"Denice?"
"Do you remember me, newcomer?" Denice said playfully as she twirled her hair.
"Yes, Senior," Maximus just nodded.
"Did you already think it through? What is your thought about joining our guild?" Denice said as she sat next to him.
"No, senior. After thinking for a while, I decided to set up my own guild," Maximus said seriously.
Denice was speechless for a while.
"Set up your own guild? You're indeed an ambitious newcomer." Denice could only sigh and wish Maximus good luck.
If setting up your own guild were easy, they would boom like there's no tomorrow.
However, at that time where would their top guilds recruit people?
"If you're done playing them, come to our guild," Denice said one last time.
Denice thought that Maximus still hadn't experienced the harshness of the Origin Arcana Institute.
Especially, those big families.
After all, the accumulation through generation is hard to beat even if you had overwhelming talent.
Everything needed accumulation, without the backing of guilds you had to earn everything yourself.
"Thank you for your reminder, senior," Maximus smiled.
Maximus also knew that creating a guild is not easy, but it was necessary.
Furthermore, with the system as his support, he is confident.
"By the way, why are you here?"
"I'm taking my children to shop," Maximus said, pointing at his children.
"Oh, are you the father of the brat Max?" Denice asked.
Ella had been chattering about this Max nonstop that she had calluses in her ears.
"I'm his father. Did my son offend you?"
"No, I'm just curious." Denice didn't mind and waited with him.
After a while, the kids finished picking out their pet's favorite food and came to them.
"Dad!"
"Sister-Auntie!"
He then took them around the shop, playing a bunch of games, this time with two more people, Denice and Little Ella.
...
The next day...
"Are you ready for school?" Maximus asked as he looked at his children preparing.
"We're ready, Dad!"
They said in excitement, eager to meet new people.
Suddenly, a flying aircraft parked beside their house.
"Look, there's your ride to school."
"Bye-bye, Dad, see you later."
They said goodbye one by one as they got into the vehicle.
"Hmm."
Maximus smiled as he reminisce, sending his children away for the first time.
Unfortunately, his wives are still on the celestial ascent path, so they didn't get to witness this.
After seeing his children go, he got into the room and connected his consciousness to his kingdom in the cursed continent.
...
Maximus opened his eyes, scanning the surroundings.
"It looked like I still needed some time to get used to this," Maximus smiled wryly.
When transferring his consciousness here, there was a slight delay.
Even with his powerful consciousness, he barely got used to it.
Walking out, he came to the throne room.
"How is it, Doran? Are they here?"
"Yes, your majesty. The envoy from the Etherium Embassy is waiting outside," Doran said seriously.
Earlier, Doran had informed him that an envoy from the Etherium Embassy had arrived, which is why he could only see his children briefly before hurrying here.
"Hmm, let them in."
Doran bowed and left quickly, still feeling fear due to the envoy's powerful aura.
A while later, two men entered the room.
"I've seen your majesty," they respectfully said without the demeanor of a powerhouse.
"At ease."
"I don't know why the two gentlemen came here?"
Maximus had already noticed that the two exuded the aura belonging to tier 6 powerhouses, so he was respectful.
"We came here to confirm the formation of the empire and congratulate your majesty, by the way."
"I see, I'm sorry I didn't get your names?"
"I'm Kelton."
"I'm Gladir."
They were the ones in charge throughout the southern part of the cursed continent.
Originally, when their subordinates reported that someone came to apply for the officialization of an empire they just shrug it off.
After all, countless empires had formed from time to time in the cursed continent, given its numerous island-like lands.
But just as they were about to register Maximus' name, they saw that he was an official student at the Origin Arcana Institute.
This greatly shocked and delighted them.
They had been envious of their colleague who was in charge of the northern part of the cursed continent.
More than ten years ago, their colleague had a good relationship with an official student from their jurisdiction.
Originally they were like them having no hope of advancing to tier 7.
But with this relationship, they were transferred to a more prosperous position significantly increasing their chances of reaching tier 7.
Now, seeing Maximus was like seeing their long-lost parents.
"Then I thank gentlemen Kelton and Gladir for their visit to my humble territory."
"Don't worry about it. It's us who are bothering you."
"Then, how about we have some snacks while we talk?"
"Sure, sure."
After a while, Doran served them snacks, taking out the most precious snacks from the storage ring that Maximus had given him before.
He couldn't access the storage in the system here, so he couldn't use the Myriad World Mall to buy things.
"How is it?" Maximus asked, seeing the two silently eating the snacks.
"It's very delicious, your majesty," one of them replied.
"Thanks."
"By the way Your Majesty, did you already know the benefits of officially becoming an empire?"
"No, can you elaborate a bit?"
"Gladly. As you know, you need to register through us within five years to be an official empire; otherwise, you will be treated as an enemy."
"Originally, there was no such rule."
"However, after some people in the arcane continent occupied a lot of land in the cursed continent, the Apex Sovereign quickly abolished it, making them return to their origin or face death."
"That is why only people who were born here are eligible to establish an empire."
"Of course, people from other continents are eligible to trade here, but only with lands that have officially become an empire."
"This is one of the benefits: after your empire becomes official, people will have the right to have business transactions here."
"Is it dangerous?" Maximus asked worriedly.
Even though his territory has set up a tier 3 formation array, it can only take a few hits from tier 4 and it will be destroyed.
"Don't worry, most of the merchants that usually come are affiliated with us."
"Furthermore, if you like, you can request their eviction."
"Hmmm, good."
Seeing that Maximus was satisfied, the two continued to introduce the benefits of becoming an empire.
"As your majesty's territory officially becomes an empire, it will fall under the jurisdiction of the Etherium Embassy.
"With this, you'll have a stable channel to exchange gold coins for magic crystals at 1000:1 without limit."
They said, expecting Maximus to show joy, as most people establish an empire to make money.
Having a stable channel to exchange gold at a stable price is a must, and of course, the coin must be the official minted coin of the Etherium Gold Chamber of Commerce.
"Oh."
Maximus just nodded expressionlessly.
He could exchange gold coins through the system ages ago, so this benefit was just an addition.
However, it was also good, as his digital currency now had the backing of magic crystals instead of just gold coins.
Seeing that Maximus was getting bored, the two hurriedly introduced all sorts of benefits that come with becoming an official empire.
"What about the cost? I heard that you needed to hand in tax or something?"
"Indeed, this tax evaluation is not based on the empire's income but the size of land and population."
"So, the bigger the land, the higher the tax?"
They wryly said, acknowledging that despite the benefits they mentioned, there was a major flaw: taxes.
"How much is it?"
"It's one gold coin per person and one gold coin per kilometer of land yearly."
"What a scam," Maximus unconsciously murmured.
The two heard what Maximus said but pretended to look around.
They were not the ones who set the tax, so they couldn't do anything about it.
However, they understood what Maximus feeling at this moment.
Just a visual inspection of Maximus' territory showed that it covered more than 5 trillion kilometers of land.
As for the population, it's manageable, as there were only hundreds of millions, as of now.
"Will it be paid now?" Maximus asked.
Trillions of gold coins were enormous even for him; currently, he only had an income of about 1 billion gold coins per year.
Moreover, this was achieved using his system to cheat which can double the money in the bank monthly.
"Of course not."
The two shook their heads, thinking who could afford trillions of gold coins without enough accumulation?
"You'll have a thousand years of development time without paying tax."
This was also the greatest compromise of the Etherium Embassy.
After all, maintaining these various benefits costs a lot, or so they said.
"Then it's fine."
Maximus heaved a sigh of relief; a thousand years later, he wouldn't even know what his state would be.
But by then, paying trillions of gold coins would be just pocket money for him.
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