Planet Master

The races living on the Cerulean Planet were developing on their own, minding their own business.

Especially the Glings and their Queen. They were trying to develop many units and had achieved some success.

“Hmm, this unit needs some modification.” The Queen saw the unit and knew that it needed to be changed either slightly or entirely.

After sorting this one out, the Queen realized that the movement outside her territory was a bit much, slightly higher than normal.

With a connection to her underlings, she could perceive things through their senses and saw a new living being at the beach at the edge of her territory.

She realized that the Star Battle was over and she could even see the defeated race. Although she also realized that the Star Battle had been finished long ago. Because she knew the location of the Rift was widespread, she also knew the distance from the archipelago to the Heavensend Continent.

“What has happened?” The Queen murmured to herself, but then the Planet Spirit appeared before her.

“The merfolk have initiated a full-scale exploration. They tried to map the entire sea area of the Cerulean Planet. They said that they wanted to know the sea of this planet.”

The Planet Spirit said while smiling. The deeper part of the sea was one where civilization had limited information, despite the capability to send unmanned devices to nearby planets.

“Is that so? Tell them not to attract the Sovereign Beast.” The Queen said. She was tasked to handle the Sovereign Beast on land in the wilderness which could move at any time. Fortunately, the Sovereign Beast she was going to handle did not even move much from its territory.

She hoped that the merfolk did not needlessly attract the attention of the Sovereign Beast. That was all.

“Alright. But please develop yourself to the fullest. Everyone expected big from you.” The Planet Spirit smiled before disappearing.

“Hah, I am trying all right.” The Queen protested but she had some ideas since she often communicated with the civilization. The Qin Empire was a step forward in biology compared to the other superpowers of the Comberth Continent.

This was because the Glings were giving their bodies and tissues to the scientists of the Qin Empire, and that caused the development of biology in the empire to flourish and even develop some artificial limbs and organs.

Furthermore, they could create new organs and limbs by cultivating the stem cells with a certain catalyst. That catalyst was invented thanks to the contribution of the Glings.

Now, it was spread to the rest of the civilization and the Queen became privy to what had happened in the higher ups of the Qin Empire and the rest of the world.

-

“It is a peaceful moment.” Sybil stood alone at the chamber inside the Sacred Tree. Rihana was beside him, escorting him when in regards to the Sacred Tree and its interior.

“Royal Father, will this last longer?” Rihana asked since she felt the moment of unease that came from somewhere.

Sybil turned to look at Rihana. He remembered when she had first appeared in this very chamber, looking confused and lost. It was he who gave her the purpose and goal. But her character was solely on her own.

Then he spoke, “I don’t know. If by any chance the next Star Battle occurred, I am afraid that the threat will be large enough that the races on the Cerulean Planet will be needed. It means a total mobilization of the able-bodied individual.”

He squinted his eyes as he thought about that possibility.

After the previous Star Battle concluded and the merfolk were introduced, he knew that the humans would require the assistance of the other races as much as possible. Currently, the dwarves were trusted enough to be with the humans in most Star Battles that had happened.

But the Elves had not yet proved themselves on the battlefield. Sybil knew that his race needed to do that sooner or later and he preferred to do it as soon as possible.

It was not out of belief that he needed to get the glory of battle but rather the purpose of the humans letting the Elves survive and thrive. If the humans took that away from them, then the Elves would suffer.

As the Elf King, Sybil could not let his race suffer like before. Now, he had limited autonomy but it was granted with the promise of supporting the humans in times of need.

But he also had a concern. It was related to them since that thing in the sky was visible.

“Do you know that the humans regarded the Red Moon as an ill omen?” Sybil suddenly spoke to Rihana.

“Is that true? But we regarded the Red Moon as our sign of shame.” Rihana tried to remember things that the previous priestess had taught her.

“Yes, that’s true. But to the humans, the Red Moon is the sign that the Queen of the Glings swarm used to cause chaos and destruction. With that in mind, don’t you think that their view is not wrong?”

Seeing that Rihana went silent, Sybil continued.

“It became our shame because even with the power provided by the Red Moon, the Glings were unable to do much. We, as those who are also involved in the Star Battle, share the blame and so the words that you have heard.”

Rihana went silent, processing the new information.

She now understood a bit why the humans viewed it that way. The effect of the Red Moon persisted even to this day and she was one of the people who could feel the effect.

‘I can feel the effect of the Red Moon. According to the Royal Father, the name was actually the Red Moon of the Rage. Emotions like anger, hatred and rage are the most distinct for those who feel the effect.

‘Even Miss Ame could feel it. I asked her about the sensation and it was familiar to me.’

Would the Red Moon affect more people?

-

The merfolk had explored most of the shallow waters of the Cerulean Planet. This was done within the six months after the end of the Star Battle.

They could do this due to their transcendent energy. Although it was inferior to the Ether, but it was almost equal to the undead element.

What they did not expect was that the undead element they had encountered had some sort of improvement.

At least, the undead element of the transcendent with the Necromancer’s Trait was far superior to any information about the undead element.

‘What is the meaning of this?’ some asked that question.

‘It means the Undead Race on this planet has a big breakthrough in their Transcendent Tree.’ The new merfolk king said with the message that came from the Sea God.

“Is that true? That race we had defeated has suddenly developed so well? What’s the reason?” the merfolk populace asked. Get full chapters from nοvelfire.net

“The transcendent with the undead element said that it was the natural development for the undead element. But we have never heard of this type of undead element. That is why I ask for the reason they could develop so much. The answer was that they were just following the prescribed path from the authorized figure. It means that among the race called human, there is someone who has developed the Transcendent Tree to unimaginable heights!

“Since we are spared from the word ‘extinction’, we are under surveillance from human civilization. From now on, we are under them!” the merfolk king declared.

The crowd in front of the merfolk king’s residence was surprised but had to accept the bitter fact. At least, they were spared from total annihilation and even allowed to develop and share a home with the very humans who defeated them.

“We can rest easy since the humans treated the other races under them well. I can see the other races from our explorer’s reports and it verified what the humans had said. But we need to recover from our losses and fortunately, we are being spared from participating in the next Star Battle.

“But there would be no guarantee about the one after that. That is why we need to repopulate and recover our main forces!”

The merfolk king declared with a spirited speech. Since the defeat was a fact, he had to accept and adapt to the new situation he and his race got into.

A child merfolk looked at the distant king and pondered his words. His mother, however, was grabbing his small hand tightly while listening.

“Mama, what does repopulate mean?” the child asked.

“It means that we need to have more of us.” His mother tried to explain things that were beyond what a child could understand.

“More of us? Like how Papa and Mama were rewarded with my little sister?” the child said with a sad expression, as if he remembered something that caused it.

The mother, of course, knew that it was because the child’s father became a victim in the Star Battle, leaving her, their son and daughter.

Living in such a situation was hard but the civilization sent relief to the merfolk, easing the issue slightly while sending some transcendents to make sure that the merfolk did not mess around the sea too much.

‘Fortunately, there is basic necessity relief which can be received. I should seek this out.’ The mother thought while tightening the grip of her hand slightly.

-

Undead Secret Realm. Necropolis.

At the Undead Pool which was increasing in size, Zhask was perceiving the changing undead element. He knew that the cause was the exchange between Ether and undead element but also the technique for refining the undead element, purifying it from some impurities.

Zhask also used the circulation technique suited for the undead and perceived the effect to be groundbreaking.

‘I can’t believe that a human made this circulation technique. Even the Death Sovereign spoke highly of this and hopes that we can reach higher heights with this.’ Zhask thought as he looked at the pool which had the undead fire floating above the pool.

The change of the undead element stunned even him. It was a transformation that was possible because of the abundance of resources as well as proper circulation technique. That caused the Undead Race’s transformation.

“What should I do when the Death Sovereign said that we will have hope of surpassing our limit?” Zhask asked himself.

He believed that the Death Sovereign would not lie about this matter. But to surpass the limitation of the Undead Race was harder.

Not only were they discriminated but also looked down on by other races. That was why Zhask was so grateful to the humans who accepted them into their fold.

That was why he would help in the Star Battle whenever the opportunity arose.

As he contemplated things related to his race, the undead element in his core was flowing to the rest of his body. Then something cracked and shattered as the undead element finally increased in numbers, quantity and quality.

“Have I reached the seventh heavenstage of the Core Formation Realm?” Zhask wondered as he checked that his transcendent base had increased.

‘According to the note that is spread among the transcendent, this is the sign of breaking through to the seventh heavenstage. This feeling is wonderful.’ Zhask thought as he felt the undead element purify itself during the process, making the transcendent energy more potent.

But the sight around him was different.

The remnant of the breakthrough was around. The undead element around him was pulled to him in large numbers; it was as far as the entire Necropolis and he realized that his breakthrough was so flashy.

“I believe that the transcendent who left the note has already reached this stage or even higher. Such luck befalling the human race is a blessing to us.” Zhask said with his undead fire flickering so great that it was as if almost extinguished.

Then the undead fire burned normally once again, signaling that the emotional fluctuation from Zhask had subsided.

After that, he pacified the entire Necropolis since the commotion was caused by him. He needed to spread the information he had to his race so that more peak powerhouses appeared within his race.

-

Different from the other races, the dwarves were almost to the point of being completely assimilated into the human society.

Despite the fact that their parents or even themselves had become the prize for the First Star Battle, they still remembered the time when the humans used the giant beasts to defeat them.

Although with more technology and the density of the population in a place called a city, there was no way they could keep the Rex as pets. It would disturb and cause more accidents than its advantage of being a cavalry.

That was what the dwarves were wondering about. Why did the humans not use them anymore?

The answer was that the technology could replace the raw power that the beasts possessed. Furthermore, at that time, the beast had clear limitations so the development of the human civilization changed with time.

The dwarves then realized this as they were the main source of why the humans’ technology level soared.

“Annie, do you feel resentful that your race has to let some of your technology to the humans?”

There was one time when Annie remembered Charlene had asked about her thoughts regarding the topic.

“Of course, I had. How can I not hate the humans who just won by a fluke? But the Star Battle is the product of the higher being’s so the decision is always on them. Since it was the humans who had won, then even I could not null the decision of the Star Battle, could I?”

Annie, at the time, replied with a resentful tone. But she knew that the decision was not finalized by even the revered Gods but by something even higher. How could the sentient beings not realize that?

“That’s true. That is why I always have the thought that perhaps the Father God himself cannot completely control something, for example, the way the Star Battle progressed. But I believe that perhaps He can control the start of the Star Battle.” Charlene said with conviction so strong that Annie could see it in the depth of Charlene’s red eyes.

“As expected from a prodigy like you, you know that information.” Annie said while hugging her knees on the chair.

Annie remembered that Charlene let out a grin at the time.

Returning from the memory lane, Annie found herself at her work desk. Beside her on the right side, she could see Charlene close her eyes as she was leaning on the desk and crossing her arms.

Then she heard the door to the workspace open and revealed the person responsible for some of Charlene’s time.

“Sister Annie, what are you doing right now?” Tatsumi came in carrying two bowls of ramen along with the spoons, forks and chopsticks on the tray.

Then he placed the tray on the desk, where it was not affected.

“Oh, thank you! Ramen, is it?” Annie then happily grabbed her portion and prepared it at a different table.

“Yes. I thought that something hot and watery could help.” Tatsumi placed his hand on the back of his head.

“Hmm, it’s delicious.” Annie was the first one to eat. She relished the taste before she chewed and gulped it down. Then she took another portion and smiled sweetly.

“Wake up, it’s time for you to eat.” Tatsumi patted Charlene’s shoulder gently.

Charlene suddenly opened her weary eyes and looked at the one who patted her. Seeing that it was Tatsumi, she had no choice but to get up. She knew that it was already time to fill her stomach.

“Dear, is it time?” she asked.

“Of course. Why do you think I prepared this for you?” Tatsumi placed the other bowl on Charlene’s empty part of the desk.

Charlene smiled slightly at the bowl before she used the utensils to eat.

Tatsumi then grabbed himself a chair to sit down. He wanted to be present with Charlene during this moment.

Charlene realized this and shook her head.

Tatsumi only looked at the two enjoying their food. That was enough for him.

Time passed and before Tatsumi counted how much he had blinked, the two had finished with the ramen.

“It’s warming my stomach. Thank you!” Annie’s eyes turned into a crescent as she smiled brightly at Tatsumi.

“The fact that you can enjoy the food I made is enough to make me happy.” Tatsumi replied.

“I am also done.” Charlene said while patting her slightly bulging stomach. She felt her energy was restored by the ramen so her thoughts went into working at full capacity once again.

Then Tatsumi collected the bowls and utensils on a tray. But just before he went out of the room, Charlene pulled him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Tatsumi blinked but then he registered the feeling and straightened his posture. Then he stepped outside the door and closed it.

“You old couple are really harmonious.” Annie commented.

Charlene placed both hands on her cheeks, blocking the sight that her cheeks were flushed. But Annie quickly realized that and grinned.

“I-I don’t need you to say anything.” Charlene said quickly before Annie said anything outrageous.

“Our friendship is also a sign that the dwarves and humans mutually need each other. I am glad to be able to see it in my lifetime.” Annie changed the subject suddenly.

Charlene turned serious as she knew the history.

“The dwarves have taken some of the important positions in the government. They were also the very first alien race that the humans accepted into their fold. Now, we see its fruit. But the other races would not be so easy to accept due to their difference.” Charlene said, thinking about the possibility that humans would somehow manage it one way or the other.

“That is why I feel thankful to the human for giving my race the opportunity.” Annie said what was on her mind.

The two then locked gazes and let out a chuckle.