What is to be done...

[Triyun]

Jia stood on the bridge of the battleship [i]Yuan[/i] as it sailed through the narrow crossing of Victoria Harbor. The majestic emerald hill of Hong Kong Island on one side, the sprawling metropolis of Kowloon stretching out into infinity on the other. The Imperator looked as hundreds of thousands had gathered to cheer the honor guard lining both sides of Hong Kong city. The soldiers of the People's Liberation Army.

Jia watched as the energy of a people could be felt before him. They were still eager. They were still ready to fight for a greater tomorrow, but the will was fading. The world was fading. Stagnation was the order of the day. Weakness pulsed through the lands of the World. Most nations had fallen into chaos. Half of those that remained were mere vanity projects, constructing mega wonders of little economic value, purely for bragging rights.

What had become of a sense of destiny much less vision? Jia looked at the laurels of humanity spread before him in Hong Kong. Was this to be the zenith? [i]This.[/i] he thought to himself. Disgusting. Civilizations who had reached an apex and then declined became a drag, not just targets for outsiders, but a curse for their own people. It was a lesson that China had learned all too well in the 19th Century.

But today... today... the world had in effect become one civilization and a stagnant one at that. Sure there were political divisions, but it was no less divided than say European Civilization of the Middle Ages, or Chinese Civilization in the Warring States period. What happened when the whole of humanity entered into stagnation? Jia scoffed at the thought.

No adventure, no challenge, and thus... no [i]motivation[/i]... a world of a million Switzerlands... disgusting.

"Yuan Jia WAN SUI! WAN SUI!" a voice shouted out. It snapped the Imperator back into reality, as cannons on both sides of the bay fired.

A smile formed on Jia's face. Perhaps there was something still to be done before the final chapter.