# Chapter 30: I Will Watch Over This Nation
The storm continued to surge from the true north, carrying with it an abnormal heat and the metallic stench of iron.
The gloomy sky was set off by black clouds. Israel Diamond stood on the giant observation platform at the center of the Eastern Barter Plateau, watching the humid, hot air extend along the iron-gray horizon—torrential rain fell, babbling brooks turned into surging rivers, lakes that had dried up over the winter refilled, floodwaters continuously expanded across the black-and-green mottled land, and withered trees sprouted new buds.
Spring had arrived, but this spring was different from any before. The warm wind blowing from south to north had been reversed by the power of a certain legendary figure days ago. The scorching hot wind surging from the North Ural Plain mixed with the wet, cold spring rain, going against the laws of thousands of years to return to the Helgamos Plain at the center of the Empire. It had not even stopped there but had come all the way to the Western Mountains and the Barter Mountains on the Empire's border.
The Imperial Emperor watched the rain fall before his eyes. He stood on the highest platform of the Apocalypse Base, his gaze seeming to penetrate through the clouds and rain, overlooking the entire Empire. Behind him stood the legendary warrior Joshua Radcliffe, and beside him was the legendary mage Nostradamus.
"Your Majesty, you summoned me?"
The warrior's voice was calm, but he could feel that the surrounding air was gradually heating up, boiling. An indescribable aura was spreading outward with the Emperor at its center: "Everything should be thanks to you, Lord Radcliffe. Without you, there would be no Empire as it is now, no Apocalypse Base, no Information Terminals and Magic Net—and naturally, none of this, nor the current me."
"You once asked me why I didn't immediately set about reform. Because I knew the time had not yet come. Wash away one batch of people, and another batch will stand up. Evil is like reeds—break them off, and they will grow even taller the next year. The strong will naturally oppress the weak, just as one class must oppress another."
"Then now, has the time come?" The warrior's puzzled voice came.
"The time has come." Israel slowly nodded.
"Let him see the fruits of our struggle these past days."
Nostradamus, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. He smiled as he stood beside His Majesty the Emperor, then took out from his bosom a strangely shaped steel rod forged from an unknown metal. Joshua could see that it was half of a prism. On the other side, Israel also took out an identical steel rod from his hand, and he took the other half from the old mage.
—This is an Information Terminal! But why is it so big?! Watching this scene, the warrior suddenly realized.
And just as Joshua understood, Israel clapped his hands together, merging the two into one. Instantly, a pale blue light shot out from the lower end of this prism. It was a data stream composed entirely of runes. The amount of information was so vast that even Joshua could not parse it in an instant.
Israel's calm voice could be heard: "Joshua, watch."
"The moment of change has arrived."
Immediately, the observation tower at the very center of the Apocalypse Base began to tremble. The steel plates at the top started to rotate and bulge outward, forming a high platform. In the center of the platform, a deep passage emerged. A beam of blue light, identical to that of the prism, shot up from the bottom of the passage, merging with the light of this 'key.'
[Information Terminal · Number 00-00, Highest Administrator Authority engaged. Beginning execution of Plan One.]
[Highest Administrator - Codename Israel, energy fluctuation confirmed, soul resonance confirmed.]
[Plan commencing—]
[May you shine upon the world like the sun.]
The metal prism in Israel's hand had already liquefied under the high-intensity energy impact. But this was not destruction; rather, it seemed to be returning to its original form. The silver metal containing pale blue light surged and transformed in the Emperor's hand, as unpredictable as the unfathomable human heart.
A tremendous roar came. Everything was ready. The towering observation platform changed shape as if it were alive. Under the operation of long-confirmed formation programs, the three legendary figures watched this enormous magical-mechanical structure begin to transform. Accompanied by the noise of steel grinding against steel and the faint hum of magical resonance, the lower half of the observation platform detached from the giant steel base. Supported by vast magical power, it floated in midair and continuously rose toward the sky.
Joshua and Nostradamus stood on the unchanging top of the observation platform. Neither paid attention to the rising platform; their gazes remained fixed on the person at the center of this platform. And at that moment, the Emperor opened his palm. The liquid metal in his hand began to slowly float up, then rapidly expanded in midair, transforming into a throne seemingly made of light. Israel gazed at this throne as it slowly descended, embedding itself into the high platform that had long been prepared for it. The Emperor sat down on his throne.
Then, he issued his first command: "Deploy all detection lenses."
[As you command, Supreme Administrator.]
The emotionless voice answered him in pure information language. And the next moment, accompanied by intangible energy fluctuations sweeping across every part of the Empire, countless light screens unfolded before Israel's eyes.
The bewildered Joshua opened his eyes wide. Together with Nostradamus, he watched these light screens.
The Helgamos Plain was fully visible—from Eternal Song Lake to Thomas Canyon, from the Tartarus Plateau to the Great Aias Mountains. Every region, every city in the northwest of the entire Empire came into view. Even mountain villages and underground dwarves were not missed. The warrior could even see a dwarf herding moles digging a passage deep into the earth, where it was only a stone's throw from another underground cavity.
The Southern Fortress—the humid, hot air rolling back from the Northern Lands had not yet arrived, but gloomy black clouds had already appeared in the northern sky. The military and their families in the fortress were hurriedly taking in everything from the clotheslines, lest their hard-washed garments be soaked by the dirty rain. The Southeast Swamp—thick gray clouds were slowly moving, like mountain ranges of clouds, with lightning flashing through them. The tribal residents were accustomed to this and continued their daily lives.
The Empire's Eastern Coast—Stone Bay Harbor's sea surface reflected the golden afterglow of the setting sun, as moving as the purest true gold. Waves layered upon each other, and the gradually appearing starlight on the horizon could already be seen. On the distant island, the lighthouse's light guided passing merchant ships to avoid reefs and successfully proceed in their respective directions.
Every corner of the entire Empire, whether famous or nameless, whether inhabited or uninhabited—even the Black Forest deathlands where only magical beasts rampaged, even the overcrowded commercial cities—there were numerous light screens reflecting every change within them. The Imperial Capital, Three Mountains Holy City, within Morlai Palace—a silver-haired Empress frowned. She felt a familiar gaze but did not know its source. In the castle of the ancient Fairy Island, the empty Elemental Pillars held nothing; the fairies originally stationed there had long left this place, wandering across the Empire with a certain youth.
A swordsman traveling with his family. A dragon-girl wandering in the Northern Mountains. A mount taking advantage of the warrior's absence to go swimming in the Sea of Bewilderment. The First Squad diligently completing their tasks. An Artificial Intelligence Girl strolling through the city with a silver-haired girl, buying miscellaneous books... Familiar, unfamiliar—everything was in these endless light screens.
"I am no sage, nor am I a saint. Nostradamus and I know that enlightening the people is the first step to transforming society. But before this first step, I must shatter all classes. This is almost an impossible task, because there will inevitably be high and low among people, inevitably oppressors and the oppressed."
On the throne, Israel gradually became indifferent. A voice with heavy echoes sounded. His tone was cold, thick killing intent emerging in his words: "I thought for a long time and could only think of one method."
"And that is for me to be the oppressor—the only one."
The radiance of divinity flickered in Israel's eyes. The Emperor's originally deep pupils began to gradually transform into pure light—at this moment, his eyes completely became two clusters of golden flames, burning like the sun, scorching all who met his gaze. Israel sat on the throne, watching all the light screens, and said softly: "Thank you, Lord Radcliffe. You brought the Magic Net, brought the Void Warship production line. Together, we created the final step of this plan—a surveillance network covering the entire Empire."
And at this moment, Joshua also understood. He raised his head, looking into the void. Silver light flickered in his pupils as well. He saw countless rune light chains rising from all parts of the Empire, then heading toward a certain place in the void—the Empire's recently completed Void Warship Number One. Israel had named it and the entire production base 'Apocalypse.' The Apocalypse carried a massive core terminal that received signals from detection formations scattered throughout the Empire, then relayed them before Israel's throne.
Back then, the warrior hadn't understood why he chose that name. But now, he understood.
"No wonder the servers kept crashing from time to time... even though several legendary experts were reinforcing and repairing them day and night. So it was all your experiments."
Joshua murmured to himself. He turned his head to look at Israel: "Nostradamus must be your accomplice. Baniel and William, they knew too?"
"After all, I funded the construction of the Information Terminals. They just followed professional ethics and didn't ask what I was doing."
Israel nodded slightly to Joshua, apologizing for the concealment. But then he pointed to the light screens and said softly: "Look, Lord Radcliffe."
"At this ubiquitous evil."
Following Israel's words, Joshua looked at the light screens. And at that moment, the most superficial layers of light screens all changed at once, transforming into countless images different from before. The moment the warrior saw them, he subconsciously clenched his fists. Uncontrollable rage rose in his heart.
He saw the evil lurking beneath the entire Empire, hidden by the appearance of prosperity.
There were bandits roaming the wilderness and deep forests, plundering merchant caravans and lone travelers. Countless missing persons on the lists were caused by them. Innumerable elderly had lost their children. Countless children had lost their fathers. One caravan after another went bankrupt because of them. Thousands of families were ruined.
There were adventurers hiding behind harmonious smiles, turning on their companions in the wild forests. They pretended to be friendly, taking inexperienced newcomers full of hope for the future to remote, uninhabited wilderness, then killing them one by one in their sleep. They harvested others' dreams to fatten their own purses. Their blood-soaked hands did not bring them the slightest guilt, only contemptuous sneers.
Besides these, there were nobles hiding in secret chambers, thinking no one knew. Having tried every thrill and tasted every delicacy, demons grew in their hearts. After hunting beasts and magical beasts could no longer satisfy them, they turned their gaze to their own kind. So every month, every week, even every day, one or two youths would go missing from some slum. A batch of people from some mountain village would be kidnapped by masked knights. Their end would be to become 'novel' materials in the bloody underground chambers of castles, satisfying these people's indescribably violent desires.
"Human-trafficking gangs. Merchants who train female slaves. Nobles who persecute commoners for pleasure. Mages who dissect humans as a hobby... They think themselves hidden, think they have protection, so they can do whatever they want."
A thug dragging a crying girl out of her house under the pretext of usury mocked the family's stupidity. A slave merchant using magical potions to destroy slaves' minds, thereby reshaping their personalities, was full of excitement. A noble whipping the peasants on his land, enjoying the sound of bones cracking, shouted with pleasure and increased the force in his hand. And on the experimental table, a mage who used no anesthetic, simply wanting to see the ultimate terror in others' eyes, revealed an inhuman smile.
Israel's cold voice echoed in the observation platform. The Emperor sitting on the throne let out a cold laugh: "But now, all are in my sight—the Empire's laws—I will judge them."
He extended his right hand and clenched it in the void. Instantly, accompanied by a sharply enhanced energy fluctuation, every place where evil originated, as shown in the light screens, received its own heavenly punishment—scorching arrows of blazing flame descended from the sky, precisely killing all the bandits, all the villains. The lair of the gang turned into a sea of fire before the shocked eyes of many numb onlookers. The slave merchant's headquarters collapsed in heavenly fire. The noble's mansion was cut into pieces by precisely targeted laser beams, including the noble himself. And the mage in the mage tower spontaneously combusted, becoming a pile of black charcoal before the bewildered gaze of the next experimental subject who had not yet been dissected.
Countless evildoers, before dying, looked up to the heavens in panic, praying, confessing their sins to the gods. But the Emperor's wrath would not diminish one bit because of this powerless confession. Those who deserved to die should be like withered grass, turning to ash and smoke in the flames.
"Thirty days."
After doing all this, suddenly, Israel raised his voice and said loudly: "With enough materials, the Apocalypse Base can produce one second-class aerial cruiser. It can carry four high-energy magic crystal beam cannons and serve as a relay station, bearing my power. Thirty times thirty days later, I will establish a surveillance and strike network covering the entire Empire. As long as I can see the evil, I can dispatch flying ships, or directly suppress it."
"Ultimate dystopia..."
And at this moment, Joshua was softly murmuring such a term. Because he spoke it in Earth's language, neither Nostradamus, who was smiling as he watched everything, nor the calm Israel understood. Just as the two showed puzzled expressions, the warrior slightly closed his eyes, then opened them to look at Israel, asking in a deep voice: "Is this your choice, Israel? Using absolute power to oppress the entire Empire? Using Information Terminals to monitor everyone?"
"Yes, this is my choice."
Answering without the slightest hesitation, Israel showed an extremely determined expression. He opened his eyes wide, meeting Joshua's gaze: "There will be no more crime, no more oppression. Bandits will disappear. Gangs will all go to prison. All nobles who torture and kill commoners will be executed by me. Any criminal attempting murder will be burned to ashes by me—I am the legendary powerhouse Israel, and I have the ability to do this!"
"In this world, there will no longer be classes. Commoners can live in peace. Merchant caravans need not fear conspiracy and bandits. Upright people can hold their heads high. Base people can only go to hell. This is what I want!"
Joshua gazed at Israel's face: he wanted to find even a trace of selfish desire in it. But he did not. The Emperor had not a shred of selfish desire from the inside out. His words matched his actions. What he said was what he did. There was no flaw whatsoever—what if this was truly his heartfelt thought?
"This is absolute tyranny."
The warrior took a deep breath. Many thoughts surged in his heart. For the first time, Joshua was unclear about his own thoughts—his reason told him that absolute power would breed absolute corruption, and Israel would be no exception. But on the other hand, he trusted the will of a legendary powerhouse. If Israel said he could achieve eternal justice, then Radcliffe was willing to believe he could.
Contradictory? Not at all. Trust itself is unreasonable.
"Teacher Nostradamus, Lord Radcliffe."
As if sensing Joshua's complex emotions, Israel softened his tone. He watched the light screens before him and said with a voice carrying heavy echoes: "I know that this kind of absolute tyranny is not a good thing."
"But right now, I truly feel the 'justice' brought by 'power.'"
Sitting on the 'Throne of Apocalypse,' entirely condensed from Information Terminals, Israel overlooked the earth from the observation platform already twelve thousand meters above the ground, overlooking his Empire. Surging divine light poured forth from this Emperor's body. Israel slowly closed his eyes. A huge, gear-like black circular holy emblem appeared behind him.
It was the holy emblem of the God of Might and Justice.
In the Boundless Heaven, a certain great will trembled slightly.
"A God Awakener..." He murmured softly, looking at the Mycroft World with a complex gaze. But then, he shifted his attention, continuing to immerse himself in the process of merging with the Boundless Heaven.
And on the Mycroft Continent, above the Eastern Barter Plateau, Israel opened his eyes again. His eyes, burning like the sun, released a radiance that made it impossible for anyone to look directly at him.
"Until the day I envision arrives, I will not leave this seat."
The Emperor said thus: "I will watch over this nation."
"Until it becomes what I envision."