One by one, Devon flexed his fingers. If he didn’t know better, he almost wouldn’t have been able to tell which ones were his originals and which were part of the replacement arm. They had the technology to make it blend in, after all. Chikere had been an exception where she hadn’t wanted her arm to look entirely natural, but everyone else could get replacement limbs rather easily. And that didn’t just mean Devon, with his position of privilege. No, pretty much anyone in the Lower Realms Alliance could- though they wouldn’t have an arm that could stand up to an Assimilation level battle like Devon’s. Not that it would do most people any good if they had an arm that would last beyond their own death.

“I should get one of those,” Naamah commented.

“You don’t need one,” Treloar pointed out. “Better to have a flesh and blood arm you can grow stronger yourself. And if you end up needing a replacement later…” he shrugged.

Aerona was part of the diplomatic group as well, but unlike with Vrelt, their efforts on Nidec would be focused on familiarity rather than professionality. In short, they wanted those who previously had connections with the Exalted Quadrant to convince their brethren that they would be better off cutting ties with the upper realms.

And Devon would be there, because it wouldn’t hurt to have backup. In truth, he found it quite agreeable to be less involved. No spying and the like. Not yet, at least. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be necessary.

Were there risks involved, directly interacting with Nidec? Absolutely. They could send information to the upper realms that would be quite troublesome. Then again, perhaps they already had. And if such information had to go somewhere, at least the Exalted Quadrant was probably less bad than the Trigold Cluster. Probably.

Which was the whole point of letting the decent factions that had occupied Ceretos try to convert these people.

Would it result in another war? Devon hoped not. But if it did, the alliance would still be more prepared. Aside from Devon’s personal growth in strength, fleets were closer in case of an emergency. Not that anyone from Nidec was supposed to know that. Otherwise, it would be a threat- and there were enough of those with the mere existence of Assimilation cultivators.

Speaking of which, Nidec seemed primed to develop their own version of post Life Transformation cultivators that would stay in the lower realms. It seemed they had managed to retain their cultivation techniques beyond the last cycle, and in fact the only reason they hadn’t already developed an Assimilation equivalent was because they were so successful with ascensions. But seeing Devon and the others would doubtless inspire them, regardless of whether they actually shared anything.

That was a risk they had to accept, of course. If Nidec grew stronger and chose to be an enemy, they would have to deal with those consequences. But given that Naamah was here, Devon really didn’t worry about it too much.

“Alright, well, time to go crack some skulls,” Naamah said.

“If you were talking about anyone outside of your own sect, I would say you should reconsider that being your first option,” Treloar said. “But I suppose I will trust your judgment as a member of the Hardened Crown Sect. I will be talking with the Worthy Shore Society and some others for much more… subdued interactions.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see which of us make them join us first.”

“It’s not a race,” Treloar said.

“You only say that because you think you’ll lose.”

Devon smiled slightly, looking over at Aerona. She shrugged. “At least Treloar took the diplomatic courses,” Aerona whispered. “Though he was already the kind of person who understood such things…”

“Strangely enough, if Naamah does well it might really change things,” Devon commented. “If she can convince anyone that it’s better to side with us, of course.”

“Well, it is,” Aerona pointed out.

“Now we just need everyone to believe it.”

-----

Anton found himself at the border once more. He was strongly considering trying to measure more of the Shining Cooperative’s territory, but he decided against it. For the moment, at least. Preferably, things would go well with the diplomatic meetings he had arranged for. Actually, that was a better use of his time- checking out the area to make sure there wasn’t anything weird they had missed. But first he planned to skirt west along the border and make his way back to Akrys.

From what he had heard, things were going quite well there. There were only a few people monitoring the area, plus those who were helping the Great Queen relay messages and those bringing the colony ships. Other than that, though there were probably countless people who would love to set their feet on a planet of sapient beast cultivators… it was basically off limits. Though Anton had some hope that the locals would form some sort of planet wide governing body, that still took some time. Especially starting from a place of very limited tools. Though having been away for more than a few years, Anton expected things to be quite different.

-----

Three Squeaks decided he didn’t like horses. At least, this group of horses was terrible. Predators at least had some sort of historical drive to eat whatever they could, but these guys had chased off and tried to kill everyone who approached. And it wasn’t like they couldn’t talk. They didn’t make requests- they started with the attempted murder, and didn’t ever bother to say ‘hey, this land is private please leave’.

In most cases, Three Squeaks would have been happy to just stay away and ignore them, despite all of that. But they were simply too aggressive, and intent on expanding. As far as things on the continent with the Lower Plains Coalition, they were the main remaining bad eggs. Which was unfortunate, because Three Squeaks usually liked eggs.

The one who was the biggest problem was their leader. One of the few Life Transformation cultivators on the continent, aside from the jungle cats. And while the jungle cats hadn’t been friendly, they at least used their words. This horse guy wouldn’t talk to anyone besides fellow horses. Finding out his name was Sharphoof had taken longer than Three Squeaks wanted to admit. And even then, he preferred the other name they’d come up with- Arrogant Whinny. Because while the horse certainly had reasons to be proud of his strength, it was too much.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Life Transformation was certainly a lot, but pure cultivation tier wasn’t the only relevant factor. The horses didn’t even use tools or weapons. They barely took care of their land. And yet they wanted more.

There was something to be said that regardless of anything else they had done, going into someone else’s land and killing them was still pretty close to the edge of acceptability- beyond it, perhaps. Which was why they were just going to wait for Sharphoof or his people to trod somewhere unwelcome. Specifically, into the territory of the Kapok Coalition, now proper allies of the Lower Plains Coalition.

“How long are we going to wander back and forth?” Rusty Mane complained.

“As long as necessary,” Sleek Fur said. “That’s how patrols work.”

“But why are they so boring? Couldn’t we swap out with someone? I think that would be a good idea. Don’t you, Mischief?” Rusty Mane turned his head to ask his second sister. “... where did she go?”

Three Squeaks knew the answer to that. That said, he wasn’t going to tell the two lion siblings, because they would probably tell their sister. And then it would be harder for Three Squeaks to track her in the future. And with some technicalities, she was doing her job. Mischief was always the curious sort, so scouting around and watching for foes was kind of within her purview.

Ultimately, she was a handful of kilometers away, slinking through the trees. If she actually intended to step into horse territory Three Squeaks would come up with something to stop her, but so far she was keeping her distance. That said, he had the feeling it wouldn’t matter for long.

Echoing Cry descended down to land upon one of the titular spiky kapok trees. “They’re on the move.”

“What’s the point?” Sleek Fur asked. “Do horses even like forests?”

Three Squeaks did his best impression of crossing his arms. “I hear they kicked down things to make the area more open when they expanded in other directions.” It wasn’t quite so bad as the beavers had been, but those guys were designed for tree removal. And maintaining a livable environment didn’t make up for how much damage they caused and the people they drove from their homes.

-----

Three Squeaks wasn’t sure why it had become his job to engage in diplomacy with people. He wasn’t trained to interact with people. He was an archer. The only thing he had going for him was that he could yell loudly… because otherwise he couldn’t talk with people from a safe distance.

He especially didn’t feel like he should be doing this job for the Kapok Coalition. But Rumbling Growl had told him to do it instead of one of their others. So there he was, up in a tree, yelling down at some incoming horses.

“Sharphoof! You are entering territory that does not belong to you! Turn back or face the consequences!”

When the horse whinnied, Three Squeaks thought he might actually get a conversation. “What right has a tree rat to tell me what to do? I take no orders from even lions!”

Wow. This guy couldn’t even recognize meerkats? Rude. Also, he hadn’t even slowed down. “If you don’t stop immediately, we won’t be merciful.”

The horse’s response was to speed up. The guy was pretty fast. He was half a kilometer away, and might reach Three Squeaks tree in a dozen seconds or less. Maybe a little more, if other trees got in his way.

“Open fire!” Three Squeaks called. “Everyone, prepare to attack!” More than a dozen lions from the Kapok Coalition were present- they hadn’t been able to perfectly predict the arrival of this fellow, but they sent some beefier warriors. Three Squeaks shot a few arrows of his own, while others came from the skies. Not terribly many eagles had taken up archery, but those who had were literally untouchable. Any lack of muscle efficiency in their shots was made up for by better cultivation.

Sharphoof didn’t charge forward alone, instead he ran along with- and then slightly ahead of- dozens of others from his pack. They ranged from Spirit Building to Essence Collection, at least in a general sense. They might not be proper cultivators, though.

Those on their sides formed into lines, lions reach to move to surround the approaching horses. Especially Sharphoof, who was pulling ahead of the pack. Yes, every single one of their side held their place. And not even a single warthog named Half Oink was charging towards the enemy alone. Because that would be crazy and ruin the whole plan.

So she wouldn’t do it. Right?

Three Squeaks didn’t let his disbelief stop him from continuing to fire spirit arrows at Sharphoof. If nothing else, he forced the horse to sway back and forth, and he could at least wear down the fellow’s defensive energy. But he sure had a lot of it. Life Transformation was no joke. It was a good thing they had eagles and some hippos and a variety of everything from the Lower Plains Coalition. And some smarter warthogs.

But there was also Half Oink, who arrived in front of Sharphoof almost immediately. The horse reared back, stomping down on her head… and the warthog took it directly to the skull. There was a loud sound as she was struck, and then an explosion of dirt and dust filled the area.

“They’re not even sharp at all!” Half Oink squealed through the dust. “You lied!”

Three Squeaks was glad that his senses could at least make out how she dodged away from his subsequent strikes, and more than that she flailed her tusks at his front legs, actually causing thin lines of blood as her focused natural energy cut through his defenses. Of course, taking a massive blow to her head first thing wasn’t a great way for Half Oink to start a battle with a stronger cultivator. She wasn’t looking too great, despite her rugged temperament.

Three Squeaks made sure to shoot at the most vulnerable bits of the horse’s legs, trying to keep him off balance while the eagle archers mainly went for the other horses- who were just engaging with their front lines. Actually, keeping their strongest cultivator away from the front lines was quite valuable… it was just far too risky for Half Oink to do.

But as far as sharp went… she was a winner in that category. The way she moved her head was not accidental, nor simple animal instinct. Her tusks were blades, honed against more than a few different sorts of enemies. And Half Oink was a proper Essence Collection cultivator now. Three Squeaks could probably take out any of the other combatants if he didn’t have to cover her, but with the two of them and Echoing Cry in the skies… they were actually winning.

And then, just as swiftly as he arrived, Sharphoof began to leave, turning and charging with his powerful legs. Half Oink couldn’t even keep up.

“Hey!” Three Squeaks said. “Did you think I was a liar? Your consequences aren’t even half done yet!” Sure, this horse might cover a kilometer in half a minute or less… but that meant Three Squeaks had at least five minutes of shooting at this fellow before he had to take a single step from his tree. Three Squeaks watched the flailing brown mane in disgust… and took his time forming an arrow of fire.

It flew through the air, right over the horse’s back. The tail was ready to try to flick away his attack- but Three Squeaks had arced over it. And while the horse was rather agile, there was only so much he could adjust in a dead sprint. Piercing through his energy, his mane was set on fire. The horse almost immediately threw himself to the ground.

Good. He wasn’t ever going to make it back to his own territory. And maybe the rest of the horses would learn to be nicer. Like the zebras. Sure, Three Squeaks didn’t know any zebras who were people, but they were still decent.

Half Oink’s smaller legs weren’t meant for long distance running, but even with blood streaming from her forehead she didn’t give up the chase- and it took Sharphoof too long to put out the flames upon him.

Looks like it was time for him to learn what actual sharpness was like. It was a shame he hadn’t even tried to talk. Why did it always turn out like that? Except for the reef. And the Heavenly Lake. And the leaf insects. And the lemurs. And the Kapok Coalition. Okay, fine, actually most people seemed pretty decent. But why did the bad ones get so strong?

Well, he knew the reasons for that too. Which was why he made sure to have lots of slightly-less-strong friends to make up for that.