Planet Master

Dian saw everything unfold. He did not expect that the power of the Outer Being at Rank 4 with the prowess of Rank 5 would be absorbed, and he only got to break through to Rank 3 in Tatsumi’s hands.

“But on the other hand, it makes sense.” Dian said in a low voice but everyone heard it.

The transcendent energy needed as well as converting it into Ether should be significant but Dian was sure that Tatsumi’s 100% compatibility with Ether meant that no energy would be wasted during the conversion.

“He is strong.” Tritis even admitted it.

“Yes. If not, he would not be my Star Child.” Dian replied with a fatherly smile.

“This feels amazing.” Tatsumi then stood up and stretched out. He did some light exercise to make his body adapt to the change.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough.” Everyone in Dian’s group said this while cupping their hands, showing respect to the powerful.

“At ease, everyone. I am just taking a small step in the path of transcendence.” Tatsumi said while swinging his arm.

“Initially, I was worried that you will be facing difficulties against the Outer Being…” Dian came forward and placed his hand on Tatsumi’s shoulder. Then he continued, “…but through a series of events, you managed to defeat one and become stronger. Now, you are a Planetary Realm transcendent and can lead your group properly. Although in the scale of the reality we are in, you are just a speck of dust so small it doesn’t matter to the ones who play this game of war, but your conviction is as steady as a mountain.”

“Therefore, please lead everyone just like how you used to lead. Lead them toward the higher rank of transcendence so that they can see further and walk further.” Dian patted Tatsumi’s shoulder before he faced his group.

“As for you, you are the Forerunners since you have seen the wonder of the other worlds and other sentient species. Please try to spread what you have seen in the past few days and make sure that the next generation knows the threat of the Outer Being.” Dian gave his request.

“Your request is an order for us.” Long Wu placed his right hand on his left chest, forming a clenched fist as a salutation for Dian.

The others followed suit. Bore felt a bit awkward but managed to follow them.

“We'd better clean up some more Outer Being now that I have become stronger.” Tatsumi suggested.

Just as the groups wanted to agree, the Slayer Division returned to the mothership and entered the bridge.

“I need to thank you people, in the end, should I?” the vice leader of the Slayer Division said.

“Is it because I defeated the split body of that Outer Being?” Tatsumi asked, although to him it was more of a verification.

“Yes. With its split body defeated, the effect can cause the original body to be weakened. The split body that we faced has become weaker so we defeated it easily. Sadly it turned to dust and returned to the source.”

Tatsumi nodded and realized that he had a fragment of the Outer Being’s power and memories. He knew more things about them since these memories gave him a bit of a summary of what had happened but he looked at Dian.

Dian placed his index finger while folding the other finger, signaling Tatsumi not to speak about the fact yet.

Tatsumi blinked and looked outside to see two shooting stars coming toward them.

Everyone also looked at them and realized that it was Ao Guang and Jeliel. They had returned!

“Sorry to keep you waiting. The battle needs to be restrained so that it won’t affect the overall situation on the Frontline.” Ao Guang said with a look of satisfaction.

Jeliel’s body was made of so many unknown components but her eyes were visible and let out a yellow light.

Apparently, Jeliel retrieved the information from the mothership AI and saw what had happened inside the mothership.

The fact that the Outer Being could bypass its outer defense showed the threat it had. Fortunately, Tatsumi was facing it so he could eliminate it pretty quickly.

But Jeliel was surprised to see that Tatsumi had become a Rank 3 transcendent so quickly. Apparently, battling the Outer Beings and defeating them empowered the human race. Previously, Jeliel detected that Tatsumi had barely reached the third heavenstage of the Rank 2 transcendent like the others in his group.

Now, he was the first one to reach Rank 3.

“Looks like congratulations is in order.” Ao Guang could naturally detected it too so he said this while chuckling.

“Please let me fight next.” Ame grabbed Tatsumi’s hand and said with an eager expression.

Tatsumi could only nod. The request from his wife was something he would normally not refuse. Furthermore, defeating the Outer Beings came with the extra bonus of strengthening oneself if they were human so he did not mind.

"Me too. I don’t have enough of them.” Charlene’s eyes glittered as she grabbed Tatsumi’s free hand.

“Yes, you will have enough of them. They are everywhere on the Frontline.” Tatsumi could only smile and let them have their way with him.

Long Wu also looked outside, anticipating another Outer Being to slay and improve his power. Bore felt a bit unfortunate because he was not human. But the experience of battling against powerful foes served as good training for him and the others.

-

Another battlefield meant that there were other Outer Beings there. Dian could only watch as his Star Child and the chosen individuals battled against the Outer Beings while Jeliel provided safety and restriction as not to alert the others.

Ao Guang and the Slayer Division were almost always beside Tritis and her group. They were on their duty to protect Tritis and her group.

“So what have you gained from this?” Tritis suddenly asked Dian.

“Hmm?” Dian was a bit confused about her question.

If he wanted to list the things he had acquired from this Frontline, it would be quite a lot. For example, the memories from the defeated Outer Beings were one, Tatsumi and the others developed combat sense against the Outer Beings, improved strength for the four humans that were in the group, as well as the support from the Tritis group being effective despite distance.

“What do you want me to say?” Dian asked for clarification.

“I mean what you have gained so far in the Magadan Frontline.” Tritis smiled and said this.

“I get to know others' strongest units from the Ten Venerables?” Dian replied in a serious tone as this was what was on his mind right now.

Tritis’ eyes narrowed but she accepted his reasoning.

“I see. What do you think about them or about my race?” Tritis asked again.

“Well, each of you has developed a general fighting style. But I didn’t expect Her Excellency to be the support type rather than a direct fighting type.” Dian said honestly. He let out a sincere smile which he knew he needed to weave through this kind of situation.

After all, Ao Guang and the Slayer Division were watching him along with Tritis’ group despite supporting Tatsumi and his group.

Dian glanced outside to see that Tatsumi had managed to slay another Outer Being at Rank 4 with ease. But the situation inside the mothership was a bit warm.

“I suppose that is true.” Tritis looked at Dian and chuckled gently.

‘Well, do you have something to say?’ Tatsumi glanced at the mothership, specifically at Tabitha.

‘I didn’t expect you to be so formidable. Why did you refuse my support?’ Tabitha’s voice reverberated in the mental link between the two. She sounded disappointed not being able to support Tatsumi.

‘Unless there is a strong enemy, using your support to enhance my power is overkill.’ Tatsumi said after realizing that Tabitha was the strongest support in Tritis’s group.

She could allow ordinary transcendent to reach Rank 9 if she so desired. But she was not sure if Tatsumi could reach Rank 9 even with her support. Most likely, he would only reach Rank 7 at most after recalculating and recalibrating in Tabitha’s mind.

Ame just finished dealing with the Outer Being when she saw Tatsumi using his mind link to connect to the mothership.

‘Is he communicating with someone on the mothership?’ she thought before she realized what was going on.

Charlene who had retrieved the formation plate from the surroundings, also looked at Tatsumi before shifting her gaze toward Ame, and a mischievous smile was on her face.

‘Do you realize that a certain someone is interested in him?’ Charlene used mental link to communicate with Ame.

‘I know. That look is recognizable. But what are you going to do?’ Ame asked internally.

‘Well, let’s tease him a bit. Perhaps he realizes something.’ Charlene then went toward Tatsumi.

Tatsumi was still looking at the distant mothership and then detected movement from Charlene’s side.

“What are you doing there?” Charlene asked.

Tatsumi gulped down as he felt that Charlene’s gaze was filled with slyness.

“I am…communicating with Tabitha. She is very eager to try to support me. Although, I can feel that she seems to pay attention to me. Other than that, I feel like I should only request support from her when there is an enemy I cannot defeat solely with my capability.” Tatsumi honestly said this.

“I see.” Charlene raised the corner of her lips but her eyes was focused on Tatsumi.

“Then do you think she might like you?” Charlene asked. Her eyes gleamed as she looked carefully at Tatsumi’s reaction.

“Like me? She is actually someone I cannot even match. Why do you think she might like me?” Tatsumi was genuinely confused.

With Tabitha’s position in her civilization, she should have better suitors than him. At least, that was his honest thought, and he already had a preconceived notion that her interest in him was because he was a human, nothing more than that.

Charlene pouted but glared intently at Tatsumi.

“What? Am I wrong?” Tatsumi already had Charlene and Ame, so he felt that the two of them in his life were enough. He did not even think of increasing the number of pairings that he had.

“You should look at her properly, husband.” Ame also came to clear the matter.

“Do you mean she is truly infatuated with me? But why, though?” Tatsumi did not understand why.

“I don’t know myself but I know for a fact that the way she looked at you is something else.” Ame said to clarify.

Tatsumi clenched his teeth. He did not know whether that was true or not but he chose to trust his wives.

“So, what do you want me to do?” Tatsumi had absorbed the dust of the Outer Being and gained much strength from it. Even so, he still respected his wives’ opinions and advice. After all, he had someone to show him the proper way to treat everyone, especially women.

He did not feel superior just because of his gender, nor did he feel that women were inferior. To him, everyone was equal until their attitude or action changed.

Charlene’s eyes shone as she said, “Well, do you want to reciprocate her feelings?”

Tatsumi jolted and felt his body electrified when he heard Charlene say that. Truthfully, he did not know what to do with this sudden revelation. But one thing for sure, he needed to consider this carefully.

But since this place was the battlefield, he had to hold these thoughts for now.

“I don’t know for sure. Let’s go back first from the battlefield to discuss this.” Tatsumi shook his head and gestured with his head toward the mothership.

At the time they were discussing this, the others had just finished with their share of the enemy. Although the dust of the Outer Beings was flowing toward the four humans, this served as an early experience for them to battle an Outer Being.

“They are really formidable. Even with the support from those powerful figures, we are still battered and tired to this extend.” Bore said as he was kneeling and panting. His eyes however, were sharp from using his weapon against the Outer Being. Either he shot them or he dissect them, that was his method of slaying the Outer Being and now his assault rifle was almost depleted of its ammo.

“Good job and let’s return to the mothership.” Tatsumi declared and everyone followed him back to the mothership.

They almost wanted to lay down on the floor of the bridge the moment they returned.

Tatsumi was lost in thought since he found a safe place.

He held his chin as he tried to process everything he had heard from his wives.

Just then, Tabitha went to his side but Charlene and Ame looked at her.

“My, what are you doing here?” Charlene asked in a teasing tone.

“Uhm, I just…wanted to check whether he is fine or not.” Tabitha replied but paused for a bit before continuing her words.

“As someone who can look farther than the rest of us, shouldn’t that be clear?” Ame said while smiling.

Tabitha knew that the two were watching her but she was slightly nervous and that nervousness became amplified the moment she faced the two. For some reason, she felt that despite her current position in her race and civilization, in front of the two, she was slightly lower in position.

“Yes. But I also wanted to know what makes you humans so special that you can assimilate with the dust of the Outer Being.” Tabitha said this with conviction.

But to Charlene and Ame, this sounded like an indirect admission.

“Is it that humans are special or is it someone special?” Charlene asked while her eyes looked at Tabitha carefully from top to bottom.

“That is…both maybe?” Tabitha knew that lying would be of no use so she answered truthfully.

“I see.” Charlene then grabbed Tabitha’s hand so bravely that Tatsumi’s heart almost went to his head due to sheer nervousness.

That was a transcendent at the higher realm Charlene and Ame faced and yet they did not have reverence for her; instead, they treated her as if she were a maiden.

“Uhm, what are you talking about?” Tatsumi interjected since he felt that they were talking about one thing but meant another. But this was also his probing question.

“Nothing important. Just that you need to know that things become interesting.” Charlene said as she led Tabitha to a corner to discuss things between them.

No, Ame also followed to that particular corner and then a barrier, which Tabitha had generated, that could prevent peeking, was built in an instant.

Tatsumi felt left out but when he thought about it, he could only let them do what they wanted. Perhaps there was some merit in letting them do that.

“Good job out there.” Ao Guang then appeared behind Tatsumi and Tatsumi almost jumped out since he could not perceive Ao Guang’s presence.

“It’s what we should do. Furthermore, my Father God asked this of me and since He had helped me, I will help Him in return. Kindness with kindness and Malice with malice.” Tatsumi said honestly.

“You don’t revere your Father God but you respect him for what he did.” Ao Guang said his opinion which was not wrong.

“He is someone who can make mistakes, and we are there to help him self-correct.” Tatsumi opened his mouth and said something that would make people from Father God’s Congregation mad but he still needed to say it.

Dian, who was discussing things with Tritis, realized two matters.

One of Tritis’ group members was with Ame and Charlene.

Two, Tatsumi said something important regarding Dian. Dian nodded, glad and proud to have someone like him.

Dian let out a satisfied smile, as if he could see that humanity would step out further in the future. Their future was bright and their path was wide open.

“You are smiling. That’s rare of you.” Tritis tilted her head as she teased him.

“Well, there are some things that make me happy. Of course I am going to show it on my face.” Dian said while maintaining his happy and joyful expression.

“It means that your race truly knows you. I just wonder how did you do it?” Tritis said in a joking manner.

“Know me, huh? It is because the ones interacting with me is just insightful.” Dian replied somewhat in a flat tone, like just stating a fact. But his expression returned to happiness and joy.

Then the scene turned to inside the barrier.

Charlene and Ame were with Tabitha, discussing things about a certain someone.

“Why are you attracted to him in particular?” Ame asked. She wanted to take note about this since this could be a way to limit Tatsumi from attracting other females unconsciously.

Tabitha blinked and then she realized that she had to face these two women properly.

So, she decided to give the two all she could.

“He has the quality of someone who can go further in the path he has chosen. Furthermore, he is trying to self-correct when he is in the wrong, which means he can learn from his mistakes.” Tabitha said as a small blush appeared on her cheek.

“To me, someone like that is the one I desire the most. He is also earnest in his way to improve humanity’s transcendent path. Improving the transcendent path is an arduous task which I know from the library of information my race has.” At this, Tabitha smiled.

“Ugh, that is undeniable.” Charlene had to admit that it was really attractive. Someone who could self-correct meant that he could admit his mistake and not do it again. Someone who was earnest in his exploration of the transcendent path was like a respected pioneer.

Lastly, improving something could affect oneself or the entire civilization as a whole.

Ame had to agree with Charlene that it was an undeniable fact from Tatsumi.

“Lastly, his face is kinda cute.” Tabitha said this which flared up Charlene and Ame’s protective instinct.