Of the word that could havee to Ratna, the news was far from the worst- but it came at a very inopportune time. She had just received reports that the Tilki n Domination cultivators appeared to finally be making a move, which was <em>actually</em> the worst news that she could anticipate in the near future.


    Losing some territory on her southern border was a surprise, but ultimately not something she could deal with at the moment. As systems formerly under the control of the Twin Soul Sect, they weren’t terribly important. The main issue was the confusing reports about what precisely happened. All that was clear was that the elder she’d had governing the area had been pushed back.


    At some point, she would report to Ratna in person, but the message had far preceded the individual. Perhaps Ratna had already grown too used to BHCP- the Bear Hug Communication Protocol. Certainly, it was an inefficientmunication method, but it was <em>fast</em>. But despite their many bodies, Bear Hug was limited in scope and couldn’t be <em>everywhere</em>. Relevantly, the increasing number of bodies seemed to be growing linearly or perhaps even falling off as time went on instead of any form of positive geometric growth.


    Then again, that would have been more concerning in its own way. Dealing with a couple dozen copies of Bear Hug was fine. And realistically, they didn’t have to worry about Bear Hug warming a because they could just… stop. The main issue would be if others who were less positively inclined could replicate something of the sort.


    Of course, there were no other algae cultivators in the upper realms- not that <em>were</em> algae- so it was a moot issue.


    Returning to the lost southern territory, she <em>would</em> have to react. Losing <em>more</em> territory would be problematic. That meant taking some portion of her people that could be facing against the Tilki n. How inconvenient. If only it could have happened at some other time… but of course, it wouldn’t. Most likely, this happened precisely because she was distracted.


    She needed to raise some disciples into Domination. Maybe in a few centuries- which would have been a wildly ambitious thought in the past.


    -----


    “Are you seeing the same things I am, assistant?” Alin Katomented. The Starless Sailor had returned- wildly sessful by certain ounts. Alin could have asked for more, but that may have been a weakness in preparation more than a failure on the crew’s part. Who could have anticipated such arge army of cultivators in deep space? At least,rge by rtive standards. Obviously proper interster fleets were far more numerous. “I can’t believe that people always go for the most inefficient routes.” “They might not know,” the assistant offered. “But more likely, they don’t care. The results produced were likely sufficient for them. Still…”


    “Why does it always have to be wholes?” Alin shook his head. “Surely they could raise up a disciple with proper insights and have them fused into a distortion beast, if they were truly dedicated to their craft.”


    “A trueck of dedication to their craft,” the assistant agreed. “And their schrlynguage could use some work. Where are the details? The references to other documents? Certainly, we didn’t retrieve everything but merely noting that they ‘created an attraction field’ is insufficient.”


    “I suppose this leaves only one further possibility for answers, unless they are foolish enough to leave the station precisely where it was,” Alinmented. “We must track down theses. Unfortunately, their records are quite sparse. Simple designations without any merit, and no tracking of the originals. Why, they could be… half a lightyear off course now.” Alin shrugged, “Not too bad, actually. Assuming they are along the inverted arc of the nest. Didn’t we send some ships out that way?”


    “Quite some time ago,” the assistant agreed. “However, long distance exploration has more than a few difficulties, even within the lower realms. I don’t believe we confirmed much information. Though perhaps we can match something to this information. Since the damage has been done, we might as well make use of the information.”


    “The study of insights is fascinating,” Alin said. “I am certain the right individuals could make good use of it. But I must wonder, why distortion beasts? Was it simply because the sect involved was obsessed with them, or is this the <em>reason</em>?”


    “I am not aware of anything to suggest that there were any cultivating distortion beasts before this group- apparently the Disciples of the Beyond- seems to have created them. But it is an interesting thought. Perhaps there was some encounter long in the past… but I am getting into spective territory.”


    “Spection is the foundation of science, my assistant. Please, continue.”


    “Assuming Ramil is the founder, either he or the founder that came before him might havee across a distortion beasts with insight. Then they could have spent millennia trying to replicate it in themselves… and externally to view once more. I would imagine that since Ramil is a Domination cultivator, he himself was involved. Though certainly, it would not be strange for one of ater generation to stand on the shoulders of those before him. The history we have on the sect is a bit… iplete. Perhaps we can send some spies? Not for anything dangerous, but to hear their internal story of their founding. That should be public enough.”


    “We should petition the Little Alliance.” Alin Kato didn’t know why they had chosen such a name to call themselves, but perhaps it was a sign of humility. Either way, it was certainly a mark of connection to the greater alliance spanning the upper and lower realms.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    -----


    The Little Alliance happened to not have their spymaster at the moment… but they had a certain group of individuals volunteer anyway. A veryrge number of individuals. Fortunately, they made up precisely one stealth squad.


    The limits of void ants for spying were rtively apparent. They were excellent… if they could get a. And if they couldn’t, they were worthless. They couldn’t see anything a human couldn’t when both were lightyears away. At best, they might be more sensitive to arge but not overpowering aura.


    If the world had remained precisely where it was, their prior limitations would continue to hold them back. But it hadn’t, and the Little Alliance was one of the ces most strongly promoting their technological growth. The lower realms were not inactive either, they simply had fewer reasons to develop void ant specific vessels. Their neighbors were allies, and their people well connected. Insights had been provided when asked.


    Technology was the key, not because void ants didn’t get along with formations and cultivator methods but because cultivators were most prepared to discover such things. While pure tech vessels that could travel between systems in a timely manner were quite a chore to build- the inter-realm ships were the main example- <em>nearly</em> pure tech vessels could do far better.


    So as long as they were staying in the upper realms, the void ants had ways to travel between systems, recharging their energy stores. The void ants could perform their own maintenance and repairs, though theycked the human factor of supernatural repairs. Specifically, fusing things together that had broken apart, or changing the internal structure of things.


    But they had long surpassed the level of viability, and thus a vessel was sent into Disciples of the Beyond territory. They had several objectives. The humans primarily wanted them to learn information- they could transmit that back, depending on the form it came in. Miniaturization ofmunications devices had progressed immensely under the care of Juli and her peers. Uzun had given a few insights from the core Scarlet Alliance, but the effort owed itself to her direction.


    Crossed Antennae had wanted to go… but ultimately she was convinced to send some of her royal guard. Specifically, Bullet and Fire. The two ants had trained with poisons under Aconite, and along with that came some measure of stealth training. Otherwise, applying poison was pretty much the same as stabbing someone normally, or maybe even less efficient.


    Obviously it wasn’t just the two of them. Void ants really didn’t prefer to travel in numbers smaller than a hundred, and even a fist sized vessel could easily fit that many. The actual size of a void ant ship varied depending on whichponents it needed. This merely needed transportation,munication, and stealth capabilities. Few void ant ships had any sorts of external weapons, aside from themselves. Miniaturization on that end simply didn’t work- since the energy output that came with size was actually the <em>goal</em> of most weapons.


    Some might have weapons in the form of hull cutters, but this wasn’t a war vessel. They were spying. And a single, tiny ship seemed to do quite well slipping into enemy territory. There was less energy and less mass and less <em>everything</em> to detect. They were well prepared for their primary objective.


    Their secondary objective was simple enough. The humans hadn’t expressly authorized it, but there was a <em>general</em> policy that if an enemy Domination cultivator could be killed, they should be. So if they happened toe across Ramil, he would get to test a hundred different types of poison.


    “I think he would be further in,” Fire signed. “This is too far out to be safe from attack. They have a big fancy core sect for a reason.”


    “Yes. I agree,” Bullet nodded. “But we must first confirm the information we are here for.”


    “Would not the assassination be more important?”


    Bullet agreed. “It would vastly change the politicalndscape. But we must retain our trust with the humans. Especially those of the Little Alliance. Thus the reason we have that objective as the primary.”


    “Would the humans not appreciate a dead enemy?” Fire prodded.


    “I am certain you already know,” Bullet said. “They would. But they will not appreciate the following war. The Great Queen has calcted that they would be positively inclined overall, especially if the conflict appears inevitable as this one does. But you know Tessouat. He has recentlye to see the positive aspects of our kind.”


    “He would <em>also</em> prefer Ramil to be dead.”


    “Yes. Everyone wants Ramil dead. So we will do both, if possible. And while we are herepletely unnoticed, we can try to learn about his true whereabouts and aplish our primary objective.”


    The mission would have been hell, if they had been sent down to a random point on the and asked to learn the origins of the sect. Could they speak to humans? No, they could not. Even if they spoke void ant sign, which they would not, being revealed would get them killed rather directly. They could wander around and hope someone left out a book titled “Founding of the Disciples of the Beyond: The First Sect Head and Why it is Ramil Because of These Reasons.”


    But they had options with a ship. They could just directly fly to a library. Now, they did have to take some care flying into a popted city- people could just randomly look at them. However, the risk was worth it. They could negate or even redirect any sensory energy that came their way. Thetter was more subtle, as a cultivator whose senses were directly severed would only be more suspicious.


    Aside from a library, they would ept a sect lecture hall. Unless the information truly was secret, it should be ryed to millions of individuals every day. It was merely a matter of ending up in those ces.


    Lecture halls were a greater risk- too many eyes. Especially now that they knew void ants were alive and well. They also happened to find a library first. It would take some doing, to discern the organization schema, but they could cover a wide area in a short time.


    After an initial pass, they would secure a source of food. There was only so much that fit in a void ant vessel, since the goal was beingpact. However, they weren''t picky. In the worst case, they could feed solely off of ambient energy- but it was still <em>better</em> to have physical food. Humans would not notice a few crumbs missing, and the two royal guards could discern if there was anything untoward with what they gathered.