Knox’s family had been built by AXN. It gathered most of AXN’s combat power in the world of Legend of the Empire.
Beyond that, they were extremely rich.
Through bribes paid to the minister, Knox had successfully obtained noble status. In secret, he had maintained a steady flow of money with the minister as well, funding all kinds of plans on the minister’s side.
This was the correct way to approach the world of Legend of the Empire.
The greater one’s power, the greater the influence one could exert on this world. The Interference Value gained would naturally rise with it.
By the same logic, the Empire only seemed to have a small handful of top fighters on the surface, namely the two Grand Marshals and five Legion Commanders. In truth, the great noble houses still hid many powerful fighters among themselves.
The minister urged him impatiently, "Boy, say what you have to say."
Marshal Garran was far more interested.
"I heard you have an amusing proposal?"
"Yes."
Knox handed copies of the proposal to everyone present.
"I have a highly feasible idea. I call it the Calamity System."
The Empire and the nobles would not restrain their tyranny. Knox had no intention of humiliating himself by playing the part of some virtuous minister, much less trying to govern a country that had already rotted down to the roots.
He was simply moving with the current.
As the times changed, civilian power was clearly growing stronger. The appearance of the southern rebels had been the most obvious signal.
But what truly shook the Empire was Caelum.
The uproar caused by the Blackwood City Incident was still spreading through the Empire, seriously damaging its authority.
The dignified First Legion Commander had actually lost to an unknown young man.
Among the common people, someone had appeared who could shake the Empire’s highest level combat power.
This made the Empire’s upper ranks and nobles realize that the threat was still growing. In the future, more such experts might appear.
At that moment, Knox stepped forward with the proposal known as the Calamity System.
There were many useless fools among the nobles, but that did not mean all of them were fools.
The clear headed nobles had already realized this was an unstoppable trend.
Civilian power was rising. Suppression alone could not root out the problem.
The harder they suppressed it, the stronger the resistance would become.
In that case, why not make that power serve the Empire instead?
They would recruit and absorb those people as much as possible, then use their strength to suppress civilian power in turn.
Whoever was stronger could replace the one before them.
The cycle would continue.
That was the Calamity System.
Calamity was a title.
It meant those chosen possessed destructive power comparable to a natural disaster.
Anyone who obtained this title would gain all the privileges of nobility, along with a military rank on the same level as a Legion Commander.
Most importantly, the common people would see them as the strongest individuals to have risen from ordinary origins.
They would become targets pursued by countless powerful people.
In the past, the Empire had always tried to recruit powerful individuals from among the common people.
But to formalize it into policy and push it forward as a complete system was something Knox was officially proposing for the first time.
His idea was also highly practical, more refined than what had been done before.
In the end, the Empire’s upper ranks reached agreement.
They approved the Calamity System proposed by Knox and decided to implement it immediately.
Marshal Garran asked, "Do you already have suitable candidates?"
"Of course."
Knox took out another stack of wanted posters.
The one placed at the top was Caelum.
Garran was not surprised.
That kid had been in the spotlight lately, and his strength was tremendous.
If he accepted the Empire’s title of Calamity, it would greatly increase the weight of the name.
The trouble was that the kid’s whereabouts were still unknown. Contacting him would not be easy.
"Good."
The minister glanced at the posters twice while yawning, then threw them aside and stood to leave with impatience written all over him.
"Then do it your way."
With that, the Calamity System was settled.
It was a system that could affect countless people throughout the Empire.
Because of it, Knox gained a sum of Interference Value.
This was how a high level game was played.
Things unfolded exactly as Garran had expected.
They could not even find Caelum’s shadow.
According to military intelligence, he had once appeared in Oasis Town. After that, his whereabouts became unknown again.
Once the Calamity System was announced, it immediately stirred a new wave throughout the Empire.
Countless experts became restless, all of them wanting to seize the title of Calamity.
Once they obtained that title, they would gain status, fame, and wealth.
For most people, the reason they pursued strength amounted to little more than those few things.
No one knew until the net was cast.
Once it was, the Empire’s upper ranks were startled by the size of the catch.
There were far more fish than expected, and many of them were far larger than they had imagined.
Some were so strong that they exceeded the expectations of the upper ranks.
Without anyone noticing, civilian power had grown to a startling level.
The emergence of the Calamity System would greatly reduce the threat and hidden danger this power posed to the Empire.
The system would draw powerful civilians into consuming one another.
It would also shift the conflict between them and the Empire onto those who held the title of Calamity.
One move, many gains.
None of this had anything to do with Caelum.
Over the next five months, he traveled across more than half of the south and visited many places.
Unfortunately, he still failed to find Dusk Island.
After five months, his swordsmanship and Haki proficiency had risen by a noticeable amount again.
Swordsmanship Proficiency: 5000000
Observation Haki Proficiency: 1020000
Armament Haki Proficiency: 1020000
Conqueror Haki Proficiency: 1020000
Caelum’s swordsmanship Realm was still halfway short of cutting open the sky.
Judging by time, he would need roughly another year and a half.
All three forms of Haki had broken through the 1 million mark.
Observation Haki could now see 102 seconds into the future, and its perception range had expanded to a radius of 30 km.
Armament Haki had become even stronger defensively.
As for exactly how strong, that was hard to say.
In any case, Caelum estimated that no one could break through his Armament Haki defense.
When released outward, its impact had also become increasingly powerful.
Long ago, Caelum had already been able to use outward released Armament Haki for high speed movement, even walking through the air.
When crossing mountains and rivers, he often traveled that way.
His speed was nearly teleportation.
As for Conqueror Haki, there was even less need to mention it.
It had always been absurdly strong.
Now that its proficiency had broken through 1 million, its strength had increased by ten times.
Before Conqueror Haki of this intensity, Caelum estimated that even Legion Commander level experts would be unable to resist.
They would lose consciousness the instant they faced him.
Previously, when Caelum attacked with Conqueror Haki coating, violent black and red lightning appeared around him.
He guessed that if his Conqueror Haki continued improving, sooner or later he would be able to strike people directly with that Conqueror Haki lightning.
From dozens of kilometers away, even.
After many days, Caelum finally entered another small town.