"I heard that you wanted to talk to me." Marcus strolled into the resting area in the outpost base at the South Pole.
"You kidnapped me!" Kinue exclaimed with anger. She needed to wait several more hours, so she even took up the offer to get some food and tea!
She felt like a prisoner! Well, she was, not that it hit her fully, yet.
"Kidnapped you?" He scoffed before removing his jacket and his Union hat, throwing them on the couch. He then undid the top two buttons of his shirt to breathe more easily before sitting down. Moments later, he got his tea as well.
"I saved your life. Euphemia ordered a hit on you. You were about to be executed and left in a forest that is known for its bears.
You would have disappeared for real, and no one would have found your remains." He said with eye roll as he swirled his tea before adding two spoons of sugar.
"..."
"Surprised? Euphemia may look nice and smile all the time, but she is with the Anaheim Secret Police and is an Imperial Princess. She made many people disappear before." The Inventor Emperor dropped some piece of 'news' of the fellow 'Journalist'.
"..."
"...Who are you people?" Kinue is a bit more than terrified; she never imagined that girl to be this scary! Secret Police? What the hell!?
"Let me formally introduce myself. I Am Marcus Justinian Anaheim, The Holy Emperor of the Holy Byzantine Empire. I came from the other side of that Arch you saw.
We used precurson human civilisation's technology to activate the gates and come over.
You might have heard of them, after all, you guys still have their Pyramids that used to power their Global Empire." He mysteriously smiled at her, dropping some more news and revealing the truth about the Pyramids.
"...W-What?"
She was expecting something about Celestial Being! Not this! Precursor Civilisation? Pyramids? Another Reality!?
Hard to believe… but she saw these people get up, the pull Marcus has in Union, followed by technology…
"W-What are you talking about!?"
"Ah, you thought Celestial Being had some secret goals, and all that stuff?" He chuckled as he forgot a bit about that. Her scope of understanding was too small.
"Let me explain a bit in a way you understand." He smirked a bit as he decided to explain what she truly wanted.
"Celestial Being's goal is world unification. Aeolia Schenberg was an idealist who believed he could unite the world through brute force and draw people's attention to space and colonisation.
His GN Drives, the technology his organisation has been working on for over two hundred years, is a result of that.
Celestial Being is nothing more than the source of anger for humanity. They will focus on them, collect all the anger and hate, and then disappear. Once humanity is united in anger against them, they will share their technology and disappear into the shadows.
That is their goal." He simplified the bald man's goals. But this is where her brain caught up… what IS MARCUS PLAN!?
"..."
"...And you?"
The way he spoke made it clear he was not truly part of this…
"Well, my dear Kinue, my Empire is here to hijack that plan. We are here for Earth's resources; we need people. My empire is expanding and colonising the cosmos far too quickly; we need population." He mentioned one of his primary goals.
"...You desire… to kidnap people!?" She gawked at that revelation!
"The word is 'Relocate'. My Empire has united the world years ago, we have facilities and everything needed to reeducate new citizens of my Empire." He explained to the dumbfounded girl.
Kinue was speechless! She never imagined this would happen to her world! Another reality!? A massive Empire on the other side! They want to take all of the resources of this world.
'I-I need to tell this to the wider world! Everyone needs to know this!'
"Hah. That reaction… do you think you can leave now? Suzaku told you, didn't he? You will be staying here… and watching how my Empire consumes your world. That's the price of your curiosity." He showed her a smile that didn't quite fit what he was saying.
"...Y-You are crazy bastard! You think people won't be searching for me!?"
"No, they won't. Simply because Union belongs to me, and you are a Union citizen. Simple as that, they will declare you missing, but that's about it." Marcus chuckled as he took a sip of his tea.
"...N-No Way…"
"People of this world are a bit confusing to me. What is the source of your belief that you can do something? That someone would even listen to you.
Do you realise that I am the only defence against the threat of the evil Celestial Being? Even if I allow you to leave and publish this story, what do you think will happen?
Will they arrest me? The man who revolutionised prosthetics, batteries, AI chips, and built the most advanced mobile suit of the Union." He dropped a bombshell after bombshell, making her resolve take a hit after a hit.
"..." Kinue looked at the carpet as she was out of words. She was so obsessed with figuring out his real goals that she forgot how the world sees him.
"And soon, AEU will join us, as I have sent help to them to recover from the Celestial Being attack. Before long, all AEU and Human Reform League will be eating from my palm.
All thanks to Celestial Being." He smirked while taking a sip of his tea.
"...How can you be so heartless? So many people have died because of this." The Journalist girl said with a frown.
"You sound like a baby girl who lives in a world full of rainbows and unicorns." He snorted at her comment.
"I am doing this because I promise a far greater future than whatever this world has. I had conquered my world when I was seventeen. Have you done something similar at that age?"
'S-Seventeen? I was in college back then! Studying! This guy was conquering!? T-That can't be right!'
"...No, I did not." She replied, looking away; her hands trembled.
"Indeed, so when you conquer a world, come to see me, and we can exchange notes on how to rule the world the best way possible. So far, I have brought prosperity and wealth to my Empire.
In my world, humanity already lives in 14 large colonies, with over 100 million people. Venus and Mars terraforming is on schedule, and in around ten years, they will be habitable worlds.
And we achieve that in the twentieth century." He smirked a bit. He loves watching these journalists squirm under his gaze; they all want that 'truth', and then they think they can judge him for his actions.
He experienced them often in his early days, until he held them accountable for their words. After that, they stopped chasing clout and chose to relay the message rather than judge him.
"..."
"...Why are you telling me all of this?" She asked why all that bragging!
"Because, Kinue Crossroad, you wanted to learn all of this. I am fulfilling your desire. You can't call me ungrateful. I did what you wanted." He smiled while taking another sip of his tea.
"...Yes… But it's pointless since I can't leave." She frowned and felt completely powerless.
"And that is the price of knowledge." He looked at her.
"...Gee, thanks." Kinue rolled her eyes. Now she knows, but can't leave!
"You're welcome, enjoy your stay. I still have a world to conquer, so if you excuse me." Marcus finished his tea and was about to leave, but the girl scrambled to her feet to stop him.
"...Really?" He had this droll look on his face. Is she trying to fight him?
"Y-You can't just leave me here!"
"Oh, and what are you going to do?" The Emperor asked, a bit curious about what this silly and naive reporter girl would do.
"..."
"Amusing. That is why you should think before you do." He shook his head, dissapointed that she didn't have an answer.
Moments later, the doors opened, and Milly strolled in. She had this deadpan look.
"We had a dining date, remember?" She said to Marcus, ignoring the brown-haired journalist.
"...Yeah, but then Euphemia ordered a hit on someone, so I needed to investigate." He replied while looking at Kinue.
"Oh my. That doesn't happen every day. What did you do to provoke her of all people?" Milly, all of a sudden, looked at the extra in the room.
"...I asked about Marcus and that he is more than he seems."
"Oh? Hoho, you touched something that you should not touch… just like that, you have forfeited your life." The blonde Empress chuckled, she recalled how much Euphemia loves Marcus… a bit too much.
"...But…"
"You journalists are all the same…" The Education Empress shook her head as she had to deal with them herself.
"You have no power, believe me. You might think that you have some right to uncover the truth, but people don't care about the truth.
All the care is excitement and entertainment."
"...You are wrong…"
"Oh, please, news that would attract people's attention, the headline should be bigger, grander! All of that! Do you realise that I am an Empress? I have millions of people to do tests to see what attracts attention and what hooks them up?" Milly grinned at Kinue as if she had found a toy.
"...Husband~~~ why don't you leave her with me? I need a maid~~~." The blonde said with a singing voice. She sounded amused.
"...a maid? Sure, I guess. Though Legion and Veda will track her to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Marcus said with a sigh. A desperate person could do something crazy, and that is something he doesn't want. He can't predict all of her actions.
"...Don't worry, I will put her on my Geass."
"...Umm… what is she talking about? What is going on?" For some reason, Kinue is feeling terrified! Now she prefers to stay in a cell!
"You see… I am sure by now you saw the stone arch outside, right?" Milly 'smiled' brightly; she got a slow nod back from the reporter girl.
"This building technically was built by them, and these humans were very advanced, so advanced that they could speak with deceased people, they found the afterlife, they were so spiritually advanced that they developed unique powers…
Powers that we can wield." As Milly explained to her, one of her eyes glowed red, causing Kinue to feel strange.
"...W-What is happening to me?" The journalist girl asked, confused, unable to understand what was happening to her.
"The power that I manifested is called Absolute Emotional Control. I can manipulate your emotions and feelings."
'Damn, I rarely see Milly this worked up. Does she hate journalists that much?' Marcus was a bit concerned; he rarely sees her like this. Or is this specific journalist?
The Inventor Prince pondered for a bit, but then he needed to focus as he saw Kinue breathing heavily, as she had red cheeks.
"...Why are you turning her on?" The Emperor deadpanned, seeing Milly making the brown-haired girl hot and bothered!
"I am going to train her into an obedient girl who won't even think about doing her stupid 'justifiable' reporting.
You don't mind, do you?" She asked him with a cute look.
"...I guess you can do whatever you want. Just don't cause this play to get out of control, and she reveals something that people around the world would buy…"
What Marcus doesn't want is something believable leaking.
People might not believe in another reality and his Empire, but there could be expeditions here or something else.
No information is better than any. It's as simple as that.
"Don't worry, I will make sure she doesn't touch anything." Milly grinned as she looked at Kinue, who had a frightened look. One thing she wasn't expecting was the supernatural! Now that is terrifying!
"Fufufu~~~"
"Ohhhhh~~~" the brown-haired journalist moaned from the top of her lungs as she just climaxed like that.
'Quite useful…' Marcus had a realising look when he saw this… This is very useful!
"You can copy this power if you want." Milly winked at him; she was allowing him to copy this. Controlling emotions is useful!
"...If you say so…"
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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