I airstep over to the meeting taking place in the mansion that still bears the rubble and blood of the king and queen on the main hall's floor. My double has already received a detailed update from Bri and Rodrigo about the progress in the 8 Great Regions and their restructuring of the contracts and trade routes. However, as I arrive, I have fresh news to share. "We're going to be creating many more crimson domes... This is how we're going to do it, and this is what I need from you." Marcus, the Red Core A-Class hunter, trembles in silence throughout my entire explanation to Bri and Rodrigo. As they nod and take out teleport crystals, I speak one last time to the overseers of the 8 Great Regions. "Very good. The plan here on Palmyra stays exactly the same. I'll have it ready for you with tens of thousands of loyal citizens once you return. There are roughly 70,000 on this island; my guess is more than half will submit. The ones that don't will be free to go wherever they wish once this is all over, but for now they're staying here. I know this is a lot all at once, but we have four days left to prepare for what could potentially be the Second Great War." They disappear in a flash of white light, back to the Apex Region, to prepare the citizens in each major city to hear the Flame Emperor speak on a nationwide tour as the trade routes are established. It wasn't my initial plan to personally show up to each site, but this will be the most organic and efficient way to group many citizens together and give an opportunity to form links of loyalty with me in exchange for varying trade benefits. Meanwhile, I turn to the Red Core and pull out the drinks I bought at the bar, levitating them over to his trembling hands. I speak up again as he looks me in the eyes. "So, now for you to follow through on your part. I need everyone on this island to meet outside in the streets, looking up at the sky, in approximately one hour. I'll be notifying them that their contracts are all voided. The entire island of Palmyra will be free, and I have a new employment opportunity for them" The Red Core's rapid heartbeat slows back to normal, and his hands stop shaking as I begin to explain what I'm about to do. He nods and replies in a relaxed manner, while I feel a link of loyalty form between us. "I'll do it. I'll help you free this island. I'd rather serve you, even if the odds are stacked against us." I grin while sharing self regeneration with him to rid the alcohol from his system as it's already done its job, then reply through our newly formed telepathy link, "Good. Have transmissions sent out to each of the dungeon hubs and hunters' housing, and have them ready to meet their new leader. Notify me through this link when it's done" He replies with a gaze full of commitment, awe, and newfound confidence as even his fatigue is healed by the new skills passive perks. "Yes, Sir. I'm on it." After this, I leave the mansion and float down toward the sea. As the Red Core sends pings to all the contracted hunters that he usually controls and sends orders to for the king and queen, I plunge into the depths of the sea. A dense barrier of mana shields my body, keeping the saltwater from touching my skin. I'm not going to be down here for long, so a single deep breath of air is enough to last the full hour if I need it. My creation of the shielding around me is more so for the intense pressures of the sea, which collapse around me as I dive kilometers underwater. It's similar in pressure to the massive shifts in gravity that divine energy exerts on me, creating hundreds of times more pressure at the bottom of the ocean than above sea level in the open air. It is pitch black down here, but my Qi senses are all I need, as I'm taking this opportunity to collect valuable resources surrounding the palm. Monk's words repeat in my mind from the first time I ever came in contact with these naturally growing Qi crystals beneath Valor City. If I absorb their essence too fast, draining the crystals completely dry, they will never recharge to their current state. The same goes for detaching them from the black stone base they grow from. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The massive haul I've found here is thousands of times more crystals than I have back in the Dark Continent. The conditions down here would make it quite literally impossible for anyone below the rank of a Yellow Core to survive the pressure. Monk's process of collecting trace amounts of Qi from living crystals is also a delicate one, requiring long amounts of time and equipment in stable environments. With the pressure, currents, and total darkness down here, I see no practical manner in which he'd be able to safely and efficiently farm this material. The crystals jut out from the bases of this originator artifact, and when I approach, two thoughts come to mind. Harvesting everything here could give thousands of citizens back in the Dark Continent a one-time boost, allowing them to awaken Qi, elevating them above many of their mana-wielding peers. While Marcus speaks in my inner ear, I slice through another portion of the massive black artifact to separate an abnormally large cluster of Qi, and in return, a massive shift in water pressure changes all around me. My eyes widen, despite being in pitch-black darkness kilometers under the sea, as my senses finally pick up on something while massive amounts of seawater start flooding into the hole I've opened up. The sensation of a very strange divine energy source becomes visible in my mind's eye, and the threads that escape my blade from this last strike flow toward it, following the inside wall of this massive structure, deep underground, many kilometers below the ocean floor. The inside of this massive stone sculpture is hollow... and I've just created a temporary entrance.