Kane and his soldiers sat around their camps with wry smiles. The humiliation they faced that day was devastating, and now they couldn't forget about it.
The sound decibels of the party raging in the distance sharply increased [again], making the soldiers cringe.
"Is that man purposely encouraging the partying to get more extreme!?" Kane cried, breaking his composure.
…
Inside the second mansion's main ballroom, a rave was raging in full force.
Faction members swung blinking lightsabers and glowsticks under blacklights.
Women walked in wearing their panties and tight shirts or their bikinis. Some had glow-in-the-dark images drawn on them as they danced with sweating bodies.
Naturally, there weren't drugs at Immortal Skye, but there was a keg and various punches that glowed in the blacklights.
Kaze walked up to the DJ in the second mansion with a wide smile. "Mateo, my friend!"
"Emperor!" The DJ replied, pulling his headphones off, "What can I do for you, my man!?"
"I'm here to talk about this strange… I'm hesitant to call this rabble [music], but audible beat noises." The emperor remarked with a conflicted tone.
"EDM!" Mateo yelled, clarifying for the faction leader.
"Ah, yes. E.D.M." Kaze chuckled ominously, "Is there any way to increase the sound further?"
The DJ shook his head and pointed at the half-stacks on the ballroom's walls.
"No, can do, hombre." He said somberly, "We've maxed up decimals with the amplifier and subs. If we go higher, the sound quality is toast!"
"I see." The emperor chuckled, turning to his regent, "Jake, find a group that can borrow a few full stacks from the Luxe and transports them here.
This god-awful noise has remarkable bass, so it's necessary."
"Understood." Jake replied, "Michael, you're up. Go find two people who want an extra 20 Skye."
"Yes, sir." The black-haired man next to him nodded and disappeared.
Kaze looked at his regent with a slight smile, impressed he had already started utilizing his budget resources.
Then he turned to Mateo. "Don't forget; twenty minutes. I'll have equipment here shortly."
"My man!" Mateo laughed, "You got it, boss."
The emperor smiled and turned to his aid. "I'm impressed you're already utilizing others. Good work. Now come; there is much to do."
Jake nodded hesitantly and walked with the emperor through the mansion.
"EMPEROR!"
A hundred ravers cheered when they saw their leader walking through the room. Everyone was tipsy or hopped up on unreasonable amounts of lemon-lime soda.
The emperor smiled and kept walking as if it were only natural, bewildering his regent.
Jake turned to the man in disbelief. "Hey, Kaze… is it wise to turn up the music so loud when we're only an hour from Meridian City?
We're in the mountains, but sound echoes from this height."
"That is an astute observation," Kaze remarked mysteriously. "However, you must never question if the best option is [wise].
If something needs to be done, but there are complications, you find a solution to the problem. You don't abandon the approach."
"I see…." The regent replied, soaking up the insight. It didn't seem much different than what he was doing; however, he couldn't begin to think of a solution. "How did you work around the sound problem?"
"Oh, that." Kaze chuckled with a malicious grin.
…
A woman with a frog hoodie sat on a rock face gazing at Meridian city in the distance.
Behind her was an invisible barrier that warped the air slightly. It was nearly invisible, even with Minor Vision. So it needed Major Vision or a proper vision technique to see.
"I can't believe I went from being a princess to a scout hiding the location of ants!" Crux scoffed in disdain, "How did I even end up in this godforsaken wasteland!?"
…
"I utilized a valuable resource." The emperor replied with a mysterious smile, "You needn't concern yourselves with the details."
"I see…." Jake replied awkwardly, trying not to show more emotion. However, it wasn't easy because they walked past multiple people making out against walls.
He also stepped on a condom and had never felt so dirty.
Their destination—
"Kaze!" Rein yelled with a bulging vein on her forehead. Her eyes were filled with hellfire and brimstone, "Why are you making things worse!?
I heard you were the person that had two dozen tubes of body paint delivered to the green room to have a communal drawing fest!"
"That was me." Kaze replied hypnotically, "I thought it was charming."
"Charming!?" The short-haired brunette scoffed aggressively, "There was a woman who ran out in her bra after someone wrote [SLUT] on her back!"
The emperor's eyes filled with wrath that made her shiver. "Did they jump the culprit!"
"W-What?" Rein asked in shock.
"Communal beating." Kaze scoffed in vexation, "Multiple attacks. Ganging up on someone. Group bonding over someone's pain."
The short-haired brunette's eyes filled with perplexion, and her mindset shattered.
"Yes! That's the problem!" Rein yelled, seeing his active support, "We sent someone to the infirmary for the action! Someone got seriously injured!"
While she wanted the man to get severely punished, she didn't believe he needed a vicious beating!
However, they didn't share that opinion. The emperor's emotions immediately calmed to a tranquil state after her affirmation. "Ah, that's great to hear. So what's the problem?"
Rein's eyes filled with disbelief, and she looked at him with a loose jaw. "What's the problem?"
"That's what I asked, yes?" He confusedly asked, "The person committed an egregious offense and received swift retribution for their transgression.
Surely a communal beating suffices as an adequate punishment. If not, you can always—"
"You're serious?" She laughed in disbelief, "Why the fuck am I even asking you? Unbelievable.
Gah! At least make a safe space for people during your distasteful outings!"
"Mansion four is a designated safe space." Kaze replied with a mocking smile, "There is no music, and there's soundproofing for tranquility.
Detox stations are set up to get in, and a spa treatment is happening now. Lily's idea. I think it's charming, don't you?"
Rein's eyes flashed with sheer bewilderment. "W-Wait, there's an entire mansion devoted to being a safe space?"
"Must I repeat myself?" He scoffed in vexation, making her cackle ominously, "And why do you look mad that there's a safe space for men and women?"
Her eyes filled with uncut bloodlust. "There's a safe space, yet you made [MY] mansion black light, body paint, rave!?"
"Of course." Kaze replied, looking around aimlessly, trying to find her common sense, "Do you think I'd entrust Lily to such a task? Are you mad?"
The short-haired woman's face became lifeless. She wanted to lay into him, but he told her that she was the person he trusted to handle the death mansion.
It was the most inconvenient compliment she had ever received.
Moreover, getting a compliment from the emperor seemed to have a lot more weight, given that he was an overt narcissist and now had the credentials to justify it.
"What about Brad?" Rein asked, stumbling, "He's calm and rational, right?"
"He's babysitting Larkin." Kaze replied dryly, "That jester's usefulness is proportionate to how troublesome he is."
Her lips curved into a wry smile, understanding the issue. "And Sammy?"
"She's overseeing the campus party." He answered straightly, "I figured you'd rather deal with a mansion than be my managerial [lackey] for the night."
The emperor emphasized his words to remind her that she'd throw a fit if he gave her a real management role.
His statement made her eyes glaze over, and her soul got pulled into the beyond. However, she quickly recovered. "Whatever. Let's talk about this later, but I want compensation for this!"
"I'll teach you to exclusively summon the one 5% of Yang Qi in your body to minorly traumatize men with your touch." Kaze replied nonchalantly, "Surely, that will do, yes?"
Rein's eyes trembled in disbelief when she realized he was serious. He told her that she was 5% sexually attracted to women and that she'd be able to maim men like Linus.
The short-haired woman glanced at Jake, standing beside the emperor. She didn't want to admit she was excited about that publicly, but she couldn't help it!
"It's a great self-defense technique, so I'll accept." She justified sternly, "Go have fun destroying your mansions."
"Gladly." Kaze replied charmingly, "Make sure to make a list of troublemakers. We'll need a team on clean-up duty tomorrow."
Rein rolled her eyes and stomped away, leaving the regent stunned by the scene.
"Come now. We still haven't reached our location." Kaze smiled, continuing to walk.
Jake nodded in a haze and followed him up the mansion's stairs.
On the fourth floor was a large balcony that could hold a hundred people for cocktail parties. The emperor had half a dozen hot tubs set up on each side.
Each hot tub was full of men and women enjoying the water in the moonlight. Dozens of other members were socializing or waiting their turn.
As they walked onto the patio, people cheered for his entrance.
Jake laughed in amusement. "Why are we here?"
"You'll see." Kaze replied with a mysterious smile.
Less than two minutes later, the music stopped campus-wide, confusing everyone present.
All faction members looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.
However, their eyes turned upward when the emperor strode to the edge of the balcony, overlooking Immortal Skye.
There were over a thousand people outside. Many were swimming in the lake, sitting at campfires, and playing games like cornhole and beer pong.
The entire campus fell silent when they saw him, devoid of even whispers. Everyone awaited the man's word with bated breath.
Kaze panned the faces of his subjects with a sharp gaze and passion in his eyes. He lifted his hands, triggering their hearts to begin pounding.
"Welcome!" The emperor announced with an amplified voice heard by all, "Today we're here to celebrate our victory and formally inaugurate Immortal Skye…. as a country!"
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