Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce wasn’t too surprised that Victor was able to come to such a conclusion, after all he was also from the Asian continent, albeit from Korea.

"I think this is a good time to adjourn for the first day of the Summit. You’re welcome to use the teleportation array and head home, or you’re free to stay. There will be some stalls selling weapons and armor for your perusal."

Jayce addressed the crowd, choosing not to expand on his earlier conversation with Victor. Until the people present had sworn an oath, he did not want to give away too much information regarding Inner Qi.

He had accomplished his goal of at least piquing the interests of everyone who had come today. Also, by showcasing his strength he was able to deter anyone with nefarious aspirations, at least on the surface.

"For those of you who wish to swear an oath to the Alliance, we will be holding a small meeting at dusk within the main building behind me. Please only send representatives of your faction, or location to attend."

With that, Jayce walked off the stage leaving the audience feeling lost. They knew that the Summit was meant to last a few days, however the first day had ended after less than an hour.

However, it made sense. The whole summit was based on the prerequisite of them joining the Alliance, so technically nothing could progress until they did so.

What Jayce had done was give them the rest of the day to discuss amongst themselves before making a decision. This way people wouldn’t feel so pressured into making a decision on the spot which could breed resentment. A lot of people in the crowd appreciated this and began to think favorably of the young man.

He had also prepared thousands of weapons and armor, using his reroll skill and increasing their strength. Thankfully, reroll did not consume any mana and was therefore still able to be used in his current state.

This was another reason why Jayce had put such emphasis on gathering mana stones to everyone he had talked to over the past 6 months. Once these mana stones began to circulate, there would finally be a fully functioning currency which would lead to a booming economy.

Of course Jayce planned to retrieve as much of their visitors capital as possible during this Summit, which was why he had made so much equipment. Not only would it strengthen their allies, it would also give him resources to distribute where needed.

While Jayce held his own personal power as paramount, that was merely because he was pioneering the path forward. If there ever was someone so talented to surpass him and become the leader of Humanity, he would do his best to support such a person.

Well... Depending on their personality.

Voidwalker was one such person that he thought may possess the talent and drive to succeed him, yet he did not know the person well enough to make that call.

"How did I go?" Jayce walked towards a beautiful woman, wrapping his hand around her waist and pulling her into a kiss.

The woman did not resist, even letting out a giggle in response. When the kiss ended she smiled brightly before responding, "Nailed it. But that guy who kept going against you seemed pretty odd. Almost as if he was trying to turn the crowd against you."

Jayce nodded, "Yeah, I think he’s just a thug carrying out orders."

He moved his gaze around as if trying to locate someone, before locking eyes with Zane about 20 meters away. Jayce moved his lips, as if he were talking without sounding out the words.

Zane nodded before disappearing from the spot in the next moment.

Lianna’s eyes widened a little, "So you’ve finally perfected voice transmission?" she asked with surprise.

"Haha, it was impossible until I had my breakthrough." Jayce laughed, holding her tighter.

"Well, we’re free until dusk. What did you want to do?" He asked, sending suggestive looks her way.

Lianna couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at his antics, yet her face turned apologetic "Sorry Jayce, I’ve already got plans with Leah for the day."

Jayce looked a little disappointed, but he didn’t blame her. They had been so busy over the past 6 months trying to set up everything that there was hardly any time to rest.

He let out a little sigh and was about to respond, however he almost jumped in fright after getting a slap on his behind.

"I’ll make it up to you tonight, don’t worry." Lianna winked and scurried off, leaving him standing in place with shock and amusement.

"She sure has changed over the past 6 months." He muttered, smilingly.

Jayce decided to head to the main building ahead of time, where it was quiet. Now that he didn’t have anything to do until dusk, he decided to meditate for a while to pass the time.

Thankfully, the place was empty when he arrived. Kane and Dion who usually occupied the first floor were off mingling with the other faction leaders on his orders.

While he couldn’t technically order them around, they took his suggestions quite seriously. So when he mentioned that diplomacy and getting to know the leaders of other regions was paramount to them successfully surviving the invasion, they quickly agreed.

So Jayce walked onto the first floor and found a spot on the ground and entered a meditative state.

Since first unlocking his Dantian and figuring out the benefits of absorbing Mana Stones, he had improved by leaps and bounds. However, there was a point where no matter how much he wanted to, he could not absorb any more energy.

It was almost as if his body was filled to the brim with all that it could handle, and anymore would just lead to losing the stored energy, or in the worst case, exploding and dying.

Fortunately, when he had run into this trouble, he had found the perfect help.