While Anton had a history of observing others undergoing body tempering, that was mostly with humans. Beyond that, it was the people of Akrys that still shared many simr body traits. He’d seen humans integrate a few cybeics limbs, and Anton himself had a few recement pieces including some ribs. However, those were designed to be as familiar as possible.
A purely mechanical body without any organicponents wasn’t usually a body. It was usually just an <em>object</em>. But Reneden was certainly more than just an object. They were a person, and a little bit of a cultivator.
Bit by bit, Anton watched as circuits and transistors were slightly adjusted. Unlike the human body which could be encouraged to produce necessary structures, Reneden either had the necessary materials or they did not. Technically that was the same with humans, but they were <em>constantly</em> ingesting vitamins and minerals as well as other building blocks of life. Anything a human body did to organicponents could be reversed with sufficient energy.
That wasn’t the case for Reneden. Much of the damage that happened was the sort that was irreversible- it might technically be the same for humans, but it would be difficult to sustain such varied sorts of damage and survive. It wasn’t merelycerations. Those were easily repaired by fusing metal together. Reneden rather quickly became proficient at doing so without melting the metal. Anton wasn’t sure if it was great talent, small details picked up over time, or just a natural requirement for Reneden to exist at all that allowed them to modify simple materials on the molecr level.
Melted and burned stics had transformed into different materials. Reshaping what remained was picked up by Reneden in a few weeks, but undoing moreplicated chemical transitions appeared to be beyond their current skill level. Fortunately, the people of Aretis could easily supply small bits of extra material.
-----
The main topic of discussions was usually quite clear. At least, when it was any official business, Reneden was the goal, even for those ‘just visiting’.
“With Reneden bing more stable,” Felicitas began, “Will they be brought up out of the ocean soon?”
“Of course not,” Torqua shook his head. Felicitas focused on the engineer. “Won’t they decay more quickly there? It would also be more convenient for you to make observations.”
“Perhaps so, but that’s where Reneden belongs.”
“... trapped at the bottom of the ocean?”
Torqua shook his head. “Not trapped. Just… ced there. You didn’t wonder how the transmissions worked so well from that position?”
“Our technology is far past a little bit of material interference, isn’t it?”
“Our modern technology, certainly. But Reneden was <em>made</em> for that position. It’s free cooling.”
Felicitas tilted her head. “Is that so important? Wouldn’t a more conveniently ced facility work just fine? And why saltwater?”
“Saltwater may not have been important,” Torquamented, “But they are the central core for the entire system’s automated processes. At the peak, that would have been quite a few. With older cooling technology, it would have been reasonable enough. And the position also kept things insted from outside threats.”
“Like invaders.”
“Yes. There would have been barriers at some point, I imagine,” Torqua shrugged. “All of that has decayed beneath the waves. Very slowly, without any animal life and no significant bacterial life.”
“I still think they could have easily set up a proper water cooling facility on the surface,” Felicitas frowned.
“Perhaps. Unfortunately, we don’t have any notes <em>before</em> Reneden’s construction, so we can only specte. It made enough sense at the time, I am certain.”
-----
“It’s about time to go,” Anton told Bear Hug.
“What? But I wanna stay!”
“You can, you know,” Anton pointed out. “But <em>I</em> should be returning to the main body of the Alliance. Reneden appears to be in good hands here. And as the rest of Aretis hasn’t sent some sort of extermination squad, they appear to be content with the state of things.”
“Okay,” Bear Hug said. “I think I will stay. I’ll also go back with you. I don’t think they need two of me here.”
Anton shrugged. “Maybe they will in the future. Though in that case, they can ask.”
Enough time had passed for Anton to send messages back and forth with the Alliance. There were ns to establish an embassy of sorts with Aretis in due time… but given the great distance between them, it was going to take some time. Both groups currently had ipatible technology, so it wasn’t as simple as sending someone with a good long distancemunications center.
Anton said goodbye to all the friends he and Bear Hug had made. Of course, he didn’t forget to give them somest minute cultivation advice. Anton wasn’t quite sure whether Marty needed the advice more, or those like Felicitas who were already at or near the peak of Life Transformation. He still hadn’t given thetterplete instructions, but they could wait another decade or two without harming their cultivation. Just getting used to the idea that there <em>was</em> something more was actually important.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
As for Ascension, Anton wouldn’t advise it. They were simply too far from any ascension anchors, so even if their cultivations were registered in the upper realms they might not be drawn to a friendly location. Any who were interested had already done so anyway, though the culture seemed strongly against it. Anton couldn’t me them. The upper realms had hurt a lot of people.
-----
The trip back to the Alliance was all through the same path. Nothing of note happened along the way. It would have been extremely unlikely, as the only possibility Anton could consider would be other humans passing through. Even if there were other civilizations around the path he’d traveled, they weren’t established within ten lightyears of the path- except for a few systems that were already known.
A long journey… or perhaps not. In the same amount of time, Anton had gone from no knowledge of cultivation to Essence Collection. He’d seen children grow into adults. And yet, it wasn’t really all that long. It was just that everything happened so fast.
Anton had a distorted view of time. He supposed that was what happened when you were an old man, and then you suddenly got sent down a path that resulted in more than ten times as much lifespan. He might have thought he would have run out of things to see, but that wasn’t true at all. Even on a single, changes happened so rapidly that he couldn’t keep up. There were also new things out in the gxy, new sights to see and new sorts of people to encounter.
And ck holes, which were kind of creepy simply by existing. Dangerous… but not much more than a knife. They just had to be handled with care, and not stumbled across identally. A ck hole might even be a useful tool, though not so much for the Lower Realms Alliance at the moment. Mainly because there weren’t any conveniently located.
Anton gave a full report, including the things too long and cumbersome to send from a distance, things recorded in the drones, and just thoughts locked up in his head. An exchange of knowledge with the Aretis Coalition could be highly valuable, propelling both groups forward. Lantilwe also had unique insights on cultivation, as well as a different view of what the upper realms could be as neighbors.
It was good to know that with enough distance, the Trigold Cluster finally came to an end and reasonable people prevailed. Tolerable sects like the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance simply weren’tmon enough there. Then again, Anton hadn’t been able to visit any of them. He only met the troublemakers that came to the lower realms. If they were wise, they would never do it again.
If the Alliance was wise, they would make certain of it. Starting with the most urgent threats. The Swirling Swarm had seemingly set their sights on them, and had nearly unlimited resources- in both people and equipment- to throw at them. The Scarlet Alliance probably didn’t mindrge donations of salvage, but they couldn’t handle war after war with Domination cultivators popping up wherever they pleased. Anton hoped that some of the information he gathered would helpe up with a solution.
-----
A council in the upper realms, once more discussing the same topic that Anton had received far too few answers for. He would have been invited, but he physically could not be there. Waiting months for a response was not much good for <em>discussion</em>, though the Scarlet Alliance always consulted wise individuals in the lower realms when they had time beforerge decisions. A different perspective could offer much, saving major headaches.
Engineer Uzun spoke inly. “We have to find their anchor. Or anchors. It is simply infeasible to go deep into enemy territory and annihte… hundreds of systems packed full of cultivators. Regardless of how wild and unstable they are and theirck of sustainability.”
Aconite had clearly been in deep thought for a while. “My solution is probably still too risky. I could create a virus that has no symptoms for a long time but… I think even if it worked I’m notfortable with killing <em>that many</em> people. It’s just… far too many.”
It was believed that the total poption of the Swirling Swarm had to be in the quadrillions, if not more. A number nearly iprehensible to a mind, even that of a cultivator. Of course, humans often justified conflict by convincing themselves their enemies <em>weren’t</em> people, but that became harder to do once you had some good self perspective. Some groups decided to simply not care. The Scarlet Alliance wasn’t willing topromise.
Timothy took a deep breath before speaking. “If it were feasible, I believe it would be justified to wipe them all out. However, we can’t risk Aconite’s option… and we certainly couldn’t manage a campaign necessary for the other. We will need our best spies.” He turned to Velvet. It was much easier to recall her to the core alliance, now that they had set up the spatial distortions that connected the far reaches of their territory.
Velvet nodded. “I have previously been among them for a short time. My experience was much the same as all others who have done the same. You have to always be on alert. It is draining, to say the least. Of course, the other option is to be dispassionate about what might happen to your own life. It wouldn’t be too odd for us to go around ughtering anyone who looked at us funny, but that would reveal our cultivation being different. They are far too mono-energy for that.
“But they <em>can</em> be infiltrated. We would likely need to go to every system. Possiblynd on every. Each step risks us being revealed, but that is how things are. If we begin now… we shoulde up with <em>something</em> before there are more major incidents.”
The smallest individual attending the council- though not small for her people- draw people’s attention. The Great Queen almost never was in the core systems of the Scarlet Alliance, even as they began slowly integrating void ants into them. However, for such an important discussion having her present was desirable. “We could do it,” she said.
Catarina frowned. “What do you mean? Infiltration or… destruction?”
“Either or both,” the Great Queenmented. “We don’t fear the Swirling Swarm. It’s not like they outnumber us.” She ignored the fact that the void ants <em>needed</em> to be in a significant majority, but she had another strong point. “If they try to kill us, they’ll mostly cut each other down. Of course, we still need to build up a decent poption to begin with. Which means getting to theirs. I don’t think a short term infiltration job would be sufficient. Of course, we have no intention to rece the human infiltrators. We each have our strengths. I just suggest that you take us with you.”
“Would you be going personally?” Zazil asked.
“I am not afraid to do so,” the Great Queen said. “But I don’t think it would be valuable. Unless our colony imntations fail, then I might need to personally oversee them.”
Uzun stroked his chin. “It sounds like a very ambitious project. But I suppose that is required for foes of such a magnitude.”
“Precisely,” the Great Queen said. “Now then, we should move on to what <em>other</em> ns anyone can suggest. Because we might need them all.”