The news of what happened didn't take long to spread to the surroundings. Liu Shu, for instance, had already told her people to conquer the few solar systems along the way to Deadly Petal. Since she was at the edge of the Covenant, Liu Shu's intent was to capture a line of Solar Systems that connected Deadly Petal's and the Sky Meteor Empire's territory with the Golden Sap Empire's territory.
It would take a few years, but with their current strength, it was not a problem. Of course, before that, they needed to digest all their current gains. Thankfully, Flor was always prepared after Liu Shu showed her conquering capabilities. She was in the middle of preparing new training batches.
Flor needed to oversee it personally because the trainees were future government officials who would lead whole worlds. One corrupt one, and things could get ugly really quickly.
As Flor was thinking this, she chuckled. 'If anyone dares to become corrupted… Heh. It has been a while since I made someone a public example, so I will have some fun.'
Having ruled the Golden Sap Empire under Liu Shu from quite literally its creation as a small little town, Flor moved the government as if they were her own arms. Her efficiency, knowledge, leadership, and clever tricks to motivate or catch those who lagged were incredible, no matter where she was placed or who she was compared to.
Flor had the incredibly unique experience of staying at the very top of an evolving empire, and that gave her a long-term experience and ability to look ahead that you could find very rarely among leaders.
As she was pondering, her gaze moved toward a new table that was set up in her office relatively recently. This table had a stellar map that updated almost monthly with reports from other Solar Systems that came rapidly thanks to Stella and new technology.
After Liu Shu understood how Stella created her space channels and the difference between them, she also managed to upgrade communication methods to cross long distances rapidly.
So, slowly but surely, the technology that might allow someone in two different Solar Systems to speak with barely any delay was not too far off.
"Hm…?"
Her gaze landed on one of the edge Solar Systems. There were reports of increased
Reports about
Reports about
"Send an exploration group here. Tell… Oh?" As she was looking at the available generals, she saw two names that surprised her. "Ignira and Choriel?"
Ignira and Choriel were, respectively, Cinderielle's and Harmonixia's second-batch Sylvan children. These babies were not so much babies anymore, as they were well over 150 years old, and their levels, thanks to their innate talents, buffs, and many more advantages of having Liu Shu as their mother, had skyrocketed to a point where they could crush most same-age children.
Only super geniuses who got full support from their well-off families or the government's talent nurturing programs could hope to match up to them. These programs were incredibly common, though, thanks to Liu Shu's love for nurturing future generations.
After governing for so long at the very top, she had realized that unless the fertile water moved toward the new seeds, things would not move onward. Of course, you couldn't ignore the fully grown trees as well. They were the ones who gave enough shade so that the seedlings could grow.
Either way, regardless of age, Liu Shu had long created programs that, since the law was followed by the grand, grand majority for fear of losing Liu Shu's titles, these programs targeted who they needed to target without being abused.
Flor rubbed her chin and chuckled. "Since they are eligible, let's send them. They are also at the top of the list."
She didn't choose them due to favoritism, although choosing her own granddaughters over the others at the very top was slightly biased; the results on their resumes showed that they were fully qualified for this level of mission.
So, as a good and doting grandmother, she decided to give a small, secret push.
A chuckle escaped Flor, while the Town Hall giggled by her side. "Grandma, that's being biased!"
"Is it?" Flor blinked innocently. "They are ranked in the top ten, right? They are qualified enough~."
The Town Hall laughed and decided to let it slip. She was not only a building, but also someone who had helped Liu Shu and Flor since the very beginning. The very first Town Hall structure Liu Shu built, to be exact.
So, while her Tier was not up to par with some of the more recent Town Halls, her
Many of Liu Shu's initial structures balanced their power with newer ones thanks to
Flor glanced at another part of the star map, her gaze focused on the advance needed to reach Deadly Petal's Solar System. "We need to conquer… 8? No, it's better if we conquer these nine Solar Systems. It will create a two-Solar-System-wide path to Deadly Petal. If it is only one, we can be attacked from two sides at once. Not ideal."
With that in mind, she sent a communication to Zaros's second-in-command, who had stayed behind.
***
Meanwhile, Danlier was reading reports with a confused look. 'She… helped Deadly Petal?'
While Danlier understood that Liu Shu was amicable toward other World Trees, she didn't expect her to forgive a World Tree that had previously attacked her with intent to kill.
It was not a bad thing, not at all. Danlier even felt a touch of admiration.
Even then, she was sure that Liu Shu's intent was not only to help Deadly Petal, and, unlike with normal matters, there was one individual who would not let what just happened slide.
"Danlier, explain."
Danlier leaned back in her chair and looked out of the window. "Mother… It has been a while."
Balaya glanced at Danlier with a slightly puzzled look. Her attitude felt off. She didn't really care enough to ask about it, though. The thought of Danlier betraying her was as absurd as her Level suddenly jumping to Level 400 for no reason at all.
While she was not completely wrong, as Danlier didn't want to betray Balaya, it was different in the details.
"It hasn't been that long. Only a few decades. So, what's wrong with Deadly Petal? Didn't you say that she was going to die alone without my intervention?"
Danlier nodded. "That was indeed the case. Look here at these reports. Deadly Petal was about to be defeated while we sent support to her. Using the Nexus as an excuse, people would be upset, but at most, they would've complained in the public nets. So, it doesn't affect us at all and would've been forgotten soon."
Balaya listened to the following explanations, and eventually, she was convinced. "So… That World Tree intervened?"
Danlier's lips twitched. "That's indeed the case. The Golden Sap Empire is developing at light speed. They have already conquered around a third of our total Solar Systems."
Balaya answered indifferently. "It doesn't matter. The Solar Systems they are conquering are primitive ones. Their Solar Systems and ours are different in essence."
Danlier hummed and commented. "Mother, do you not think that you are underestimating Lady Heavenly Willow too much? I believe that you could perhaps change your outlook."
If Balaya had noticed Danlier's small hint just at this moment, she might've been able to predict what was about to happen shortly after. Sadly, Balaya, like most World Trees, was far too indifferent to care for word games.
"Why would I? Since it has come to this. I'll participate myself. There is no need to prepare an army. Deadly Petal is far too weak to stop my advance either way. Create an excuse like always, not that I need it."
Danlier felt Balaya's presence disappearing, and she sighed, her face complicated. '...This is for your own good, Mother. Sorry for deceiving you.'
Was she worried that Balaya was finally going to attack personally? She was. Liu Shu had shown plenty of times that her strength was monstrous. However, every one of Liu Shu's feats was not something impossible for Balaya to do. On the contrary, if Balaya had been in Liu Shu's position, she wouldn't have needed much, if any, help.
She alone would've been enough.
However, Liu Shu had grown a lot from the past. So, she hoped that her expectations wouldn't be wrong. 'If they are wrong, I don't know if I can even intervene.'
When dealing with Balaya, Danlier was somewhat tied down. Would she betray Balaya for Liu Shu? No. She wouldn't. The only reason she was doing what she was doing was that she believed it was the best path for the Covenant.
Moreover, she had received reports that the two Covenant worlds had been perfectly integrated into the Golden Sap Empire. Even the two Nexus worlds had been integrated to perfection.
So, she was not too worried about the population being resistant to Liu Shu's invasion. As long as Balaya remained alive, the population wouldn't have too big a reason to hate Liu Shu.
'Sometimes, being a governor is like balancing how much I can piss off the general population without them rioting and rising up…'
A sigh escaped her. "...Have I been sighing too much lately? I must be worried."
Now, only one variable remained. "The Nexus… I wonder what they are planning?"
As she was tapping her chin, another report arrived. "Let's see… Oh. She has assimilated everything and even publicly said that Deadly Petal is now her ally. Impressive. I wonder how Mother is feeling?"
Balaya had her senses more active now, so she actually heard Danlier's mutter and frowned. "Those two weaklings think they can face me together? Has it ever been a matter of numbers when World Trees fight? Only the strongest remains."
With that in mind, she observed the area and hummed. "So, these Solar Systems are the ones the Heavenly Willow conquered? I can take them in a straight line, destroy Deadly Petal, and then cut off all of the Heavenly Willows' surrounding roots to isolate this place and recapture it for the Covenant."
With that in mind, the dormant roots and domain of this zone moved again for the first time in thousands of years. Since Deadly Petal appeared in this zone, Balaya had no reason to move, but now that changed.