Viers returned back to Bryan and the others.

“Miss Mita gave a sensible answer. You all are legionaries of the Silver Legion. Similar to joining the best organization in the land… have you people got showered with more cultivation resources than you need?”

Viers knew the answer was no. For Pathseekers, there were never enough resources.

“We must earn our keep, just as people work to eat,” Wendy said.

Employee mentality, Viers inwardly scoffed.

“There are people who have worked less and gotten more to eat. The rich and powerful, mostly. This applies in the world of Pathseekers and Idlers. I chose the ugly way for more cultivation growth. That is how, I, an ordinary person without a special constitution, bloodline, or inborn ability, become as strong as you see now. Argue however you want, the result is real.”

“Are you really? The way I see it, you don't seem 'ordinary' to me,” Damon said.

“From the ordinary, I turned myself into extraordinary. I steal my destiny from the hands of fate. Using your words, by killing and stealing. Because I really want it.”

Also joining an organization means you must work for them. You have responsibilities to them and your freedom lessened. I’m sure if Damon and the others didn't have to do missions, like the useless job of combating the current demonic infestation, and only focused on their cultivation, they would be much stronger than they are now. Then again, they have to work before getting those resources. Furthermore, if every person was selfish like me, the world would be fucked. Indeed, the fewer people like me that exist in the world, the better.

Viers turned to Conn and June, the ones most affected by this.

“Your needs will only get worse from here on out. As Level 3, the resource-heavy Arte Infusement’s door is open to you, where you make your Artes stronger by burning cultivation resources. That’s before touching Level 4 and 5’s requirements.”

Viers took a deep breath.

“Here’s the cruel truth. The resources in this world are finite and we Pathseekers are competing against each other to gain more resources. For every single Pathseeker reaching Level 5, thousands or millions of people will not embark on the Path of Power.”

If Viers could erase half of the living beings in the universe with a snap of his fingers, he would.

Starting from the strongest one, because he was biased.

“For what?”

Piercing the silence, was Rose. She looked straight at Viers’ eyes as if trying to connect to him on a soul level. She wasn't trying to one-up Viers. It was simply an honest question that came from her heart.

“After you get as strong as you want using your method. What is it all for?”

Viers was familiar with this kind of armor-piercing question. In movies or other fiction, the hero who was trying to show the villain how wrong they were usually gave this kind of question.

“We are the sum of what we achieve. Not what we intend,” Viers replied calmly.

“...That may be true but your method isn't going to make you any friends, Viers,” Rose added.

“That doesn't bother me.”

“It is… a sad achievement, to be standing alone on a mountain of corpses, Viers,” Ciel said with all the pity she could muster.

“Maximum benefit only to yourself. What selfishness,” Max criticized.

"All I see before me is a misguided fool that is going into Hell after the end," Bryan did it too, but more harshly.

Hmm?

Viers felt the crowd turn against him. Usually, it ended a step before, after he gave his weighty speech, but not these guys. They were the Silver Legion. They represented the best of the people. The torch that light up the darkness.

They were heroes and heroes never give up. That would be unheroic.

“Viers,” Unem said kindly. “Laboring for others’ sake is not that bad of a thing… I’ve found my life’s purpose through doing it.”

Somehow that discussion expanded, including the topic of good and evil.

“I was imagining a future where there’s only people like you. Everyone is fighting each other for the slimmest of advantages. The weak are oppressing the weaker until the weakest are discarded and forgotten… Seems like a true Hell,” Rachel shook her head.

“It is the justification of evil dictators and vicious warlords used for their atrocities,” Damon gazed straight into Viers’ eyes, showing Viers his firm will.

“You're weak, Viers. You don't have the willpower to pick the harder path and choose the easier one. We come from a similar background but I don't do what you do to achieve our current level,” Max berated.

Amidst the righteous rebuttals, Viers stayed silent. There was no point in opening his mouth. They were entitled to champion whatever they believed was right.

Viers believed in a simple concept. The winner was ‘right’ and the loser was ‘wrong’.

Time would tell which is which.

“Look, the point is, evil never lasts. The people won't tolerate it, and the Church will keep this world that the Goddess created safe from evil influence. As we’ve done for thousands of years,” Ciel said.

“Ah, that reminds me. There was a case of tolerated evil that your side turned a blind eye.”

“What?” Ciel narrowed her eyes at Viers’ remark.

“History is a bit of a hobby for me, you see. I collect info about the past. Two centuries ago, on this very land that we now call the Free People Coalition, stood a vast empire, the Coriz Empire. The people were hungry and poor. The civilians had no rights, basically slaves. All resources were only for the top, monopolized by the Coriz dynasty and those chosen by them. Life was regulated and mandated. When a child was born, other people decided what that child would become. People had no freedom to eat what they wanted to eat. As if it was not enough, rumors were the Empire tried to regulate their mind, making the slaves even more like cattle. For 260 years they ruled this land.”

This is at an age where non-Pathseekers have a life expectancy of thirty to forty years. Although this current era is not that much different. Pathseekers could live long… if they are not killed.

“Similar things still happen today, societies catering to the needs of the wealthy and powerful, just not as extreme as Coriz’s case. What brought the Empire low was not a natural disaster or some other great calamity but a revolution by the people. Not a crusade by the Estellian Church.”

They got worse with time. In their height, there are records that people were put into concentration camps and killed systematically for life-extending blood rituals or something similar. Honestly, the atrocities the Coriz Empire did are almost the same as the Third Reich.

”It was a country of evil that brought suffering to the masses but the Church didn't launch a crusade against them and instead let them go on. Why?”

Viers asked the table with people that condemned evil just before.

“You’re implying the Church failed to walk the talk?” Bryan frowned.

“Two centuries had passed since the Coriz Empire’s dissolution. There might be other circumstances but the Empire reigned for 260 years. What had the Church done during all of those times? If that is not tolerated evil, what else do you call it?”

“No-”

“That’s not-”

Mita and Wendy spoke at the same time.

“...You knew?” Mita asked.

“Yes, Vestal.”

“How?”

“I, uhh… might have gotten lost in the restricted section in the library a few times,” Wendy confessed bashfully.

“Your lecture comes later. For now, you have my permission to share it.”

“But… Vestal?” Wendy glanced at Viers.

“It's an open secret. Our denial already made Viers realize the Church was involved. He will arrive at the conclusion soon enough.”

“Alright, people. Storytime is over~” Unem said to the clergies while clapping her hands for attention. “This topic might be too heavy for us. And we’ve got our chores, right? Come on, let’s do our duty to the Radiant Lady.”

The breakfast hall was cleared shortly. Only the Silver Legionaries, Max, and Viers remained. Out of courtesy, Viers and Max gave their word to not use the information maliciously.

“You’ve always been good with history. So that’s your secret,” Rachel said to Wendy.

“Ahaha… sorry. Okay, so it is as Viers said, what the Coriz Empire was doing is a crime against humanity. During the time there was a great crisis in the south that took up a significant amount of the Church's manpower but we didn’t abandon the Corizians to their fate, Viers.”

Viers listened intently.

“Coriz, despite how bad the situation was for its citizens, was a sovereign state. The Church couldn’t move openly and denied involvement.”

Wendy took a deep breath.

“But we gave power to the people.”

Oho, I've always wondered how the ordinary folk could stand up against tyranny and overthrow the regime. Unlike on Earth, the masses can't simply guillotine the king like in the French Revolution. Not if the king can kill them all with a flick of his finger.

“Even then, it would have taken years, decades even…” Rachel muttered.

“I see… The greats among the people that the Church backed, or their descendants, become the Coalition's Governors of the current age,” Rose bridged the connection.

“As expected, the people of the Church from back then kept doing the right thing. It made me proud to be a member,” June sighed in relief.

“So there you have it, Viers. Evil never lasts,” Ciel said. She expected Viers to dismiss it or try to reject it but what he said next was surprising.

“So it seems… Thank you for telling me. You all have given me things to reflect on.”

“Viers!” Rose’s eyes were glowing with hope.

“You finally started to see it!” Ciel also felt the same, thinking they finally came through with Viers.

“Hmph! You still have to answer for your past sins,” Bryan added.

While the Church people had thought they had made progress in converting Viers, the man himself was digesting the moral of the undisclosed history.

Now I know how to counter the Church, at least make them get off my back. And that is… By making a country!

The realization dawned on Viers.

I finally got what I came for, finding out the Church's weakness! All that effort and all that pain finally bear fruit! The Church won't openly move against sovereign states! It must be their policy to keep the matter of religion and politics separate. But in the state I rule, it is I who make the law, which would benefit me the most. After that, I need to construct a pretense that everything is good on the surface and keep the citizens happy. The Church won't and can't intervene!

It seems my dream of becoming the Lemon King is the right way.

The Silver Legionaries didn't discover what evil scheme Viers’ brain was concocting despite him being at the same table as them, even Mita did not.

And how to keep people happy? Why that’s easy! Give them food, clothes, shelter, and an easy life. If they don't go along with my rules, I take those away from them. Lastly, drown them in entertainment! And what is greater entertainment than one of mankind's greatest technological achievements, the internet!

Evil Overlord List number 100: Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access!

One of Viers’ megaprojects was to create something similar to the internet from the memories of the soul searched people. In the future, he might not need to do as much soul search to grow his internet. If he could provide money, people were more than happy to contribute.

Legions of Youtube content creators had made Viers’ point.

Truly, with the list, the forces of good can't hold a candle to the Evil Overlord! Muahahahaha!

On the surface, Viers was showing the face of a man touched by a holy spirit.

Chapter 245 - Veni, Vidi, Vici