Chapter 571: Earth's Final Trial

After half an hour, the prompt appeared to vote for World Leader. Jake opened it and saw that it, too, was the same as every other time.

Please place your vote for World Leader of Earth. You have 10 votes and can distribute them as you desire or choose to abstain with any or all of your votes.

Votes remaining: 10/10

Time remaining: 4:29:59

Jake naturally dumped all votes on himself instantly while the others continued talking. And damn, did they continue to talk. A lot of people just voted right away from the looks of it, but as far as Jake could tell, the voting period would only end once all votes had been made. Jake would naturally prefer for them to just get things over with, but all he could do was wait as the negotiations happened.

In the meantime, he stood there valiantly as he, in reality, zoned out and entered his Soulspace using Serene Soul Meditation while still keeping an eye on the outside world using his sphere. In there, he discussed future matters and plans with sim-Jake for a good while until finally they got done, and in the least suspenseful vote for World Leader Jake could imagine, he got the title... which wasn't even a damn title.

The election of World Leader has now concluded!

Results: Jake Thayne has been elected World Leader with 93% of the total votes.

Congratulations! You have been elected World Leader.

As a World Leader, you gain access to certain special privileges and abilities.

Due to the previous vote for Paths of Unusual Unions, the World Leader can formally invite native monsters of any grade into protected lands.

Allows the World Leader to announce future World Congresses.

Allows you to appoint a maximum of five (5) Ministers and delegate responsibility.

Allows the World Leader to lay claim to any area controlled by Pylons.

Allows the World Leader to...

...

More privileges and abilities will be revealed after the conclusion of Earth's final trial if the World Leader manages to fully take control of the planet.

Jake read the many messages that popped up in front of him but ended up skimming most of them as he quite frankly didn't care about most of what they said. He adopted the same attitude as he had towards Haven. All of these things were for the council to figure out after he appointed the five Ministers and got everything delegated out.

There was also a pleasant surprise he had not expected. Jake had not thought much of the Unusual Unions vote and knew it had just resulted in some more interesting classes and professions popping up, but the positive working relationship between humans and monsters had kind of been ruined by the actions of William and Ell'Hakan. It was recovering now, but it would take time.

So to see that it had resulted in Jake gaining a veryuseful ability was awesome. If he read it correctly, it meant that he could now remove the restrictions C-grades had so they could go everywhere, allowing him to finally invite people like Sandy or Scarlett to Haven without any problems. That was definitely a great bonus.

Finally, there was the section about a final trial also mentioned in the welcome message to the Congress. Jake did not ponder on this much as he could just wait for the vote that was shortly upcoming that would no doubt include far more information on this trial.

He also checked and saw that his nobility title had been upgraded.

Titled Upgraded: [Nobility: Earl] --> [Nobility: Marquess]

[Nobility: Marquess] - A noble who has been voted World Leader and begun his true Path of planetary domination. Allows you to control several Pylons of Civilization as well as claim control of Planetary Pylons. Grants access to certain events and opportunities exclusive to nobles. Opens many new paths to power

Jake read it through and saw some interesting things, especially the note about Planetary Pylons. If a Pylon of Civilization was made to claim and form a city, then the Planetary Pylon was made to claim a planet. It more or less functioned as the mainframe and primary controller of all other Pylons on a planet. It was kind of a natural upgrade to see, considering the message about this final trial.

All in all not much had really changed from him becoming World Leader. Anyone with any kind of political aspirations or skills would probably vehemently disagree with him, but overall, Jake saw no real gains. He had to admit a part of him had selfishly hoped that by becoming World Leader, he would get some kind of new title or at least some passive bonus to stats or something while on the planet he supposedly led. Alas, stuff like that was probably reserved for people with social professions. If Jake had to guess, all he would really gain was another option to skip over during his evolution.

Even if it wasn't a big deal to Jake, others seemed to disagree as all eyes were on him. Oh... I probably have to speak again. Damn.

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence," Jake said casually. "I will do my job, which is to stay alive and make sure no one else can claim Earth. For actual leadership, you will have to look to my Ministers. Speaking of which..."

Seeing no reason to delay, Jake turned around and instantly offered for Miranda to become Minister. She accepted instantly, and Jake repeated this with the King, Sword Saint, and Arthur. Arthur was the only one who hesitated for a moment but still agreed.

"There we go, four out of five Ministers appointed," Jake said with a nod.

He knew that everyone already knew that the last member of this council would be a beast, as much of the discussion before the vote revolved around people arguing about who to add. Most of those opposed to a beast joining the council naturally want someone from their own clique or at least another human.

Valhal also had the decency to shut the fuck up during all this time, and naturally, Caleb and the Court had no interest in any kind of official position. All he did was give Jake a cheeky smile after he became World Leader as he mimed being so proud he had to wipe away a tear. Asshole.

They still had a few more topics to talk about, one of those related to Valhal and for Jake to publicly call them out. Miranda had mentioned that he had to outwardly take a hard stance and make it clear he disapproved of what they did. All of it had something to do with the plans of the Viper, so Jake just rolled with it.

However, before he had a chance to... the second vote began unprompted.

The second vote of the World Congress relates to Earth's final trial.

The enlightened species have had time to establish themselves on the planet and form alliances and connections, but will it be enough to truly lay claim to the planet as a whole? There live more than the enlightened in the multiverse, and soon Earth will have to prove it can hold up.

Chains hold back that which seeks to claim the planet as its own, but with the links broken one by one, it soon shall be released.

The Prima Guardian awaits its freedom.

To truly lay claim to planet Earth, the Planetary Pylon must be claimed, a core that is currently protected by a barrier that requires two keys to open. One key shall be given to the elected World Leader, while the second key is held by the Prima Guardian.

However, before the Prima Guardian comes, a choice must be made.

Face your trail alone, or seek out allies.

In five years, the Guardian will arrive on Earth with its army and must be defeated within five years of arrival, or the Guardian will move to claim the world for itself as the barrier naturally falls. All planets can choose to either engage the Prima Guardian alone or ally with others to create an army capable of defeating each planet's Prima Guardian.

Note that the strength of each Prima Guardian is based on the number of fragments collected from slain Primas as their Records and power have been absorbed by the Prima Guardian, as well as the overall performance of the planet in all prior system events. Rewards for slaying the Prima Guardian will be split amongst all contributing planets. Bonus reward for any planet defeating the Prima Guardian on their own. But be warned, for should the respective World Leader of any planet die, the Prima will claim the key and thus the planet.

The Prima Guardian Alliance Interface will open up for all World Leaders whose planet voted to ally with others. Should a planet choose to face its Prima Guardian alone, this interface will only appear after the World Leader's own Prima Guardian has been defeated.

What Path will Earth walk? One where they face the Guardian by themselves or with the help of the rest of the Milkyway?

Votes remaining: 25/25

Time remaining: 7:36:55

It was quite a chunky description that could get summed up rather easily: big boss coming to Earth in five years, choose now, face big boss alone or ask for help like a bunch of losers. Sure, it also said that all of this was to finally claim the planet properly, but Jake cared more about the prospect of facing this Prima Guardian. He was also quite surprised by the mention of this Prima thing again.

Seems like all of that stuff about the Exalted Prima is indeed a major theme of this universe, huh? Jake thought. He had heard from the Viper it had happened before with other universes where major events during these initiation events centered around some topic, location, or entity. However, with all initiations and all the system events that followed differing so significantly, no one could truly predict what would happen, making it all a bit more exciting. At least to Jake.

Chatter appeared around the room, bringing Jake out of his wayward thoughts and back to the World Congress chamber. Though he was unsure why people were even discussing it. He quickly placed his votes before speaking up.

"What is there to talk about?" Jake spoke loudly. "More accurately, why are all of you talking about it like it matters to you? We all know the answer already, right?"

Jake turned to the booths around him.

"If Earth truly requires aid to defeat this Prima Guardian, then no other planet in the Milkyway will be able to do anything," Caleb spoke up first. Omitting that there was one who did have people who could help, but no one considered that orange fuck a possibility.

"Help seems wholly unnecessary," the Sword Saint also spoke up.

"It is indeed a waste of time to even consider it,"the King agreed.

"There you have it," Jake said. "So finish this damn vote already. No fucking way we are going to share our prey and bounty with other planets."

In all fairness, Jake would prefer not to share it with the others on Earth either, but sometimes one had to be nice. Also... he saw an opportunity and leaped on it.

"Besides, the last time we invited aliens from another planet, it didn't end well. Oh yeah, which begs the question, will we be able to rely on Valhal in this matter, or do we need to sign some shitty contract first before you are willing to defend Earth?" Jake said in a venomous tone as he looked toward Sven.

Sven, to his credit, looked like he had expected this and did not try to make any excuses. "We of Valhal can only lay ourselves down flat in surrender and realize we misjudged the entire situation and made many mistakes. I thank the Chosen for showing mercy during this time so that we, with time, can make it up to you to hopefully establish a healthy and mutually beneficial working relationship, allowing us to prove ourselves to both the Chosen and Earth," Sven said as he bowed deeply.

Jake had kind of expected this, but his response did make Jake suspect that Sven did not know that some shady stuff was going on that the Viper was in on. He acted more as a CEO of a company where the board of directors did something moronic, and he now had to take responsibility. Jake would feel sorry for him if not for the fact that he was still the damn CEO, and like any CEO asked to do some dumb shit, he had the option of refusing and potentially quitting. Being a heretic wasn't that bad anyway.

"We at Valhal realize that the new World Leader and his Council will need many resources to stabilize their rule, and to help this cause, Valhal is more than happy to offer gifts to expedite everything," Sven continued after a brief pause.

Did they need a lot of resources and stuff? Well, probably not, but fuck if Jake knew. What he did know was that he liked free stuff.

Staring at Sven, Jake still continued acting harshly. "You are lucky I consider the Runemaiden a close friend, or Valhal would have either gone the way of the Holy Church or the way of the alien invader's comrades. You are on a tight leash, so don't fuck it up. No third chances."

Sven bowed once more. "That is all we could ever ask for. Thank you, Chosen of the Malefic One."

Jake exchanged a glance with the man, feeling a sense of gratitude from him. Confronting Valhal publicly not only proved that Jake was still mad at them to everyone - including any potential spies or individuals who had a relationship with Ell'Hakan - but also allowed Valhal to apologize and get a way into the good graces of all the other factions. Many of them would have hesitated to interact with Valhal if they thought the Chosen of the Malefic Viper and his council remained pissed at them.

"Approach the council after this and discuss terms. For now, let's just get this vote over with. What are you people waiting for? We are facing it alone, so place those damn votes already," Jake said, sweeping his gaze across the room.

Also, he really had to hold himself back from admonishing a lot of them some more, especially those from the United Cities Alliance. This second vote made it clear Earth had more dangers to face, and he could already imagine the result if they had gotten their will. Jake, the King, the Sword Saint, Sylphie... so many powerful and promising individuals would have been tossed off the planet. Shit, they did manage to make Casper leave, someone Jake would very much have liked to have around.

At least those morons seemed to listen to him now as they finally got their shit together, and all the votes were placed.

The election concerning the final trial of Earth has now concluded!

Earth has chosen the face the final trial alone. Your Path is set, and the Prima Guardian will descend upon the planet in five (5 years). With it shall come an army and all of the formerly undefeated Primas that have gained more power through the Seat of the Exalted Prima.

Warning: Based on collected fragments and Earth's performance in all prior system events, the difficulty rating of the Prima Guardian is considered extremely high.

Prepare yourselves, or the Prima Guardian shall find no equal and lay claim to your world.

Jake read the message and the part about the difficulty rating. Others around him began chattering loudly again, some mentioning how they made a mistake, others trying to calm them down, with a third group even asking if perhaps there was a way off Earth if things went south. Jake cared for none of it as he could only smile to himself.

To him, it wasn't a warning.

It was the promise of a good time.