Chapter 4654: Reuniting Family

Rui had already predicted that she wanted to use an external threat to unite civilizations, but he didn’t realize that she was going to be this proactive about it.

"...Orion Star Strand Summit?" he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow with some skepticism.

She nodded. "Our star strand has always been divided, with no body or platform upon which advanced civilizations could come together to tackle common problems and mutual interests. This is an error that should be remedied, even if we arakai, thanks to the War Faction, have contributed to this sorry state of affairs."

"Part of it also must be that until you got information on impending incursions from advanced civilizations into our star strand, there were very few mutual interests," he pointed out.

"Just so. Thankfully, this time, the threat of the other civilizations trampling over our territory and weakening our hold over our own star strand is real. The truth is that civilizations in the Orion Star Strand are much weaker than the top dogs of our entire civilization," she continued in a serious voice. "If you think our technology is advanced, then you should see what BABEL and the Gargantians are capable of. Their outposts in other star strands are much weaker than their core power. And now that they have decided to seriously deploy their forces to our star strand, we will definitely be pressured by a common foe. It makes sense to work together to solve our common problems, which is preventing outsiders from eroding our sovereignty and territorial integrity."

That was a logical choice. But still, he found it hard to imagine that dessandrites and the acquadites would be particularly eager to partake in summits hosted by the arakai.

"We must be proactive about this, lest we act too late," she insisted. "And that is why I wish to invite you to the yet-to-be-arranged Summit for when the time comes."

Rui raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said it was for major civilizations only."

"Correct, but I’m willing to make an exception for human civilization," she replied with a pleasant tone, despite being an alien. "The amount of power that your civilization has is truly disproportionate to its volume. You have several powerful Administrators and an infantry force that is on par with our civilization despite being less than a thousandth as large. On top of that, you have influence in the form of your secret to Administrative impunity, which you can use as powerful leverage."

He considered the offer. Although it could be dangerous to be regarded this highly before his civilization obtained the absolute power needed to protect itself, this probably was that negative a thing at this point in time.

"I accept your informal offer, but..." he shook his head. "Let’s save this for after you consolidate control over your civilization. Until then, anything is possible."

"That is reasonable." She nodded. "Now, let us sign the security pact and be done with our transaction. I must return to our civilization immediately and spread the method to Administrative impunity right away. The sooner my faction masters it, the better we’ll be able to keep the weakened War Faction in check."

Her tone betrayed her confidence, which was certainly not misplaced. The War Faction had taken a huge blow with the death of their leader and five other high-tier Divine Mothers. And they had been weakened prior to that as well, having lost several more Divine Mothers at Rui’s hands. There was no doubt that she would be able to exert great pressure and completely steer the direction of their civilization with how much they had weakened and how much she had gained.

"Be sure not to delay the return of Divine Mother o-o-o-o," she told him as the meeting came to an end. "It will be an important key to ending the war between our civilizations."

He controlled his expression, simply nodding. Inwardly, he was reminded of the problem that he had just been slapped with. He needed to find a way to erase a specific memory of the Divine Mother when it came to Ria, otherwise, she was truly in an immense amount of danger.

When the meeting came to an end, Rui watched her little webship depart from the Strehegeld Star System and return to arakai civilization. In his hand was a copy of the agreement between them. He simply heaved a deep breath, returning back to Gaia.

He had much on his mind. Not only did he have to worry about the retaliation of the War Faction, but he also had to worry about other advanced civilizations from outside the Orion Star Strand butting their heads into his business.

It was just one thing after another. Even if he dealt with the threat of the arakai, his civilization would have to deal with even more dangerous forces who were searching for his daughter and him.

He had been so immersed in thought when he returned home that he didn’t even register the familiar but beloved presence that had returned home after half a year away.

"Hey Dad, it’s been a while."

Ria’s voice broke him out of his thoughts as he stood at the doorway to the Royal Quarters. His ethereal eyes lit up as they fell on his daughter, who regarded him with a softened expression. Amare’s arms were wrapped around her tightly, refusing to let go of her precious daughter.

He immediately lunged towards her, pressing both of them in a tight hug.

"Ah... Ria, my precious baby girl, you’re back!"

He kissed her on the head several times before resting his head on hers. The girl grew visibly embarrassed at the behavior of her parents, extricating herself from their overbearing embrace. "Ok ok, that’s enough."

She folded her arms with an embarrassed expression, standing up from the bed at her two ecstatic parents. "It’s good to see you too."

Her hair had grown a little longer, growing past shoulder length while her face had grown more mature. She seemed much more like a grown adult than she had been when she commenced on her journey. Her amber eyes sparkled with calm power while the weight of her presence bore down on heaven and earth greatly.

Both Rui and Amare marveled at just how much stronger she had grown in just half a year.