Around the time that Velvet was beginning to worry that the void ants might have been a step too far even for Runa, she was finally called in for an official response. The fact that she was asked to bring Crossed Antennae with her was probably a good sign. If someone thought they would actually be able to kill the void ant, they would be sorely disappointed.

They did not delve deep into a mine, which meant their communication would have to be more careful, but the main details that needed to be discussed had been dealt with before.

Emrik, Runa, and several elders were waiting when Velvet arrived, the twins standing alongside her. And of course, Crossed Antennae and her royal guard were present as well though they were certainly less visibly imposing.

“Welcome,” Emrik said. “We are willing to accept your proposals, but…” Here was the difficult part, Velvet was certain. “We need certain assurances ahead of time. Specifically, we need access to some of the more sensitive information you carry with you, to be certain the quality is as good as you have said.”

Velvet’s initial instinct was to agree immediately. But this wasn’t just a negotiation between friends. She was certain that the Scarlet Alliance had vast quantities of information that the Chaotic Conglomeration would find helpful, though they might not recognize the importance of some of it. Most likely, they would be fixated on combat techniques instead of the more important, lower level stuff like agriculture. “What do you need to see?” Velvet asked.

“The information you have on Domination cultivators. Especially Zaur Beridze.”

Good. They weren’t trying to get everything they thought was most important and cut away. Not that Velvet thought the Spirit Slicing Sect would do that, but the other sects might pressure them for certain things.

“We can certainly do that,” Velvet agreed after a few moments of consideration. Though she knew the whole time what her answer would be. “Misi and Juli can easily unlock those portions of information for you.” The Scarlet Alliance wanted to share that information regardless, as it should help them stand against their mutual enemies. But they had to consider what changes they might make into the far future.

Misi cleared his throat. “I might also suggest reviewing the language sections. They should prove enlightening and useful for future communication.”

Crossed Antennae wiggled in support of his words.

-----

It did not take long after the official agreement for them to review the available information. While it was as detailed as possible concerning Domination cultivators, there was only so much dossiers about single individuals could contain. They didn’t have in-depth records of their long lives, but only what history was publicly known or otherwise verified, then what they had gathered on their own.

Though in the case of Zaur Beridze, that included several key weaknesses. At least one of which they had caused themselves. Of course, the Chaotic Conglomeration already knew that Chidi had sliced off some of Zaur’s fingers, but being given detailed information including three-dimensional scans of said fingers, just to be as thorough as possible.

The Scarlet Alliance was being less shy about computerized information. Computer systems had been the best way for them to transport large amounts of data as well as maintain some semblance of control over it. If they had tried to bring everything written down, they would have found themselves unable to fit everything in a single ship of the size they had available. Or perhaps even in some of their larger ships, despite the vast volume they could carry.

Even then, they intended to rely on future shipments to fill out what they had brought. They had focused on the highest and lowest ends of the spectrum- from how everyone could train in cultivation to develop every facet of life, to deep understandings of Augmentation. The information in between was of less immediate interest, so they stuck to the core structure. That was still enough for any cultivators lacking in direction to find a proper track.

After that initial period came a time of distribution, both the scholars who carried the information with them and the guardians. Feeding a full colony of void ants was barely more than an individual human, except for the very largest colonies. They also used space that humans wouldn’t, so it wasn’t particularly difficult to house them- all that required was being willing to accept their presence.

Something that Velvet did not tell even Runa was that the functionality of the devices they brought with them were tied to the lives of their keepers. While it might seem like a good form of deterrence to have such information public, humans were excellent at getting around restrictions they knew about. Especially motivated humans.

Of course, Velvet expected that the void ants should keep their companions safe. Especially if the scholars were willing to have some riding around on them. That was up to individual preference. Velvet was fairly certain Misi and Juli would have carried half a colony on them if it didn’t become cumbersome, but she did notice quite a few hiding out. Others shouldn’t notice unless they had practice specifically finding void ants, though.

-----

Runa was doing her very best to replicate the signs she had been learning. Her manual dexterity was sufficient to move as she pleased, but she simply wasn’t used to the specific patterns in question, and certainly not using her hands to speak. Though perhaps she should have been. “We appreciate you watching over us, Queen Crossed Antennae.”

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The ant inclined her head. “It is for your safety as well as our own purposes.”

Since Runa was learning void ant sign, Velvet only translated when Runa asked for it. That was mainly for more complicated things, like esoteric cultivation terms.

“You sever energy from its hosts,” Runa signed. “Tell me about it.”

“We can sever it, yes. But we also grab onto it and tear it away,” Crossed Antennae explained. Then she demonstrated, pulling a bit of energy off of Velvet’s outstretched hand- she knew she wouldn’t mind.

“It holds together?” Runa asked. “It doesn’t… fall apart?”

“It does not dissipate immediately,” Crossed Antennae agreed. “Though we can allow it or force it.”

Runa nodded. “Energy does not harm your body?”

“You may test,” Crossed Antennae said.

Technically, there were limits. But as long as Runa didn’t do anything that would be powerful enough to harm Velvet as well, she knew Crossed Antennae would be fine. Runa gently pressed down with a finger of energy, watching the different reactions. Crossed Antennae at first let the energy interact with her- from what Velvet understood, that actually took conscious effort. Then she let it react naturally, scattering apart as it touched her.

The energy was not gone like when a void ant devoured it, but without direction it was orders of magnitude less effective, simply dispersing back into the world.

“Very very nice,” Runa signed, clearly missing some words.

Velvet let her continue to struggle through the rest of her conversation. Then once they were done, she spoke to her friend after Crossed Antennae moved on. “You did great. Though it’s actually easier for void ants to comprehend speech. The sign language wasn’t even intended to have a human-speaking version at first, but various people found it useful. To a void ant, however, you look kind of silly. Since they add pheromones for their own people.”

“Well you could have told me that before! Now I look like a fool.”

“Crossed Antennae would never make fun of you for trying your best,” Velvet said. “I might though,” she grinned.

-----

Only a few sects were trusted enough to immediately gain access to certain information. There might have been a few more, but they weren’t willing to immediately agree to restrictions the Scarlet Alliance placed. Not the void ants- those were on a need-to-know basis.

It was instead the other restrictions that the Scarlet Alliance placed. Basic tenets of morality that many cultivators thought they were above having to comply with. That applied both enforcing for a sect’s members but also within their controlled territory. There was nothing that would actually negatively affect sects’ ability to function- in fact, it should be quite the opposite- but some were resistant to change, especially when they had not yet seen the benefits.

But that would be fine. They could end up decades behind when they finally saw how the others would grow, which would be a fair price for their stubbornness. It wouldn’t boost the Chaotic Conglomeration as quickly in power as it might if the Scarlet Alliance freely handed out every bit of information they had… but it would also protect said information from the Exalted Quadrant.

Besides, there were more than a few strategies for growth that needed people who were actually willing to work together to pull off, instead of just focusing on individual power. Most of those required some manner of respect for people’s existence.

At the top of the list was slavery. That was about the most respectful people got for other’s lives, aside from killing them in the streets for trivial or nonexistent reasons. It wasn’t even terribly practical. But it was a favorite part of traditional hierarchy, and that meant many people approved or at least accepted it.

Of course, there were many things similar in structure and similarly harmful to society to slavery that ended up being slavery but by a different name. Those practices took longer to root out of societies, though there were many experiences of success the Alliance had access to.

Ultimately, the Scarlet Alliance was only interested in building up what might be a future neighbor if they would not turn out to be a worse enemy than the Exalted Quadrant. Was it a bit much to think ahead centuries or perhaps millennia? Perhaps. But they weren’t interested in causing greater harm to their enemies by losing what had made them strong to begin with.

-----

Just before Ratna departed, they managed to test their device. The results were a tentative success. While Uzun believed it wasn’t the cause of inherent bias in their tests, ultimately nobody was happy with the results. But they would know to take things seriously if that particular family of devices reacted in the future.

Aminu was the official replacement for Vlasta, and while he probably also had some personal goals and some intent to spy upon the Scarlet Alliance, he was still an effective ambassador. He even arranged for a small group from the Scarlet Alliance to visit the Distant Shadow Sect, safely.

The Scarlet Alliance never entirely ceased operations within Silver Fang territory- they simply avoided acting openly. No high profile targets or anything meant to undermine the sect entirely. But slaves of no consequence disappeared to the annoyance of their owners… and to no response from Koronis.

She had returned to the Creeping Fire Sect’s territory, and would likely be finishing her breakthrough to Domination. There were all sorts of spies eagerly watching her movements, and the Scarlet Alliance was not alone in that regard. Of course, she would do her best to hide anything of consequence, but scraps of information about Domination were valuable enough on their own.

Though Velvet might have been the best scout they had, she had also become a little bit too notable. It was highly possible she would be looked for specifically, so even with her techniques she wouldn’t necessarily be better than the next best option- or a third party that wouldn’t mind getting paid twice for the same information. The only issue was the latter was how much said information could actually be trusted. Probably about as far as they could throw them, and that wasn’t counting someone like Durff.