Plaze decides that Jessie was the best teacher that he's ever had the pleasure to be taught by in his life. It was both simultaneously a low honor, as he was never taken to school, but it was also an extremely high honor, because he was homeschooled by his father.

In just the span of 2 weeks, through the aid of Jessie's exceptional teaching skills and Plaze's own innate prodigious talent in the field of electronics, they had finally managed to complete the prototype and the first game of the Hell Entertainment System.

Plaze didn't quite have a company yet. So the name of the system was still pending. But he decided to not just steal the Mintendo brand, as he had some sort of respect for the company name.

That being said, he totally stole Mario, he didn't even change the name of the game or change any of the levels.

Jessie hummed as she tried out Super Mario Bros. She wasn't progressing very quickly, but she was still faster than Steven, so it was clear Jessie held a talent that Steven didn't.

As Jessie was jumping past the various obstacles in the first level, Plaze asked, "So, how is it?"

Jessie stopped in the game for a moment as she thought about it before answering, "Hm, it's pretty simple, but considering it's the start of a new industry, I think that's totally fine. You said that the people on Earth managed to mass produce this to get it to fit inside of a home for a cheap price?"

"Relatively cheap price compared to an arcade," Plaze confirmed, "Plus, once I make a few more games on it, you'll have way more options compared to an arcade machine, which only has one game."

Jessie nodded as she continued the first level, managing to finish it in a solid amount of time, "That's good, I liked it. How far do you think you can take this industry?"

Plaze shrugged, "I have no idea. Maybe one day, instead of looking like pixels on a screen, it'll look like real life?"

Jessie stared at the pixelated sprite of Mario, patiently waiting on the second level of the game, "I don't think that's possible."

Plaze shrugged again, "It was just a guess."

It's not as though Plaze knew the future of his own industry. Hell isn't very receptive to dreams, after all.

Jessie decided that she had played enough and went to turn off the system. The electricity used to turn on and off the HES was a magical sort that was different from the standard non-magical electricity. There was no difference between the two electricities functionally, and it was entirely called magical or not based on the source. The source being whether it was from a sinner's magic, or the natural generation of the world.

The reason why the cartridge was magical was because the game cartridge that Plaze made used a lot of brute force coding that was made through Plaze physically etching his thoughts onto the cartridge to make his thoughts into usable code, using the magical power that his souls gave him. Meanwhile, Jessie helped Plaze step by step in creating a console that didn't use magical electricity.

It would be hard to replicate using mundane methods to ensure that the games could be mass produced, but as a prototype, it was fine to cut corners like that.

With the power of 102 souls, including Mehira's loaned ones, Plaze had enough confidence to say that he had breached the territory of having enough souls to be taken seriously if he wanted to call himself an Overlord.

But according to Mehira, the top tier Overlords all had souls numbering in the hundred of thousands. Something Plaze couldn't quite wrap his head around, just the number of people a singular person has under their control.

That being said, Mehira did say it took a normal sinner a few months to get 100 souls, something Plaze accomplished in 15 days. So Plaze was an exception.

With such a strong start, Plaze even had a bit of a dream that one day, he could become the ruler of all Hell.

…Though, according to Mehira, the ruler of Hell is Lucifer.

From the bible.

The very same Lucifer who is a fallen angel and could permanently kill any sinner with just his presence alone as a holy being, which is why he almost never shows up around the Pride Ring.

Plaze will have to settle for second place. After all, he doesn't want to upset SATAN FROM THE BIBLE.

Sorry, Plaze forgot that Lucifer and Satan were separate entities in this universe.

LUCIFER FROM THE BIBLE.

Finishing his thought, Plaze tells Jessie, "I think I'm going to head to bed, then when I wake up, I'll go to Carmilla Carmine to see if I can get her support."

Jessie nodded, "Alright then. Good luck! If you die, we never knew each other!"

Plaze snorted, "Of course. See you later."

Plaze immediately hit the bed when he got home.

Sergeant Hammer decided that Kories, the no-name Overlord that had been leeching off her territory to her east, had overstayed his welcome. And, quite frankly, Sergeant Hammer wanted a competent Overlord to bitch about.

The previous Overlord who was there, who was it… Right, Io, the Animal Overlord, who was trying to create the biggest zoo in hell. She was fairly competent, but then 3 different smaller Overlords had ganged up on her, and she couldn't win that battle because she only had a thousand or two souls at the time, And souls became less valuable the more you went into the thousands.

And guns were effective until the sinners got to maybe 400 souls. And tanks were basically almost always effective because it's an explosion.

Anyways, to avenge the name of the Animal Overlord whose name she already forgot, Sergeant Hammer was going to absorb Kories' territory.

And by absorb, she means she's going to blow it up and pay Zilla to rebuild it all later.

Setting up her massive red tank, loaded with the big fucking shell, she signaled to her crew, which had also set up their tanks.

All in all, about 120 tanks were ready to change the topography of Hell today.

"ALRIGHT BOYS! READY?!" She shouted out, knowing full well that they were just waiting to burst their load.

The affirmative shouts that came her way didn't do anything but turn those confirmations into auditory cues.

Sergeant Hammer grinned as she pointed towards where Kories probably was, "HAHAHA! ALRIGHT THEN! THREE! TWO! ONE! FIRE!"

An area of about 3 city blocks disappeared that morning in a deafening explosion, bringing an early start to the morning.

Vox calmly sipped his coffee as he watched the explosion happen outside his windows.

He had gotten an early notice of the massive explosion about to happen thanks to the cameras he put all over Hell, so Vox skipped the part where he woke up all grumpy and went to the part where he simply just watched the explosion happen.

Vox had to admit, the explosion itself was magnificent. 10 out of 10. Sergeant Hammer really knew how to use those explosions correctly. It was just the aftermath of the explosion that was really bothersome to deal with…

"Fucking Hammer," Vox grumbled, having to hear Valentino wake up and swearing to kill whoever woke him up early, "Someone needs to fuck her into submission so we don't have to get up early like this…"

Vox leaned back, the back of his box head uncomfortably hitting the chair before Vox positioned his head to go over his chair.

Vox groaned as he thought aloud of what he should do about Sergeant Hammer, "Ugh, maybe it would be worth trying to recruit whoever worked on Hammer's arcades and incorporate it into TV somehow…"

Carmilla Carmine woke up, her sleep rudely interrupted.

As she groggily got up her bed, she realized that it was just a massive explosion.

Something that Sergeant Hammer did.

Carmilla doesn't even have to open her windows to realize that she was up too early, and decided to just go back to bed. She has experience sleeping through explosions anyways.

Sergeant Hammer fucking sucks.

Plaze already knew that she fucking sucked. But to literally wake up the entirety of Hell just for her sick desire to blow something up? That's the actions of a real, genuine, demon.

Plaze was already awake when the explosion first happened. The job that Mehira hooked him up with was a simple smuggling job that got stuff that the Overlords who ruled those specific territories banned for one reason or another, into those places.

It wasn't that dangerous, considering that the items the Overlords banned are very petty and always because of something related to their previous life or something.

For example, Plaze had to smuggle in chocolate to Senorita Villima's territory because she choked on chocolate, resulting in her death, which caused her to ban chocolate.

He also ended up smuggling some of that chocolate into his stomach, because he's very glad to see that chocolate made it into hell thanks to the magnanimous work of Grillby, the Food Overlord.

Grillby was actually the most popular Overlord in Hell, and maybe among the most powerful as well. Grillby was literally just a chef that decided he wanted to be his own boss. And his food was GOOD.

If anyone tried to fight against Grillby, Plaze doesn't doubt that all of Hell would come to his defense.

Anyhow, the 12 hour shift had ended for Plaze, something he absolutely hated but also had to shut up and take it because it's Hell. Meaning that now, he could continue his plans to become Overlord and go to Carmilla Carmine's territory to see if he could get an audience with her.

First things first though, Plaze had promised Mehira that he would give her a heads up when he would be going to Carmilla Carmine's place. The reasoning that Mehira gave was that Carmilla would easily be able to tell if someone was looking through Plaze's eyes and would kill him thinking he was a spy for someone else. So Mehira didn't even want to take a look while Plaze was nearby Carmilla Carmine.

Plaze pulled out his phone, which he had purchased from VoxTech. There were only 3 phone makers in hell, and all of them would spy on their customers. So out of the three, the biggest, VoxTech, seemed to make the most sense to purchase.

Mostly because the other 2 phone makers would likely die out in the future. Vox was just vastly more powerful than the other two tech Overlords.

Plaze wanted a working phone, after all.

Plaze could also just call Mehira's phone and speak through it using his radar ability, but… Well, to be frankly honest, it was uncomfortable to use. He was willing to let Vox have his data for the comforts of not having voices in his head.

Dialing Mehira's number, it only took her a few seconds to respond, "Mehira speaking."

"This is Plaze, I'm heading to Carmilla's place today," Plaze said, "I'll tell you how it goes when I'm finished."

"I see," Mehira flatly responded, "Good luck."

Mehira hangs up without saying goodbye, which was a bit rude. But Plaze didn't expect Hell to have any manners anyways, and that good luck shouldn't be taken for granted.

With that settled, Plaze walked towards where he knew Carmilla Carmine's company headquarters were. He didn't need the radio for it, because he had already scouted out the place several days ago.

After a solid hour of uninterrupted walking, he made his way all the way to the front door.

There was a guard, naturally, so Plaze walked up to him and asked, "Hello sir, do you perhaps know how I can get in contact with Carmilla Carmine?"

The bulldog demon glared at him, "If you have to ask that, you aren't important enough to see her. Go away."

Well, that was completely expected.

So, Plaze shifted goals, "Alright, that's fair. Can I see someone who can take an offer to Carmilla, then?"

The bulldog demon growled, "Fucking dumbass. We don't need every new idiot coming here with an useless idea-"

"Yettet, is something wrong?" The voice of a young woman suddenly interrupted from behind Plaze.

Plaze turned to look who had interrupted, and…

Plaze suppressed a frown as he saw yet another person who didn't look like shit. Why did Hell allow for hot people to exist? Everyone should be in misery.

The new girl was obviously someone of a higher position though, as Yettet immediately saluted her, "Lady Odette! There was someone wishing to bring a request or suggestion or whatever to Lady Carmilla Carmine!"

Odette hummed, "I see. Well, I was just returning back here, so I suppose I have some time on my hands," Odette turned to Plaze, "Who are you?"

Plaze slightly bowed to try and kiss up to her, "My name is Plaze. I'm coming here because I have a deal that Carmilla Carmine might be interested in."

Odette raised an eyebrow, "A deal of what nature?"

"A deal to help me replace Sergeant Hammer," Plaze revealed, a smile on his face to make it seem as though he had it all planned out, "And of course, you can keep the tanks."

Odette's eyes twinkled with interest as she gestured for Yettet to open the door, "Well, I think we're all interested in a replacement for Sergeant Hammer after this morning. Come in, we can talk specifics."

Plaze will have to thank Sergeant Hammer for making that massive explosion earlier this morning that woke everyone up early. It's really easy to sell the idea of killing someone people already don't like.

Odette gestured for Plaze to follow her into the building. So, of course, he did.

Plaze also could tell that Odette was taking the scenic route through their building as a subtle way of displaying their strength. Plaze wasn't the biggest fan of guns, but even he could appreciate the level of craftsmanship needed to create what he was seeing. Including all of the angelic weapons displayed here. Plaze didn't even know it was possible for demons to use angelic weapons. Plaze thought that it would burn a demon, maybe.

…Wait, are the angels using guns to exterminate people?

Plaze had to hold that thought as Odette led Plaze into a meeting room on the top floor of the building.

Odette sits on one end of the long table, and Plaze sits on the other side of her.

Odette begins the meeting by asking, "So, I can already tell that you have a number of souls under your control. How many do you own?"

Ah, so she's basically trying to make sure that Plaze was the correct type of sinner to replace Sergeant Hammer.

Plaze put his hands together as he revealed, "I currently have 102 souls to my name."

Of course, 20 of those souls were from Mehira, and will be returned to her by the end of the week. But what Odette doesn't know doesn't hurt her.

Odette hummed, "I see. You must've been working at this for quite a while."

Plaze silently nodded, seeing no reason to speak and somehow implicate himself in something he can't get himself out of.

Odette made a note on a clipboard that Plaze just realized she had always been carrying, "Now, I see that you're also carrying something. Is that your prototype of something from Earth that will change the arcade industry?"

Ah, now this was something Plaze could talk extensively about and not look like an idiot.

Plaze dropped the prototype HES onto the table, a massive grin full of pride appearing on his face, "Heheh, not just changing the arcade industry. We're going to change the name of the industry to the gaming industry! This is the Hell Entertainment System!"

Odette curiously looked over it, "Where's the screen for the game?"

Plaze looked around the room, spotting a TV in the corner of the room, "Well, the big problem with arcades is that you can only play one game on one machine. Well, with cartridges, that problem is now a thing of the past! I can plug this into the back of any TV, and with this handheld controller, you can play games in the comfort of your own home!"

Plaze quickly demonstrated what he was talking about, as he plugged the HES into the TV and placed the Super Mario Bros cartridge into the HES.

The game successfully booted up on the TV.

Plaze gave the controller to Odette, who hesitantly took it.

"So, just give it a try! This is the only game I have right now because it's a prototype etched by my own magic, but I know it's still possible to mass produce it. Mostly because I played this thing back on Earth."

Odette didn't say anything as she figured out the controls on the main menu of the game. Then, she entered the first level of the game.

Almost immediately, she ran into the first goomba, dying horribly.

"Ah," Odette seemed to recognize the fact that she died in the game.

The next time around, Odette pressed the A button to jump, successfully jumping over the goomba.

After that, she managed to complete the level flawlessly, without even realizing she could jump on the enemies to kill them.

As she entered the second level, Plaze asked, "So, what do you think?"

Odette looked at the console, "I believe that I see the possibility for this to overtake arcade. The business strategy is to sell the consoles once and sell a thousand cartridges, yes?"

Plaze nodded, "Every household a console, and every household every game."

Odette put a hand on her chin, seemingly seeing the charts of growth herself, "Ah, right, this is a personal item… Well, if you could get this to work, I believe it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say you could advance this industry quite a bit…"

Odette gave the controller back to Plaze, "Well, since Carmilla is gone right now, could you perhaps play this game yourself? I would like to see how much content this singular game has in comparison to a singular arcade game."

Plaze grinned. This is why he grinded out the fastest times for Super Mario Bros on Earth.

He eagerly reset the game back to level 1 as he sat himself down in front of the TV, "How much time do we have until Carmilla comes back?"
Odette shrugged, "It will take a while. Perhaps an hour or two?"

An hour for 32 levels? That might be a little difficult…

"Yeah, that's enough," Plaze confidently said as he immediately loaded into the game, playing the best Super Mario Bros of his life.

Carmilla Carmine entered the meeting room where Odette had told her where the meeting would be. As she entered, the first thing that she saw was that Odette wasn't even paying attention to their guest.

And their guest was doing something in his hands, staring at the TV.

Carmilla silently walked in front of Odette, gaining her attention without alerting the other.

Odette sighed, "His name is Plaze. He wants to overtake Sergeant Hammer as some type of… Gaming Overlord. This is his first prototype of some new technology that'll transform the arcade industry into something completely different. I asked how much of the game was left after I finished the first level, and… Well, he's been at this for almost the past 2 hours."

A new Overlord to replace Sergeant Hammer? Normally, she wouldn't approve of giving any help to replace any Overlord, it would be too much of a hassle to deal with the other Overlords being wary of being replaced themselves.

For Sergeant Hammer, who kept stealing their designs and has been keeping the tank industry away from Carmine Industries, Carmilla can make an exception.

She didn't like to be woken up so early, and she doubted the rest of Hell did either. Carmilla is quite sure people will enjoy not having to listen to Sergeant Hammer for any longer.

Carmilla sat down behind Plaze, intent on watching him play the game he brought.

Obviously, Plaze wasn't paying attention to anything beyond the television screen, similarly to how Vox ensured that nobody paid any attention to things off his screens.

However, Plaze's mind was active, his fingers were rapidly pressing the buttons on his…

Her daughter helpfully supplied the word, "Controller."

Controller, an old word for a new concept. Either way, Plaze's mind was engaged, just not in reality.

If Plaze were to mass produce this, it could keep everyone in their homes as people play Plaze's games for hours on end. And, if they ever get bored of a game, they're still on the television.

Plaze's industry would ultimately cut into her arms trade. People don't fight people who don't come outside.

Strategically speaking, it's more beneficial to keep Sergeant Hammer around, as with her arcades, people have to come out to her buildings to play them. And if they're outside their homes, then they will inevitably run into conflict.

However…

She just doesn't like Hammer. She'll gladly take the reduction in sales as people turn more solitary just to make sure she doesn't wake up to the noise of explosions again.

Besides, with Vox's growing popularity and power, people are getting more solitary anyway. All Plaze will do is increase the speed at which people stay home.

Then, Carmilla realized something. Vox will probably try to recruit Plaze into his organization the moment Vox realizes that Plaze had the future in his hands. Vox was always obsessed with staying up to date on things on Earth. He won't change now.

Should she just let Vox gain a massive boost to his power by just granting him another big industry? Or perhaps Carmilla should instead try and convince Plaze to be independent.

Hm, well, that's something that Carmilla should figure out after her talks with Plaze. If Plaze seems to be an overly ambitious sort, she'll either try and recruit him to her side or tell him that he's better than Vox and try to keep him independent, just so Vox doesn't grow too fast.

And if all Plaze wants to do with his title is to make games and indulge in his hobby… Well, she would prefer Plaze to still stay independent, but maybe Carmilla could position herself to be the pseudo lord of Plaze, and maybe sell Plaze off to Vox for a good deal. It wasn't like Carmilla was well suited for the type of industry Plaze wanted to rule over.

So, she leaned back, waiting for Plaze to finish his game.

Plaze satisfyingly beat Bowser and saved the princess in a decent time of just under 2 hours. It wasn't the fastest time, but it was still a respectable time.

"Just below 2 hours, not that bad," Plaze proudly said as he stood back and turned behind him, "So, what do you thiiiinnkkk-who are you?"

Plaze was completely confused by the presence of a new person in the room.

"When did you get here?" Plaze slowly asked, not sure who this person was.

"10 minutes ago," She flatly answered, "My name is Carmilla Carmine."

Oh shit.

Plaze quickly fixed his posture as he looked up at the taller woman, "Oh! Haha! Sorry I didn't see you there Lady Carmine! Uh, as you might know my name is Plaze and-"

Carmilla raised her hand to stop him from speaking, "Yes, I know. I heard from Odette. You wish to overthrow Sergeant Hammer, and you wish our help in exchange for us taking the tank industry, yes?"

Plaze hastily nodded, "Yep, that is exactly my offer- request, request."

Shit, he's stumbling over his words! He's done for! Doomed!

Carmilla gave a slight shrug,unconcerned about his attitude, "I don't quite like Sergeant Hammer. She's far too loud despite us being an hour away from each other. I have no issue with granting you aid, but I have a few requests."

Plaze nearly jumped up in relief. He had his support!

Well, almost. All he needed to do was stick the landing.

Plaze dutifully nodded, "Of course. What do you need?"

"I would like you to delay killing Sergeant Hammer until extermination day," Carmilla said, "Overlords who appear close to extermination day usually don't last long. And I would prefer you alive rather than dead."

Plaze looked at her a bit oddly, "Extermination day? That's 3 months from now."

Carmilla nodded, "Yes. It takes about a month for a new Overlord to take over an area. Even longer if they bring in a new industry and have to create factories and supply chains. If it's interrupted by the extermination, you are as good as dead."

Ah, well, that makes sense.

Though, how the hell was Plaze supposed to make a supply chain… Well, maybe Jessie would know.

Plaze hummed, "Then I'll attack on the day before extermination day?"

Carmilla nodded, "Yes. I'll help you by lending a few of my factories to you and creating your… Consoles. This will give you experience. But I'll take my factories back as soon as you're established, and I want a cut of the profits you make."

Plaze thought that was a pretty good deal. It helps him get used to being a manager, and Plaze gets to skip all the busywork of getting territory, getting workers, and all of the boring stuff.

Plaze is going to have to rely on Jessie a lot to get his consoles started, but once he gets a grasp of creating them himself, he can definitely start skyrocketing production.

So many ideas…

But first, Plaze needed to know, "How much of the profit?"

"45%," Carmilla replied as if she had said a completely sane and normal percentage.

What the fuck?! 45%?! Sure, Carmilla is lending the factories and presumably the workers, but 45%?! That's just insane!

Plaze can't do jack shit about it either, because he needs those factories!

Plaze upsettingly agreed to it, clicking his tongue in frustration, "Tch, fine."

Carmilla graciously ignored Plaze's frustration, "Very well. To recap our deal, we will help you overthrow Sergeant Hammer by handing you weapons and the manufacturing capability to produce your first batch of goods, which we will take a 45% cut. In return, when Sergeant Hammer is taken down, we will take all of the tank manufacturing machines and anyone who works on them."

Plaze thought about the deal, but then he notices an issue.

Namely, that Plaze was fairly certain that the same people who worked on the tanks worked on the arcades.

Plaze crossed his arms and pointed out the issue, "I want the workers who worked on the arcades to come with me, not you, even if they worked on the tanks."

Carmilla humphed, mild respect in her eyes, "It looks like you noticed. Very well, then. Instead of them automatically coming to me, we will let them decide who they go with."

Plaze was fine with this, it would likely still end with most of the workers going to Carmine, but he would keep the genuine arcade enthusiasts, which was all he needed, "Sure. It's a deal, then."

Then, Carmilla somehow manifested a paper and quill out of nowhere, "Sign down here. It's a soul contract."

Plaze is going to have to learn how the hell someone does that eventually. But for now, he quickly skims the paper to ensure that nothing was wrong.

"It says 50%."

"What a shame."

"Change it back to 45%."

"Very well."

What a fucking bitch, trying to scam him at every waking moment.

Plaze carefully reads all of the clauses again, making sure that nothing was wrong. After finishing his reading, he signed his name at the bottom of the contract.

Carmilla's symbols, a various display of white colored guns, ballerina shoes, and lines covered the room as Hell recognized Carmilla Carmine as the primary beneficiary of the deal.

Carmilla took the contract and sent it away somehow, the contract fading away, "Thank you for your cooperation. I'll have Odette contact you for any further details about our cooperation. Take anything you like off the wall, we are capable of replacing anything."

And with that, Carmilla Carmine left the room.

Odette hummed, "Well, just give me your phone number and we'll be good."

Plaze sighed, pulling out his phone.

It wasn't that hard, but it wasn't that easy either. Plaze certainly didn't get out of there with an equal deal, but it was acceptably within a good range.

But 3 more months with Sergeant Hammer…

And then, he'll be crowned Overlord.

Plaze grinned as he left the building, walking out onto a street filled with sinners who will one day know his name.

AN:

Overlords be Overlording.

Those cuts into the perspectives of other Overlords was fun. I'm gonna do it more.

[Still no 11th chapter, so 3 more chapters left of backlog. This summer heat is draining my will to write, but I am still writing. Just not for this. Don't worry though, I'll probably do a chapter of this after Time Capsule gets its update.]