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"Oh, you know, it's fun, it's part of my plan, to start a war, to bring peace."

–Madara Uchiha, (Naruto Shippuiden)

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<(Atem POV)>

Looking over my new list of abilities, I was quite pleased, and my satisfaction was quite obvious too due to the huge smile visible on my face. A small telepathic knock on my mind's barriers made that smile bloom even further as I sent a mental message to Karnilla to come in.

"So, I had sensed right. You have grown stronger... and quite a lot at that too. Well done. But again, that is to be expected since you have been undergoing this... evolution of yours for so many years." Karnilla said while sizing me up and down.

"Wait, did you just say so many years?" I asked with a raise of one of my eyebrows.

"Yeah, it has been 10 years since you have been in this room. I had tried to wake you up multiple times but no matter what I did, you never woke up. So, all of us have been waiting for you all these years to come back to your senses." Karnilla said with a bitter expression on her face.

That surprised me. Have I really been locked inside my mind for 10 fucking years? To confirm it, I immediately spread my senses around the entire planet to find out the truth as a huge amount of information about the changes that had taken place on the planet during my absence entered my mind. But those changes have only taken place in the last week.

"You know Karnilla, even though I appreciate you trying to learn how to joke, you shouldn't do it with the very person who literally owns you. I can make your life very uncomfortable if I really want to." I deadpanned at her. "Also, before you make a joke like that, make sure that the person you are targeting for your joke, can't connect to the very planet you are standing on to find out if you are lying or not."

"S-Sorry... master, it was just a dumb idea that suddenly came to me. I did the same with Korg too a few days ago after he fell asleep in one of the citizen meetings and he believed me completely. He even thought that he had time powers for some reason. But I was foolish to think that it would work with you too." Karnilla instantly became serious after my threat as she bowed her head to beg for forgiveness.

"... Relax. I am just fucking with you. I love some harmless humor. You might not have gotten me, but it seems I got you." I chuckled. "Now tell me, have you made any progress in the last week concerning our new planet, the great migration from Sakaar, and the... army I wanted?"

"We have advanced a lot on all fronts, courtesy of the Sakaarians. Even without Zoya, we were able to make sure that we grew our power almost as fast as before. And quite surprisingly, a huge reason for that was some of the trash that we had recovered from Skaar before it exploded. What the Grandmaster treated as garbage due to his disinterest in advancing the technology of his planet, was in reality a treasure trove of knowledge from different corners of the universe for us and I have been trying to make sure that we don't let even a single bit of that knowledge get lost or wasted." The Norn goddess answered.

"You are using the Sakaarians to reverse engineer, industrialize, and assimilate all that technology into my new empire?" I asked curiously.

"Yes. That way I can not only properly utilize the entire diversified population that we took in but also develop at a fast rate. That way, not only can the entire population be employed without any concerns about them revolting, but also as you told me before, we can use that technology to trade with other empires once we are big enough. As for agriculture and farming, well surprisingly the planet's soil is extremely fertile under the crystal layer.

At first, we thought that the entire planet was actually made up of crystals, but instead, it turns out that it is only the rocks that have... crystallized. The rest of the planet is still like any other flourishing planet. In fact, most of the crystals that are spread all over the surface of the planet can be used as excellent natural fertilizers when they are broken down and powdered, and since almost all types of trees are compatible here with the soil itself adjusting to help the plants grow at a faster rate, there is absolutely no shortage of food on the planet and I don't think there will be one anytime soon." Karnilla explained. There was excitement in her voice, but her elegance never faltered for a single second.

"Good. But I actually want to ask you something. Where did you learn that modern human vocabulary?" I asked wondering how the hell was Karnilla speaking so many 'modern' words. People from the nine realms who are not from Earth normally speak a more ancient and old dialect of English like Victorian English for example.

"I had a lot of free time in Nornheim after you left me with those droids. So, I took Cortana's help to learn the newest way of speaking as well as the general language of Earth and I have to say, the planet has evolved a lot more than what I last remembered." Karnilla commented with a profound nod of her head.

"Anyway, as I was saying, all the Spikes that used to serve the Grandmaster in his army had requested to continue that same service since fighting is the only thing they know how to do. So of course, I accepted after I made them undergo a magical ritual to make sure that they could never betray the empire. Valkyrie volunteered to train them on her own, so I didn't stop her.

The Shadow People also wanted to be included in the military, and their present leader, Caiera Oldstrong, wants to meet with you to discuss that front. I think they want to be a separate force in the military because of their unique... magic. They have grown much more powerful after coming to this planet, so they might be getting some thoughts about trying to gather more benefits for their race in our empire..." Karnilla continued with a thoughtful expression as she looked like she just remembered something.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just figured out the reason why all the Shadow People have become so much stronger now. I had heard about them before. They come from a powerful line of sorcerers who used to draw power from their native planet which they used to create a powerful magical source of energy like Galactus' Power Cosmic. But then some of them had the stupid idea to destroy their own planet and then spread its pieces around the galaxy to other planets in the hope that they could integrate that same unique magic into other planets by using those pieces as sort of seeds to increase their own influence and power. The plan did succeed to some extent but none of the new planets had the same amount of magic in them as their original one. The outcome was that they only became weaker and weaker instead of getting stronger as they expected.

So, from a space-faring empire of incredible magical warriors, they became small clans of not-so-impressive magical capabilities. A pathetic downgrade to speak the truth. Sakaar probably had a small amount of that magical energy as well but due to its unique status as a living planet as well as it being one of the Elders of the Universe, Ego has MUCH more 'Old Power' than Sakaar or any other planet that was seeded, thus resulting in them slowly getting stronger after coming here. If they were able to ever go back to the same level they were, before they made fools of themselves, they could be of very much use to us. Legend has it that their species was even able to stop and drive back Galactus once." Karnilla advised while explaining. 

"I agree. They can be very useful if we treat them right. Even if they want some more benefits for themselves, I guess I can at least hear them out as long as it's nothing too outlandish." I agreed with her. "And what about our army? Did you make any progress in that?" I curiously asked.

"I did. I have been breeding the spike queens that we captured using my magic. Manipulating their breed at their very source was quite easy especially since the Grandmaster has already achieved a lot on that front on our behalf. I basically used the same soldier template that the Grandmaster used, only making it even better with my Norn magic.

My magic isn't really focused in that direction but I think it can still be of use. I have come up with two variations of the Spike soldiers for now, a strength type and a normal type. Spikes breed fast, so they are already a thousand each in number. I am thinking of deploying some of them on a small habitable planet to see how they perform before deciding to implement more changes."

"A practical test, huh? I think I have the perfect location for you. I have something that I wish to get on a planet called Morag. It's an oceanic planet as much as I remember. Why don't you test out our new army there? They can prove their worth by capturing Morag and its neighbors for me." I proposed. "Oh, and also, here. I think you can make good use of this unique type of magic. Maybe this will help you to further develop our empire." I said with a smile as I passed on the knowledge and the ability to use the wizarding magic of the Harry Potter world by touching her forehead with my index finger.

As a talented goddess of magic who has the Norn stones, she will be able to use that versatile magic of the Wizarding world much more effectively than most and since she was completely loyal and bound to me, there wasn't any easy way she could betray me. So, this was an investment that I was pretty sure I was going to profit from.

"Once Zoya comes back online again, we can just merge some of the sentinel technology with our biological Spike army and see if the resulting cyborg bugs are good enough soldiers. I have a feeling that we are going to need a vast army soon even if I do not start conquering the universe by myself which I fully plan to do by the way."

I want to have a big army comparable to Thanos' own by the time the New York incident is going to happen. I don't want to leave anything to chance. Even if Thanos himself comes with his entire force behind him, I want to be able to have an army big and powerful enough that it could decimate his entire empire.

Of course, that is not because I want to protect New York even though I do indeed want to safeguard Earth as much as I can, but it is primarily because I want to try my luck attacking his empire and taking all of Thanos' territories after the part of the army, he sends to New York to aid Loki gets annihilated.

He will be the weakest at that period, and it will be the perfect time for me to make sure that Thanos dies without getting his hands on even a single infinity stone.

After all, why the hell would I let my enemy have access to more power when I can just end him when he is at his weakest?

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