The Martial Unity

Those words filled her with a surge of confidence.

If the requirements of finding a vent had anything to do with causality, then she was very confident of her ability to fulfill those requirements.

Still, the implications of the sheer burden this would put on her were not lost on her.

”This will require me to manually visit each and every single planet that I want to sell the information,” she realized. ”If I want human civilization to identify each and every single infected world in the Local Bubble, then I will have to undertake missions to each and every single infected world, or at least all of them that have manifolds on them.”

She would have to undertake missions to thousands of worlds in person. This was not a scalable operation in terms of the personnel involved, since none of this would be possible without Ria herself.

She inhaled deeply before exhaling. ”Once I get in, then what? Do I just collect a sample and then leave?”

”Unfortunately, no, you have no way to prove that that sample came from an infected world,” the Esoterist remarked, shaking his head. ”You will have to collect unique proof.”

More frustration emerged on Ria’s face, but she realized they were right. Collecting raw esoteric ore samples or geological samples meant nothing. One could get the esoteric samples from already discovered planets, and one could very easily mix them with the sedimentary sample of another non-esoteric world.

It was not enough.

”Fine, then I’ll just guide the mining industry to the entropic venting channel,” she grumbled.

The man shook his head. ”Sorry, princess, but it doesn’t work that way. The location of the vents is constantly changing proportionally to the flow of causality through them. Sort of like how the surface of a soap bubble is always flowing. Once you set foot in, the location changes because your body contains a tremendous amount of causality.”

He waved his hand, displaying an accelerated historical feed of the Kandrian Manifold over a period of time. Indeed, the zones where there appeared to be an anomalous flow of entropy were in different places at different times.

She could understand this rationale very well; it was within her expertise. But that meant that there were no easy solutions.

”What about injecting the Tide of Samsara into the infected world after she enters the manifold?” The Psyker asked with a curious tone. ”Then she can wipe out the virus, any indigenous life, and kill the manifold tree, unfolding the manifold, right?”

”That would cause the manifold to unfold, yes, but the manifold unfolding causes the destruction of the planet and potentially the entire solar system,” the Esoterist replied. ”She would perish.”

The destroyed infected world was not the problem, of course. In fact, mining a fragmented world was easier than mining in an intact world because there was less resistance due to the absence of bedrock and crust.

”What about some kind of portable shield that can protect us?” she asked with a hopeless tone.

”A portable shield that can protect you from an explosion annihilating a planet and solar system?” he scoffed. ”Sorry, but we aren’t that advanced a civilization. Not even close.”

He shook his head.

”Forget about it. The only thing that emerges from that explosion unscathed is the manifold tree itself.”

Ria’s amber eyes lit up at those words.

A simple idea emerged in her mind.

”Then what if we take shelter in the manifold tree? Like, inside the trunk or whatever.”

A silence hung in the air as the two men stared at her, before their expressions grew a little bewildered.

As if they were searching for a reason why that was stupid, but couldn’t find one.

It certainly sounded like a stupid idea.

The manifold tree was extremely hostile, so much so that the Kandrian Empire’s manifold tree was neutered to keep it in check. Not even Rui wanted to take the chances, even though he was personally keeping watch.

But it was not an active combatant in the same way as homoarachnoids or even the Eldritch Chimera that protected the manifold tree on Gaia.

”You know, now that you mention it…” the man scratched his head. ”…That could work, actually.”

”It’s dangerous,” the Psyker warned. ”Manifold trees are guarded by some of the most powerful entities. You are too young to remember, but I remember the Battle with the Beast that Roared at the center of what was the world back then. At the center of the Beast Domain. Three hundred Martial Sages, led by your father, fought the beast and…”

His eyes sharpened. ”They lost. If not for Damian breaking through to Transcendence, human civilization would have perished then and there.”

”Only three hundred?” Ria frowned. ”Why didn’t Dad take one thousand or even ten thousand Martial Sages with him? So stupid.”

The two of them stared at her in a stunned silence as if the question slapped them in the face.

”I remember a brief era when there was only one Martial Sage,” the Psyker spoke with a rare tone of bitterness, recollecting how the Martial Primordial put an end to the Reign of the Master Realm centuries ago. ”Your question makes me feel extremely old, something that I forget these days with this vibrant and young body.”

”Kids these days…” the Esoterist stared at her with an expression of disbelief. ”So spoiled for abundance.”

She tilted her head with a nonplussed expression as the two old men lamented the passage of time, utterly confused by what they were talking about.

”Just lend me some stealth technology then,” she remarked decisively, breaking out of their spiral. ”I know you can create cutting-edge exo-Martial suits that can create a tremendous amount of stealth, even if temporarily.”

Her amber eyes sharpened with determination.

”If there’s something I can do for human civilization, then I’m not allowing a little bit of danger to stop me.”

The two men gazed at her with deep eyes.

”You are different from your father, but sometimes I do see flashes of him in you,” the Psyker spoke with a profound tone.

”…If you’re willing to take the risks, then I’m on board,” the Esoterist spoke with a motivated tone of voice. ”Let’s get this party on the road.”