World Conquest Online

Dom awoke in his bed in the Palace, his head hurting from the wine that had been plied to him the night before by Merriment and Sun Shangxiang. Meritamen was beside him and still asleep, her form barely covered by the sheets. Dom was still in shock at the announcement from the night before, the announcement that she there was a high chance that Meritamen was pregnant.

Dom reminded himself that it was a game, and that this was just another part of the emersion of it. Especially for Lord Class Players who having an Heir was key in the development process. Part of him was surprised it wasn’t part of the Kingdom goals when he thought about it, but that was something to think about in the future. He wondered if he should reach out to some of the other Male Lord Class Players and see if they had similar experiences or situations happen to them whilst playing so far, however he suspected the number would be few as the time in game had only been a few months at this point.

The other thing that worried him was the current forced search for a fiancée in reality. If he had chosen someone who also played World Conquest Online, then he would most likely at some point have to admit that he had an in game child. This would mean admitting that he had done the deed in the game with a game character in virtual reality. Whilst he was sure there wouldn’t be any major issues, it would definitely be an embarrassing and painful talking point. Part of him wondered if female players were going through the same thing, or if he had just joined a small perverted group of players unintentionally. He also knew that Andrew and Kai would be arriving soon, with Alice arriving further in the future. There was also plans for Stephen and Rosie to join him, so this was definitely a pain point already.

He looked down at Meritamen again as he climbed out of bed, and wondered if he regretted the decision. He didn’t, the emersion of World Conquest Online was extremely high and he genuinely had grown to have feelings towards these characters. Sometimes the blur between the two grew close and he knew that when Andrew, Kai and eventually Alice arrived, he would probably prefer to stay in the game world. This thought did worry him slightly, but new that the escapism in World Conquest Online felt like this for many players.

Dom climbed out of bed and dressed in some comfortable clothes, knowing that his adventures of inspecting Noctus and Renatus would be replaced with a meeting with Shang Yang about the future governance of their growing Kingdom. Surprisingly, Meritamen slept through Dom getting changed as he strapped on the Zhan Lu and headed downstairs.

Downstairs he was greeted by Sun Shangxiang who was sat eating on the ground floor with the two Qiao sisters, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. Dom was still surprised at how much of an impact rescuing Da Qiao from the basement of Tongpai’s Town Centre had created. Not only had brought some form of maturity to Gan Ning, but gifting her the Family Cube had led to the arrival of the Sun family. Dom knew that the Golden Token had been Gan Ning’s mission, but without Da Qiao and the Family Cube, it would have been a very different conclusion.

"Good morning Lord Lazarus!" The two sisters greeted, one who was part of the Central Government under Shang Yang, the other working alongside Xun You in the Strategy department.

"Good morning both, how are your families settling?" Dom asked as he took a seat beside Sun Shangxiang who passed him some food, a bright smile on her face.

"My daughters have settled well, my father has been very busy with them all!" Da Qiao laughed, "however I think my nephews are causing more chaos."

"My son’s may be young, but they have a lot of energy!" Xiao Qiao laughed in response.

"Elder Shang has invited my father and all of the other Civilian Leaders to Riverside for a meeting, I was planning to come anyway, but we felt it was a great time to come and visit our sister in law." Da Qiao smiled towards Sun Shangxiang.

"Have you left the children with a servant?" Dom asked, just wondering on what was happening.

"Our mother has them!" Xiao Qiao replied, genuine happiness in her voice "I am sure you wouldn’t have seen her, but she was part of the group that arrived, it’s great to have our full family together. We have always been separated by distance."

Dom understood her, having been separated by his own family due to loss at war. He didn’t have the chance to be reunited like the Qiao sisters had, but he was happy for them. He took a bite of the food that Sun Shangxiang had passed to him whilst the three of them continued to talk about their children, every now and then involving Dom in their conversation. At one point Meritamen appeared and joined them, Dom realised that she did look paler and more tired than usual. He had some worries, but was grateful to see that she was eating well.

Eventually Dom finished his food and left the four of them, promising to see them either later or tomorrow during the Civilian or Military reformation meetings, whilst his two Wives he would see regardless of his plans. He left the Palace and was joined by Gregorios and Trojan who had been waiting for him.

"What time do you two arrive?" Dom asked them as they began walking towards the Docks, where Dom wanted to see Himilco and see if he had any feedback on the Bellona.

"As soon as the sun rises." Gregorios yawned, "It is definitely impacting my social life."

"You don’t have a social life." Trojan commented back, before responding to Dom. "We have a routine and a message is normally sent from the Palace to inform us."

"I do have a social life." Gregorios replied in fake hurt, "I am dating now."

"So what if I woke up earlier and left earlier?" Dom wondered out loud, before looking at Gregorios’ proud face.

"If we are not here, there are other guards. The Batavi are also always on standby as your main guards. However, General Subutai has told Actumerus and the others to rest and train for a few day as they are expected to be dispatched upon your next return. Hector is now a Centurion with the Titanaconda unit and Homer a Centurion with the Hoplites." Trojan replied, before also turning to Gregorios. "Is she the dancer, the barmaid or the fisherwoman?"

"The fisherwoman currently." Gregorios replied with a grin.

"That’s great for Hector and Homer, are you planning to change roles Trojan?" Dom asked, impressed by the detailed response.

"I have been promoted to Centurion of the Hoplite’s, however my unit will be based here in Riverside so I can continue as your guard for now." Trojan stated, a grin on his face as Gregorios looked at him in shock.

"That role exists?" Gregorios asked in shock, having failed his promotion on purpose as he enjoyed his job.

"If you had listened during the interview you would have heard that." Trojan laughed as they appeared beside the Docks. Dom headed inside and saw that Himilco, the new Centurion Cato and Ou Yezi the Blacksmith were in conversation.

"If we reinforce this beam here, we can allow it to take large hits both from other ships and waves." Himilco commented as he rubbed his bald head. "I have heard tales from some of the merchants that deliver to the market of some deadly creatures out to sea."

"We shouldn’t need to travel that far out as Lord Lazarus has explained that we are on the edge of the continent with not much more than water beyond." Ou Yezi replied, "However, we can reinforce the edge of the ram and potentially install some of the Crossbows from the Louchuan here and here."

"If we could have the crossbow’s, I would be confident that the Bellona would be the best ship of it’s time." Centurion Cato laughed as Dom joined them.

"How is it going?" Dom asked, as the three greeted him politely.

"We have started drafting a schematic, it’s been easier as there are a lot of similarities in the construction style to the Trireme, especially when it comes to the key structural components." Himilco explained, "I think it will take a few more days, whilst we look to create an improved version rather than a like for like."

"She is impressive, a sword of the sea." Ou Yezi beamed as he looked at the drawing that Himilco had been creating.

"How have your crew settled in?" Dom asked Centurion Cato, the new arrival having seemingly been excited to be involved.

"Nervous at first, but everyone has been welcoming! My Rowers and Marines have been registered and were taken to the market for evening entertainment, before a trip to the Arena where their was some fighting taking place between some warriors." Centurion Cato replied, "Some of the other crews that are docked or nearby have also been coming to introduce themselves and it has been pleasant. It is also exciting to see that our Bellona is planned to be used as the flagship upon our arrival."

"We are happy to have you." Dom said kindly, happy to see the progress and that they could draw their own schematics. He intended to change the second Shipyard in Riverside to Quinquereme if the system allowed it.

Dom soon left the three of them and spent the rest of his morning touring Riverside. Most of that time was in the Military District watching as over three thousand new Warriors went through a fitness regime under Centurion Pullo and General Huang Zhong. It had been agreed that none of these warriors would be deployed until they reached the standards of the rest of Dom’s military. What surprised Dom the most was that morale was high, with the Warriors not complaining and instead seemingly to relish the opportunity to become professional trained and paid warriors in a Kingdom they could impact.

By early afternoon he had eaten some lunch in the markets, looking over a lot of the different wares that were being sold. The animal shop had received a new batch and Dom wasn’t surprised when the stall owner told him that most had already been paid for and reserved by Crassus for the Zoo he was creating. Hatshepsut had already explained that Crassus’s Zoo would not be built in the housing district or Crassus’s garden as planned, and would be moved to the west where the Arena and other entertainment buildings were being placed.

After his shopping trip, he headed back to the Palace where he had seen different Civilain Heroes travelling towards. He had seen that Umako and Hatshepsut had been two of the earliest to arrive, soon followed by Crassus, Cicero and Artemisia who had travelled from Serenity. He hadn’t seen many of the others, but when Shang Yang and Lucius were arriving he decided it was also time for him to enter the Palace.

The room was full of loud voices as he entered as most of the Civilian Heroes were talking in groups amongst each other. Meritamen and Sun Shangxiang were both sat further down the table for once, leaving the seats beside Dom for Shang Yang and Lucius who were now sitting in them. The room went silent as Dom entered, as everyone went to take their seats as he headed towards the top of the table, with all of them greeting him as he passed. He was partially surprised to see that some of his Military Generals were in the room, but understood that was due to their now dual roles.

Dom sat at the head, with Shang Yang, Xun Yu, Meritamen, Sun Shangxiang, Hatshepsut, Crassus, Cicero, Umako, Hua Tou, the newcomers Lu Ji and Neferure to his right. With Lucius, Tomyris, Su Fei, Artemisia, Elder Qiao, Lady Xu, Ou Yezi, Gu Kaizhi, Sostratus, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao on his left. Twenty three Civilian Heroes and Dom sat together, preparing the first King’s Council of their growing Kingdom.