Sylvia scanned the data, then asked, her curiosity piqued, "Are you sure it's okay to deploy these? We just introduced a massive number of species to this planet."
"It's fine. During our conversation, I reviewed the planet's diagnostic results. Besides... this planet is destined to be teeming with draconic life."
Ruan Mei provided the answer to Sylvia's concern. Her experiments necessitated the cultivation of numerous creations, which would inevitably occupy a large portion of the indigenous ecological niches.
"Alright, leave it to me."
Since Ruan Mei had given her word, what more could Sylvia—a non-expert—possibly say? Seeing that Ruan Mei was already prepared to dive back into her research, she called out to Mei and walked away.
--+--
Onboard the small spacecraft, Mei and Sylvia sat close together in the cockpit. Behind them, a large group of Ruan Mei's obedient creations rested quietly.
Although the term "deploy" had been used, they hadn't actually dropped them off very far.
Unlike the highly intelligent "Cat Cakes" from before, this batch was significantly less clever.
Once released into the wild, they scattered, scurrying off faster than one another, which honestly saved Sylvia a lot of trouble.
"…After being occupied by Ruan Mei's creations, what will this planet evolve into?"
Mei watched as a few small kin-creatures wandered into the jungle, suddenly feeling a bit curious.
"Probably enough to give the Vidyadhara a real scare."
Sylvia leaned against the window, not bothering to leave the cockpit.
Though Ruan Mei had only displayed one of each when presenting them, there were multiple individuals for every species, ensuring the potential for reproduction.
Just then, Mei suddenly turned her head to look at Sylvia. Her hand reached up naturally, lifting the hem of Sylvia's shirt to rest against her lower abdomen.
"…What are you doing?"
"Thinking about the children."
Mei answered with her usual straightforward honesty.
Sylvia turned bright red on the spot.
Since her birth, Mei had rarely experienced the life of a normal person. From a young age, she had trained with the blade, working tirelessly to master a special katana.
Back then, she had still held onto hope, naively dreaming of how she would eventually return to an ordinary life once everything was over.
But alas, there was nothing but a void at the end of her efforts.
As for what followed—whether it was her constantly fading memories or the Nihility that would spread to everything around her if not suppressed with every ounce of her strength—everything stood as a barrier preventing her from forming long-term companionship or intimate relationships.
Mei had never experienced a normal life, nor had she dared to hope for one.
But now, or rather, ever since she met Sylvia, thanks to Sylvia's unique nature, she felt as if she could finally catch a glimpse of it.
Even she could enjoy a peaceful existence, even if it were only a fleeting respite in her long, arduous journey.
Human desires are truly endless, and Mei was no exception.
When she realized that the Nihility threatening her was suppressed enough not to affect her daily life, when she gradually became accustomed to sleeping in bed with Sylvia after ten-plus cycles of activity, and when she was rarely jolted awake by nightmares anymore—Mei looked at Sylvia, then at the lush, green planet behind her.
This was a planet destined to be full of life.
Tucked away from the cosmic crises, though slightly remote, it was still considered a hub for interstellar traffic.
When the conditions for a stable life were laid out before her so easily, and even with Ruan Mei offering the option to bear offspring, Mei couldn't help but fantasize.
She imagined the two of them here, raising their children. What a simple yet seemingly unattainable vision. Even in her daydreams, Mei felt such a scene was far too extravagant for her.
"..."
Sylvia turned around abruptly, intending to retort with a sharp, blushing complaint, but upon meeting Mei's gaze, she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh.
Though nothing was explicitly said, Sylvia could feel exactly what Mei truly wanted to express behind that word—"children."
"Sigh..."
Sylvia let out a long breath, then reached out to stroke Mei's head before leaning in to give her a hug.
That said, getting Sylvia to agree was impossible—at least, not right now.
That was Ruan Mei they were talking about. Heaven only knows what that woman would tinker with inside an embryo just to verify the path of Permanence. Sylvia didn't even want to think about it.
However, she couldn't just say that directly; she felt too much tenderness for Mei, and that pitiful look in Mei's eyes was truly hard to handle.
"Don't dwell on having kids. Forget everything else—do you even know how to raise a child?"
"…No."
Mei was silent for a moment, realizing she indeed did not. Let alone raising a child, she had hardly ever even interacted with one.
"Exactly. Let's talk about it later. Besides, Ruan Mei's suggestion clearly comes from an experimental standpoint. You wouldn't want your child to be treated as a lab specimen, would you?"
"…Mn."
Mei rested her chin on Sylvia's shoulder in silence for a little while, then slowly nodded, rubbing her head against Sylvia's to show she agreed.
Having managed to brush past the issue with that excuse, Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief.
As for the other option—having Mei serve as the host to bear the child—Sylvia hadn't even considered it.
Who was Mei? An Emanator of Nihility.
It was already a Herculean task just to keep that power sealed within her body.
If she were to carry a child in her womb, who knew if it could even survive? And even if it did, would it not have to live its entire life under the shadow of Nihility?
That possibility was completely off the table for both of them.
"If you really want to raise a child... I suspect Ruan Mei will eventually set her sights on human-like Scions of Long."
There were many beast-like Scions of Long, but the humanoid ones were definitely the most well-developed.
Though a large part of the reason was that the Homo sapiens lineage held more sway in the galaxy, the percentage of humanoid Scions of Long was not insignificant. Ruan Mei wouldn't let such a variable go.
If she refrained from an experiment just for the sake of morality, she wouldn't be Ruan Mei.
Mei looked up, staring into Sylvia's eyes curiously. "Why does it feel like you understand Ruan Mei so well?"
"…I've just come to recognize her traits. It's not like you can't see it yourself."
Sylvia pinched Mei's cheek. Since she was in the wrong this time, Mei stayed perfectly still, letting Sylvia fuss over her.
"Well, I can see it a little."
"Then there you go."
Sylvia gave her face a few more rubs before letting go, restarting the ship to head toward the next location.
"Once these little ones are dropped off, we still have to deploy a building module from the star ring."
The engineering team had reserved a pre-assembled standard city-building module, and the operation was designed to be completely foolproof.
Sylvia didn't plan on building a full city, but taking a few modules to set up a simple manor and some basic infrastructure was doable. Besides, Ruan Mei's automated lab space was a bit too small; she would need to bring a few more modules down to expand her research area.
It was all part of the job. Sylvia thought happily, feeling rather like she was playing a farming simulation game.
--+--
Penacony.
In the past few days, undercurrents had been surging in Penacony. Even the more observant tourists could sense that something major was about to happen.
After Sparkle escaped, the Head of the Iris Family, in the name of the Iris Family, joined forces with the Bloodhounds to accuse the Alfalfa and Nightingale families of treason.
The Nightingales were the most baffled—and the most annoyed.
They were civil engineers, for heaven's sake! They still had the Penacony Grand Theater to rebuild.
You want to argue about this now? The Grand Theater doesn't need to be rebuilt? The Charmony Festival doesn't need to happen?
The individual who claimed to be a Nightingale member had been at home that afternoon, nowhere else, as verified by their internal check. But the problem was, there was no proof.
How could staying at home count as evidence? Who could prove he was actually there and didn't go elsewhere?
Even the head of the Nightingale Family found the reasoning laughable: "Because I was sleeping at home, I am innocent despite having zero evidence?" Such an argument obviously couldn't convince the other family heads.
Especially the head of the Iris Family, who began to speak sarcastically, digging up old grudges and past mistreatment of other architects, leaving Sir Whittaker, the head of the Nightingale Family, unable to defend himself.
The Alfalfa Family fared slightly better, but not by much.
The person who claimed to be from the Alfalfa branch was confirmed to be their member—just an ordinary one—who insisted that the dream bubble was merely a damaged piece of business inventory.
Because there was absolutely no proof, the person in charge of the Alfalfa Family was stuck. With the other families watching, they couldn't exactly resort to vigilante justice.
The only advantage they had over the Nightingales was that the others had no proof either. Old Oti, the leader of the Alfalfa Family, insisted that the dream bubble was completely ordinary.
Without proof, these things remained mere suspicions, unlike the direct accusations leveled at the Nightingales.
Furthermore, Old Oti pointed out that as the only high-ranking official present at the time, the head of the Iris Family, Maeven, had the possibility of secret manipulation.
After all, when the Bloodhounds first took Sparkle away, the first person she met was Maeven.
Plus, everyone knew Maeven was on good terms with the Watchmaker. Old Oti was implying, both directly and indirectly, that the Iris Family was the true mole hidden within the Family.
Even the Bloodhounds were dragged into the mess. Because... how could Sparkle and her companion escape unscathed from the Bloodhounds' home turf?
Shouldn't the Bloodhounds be held responsible for such fragile security?
The head of the Bloodhounds countered by saying that if he hadn't diverted men to take the Alfalfa people away, leaving their defenses thin, Sparkle would never have had a chance to escape.
"You Alfalfa people are the ones hiding in the back, sowing discord!"
In short, the seeds of suspicion had been sown.
The Nightingales now suspected the other families were setting them up, perhaps wanting to turn the five major families into four.
Unable to clear their names, they chose to furiously drag the Alfalfa Family down with them, while remaining very rigid about the "rebuilding of the Penacony Grand Theater," refusing to hand the project over to any other family.
The Alfalfa Family, meanwhile, used the "lack of evidence" to distance themselves while pointing fingers at the Iris and Bloodhound families, insisting on taking control of the project to supervise the Nightingales' reconstruction work.
The Bloodhounds and the Iris Family, who were closer, joined forces to denounce the other two, arguing that the Alfalfa Family's power must not be allowed to expand into the realm of the Dream Architects.
If not for the Dreammaster holding the lid down, keeping all the conflict within the conference rooms, the four families would likely already be infiltrating and investigating each other for dirt.
As for the only family standing on the sidelines, the Oak Family and their head, Sunday?
Well...
Sunday was frantically searching for his sister, Robin. He felt an equal amount of hostility toward all four families involved in the "Grand Theater bombing."
After Robin had been questioned by the heads of the four families, she had simply vanished on her way back.
Sunday was so furious he nearly exploded on the spot, wishing he could just blow everything up alongside the other heads during the meeting.
Faced with the Oak Family's stance, the four families—who had been on the verge of coming to blows—suddenly reached a consensus:
Things were messy enough as it was; they couldn't have Sunday interfering. Otherwise, the Charmony Festival would never happen.
"In short, you, the Oak Family, just keep preparing for the Charmony Festival. Prioritize the big picture. Your sister is only missing, not dead."
To appease Sunday, Maeven Ellis of the Iris Family proposed letting the Oak Family take over the reconstruction project, with the Nightingale reconstruction team temporarily reporting to Sunday.
Though the Nightingales still refused, reason told them this was likely the only acceptable compromise.
But the Nightingales were still burning with rage—why should they be the ones providing the manpower and resources, only to lose power and take the blame? "No, we must keep arguing!"
This blatant disregard for Robin's safety, fueled only by greed, made Sunday so angry he wanted to start his plan immediately and purge them all with "Ena's Dream." Only after much convincing from the Dreammaster was he talked down.
But there was no doubt: after witnessing the family heads bickering over their own interests, Sunday's belief in overthrowing the Harmony and embracing the Order grew even stronger.
'I will create a world where Robin can sing happily!!'
Sunday made this deeply brotherly declaration in secret. Ignoring the complaints of the Nightingales, and with the cooperation of the Iris and Alfalfa families, he began to prepare for the theater's reconstruction.
--+--
As for our dear Robin...
She was doing quite well in Dreamflux Reef. She spent her days researching the Stellarons and that massive Dream-flux accretion disk.
When tired, she would look after the children and sing. The children of the Dreamflux Reef were all native Penacony poor, which undoubtedly invigorated her philosophy of Harmony.
As for her brother?
Sorry, big brother, but the situation is urgent. You'll just have to suffer for a while.
Every time Robin heard news from Gallagher, she felt that she really couldn't show her face until her research was complete.
All five major families were looking for her; if she dared to step into the Reverie, she might never return. It might even expose the existence of the Dreamflux Reef.
In the worst-case scenario, she would have to summon Sylvia to clash with the Family.
It was best to avoid that if possible. It was just a pity that the Dreamflux Reef had no way to communicate with the outside world; even if she wanted to talk to Sylvia, she couldn't.
She hoped Sylvia would come back to keep her company soon.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL