Daneel couldn"t help but raise an eyebrow when he heard this. He hadn"t even considered that it was possible to put in such countermeasures in the Grand Inheritance, but when he considered that it was probably an item made by the Emperor himself, he realized that there must be many more that the man hadn"t stated, yet.
Also… It really was a brilliant plan - to use those who obtained the Grand Inheritance to defend the continent, which was his goal, and then kill them off before they became a threat.
He could only guess how it worked - it was most probably some kind of spell which would look for the condition that anyone who was going to give up the Grand Inheritance to someone foreign, and when that happened, it would result in the death of the possessor.
Daneel wondered whether he should ask about details regarding this, but he felt that such trivial things should be left for later, if there was a "later" in the first place. Even though the Emperor hadn"t said anything to indicate that their time was limited, he really felt that that might be the case, and that he should use what he had to the utmost before then proceeding to matters like these.
After all, he also had a feeling that when he did obtain the Grand Inheritance, he would be able to scan it using the system to find out all the countermeasures placed inside.
So, Daneel merely nodded and continued on to the next pressing question.
"What are you? Even in the vision that I watched before, each and every one of you were at least more than a head taller than most who live in my age. Are you perhaps some kind of being who is at a higher Energy level? If so, why did we become smaller, and is this in some way linked to how the overall Energy level of the planet is decreasing, millennium after millennium?"
This made the Emperor glance at Daneel once again.
"I must say that your mind is quite meticulous, young man. Each and every question you ask is important, and crucial. First of all, yes, I don"t know how you guessed it, but we are beings of a higher Energy level. In our age, all those who were born were at least at the level of an Eminent Human, even if they did not train on any path for all of their life. So, you can guess that progressing in levels was also quite easy - Champions were quite common, and it was Heroes who were the main force to be reckoned with all over the continent. The tier of Energy that a race is born in depends on the overall Energy level of the continent. After the catastrophe, my guess is that the overall Energy level declined, because most of the Energy reserves must have been laid waste by all those who went crazy. Also, in that form, each and every individual can absorb humongous amounts of Energy which does not conform with their power level - and this is also the reason why the devastation was so absolute. All of these factors must have contributed to the overall Energy level falling into the tier where your level of beings became common. Or, it might have been gradual. I do not know, as this is only one of the pieces of my consciousness that were stored inside each and every stone pedestal to wait for one who breaks the third seal. After we finish talking, it will disperse, as no form of my consciousness exists in an unsealed form in this world, meaning that this one must perish as it is not strong enough to maintain me by itself. I suggest that you ask each and every thing that you wish to find out now itself. The only other way that you can speak to me again is by breaking the third seal on a different Empire Spirit who may accept you, but I don"t know if you are capable of accomplis.h.i.+ng that. As for the overall Energy level continuing to diminish- I can answer you based on what I learned about the Mainland. And before you ask, I found out all of this information by conversing with those behind the World Eater, who offered me any and all knowledge that was trivial to them so that they could entice me into joining them. Of course, they were still going to annihilate Angaria, and this was something I could not stand by, especially when it was my fault. At that point, I had already finished the rest of my preparations - all that was left was for me to wield the Grand Inheritance one last time, and then use the small fraction of time I would have before going insane to place copies of my consciousness in the stone pedestals, and also placing down the final rules using the knowledge I gained from that act. Getting back to your answer - according to them, each and every continent in this world has cycles of low Energy and high Energy. Currently, from what you"re saying, I can guess that this continent is in a cycle of low Energy, which is typically when forces from the Mainland choose to attack, as they would need the least effort to accomplish what they wish. The overall Energy level would be lower, meaning that there would be fewer Heroes to handle. And in these fights, all those below the level of Heroes are inconsequential. I do not know specifically what happens between a cycle of low Energy and high Energy, but I do know that a continent-wide "purge", as they love to call it, also hastens the cycle to an end because the leftover Energy is enough to kickstart the other part of the cycle. Of course, at that time, Angaria was in a state of high Energy, meaning that they would not have gotten this advantage if they had proceeded. In your case, I can tell that whoever is targeting you must have this objective in mind, top. After all, conquered continents become breeding grounds for powerhouses who are deeply brainwashed using their religion or doctrines to fight for them till the end of their lives."
Daneel had already gotten to the point where his head was completely stuffed, but he knew that if he stopped and started to think about even one thing, he would become stuck and unable to go on. So, he once again absorbed it all, and only checked whether the question had been answered before moving onto the next one.
"What about the Big Four? What was your plan for them? Why did you not want them to meddle in the Central Continent too much, and why did you choose to lay down that rule that there should at least be three separate forces at all times?"
The answer to this was given in a normal tone.
"The Big Four, or Three, or any Big organizations that came to be, were mainly meant to be a deterring force against any random organizations that might find Angaria by chance even with the veil up. This is possible even though the world is vast - one can never know how the tides of fate work. Even in such cases, the endgame was always to find someone like you who can wield the Will of the World in the correct way without fearing the catastrophe. So, all they needed to do was to make sure that there would still be powerful individuals who would be ready to stop threats, while also ensuring that the Central Continent would not devolve into the state of too much chaos. After all, there needed to be someplace where the only focus would be on obtaining power - and after everything I learned during my time as the Emperor, I realized that it was best if such places were kept separate. You see, segregation in terms of power level is not always a good thing, and it is definitely a bad thing when it is exposed to common people. Those with power tend to have puffed up heads, and incidents of showing off often result in consequences that are horrible to imagine. I remember one individual who ma.s.sacred an entire town because he wasn"t given enough respect by their Mayor. Of course, this was before the time of the Empire where I laid down very strict rules regarding such behavior. Anyway, I digress. As for your last question, the three forces rule was placed as a countermeasure in case nefarious means were used by outside forces to gain a following inside our continent. Along with this rule, the rule that no religion must ever grow large enough to encapsulate the whole continent was also placed for the same purpose. I had also found out that those in the Mainland mainly use this tool of religion to bind people to them. In the little time that I had, I decided that no religion might be best, and that each and every outcropping of it must be dealt with using extreme and absolute force. Three is the ideal number, as if there are only two, then one can take over the other and result in a singular force, and if that force is secretly under the influence of some kind of religion, Angaria would be doomed as all of my plans would have been for naught. I take it that at least this countermeasure worked."
Remembering how so many Heroes had descended upon him when he had recklessly dabbled in religion, Daneel blushed a bit and nodded. Oh yes, it had definitely worked.
Below him, all this time, the destruction had continued, leading to more and more places becoming silent graveyards due to those beings moving on to locations with standing buildings and living people. Here and there, Daneel could spot small pockets of people who were using some kind of trinkets to burrow deep, deep into the ground, where they couldn"t be found. Only, most of them were interrupted and killed, but a few succeeded, and Daneel could tell that these must have been the ones who survived this apocalypse and went on to form the Big Four.
Watching this sight, the Emperor said, "Our time runs short. When this destruction comes to an end, my consciousness will also disperse. So I urge you to hurry up, and only ask those things which you definitely wish to know about that will help you in your path forward. We also do not have the luxury for me to sit down with you and find out everything that has happened after my pa.s.sing. I wish that would happen, as even though it will be meaningless, at least this part of my consciousness will have perished with a little bit of satisfaction. Anyway, continue."
As Daneel heard this, he turned to his right to see a single tear appear in the left eye of the Emperor, which evaporated into mist not even a second after he had spotted it.
He could sense the extreme despondency of this man. How could he have known that just by pursuing power, he would bring down such a foe that could only be defeated in this manner?
He had clearly been a victim of fate, but instead of feeling defeated and giving up, he had n.o.bly gone forward to do so much in order to ensure the continued existence of this continent that had given birth to him.
Right now, even though there might be reasons to hate him, all Daneel felt was respect for this man.
But the thing about only having a little bit of time made him feel panic. He could tell that there were so many more questions he wanted to ask, and although a few appeared in his mind, with the one about the bloodline being among the most important, he couldn"t decide between them.
So, with frustration, Daneel was finally about to choose one, but he suddenly got an idea.
He loved it, as it would make both him and this man happy.
Not hesitating at all, Daneel proceeded to give a few instructions to the system before turning to face the Emperor and saying, "How about this? As you are a piece of consciousness, I know that you can enter my mind and go through my memories. It should not cost you anything. I would love for you to do that, if you allow me to do the same. What do you say?"
Daneel had to tilt his head up to say this, and when the Emperor also turned toward him with an expression of interest on his face, he looked forward to a positive answer as the advantages were clear.
This was an opportunity for him to find out each and every thing about the Emperor"s life, so he was prepared to let this man go through his own memories and see the results of all of his plans as Daneel had so much more to gain from this than him.
Folding his hands, the Emperor said, "I must say that I like this idea. But sadly, it cannot be done. I have simply lived for too long a time, and even though most of it was spent in training in solitude, you cannot skip over these parts if you wish to go through my memories. You will have to endure the brunt of all of them, and even if you do survive the strain that this will put on your consciousness, I"m sure that you will have no way to remember any of it clearly enough in order to peruse it at you will. I can tell what you wish to accomplish, but it is not possible."
At first, Daneel was worried, but when he heard this, he chuckled and simply said, "Try me."
This made the Emperor raise both his eyebrows, but he glanced once to the right, and when he saw all that destruction once again, Daneel could spot the yearning in his expression to find out whether all of his efforts had mattered, at all.
Such temptation was truly something that could not be s.h.i.+elded against easily.
Sure enough, the Emperor turned to Daneel after a few moments and asked, "Are you sure?"
Daneel just nodded without hesitation, following which he saw the Emperor stretch forward one hand and lay it on his head. The hand was so big that it completely covered his skull, but the next moment, he was inundated with such a gigantic flood of memories that he directly fainted.
Yet, the moment right before he closed his eyes, he could almost swear that he saw the Emperor smile broadly, while tears of joy shone in his eyes.