"See you tomorrow, Mother."
"See you tomorrow, my good girl."
Both mother and daughter recalled the words they said during their farewell yesterday.
And then,
Today really was tomorrow.
They met again, right on schedule.
Only... this reunion left both of them oddly silent.
"Why are they so weird? Neither of them is talking."
Seliose tilted her head, puzzled, and asked the boy beside her, who was peacefully eating his breakfast. It was such a dreamy and beautiful reunion,why did Tribios look so... unexcited?
"Maybe she's too happy. I mean, she said 'see you tomorrow,' and sure enough, tomorrow came."
"She doesn't look happy."
"She's just being reserved."
"Really?"
The Gundam Miss glanced suspiciously at the mother-daughter pair, tried to think about it for a moment, then gave up,reasoning wasn't really her strong suit,and focused completely on finishing her breakfast.
The "surprise atmosphere" didn't last long anyway.
To the mother and daughter, this was indeed a miracle.
Though Mortes was no longer by her daughter's side in a purely human form, having become a Memory Spirit wasn't bad either.
Moreover, inheriting Janus's authority required bearing the side effects of the Path of Doorways. As a Memory Spirit, Mortes could now heal her daughter's soul-level damage, drastically reducing, almost nullifying, the price Tribios paid for using her powers.
"Aizen, I still need to thank you."
Mortes looked at Aizen with gratitude. She didn't know how exactly he had done it, but being able to let her reunite with her daughter ten years into the future was already beyond what she could comprehend. Whatever the reason, she didn't plan to ask any further.
"If you really insist on thanking me, Auntie," Aizen said with a sly grin, "then give me something practical,how about becoming Governor of Janusopolis?"
"Me?"
"Of course. You'll also have to train two secretaries along the way."
He had no interest in playing a city management simulator about "uniting against the coming cold wave." He'd place the city's basic structure, then leave actual governance to people who could handle it.
Mortes herself was semi-qualified at best.
To properly build the city up, he'd need a truly professional ruler.
For example,
That short empress who made a contract with Talantum, the half-baked fake Chrysos Heir, the puppet queen shoved onto the throne.
"Then it's decided,Anaxa it is!"
Looking at the little crown icon on the map of 1-2, Aizen couldn't help laughing.
Say what you want about the cheerleaders,Anaxa herself wasn't a combat demigod, true,but administrative work? That short little empress handled it beautifully.
Especially the parts involving purging nobles and wiping out rival houses.
That kind of ruthlessness was his kind of management.
To face enemies, you had to eradicate them completely.
No loose ends, no second chances,that was true nation-building.
"We'll be leaving soon to recruit our next governor candidate, so I'll trouble you two ladies to hold the fort for now."
Basic leadership structure built,check. Someone to hold the base,check.
Once the team grew larger, Aizen could comfortably focus on recruiting and strengthening bonds. The more companions joined under shared traits or paths, the stronger his system and he would become.
He glanced at his personal interface, eyes falling on the trait listed as Descender,his unique personal tag.
It allowed simultaneous coexistence of all Faction, Race, Trait, and Path synergy bonuses.
While his base stats were still mediocre at the moment, with this endgame-tier trait and the Affix Replicator that could copy others' traits,once he recruited every known Aeon faction, major bloc, and over fifty smaller multi-path groups,
he'd effectively activate the All-Faction Synergy Buff.
At that point... even an Aeon showing up would go down in one punch.
If there were ever a character who fulfilled the synergy conditions of: Astral Express Traveler + Day–Night Demigod + Wolfwalker + Xianzhou + Belobog + Star of the Celebration + IPC + Galactic Scholar + AoE Build,
who dared to say he wasn't a Meta Character?
Forget these nonsense terms like Path Resonance Depth or Cosmic Clock.
There was only one truth,
Numbers are king!
"When we bring that shortcake queen back, my dear Teacher Tribbie, you can start your diplomatic plan to persuade the other city-states."
"Teacher Tribbie? Right, you've called me that since the beginning… Why do you call me that?"
"This,you'll understand later."
Aizen's grin turned downright mysterious.
A teacher is one who spreads truth, receives liquidity, and passes the flame.
After flashing an enigmatic smile, he called for his Superman Gundam Seliose, opened the map of 1-2, and together they stepped forward onto their second chapter of conquest.
Watching the two disappear, the Saintess seemed lost in thought.
"Mother, didn't Aizen's expression look a little odd just now?"
"My good girl, that smile looked perfectly normal."
Though perhaps soon... we'll have a new family member joining us.
Amphoreus, Northern Frontier.
On the frozen tundra endlessly snowbound year-round stood the Hypermion Empire.
Its founding sovereign was a devoted follower of Talantum and claimed to have received the deity's blessing and oracle when building the nation's first city.
Therefore, Talantum remained its sole state faith to this day.
But after the childless monarch's death, the royal line perished with him. Nobles seized the moment, inciting uprisings; within just a few years, the empire had splintered, torn apart by civil war.
Refugees who lost their homes turned to begging to survive. Among them, a young girl with rare blue hair was noticed by a power-hungry noble. He adopted her and spread rumors of her being a "wandering princess."
Months later, that same girl was led onto a resplendent platform. The nobles raised her hand high for all to see; from her pricked fingertip dripped dense golden blood,like the color of dawn.
The crowd below went mad with zeal, their fervor ready to ignite her alongside their faith.
From that day on, the girl was renamed Anaxa.
She ascended the throne, becoming the kingdom's nominal new ruler.
But it was obvious,the nobles hadn't put her there out of loyalty to the empire, but to legitimize their own rule. As long as the people believed in the royal bloodline, this ancient ploy,using the emperor to command the lords,would always work.
The girl was raised like a flower in a gilded cage, day after day learning royal etiquette, never touching an ounce of real power.
Yet during those golden cage days, she met a teacher,a man who taught her the art of chess. Whether the game was too simple, or her mind too sharp, the previously untested girl exhibited extraordinary talent within hours.
And before long...
"Checkmate!"
She moved her piece, capturing her opponent's king. A faint smile curled the corners of her lips.
"Twenty-one wins," she said softly.
"Twenty-one losses," her teacher corrected.
"Then we are even now, teacher," the girl replied.