Chapter 178: Chapter 178: The Herald
Neo narrowed his eyes, and his gaze pierced through both space and the Void.
Soon, he located the source.
It was a man in shining golden armor, with long blonde hair and a heavy longsword, looking like a Viking.
He was located on a different continent, yet he was able to talk directly into the Department of War headquarters with ease.
The man, as if sensing Neo’s prying eyes, smiled and waved his hand.
"You can kill me, but I will not truly die, Neo Godson. Just agree to my proposal. If they vote for you, I will not meddle in Earth’s affairs anymore," the golden armored man replied.
Neo’s abyssal eyes did not scare him in the slightest.
"What are you? A hero of democracy?" Neo could not help but laugh.
The golden armored man waved his hands.
"No, no. I am also a fellow Earthling like you. Most people do not even know me. But those who do know me call me the Herald. Unlike you, I am just a normal Beyonder. I do not have any grand destiny to rule over the universe. But it is my duty to ensure Earth stays in good hands. And from what I know about you, Neo Godson, you are a good man. In fact, I think I met your father."
Neo’s eyes flashed.
"You know my father? How?" he asked.
Herald replied, "I do not know him personally. But I saw him somewhere on the Stairway of Gods. You might not know this, but I serve as an official messenger for a God in this realm."
Neo took in all the new information with wide eyes.
"Is this the same mythical stairway that leads to the God Realm?" Neo asked, sounding very curious.
Herald smiled, feeling he had finally caught Neo’s interest.
"Yes. But I am prohibited from saying anything beyond that. Besides, only a Demi-God can ascend through that pathway. Others will simply be turned to dust."
Neo understood. He had to become a Type 1 Beyonder if he wanted to cross that pathway.
If he was correct, Eragon and Drogon also lived there.
So why had they not told him about this pathway? Were they waiting for him to grow and conquer the universe?
It could be.
But there was not much point thinking about it now.
He had not even conquered a single solar system, yet there were an estimated hundreds of billions of solar systems within a single galaxy. Beyond that, the observable universe contained hundreds of billions of galaxies.
So conquering the entire universe was currently too far-fetched.
Neo withdrew his cosmic gaze from the distant continent. But the revelation about the Stairway of Gods repeated deeply in his mind.
But first, he needed to secure his rule over Earth.
He looked down at Chancellor Magnus, who was still trembling on the ruined floor of the Department of War bunker.
"Very well, Herald. I accept this little game."
Herald laughed, "A wise choice, Emperor Zenith. The people will have the last say."
"But do not mistake my patience for weakness," Neo warned.
"If we are going to do this, we will do it on a monumental scale.There will be a Grand Voting Campaign of 3 days. Two opposing sides. The United Federation standing for the old order, and the Zenith Empire standing for true cosmic evolution. After the campaign is over, the people can vote on their own will."
"Agreed!" Herald replied instantly.
Soon, the news of this odd election reached every corner of the world.
The lead anchor Valerie Hayes from Global News Network, said:
"Good evening, citizens of Earth. We are facing an unprecedented crisis. A global election has been called, pitting Chancellor Magnus against the cosmic entity known as Neo Godson. Can we even call this a fair democratic process when our opponent holds the power to vaporize continents?"
"It is not a crisis, Valerie. It is the awakening of new Era. The Federation lied to us for decades. We just found out we are a vassal state to an alien named Lord Bala. The Zenith Emperor is offering us true liberation," guest commentator Marcus Thorne argued passionately on the split screen.
"Liberation? He slaughtered ten million of our Stellar Soldiers in less than five minutes!"
"That’s becuase our Soldiers were sent into a meat grinder without a second thought. It’s all DOW’s fault. They provoked a god. I say we vote for the man who actually has the power to protect this world. The Zenith Empire has promised a secure, quantum voting network. Every citizen will cast their vote through a direct neural link. There will be no fraud and no political tampering. Just the will of the people."
Down in the neon lit streets of Sector Seven, a crowded tavern was erupting into a fierce debate over the broadcast.
"I am voting for the Federation. I do not care if this Neo kid is a god. We built this democracy with our own blood. We cannot hand it over to a tyrant just because he wears fancy purple armor."
"You are living in the past, old man!" a young cybernetics mechanic yelled back. "What democracy? The Councilmen live in luxury while we scrub the lower levels. Did you see the broadcast? Neo Godson is Earth born. He wants to make us conquerors. I want to see the stars, not die in this smog!"
A woman was trembling in rage.
"Those Bastards! My brother was on the Aegis dreadnought. And the Federation leadership threw him away like garbage. They provoked an Interstellar Emperor and expected our boys to pay the price for it. That’s why I am voting for Zenith. I want to see Chancellor Magnus answer for his crimes."
"No! I Stand on Chancellor Magnus on this one. I don’t wish to be a slave," a middle aged man said.
-
High above the smog, inside the luxurious boardroom of Titan Heavy Industries, corporate panic was in full effect.
"Mr Berlin, Our stocks are in freefall.The moment the public saw Zenith warriors ripping our mechas apart with bare hands, our military contracts became completely worthless."
The CEO was calm.
"Calm down, Sir William. The Federation is becoming obsolete. We need to revolve immediately."
Another member slammed his fist onto the table.
"Revolve to what? We manufacture weapons for a government that might not exist next month!"
The CEO’s eyes turned cold.
"Then we manufacture for the new empire. I want our research and development division working on cosmic energy conduits by midnight. Also, I want massive campaign donations funneled into the Zenith public relations groups."
"Are we really going to support a dictator?" the CFO asked nervously.
"We support profit, Rick. If Emperor Neo wins, the Universal Credit will become our new currency. Whoever secures the first Zenith manufacturing contracts will rule the global market. Contact the media outlets. Tell them Titan Heavy Industries officially endorses the Zenith Empire."
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