Chapter 27: Farewells

-Alexander POV-

I blearily blinked as I adjusted to the glare of the lights.

I promptly gave up and rolled back over.

“Five more minutes Renji,” I whined.

It was funny. Despite becoming an engine of destruction and chaos my mind was still very human, with all the foibles. My mind may be trapped in a quantum crystalline mesh capable of simulating every atom on Earth in real time, but I still felt groggy and uncomfortable every time I woke up.

Hell I didn’t even need to sleep, even if I still chose to do so anyway. I was more than capable of going months or years without rest.

But I enjoyed it. It was one of the few times I felt like myself.

“My liege, you are the one who arranged for us to leave at this time. The entire city is waiting for you,” Renji stated, like the traitor against sleep that he is.

Wait, what was that last part?

“Renji, did you just say the entire city is waiting for me?” How did that happen? Sure people knew I would be leaving soon, but how did they know the exact time?

“Indeed, Taizong arranged for a celebratory farewell in your honour. It wouldn’t do for the ever benevolent Yà lì shān dà to skulk off alone,” Renji placidly said but the slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed his mirth.

Taizong! Renji! What the fuck?!

I groaned into my comically large bed, the vibrations sending ripples through the bedding.

“Do I have to?”

“No, but I believe it would be good for you to go.”

I stare at him, baffled as to why he would think that.

Renji sighed. “The people of this city could use all of the celebrations they can, and you should get used to the attention while you still can.”

I rolled onto my back, expression taut as I considered his words. As much as I didn’t want to think about it he was right. Sooner or later what I am will become widely known and the eyes of the world will be upon me. Not wilting into a mess at the first sign of attention surpassing the triple digits would undoubtedly be helpful.

…I also didn’t want to leave this city on a sorrowful note either.

Decision made, I hopped off the bed.

The following few hours was a procession through the city. Buntings hung from the crystalline towers I had wrought. Colourful confetti streamed down the air, thrown by those watching from above. An orchestra followed our procession, their number small but their passion self-evident.

I waved to the crowd, having grown more comfortable after the first twenty minutes

I once more looked back at the highest tower. There, upon an elegant crystal growth hung a flag, the new flag of a new nation. The base of the flag was a deep blood red, and even I could tell that was meant to symbolise the bloodshed and pain of their past. The rest of the flag, however, was different, it was a pure sky blue and at the centre of the flag was a white point cradled by six hands.

I was at once a humbling, terrifying and proud sight for me. I still didn’t completely believe my eyes every time I saw it. It was proof -tangible proof- that I had done right by these people, that my actions were worthy of praise.

I’m fairly certain that if I wasn’t an Endbringer I would have started balling the first time I laid eyes upon it.

Japan had been… well, it had been a quiet shame of mine. I had been so sure, so happy I could return something lost to the lives of those who needed it. I was so certain that I didn’t even bother to check afterwards, feeling that it would be too masturbatory to listen in on the cheers and praise such an action should have heralded.

But that’s not what happened.

Foreign interests had begun circling Japan while internal tensions boiled to the point of all out war in the streets. Japan wasn’t in a good place, it hadn’t been for a very long time and I had inadvertently made things worse. The prime minister had been made to resign in disgrace, his cabinet was at a standstill jockeying for power and there seemed to be absolutely no political will to retake Kyushu.

Once I had realised my error I had stepped in to rectify the worst consequences of my mistakes. I had prevented the invasion of Japan and given the C.U.I. enough problems that they wouldn’t be able to focus on Japan for quite a while. Hopefully that would be enough time for the PRT to make another push.

I had worked to prevent another such disaster here. I was my neglect and ignorance that had caused Japan’s current woes, so I decided to be more hands on for Jinzhou. I had spoken with those I had decided would populate my city. I created leaders, wise men, warriors and more to guard and build them up.

All the while I agonised over my decisions, the guilt of what happened to New Fukuoka was a lodestone around my soul.

But that flag…it eased that weight.

I hadn’t fucked everything up again.

And so my smile became less plastic. I laughed more freely and made the most of my remaining time here.

Eventually my path lead back to the hole I had burst from, abandoned tents and temporary housing still littering the area. I looked down into the darkness of the tunnel and then back towards the people of New Jinzhou.

I thought about simply leaving then, unceremoniously and without pomp.

But no, that wasn’t the right answer was it?

I grinned “People of New Jinzhou, my work is complete!”

The cheers of the crowd answered me.

“However, your work is just beginning! The journey to reach a brighter tomorrow is never ending, but it must be walked regardless! It will take diligence, thought and action!”

My words were drunk in by the crowd. There were no clever arguments that Taizong might have accomplished but I was sincere and genuinely hopeful for their future, and on some level I knew they understood that.

I knew my words would ripple onwards, whatever I said here would matter.

So what should I tell them to strive for?

Greatness? Nah, overrated.

Freedom? That kind of went without saying.

No, I already knew what they should ultimately pursue. What anyone should.

“Your lives have been hard. Those who would dare call themselves your masters would say that hardship is a virtue, and suffering a necessity. But that is simply the lie all tyrants tell. Suffering and hardships are failings to be alleviated. Happiness of oneself and others is the highest virtue. I may be leaving now, but I will return and when I do I hope to see the shadows of your past cast off for a better future!” My words reverberate through the air, and caught upon rapturous ears.

I turn before I could catch their reactions, but the deafening cry of the crowd make it obvious.

I turn to look down at Renji. “Ready to go?”

“Always,” he smiles back.

My grin softens into a true smile, and then we descend back down into the tunnel, ready to begin our journey once more.

-Taizong POV-

The roar of the crowd echoes long after his creator has left. Alcohol flows freely as stands are hastily placed to service the impromptu party taking place near the forest.

he takes a sip of wine, smiling at the young girl who had served him. The girl turned a beet red and scampered off to collect empty glasses.

He bit into a skewer of meat, humming appreciatively as the salty sauce blends and complements the smoky meat.

“Happiness, eh?” Liu Min said, thoughtfully staring into his own glass. “Not exactly something ideal to galvanise the people against the C.U.I.”

“Yà lì shān dà wasn’t thinking of such a thing in the first place. They simply thought It would be best for the people themselves if they pursued it,” Taizong shrugged.

Unlike his subordinate he had no issues with his creators proclamation. Quite the opposite, really. Yes another national ideal might have better served for the war against the C.U.I., but few would be better in the long term. The war was simply a stepping stone to achieve a more prosperous Jinzhou, after all.

Then again, it’s not surprising that Liu Min didn’t see that. His eyes were ever fixed against the Chinese Imperials, not what came after them.

“In any case, do not worry about the problems of tomorrow. Instead simply drink and be merry, for tomorrow we go to war!”

Was it coincidence that their first military action was planned for the day after his creator left?

Obviously not.

He simply knew his creator was the caring sort. Someone who would have preferred no bloodshed, if it was at all possible. Taizong thus sought to preserve their peace of mind.

“Happiness for oneself and others…” he muttered. Liu Min glanced at him quizzically but he waved the man off.

Others might have missed it but Taizong hadn’t. It was a cry for mercy. To allow the nation of China the means to pursue their own happiness once the rot was excised. There would be no mercy for those whose happiness infringed upon another’s, but his creator wished for them not to pursue vengeance at all costs.

Taizong would consider it.

The one known to Jinzhou as Yà lì shān dà did not create him with absolute loyalty towards them, after all. Instead he was absolutely loyal to the nation he was meant to serve. If an action did right by New Jinzhou then it was good. If an action caused harm to New Jinzhou then it was evil.

His creator likely only wanted a leader that did right by his people, but Taizong suspected they didn’t fully think through the implications of what exactly that meant.

Still, he agreed that having a population full of vengeful monsters wouldn’t be beneficial, so he would try to take an even hand when it came to the people of China. He would be as merciful as he could afford to be.

The nation would still be broken up, of course.

Many would still die.

But he would not use all of the strategies he had envisioned, those would be kept close to the chest unless they became needed.

Taizong stood. Such brooding thoughts didn’t belong. He instead chose to spend his time mingling with his beloved people.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He froze as his ears picked up a shrill screech, he couldn’t quite pick up where it was coming from but it was getting closer and closer.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The sound grew steadily louder, and now even his people were beginning to look around in confusion. Taizong contemplated pulling out his sword, but thought better of it.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

The sound intensified, and finally he could tell it was coming from above!

His neck snapped upwards as his eyes honed in on a group of brightly dressed individuals falling from the sky. One by one they pulled cords attached to backpacks and parachutes spilled from them.

Taizong cursed in an ancient dialect of Chinese.

“MEN! TO ME! WE ARE TO CAPTURE THESE OUTSIDERS SWIFTLY! ALLOW NO HARM TO COME TO OUR PEOPLE!”

The militia hastily complied, some stumbling with slight drunkenness he noted with alarm.

Whoever this was had chosen the perfect time to strike, but Taizong would show them the folly of threatening his people, all previous thoughts of mercy washed away in the surety of his wrath.

AN: Alexander has officially left China! I’ll be taking a few chapters to explore the aftermath and various factions. May briefly return to Japan for a chapter to see how they’re holding up.

Alexander: “I’m helping!”

Me: Holding a dozen Chekhov’s guns “You sure are pal!”

In other news the PRT Black Ops have finally arrived, just in time to interrupt Taizong’s happy times. Alexander leaved much happier than when he arrived and Taizong is planning uber war crimes if he has to. Truly, everything is going well, nothing to see here.

Taizong: “It’s a thought experiment, I swear!”

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment on where you think Alexander might be going next!