While Julia and Ross were having their asses handed to them, a trivial but crucial problem was rising in the heart of the Empire.
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With the advent of peace comes numerous matters — some inconsequential and some very important. People's focus tends to shift to other things when the things keeping them focused change or become trivial.
Since Alexander put a barrier around the empire's borders and the reemergence of exploration missions, people have begun to focus on resource and power acquisition.
The powerful families focused their efforts on exploring and laying claim to newly discovered regions and their resources — they had to prepare for the new generation.
Change was here, and the sooner they accepted what was coming, the better it would be for them. The visionaries could see the direction their universe was heading in the years to come.
