Barid chuckled at Draiss' commentary. "All part of the plan, you see. Unfortunate, I suppose, but necessary. Look around you, and what do you see? Peace. But what is the price? There is no growth. Growth is driven from conflict. Sure, many places grew, from the sudden cessation of conflict, but most have been stagnant. That will lead to the death of our people. But strife, true, uncontrolled strife, is chaos, destruction, and loss. How many brilliant scientists, creative teachers, and more, have been lost, senselessly, cut down before their time, because of one stupid conflict or another?"<br/><br/>He leaned back in his chair, to give a brief pause. "Thus, I create oppression. I deliberately antagonize them, slowly, gradually, until it reaches a boiling point. I<em>drive</em>them to rebellion... then<em>let them win.</em>Oh, sure, there's some battles, but small scale, mostly bloodless. No razing of cities, no wanton destruction; almost, but not quite, peaceful revolution. This sparks growth, expansion, creativity, all the things held back under my 'tyrannical regime', and they grow, and they flourish, until the time comes that they begin to stagnate. And then they are peacefully brought back into the empire, and their creations are distributed across all worlds, and the cycle begins anew. No gods, no Beyonders, no interference; only a safe enemy, a lack of destruction, and limitless potential."