Chapter 535: Old Defenses and New Contingencies

Even though they were in the middle of a hive of information, when Kai sat down opposite Krainuun, the meeting felt surprisingly intimate. The desk was small and simple - it might even have been one of the same ones the administrator had used in the past. Kai's chair was too small, so he loomed a bit, but that just emphasized the expediency of the place.

"I apologize that I couldn't meet you sooner," Krainuun said. "It isn't a question of values: there are increasingly demands on my time that will make themselves disastrous if they aren't dealt with."

"Is that a euphemistic way of referring to factions in Krysal?" Kai asked. "I've been getting a sense for the situation and it sounds messy."

"That's one way to put it. I understand that you're back to help through the incursion?"

"As much as I can." Kai explained his position with the Frontier elites, the contests, and the potential that he might be sent off to another front. Krainuun listened in silence, occasionally scratching a note, and only responded after Kai was done.

"While your situation has difficulties," Krainuun said, "I'd be happy to trade Krysali politics for dealing with the Frontier elites. Here we completely lack a unified purpose, both in terms of our time frames as well as fundamental goals. I confess, I'm not sure what Krysal will become in the future."

"Seems like there are a lot of people who want to go back to the way things were before."

Krainuun brushed the matter aside as if it was another paper. "Hardline merchants and reactionaries are the least of our troubles, and they don't have a chance of actually reconstructing the old system. No, the strongest factions are those pushing for a new vision for our country, from establishing a new city-state model to democracy to communal rule."

Kai shifted uncomfortably. "I want Krysal to be able to choose its future, but right before the incursion seems like a bad time to experiment with government..."

"Don't worry, all but a few radicals understand the need for leadership now. The elites agree, which is why so much of the nation's preparation has been under my purview. But once the danger has passed, I will be stepping down and a coalition of the major powers will decide Krysal's future."

That, more than anything, gave Kai pause. Of course he'd known that Krainuun wouldn't lead forever, due to age if nothing else, but he'd gotten used to having the old man there. The idea that he would be forfeiting his position...

"I don't suppose they could elect you leader?" Kai asked.

"Absolutely not." Krainuun shook his head sharply. "Most importantly, I pledged that my governance of Krysal would be limited until the next incursion, after which I will irrevocably surrender executive power. But honestly, I've had enough. The demands of a large population are even more difficult to please than my old mercantile masters."

"Then you're out entirely? Will Krysal be alright without you?"

"I intend to take on a smaller administrative role, though we need to take care that I'm not mistaken for the power behind the throne. Hopefully, if the new coalition can form a stable government, I'll be able to do work I'm better suited to in the new Krysal."

Kai shifted forward, chin in one hand, reconsidering his plans even though this wouldn't affect the near future. Eventually he decided that the best route to the future was focusing on present trends, so... "So what are these factions, and how are they influencing our incursion planning?"

"I see half a dozen major groups," Krainuun told him, "though there are many splinters. The reactionaries, who think Krysal was better off before the revolution, are smallest. There is also a group of merchants and crystalliers who made peace with the revolutionaries and seek a smaller role now. Militant former slaves are one of the strongest forces - what they lack in concrete solutions, they make up for in blaming the old nobles."

"I believe I've met some of them. Seem a bit radical."

"No, the true radicals are splinters from even the militant groups, who believe that the revolution didn't go far enough. Those groups don't exactly come to meetings, but their influence can't be discounted."

"Are you saying they have the sympathy of the people?"

"The people?" Krainuun's eyebrows rose, then he sighed. "If we're talking about 'the people', then the largest faction of all consists of the majority who simply want a better Krysal without a particular vision for obtaining it. They'll be the ones all the factions try to convince, whether it's through actual voting or simply a new government."

"So all these groups are trying to use the incursion to get public opinion on their side, and afterward one of them will get to lead the new Krysal."

"Or," and Krainuun raised a thin finger like a knife, "none of them will. A troublingly likely possibility is that no faction will gain prominence, or that their governments will fall apart. In the end, with an unknown level of violence, Krysal will revert to being a disorganized region of city-states."

"Alright." Kai rubbed his eyes and then cast off the matter with a shake of his head. "I can't solve all those problems, but we need to survive the incursion first. Is there a path through that won't grant any radical groups too much power? I assume you know that the elites are considering a plan that will sacrifice a major region of Krysal, if it can't get its act together."

"Regrettably, this has become known, which only fuels radicals. Fortunately, I believe that our solution is simple, if not easy: a strong defense against the incursion with all factions on board will go a long way toward making Krysal a unified nation that can survive on the other side."

"What forces have you trained?"

Krainuun was extremely prepared for this section of the conversation, presenting Kai with a written report even as he explained the details. Overall, Krysal had large numbers of forces stronger than the average Goralian hunter, due to all the miner veterans of the revolution. Only a few of these reached the level of the former crystalliers, in offensive power and especially in mobility, so their defenses would have problems with more powerful monsters.

Starting with relatively few slaves from the pits, acid cultivation played a smaller role in the defenses. They did have some "acid squads" that were fragile but could be flown to different locations to take care of monsters with defenses too tough for the average fighters to take care of.

This was one area where creativity could make up for power, and Krainuun had already shown his value there. He'd come up with a number of variations, including non-combat groups that would fill glass spheres with acid, which could be dropped from conventional flying vehicles. All in all, any monsters without a resistance to acid had a counter waiting for them.

Beyond that, the defense grew more difficult. An entirely new discipline had been created in the intervening years - "crystal shields" who used crystal cultivation to block or bind instead of attack. One could be created with many fewer qi crystals than a true crystallier, so they had decent numbers available, but again, they were lacking real elites.

"Where are the crystals coming from?" Kai asked once they'd covered all the troops. "I assume you can't be just reorganizing those that were already mined, yet starting up the mines again..."

"They're still operational at reduced capacity." Krainuun shifted his papers and pushed another overview across his desk. "More miners than you might expect are content with their old work, they just want to be paid fairly. This is, admittedly, one of our limitations. The days of revolutionaries seizing crystals from the wealthy are over and we need to produce more, which has unavoidable expenses."

"Oh, let me help with that." Kai reached into his spatial ring and began placing golden bars on the table. "I'm not carrying enough to fund an entire nation, but I think the materials I have are the equivalent of a million Goralian eagles or so. This should go a long way toward buying crystals for the trainees I asked about, I trust you met them?"

"I, uh, yes, I was informed."

As Kai continued to unload treasures, Krainuun's eyes continued to widen. Not wanting to crush the desk, Kai began to stack golden bars on the floor beside himself. Of course, he knew that raw gold alone would flood the economy and reduce the price of the commodity, which was why he switched to unloading jade from Cloudspire, then qi pills that he thought would be compatible with Krysali cultivators.

In the end, he'd placed a small fortune on the floor of the administration hall. This would have been an insane amount of money to him once, yet now it wasn't enough to change everything, and paled in comparison to his unique advancements. Surrounded by the shimmering wealth, Kai and Krainuun ignored it to continue their conversation.

"This can certainly be converted into new crystals," Krainuun said, calmly if a bit faintly. "I will make sure that your trainees receive all the resources they can productively use."

"Use your judgment, or whoever you have making military decisions." Kai shrugged, glad to get some decisions out of his hands for once. "Tori and Bonto could definitely become crystallier-equivalents, I'm sure of that. Cragrila will contact you at some point, so give her what she needs. Beyond that... Maggle and Nirka could use more too, but I'll leave that up to you."

"I promise that this won't be squandered."

"Great, I'll trust you on that. Omilaena also has some ideas about how to improve Krysal's strength, and Zae Zin Nim will be helping your acid cultivators. Between all that, do you think we can survive the incursion without sacrificing a large part of Krysal?"

"No."

The abrupt answer made Kai sit up straight, but Krainuun seemed completely serious. After giving him a weak smile, Krainuun flattened his hands on the table and continued.

"Instead of trying to fight the incursion as if we were at full strength, I have proposed a controlled evacuation." He found a map of the Krysal city-states and began making notations on the eastern regions near the wasteland. "Some cities were damaged in the last incursion, others were destroyed in the revolution, and in general people are emigrating west. Which creates problems of its own, but that's a separate issue. What matters is that we could use this as a buffer zone."

"Because monsters always focus on eating people." Kai understood and jabbed the cities listed on the map. "If you get the people out, you could use these as fortresses, cutting down the monster horde before it reaches the points you have to defend."

"Exactly. With a little investment in fortifications, I believe it could be a highly effective strategy. The problem is that evacuating so many is a radical path - and not in a popular way - and thus requires approval. Both from factions across Krysal and the elites."

"I can't promise every part of that, but if we succeed in convincing the elites, that will go a long way toward making the plan happen. I agree, better to accept a retreat and minimize losses than to try to fight everywhere and risk the entire line collapsing."

Though Krainuun shrugged, he seemed subtly pleased that Kai agreed. "There are some complications with the borders to the Elemental Nations and Goralia, so I hope we can compensate them for the additional monsters. If this works, Krysal will not be devastated by this incursion, and the evacuees can return home to rebuild their cities better."

"And I'm guessing it doesn't hurt that this plan might get all those radical factions to work together on something for once."

"Perhaps." Another thin smile, then Krainuun shook his head. "But I've already taken a huge amount of your time. We will need to coordinate more, but I'm glad that we are generally on the same page."

"Absolutely, and I'll be back to fight here after I help in Irun. Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena will talk to you about some of their plans, but hopefully those will help boost Krysal's defenses further."

"I'll have someone correspond with the two of them. There is, however, one other issue that I would like to beg your assistance on before you go."

"What is it? I'm getting pulled in a lot of directions these days, and I don't know how much of an influence I can have on these factions. I get the feeling my good reputation here depends a lot on being a 'hero of the revolution' who isn't around to talk."

"Oh, it isn't anything like that. A group of terrifyingly powerful monsters washed up on Krysal's northwestern shore, resisting even our cultivator response teams. I petitioned the elites for assistance, and apparently it is risky enough that they haven't been able to commit resources to... why are you smiling?"

Kai got to his feet, grinning while he cracked his knuckles. "Some monsters? I don't know about all this political business, but those, I can help with."