The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 6

“-So, in light of all the recent unrest across the world, we, the Council of Vale, have decided that it is paramount to ensure the safety of our people. To achieve that objective, we hereby declare the formation of the Vale’s own standing army-“

I turned off the live stream of the news being broadcasted across Vale and turned towards James who had come to me in person to deliver the designs of the Atlas Knights.

“How did you convince them? I was under the impression that Vale’s council were just as much entrenched in their traditions as Mistral and making them change their ways was harder than pulling teeth.”

I smiled at his words and pulled out of the spider golems, placing it on the desk for the General to analyze.

“I used this.”

“….And? what is it?”

“This, James, is a magical golem. Something that was quite a common sight during my days as Ozma, albeit they were mostly used for menial tasks and manual labor. This one, however, serves a completely different task.”

The interested look in the general’s eyes made me smile.

Such curiosity would have served him very well if he had gone down the route of an intellectual. Alas, some people are born for certain roles, and James is nothing else if not a military man through and through.

“These golems are imbued with my magic and are capable of interfacing with the minds of their victims. I will not bore you with the technical and magical details. The short answer is that they can control the minds of their victims and essentially turn them into my slaves.”

I saw his eyes widen in alarm but I stopped him from saying anything by raising my palm.

“Calm down. I only used them as a last resort after they refused to see reason. And rest assured, I will not use this thing on anyone in our inner circle. That is a promise. The only reason why I am telling you this is because I promised you before that I would no longer keep any secrets from my allies.”

“…..Putting aside the morality and the list of rights you just casually admitted to violating, how did you even manage to hide them from the brain wave and Aura sensors that every Councilor is required to use every day to make sure they are under the influence of a semblance.”

I grinned at his question since I really wanted to play the role of an evil scientist and tell him all about how I did it, because It felt like it would be fun to see his reaction.

The device that he talked about is something that Atlas created over a decade ago and helped spread across the four kingdoms for the safety of all humanity. At least, that is what they said publicly.

Secretly, the reason why they freely gave this technology was so that they could make sure no councilor would even be controlled by a White Fang member through the use of a mind control semblance since there have been many instances of such semblances coming into existence throughout recorded history.

You really can count on Atlas’s hostility towards the White Fang to help propel their technology forward every day.

“As you know, the device works by scanning the bodies, minds, and Aura of a person, then comparing the data with another data pack gathered in the previous day, looking for any anomalies in their bodies and flagging anything that had changed beyond the normal threshold predicted for a Human. However, there is one loophole that the machine does not account for.”

“And? What is the loophole?”

“Dust. Specifically, spent dust crystals. The same kind that is usually used in manufacturing common medication due to its excellent drug delivery abilities and its unique ability to dissolve harmlessly after a day or two of ingestion”

And wasn’t that a surprise to learn about?

Turns out, Dust is not just used as a propellent in ammunition or power source for the people of Remnant. It is, in fact, used in nearly all aspects of their daily life, explaining the near-unrivalled power that the SDC had on the people of this world.

Do you need an effective drug delivery system for your medication? Use spent dust crystals, crush them into powder, mix them with a few solvents, and create a capsule mold.

Do you want a powerful energy source for generating heat? Fire Dust is your answer.

Do you want something to generate electricity? Again, use Fire Dust to produce steam and watch the turbines go brr.

Do you want a propellent for your bullets? You have a wide range of Dust categories to choose from to deliver extra spicy death to your enemies.

Do you want an extremely dense battery without the issues of dendrite formation, without the use of toxic materials, and easily scalable? Look no further than Dust-Iron-Phosphate batteries, courtesy of the SDC.

Even for something as simple as a fucking stove in industrial-scale kitchens, they use Dust crystals to power them while most civilians use induction stoves.

Now, this is not because these people lack the knowledge or ability to look for alternative fuels or energy sources, far from it.

From what I remember from Ozma’s memories, there was a proposal to split the atom during the Great War by the Kingdom of Mantle’s monarchy. A proposal to turn it into a weapon to be used against their enemies.

However, Ozpin, going by Ozmandius, the Warrior King of Vale, in those times, swiftly brought an end to that project by leading his army personally to slaughter all the researchers involved in its creation.

The only reason why Remnant did not adopt or use any other form of energy source aside from Dust is due to a combination of multiple factors, but two of the most prominent reasons is the ease of mining and energy density.

Dust is nearly ten times more energy-dense than Hydrogen in its liquid state, an absurdly high number. It is also extremely efficient in its use with very minimal matter and energy loss during its various uses.

And despite the toxicity and danger involved in its mining, it is still comparatively safer to mine for it than something like lithium or other such rare earth metals. Not to mention the ease of access.

Dust vains are found relatively close to the surface of the planet while most other materials are only found after digging very deep. It is so ridiculous that sometime, it is even possible to find veins of Dust in natural cave formations exposed to the surface.

All of these factors with many other minor details made it the primary source of power for everyone on this planet.

James looked at me in shock before contemplating my words and spoke out the question I was waiting for.

“Medically refined Dust dissolves in the body after a day or two, so how did you manage to make your golems last for more than that time period.”

“Magic.”

I laughed at the flat stare the general gave but I could not say anything else, because what I just said is the truth.

I really did use magic to make them last indefinitely, allowing them to appear as nothing more than regular medication taken by the Councilmen to the scanners that they must go through every day.

The magic of this world works on intent and knowledge. It does not require detailed plans taking physics, medicine, biology, and other fields of study into the equation. All it requires is the intent that you want it to accomplish, the method by which you want it to function, the knowledge that you have on what you want it to do, even if vague, and the magical energy required to make all of this work.

Ironwood shook his head at my words before he sat down in the chair in front of me.

“You have changed, Ozpin. Everything about you has changed. Are you sure you were not replaced by someone else?”

“Nope. I just had my eyes opened. I just realized how much of a fool I was being all this time.”

“….In that case, don’t stop now. because I am finally starting to see a real hope for a better future.”

I smiled at his words as I drained my coffee, making the general raise an eyebrow.

“Coffee? Don’t you usually like to drink hot chocolate? Why the sudden change?”

“Because my workload has increased and I need the kick to keep me alert.”

“Hmm, then I guess it is time I finally send you a collection of Atlasian Blends that I talked about all those years ago. Putting that aside, what do you think about the Knights? Do you think you can work with those? Or do you need some assistance?”

“I can work with those, especially since the older generation you provided is more modular compared to the newer variants, allowing me to customize and tinker with them to my satisfaction, incidentally, I have a request for you, James.”

“Go ahead.”

“I want to meet Dr. Polendina. I have a proposal that I think he would love to be a part of.”

Dust is a fundamental part of humanity’s daily life, but it is also a crutch and a weakness.

It is about time that I make these people stop relying on its convenient but easily robbed power and help set them on a path where they no longer have to depend on such esoteric materials for their civilization.

Before I ascend and take my deserved rest in the afterlife, I will make sure that the people of this world are set on a path of progress away from the mistakes of the past.