Chapter 482: The Desired Future
Kael, Exalon, and Ozia had their eyes on the approaching islands.
With the vast number of arkships behind them, there was nothing to fear.
Alas, Kael couldn’t help but feel like he hadn’t even scratched the surface.
Yes, more than ten thousand lion kings were supporting him at the moment and many more had joined, but it wasn’t enough.
Kael glanced at the lion systems list and saw the section that listed the lion kings.
It wasn’t even up to a million, it wasn’t even up to a hundred thousand. Merely fifteen thousand.
And the majority of them had joined because they knew someone else who had joined.
Kael’s Lion System currently has a population list of over five hundred million. If he calculated the average, he was actually supposed to have 4,500 Lion Kings.
But that was the supposed average, he had about fifteen thousand lion kings under his system.
Another thing was that not all of them were even tier 6. A few of them were lucky tier 5 like Alora.
And speaking of which, a good chunk of them were also Lion Queens which made sense in a way why the average was off.
Because of Alora, he had gained a lot of followers in the form of Lion Queens.
There was also the fact that some of Kael’s supporters had died during Ibadon’s attack. Their heavenly beacons were lost, probably in Ibadon’s possession at the moment.
Having fifteen thousand Heavenly Beacons linked to his system was good but compared to the whole civilization, it wasn’t enough.
It was nowhere enough at all.
The factions were split out so evenly that it may be more difficult than he thought to annex all of them.
That didn’t mean he would give up though, just that he would have to alter his strategy a bit.
Kael knew exactly what he was doing when he posted those announcements. He knew what he was doing when he showed up unannounced at the headquarters of the Strings of Fate Coalition.
Out of all the Coalitions supporting the lion civilization, the Strings of Fate Coalition was the most crucial.
But it was also the one with the most laughable combat power.
If someone said that Kael was here to bully these Fortune Lions, it wouldn’t be far from the truth.
Kael had a very detailed vision of what he wanted to achieve today. The String of Fate Coalition was just a side goal, the ultimate end was not yet known.
"Greetings, Primordial Lion," One of the lions on the islands spoke as they drew closer to the edge of the arkship.
Ozia, the smallest of the trio, stared up at the powerful lions.
His horizons were being broadened every second he spent in Heaven and his ambition was growing.
He had thought that he was special, he was. But being special in heaven only did so much.
He had seen it in the way Exalon had looked at him. Exalon had been surprised at first to see a chimera with three different powers, but to mention that he was Kael’s first son.
But the surprise didn’t linger. Exalon quickly refocused his attention on Kael, the true star of heaven, and the actions that were waiting to be executed.
Even now, these powerful lions had set their eyes immediately on his father, not him.
He was a bit jealous, but he understood.
"Greetings..." Kael said, starting to size up the lions before him.
Ten Islands had arrived and each island except one had one lion on it each.
The floating island that was in the middle and closest to Kael had an elderly lion sitting on top of it.
This Lion looked quite old, having a dark mane mixed with grey strands and a faded yellow fur.
There were rings of wrinkles under his two sage-like eyes which had probably seen a lot in his lifetime.
But despite his old and feeble appearance, this lion’s aura was shockingly denser than an average tier 6 lion.
’Tier 7...’ Kael thought to himself.
His attention was fully brought back from anywhere it could have wandered to.
"Vander, King Vander," The elderly lion said with an ancient voice.
Exalon’s expression was grim and rock hard. His body was stiff with his muscles slightly bulging.
His eyes were on Vander but his mind was constantly searching for anything that could go wrong.
One could never be too careful around a fortune lion, talk less of a tier 7 fortune lion king.
"I would like to apologize for showing up unannounced, King Vander..." Kael said, "But today’s matter could not be delayed."
King Vander nodded his head from the land mass of his island.
None of the fortune lions drove their floating islands higher than the platform Kael was standing on.
This was a subtle show of respect, trying to show that they saw Kael and the rest as equals, not beneath them.
Alas, Kael did not see them or anyone as his equal, irrespective of where they stood. They were either stronger than him, or they were ants.
"What matters could not wait, Primordial?
I’d like to welcome you to heaven on behalf of the String of Fate Coalition.
I hope this visit is a visit of peace," King Vander spoke calmly.
His tone implied that he didn’t have any intention of allowing whatever was to happen today to escalate.
Kael shook his head, "I’m afraid my visit may not be so peaceful.
You see, I have come to achieve something."
With his son on his left and his most trusted supporter on his right, Kael didn’t exactly feel safe. But he didn’t show it.
The lion kings were going to be paying attention to his conversation with King Vander.
"Oh," King Vander raised his eyebrows, "And what is that?"
For a Tier 7, he was really tolerant. Well, he had to be, looking at the vast number of arkships Kael had brought with him as escorts.
"First of all, are you the leader of the Strings of Fate Coalition?" Kael asked.
King Vander shook his head, "No, coalitions don’t have leaders. Just our common goals to guide us.
But since I am one of the strongest, I was voted to come talk to you," He said.
Kael nodded, "You share common goals with the rest of the members of the Coalition.
Educate me, King Vander, what are the common goals?"
King Vander paused to arrange his words properly in his mind.
"To maintain the stability of the overall fate of our civilization. To prevent our civilization from descending into ruin. To ensure that each lion out in the universe is favored by the shared fortune backing of his civilization.
We keep the civilization stable and make sure that we have a future to look forward to." King Vander said.
The other fortune lions nodded for heads in approval. King Vander had spoken the very words that were on their minds.
Kael smiled, "Yes, a future to look forward to. That’s what I wanted to hear, very good.
Then, can you tell me the desired future for our civilization?"
Hearing the last question, the calm smile on King Vander’s face froze.
What was the desired future for the lion civilization?
The answer was not so simple.
King Vander dared not say ’peace’ even if that was the first thing that came to his mind.
If any lion cared about peace, they wouldn’t have come all the way here with the possibility of engaging in battle.
Peace was the last thing on their mind right now.
Even Kael had said that his visit might not be so peaceful.
Now that King Vander thought about it, did they even have a desired future? They had merely been maintaining the fortune stability of the whole civilization, never did they try to steer fate in a certain direction.
"Our continuity," King Vander finally said, allowing the other fortune lions to breathe a sigh of relief. That was a smart answer.
"Our continuity?" Kael suddenly frowned, going from smiling to dark in one second.
"Do you know what it means for the lion civilization to continue existing? Do you even know what it takes for a lion to continue existing?
It takes the desire for conquest for a lion to continue being a ’lion’. Isn’t that the whole point of Lionhood?
Imagine existence without Lionhood? Is that life?"
Kael’s question shook the heart of the lions behind him.
Of course, Kael wasn’t referring to just any Lionhood but the Lionhood Bar that had intoxicating traits the more it was filled up.
It was the same as asking what life would be like without the system.
Was there even a life worth living for those who were already used to the magical features of the system?
Kael’s sharp golden gaze locked with Vander’s eyes, "Be honest, the String of Fate Coalition doesn’t have a desired future for the lion civilization.
You guys have just been leading our race in circles without anyone’s knowledge.
You might as well be responsible for our stagnation."
...
*Silence*
Such bold accusations, even Exalon had to look at Kael to be sure he heard correctly.