Return of the last survivor

Merlin went ahead and spent the next month just reading through the section of books. He couldn't do anything about it. There were just too many books in this library.

Over the past month, he had read nearly 1,500 books, which barely even took 1% of all the books in the section, with itself barely took 0.0001% of the library's visible space.

Much of the deeper parts of the library was covered in a thick layer of solidified fog, which prevented Merlin from entering.

However, with these 1,500 books, Merlin had gained a basic understanding on what planes are, how they are categorised, how to locate them, and how to enter them.

It was a new day, the first snow since the Apocalypse finally appearing.

As it turns out, mana extends many things, including lifespan, health, and even time, passively. All seasons are elongated to double their initial length by Year 2, which caused snowfall only to occur by early March.

Merlin sighed as he walked along the streets, listening to Phillip's daily report through the feminine voice of Cortana.

"So a total of 32 Tier 2 individuals leading their own survivor groups have applied to enter The Sanctum's territory, and have received permission from the governing body?"

"Yes master Merlin" nodded Cortana confidently.

"And they all want their own territory within the sanctum?"

"Yes" This time, Cortana seemed a little less confident, with a hint of irritation flowing within her codes.

"Alright then. Give each of them half a building within the sanctum, with 3000 sq. ft. outside the sanctum for them to build upon however they want. Larger groups with more than or equal to 200 people will get a whole building with 6000 sp. ft. outside the sanctum walls. Give All these private sector Tier 2 an external Tier 2 clearance."

"Yes Master."

With this out of the way, Merlin instructed Cortana,

"Bring in all those with internal Tier 2 clearance within the Cayden Army, Government, Judiciary, and other departments, and get them to meet me in the Colossus base."

"Yes Master Merlin!" replied Cortana as she sent data over to Phillip's Core through their Pride connection.

With this, Merlin turned around and began walking back to the Colossus base.

…

After 10 minutes, Merlin was seated in the meeting room, waiting for those who had gone on extermination rounds or patrols to return.

"Alright. Now that everyone is here, let me tell you guys something."

With these words, everyone straightened their back and paid even more attention to the leader of the Cayden Republic, a name decided by all the members present here to make the nation seem more like a nation and less like something some 10 year old child thought of.

"Firstly, some you should have realised that I seem to be too comfortable with Earth's current situation, and you may have your doubts and speculations."

This was completely true. Many of them had their speculations, with only Jack knowing a lot of the truth.

"But I don���t care about your thoughts. You need to keep this in mind from this day forward. You will be facing many challenges, and hardships, which might make you feel like giving up hope. However, those are nothing. They are child's play compared to what is to come in 6 years' time. What will come will have the power to kill everyone on earth, including the current planet itself, a million times over with just a snap of its fingers."

Hearing this, every single person present shuddered in fear. What kind of concept was the boss talking about. Was this the power of a god? Wiping out civilisations, and planets themselves with just a snap? This concept was too much for them to completely comprehend.

"Make not mistake. The threat in 6 years' time is not a god. It is in fact a measly puppet to those who call themselves gods, who are in turn puppets to those who call themselves supreme beings."

Merlin refrained from talking about Arcania's 'Master' both afraid of causing mental breakdowns for the people present, as well as afraid of said being itself.

This time there was no reaction from the people present. All of them had more or less blanked out.

The scene of the strongest beings currently living on planet Earth losing their wits simultaneously was rather amusing to Merlin, who also came to his sense and spoke.

"Anyway, do not wary about those fellows for the time being. Everything has restrictions, including those gods and supreme beings. As you may have noticed, the density, potency and amount of mana in the air has doubled between December 31st and 1st January. This is not a coincidence."

"The Earth is growing, and as it grows, it will allow for higher Tier existences to exist in this planet. That is why so many of you turned into Tier 2 on the 1st itself."

"As the planet grows, higher Tier beings can live on it, and within 6 years, the planet will be able to house that threat which exceeds the class division system. And if we survive that, many years, later, even gods might be able to descend onto the planet."

"The only way for humanity to survive is to grow stronger along with the Earth itself."

"I am currently going to start an experiment which might result in two things, my disappearance, or absolutely nothing"

"Therefore, I need you guys to hold down the fort in my absence. I have already encoded the required protocols into Phillip. Also, I should be able to maintain contact with Foveros, Mecha and Phillip, and if this connection is cut off for some reason, I should be able to connect with Phillip given some time."

"Alright, that is all. I need you guys to keep expanding and bringing in more people. Also, make sure that Cayden has more people in the army that the outsiders. To maintain this balance, Phillip will manage it. If need be, he will frame some large groups, and you just need to follow its instructions and prevent all the power of external groups from joining together, or exceeding Cayden's own power."

"Other than that, I need you guys to reach peak Tier 2 as soon as possible, so don't waste too much time on normal issues. Assign trusted subordinated to take over your tasks for some time until you reach Peak Tier 2. Then take over and make those subordinated reach the same."

"Also, if all zombie Tier 2s within the East Coast have run out, go on expeditions to other parts of the world. However, do not go to China, India, or South-America. You can only go down to the border of Mexico if need be."

The reason for this is simple. In his past life, each of these three countries was dominated by, extremely powerful organisations, who were not friendly to outsiders. Merlin would much prefer not to have a battle with them and end up reducing humanity's chance of survival.

With this, everyone was dismissed, a huge load of information and burdens placed on their shoulders.

However, Merlin expected them to recover soon enough, and instead, he decided it was finally time to search for a plane.