Meanwhile, in the halls of the Palace of the capital of the Krizian empire, Chris pulled all of his armies back to where they were stationed. There was no need for him to continue to expand for his plans and the larger the empire grew the larger its border, opening it to the risk of meeting another enemy that they could not handle, or worse, the chance that enough of the conquered people could unify and rebel against him. Despite all his behaviors that one would think would trigger those from within his fold rising against him, he was very careful not to push those lines further than he believed they could accept. And even if he didn’t take such precaution, eventually they would tire from constant war and travel, no matter how much more advanced they were than those around them.

Chris redirected all of his subjects to collecting resources. Every tree was cut down. Every mine they had was worked 24/7. The plots for their crops was pushed to the maximum size they could farm. The cities other than the capital and several settlements that Chris had selected to become fortresses were left to more or less degenerate. They only consisted of the most basic shelters and a temple devoted to him. Even the lords of the cities weren’t spared. Their once lavish homes were downgraded as they couldn’t meet demands. One would think that this would lead to the lords to rebel, but no, instead they pushed the peasants harder, forcing them to work and produce more or face consequences.

As time rolled by, the cities all disappeared. The only thing that marked out where they once stood were the temples to Kriz. The shelters no longer clumped together into one area. There was no need. The peasants no longer were allowed to spend time speaking with each other or conduct trade. A similar solution to needing more time had been implemented across the empire. Shelters were moved to each peasant’s work area which was designated by a system that calculated how much each person could farm, mine, log, or whatever else they were assigned to do. They were not allowed to leave this area or speak with others more than a few brief necessary exchanges if they were not working or during their rest period. The land had also been remapped out and roads built so that the day’s harvest was placed in a bin for a machine to collect and deliver to Kriz. The once proud rulers meanwhile had been reduced in status to managers of the peasants whose daily tasks included going from plot to plot and making sure the rules were being followed, recording the output of each of them, and doling out punishment either for not following the rules or having failed to have a large enough harvest. Only the temples were unaffected and were given absolute authority. If the former rulers stepped out of line, they would be replaced after being removed in some public execution. Another peasant would be chosen. While it was no great boon to be the ruler any more the illusion of power and being in a better position was enough for them to cherish being selected. The biggest benefit to being the ruler was that they were allowed to own and make real food rather than what the peasants were given to eat, rations. The time it took to cook and the resources that could be used were determined to be better spent on work, but the ruler did not have this restriction and it would help with the illusion so he along with the temple was given this boon.

While the peasants were forced to engage in arduous labor the military were not let off any easier. They were required to participate in the Arena constantly. There were so many of them that signed up for the Arena continuously the queues were flooded with Krizian soldiers. Many died, most by the hands of their comrades, but those that survived did better and better, rising up the ranks of fighters. Their efforts were all so that they could earn credits and higher tier ARMS equipment in order that it be handed over to the Krizian empire to add to its pile of resources. Chris also considered it good training, ignoring the obvious problem that it killed off a large percent of their soldiers, but the reality was that there was an even deadlier flaw in this tactic, every fight trained the enemy and showed them how strong the Krizians were.

The Free Nation recognized this and would have taken advantage of it sooner, but they discovered it far too late to make a difference. People from around Debris, however, took note of these warriors dressed in similar gear that fought in similar ways to each other. The strong and smart among them began passing along information about them, learning their ways and anything else that they could about them. This lead them to learn about both the Krizian empire and the Free Nation, how they were growing, what they were doing, and their philosophies. Some sided with what the Krizians. Some with the Free Nation. Both were hard for most species to understand. States were something only Humans had experience in dealing with. It was a new concept to others, but a concept they could grasp. The art of statecraft began to spread and new nations began to rise up all across Debris. They too began increasing their power through the UI and fighting in the arena to gain access to ARMS and credits, but few of them could keep up with the Free Nation or Krizian Empire as most of the Humans that had been abducted to Debris had long since died, gone nuts, or taken to being loners in the new world they found themselves in. Only a scant few places had Humans integrated successfully with the locals and fewer still places where Humans had come to dominate a territory and in those places the skills that had been available to the Free Nation and, to a lesser extent, the Krizians were not the skills that the survivors had in any great amount.

The founding of kingdoms all across Debris set a wave of wars that washed over the planet. There had never been a time like this in all of its history and for the first time the masters of Debris began to worry. New understandings of territory and borders came into being as the kingdoms challenged each other for dominance, however, it was the scope of their war was contained by the fact that only a short time passed and in it, not enough time to come up to the same levels as the Krizians had passed, even if they could.

Chris understood that in taking the ARMS and credits of the soldiers it risked them turning against him, so of the credits they gave to Chris he returned to them a stipend, enough to buy proper meals from Debris’ food synthesis devices, but more than that, he issued a decree that any soldier may take any mate they chose as their personal property so long as another soldier or he did not have a claim on them. Similarly, the temple priests and city rulers were given a similar right. They could take mates as they saw fit, but they had no permanent claim upon them. It wasn’t usually an issue as there were only one leader and a few priests maximum at any settlement. They rarely came into conflict, and if they did, the ruler would soon be deposed. Each of the steps taken individually may have caused any one part to rise up against him, but Chris had developed an innate ability that was honed over his experiences to exploit peoples’ psychology. The peasants were held in line by the power of the leaders and priests. They were kept in line by the soldiers and the soldiers were kept in line by making them feel powerful and able to lord over everyone else. It didn’t matter that their condition was beneath their past living conditions, because they had forgotten it and this new position felt so wonderfully powerful, because all had been driven down into the ground. The soldiers had just been crushed under heel a small amount less. That was all that was needed to keep them all in order.

It wasn’t all tearing down of the settlements he had taken over and forged into an empire. The central city that he made the capital of the Krizian Empire he built up and its citizens were free to live as they had previously for the most part. They had cede to the new laws with regards to the soldiers, but beyond that they could eat how they liked, worked however they wanted, and consort with any without fear of someone charging them with wasting time or resources, but to be allowed to live in the city, or even enter it, they had to receive special permission and be registered as the favored ones. The majority of the work within the capital was research, producing materials to be used in weapons against invaders, judges and lawyers, and any manner of job that Chris needed to be filled so that he could partake in his personal enjoyments and comforts which ranged from actors to servants who would raise, teach, and keep his harem in good health. Each member of his harem had essentially their own house of servants to look after them. The younger girls had only a few but each had their own status within the family and as one ascended the ladder of status they would obtain more and more people to serve them. None more so than the goddess who was considered only one step lower than Kriz.

It is because of this, the city became more of a massive palace than a city with a palace in it and it was laid in sections, each, a maze of its own, so that each of them could be sealed and trap invaders insider while forcing them to agonizingly push through a confusing array of pathways that would lead to dead ends or traps set up in advance to kill any who fell into them. And they were definitely deadly. Each and every trick and trap was tested with live subjects. If it wasn’t successful, they would redesign and try again till it was. Around the city walls were erected made of thick stone. It would do nothing against the weaponry the most powerful cannons that the Free Nation could bring to bear, but those cannons were used solely for defense, and if Jason brought them, if he ever got to this palace, it would at least slow his forces down. That was the best Chris could do. Unlike Jason, he didn’t dig deep into the UI to find that he could create anything from any material.

Once Chris was done with the palace he shifted his target to the cities that he had decided to turn into fortresses. Each of them laid out in similar ways, but each unique so that one could not figure out the way through the dead end mazes from having figured out another fortress’ defenses. These fortresses were selected so that they formed several concentric circles around the capital extending out to their border, each spaced several days travel apart, but close enough that no army could make it through a layer without a patrol spotting them and reporting back to amass an army to stop the invaders. The final defensive measure that Chris erected was a wall, 50 meters thick, spanning from its boundary at the waters to the other so that the Free Nation could only land on its own territory or open itself up to attack. It was only when these final structures were put in place was Chris ready to engage with the Free Nation. Krizian tech was still inferior to the Free Nation’s but they were now comparable and Chris had the numbers advantage. It was now time for war.