Strongest Hammer God

Despite their name, the first change Explosive Karma implemented damaged their Karmic Luck.

“Every Elder is now paid according to their contributions, not their Realm!”

This severely lowered the pay of the weaker Crushers while also increasing their workload.

At the same time, the Primal Elders received a raise since they did almost all of the work.

The Crushers did not like that at all and tried to reason with Star Genesis.

Well, they wanted to reason with Star Genesis, but they couldn’t meet her just like that.

She was the Head, and she could only be contacted by Kyle, Swamp Dragon, and Manny.

Because of that, the Crushers could only try to reason with Swamp Dragon.

He was the Head Elder and Disciplinary Elder, and he was also their primary contact.

However, Swamp Dragon was like a wall and didn’t give them any sympathy.

“Fairness,” Swamp Dragon said. “Fairness is the basis of Karma. If you are kind, other people are more likely to be kind to you. If you work hard, you are more likely to receive rewards.”

“Value is created with actions, not with status. Only you can increase your value. The method with which you create your value is up to you.”

Naturally, the Crushers quickly came up with a counterargument.

They were Crushers, and their power had value. If Explosive Karma ever entered a war, they would risk their lives in the conflict.

“Is that how you argued with the leaders of the Deep Thorn Sect as well?” Swamp Dragon asked evenly. “The Deep Thorn Sect has been in a war, and I have not seen any of you launching even a single attack.”

The counter to that was their lack of power. After all, they couldn’t do much against Major Crushers.

“Then, your power has no value,” Swamp Dragon said. “You said you are not powerful enough to help in a conflict, and yet, you want to be rewarded for exactly that level of power.”

“Become strong enough to be of value or create value for the Organization by increasing the value of the Disciples.”

No matter what the Crushers said, Swamp Dragon always had a counter.

When some of the Crushers realized that they couldn’t get anywhere with Swamp Dragon, they gave subtle threats.

“Then, I’m going to leave,” some of them had said.

They were free to leave.

They were not slaves.

“You are free to do so,” Swamp Dragon answered. “Many things will change here. Many of the rules that will be implemented will push you down the cliff leading to supreme power, and with that attitude, you won’t survive the fall.”

The Crushers weren’t exactly sure what Swamp Dragon meant with that metaphor.

Cliff?

Wasn’t reaching supreme power more like climbing a mountain instead of falling down a cliff?

Yet, as new changes appeared, they realized what he meant.

When Star Genesis gave the next big change in rules, most of the Disciples almost couldn’t believe what they had just heard.

“Disciples and Elders are distinguished by their priorities,” she had announced to the entire Organization. “Elders have abandoned the path forward and are valued by their contributions.”

“Disciples are valued not by their contributions, but by their growth. One of the most important aspects of their growth is their Momentum.”

“Disciples with Momentum weaker than the declared baseline will be sent to mandatory True Battles. Any Disciple refusing the mandatory True Battles has a choice between becoming Elders and leaving Explosive Karma.”

First, Star Genesis had hit the Crushers, and now, she had hit all of the Disciples.

There was a huge uproar, but the rule remained.

The rule would take effect within two years, and anyone who remained in Explosive Karma after two years would be considered to have accepted the new rules.

Many Disciples left.

In fact, over 80% of all the Disciples left.

They refused to engage in a True Battle just because their Momentum was too weak.

Of course, this had a big impact on the Elders as well.

They were supposed to generate value by increasing the power of the Disciples, but how could they do that with almost no Disciples?

There were too many Elders for the small number of Disciples.

When the two years were up, Star Genesis gave another announcement.

The resources the Disciples received would be increased tenfold!

This caused another uproar, but a positive one.

Several Elders asked Swamp Dragon if they could become Disciples again, and Swamp Dragon gave them his permission.

Slowly, the ratio between Elders and Disciples stabilized again…

But it wouldn’t remain like this for long.

The first round of True Battles began.

The Disciples had a choice between three options.

One: Enter an excursion to a Wild Planet with an Elder. The Disciple would fight to the death with an appropriate beast, while the Elder kept more powerful beasts at bay.

Two: Leave the Organization temporarily to search for their own True Battle. If they didn’t return within 50 years, this would be counted as not fulfilling their duties, which came with negative Karmic Luck.

Three: Enter the new warzone.

Whenever a new Organization took over a territory, it was customary to give it 20 years to get a foothold. Because of that, declarations of battles would only start appearing 20 years after a new Organization had appeared.

For now, Explosive Karma was still safe from declaration of battles, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t communicate with their neighbors.

One of their neighbors had actually come to Explosive Karma with a proposition.

A Planet dedicated to battles between their Disciples.

Explosive Karma accepted this proposition, and the two Organizations hashed out all the details.

The other Organization had also given the Deep Thorn Sect this suggestion, but the Deep Thorn Sect had refused for mainly one reason.

They knew that their Disciples would lose the majority of battles.

The other Organization valued Momentum, Battle-Strength, and battle experience far more than the Deep Thorn Sect, and they also had a fitting name.

Primal Crushers.

Most of the Disciples were Primals, and the Primal Crushers excelled at crushing Primals.

The majority of Explosive Karma’s Disciples chose the excursion to the beast Planet, but some of them also chose the war zone.

When the first round of True Battles ended, 80% of the Disciples who had entered the beast excursion survived and became stronger.

Yet, the survival and fatality rates for the Disciples who chose to enter the war zone were flipped.

80% died.

However, the 20% who came back returned with great gains.

Explosive Karma had become much smaller.

They had lost many Elders and Disciples.

They had also lost four weaker Crushers.

Yet, the Elders who remained were contributing more, and the Disciples had become stronger.

Explosive Karma shrunk considerably, and they had also lost a lot of Karmic Luck.

But with time, they would become stronger.

Sadly, time was a luxury.

When the grace period for declaration of battles ended, Explosive Karma almost immediately got their first one.

And the second.

And third.

Turns out, the other powers were not happy that Explosive Karma was no longer paying tribute.

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