The Oracle Paths

Will didn't respond immediately, carefully choosing his words or perhaps hesitating over something. As the suspense reached a fever pitch and Lucia was on the brink of prodding him, the merchant replied with a wearied voice, more subdued than before,

"Our situation isn't as grim as my response might suggest, but it's far from good.

For starters, let me assure you, we reacted in time when everything went to hell.

As soon as you all became unreachable, we were on high alert, and the Digestor attack hit roughly five days after your departure. Fortunately, I was on Thelma for business two days prior. I narrowly missed the first Sinewshades of Thelma, and thank God, the preceding Digestor Virus..."

Even recalling it sent a chill down his spine. Shaking off the fear creeping in at the memory, Will continued with a more matter-of-fact tone,

"With the ten sextillion Aether Points you left in the Faction Aether Storage, I planned to buy everything we might need for autonomous living, like seeds to grow our own fruits, vegetables, and spices, livestock, poultry, and so forth.

"Even though we don't actually need to eat thanks to the Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body Passive, I understand how crucial it is for our members' morale. Among our new Laudarkvik members are non-combatant families who've never held a weapon in their life. The shift might be too drastic, and as a merchant dreaming of creating a trade empire, I know it can only be built on a thriving, fulfilled society. For now, we are a small faction of just over 500,000 members, but I believe that one day we will number in the billions, not unlike Earth before the Digestor and the Oracle discovery..."

Will took a brief pause at this point, his optimism evidently waning in comparison to his initial vision.

"Anyway. As you might guess, things didn't go as planned, but at least I managed to leave with the seeds and animals I had planned to raise on our islands. The only difference is that due to the surge in prices following Lure's death, I anticipated that transporting so many animals via the Yellow Cube would burn through our ten sextillion in a flash. So instead, I purchased a variety of stem cells and embryos of these domesticated animals... Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I was thinking of relying on Hade's scientific expertise to accelerate their growth in a lab and clone them if necessary before releasing them onto our territories. More importantly, it hardly took up any space in my Space Storage, and given the circumstances, it was by far the best idea, though perhaps not the most ethical."

Lucia and Ulfar grimaced, but Jake and Hade, both ruthless scientists at heart, remained stoic. Growing and cloning stem cells and embryos solely to consume their final form didn't pose any moral issue for them.

In many advanced societies, it was even considered ethical as one could directly cultivate these stem cells to produce the desired type of meat. These stem cells and embryos never reached a sentient stage, as they never developed any neurons.

Of course, it goes without saying that vegans and anti-abortion advocates who view the morning-after pill as heresy, and the destruction of an embryo as murder, would also view such technology as blasphemy. Alas, for them, the rest of the universe couldn't care less about their claims.

The Mirror Universe was a dog-eat-dog world where far more horrific things happened every second without anyone giving a fuck about it.

They could either accept it or grit their teeth without being able to change anything unless they became as powerful as an Ancient Designer. Even then, their chances of success would remain slim, limited only to territories under their influence.

"So far, you've managed well," Jake praised, not hiding his appreciation for his friend's foresight. "What happened next? Given your mood, I deduce that everything didn't go as planned?"

Through the Mirror World, he knew the Myrtharian Nerds were faring well, but there's a difference between simply existing and cohabitating half a million members of different origins without any problems in his absence.

Uncomfortable as it may be, his power and image were the glue holding it together.

To make matters worse, Lucia, Hade, and Ulfar were also three emblematic figures of their faction and their absence must not have helped matters. Jake seriously doubted that Will could keep the others in check with only the help of Asfrid.

Gerulf and Rogen were notoriously unreliable in that regard...

"Well, you're sharp, Jake, so I guess you can imagine what happened next," Will replied in a downcast and bitter voice as he recalled those events. "The first few months after we cut ties with everyone went smoothly. I ordered the Yellow Cubes to be sealed, but anyway, apart from me and Asfrid, no one had enough Aether Points to use them since the Aether fee required became astronomical when B842's Aether Network was crippled. At some point, even the 10 Sextillions in the Faction Aether Storage weren't enough to afford a trip, except for visiting FloatingIslands very close by, a few light-years away at most.

"Before that, I managed to bring our families over while the prices were still manageable. Your granddad was glad to come, but those who worked for the Earth Union military weren't allowed to leave and were unreachable anyway... That includes three of your uncles, one of your aunts, and three of your cousins, including your cousin Anya..."

Jake remained silent throughout, but those near him could sense the simmering volcano within, threatening to erupt. Though he had anticipated this scenario, it enraged him that Anya hadn't been permitted to resign. And knowing his uncle Kalen, it was inconceivable he'd leave his daughter behind, so he was undoubtedly one of the three stuck on New Earth.

According to the Mirror World updates, New Earth was in the throes of a civil war, the Digestor Virus unleashed by a Brain-Eater-infected politician before their Yellow Cube was sealed. Like many other nations, the intel was fragmented, reduced to a rough estimation of their losses and confirmation of whether they were still resisting.

In other words, he had no way of knowing if his cousin was still alive. His only sliver of hope was that, being a soldier, she might have been in one of New Earth's underground military bases when the Digestor Virus hit. If New Earth was still holding out, it suggested they had, at least, had the sense to don airtight suits to stave off infection.

"Go on..." Jake growled in a rough voice. He had already determined to try and contact Anya, his uncle Kalen, and if all else failed, Ruby, even if his master objected.

Will wisely refrained from commenting and coughed awkwardly before resuming, "In addition to the Wilderth Faction, Pureblood - Wyatt's faction, also joined us a few days later, followed by the Velseyel Clan a week after that. They outright teleported their Floating Islands, and I can only assume they got financial help from their respective backgrounds for the journey. I'd say that's when the trouble started, though not directly because of them. Wyatt and Carmin are good souls, but I can't say the same about their elders... As for Phirune, the father of Enya and Esya, he's not a bad guy, but by default, he's only loyal to the Velsyos Empire. If it weren't for his two daughters, he wouldn't give a damn about the rest of our faction. This Fire Archmage is far stronger than I had imagined, but in the short term, it allowed us to keep the elders from these vampire clans accompanying Wyatt in check.

"The first few months of cohabitation were rough, but on the whole, we managed to coexist, if only because we had the upper hand in numbers and your presence loomed large behind us, despite your absence... The presence of your grandfather Antoine and Alfred, another one of your uncles who leads the Wilderth faction, also helped a great deal at first. Training resumed, and our new members gradually participated in their first four Ordeals, rapidly becoming stronger. The looming threat of Phirune and these vampire clans somewhat receded, and we nearly forgot about them. Everything seemed to be going well.

"Until one morning, about six months after we sealed our Yellow Cubes..."