Agent047
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684 - Providing Justification.
🕑 Added 2024-08-08 06:03:54 +0000 UTC“What is the meaning of this?” Aron demanded, his voice cutting through the tension as he looked directly at the tree folk delegation. Instinctively, he had cast a protective shield around his group the moment he sensed the massive surge of mana. This swift action had caught everyone else on his side off guard, just as the palace began to shake and emit an ominous creaking sound.
"Nothing personal, we're just making a logical choice," Oak responded through his massive humanoid form, looking at Aron as if he weren't one of the two who had just tried to crush them.
“Aron narrowed his eyes. "A logical choice? By attacking us during a diplomatic meeting? What do you plan to do after killing us? I’m sure you know that killing me won’t mean the empire will fall. They will not stop seeking revenge against you. Our current military is more than capable of that,” Aron responded in the same calm manner, making the other humans in the room get goosebumps at his composure.
“Do you think I’m worried about your little military at all? Why worry about something that we can already deal with through our people? Also, what makes you think that we were trying to kill you?” Mangrove, the creator of the dark elves, responded, with him being the other person whose roots are currently covering half the palace.
“What do you mean by that?” Rina asked, her voice sharp and direct.
“Why go to all this trouble if there was nothing to gain from you worth all the upcoming trouble?” Oak responded, his humanoid body forming a creepy smile.
Mangrove continued from where Oak left off, “The ability to hide the amount of power you have indicates that you have enough power to warrant that, but also enough power to achieve the hiding to the point that we almost missed it. Although we planned this ahead of time, your response pushed us the final mile in giving us the confidence that your bodies can handle our full consciousness without us facing any limitations in our previous abilities.
If it succeeds, we will have every bit of our powers and an empire under our control. And if you die, we can just create a body the same way we recreated Lee’s and put one of our people in it. What is there to worry about?” Mangrove revealed their entire plan.
This acted as both a display of their confidence and a taunt, demonstrating their belief in the inevitability of their success even after revealing their plan. The arrogance in their voices made it clear they were not concerned about anyone stopping them.
Aron ignored the two who had already revealed themselves as the perpetrators behind the current situation and turned to the others who had remained silent. "What about you four? Are you on the same side as them?" he asked, wanting to understand if they were complicit or merely bystanders.
Rayyan looked utterly shocked, unable to respond. From the start, she had been certain that no matter the outcome of the meeting, it would end with them on friendly terms with the empire that had practically raised them. Now, all of that seemed to have been thrown out the window by the actions of two of the elders, one of whom was the creator of her specific race. This left her powerless to oppose him, rendering her silent not by choice, but by sheer inability to respond.
Birch responded shortly, having processed the situation rapidly. “This is news to me. Just because we are on the same planet doesn’t mean we can read each other’s minds. It seems like they planned this on their own.”
Cypress added, “I agree with her. I have no intention of disrupting the current situation; I’m quite content with how things are. As some of your human philosophers suggest, I’m trying to enjoy the moment before it’s gone. It seems they’re the ones intent on making it disappear.” She turned to the Giant and Dark Elf tree folks, her gaze conveying a sense of disappointment that would have been more expressive had she had a fully expressive face.
“It seems like they’ve inherited some of Lee’s less desirable traits when shaping their new personalities, based on his experiences,” Crabapple said, his tone reflecting his critical thinking and curiosity. “Though I’m not entirely sure what specific traits they’ve inherited, their planning seems to be rooted in those aspects.”
As they were talking, small tremors began to ripple through the palace, indicating that those outside were trying to breach the cocoon. However, the calmness on the preparators' faces indicated that they were not worried about the breach at all.
Upon receiving the responses from everyone, Aron fell silent for a moment, looking down at the table. This caused everyone on his side to feel their hearts sink, interpreting his silence as a sign of seeing no way out. This reaction was particularly striking to Rina, who had always believed that Aron was the strongest person she would ever know.
But the silence was short-lived. Aron’s expression shifted to a smile, giving him an unsettling appearance as if he had snapped from despair. This almost caused everyone on his side to have a heart attack if not for his cryptic words that followed: “So that is what it was talking about.” His statement left everyone in the room puzzled and curious about what he meant.
[DING!!!!!!]
[URGENT SYSTEM QUEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
Objective: Deal with the situation without killing the preparators and put them under your control.
Reward for Fully Completing the Task: +2 of the system's awakening requirements.
Reward for Partially Completing the Task: 500 billion SP
Punishment for Failure: -
]
This was the system notification that appeared the moment Aron shook hands with the giant's creator at the palace's door, which left him puzzled about what the system required from him.
Although the notification listed no punishments for failing, the rewards were enticing. Completing the task fully would grant him two of the five system awakening requirements, leaving only three remaining. This was crucial, as the system had hinted at a significant reward for fully awakening it.
Throughout the meeting, Aron had been trying to discern the actual mission and whether it would involve confronting those on the opposite side of the table. He had focused on answering their questions to buy time for figuring out the mission. With the revelation of the preparators' true intentions, it seemed the need for further investigation had diminished.
“I hope you don’t regret this,” Aron said with a serious tone before finally releasing the suppression he had been placing on himself. The gravity of his words was clear, and with the justification to act now fully realized, any sympathy he might have had was set aside.
