Taking a deep breath of air, Anton found that Ozemdu’s atmosphere was… a little bit stale. That was the sort of thing that happened when you picked a planet that hadn’t actually been visited. At least it did have an atmosphere and the various scans hadn’t been wrong. Anton wasn’t looking forward to trying to build up an atmosphere in just a few years.

He would have done it, of course. Instead, after surveying the nearby systems to make sure there weren’t any unfortunate energy anomalies, he set about planning a garden. Ships from the Lower Realms Alliance had already arrived and were setting up prefabricated structures. It wouldn’t exactly be elegant but with the available time frame and distance from resources it was difficult to expect better.

There would be no formations involved. Any benefits that might be gained from such things would be offset by a potential lack of trust. It wasn’t as if they needed to defend against anything, anyway. If the Shining Cooperative wished to launch an attack, setting up a fortress wouldn’t really help. If they showed up intending to fight, the plan was to withdraw. While that might make the Alliance appear weak, it was better to act with caution with regards to an unknown power. At the very least, they had something akin to Ascension-class battleships. Whether that was the peak of their power or simply one tool in their arsenal was unknown- though Anton was fairly certain they didn’t have anything the equivalent of Enrichment, based on the reaction to his presence.

There was some debate about whether or not Anton should be present for the meeting. He would be a familiar face- though there was no guarantee of Kybele or anyone on her ship actually attending in person. Anton could also appear as a threat. If he hadn’t been the one to make first contact, he would definitely be a threat. In that scenario, he would also have to determine whether to bond to the local star. Anton’s cultivation was progressing steadily, and he was averaging just upwards of eight years with regards to unlocking each new star. Which was just as long as all of Body Tempering, Spirit Building, and somewhere around a third of Essence Collection. Comparing to stars in late Life Transformation, each one took about three or four times as long now.

These were the things Anton thought about as he prepared the garden. A proper garden, in his opinion, should not be limited to flowers or hedges. Since he confined himself to working with only local plants, and given his limited timeframe, he did have to cut some corners. Still, he found a nice, sturdy groundcover. It could handle a bit of being stepped on, as long as nobody tried to intentionally squash it. It was also much more pleasant than grass. He hardly had time to grow a proper tree the natural way, but he took a few cuttings and by focusing his energy on them accelerated their growth. That way, a few years could turn them into a proper tree.

He also needed something edible. Regardless of whether or not anyone actually ate of it, a fruit tree and some patches for vegetables were necessary. Perhaps others might disagree with him. For a diplomatic visit, they might want to focus purely on beauty. But beauty was merely a small part of what made plants wonderful.

In the first few years, Anton half changed his mind about whether or not to be present. He went back and forth several times. Ultimately, he settled for being available in the next system over. That meant he couldn’t reasonably serve as reinforcements- if it took more than an hour for whatever forces arrived to subdue their diplomatic party, then the Shining Cooperative would never be a threat to begin with.

Everyone involved was aware of the risk, of course. There were a number of mobile Assimilation cultivators assigned to them, but that didn’t immediately make things safe. Anton had heard that Aerona and Devon were helping the efforts on Nidec progress rapidly, at least by cultivator standards, but they wouldn’t be here for this. Thus, it would have to be trusted to others. Specifically, Lynnette would be coming here.

Kohar’s apprentice was a bright woman who had probably surpassed her master’s knowledge at this point, and fortunately for her sake she was a better cultivator than Kohar had been. The ravages of time had gotten to Kohar, but Lynette was still relatively young as such things went. She’d even managed to reach Assimilation via scholarly pursuits. Not that it was unusual for learned cultivators to advance to higher cultivation levels, but most still had some focus on martial pursuits. Lynnette wasn’t a pacifist, but beyond a basic devotion to her own defense her cultivation was focused elsewhere.

Anton wondered what he might have been like, if he had been introduced to cultivation while young. If he hadn’t needed to fight… well, he wouldn’t be all that different. He was a hunter already, his skill with the bow being a practical way to obtain food for his family. There had been trouble with normal bandits a number of times in his first century of life, and he had used his skills there as well.

In short, Anton couldn’t imagine not having some focus on combat abilities unless the world was completely devoid of strife between humans. But he still appreciated those who had the devotion to focus on other ways of bettering themselves. And he tried to remember to focus on other ways he could build himself up, like helping people or places improve.

Ultimately, Anton didn’t want to intimidate potential allies- or at least neural neighbors. But he also wasn’t going to remain too far, in case he could help or if they asked to see him.

“I’m going to spend my time in a neighboring system,” Anton ultimately told Lynette. The woman was dressed in comfortable clothes with only basic durability enchantments- more so because they lasted better than because of value as armor. Comfortable, yet practical and formal. “Ultimately, that means I cannot respond to anything for several days. I don’t mind them knowing I am there, of course. It is far enough to be a reasonable caution. But mostly, I will be cultivating. Hopefully you don’t need me at all.”

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“Without meaning to sound insulting… no, we won’t need you.”

In a way, Anton was a little disappointed. But he also knew that he really shouldn’t feel obligated to be involved with everything. This thing, at least, was connected to him even if it was by some level of coincidence.

Continuing from where she left off, Lynette gestured around them. “Your garden will be much appreciated, of course. It represents my favorite part of the Alliance, growth and prosperity. But as for your presence during diplomacy, frankly you’re a little bit too straightforward and accommodating to deal with negotiations. At least if you deal with unscrupulous people.”

“Are you saying I would get taken advantage of?” Anton raised an eyebrow.

Lynette chuckled. “Anyone who actually tried that would greatly regret it. But as much as I in theory like to see unpleasant individuals get crushed, in practice we need to come to some agreement with the least amount of bitterness possible. If a conflict is inevitable, it is likely better for the alliance in general to delay that. And I am quite practiced in maintaining decorum even when presented with the most ridiculous terms.”

“Well, let me know if anyone needs a grandpa. Or pictures of meerkats with bows,” he added.

“As much as I wish all negotiations could be resolved by such things,” Lynette grinned. “I do believe we would do best to keep Akrys out of the discussion at this point.”

“So the pictures of Agom from the upper realms are probably also out.”

“She’s the sword wolf?” Lynette asked.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Information from the upper realms isn’t secret. Everyone’s seen pictures of her. Mostly sent by Timothy during communication downtime.”

Anton nodded. He’d received most of his pictures that way as well. As for Timothy being the vessel, it was difficult to imagine Catarina fawning over cute things- except for Fuzz himself. And the wolves basically didn’t use technology or other communication devices except where necessary. Alva might have been a close second for people Anton would have expected to be the source of such pictures, however.

-----

Anton sensed something coming. It was still over a year before the agreed upon time- even with potential difference in time calculations the Shining Cooperative shouldn’t be showing up for half a year. Though nothing said they couldn’t also come early. Upon resolving the feeling, however, Anton determined it was simply a scout. Unless they meant to send a very small group to this diplomatic event. That wasn’t technically wrong, but it would be a bit odd if they didn’t bring at least a couple dozen people. Perhaps hundreds, if they had larger ships. Hell, he wouldn’t even be surprised at a fleet with an escort.

Numbers weren’t something they had agreed on. Mostly the location and the purpose- to properly open diplomatic relations, instead of relying on random people who came across each other in an unaffiliated system.

Anton reported the scout to others, not so much as a warning but as a caution. It wasn’t particularly fast, but it wasn’t slow for an in-system pace either. When it got closer, Anton could feel something from it. The familiar feeling of being watched. The ship seemed to be the source of that, rather than individuals upon it. Sensors of some sort, powered by a formation. That was quite a complicated thing as he understood it, though to be fair there were depths of technology and formations that went far beyond what Anton would ever learn.

They should have picked him out, of course. His cultivation wasn’t hidden. He might have liked to leave before their scouts arrived, if he knew, but at least he should be recognizable. Unless they were extremely poor at reading auras, his should be distinctive.

Since the scout was a herald of their eventual arrival, Anton resolved to leave the system soon enough. Being spotted wasn’t a bad thing, but hanging around could make people nervous. So he would move out soon. He just needed to conscript someone to manage the garden.

If they had been willing to reveal the existence of void ants, Anton would have assigned the task to them. They were very precise workers, very capable of tending to plants. After all, as a source of food and natural energy for them, plants were one of many things they maintained for the prosperity of their colonies. They also farmed other insects, and when the colonies got to the level of being able to cooperatively hunt larger prey they managed those numbers as well.

-----

Lynette watched Anton go, nervously. Cultivators of her level were not without emotions- that was a mistake the Frostmirror Sect had made long before. Completely cutting off emotions dulled responses. But letting them influence judgment too much was also a problem, especially in the sort of position Lynette had. Instead, it was important to deal with such things.

For that purpose, Anton’s gardens were perfect. A peaceful place, away from the piles of information she had to sort through regarding the requests of various factions. Not that she even expected to get to most of that. Her goal in the negotiations was to secure the most important thing- a peace treaty. Even one that wasn’t supernaturally binding was still extremely valuable. It either showed sincerity from the other side, or could be used as leverage later to gain greater advantage if they disregarded it.

Considering the worst outcomes was necessary. But Lynette only wanted to consider the taste of the citrus fruit she picked. It was both sweet and sour. Delicious, and full of natural energy. This was a young tree, picked from among the natives? It was amazing that it was grown and fruiting already, and so good. They simply had to export these.

But Lynette knew that it wasn’t simply a good variety that made it this way. It was Anton. The man had picked out perfect positioning, changing the levels of dirt in the gardens while considering the way light would hit each plant. He was a master of his craft, even with new and never before experienced plants. His original profession was as a farmer, after all. There was a reason the fruits from the main branch of the Order of One Hundred Stars could sell for as much as a small mansion. Even if the man only personally tended them every few years or so, over the course of centuries there were many amazing plants that had been raised by that man.

Lynette felt better. And she was going to offer the fruit to whoever she was negotiating with. It should make them more relaxed, and favorably inclined to be more reasonable. It wasn’t bribery, it was kindness. Because what she really wanted was to keep them all for herself.