predictions of the future. The Simurgh is also capable of enacting repairs on itself and the other two weapons of the Endbringer Initiative.
For the Airforce.
This Initiative is my final trump card until I deemed the Grand Fleet is completed. They should be able to keep the likes of Velgrynd busy.
A conservative estimation gives it three weeks before these three Endbringers conquer my old world. The biggest roadblock for these beasts isn't nuclear weapons or any army: it's the distance they have to travel that'll slow them down the most.
The Simurgh can pacify a city the size of New York in thirty minutes by giving millions of people a lobotomy, up to an entire state if the angel doesn't care about whether the victims survive or not. Leviathan can sink the island of Kyushu or Newfoundland with tsunamis the likes you will only see in disaster movies. Behemoth can control energy and can cause dormant volcanoes like Yellowstone to erupt prematurely.
My attention zeroed in on my subordinates, waiting patiently for them to finish taking in the Endbringer Initiative while I gauge their response by their facial features.
Arguably, the Endbringer Initiative is the equivalent of the Manhattan Project of my old world, or rather, Izdeliye 501 since the Eastern Empire already has Velgrynd. It will protect the Republic even more than Polaris or the A.A.A. against threats that would seek to harm it.
The back of my mind made a comparison of the Republic to North Korea before I ignored it.
"This..." Rubedo trailed off, his face pale, "this... I thought Congress had banned you from making any more Weapons of Mass Destruction without approval—"
I quickly cut him off, with a swipe of my wrist, "these haven't been built yet obviously. They are merely blueprints for weapons that can raze the Eastern Empire into the ground if we ignore Velgrynd."
Is what he feeling right now akin to what Major Charles Sweeney felt when he piloted the plane that carried Fat Man? I idly wondered when looking at Rubedo. That unsettling feeling of knowing you are a collaborator to the death of thousands, or in this case it would be millions in the future?
Rubedo looked uneased, more so after the mention of the True Dragon. He looked down at the ground as if trying to decide on something before looking at me right into my eyes.
"I had signed a contract and swore an oath to be your subordinate, so this may be seen as treasonous but I must ask: How much is too much? Is the death of millions, even billions worth it? How many weapons of mass destruction will you build until you are satisfied? Will you only stop once the world itself is destroyed?"
[Silenced Emotion: 70%]
"..."
My shoulders slacked, my head draped as if my neck no longer had any strength and a shadow covered my eyes.
My lips thinned as I process what he had said. That question enraged me immensely before I quashed it down, my poker face almost breaking when I heard what he had said.
What does he know about being a Perfect Homunculus? What does he know about the sleepless nights of me worrying about the potential leaking of my real self? Of having to put on a mask all the time just so the entire world wouldn't kill you? I'm like a Jew in Nazi Germany in 1941, where my only advantage is that I look like an Aryan and no one knows of my parents.
How dare he?
"RUBEDO!" Ririna jumped off the couch and looked downright murderous at the treasonous words of her second-in-command, before turning around and bowing to me apologetically, "please! Forgive my second-in-command, I shall reprimand him immensely afterward!"
"Have no fear, even if they are built, they would only be used in an event of Total War," I assured him with confidence clear in my voice, suppressing my anger at being doubted and completely ignoring his question. Turning to Ririna, "well, what do you think?"
Ririna looked at the blueprint before replying "Commander, I would think if we have these then no nation in the world would dare attack us."
The hobgoblin declared with a grin, trying very hard to forget Rubedo's pseudo-treason had ever happened.
I slowly clenched my right hand before unclenching them in a rhythmic fashion.
I had added a clause allowing my employees to speak freely, but god damn did Rubedo make me want to remove that clause.
With the support of Ririna and the reluctance of Rubedo, now I only need the President's Executive support and I can go ahead with the construction of the Endbringers.
The fact that the Endbringer Initiative renders us immune to any attacks from other nations should be enough of a reason to build them.
_____________________________________________
AN: I wasn't able to find a name for the bay between Fulbrosia and Sarion, so I decided to make my own.
How I imagine if Scientia was in Melty Blood: Type Lumina
After downloading the game, I realized how mistaken this is, so instead, I'm going for a full overhaul.
ArcDrive: Scientia summons the secret intergalactic fleet they've built before teleporting out using Doormaker, the skies darken as thousands, millions, billions of Doors are made. The sun itself is blotted out due to the sheer number of voidcrafts present, and then they all collectively fire all their weapons at the target, frying the entire continent as they do.
Last Arcs: Scientia wears the Block-Form Singularity Mathematics, opens a Door behind the opponent, and bodyslam them through. The door transported the opponent next to a colossal structure of an unimaginable size: a Nicol-Dyson Beam. The Dyson sphere then powers itself on as energy is condensed around the firing lens, before a beam the size of a planet is shot forth and hits the opponent still floating aimlessly in space.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein