An entire two months had passed and many things have happened since that meeting with the people associated with UA. One of the main things that happened was that the Space Frontier Program (SFP) made leaps and bounds through the dedication of the science department.
Mei held her notepad and pen eagerly. "Oh, please do tell!" she exclaimed.
Izuku had even let Nezu join in the request but Nezu did have to undergo the quirk that would keep the secrets he learned from Verdant hidden.
"That's fair I suppose," Nezu said, "this knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands so taking precautions is quite obvious."
It was the same quirk that the scientists also volunteered to undergo that bound them to not reveal the research for the quirk erasing bullets to anyone except Izuku. This was done via a quirk user in their group whose quirk was permanent and could only be undone via another pact with the same parties.
'Another very useful quirk,' Izuku thought, 'I wonder if I can find all these people in this world. Of course, assuming they even exist here.'
As such, with Nezu's large mind, they were able to speed the progress up to a far faster pace which allowed them to finish the initial portions of the moon base. It wasn't fully completed but they were getting close to finishing the entire outer portions and the groundwork inside of the base.
Nighteye remarked, "It's ironic that someone with such a large brain couldn't come up with a plan to defeat a mere quirkless child. It makes me wonder if he was even trying or not."
"Please shut your mouth Nighteye," All Might said, "you are making a fool out of yourself, every time words come out of your mouth."
Overall, it was built inside of the moon for a portion with another portion outside. Due to still researching into new technology to fuel the space frontier floating space settlements, they were still relying on solar energy which was far easier to get into space due to the constant clearness of the sun for most of the time.
"That's so cool," Mei said, "not to mention the uninterrupted solar energy."
"Yeah that kind of setup could power our nation for years without having to burn our resources or harming our planet," Izuku said, "then again, he is going to get a lot of hate from electricity providers who use these other methods to produce the energy."
"Who cares?" Mei shrugged, "Verdant can handle them if they become too much of a problem."
There is some time when the base isn't directly in the sunlight due to the rotation of the moon and earth but the base was currently saving enough energy and there were plans to build another set of solar panels on the other side for those periods of time with a connected system.
Mei sulked seeing that it wasn't as uninterrupted as she thought.
"Cheer up girl, it is not that bad," Power Loader said, "besides they are doing much better for this being the first phase of their plan."
The base is also hidden from people on earth discovering it due to a quirk being used to make it appear nothing had changed as clones were constantly working on the base.
"Yeah imagine looking up from your telescope and seeing this moon base that never existed before," Jiro said, "and I am pretty sure that a lot of people will just assume that they getting invaded by aliens and start causing chaos around them."
Izuku didn't want the world to know about the moon base until it was completely done and had defenses set up to protect it from missiles that could be sent from the earth.
"You really think someone will really do that?" Ochako asked.
"I am pretty sure someone will do that," Izuku replied with an exasperated smile.
The internals of the base was liveable as they did have a system that creates oxygen from CO2 that humans put off or the machines they use. There is also a large amount of plant life placed into the building to help convert CO2 naturally to oxygen as Izuku plans to expand the base into a larger one and wishes it to feel more natural.
"That is true, natural air is always going to be better than artificial one," Nemuri said, "and having beautiful plants around is always a plus."
In regard to long-term living conditions, the base will be suitable for actual humans instead of clones to live on it within a few months once the rest of the base is completed.
"Quirks are really a blessing to us if used in the right way," Momo said, "just take this scenario as an example. Our predecessors would have required years to make this base habitable for humans but we can do it in just a few months."
As it stands, the base is mainly aimed for science and military purposes as it will be the stepping stone to further space travel to like Mars where they will be able to get material to build other things instead of taking it from earth or other countries on earth who could try to threaten Izuku into allowing them access to the technology or into space.
"I love how he definitely knows that other countries will try to threaten him despite knowing that, eventually this will benefit all of them," Shinso said.
"Honestly, you don't have to be a genius to know that," Dabi added.
Outside of the advancements with their space frontier program, there was another major event that happened during the two months that is being settled currently.
"Of course, there is always something going on around the Verdant Emperor," Hawks snickered.
This event was the fall of Japan to the complete rulership of Izuku aka the Verdant Emperor.
The theater went into utter silence until Izuku shrugged, "oh well, that happened."
"Don't 'oh' us you nerd," Bakugo said, "you can't just shrug off something so important."
"Is it really a surprise tho? We all knew that was going to happen, especially after U.A.'s surrender and All Might's statement, it was just a matter of when that would happen," Izuku explained which made sense to all of them.
After the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, and Iwate surrendered due to All Might, it set off a chain reaction within the other prefectures. This led to the collapse of the defense line due to the prefectures of Toyama, Yamanashi, and Nagano surrendering. The local leadership ordered the government troops out of their land and threatened to deploy the police to help the Verdant Emperor remove the government forces which force the government to quickly pull their forces back to try and hold some form of defense.
'This is quite concerning,' Nighteye thought as he observed the state of that world, 'so there is a chance that these ungrateful hooligans will betray us in the face of the danger,' then he fixed his glasses, 'I guess some changes are in order. And we will start with the number two hero and a hero student.'
However, once the news of the government retreat broke out and the reaction to these prefectures' surrender it only increased the other prefectures' surrender as Nigata, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Fukushima all surrendered to the Verdant Emperor. This resulted in the government only having control of the green-marked land on the war map. Now, all of the Verdant forces had the entire green area surrounded and were waiting for orders to march into the prefectures that remained under the old government's control.
"Verdant has them cornered just like a wild beast," Nezu said, "but he needs to be careful, after all, the cornered beasts are the most dangerous ones."
Izuku did call upon the remaining prefecture governments to surrender but sadly they had all been removed from power by the old government and loyalists installed which wasn't surprising. Though, Izuku did use this to his advantage and shared it with everyone which resulted in large protests inside the government-controlled land.
"Government is just digging themselves dipper and dipper with everything they do," Mina said.
"If they had accepted their defeat gracefully, it might have helped their reputation a little," Jiro added.
Izuku decided to use this to his advantage and had cloned troops storm out of the national diet which caused the government to pull back some forces from the defense line. This resulted in the military force of the Verdant which was all clones, do a sudden charge which resulted in an all-out battle across all of the green marked area.
'This is it, one last battle, one last fight,' Izuku thought, 'and then Verdant will be crowned as the new emperor of Japan," Izuku's eyes shined with anticipation.
It took an entire day but in the end, Izuku Midoriya aka the Verdant Emperor had the entire green-marked land under his control. The government forces had used the buildings to turn it into a hit-and-run tactics war but sadly for them Izuku only sent clones into the battles the entire time since he refused to lose any more men. As such, the Verdant lost no men and the government forces were defeated with half of what remained wiped out and the other half captured.
"They couldn't achieve anything when they had an entire nation at their disposal," Hawks said, "why would that change when they have just a few chunks of land now."
Most of the government forces belonged to what remained of the Pro Heros, quirkest citizens, and police that had gotten recruited by force.
"Check it out, all the jerks are grouped together under one banner," Shinso remarked. "When was the last time we saw that happen, huh?"
It was ironic that the government recruited the police force since they all just ended up surrendering when the Verdant came since they knew what life was like under their control due to connections they had with the police system under Izuku's control. As such, none of the police resisted and nearly every one of them survived.
"I'm glad the force came together during these crucial times and chose a leader to work for," Naomasa said, "but let's face it, the decision was pretty obvious since they were probably thinking about their own and their family's future in this nation."
Izuku had zero care about the quirkest individuals being killed off since it only helped him lead the country into a brighter future without them being around.
"Even so, it's not up to us to decide who should live and who should die," Aizawa said.
"That's a good mindset for a hero, Eraserhead," Dabi said, "but fortunately Verdant is not a hero, so he has no qualms about wiping out those idiots."
Izuku didn't order his men to kill them off but they refused to give in easily which resulted in their deaths since there was an order out that if someone resisted capture that they were to just be killed instead of being taken as a prisoner of war.
"That's quite harsh, don't you all think?" Mirio said, "he can easily subdue all of them if he wants to."
"But the question is why should he?" Stain asked, "they decided to stand in his way so he gave them what they deserve."
Now, the heroes that kept fighting were a mix of those that didn't want to do it anymore and those that wanted the old system to stay. Most of those that didn't want to keep fighting were still just students and had surrendered quickly by the end of the battles once they got defeated while others were captured with a bit of force or killed off if they couldn't be taken easily.
"I am glad that the children knew better than to continue this stupid war," Nezu said, "sadly adults are too delusional to think for themselves."
As such, the Verdant Emperor now stood outside of the Imperial Palace which is where the old emperor of Japan who was just a ceremonial position sat.
Izuku took a deep breath as he realized that Verdant was just a few steps away from becoming a new Emperor of Japan.
The man that was currently serving as the Emperor of Japan had refused to abandon Tokyo and hideaway as the government had requested early on in the war. Instead, he stayed behind which Izuku could honestly respect since he had the emperor spied upon by the spy network to know why he truly stayed behind. In the words of the older man, 'I may be a figurehead but I still stood by in silence at the state of our country and witnessed the democracy of our nation become more corrupted. If I am to die then I will die with my head held high and not running like a coward.' these were the words that Izuku was given from the spy network.
"Huh? Who knew that our figurehead of an emperor had that strong spine," Bakugo said.
"I know right," Kirishima smirked, "my respect for him has increased by a lot."
In all honestly, Izuku had no plans to harm the old emperor since the man had no official power to act as he was bound with countless things by the old documents that governed Japan from hundreds of years ago that stripped the Imperial Family of its power.
"Oh, I didn't know that," Kaminari said, "the more you know."
"We literally learned this three weeks ago," Jiro pointed out, "how can you forget that?"
Kaminari just shrugged and said, "I wasn't paying attention I guess," though he completely missed the fact that Nemuri was glaring at him.
Izuku also knew the truth about the old Emperor and what he had done which is another reason he respected the man so much.
"Now, this will be the new information we aren't aware of," Momo said.
As such, Izuku was here today not as a conqueror but as a citizen of Japan. As Izuku stood outside the main gate, he knocked on it and requested the guard to ask the Emperor for permission to enter which confused the guard since Izuku had taken control of the entire country so why would Izuku ask to enter. The guard did as Izuku asked and left which left Izuku and his Verdant guards standing there.
Even in the auditorium, many were confused about what was going on but few of them were grinning as they realized what was Verdant doing right now.
This entire thing was being televised across Japan and the world as well since Izuku had no intentions to hide what would happen.
"Of course, why won't you boast your hostile takeover of the nation to the entire world," Nighteye scoffed.
All Might, Nezu, and many others that had influence in current Japan were with Izuku today as they had been invited by Izuku to come to witness what would happen as well.
"I am glad that I get to be part of this historic moment," Yagi said with a beaming smile.
The entire country and world were waiting and wondering why Izuku had politely asked to enter the palace instead of just making his way in even as the Guard had left the gate open. After about 10 minutes, the guard had come back with a few others. "The Emperor is willing to meet and invites you in." the guard said with a bow which Izuku returned.
"This... is too civil compared to what we saw up until now," Mina said.
"Yeah, like we are watching a completely different show now," Toru added.
Soon they all made their way into the main hall of the main palace building which was the Matsu-no-ma or stateroom where the Emperor was waiting at.
"Wow, that is quite a fancy place," Jiro said.
"That is to be expected," Momo explained, "even if the imperial family is not in power anymore, they still have a large amount of money on them."
Izuku could see the Emperor sitting on the small chair at the end of the room and the man did look nervous as everyone entered but not many could tell since he was so good at hiding his expressions due to his position.
"Well, many daylight heroes too have to master that face when talking to media," Yagi said, "and trust me, you need that face to make sure those reports don't get anything to slender you on."
Izuku came to a stop in front of the Emperor and surprised everyone as he took a seat on the ground, and then Izuku performed a Saikeirei towards the Emperor which shocked everyone even more.
Even most members of the audience started at the screen with wide eyes.
What became even more shocking is when the Verdant Guards and members of Verdant also performed it as well right behind Izuku as Izuku had brought a few advanced unit squads in the case of a random attack on him. Everyone in the room was in silence as Izuku stayed in the position waiting.
"Hmm... so where is this going exactly?" Ochako asked.
"You will see," Izuku smirked at her.
What was he waiting for exactly was for the Emperor to speak to him and the Emperor realized this as he raised his hand and spoke up, "Please rise Verdant Emperor, I believe everyone including myself would like to be clued into your actions." said the Emperor who was named Takashi.
"Wow! He really has a strong voice for such a frail old man," Himiko said.
Izuku and all of the Verdant raised themselves but stayed seated on the floor in a Seiza which was just sitting on the knees which was an old traditional way of sitting. "Thank you for allowing us in Emperor Takashi. Please, call me Izuku Midoriya for I don't believe I should use such a title of Emperor in front of you." Izuku said as everyone was even more confused by Izuku.
"What the hell is going on here? Is this some new kind of bullshit that he is cooking up to trick the world?" Nighteye scoffed.
Today was a bunch of downright confusion on the actions of the Verdant Emperor. The Emperor looked at Izuku in some confusion but also in a slightly different light since Izuku hadn't acted out in a manner of a conqueror normally would when taking over a country or land.
"Yeah, it's more like a boy sitting in front of his girlfriend's dad before asking for her hand," Mina giggled.
"Not really," Nemuri said, "in that scenario, he would have been much less confident than he is right now."
"So it proves that meeting your girlfriend's father is scarier than taking over the nation," Kamianri added.
"Would you like some tea since I believe this will be a complex conversation?" the Emperor asked and Izuku thanked the man.
"Am I the only one who is super weirded out by how casually all of this is going on?" Shinso asked but no one answered, "well, ok then."
As they waited for the tea, Izuku spoke up about why he truly was present. "I am sure you are confused about my actions your Majesty. I am here today not as the conqueror of Japan but as a normal citizen of Japan as I have a request of you." Izuku said as an attendant brought the tea into the room and served it in front of them both to show there was no poison planted in it.
"Ok now this is getting interesting," Hawks said, "I wonder what his request is going to be."
The Emperor took a sip to confirm to Izuku since this was a delicate situation that the old man knew how to walk carefully due to his experience with politicians.
"It is an old tradition, where the host takes the first bite or sip of the presented consumable to show that the thing isn't poisoned," Nemuri explained.
Izuku took a sip as well but he wasn't a fool as Izuku had made sure to have a Verdant Guard watch the attendant from the shadows when the tea was fetched. Izuku isn't that trusting of a random person to not try to take his life regardless of the Emperor's intentions.
"Being paranoid is going to be a part of the position he going to sit in," Aizawa said.
As Izuku took a sip of his tea, the Emperor asked what Izuku was his request of him. Izuku sat the tea down and his Verdant members once again bowed in the Saikeirei position as Izuku spoke up. "Your majesty, I am here today to request that you abdicate the throne and entrust the future of Japan to me."
"Oh! Now I get it," Ochako said, "he is politely asking Mr.Takashi to step down instead of forcefully taking the throne."
"Indeed Uraraka, he is approaching this situation while keeping our nation's core values in mind without lowering himself in front of the old Emperor," Nezu added.
"I know you believe that you stood by doing nothing as Japan fell into corruptness but I also know you tried as best as you could within the laws that bounded you," Izuku said as he then raised his head followed by the others behind him.
Everyone leaned forward as they realized that they are going to listen to the information normally they never would.
"I know that you started as many charities and organizations that were aimed to fight quirk discrimination against those with weaker, so-called villainous quirks, or even those without quirks. I know about the advocating of new laws you had performed via these organizations even though they hardly became successful. You still tried to do as much as you can but I ask you now to entrust the future of Japan to me and rest your majesty." Izuku said as he looked straight forward at the Emperor who had an expression of shock.
"I am really moron," All Might whined as he slammed his head in his hand. Then he noticed everyone staring at him so he explained, "in the past few years Emperor Takashi had invited me to his place multiple times, but unfortunately I declined his offer every time."
"Why?" Izuku asked.
"I thought he was just like other politicians trying to earn my favor for some political gain but now I understand, it might have been for a good cause," Yagi said and sulked in his chair.
"Well, in that case, why don't you go and meet him yourself," Izuku suggested, "he looks like a good man, he will surely forgive you once you explain your situation to him."
"You really think?" Yagi asked.
"I am sure he will," Izuku reassured his mentor, "also gift him a good quality tea just to be sure."
The man asked how Izuku knew of what he had done since even those in the palace hardly knew of it since he went to great lengths to keep it a secret.
"Lady Bug user," everyone said in unison.
"I have eyes and ears everywhere as my Verdant members are quite skilled in gathering things that people want to be kept hidden," Izuku said and the man chuckled.
"No Verdant, you have one member who has multiple eyes everywhere," Momo smirked.
"Come on Momo, you know Verdant has more than one member with a spying quirk," Izuku replied.
"I will believe your words when I see them," she said and both of them shared a laugh together.
Everyone watching was shocked to learn of the actions that their emperor, even though a figurehead, had done. This created newfound respect in the man with most people but even Izuku gained a lot of respect from the older generations who prided in honor of Japan's history and traditions that were becoming lost.
"Well done Verdant. Another one of his gambles turned successful," Nezu said.
The emperor calmed down and looked Izuku in the eyes and saw the determination in them. He was silent as he stared at Izuku but slowly he nodded his head. "You truly are intriguing. I was surprised when All Might had made his statement and thought he was a fool to turn his back on his country but now seeing you in person, I can look into your eyes. Did you know, they say the eyes are the gateway to the soul where you can see what truly defines the man across from you?" The emperor asked and Izuku nodded his head as the Emperor smiled.
Even off-screen Izuku had a huge smile on his face as if he was the one who was receiving those words from their Emperor.
"I see in you a man of determination and strong will power but what more I see if a man true to his word that surrenders himself to those he trusts to keep him on the path forward. I can see why All Might has put his faith in you.... as our former symbol of peace has put his faith into you, so shall I." The emperor said as he stood from the chair he was sitting on and walked to Izuku. The man then sat down on the floor and performed a Saikeirei towards Izuku.
"This will be marked as a black day in their history of Japan," Nighteye said.
"No matter how much nonsense you dump from your mouth right now, even you know that commission and government will never recover from this loss," Bakugo said while taunting the guy.
"Bakugo Katsuki, watch your-"
"Yeah, I know what you are going to say, and guess what I don't care," Bakugo flipped him off, "now go and play with tarot cards or something."
"I entrust you our future and I pray for your success. I, Emperor Takashi, hereby announce my abdication from the throne of Emperor and appoint Izuku Midoriya as the formal Emperor of Japan." said the now-former emperor as he came out of the Saikeirei and Izuku did one more Saikeirei to the man and thanked him.
"Zuku-nii you are crying?" Eri asked.
"Don't worry Eri, these are happy tears," Izuku said while wiping his eyes, "it feels like I am watching my brother achieving something great in life."
"Thank you for entrusting the future to me. I ask that you join my Public Advisory board. Currently, All Might is the only member of this advisory board as I am still finding the right people for it but I believe you would be perfect for it. This advisor board helps advise me on issues that Japan faces or things that you believe we as a country should look into. Will you be willing to help lead the country in a more direct way Takashi?" Izuku asked the former emperor whose eyes widen at the request. The man thought it over but nodded his head.
"It seems Verdant is snatching all the old pieces from the board," Nezu said.
"Hey!" Yagi frowned, "I am not that old."
Izuku giggled at his mentor's antics and replied to Nezu, "well, he does have all the young blood he needs to carve the future but having the experience of past generations is quite helpful as well."
"I would be an honor to help lead our country with you. You truly are an honorable man... only if this all didn't have to come from war." Takashi said with a sad tone.
Many in the audience agreed with the sentiment of the old Emperor.
"Indeed, but after destruction, we can have creation which we need now as we stabilize Japan and push forward," Izuku said as he stood up and brought the former emperor up with him.
"Say what you will say about him, but the boy really knows how to use his words," Hawks said.
Cameras were going off as pictures were being taken at the historical moment as the Verdant Emperor had not imprisoned the former figurehead emperor as some believed he would but instead had formally asked the man to step down from the emperor's position and help lead the country forward.
"Well, considering the amount of work the old emperor did behind the scenes, he did deserve this kind of respect," Momo said.
"You are right Momo, he is really a great man," Izuku smiled, "One day, I would love to have an audience with him.
This was a historical moment and was an important moment for Izuku to connect on a far deeper level with a lot of the citizens that were more traditional in their ways.
To be continued...