Renaedica gave Greg the key to his room before heading upstairs with Lithmara, the two of them eyeing each other hungrily through a drunken haze, though Greg couldn't tell whether it was sexual or literal… possibly both? Monstrous relationships were weird. Greg shook his head as he finished cleaning up, before heading upstairs himself. "Alright Chris, you guys can come out now." He announced as he arrived in the room, falling into the bed as the portal Chris had attached to him opened and the other three stepped out.

"So… today could have gone better." Andrew sighed.

"Eh, I think I did just fine." Greg shrugged.

"Didn't expect the Mistress of Obleck to visit a new captive. Also didn't expect her to look so human." Chris commented. "Led to complications."

Thomas grimaced. "Honestly, we should have expected that. Complications are par for the course at this point."

"And now the leadership of Obleck is fully aware of who we are and what we can do." Andrew grimaced. "How are we going to get Corek now?"

Greg cocked his head as an idea occurred to him. "We could ask?"

Andrew blinked. "Eh?"

"Well, the basis behind our operations on this side of the Line is supposedly mutually beneficial, right?" Greg replied. "We take Raider targets and put them in Chris's world, keeping them safe, but also removing them as a threat. We'll probably need to add some other benefits for the monstrous races as a whole, so they'll go along with the plan as well, but ultimately, this shouldn't be something we need to keep secret, it should be something both sides are eager, or at least willing, to participate in."

Andrew nodded slowly. "That's true… but what can we offer the monstrous races?"

"Damselia?" Chris offered. "And others like her. Assholes who actually deserve some punishment, rather than innocent women who just happened to be unlucky enough to get captured." He paused. "Not that anyone deserves what the monstrous races do to women, but since someone has to take the hit, I'd rather it be bad people than innocent ones."

Andrew frowned. "I don't like the idea of handing people over to be essentially tortured, even if they are assholes. Or, I suppose, I don't like the idea of looking for people to punish, you know? If it happens, it happens, but- just, if you look for problems, you tend to find them, and it could lead to us doing something horrible to someone who doesn't deserve it."

"That's true." Greg nodded. "Better to look for reasons not to hurt people, rather than the other way around."

"I can agree with that." Chris shrugged. "However, when we do have assholes available to us, like Damselia, I see no reason to spare them. As I said, I would rather see bad people suffer than innocent ones."

"Also true." Greg muttered, frowning slightly.

Andrew grimaced, before turning to Thomas. "What do you think?"

Thomas raised his hands. "I'm not touching this one. I already did the whole 'you're an asshole, so suffer' shtick, and… well, that's how we got Foratuna."

Chris cocked his head. "Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know." Thomas sighed. "Which is why I'm not touching this. My gut says bad people deserve whatever comes at them, but logically I know people can change, so giving them that chance is… worth it? Maybe? Or are there actions that take away your right to change? Like, the Immortal that wiped my World. I don't care if they completely turn around and become a freaking saint, I'm destroying them." Thomas growled, before pausing and shaking his head. "But is that right, or is it just the way I want things to be?"

"So, the way I handled things, back when I was dealing with ferals, was by giving them a chance to be better, and if they passed it up, then I punished them." Greg explained. "I'm not saying that's the best method of doing things, and I can't say I didn't hurt more people than absolutely necessary, but in general, I feel that people who are going to change need to want to change. It isn't something you can force." He paused, glancing at Thomas. "Well, maybe you can, but at that point it isn't really them anymore, now is it? Anyway, once you've shown someone what they're doing wrong and explained to them why it's wrong, if they still choose to keep going, the consequences are on them in my opinion."

Andrew's expression twisted. "I- I suppose I can see that, but… it just doesn't sit right with me. I think- I think treating them as a commodity to be traded to the monstrous races for benefits is a step too far. If we want to hand them over, fine, go for it, but- I don't think we should benefit from it. That just- it just seems like a step too far."

"Okay, I can see that." Greg nodded. "Also, if we aren't looking for people to punish, using them as a part of any deal wouldn't be a good idea anyway, in a practical sense."

Andrew scowled at him. "Can't you just leave it at 'it's bad to benefit from someone else's suffering'?"

Greg cocked his head. "No… I don't think I can."

"I appreciate the practical motivation." Chris added. "Makes more sense than 'it just doesn't feel right'."

Andrew groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I hate you people. I really, really do." They were absolutely going to end up doing something horrendously fucked up at some point, just because it was 'practical'.

Thomas shook his head. "Let's get back to the topic at hand. We still need the reward from Corek's bounty if we want to buy that land, so what can we offer the monstrous races that would offset taking him? Something that would help them out, but wouldn't give them another way to attack the nobles."

"We could help build up their defenses, like we are for Gloria." Greg offered. "Can't attack anyone with those."

"But better defenses means they can dedicate more people to raids." Chris pointed out. "We should probably stick to something more… quality of life. Like food or technology."

Greg shook his head. "See, the problem is that the monstrous races depend on raiding for survival. If we're going to be taking away from their raiding potential, we need to offer something that either balances it out, or ensures they can survive with less raiding."

Andrew perked up as he had an idea, before freezing, not sure if it was ethical or not. "Uh… shit, there is something we can do, but… it might be fucked up, I'm not sure."

The other three stared at him as he continued to think it over, until Greg got frustrated. "Well?"

"Well… so, the reason they raid is to get people they can use to breed, right? And the problem is that the breeding process is usually… unpleasant at best, and in the worst cases, fatal." Andrew explained hesitantly.

Chris frowned. "This is starting to sound like my Damselia suggestion."

"No!" Andrew shook his head. "No, what I was thinking… Well, my first thought was having Chris go around and heal all the women, so they last longer, but… that just sounds like it'd extend their suffering. I mean, if it means someone else never suffers at all, then maybe it's worth it, but… I dunno, anyway, I think I have a way to make it work. First, we connect all the women to Chris's world, making sure they won't die. Then…" He turned to Thomas. "Do- do you think you could flip their sensations? Make it so that they actually enjoy what's happening to them?"

Thomas opened his mouth, then closed it, frowning, before opening it again, then closing it once more as he cocked his head thoughtfully. "That is… so fucked up. But… not the worst solution I've ever heard? I mean, if we rule out rescuing them, which would essentially mean damning the monstrous races to extinction, then at least making it so that what they go through isn't horrible makes sense? Not sure about making them enjoy it, though… that seems like it'd cause problems in a different way. I'd rather make it so they don't feel anything at all."

"We could ask them what they'd prefer, individually." Greg offered, nodding as he considered the idea. "Some might prefer nothing, some might prefer pleasure, and others might like the pain. People are fucked up that way, you know?" Chris grunted in agreement, remembering Debra and all her issues. She'd probably love to be some orc's fucktoy. Too bad she was in a different World. Or maybe it was for the best… he wasn't sure if that was a healthy mindset for her to indulge in.

"I'm just not sure if I can actually do it." Thomas muttered. "I'd say I probably can? But I won't know for sure until I actually give it a shot."

"Are we sure they'll be comfortable giving us what essentially amounts to a stranglehold on their reproduction?" Chris commented. "They didn't seem all that inclined to trust us, earlier."

"True, but the benefits outweigh the risks." Andrew replied. "They would essentially have access to unlimited reproduction this way, each addition becoming permanent, rather than a cycle of constant use, degradation, and replacement."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Plus, I'm pretty sure I convinced Lithmara to trust us, at least a little bit." Greg added.

"How'd you do that?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

Greg coughed. "Well… I may have mentioned I could turn the foundation of the entire city into C-4 and set it off. Pretty much, if we wanted to hurt anyone, we already would have."

Chris cocked his head. "That's not a bad idea. We should try that on a Ruin at some point."

"Right!?!" Greg exclaimed. "Felt like an idiot for not thinking of it during the dungeon. Could have caused so much damage that way."

Andrew and Thomas shared uncomfortable looks. "Anyway…" Andrew interjected. "Does anyone have any other ideas? Or is this what we're going with?"

Chris cocked his head, before shrugging. "It's possible I could also just make kids for them, but they'd need to provide the mass for them, and I'd need someone from each race connected to my world for the instinct framework. They would, of course, also all be connected to my world."

Andrew blinked. "That- actually raises a good point. If someone who's connected to your world has a child, would the child also be connected to your world?"

"That hasn't come up yet… possibly? Hmmm… if they aren't, then it might even be problematic, since when I pull people into my world, they leave anything that isn't connected behind. It would probably be a good idea to test this." Chris paused. "On an animal. Not a person."

Andrew facepalmed. "Chris, you shouldn't need to elaborate on that! It should be assumed you would test the potentially fatal experiment with an animal first!"

"Would you assume I meant animals, not people?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow as Andrew hesitated. "Then yes, I needed to elaborate."

Andrew sighed. "Fair enough."

"So… we take these ideas to Lithmara in the morning then?" Thomas asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Greg shrugged.

Chris was busy thinking about how to go about his experiment. Getting the animals was easy, but he needed to test what happened when one parent was connected while the other wasn't, which meant he'd need to somehow get an animal that wasn't connected to his world to impregnate one that was… he turned to Greg. "Do you think Gloria would consider it cheating if you fucked an animal for science?"

Greg blinked. "I don't think I'm okay with fucking an animal, period. Not a furry."

"But it's for science." Chris insisted.

"I don't care if it's for world peace! I ain't doing the beast with two backs with a literal beast!" Greg retorted.

Chris clicked his tongue. "Damn." He paused, before turning to Andrew. "Would you-?"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Andrew growled.

Chris tsked, frowning, before turning to Thomas. "I am not wasting points to turn into an animal so I can fuck something for you." Thomas rolled his eyes before Chris could even speak.

"Not what I was going to ask." Chris shook his head. "I was wondering if you could mind control an animal into having sex."

Thomas blinked. "Oh… yeah, probably?"

"Why wasn't that your first idea!?!" Andrew exclaimed.

Chris shrugged. "Didn't think of it."

Andrew shook his head. "Damn it, Chris."

"Should we wait to offer to connect the women to Chris's world until we figure this out?" Thomas asked.

"I'm going to say no…" Greg muttered. "For one, it'd take too long, and two… well, if it does end up connecting the kids to his world, I'd rather them not know. Less issues that way."

Andrew's expression twisted. "That seems… dishonest."

"It isn't dishonest if we don't know." Chris retorted. "Besides, even if they do end up connected to my world, so what? It isn't like it will change anything."

"I guess not…" Andrew muttered.

*

Lithmara carefully snuck out of Renaedica's room before dawn broke, quietly making her way downstairs, before letting out a yelp as Greg materialized next to her. "Good morning!" He greeted her with a cheeky grin. "Did you enjoy your little sleepover~?" He asked with a wink.

Lithmara scowled at him, crossing her arms. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just have a little proposition for you." Greg smiled. "Something that will, hopefully, be mutually beneficial for all parties involved."

Lithmara narrowed her eyes. "Is that so? Is this something between you and I? Or between the Eternals and Obleck?"

"Eh… more like the Eternals and all the monstrous races, but Obleck to start." Greg shrugged.

Lithmara froze, before letting out a sigh. "Then I will hear your proposition-" She raised a finger, cutting him off before he could say anything. "-in my office. With my staff. In an official capacity. I will not rewrite the fate of my people so casually." She paused. "I assume that's what your proposition will entail, yes?"

"Well… kinda?" Greg shrugged. "Not a whole rewrite though… just a small edit? Or maybe a footnote…"

Lithmara snorted. "Of course. Just a minor change. Very well, I shall see you in my office. Eight sharp."

"We'll be there." Greg chuckled, Lithmara freezing slightly as she realized that probably meant the other would be there as well. The World. She suppressed a shudder as she slipped out of the tavern, wondering if she should have just talked to Greg, official or not.

The rest of her morning was a tense affair as she quickly made herself presentable and warned her staff of the coming meeting, making sure her guards knew to send any strange people to her office. She found herself wondering how they would arrive. Would they walk boldly through the streets, causing chaos as they displayed their power before all the city? Would they simply appear, somehow an even more terrifying prospect? Or would they do something so incomprehensible she couldn't even fathom its effects, like the outer gods they claimed to imitate? Lithmara nervously chewed on her lip, anxiety twisting her guts into knots as she waited in the conference room. Finally, there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" She exclaimed, too loud, too insistently.

"Mistress, your guest has arrived." The servant announced as he entered, bowing as Greg walked in behind him.

Greg let out a low whistle, or at least he tried to, his mandibles and mouth structure making it difficult. "Nice place you got here. Fancy."

Lithmara blinked. "It- it's just you?"

"For now." Greg smirked. "They'll come when everything is ready."

Lithmara's expression twisted. "I see. Yes, well, my staff shall be arriving shortly, if you'd like to take a seat." She gestured to the other side of the table, where he and his… associates would be seated.

"Don't mind if I do." Greg replied, taking a seat. "So… want a basic outline before we begin, or should we wait for all the 'officialness' to begin?"

Lithmara hesitated as propriety warred with a burning mix of curiosity and anxiety for the fate of her city, the mix evaporating her limited propriety with little to no effort. "A short summary would be nice…" She murmured.

"Well, basically, we want to make your captives immortal and cooperative, in exchange for collecting a few Raider bounties." Greg held up a hand to hold off her objections. "Not to kill, but to put in Chris's world. The Raiders will be happy, because a threat will be removed, the bounty will be happy, because they won't have to worry about being killed anymore, and you'll be happy, because you won't need to raid as much due to not losing your captives to whatever you put them through. Any captives you have now would essentially be the captives you have forever, and that number could only grow."

Lithmara froze, her eyes widening. That- that could change everything! If they no longer needed to worry about their breeders dying, then they could sustain themselves easily with dungeon Bonds and farming! There would still be a need for growth, since there were races that bred through alternate means, such as vampires, but those populations were small and their needs could easily be supplied. Furthermore, if they no longer needed to throw body after body across the Line to grow, then they wouldn't need to keep breeding more and more to replace those bodies. And all it would take would be- Lithmara froze, narrowing her eyes at Greg. "Why do you need to collect Raider bounties?"

Greg shrugged. "Same reason I need to work at Renaedica's tavern. Don't have money, need money, and this is a way to do it."

Lithmara nodded, before pausing as her expression twisted. "This- could lead to complications." She muttered. Not everyone would see this offer as a hope for peace. Some, many, would see it as fuel for war, a way to increase the amount of bodies they could throw across the Line, little caring for loss as every captive grew their population more and more. They would see it as freedom from the shackles of the nobles, no longer relying on raids to survive, free to eradicate the people that had caused them so much harm. The monstrous races were not designed to be kind people, and the atrocities of the nobles had done little to soothe the beasts within them. "It would probably not be wise to give us an excuse to wage war without caring about whether the nobles survive or not."

Greg cocked his head. "True. However, you have to remember, all the captives will be connected to Chris's world. You piss us off, and poof, they're gone, leaving you in an even worse position than you started. Which, honestly, would probably drive you to do something worse in desperation…" He trailed off with a mutter. "Huh. Anyway, the key here is you still have to work with us, and we want to stop the war, not perpetuate it. Using our generosity to attack the nobles would be a bad idea." He finished in a dangerous tone.

Lithmara gulped. "Yes, I- I can see how that would be the case."

Greg grinned. "Good. Also, there's another option, which would be for Chris to… create children for you. You would need to provide mass and a few people for him to pattern their instincts off of, but we could probably work out something like ten kids for every bounty we collect. Or depending on the bounty… eh, we can figure out the details later." He waved dismissively.

Lithmara pinched the bridge of her nose with a groan, wondering if she should even be surprised that that… thing could create people. "And all these would be his, wouldn't they?"

"Also yes, so if you misuse them, we can take them back. But they're still people with their own wants and desires and all that, and you'll be raising them, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue, right?" Greg replied. "They'll also be immortal, which… Well, if they do need to fight, you don't need to worry about losing them. Though their level will reset."

Lithmara resisted the urge to ask more questions as the first of her staff arrived. This was going to be an interesting meeting.