Daz was quickly brought to the 6th level of the tower as he followed 1st Lieutenant Chau.

He had asked how many floors the building possessed and was told it had 10 which made little sense to Daz given that it was over 200-meters tall but the man wasn't lying.

Saving each floor being 20-meters tall, then a lot of space was being wasted... unless it was being used for something else. Daz assumed he'd been told a half-truth but that didn't matter right now.

"Your Majesty, this is Captain Wang," the lieutenant said as he gestured with his arm formally at a well-built man standing in the centre of the room just in front of a paperwork-cluttered desk. "He is the leading officer of our operations here in Taiwan and has full control over everything we do."

"Captain Wang, this is His Majesty Daz of New Earth," 1st Lieutenant Chau stated with yet another hand motion before saying, "I shall take my leave, sir, Your Majesty."

He bowed his head politely then removed himself from the office.

"It's a great pleasure to mee-"

"Mandarin is fine, as is Cantonese or any other Chinese dialect you're more apt in. I can speak all languages," Daz interrupted.

"Ah, I see. My apologies, Your Majesty," the captain said with sincerity. 'That wasn't on his file. Well, now we know at least. I am very curious as to why you are here and how can I bring up the topic of the General Secretary's son without it coming across as incredibly rude and off-topic...'

"First, shall we draw the line in the sand?" Daz asked as he strode through the room and took a seat at the chair that had seemingly been placed specifically for him at the backside of the main desk.

He nodded at the other chair with his head. Captain Wang happily sat down. 'Informal. Good. Informal is very good. It's easier to loosen lips when people feel comfortable and straying from real business talks is also simpler this way.'

"First, let us get something straight before we discuss anything serious. If I wanted to I could destroy this tower in a matter of seconds and kill everyone here in a minute or two," Daz said with unparalleled coldness.

A shiver went down Captain Wang's spine as his senses told him to maintain full caution at all times. The aura around Daz had become too dangerous to simply not take seriously now.

"Do you know why I haven't done such a thing, Captain?" Daz asked as he leaned back into his chair while regal majesty rolled off of him in spades.

"Because you do not want war," Captain Wang answered with certainty.

"No," Daz responded with a light chuckle. "I will be honest, Captain. I have come to Taiwan to annex it. It will join New Earth. I saw the presence of the Chinese and didn't immediately try to erase said presence. Why? Simple. My plans for annexation do not end in Taiwan."

'Chose the hard route, huh?' Mofolo said as he slipped out of the skull on Hamson that represented him. 'I expected you to be a bit more subtle with what I understand is one of Earth's superpowers.'

Daz didn't give a verbal response for obvious reasons and the former king of Atlantis wasn't expecting one, still, Daz answered in his mind even if the spirit couldn't hear him. 'With the world in the state that it is currently in, being subtle and slow makes less than zero sense. The trials could end at any moment. We don't know what threats await us out there in the greater system. Getting the world under my control matters more than doing it perfectly. Kinks can be ironed out.'

Captain Wang's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you implying what I assume you are, Your Majesty?"

'Still calling me 'Your Majesty' despite my threat? Interesting,' Daz thought as he shook his head. "No, but also yes. Mu is valuable to me and China is his homeland. I am not declaring war nor am I asking for China to cede all of its territory and powers to me. What I am doing, however, is telling you what will happen in the future. Earth will be mine and I will protect her from the system and all threats that come along with it."

Daz stood up and turned his back. "What I ask of you today is to tell whoever commands you to order a retreat from Taiwan. It and its people are under my protection right now."

He made for the door and just before opening it he turned his head and said, "I have no idea how much power you have in the army or if you can even make any decisions, but please do keep in mind that I am not your enemy. We are or once were all humans. Earth is our home, not our petty old world countries. There are greater powers at play so I'd suggest looking at the bigger picture. Thank you for seeing me and treating me with respect. I'll see myself out now."

Captain Wang sat there, completely awestruck.

A few moments passed before he muttered, "Did that really just happen?"

"Yo, Uriel. Everything go well?" Crusher asked.

Daz had found her and the rest of his men at the edge of Yilan City which lay by Taiwan's eastern coast.

"It went as I expected. I said what I wanted to and I didn't lie nor deceive," Daz answered with a nod as he looked around. "Why are you camping out here instead of repurposing the buildings in the city? I assume it's abandoned so what's stopping you?"

"A big fuck-off roar. My gut tells me there's an intelligent monster in there leading a pack. I've fought a few of them but they're generally friendly if you treat them with respect. I didn't want to encroach on its territory. No real need to. We can make do out here," Crusher said with a shrug. "I was thinkin' of challenging it to a fight tomorrow when we're actually settled down."

Daz stroked his chin. "Interesting. I've actually yet to meet an intelligent monster. The mercenary guild has had me slaughter packs of the mindless ones but I've yet to see a leader-class."

"'At so? Well, the buggers can speak English, though it's broken as fuck. Mind you, this was back in Cali. Logic would suggest they don't speak English here but who the fuck am I to decided that, eh?" Crusher laughed.

"Any guesses on what the monster is?" Daz asked.

"What? On the roar alone? Uriel, I was a pro wrestler then a bodybuilder, not a fuckin' zoologist. Could be a big fuck off lion or a tiny poodle for all I know," Crusher responded with a shrug.

Dorian had been listening in and he said, "It sounded like a bear to me... General Miller took me to hunt one when I was a kid."

"Really? The drunk cunt did that, did he? To a pansy like you?" Crusher burst out laughing. "Bet the fuckin' thing had you pissin' your breeches!"

Dorian sighed. "More or less. I'll never forget the roar it made when the general shot it in its flank... Anyway, the roar from the city sounded similar."

'He calls him by his title, not his name nor Father or Dad, huh? I'm only just noticing this now but a lot of my male friends also have issues with their fathers. Strange,' Daz noted with a bit of discomfort.

"Well, if there's a perfectly good city for us to start our annexation from, I see no reason to let some monsters stop us. If the roar truly came from an intelligent monster then I'd like to meet it and talk. I assume I'm not needed here right this moment?" Daz asked.

Crusher shook her head. "Nah, we're good. Just, don't kill the thing, yeah? They're monsters but they're good people if you have a chat with them. Listening to them really helps give you new perspectives since, well, they haven't lived as people before."

'To think that Crusher actually cares about something not related to herself... That's certainly nice,' Daz thought before nodding. "If possible, I'd prefer to enlist them. If I don't have to kill the monsters, I won't."

"Always lookin' to expand your power, huh? Well, works for me," Crusher said before returning to giving a hand setting up camp.

Dalton stepped forward and lifted the edge of his wide-brimmed hat as he asked, "Did I hear metal arm over here right? A big ol' bear? Mind bringin' me along, Daz?"

"Only if you refer to me as 'Your Majesty' if we are able to converse with the creature. Hierarchy is very important with these new monsters according to the reports I've read," Daz answered as he spun around and began walking towards Yilan City.

Dalton grumbled under his breath a little but he was a man in his 40s with enough sense to nod and agree even if his loyalty still stood with Dorain's father, Greg Miller and no one else.

As the two walked Dalton decided to strike up a conversation. "So, Your Majesty, how'd you meet the general?"

"Why is that at all relevant right now?" Daz asked in return.

"Just curious. He never speaks about what he did before he met me, Freddy and the rest of the boys," Dalton said with a shrug.

"My hobby list does not include gossiping. He is trying to move past his old life, I suggest you let him do so without digging into it behind his back," Daz advised.

"Christ above you're too serious," Dalton sighed as he held the back of his hat with both of his hands.

"I see no issues with that. Better to be too serious than too carefree," Daz said.

"Nah, that's a load of shite," Dalton claimed. "How can you enjoy life if you're never loosening up?"

"Firstly, Greg's business is his own, regardless of how serious or carefree I am, secondly, try to say that again when the lives of hundreds of thousands of people rest on your shoulders," Daz said coldly.

He looked around sharply at the abandoned buildings they were passing, clearly more interested in their surroundings than in the conversation.

Dalton pursed his lips. "Fair play. I've never been a leader so it's true that I can't relate."

"Clearly. Had you ever been in a position of responsibility you wouldn't have embarrassed Greg when we first met," Daz pointed out.

"Oi, that's uncalled for," Dalton claimed.

Daz looked at him. "Were I anymore twisted by the way our culture has shifted due to the system, your and Freddy's heads would have rolled the moment you spoke out against me. There is nothing wrong with being carefree if the circumstances allow it. Be mindful of others though."

"Sheesh," Dalton rolled his eyes. "I got it. You put me and Fred in our places alright but can you lighten up even for a minute? We're about to meet a big fuck-off monster bear. Some levity could help me destress."

"If you are feeling under stress, perhaps you shouldn't have offered to come," Daz noted before he stopped walking and held out his hand to stop Dalton. "Something's watching us. I can feel it."

"Really? I can't feel jack," Dalton said as he looked around sceptically.

"A human and a child of the system... What business do you have in my nest?" a voice boomed as a figure rounded the corner of a still-standing skyscraper.

Daz arched his neck to take in the figure's appearance.

It certainly looked like a bear... in some regards. Its fur was a striking shade of silver and sitting atop its head were 3 sets of slightly curved horns, each longer and sharper than the last.

The monster's left front leg was made out of 4 hard leathery tendrils of some sort. They gave Daz the feeling of a cattail whip almost.

It also had 4 eyes the size of bowling balls and they were pure white and free of pupils.

Daz took note of the fact that the other three legs had 4 long claws, each of which extended to be about a meter long. The beast itself was easily the size of a building and could challenge Rimmy in a contest of height.

"Well," Daz spoke while Dalton stood still in utter terror, "in truth, we're here to talk. Would a friendly discussion interest you? This is my first time meeting an intelligent monster."

"Hmm..." The beast wore a ponderous expression as it considered the request. "Very well. Come."

It turned and slowly began lumbered through the city streets.

"Are you coming Dalton or should I leave you here?" Daz asked as he followed the massive creature.

Snapping out of his state of fear, Dalton slapped himself on the face and answered, "I-I'm coming, Your Majesty!"