Chapter 1129: Politics

One of the three strongest existences.

'That sure is a title,' Kyle thought. 'I didn't know the Array of Stars was this powerful. Based on how he talks, the Array of Stars seems like the most powerful non-political power.'

"If the Array of Stars is so powerful, why is the Contrast Empire antagonizing them?" Kyle asked. "Seems like a dumb move to go after them if they're that powerful."

"Who told you that they're the instigators of this conflict?" the man asked.

"They..." Kyle said before he remembered his source, the Chief Overseer of the local branch of the Array of Stars.

"Never mind," Kyle answered. "Seems like my source was biased."

"Legally, the Contrast Empire is the aggressor," the man explained, "but in reality, the Array of Stars seems more like the instigator. The Array of Stars has been keeping to the established rules but without any goodwill or leniency. If they are legally allowed to do something, they will do it. That caused them many problems with the other political powers as well."

"The way the Array of Stars behaves is similar to how a political power behaves. A non-political power is not forbidden from filling an entire Planet with only their people, leaving the commanding political power a hollow shell. However, proper etiquette requires some restraint and some diplomacy. Instead of just colonizing the Planet, you're supposed to ask the power if they're fine with it, even if you're technically allowed to do it."

Kyle could see how this could become problematic.

'It's like a neighbor constantly blasting loud music during the day without care for anyone else. Only when it's late enough that it could be considered causing a commotion will they stop. Alternatively, you could also say that it's not illegal for your employer to ask you to work twice as much without an increase in pay. Asking isn't illegal. You could just say no, but it's not that easy.'

"The Contrast Empire is afraid of a second revolt," the man added.

"Revolt?" Sebastian asked.

"That's how the Wargod's Peak was formed," the man answered. "They used to be a non-political power that specialized in selling mercenaries for battle. They worked very closely with another Empire back then. It even went so far that the mercenaries made up 40% of the Empire's forces."

"The Empire and the Wargod's Peak worked closely together, and many of their own soldiers saw the mercenaries as their true comrades. Then, due to some political incidents that made the Empire look unfair, the mercenaries left, and many of the soldiers followed them, joining the Wargod's Peak."

"This left the Empire's forces a hollow shell, and the other Empires turned their eyes to them. Long story short, in order to stop his Empire from crumbling, the Emperor joined the Wargod's Peak as a co-leader. The Empire was renamed, but nothing had truly changed. While the co-leader is not the official Emperor, he is still running the Empire, just under a new name."

"The Contrast Empire noticed that the Array of Stars was getting similar levels of influence, and they quickly put a stop to it. If they didn't, the Array of Stars would one day swallow them as well."

"Can they win?" Kyle asked.

"Of course," the man said. "As a political power, they can easily enter alliances. A non-political power can have some skirmishes with a political power, but a non-political power can't enter a war with a political power. If they do, they are automatically a political power. Therefore, if the conflict escalates, the other non-political powers can't give support to the Array of Stars if it surpasses normal business-to-business transactions."

"The Contrast Empire can call for aid from the Wargod's Peak, and the Wargod's Peak will oblige. The Wargod's Peak has way too many soldiers, and they want their soldiers to enter as many battles as possible. Every dead soldier represents fewer resources they need to invest, and every surviving soldier becomes stronger. Additionally, the Contrast Empire will even pay them to do the very thing they wanted to do anyway."

"I think we've gone off-topic," Swamp Dragon commented. "This is about Ayuvar's future owner."

"Right," the man said with a smile. "As eligible owners, we have the Wargod's Peak, the Contrast Empire, the Array of Stars, Auspicious Karma, the Grand Exchange, and the World Seekers. The others won't be very interested."

"How are they treating their worlds?" Melanie asked. "I don't want this world to turn into a machine that chases nothing but profit. Ayuvar is my home."

Sebastian nodded in agreement.

"While Swamp Dragon can mitigate outside influences," the man explained, "there are ways to influence Primary Worlds. The Organizations want a profitable Primary World that fits their ideology or business model. So, yes, there are differences."

"With Primary Worlds, there is a balancing act. In general, the more Immortals a Primary World produces, the lower their average power. The fewer they produce, the higher their average power. If it's harder to ascend, there's more competition, which means more pressure, leading to greater refinement. Of course, there are also cases in which a world produces very few and very weak Immortals."

"The Wargod's Peak wants mass. They want as many Immortals as they can possibly get, ignoring quality. They're getting their quality recruits from the Sky Reachers, while the bulk of their recruits comes from Primary Worlds. They will send them to plenty of battles to filter out the weak, keeping the strong."

"For Ayuvar, this means that they want abundant resources to be available. They don't want Seekers to waste their time trying to gain access to a Law Well they need. They would want Ayuvar to have a big territory that's dedicated to beasts. It's easy to enter True Battles with beasts. However, the beasts should also definitely be in the inferior position. The Wargod's Peak doesn't like it when their Primary Worlds are under a lot of pressure, since that sacrifices quantity for quality."

'Sounds a bit like a paradise,' Kyle thought. 'Not many wars. Plenty of resources. You can fight whenever you want.'

"The Contrast Empire would request the Overseer to slowly influence Ayuvar until the strongest Organizations rule by taking advantage of contrasting powers. Compared to the Wargod's Peak, the Contrast Empire wants quality. That means few available resources and varied ideologies. Beasts are irrelevant. They want the people in Ayuvar to fight until one person unifies the world before ascending. People like that are the strongest and most valuable new Immortals."

'Sounds a bit like the Secondary Sector,' Kyle thought.

"The Grand Exchange wants the same thing but without the differing ideologies. Resource accumulation is their specialty, and someone who can gain enough resources in a poor world to ascend is a valuable recruit."

'Capitalism, ho!' Kyle thought.

"The Array of Stars is after talent, which is a bit different from just being after power. They want their recruits to bring something unique. Most likely, they would put Immortal Beasts near the most valuable resources. In order to ascend, someone would need to attain the resources that one of these Immortal Beasts is guarding."

"The manner in which the resources are attained doesn't matter. If someone manages to defeat the beast, that person has to be exceptionally strong. Remember, these are very normal Immortal Beasts that don't even know Laws. It's not completely impossible for a Fulfilled Ascendant to kill one. Alternatively, if someone manages to steal the resources secretly, that person is very good at infiltration, which is also a valuable skill. If someone can rally an army of Ascendants to kill the beast and solve the following dispute for resources, that person is a valuable tactician or diplomat."

'So, a normal world but with a final exam,' Kyle thought.

"The World Seekers don't care at all, and they might not even be interested in Ayuvar," the man said. "They don't use Primary Worlds for new recruits. Instead, they are sending their strongest Disciples into the world to fight the defensive mechanisms of the world. Everyone gets one warning per world. With more worlds, the Disciples can watch the defensive mechanism more often."

"Swamp Dragon would be allowed to rule Ayuvar as he sees fit, but constantly allowing new Immortals to enter and leave the world also puts him at risk. After all, every single one of these Immortals can kill him."

'So, you get complete freedom, but you better not anger the true owner,' Kyle thought.

"The last interested party is Auspicious Karma. Giving them Ayuvar is a big risk. 80% of their Primary Worlds are used to farm positive Karma, which means they want to make everyone in the world as happy as possible without cannibalizing growth of individual power. However, the remaining 20% of their worlds are used for Karmic Experiments."

"You do not want to be in that kind of world."

'Utopia or mad scientist, got it,' Kyle thought.

"These are the options," the man said as the names of the six Organizations appeared in the middle of the table.

"We once again get a primary and secondary vote. Are you ready to vote?" he asked.

The others looked at each other for a moment but remained silent.

"Good," the man said. "Then, the last vote begins."

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