Lord of Annihilation

Seated behind a densely crowded desk was a pale-faced, ghostly figure. Its bloodshot pupils were narrowly seen within its sunken eyes surrounded by a thick layer of dark circles. Its hair was dry and tacky, and its previously smooth skin was rough and moistureless. 

Even the light tan, previously present on its skin due to the time spent in Pandemonium, had been replaced by a pallid, sickly color.

The small windowless office room within which this ghostly figure resided was filled to the brim with books, papers, and holographic screams, so much so, that there was barely any room to breathe.

Lightly mumbling to herself, like the witches in tales of old, was Olivia.

"…if I divert resources into Sector 113, it creates a dearth in Sector 211…there is also personnel issues in Sectors 119 through 121...merit values must be recalculated…"

Dropping the hologram reader held within her hands on the table, Olivia flopped her head on the table, knocking off a few books and sheets of paper that were on the table.

"No more!" she yelled. 

"I don't want to do this anymore! This is torture!!" Her second sentence had the undertone of a bitter cry. 

These last eight months for Olivia had been exactly that…torture. 

Sorting out the mess called Mankind had pushed Olivia to the ends of physical and mental limits. This, coupled with Ka'lor'ah incessant teaching and nonstop variety of curses, had broken this female warrior, turning her into a half-crazy, bumbling witch.

To review the mess, let's start with the first and foremost problem…Illya's death.

Illya being one of the leaders and Head Administrator of the Allied Liberation Army was one of the most important and respected people amongst Mankind. Her face was known by every single citizen, and her character was praised as being selfless and kind.

Knowing this, the news about her betrayal and sudden death was…not in the slightest bit, well received.

Turmoil had broken out on the upper levels of administration and riots had broken out in the lower levels of society. Rumors about how she was plotted against and killed by the visiting foreign reinforcements spread, causing a great divide between the resident people and Olivia's people.

Lucius being near Illya at the time of her death was also not helping quell the rumors.

Being told to manage a force where nobody listened to her and viewed her with great distrust and hostility…Olivia was not in a great situation. Thankfully, she was not alone, for she had the newly powered-up Ka'lor'ah.

With the assistance of her teacher's teachings, Lucius' Stage 3 strength, the twenty-one Forgotten Warriors, and the two-hundred plus forces from Pectron…the situation was rather easily resolved.

The truth about Illya's real identity was revealed alongside her actions as Mankind's Number 1 traitor. 

While the people did not believe it at first, the overwhelming pile of evidence, coupled with testimonies by people like Anya and Reyna, who were also representatives of Mankind, hit home the fact.

Still, not everything was smooth-sailing as some of the humans were…more zealous than the rest. Armed rebellions occurred within certain Sectors, with some humans declaring independence and war against Olivia's forces.

One particularly heart-pumping incident was when a rebel group managed to get their hands on a functional battlecruiser and almost fired at Earth.

Fortunately, with Lucius and the Forgotten Warriors personally stepping in, these problems were solved in minutes.

The issue left in Illya's void took around a month to completely resolve. In the end, her image went from the most respected and 'saint-like', to one of the most abhorred entities in human history.

Just as Olivia was pumping her fists in celebration of this victory, more serious and real problems started coming in.

Mankind was grossly understaffed and incredibly resource deficient. The war had sucked it out of territories, resource deposits, and personnel, lending it virtually crippled in the current peacetime.

A quick calculation revealed a shocking truth. Had the war with the Formicians and pirate gang continued for just six more months, Mankind would have collapsed out of the lack of food, medicine, and ammunition.

How was such a serious problem not noticed for so long, you ask?

Once again, it was thanks to Illya's ploys. She had, as quoted by Ka'lor'ah herself, masterfully managed and altered the reports, hiding such an enormous bomb from the eyes of the public. 

Resources that were thought to have been sent to the war efforts were instead siphoned by Illya and used for the growth and progress of her own cult in those terraformed planets.

Revealing this information out to the public helped in further tarnishing Illya's image and influence while consolidating Olivia's authority.

People were no longer averse to the new management and had instead become reliant on them. Their survival was now dependent on the actions of this new management.

While this was good news for the new team, it simply meant that the pressure on Olivia increased monumentally.

Still, it was not like the situation was irresolvable. The solution was quite straightforward and the same lied within two of the greatest books written about management.

Ka'lor'ah's 'How to Build Empires and Manage Civilization', and Sun Tzu's 'Art of War'.

Steal from the enemy to supplement your own.

Pretty self-explanatory answer.

And so, a new round of expansion and foraging began. Just like their ancestors two thousand years ago, Mankind once again left its mother planet of Earth and into the vast universe in search of resources.

Only this time, they had a map. There was no time to pull a 'Columbus' at this important juncture.

With Lucius wiping out the remnants of the Formicians, the Flying Dutchman, and the Sors Fides cultist, resources and territories were abound.

Under proper planning and management, force after force, vessel after vessel, was sent to these now-empty territories to recover resources. 

These recovery teams, not only find plenty of resources but they also found new, undiscovered technology! 

Technology that was exclusive to the Universe!

With the return of those recovery teams, Mankind's technology sector led by the Genius Mechanist Reyna Snowden saw unprecedented growth!

Old technology was continuously improved and new technology was pumped out almost daily. Soul power and spiritual energy which were considered as something exotic in the past were now common items. 

With the discoveries from studying the Formician and pirate gang's devices and vessels, Mankind was also able to tap into and harness the boundless energy of the Universe.

One could say, with these discoveries and advancements Mankind could be classified as a Grade 5 species in the Universe. Of course, they were at the very bottom of Grade 5 and were incomparable to species such as the Grand Alcana Empire. 

Nonetheless, they were a Grade 5 species capable of harnessing spiritual energy whilst only being Grade 3 organisms themselves.

The next step would be to harness the power of the Rules, but Mankind was nowhere near that step. 

The only species capable of doing this, apart from those Grade 6 and Grade 7 species, was the Grand Alcana Empire, and even they took millenniums to achieve this feat.

Now, with the problems from the previous administrations being solved, the problem of resources and territories being solved, and an unprecedented boom in the development of technology, one would think Mankind was doing quite well.

Olivia's answer to this question would be: 'Like hell it is!!'

Having overcome all of the above problems, a new, more pressing problem popped up. 

Population Scarcity. 

Mankind had too many things to do, but too few people to do it. More importantly, this was not a problem that could be solved by stealing or borrowing. Humans had to procreate to create more humans!

Inadequacy of personnel and labor wasn't even the scariest part of population scarcity. The scariest part was the hindered rate of development and…economy.

With less than 0.1% of its previous population, Mankind's current economy was non-existent.

Credits no longer had any value in these new times, and even if they had value, people were of no mind to leisurely spend it. Not to mention, how would you assign value with the appearance of new and better resources?

It was safe to say, that economy revolving around Mankind's previous system was no longer effective.

If Mankind did not want to isolate itself once more, and actively participate in the workings of the rest of the Universe, it needed to trade. And in order to trade, it needed currency.

What was the universal currency of the Universe?

It was Spirit Coins, of course!

But Mankind had none of it! Or well, Olivia had a lot, but it was nowhere near the volume required for Mankind's functioning.

If one wanted to achieve stable, upward growth, economy, and currency were compulsory.

Thankfully, Olivia had personal experience in dealing with collapsing economies. She introduced the system used in Pandemonium's functioning, within Mankind.

The Merit System.

Explaining the merit system was extremely system. It was simply the 'quest and reward' system widely employed in videogames and MMOs.

Complete an assigned task and you will be given merits. These merits can then be used to trade for items and supplied.

While basic, this was a system that worked mostly well. It wasn't a final solution fit for long-time use, but a temporary fix until a better solution involving Spirit Coins arrived.

All in all, Mankind was currently stable. 

The upward trend had vastly improved the mood of the people. The depressive effects of the war and betrayal were slowly being cast aside, as people started to look forward to the future.

The new management wasn't the greatest, but nonetheless, it gave them something to look forward to. People decided to give them a chance, moving to trust in them and gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Overall, one could confidently say that Olivia had done a great job.

Lucius was impressed by the great change brought to Mankind, and Ka'lor'ah was more than satisfied with finding a disciple onto whom she could pass on her management skills.

Of course, the former did not know this, as she continued to bury her head into the table while mechanically mumbling.

"..too much work…too much work…too much work…torture…torture…"

"Burrowing your head into the table isn't going to make you or your work, disappear." A pleasant, female voice sarcastically announced.