Zogarth
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Chapter 916 - Board (Read: Bored) Meeting
🕑 Added 2024-05-17 10:55:41 +0000 UTCFor the record, Jake had never opened any system menu related to him being a City Lord or the World Leader of his own volition. The only times he’d touched them was when Miranda asked for him to do something, and that something was more often than not just transferring rights and permissions.
In Jake’s defense, he blamed the bad UI of the system. How was it his fault the system didn’t have an “allow all” button? At least these existed for some major categories, and shortly after Jake became the World Leader, he went over these and granted rights to Miranda.
The problem was that the UI wasn’t static. New things would be unlocked with time, and how much the “country” or “kingdom” or whatever expanded. At least when it came to all the City Lord stuff, Miranda did have pretty much every permission available, but the permissions given had begun to fall behind severely with the World Leader stuff.
Also, because Jake didn’t have any profession related to City Lord stuff, he had to actually touch the Pylon of Civilization to activate it and see the system interface. Was it enough for him to just touch it with a bit of mana, or potentially even just his presence, allowing him to do it from hundreds of meters away easily, including during all the time he’d spent in his lab?
Well, yes, but Jake didn’t think about it, and that was the defense he was sticking to after he’d gone to talk to Miranda.
Jake was right nearby, so he’d been the first to arrive for their meeting after Arnold contacted him, with others like Arthur, the Fallen King, and Sword Saint needing a bit to get ready.
“So we both agree that we’re going back to your lodge to get this fixed here and now while we still have some time?” Miranda asked after a very enlightening conversation.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jake said in a semi-joking, semi-meek tone as he scratched the back his his head. “But… can I just add that I think you’ve done a brilliant job?”
“Well, thank you,” Miranda smiled. “Now imagine how much more brilliant it would have been if I didn’t have several options unavailable to me as your stand-in World Leader. To clarify, if you wish to take back full control and manage the planet yourself, I would more than happily-”
“Oh, would you look at that? I can give you World Leader permission stuff right here and now without going to the Pylon!” Jake quickly said as he hurridly found the system menu and began allocating all the new features to Miranda. Seriously, why didn’t it just automatically allow her to do all that stuff? He had officially made her his stand-in even by system standards, yet some things were still not granted by default.
After Jake was done, he couldn’t help but sigh. “Can I blame the system again? All this should just be automatic…”
“If I may,” Lillian, who was now sporting a cool mask – great fashion choice, by the way – spoke up. “Some new features for World Leaders become available that hold quite a lot of power most World Leaders wouldn’t ever want to unilaterally grant others. So a manual granting of permissions is likely implemented to avoid problems.”
“I kind of get it, but it isn’t like the permissions do anything overly dramatic,” Jake shook his head.
“You just gave me permission to control practically every single Pylon of Civilization on the planet, and not just their associated defensive barriers, but the ability to simply blow them up, which would cause worldwide panic and the resulting explosions kill thousands,” Miranda added.
“And such power couldn’t be in better hands,” Jake smiled brightly. “Now, let’s go to the lodge and get the rest of these dumb permissions granted.”
That was precisely what they proceeded to do, as Jake and Miranda quickly popped by his lodge and got all that sorted. On the way, Jake even proposed maybe asking Villy if he had a solution to automate all this granting of permissions, but Miranda made it clear she’d already asked the Verdant Witches and that while it was a bit annoying right now, it would cease to be an issue with time.
The problem was just that their faction was still rapidly growing and in a period of change, leading to many new things happening. Once things like the Prima Guardian were handled and Jake had fully become the World Leader by laying claim to Earth’s Planetary Pylon, things should be a lot easier.
Making their way back again, the two also just caught up with everything that had happened to Haven’s resident witch. Miranda already knew pretty much everything Jake had done as she got updates every single time they’d stopped by a City Floor. Jake hadn’t known much about what Miranda had been up to, though, and he was pretty curious about how she’d handled the place.
When they were back, Lillian also joined the conversation as they waited for everyone to be ready to join for a meeting. Only the three of them, and a few others who would arrive shortly, would be physically present, while the rest would just get in contact remotely.
It was pretty understandable, considering all of them were busy doing their own stuff and pretty far away. Even if they could just use the teleportation network, that would still take some time. Besides, going somewhere for people like Arthur wasn’t as easy as someone like Jake. He also needed bodyguards and stuff to come along, making it an entire thing.
On a side note, one of the people who would join remotely was Arnold. Arnold lived only a few kilometers away and could get to the meeting room in a few minutes if he wanted to, but he’d still decided to work from home. Jake very much respected that decision.
Holstred, the guy Jake had tried to prank with Sandy, expectedly entered the room shortly after, along with two people Jake didn’t recognize. One of them was a beastfolk man, while the other one was a scalekin. Both of them acted overly polite toward Jake, but he had honestly gotten used to that by now.
Entering the large meeting room with them all, Jake was impressed by everything he saw. It was designed like one of those big board rooms rich people had board meetings in before the system, except they now had the technology to project holograms and stuff of everyone participating.
Miranda directed Jake to take a seat at the head of the table – a seat that was usually left empty, as it was reserved for the true World Leader as a symbolic gesture. Even if he wasn’t the one actually leading the meeting or doing much at all, Miranda didn’t want to hear any arguments, as it was only considered proper that the one with the highest status would sit there. Jake’s offer of just standing in the corner with Unseen Hunter active was also rapidly shot down, so Jake surrendered himself to his fate and took a seat. Beside him, Miranda and Lillian sat, joined by Holstred, the scalekin, and the beastfolk guy.
With everyone seated, Miranda officially began the meeting.
Projections appeared all around the table as Miranda activated a crystal in the center. Jake saw the Fallen King, Sword Saint, Sky Whale, Arthur, his little brother, and many more familiar faces. Even the pretty shady merchant Renato, who ran Paradise, the city Jake had visited with Carmen during their little road trip way back.
“Thank you all for making time today. As you can see, Lord Thayne will also be attending this meeting, but please do not pay it too much mind, and let us proceed as usual,” Miranda opened the meeting. “Let me begin by saying I am more than pleased to see how well Earth is doing even in my absence. Brilliant work. However, I am fully aware challenges may be lurking under the surface, so do not hesitate to bring them up. Now, Arthur, if you would get us all up to speed with everything.”
“Of course,” the projection of Arthur answered, his voice sounding just like as if he was there in person. “I would also like to welcome Ms. Wells and everyone else back, and I hope you have had a fruitful journey. Regarding Earth, let us start with-“
What followed reminded Jake way too much of those overly long meetings Jacob sometimes dragged him to before the system. That was, in some ways, lucky, as that meant Jake was trained to not zone out too much, but actually listen in case he would be asked to reference anything said in a later report.
Arthur started out by going over a lot of stats. Not the cool kind of stats, like Perception, but boring stats, like housing developments, employment rates, material gathering, birth rates, and a whole bunch of other things. He even had graphs and stuff to show, making it clear he had prepared for this meeting for a while… or he just kept updated stats at all times. Maybe the latter was actually more probable, considering how much more convenient the system had made a lot of things.
After Arthur, others followed, including some of those who worked with the guy. Renato also joined in to talk about entertainment and the economy, while Holstred touched on the integration of former slaves, joined by the beastfolk and scalekins, who outlined some of the challenges they faced, including quite a bit of xenophobia from humans who didn’t like anyone who didn’t look enough human for their taste. Elves didn’t really face any problems, nor did the few dwarves who had come to Earth. It was primarily the more monstrous races who faced discrimination. Lots of shop owners, adventurer parties, and just people in general were being royal assholes.
Jake had to hold himself back from just suggesting referring these people to the Court of Shadows and dealing with it that way, but the Sky Whale offered some more open-minded solutions. In the end, the conclusion was pretty much that they would actively try to quell these harmful sentiments, with a realization that the more time passed, the smaller the problem would get. The younger generation showed way less apprehension toward dealing with other races, and as the multiverse opened up more, people would have to get used to how the world worked now or get lost.
They could always provide them with totally free one-way trips to the moon if they got too annoying. Just an option.
Once they were done talking about all the overly complicated stuff, they finally got to the topic of the Prima Guardian Preparation Plan. Jake had heard a bit about this plan already, and from the sounds of it, things were going well.
The ones behind the preparations did realize Earth was simply too large to account for everything. There would definitely be some hidden monsters somewhere that could cause trouble for humanity should they side with the Prima Guardian, but there shouldn’t be too many. At least not close to human lands. The further they got away from where humanity lived, the less anyone knew of what lived there, though Arnold had tried to map out most things. Jake even came to learn that Arnold had worked with a dozen or so parties specializing in exploration to create a map of the planet with notable locations marked.
The Sky Whale also talked about the sky and oceans quite a bit, where it became clear Sylphie had been quite a help, having spent nearly all the time since they returned from Nevermore hunting down problematic monsters or convincing them to join the light side. Then, there was the entire underground world, which was definitely the least explored overall. Earth was simply too large now, with the planet having tunnels leading all the way to the core. Efforts had been focused on mapping only the upper layers while setting up methods of detection shouldn’t anything deemed too dangerous emerge.
All in all, Jake was impressed with all the work that had gone into preparing for the Prima Guardian. He wasn’t sure if he should feel bad, knowing how busy everyone had been, especially over the last many months. Someone like the Fallen King had also been busy as hell dealing with monsters and effectively setting up a huge domain of his own in what was once not considered human lands at all.
The Sword Saint was the only one relatable. He had done a bit of stuff with his clan but otherwise focused solely on training. He even spoke a bit about the mythical training formation he had been granted by Minaga and how great that was. Oh, and then he mentioned how he had people go over everything he had gathered in Nevermore within his spatial storage to put it to use… so not that relatable after all. Especially not when he asked Jake if he had time to set up the Minaga’s Labyrinth Dungeon he had been given for his top-tier performance in the Challenge Dungeon.
A reward Jake had definitely not forgotten and his explanation that he was waiting for Miranda to return to make the dungeon wasn’t just him making up a reasonable excuse on the fly. Nope, Jake would never forget important stuff like that.
Either way, the meeting continued smoothly as Jake learned way more than he needed to about everything going on with the planet. Again, he could only conclude that things were going pretty well, even if there were some major issues they had to address. Jake was honestly impressed with himself for having been zoned in for the whole nearly six-hour meeting because, hot damn, had it been boring at times.
Jake also understood that his own heavy-handed approaches wouldn’t work on any of those problems. The only place he could help was with the Prima Guardian preparation, and it didn’t particularly sound like they needed help, especially not after Arnold returned. The guy was a one-man army, achieved by deploying a literal army of drones and robots and stuff.
After some final pleasantries, the meeting ended, as Jake had entirely forgotten to bring up one topic. Luckily, Miranda, Lillian, Holstred, and the two with him were still there, even after the projections were gone.
“Things are going better than expected,” Miranda said with a smile. “Lillian, inform me when those reports Arthur talked about arrive. Now, let’s get out of here, shall we?”
“Just one thing,” Jake interrupted her, earning him a raised eyebrow as the three non-natives of the planet also looked at him with their undivided attention. “Would you find any issues with blowing up the moon?”
Miranda stared at him for several moments before collecting herself. “Why are you asking about blowing up the moon?”
“It’s haunted,” Jake explained with a shrug.
During that day, Jake had spent a lot of time with Miranda, but they had only talked about Nevermore stuff, making him totally forget about bringing up his recent moon visit.
“The moon is… haunted?” Miranda asked, seemingly not entirely sure if she should take him seriously.
“Yep, real nasty haunting too. A powerful B-grade has integrated with the core,” Jake further explained. “Ah, this isn’t a rush-job… I doubt it’s feasible to handle the situation before B-grade. Or maybe I can do it at peak C-grade, but either way, it won’t be for a while. Suffice to say, things didn’t end well when Sandy and I visited.”
“That… alright, it actually makes sense,” Miranda nodded. “I take it this B-grade is contained for now, and it won’t be a problem with the Prima Guardian?”
“It won’t,” Jake shook his head.
“Great,” Miranda said. “In that case, do as you see fit, as long as it doesn’t result in giant moon rocks destroying half of the planet or something in the process.”
“It should be fine,” Jake said with a shrug as one other concern struck him. “Say, Lillian, would it negatively impact you if the moon is gone? Seeing as you’re walking down a Path related to moonlight and all.”
“Not at all,” Lillian answered, as she explained: “The moon is more of a conceptual representation rather than a physical object. It’s all about visualization and understanding the underlying concepts of lunar energies and other concepts. If I wasn’t able to perform without a physical moon, I would have been quite a burden within Nevermore, wouldn’t I?”
“That’s good to know,” Jake smiled. Thinking back, it wasn’t like there had been a real moon in the Lucenti Plains with the Great White Stag, either.
“What you said also just reminded me,” Miranda said with a frown. “You said the Chosen of the Lord Protector had gone to the moon with you, but it seems no one has heard anything since. Do you know why no one can locate the Chosen?”
“Oh,” Jake said casually. “It’s because Sandy died.”
Comments
Levi Lowry
Honestly Jake saying Sandy died and that why no one can locate him makes no sense. He literally teleported the chapter or two before
Kconraw
Thx for the chapter
Kelvin Garcia
Bit disappointed in the Jake Miranda character development. I get it he's never wanted the responsibility of managing or titles. However Miranda treating him like a buffoon? He whole path is tied to him. Him acting hapless, in leadership? He just lead a team of other leaders through nevermore. As long as he trust his instincts he will according to the arc of his character always be right. He should respect Miranda but not be subservient to her in anyway.
Mason
I didn’t get the vibe that he particularly cares or doesn’t care, he just recognizes it as an “issue” in society and doesn’t like that his solutions to remove the problems won’t work
Olof Karlsson
Thanks for the chapter!
Kevin Watson
i imagine it’s something connected to how his special race reacts to examples of other races claiming racial superiority, because the examples with the shop owner were specifically race oriented
Vindro
Never imagined Jake would give a crap about shop owners being assholes to others. In fact i recall him not caring about mass murder. Is it because he feels responsible for how things are going in earth society ? Im surprised
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
Chloe
In under the dragon eye moons, Elaine does what the sword saint did. Empty your storage, have Jr folks help sort it. Don't reinvent the wheel Jake, but yea, clean your stuff out Loved the "totally wasn't spacing out" comments. Tyftc
Jake Conway
Jake: "moons haunted." Miranda: "what?" Jake: *loads gun, gets back into spaceship* "moons haunted."
Akashiro_Krax
"He also needed bodyguards and stuff to come along, making it an entire thing." is this supposed to be "bodyguards and staff"?
Thesaogamer Kirito
I need to know where this axe is from.
ItsFin
BLOW UP THE MOON
WannaBeATree
Arnold might learn that it pays to come in person when Jake is involved...
Logan Jones
Great chapter, will be sad to see the moon go tho
RonGAR
@ChRian The Holy church is just one of this story's primordial organizations/factions. Their own actions 'as written here' point to dangerous fanatism that lead many astray and cause many deaths. But No, I was not talking about the church alone. I was speaking about all those factions, organizations, or individual people, who seem to take the path of 'blind hate' based solely on the predisposition another has or look they were born with. I was just saying specism and or racism, aka blind unjustified hatred, based on look or species, and not the actions of another, seems to be as widespread. And that if Gods exist in this story, then why not have a god for that? I think a god whose power is based on reckless chaos and spiritual corruption (kinda like the one Jakes's only pupil almost became in Nevermore), would be/could've been as Primordial as Villy and any of the other 'First' gods. That's all I was saying. A missed opportunity I guess. OR he could come later *wink, wink* LOL
RonGAR
@Jeff M Stereotyping of what/who/whom? Whom or what am I 'offending'? Please clarify your criticism.
Jeff McCulley
The latter part of your post is not in good taste. Sheer stereotyping, ignorance and bigotry. Please edit accordingly.
Jeff McCulley
Pretty sure that Miranda doesn’t get to “require” Jake to do anything. Though she’ll probably manage to persuade him empty his metaphorical pockets shortly—the dungeon wasn’t the only good thing in there.
ArtemiseElyse
I think it would be funny if Miranda requires him to have an assistant (living or artificial) to will ask him what he did that day, what items he accumulated and if there was anything Miranda or his hands at the order ( the elf and the succubus) needed to know or handle.
ChRiAn
Might help him to remember stuff if he notices Miranda cursing him to help remember stuff
Eduron
I know an Axe called Frank who would love if Jake blow up the Moon xD
DirePants
Great chapter lol I love the government stuff. I’m curious about daily lives and amenities and stuff of people who live in the different towns. How has earth culture changed or survived. Like the TV thing when Jake visited home was cool.
Jeff McCulley
Heh. Sandy said that they reincarnate at the “nearest” not-an-egg. Any bets that Miranda is holding another one? After all, Jake isn’t always on Earth when Sandy is. Gotta have a backup.
Michael Meyer
some part of my brain goes straight to Jason Asano. (i really should catch up on those chapters)
Rahsheem Reid
lol that was funny.
Ral
Dieing is kind of Sandy's thing.
Demonshadow639
No he most definitely has forgotten that he has one. It’s Jake, come on we all know he doesn’t remember things that don’t evolve killing or breaking things more powerful than himself… to include the system lol
Daniel is ŁØNE
Probably not, i feel like jake is way to Intune with himself for someone to do something like this to him without his notice unless it's via bloodline and even then results would be up for debate.
Daniel is ŁØNE
Thing is dying can't be his thing anymore the man is a full immortal now so now's a good time to get a replacement.
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
MacMahon Wenzl
At this point the only thing Jake probably hasn't forgotten at some point, is his middle name.. ummm... at least I think he hasn't...
Decibel790
"You're alive! I thought you were dead!" "I got better!"
Phasmatic7
Thankies for the chapie zogie
Ty Cooper
The SS clan ends up making it a blood moon to replace the old one.
Lay Nkay
😂😂😂😂 that's true, he does that doesn't he
ChRiAn
Can't she just put some hex on him that makes his pants itch until he empties his storage whenever he enters Haven. She is a witch after all. Or give him nightmares about mushrooms if he doesn't do something
ChRiAn
No, for Villy's sake he should keep it up, the Viper enjoys the chaos.
Alex Cox
I wanna note in Nevermore Jake forgot about a number of items in his spatial storage meant to make the levels easier or at least point to the next/final objective.
Davan Krueger
No he's overly humble finally his power has exceeded his pride
Thenais
people die when they are killed
Spencer Needler
Everyone is gonna have a fit over Sandy’s “death”
Arkenian
It'll be funny if the whole sandy dying thing distracts her from making him let her go through his storage.
Tucker Glick
But sandy is full of other people like Tom.
Dominick Gelardi
There's already a protagonist for whom dying is kind of his thing. I don't think PH needs one. The other one is already full of himself
TwoMoreYears
When Miranda sees all the stuff in Jake’s storage he forgot about, she’s going to want to smack him. Which isn’t that out of the ordinary but still funny.
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
kingofshibainu
Does she really think killing Sandy would be enough to make them die?
Chris Edwards
I hope not, but it would be funny if it ONLY happened when Jake is around. "You want me to help you with something? Ok... but when I die THIS time you're helping me get yummy things to eat afterward."
Tucker Glick
Oh no is dying going to be kind of Sandy’s thing?
Strato Junon
Thanks for chapter!
Tommy
Lol Jake is the worst at social interaction
Slygaming
xenophobia from humans who didn’t like anyone who didn’t look enough human for their taste. Should be "human enough for their taste"
SinCinnamon
I really want Jake to find the night sky weird after he blows up the moon and then decide to just steal a small planet or asteroid to make a new one.
Sushi
People do not always die when they are killed
ChRiAn
You are thinking about the Holy church.
Darthnarciss
Honestly, I'm pretty sure it is due to a mix of his Path and his strength. At his power level he doesn't have to care about what doesn't matter to him, so he literally doesn't. And people seem to...personify their Path, how many RL hunters do you know that anytime hunting season is coming up that that's all they can think about, and even when the seasons over its prepping or studying for the next one?
RonGAR
Hmmm... If/WHEN they blow up the moon, I wonder if it will turn into RINGS around Earth like the real Saturn? 🤔Hmmm, Since the Earth is the size of Saturn now, did the real Saturn an other planets in our solar system get bigger as well? Sun too? Dude, how could you forget you got your own Nevermore Dungeon for training??? 😩 LOL. Slyphie is right, time to get you away from that smelly pot. Or work on a memory potion. Good grief. lol Ahhhh Racsism... or is it Specism? Either way, looks like it's alive and well. Shhhiidddd , come to think of it, there should be a GOD for that, right??? I mean, it's like a 'condition' or plague, or something, that even affects other gods right? Its passed on from generation to generation, motivates millions into slaughtering others for nonsensical reasons, and Has its own Tenets... Basically hate what I hate, figure out your reasons later. 😡"See that guy that looks 2% different than you and me?" 🥺"The one with the hat?" 😡"Yeah, 'We' Hate that guy!" 🥺"Is it the hat?" 😡"Sure, whatever. Just hate the guy with me, okay?!" AND it has scheduled group meet-ups! Seems like a cult or church already! SMGDH. LOL
RonGAR
The MC is literally turning into the walking human version of a 'facepalm'. There is not caring and forgetful, then there is whatever he is turning into. The dude is just all mentally flighty.
Martín Ballesteros Arias
Imagine the guy fixing the inventory... well I'd say it's better for them to have it cataloged and then do something about it. Well imagine the guy having to put into the take out catalog a mana potion worth a handful of points thinking its worthless, and Jake remembering its his first ever potion
Jeff McCulley
She knows better. And would have been told if Snappy’s Chosen was dead. This will be more like a “Whatchu talkin’ about, Willis?” moment.
Bunny Waffles
He got better
Jonathan
while setting up methods of detection shouldn’t anything deemed too dangerous emerge. should
Ty Cooper
Lol the SS always able to send a sly comment. He knew Jake had forgotten 99% of his earnings from Nevermore. Have to admit you have built some great characters. I find so much amusing. How Renato is in charge of entertainment on a planetary scale now and how you just drop the bomb on Miranda with the last line before the weekend. Good "boring" chapter. It and the last chapter covered a lot of ground. Looking forward to the good fights coming up with the Prima Guardian. Tftc
Sayjinlord
I really hope next chapter Miranda freaks out "What do you mean Sandy's died?" Only for Jake to nonchalantly state "They got better."
Darshar Griffonmane
I just love how casual the whole "Mind if I blow up the moon? It's totally haunted" bit went. Man, I am getting so excited for this Prima event, it's gonna be a blast!
Joshua Morris
Well they got better.
John Balman
Jake....... Facepalm 😭 😭 😂
Jelani Willock
now I gotta wait the weekend to find her reaction to that goddamit i love this story
Jelani Willock
"hey the moon's haunted. Also you know our friend sandy? Yeah they kicked the bucket as well.
ChRiAn
I'm looking forward to Miranda helping Jake with one or two experiments: how much of his body can be removed without him dying and how is his pain tolerance these days? Or his resistance to curses.
Kris Piskorski
Fixing his inventory would be nice
joel southard
Nice thank you for the chapter
ThatOneDamnWeeb
Thanks for the chapter
Toxic Havoc
I was hoping there would be a "Moons Haunted" joke and am incredibly happy now
Joshua Tamayo
Poor Miranda, the price she pays for getting all that delegated authority. Oh well, it'll be fine =D Great chapter for a Friday!
Jonathan Hovey
"WHAT!" Miranda exclaimed. "Well just because he died doesn't mean that he is dead."
Jeff McCulley
Just wild guess…about the same time Jake gets Minaga’s Dungeon set up. 😇
Jeff McCulley
I find that I’m actually proud of the progress that Jake has made. Not only did he not start crafting potions in the middle of the meeting, he actually paid attention. Our little boy is growing up! 😢
Cory Sauls
Love how he just casually mentions the death of one of the most beloved characters right at the end. Looking forward to Miranda’s reaction. TFTC
Michael Fannon
I kinda hope that Miranda and Lillian force Jake to organize his inventory soon. There's probably a lot of goodies that I and Jake have forgotten about.
BumAssBumAss
When is vesperia arriving to earth?
Pexezz
Poor Miranda always having to deal with the bombs Jake casually drops *shakes head*
Matthias
tftc
Lizy Flore
Thanks for the chapter :) Jake, for god’s sake ! Don’t give your stand-in World Leader a heart attack ! This kid, I swear… Edit : I should’ve said ‘for Villy’s sake !’ Sorry haha
Phallusar
Alas, Sandy!
Arrogant Savant
Jake trying to give everyone a heart attack.
Pip Mitchell
Poor Jake, suffering the bureaucracy of world leadership!
C0bra$
Thank u
Juozapas
Thanks
patrick__starz
Thanks for the chapter!
