After explaining her new evolutionary method to Richard, Kaguya watched him expectantly, awaiting his response.
Under her intense gaze, Richard spoke slowly. "I can help you collect the genetic information needed for evolution, but I don't work for free. How do you plan to compensate me?"
While helping Kaguya wouldn't be particularly difficult, providing free assistance wasn't his style. If Kaguya were his woman, he wouldn't consider asking for payment. But that wasn't their current relationship.
Hearing his response, Kaguya immediately frowned with obvious displeasure. "What kind of reward do you want?"
"You should figure that out yourself. After all, you're the one asking for my help," Richard replied matter-of-factly.
Kaguya fell silent, studying him with wariness written across her features.
After more than ten seconds, she continued cautiously, "I will never sell my body."
"I don't enjoy forcing others into intimate situations either," Richard said calmly.
Just as Kaguya struggled to formulate her next words, Richard spoke again.
"When you've decided what compensation you can offer, let me know." He then turned away from her, admiring the scenery outside their window.
Soon after, restaurant staff began bringing their ordered dishes one by one. Richard and Kaguya ate in relative silence, sampling Xandarian specialties.
The food proved quite impressive. Despite not knowing the specific ingredients or preparation methods, every dish perfectly embodied the description "appealing in color, aroma, and taste."
After finishing their meal and settling the bill, they returned to their business suite.
"I want to continue improving the Divine Realm," Richard announced to Kaguya. "Don't disturb me unless something important comes up."
While the Divine Realm had achieved basic formation, this didn't mean it lacked potential for further enhancement.
Unlike the Nova Force field generated by the Worldmind—which had reached its optimization ceiling—Richard's Divine Realm retained significant improvement possibilities.
To maintain this developmental potential, Richard had deliberately sacrificed some of the realm's stability during its initial creation.
From the Worldmind's perspective, this approach carried considerable risk. An incompletely stabilized Divine Realm resembled a supernova that could detonate at any moment. If something went wrong, it could easily destroy planets or entire star systems.
Despite never having generated similar energy fields before, Richard understood the inherent dangers. Nevertheless, he'd proceeded with this risky approach for a simple reason: he planned to use the Divine Realm to integrate all his accumulated power.
Whether abilities granted by templates, extraordinary powers he'd acquired, or various bloodline techniques and jutsu from the Naruto world—he intended to unify everything.
Simply put, he was using the Divine Realm as a foundation to forge a path entirely his own.
Richard didn't know how much time and energy this endeavor would require. He also couldn't guarantee the Divine Realm would successfully integrate all his powers as expected. But he remained determined to attempt it.
Once accomplished, he would no longer need to consider template fusion percentages. At that point, there would be no "template-granted power"—only abilities that belonged completely to him.
In other words, he planned to create a "Richard Template" that had no connection to the system and existed solely for him!
While also called a template, this differed fundamentally from system-provided options. The "Richard Template" created according to his specific circumstances would have no fusion percentage limitations.
Simply put, successfully creating a "Richard Template" would automatically grant him 100% fusion from the start.
After hearing his explanation, Kaguya didn't speak but nodded to acknowledge his words.
Richard said nothing more and headed directly to the study.
His current task involved perfecting the Divine Realm theoretically—requiring no energy expenditure and posing no risk of power fluctuations endangering others.
Upon reaching the study, Richard sat behind the desk and retrieved a vibranium-technology tablet from his system space, activating the Tifa clone within.
"Good afternoon, sir. How may I assist you?" Tifa's clone inquired immediately.
"I need you to help calculate data and deduce a more stable energy field model." Richard began operating the tablet, inputting the Divine Realm's numerical model and related equations one by one.
Additionally, he entered the Nova Force field's numerical model and energy parameters for comparison.
After he'd input all necessary data, Tifa's clone responded, "Understood, sir. Any other instructions?"
"Not currently. Display the deduction and calculation processes as you work," Richard continued.
While his computational abilities couldn't match Tifa's clone, he possessed "creativity" that artificial intelligence lacked. Whether Tifa's clone, the original Tifa in Silver City, Aerith in Fantasy or AIs like Jarvis and Friday—none had true "creativity" and could only perform calculations based on existing information and data.
"Certainly, sir." Tifa's clone immediately projected a massive holographic display screen.
Soon, the clone's calculation and deduction processes appeared on the holographic projection. Richard studied the information, analyzing and theorizing further optimization approaches in ways completely different from artificial intelligence methodology.
Time flew by quickly. Another week passed without notice.
During this period, Richard remained in the study continuously. Since he was only working with numerical models for deduction and optimization—requiring no energy expenditure—the week's efforts created no physical burden.
After seven days of deduction and optimization, he and Tifa's clone finally developed a numerical model that appeared more reliable, at least theoretically.
Whether this new model truly surpassed the original would only be determined through testing.
After reviewing the enhanced numerical model, Richard retrieved the Cosmic Cube from his system space and opened a spatial gateway to Xandar's South Pole.
The Worldmind had studied the artifact for only one week before returning it. After a week of analysis, the Worldmind had reluctantly discovered that the Cosmic Cube's—or rather, the Space Stone's—energy properties exceeded its analytical capabilities.
From an artificial intelligence perspective, the Worldmind represented the pinnacle of AI development. Even so, its computational power proved insufficient to thoroughly analyze Space Stone energy secrets.
This was perfectly understandable. Whether the Space Stone or the other five Infinity Stones, all had formed during the Big Bang. If the Worldmind could completely study Space Stone energy secrets, it would essentially master the universe's fundamental mysteries—clearly beyond its reach.
After forming the spatial gateway, Richard first returned the tablet to his system space, then passed through the portal to Xandar's South Pole without hesitation.
Using the new numerical model to transform the Divine Realm might cause uncontrollable energy discharge or other accidents. For safety reasons, Richard decided to perform the transformation at Xandar's South Pole.
Upon arriving, he immediately began the Divine Realm transformation.
The process proved much smoother than expected. In less than three days, he'd completely restructured the Divine Realm using the new numerical model.
When the transformation concluded, Richard immediately examined the Divine Realm and its energy output.
The results were... interesting.
Divine energy generated by the transformed realm now more closely resembled his existing magical power. If expressed numerically, current divine energy showed approximately 75% similarity to magic.
In terms of energy level, divine energy ranked higher than standard magic. However, it still fell short of Richard's ultimate goal.
Even if the similarity reached 100%, it wouldn't meet his final requirements. He didn't want simply more magical power—he wanted to create entirely new energy with higher energy levels that perfectly suited his nature.
Only by possessing energy superior to magical levels could he integrate all his accumulated power, eliminating distinctions between template abilities and extraordinary skills.
Despite failing to achieve his ultimate objective, Richard wasn't overly disappointed. Progress required patience—eating too quickly caused choking, and overly ambitious steps led to painful mistakes.
After checking the transformed Divine Realm and confirming no problems existed with either the realm or new divine energy, Richard created a spatial gateway back to Nova Prime and returned to the hotel study.
I'll stop here for now. I'll make new improvements when better ideas emerge.
After this internal reflection, Richard closed the gateway and left the study.
The moment he emerged, Kaguya approached him urgently. "What did you just do? Why did I suddenly lose connection to the Divine Realm and can no longer absorb divine energy?"
"Nothing dramatic—just optimizing the Divine Realm," Richard replied calmly.
Hearing his response, Kaguya frowned initially, then continued, "Next time, warn me in advance. When I lost connection to the Divine Realm, I thought you were dead."
Kaguya's concern was perfectly logical. From certain perspectives, the Divine Realm was intimately connected to Richard's life force. As long as he lived, the realm existed. If he died, the Divine Realm would completely collapse.
"Don't worry—I won't die that easily," Richard assured her. "By the way, have you decided what compensation you'll offer me?"
The moment he finished speaking, Kaguya rolled her eyes, gritted her teeth, and snapped, "If you want my body, just say so! Besides my body, I can't offer any reward that would interest you."
Under Kaguya's intense gaze, Richard spoke slowly. "While I'm certainly lustful, you don't need to think of me that way. I'm not so desperate that I'd demand your body as payment."
"Since you haven't decided on compensation, just owe me for now. I'll take you to meet Xandar's true leader and have him provide genetic information for all life on this planet."
Without waiting for Kaguya's response, Richard used the Cosmic Cube to create a spatial gateway to the chamber housing the Worldmind.
Kaguya stared at Richard in surprise. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Richard interrupted, "Don't just stand there—come on."
"Oh!" Kaguya replied, following Richard through the gateway to encounter the Worldmind.
Five or six minutes later, Richard and Kaguya returned to their hotel suite's living room through the spatial gateway.
After brief "negotiations," the Worldmind had agreed to Richard's request and would prepare the genetic information Kaguya needed as quickly as possible.
In exchange, Richard would provide certain protection to Xandar and the Nova Corps, preventing their complete destruction by the Kree Empire.
Beyond the genetic information Kaguya required, the Worldmind had also granted Richard authority higher than Queen Adora's, while Kaguya received clearance equivalent to a Nova Corps Centurion.
For the Worldmind, this represented no additional expense—merely gestures of goodwill to make Richard and Kaguya's life on Xandar easier and more convenient.
From its perspective, these were indeed minor concessions. However, when it activated corresponding authority for Richard and Kaguya, all senior officials—including Queen Adora and the Nova Prime—displayed expressions of complete disbelief.
While Queen Adora at least knew who Richard was, she still couldn't understand why the Worldmind had made this decision. As for the Nova Prime and other officials, they didn't even know Richard's identity, much less comprehend the Worldmind's arrangement.
Surprising as it was, they could do nothing except accept the situation.
After returning to their suite's living room, Richard and Kaguya sat on the sofa for casual conversation before leaving the hotel to experience Xandarian culture and customs.
As a renowned planet throughout the universe, Xandar attracted many alien tourists seeking its famous hospitality. Nova Prime, as Xandar's capital, especially drew diverse visitors.
Even before leaving the hotel, while taking the elevator to the first-floor lobby, Richard and Kaguya encountered numerous aliens whose appearances differed completely from native Xandarians.
Upon reaching the hotel lobby, Richard rented a flying sports car and departed with Kaguya.
If they'd been illegal stowaways before the Worldmind granted them authority—which they undoubtedly had been—they were now the opposite. Not only were they no longer illegal immigrants, but they possessed supreme authority far exceeding ordinary Xandarians.
Richard's current clearance surpassed even Queen Adora's, while Kaguya held authority equivalent to Nova Corps Centurions.