Apparently, in the distant past I had a good inclination for the eighth-grader syndrome. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain why I chose a red cross on a white flower as a logo for the research complex. In short, I did not steal the Umbrella logo, but honestly adapted it. But surprisingly, it looks stylish in its own way, and even somewhat sinister and frightening.
- Sir, your humble servant has arrived at your first call, - a satisfied Demiurge approached the main entrance to the research complex. From the easily readable pride on his face, one can judge that everything is going exactly according to plan, and he already knows about further events. Or I am overly extolling his intellect, which is unlikely. After all, it was not for nothing that Ulbert and I described him in detail. He is definitely at the achievable top, if we speak in terms of IQ coefficient - no less than 200.
- Nice to meet you. The vision of a large-scale war you created is beyond praise, but I had to add a couple of details. I hope the main processes were not affected by this, - he politely greeted the servant who had spent a lot of time and effort on implementing various schemes.
While I waited for him, the dangerous terrain around me contributed to a better thought process. It got to the point where a couple of the demon's cunning plans suffered from our poor cooperation. But at this stage, they are too petty and insignificant. Only the future is important, determining not the ridiculous title of "regent" or its absence, but the fate of hundreds of thousands of living creatures.
Speaking of dangerous terrain...
We are currently on the eighth underground floor of Nazarick. This wild territory is guarded by the best representatives of Ainz Ooal Gown's main force. There are many traps and insidious defense mechanisms, and one of the strongest creatures is kept here. And it is not Rubedo. The research complex contains an unfinished "NEH". It was very difficult to create an analogue of a strong boss, so it ate up a whole mountain of my investments in real money. But it does not matter, in total, we invested half of the resources of all of Nazarick in this floor.
"Thank you for continuing to guide me," Demiurge bowed modestly. "Is this your main research base?"
"It's smaller on the outside than it is on the inside, probably by two or three hundred percent. "I was able to set it up because of one significant event that made it possible to outfit Delta with the right gear.
"Techno-era?" the demon frowned, trying to recall fragments of memories from Yggdrasil. It was already clear that the NPCs were able to retain a significant portion of their memories, especially the information spoken by their creators.
As for the "techno-era", it didn't just appear out of nowhere. The game needed to be supported with constant updates, sometimes successful, and sometimes absurd. I remember when the gap between newbies and pro-players became too big, the developers added technological robot suits with built-in spells, machine guns and rocket launchers to the game. Oh, what a rebellion all the fans of traditional fantasy raised on the forums. I wouldn't be surprised if thousands of players left the game because of such a setup, and the "good solution" didn't even cover half of the reputational losses.
- A disgusting time, actually, - he waved his hand lazily. - Open the passage, - after my phase, the sound of the working door opening mechanism spread around the area. The door leading to the laboratory is covered with obsidian - a material that perfectly reflects sound. The shape of the passage itself is completely copied from the entrance to the fallout bomb shelter, with the difference that the symbol was not a cheerful little man with a thumb, but a red and white umbrella. Initially, I was looking for a more technological solution, but the developers let me down, not wanting to completely ruin Yggdrasil. The expression: if the barn is on fire, burn the house too - clearly does not apply to them.
- Thank you for the honor.
- It's not worth it.
Entering the long and wide corridor, a second click was heard, following the closing of the passage.
Before it got dark, a new mechanism was triggered. This time, it was responsible for lighting the entire complex. I had to spend a lot of time carefully hanging the glowing crystals, since the data limit is not infinite. I economized on everything that could be economized on. But the demon and I have perfect vision, and the snow-white corridors helped the dim lighting cover as much space as possible. So we won't get lost.
While we were moving through long and confusing rooms, I decided to brighten up the time a little by chatting. We had a lot to discuss, from trivial arrangements of figures to global events. It's just a pity that the rule "very interesting, but nothing is clear" sometimes applies to the Demiurge.
- How is Khajiit doing?
"The Zuranon Death Cult - everything is fine there," Demiurge answered as if it were self-evident. "The Empire will not soon forget - about that very thing, when the time comes."
The same one?
I asked about testing to convert a subject from a human to a lich, and also inquired about the preservation of skills after changing race. What does the Empire have to do with it? They don't plan to arrange the coming of the Lich King with his plague event, do they? It is quite possible that the plague sabotage after the first wave will contribute to a faster adoption of the right decision. As the Stormcloaks would say, "Imperial bastards" will not be able to consider the shortcomings of my generous offer if they are busy with Zuranon.
- Wonderful news, and about the captured members...
- Everything is going according to plan. But it remains to assign two creatures with the power of a floor guardian to this task.
Okay, everything is fine, we have a plan and we are sticking to it.
And why does he need floor guards, and why exactly two? To insure a comrade who might get into trouble, plus greater coverage for... If so, then there are no problems, and you can even contribute... Did he foresee this too? It's even a little offensive that my quickly formed plan is so closely intertwined with the Demiurge's plan. As if I wasted my time.
— Albedo and Shalltear. I authorize their use for this task, as well as for further negotiations with the castling of chess pieces, — approaching the corridor with laser traps, I began to deactivate them, approaching an unusual terminal.
A terminal without a touchscreen or other innovative gadgets, but rather a prank of a Victorian-era miracle engineer. The defense mechanism requires the correct reorganization of the multi-colored wires so that the lasers ahead do not chop up a random group of NPCs into cabbage. That's why I forbade coming here alone. It's worth taking five stupid steps forward - death. Lasers inflict boost damage, and they work on everyone, without distinguishing between their own and others.
- You mean that same castling? - sweat began to appear on Demiurge's face when he was too deep in thought. As if he had put a game designed for an SSD drive into an HDD box.
- That's right, that very one.
Rubedo and Kurumi in exchange for Albedo and Shalltear. Sounds good, and considering that it's for a short period of time, it's not a big deal. It's necessary to make sure that Demiurge and I have "hostage guards" in the eyes of other countries, which significantly unties our hands for further offensive decisions. And the updated Re-Estize will become a forced springboard for all of the Demon King's undertakings, but the country won't be at a complete loss. Like my hands are tied by the Demon King's retinue, and the demon's hands are already my retinue. Just perfect.
- So you want to tie this to... after the capital of the Theocracy, - the interlocutor hesitated for a moment. - Brilliant! In this way, despite the difficulty in choosing the right time, we will be able to create a multi-level system of power over the world!
Finishing with the wires, I continued with Demiurge on my way to the real Pandora's Box. There were still about forty seconds left to get there, but with the traps the journey would take a little longer.
- Demiurge, repeat my steps exactly to the centimeter, - the main thing is not to step on something that activates the mechanism of electric discharge. - Regarding the system of power over the world. As a rule, it is built on three levels in the form of a pyramid, - we carefully tie the sales funnel to the fantasy setting. - Guess which ones?
"True evil, neutral evil, and chaotic evil," the demon smiled broadly, as if he had been able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx.
— The top of the pyramid and the main evil incarnate is Nazarick — our general headquarters, where all important and cruel decisions are made. Here we have the greatest strength and capabilities, but few should know about them. In other words, our strength here is limited by our ability to provide the enemy with unnecessary information.
Relevant if a hero is called. No one in this world will know: where does the Evil of the whole World live? Like, find it yourself, but there is no information.
— As I understand it, the center of our pyramid is neutrality — this is the Kingdom of Re-Estize? More precisely, your future Empire of Dawn. We will manipulate the new country in your interests, maintaining a neutral reputation, gradually increasing influence on all nearby continents.
- True, but the base of the pyramid is bloody deeds, - our funnel lacks rays of light. - Someone also needs to carry them out. And the solution to this problem is ideal for the Demon King, - we stopped at one of the hundreds of white doors. Behind it, we were met by a modestly furnished room. In fact, except for a table and a mystical box standing on it, there is nothing here.
"Like any Demon King, you will need a powerful and controllable army, ready to drown not just countries, but entire civilizations in blood at your call," I approached the box and took it in my hands.
Ulbert and I spent countless hours creating a truly awesome artifact. My friend had a dream: to create an infinite generator of high-ranking demons. It's a shame, but no game company could afford that. Unbalanced items are killing the game world, so we went in search of a compromise: a box of true manifestation of evil.
There are only 666 demons buried in it.
But what kind of stuff, not the usual consumer goods, but something for which the top guilds could declare war on us until complete extermination. My bonus went to materials, and a couple of months of joint farming to find the necessary consumables. We also bought the rarest resources from top merchants, and gave them to top enchanters. In short, we almost died ourselves, but we got the job done. I even unprofitably exchanged some of the valuables from my "coffin treasury", where the items of the players I killed are buried. Hmm ... and a couple of times I used blackmail to destroy strategic objects, demonstrating the seriousness of my intentions.
But, as it usually happens, the deed is done, but the goal is not achieved. We wanted to release an army of high-ranking demons in the most sacred place of all of Yggdrasil. We prepared for this for a long time and checked the information, because we had no right to get caught with this prank. And when all the stars aligned, we had an annoying problem - real life. Ulbert got caught in the production hell in a vile factory. And then the game slowly died, so that the world without us had enough chaosites doing complete madness for fun.
"It is a great honor," the demon replied, abruptly rising to one knee, even though he knew I did not approve, because I value practicality. "I promise that your will will be done in the Holy Kingdom."
What will?
Right, we needed a starting point for chaotic evil, if the Demiurge wants to choose the sacred land as a starting point - then the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The Demiurge is all like my bosom friend, with whom it was fun to discuss the destruction of the game world and the demonstration of "absolute power".
Yes, it was a fun time.
"Get up," I asked politely. "You are valuable first as a friend, not as a servant."
"I will try to justify the responsibility placed upon me," the demon stood up, accepting "Pandora's Box." His hands were shaking, since for him any thing of the creator was something more precious than life. "I swear that I will not desecrate the memory of my creator."
- Ulbert Alain Odle can be proud of you. Remember, you did not receive his legacy for nothing. This is a reward for your success. Continue to improve further, and one day you will surpass all reasonable limits, seeing the truth in all its beauty.
More chapters on my P@treon: https://patreon.com/OOOTEN