Once the exploration battalion third flagships exited the FTL, Chaan knew that he had been played. Oh, he did have his suspicions. But it was a completely different thing, to think that something was a bit fishy than to find out that the thing wasn't just a bit fishy. No, the whole goddamn thing was made out of fish.
Oh, everything he had read about his new subordinate race had been correct. A relatively young civilization that had managed to advance far enough to colonize another planet. That had a high population count when accounting for its position in the galaxy.
This should have been the point that would have put him on high alert. Because, this star system, called the solar system, was in a tier 2 area of the galaxy. Where most planets and stars produce enough mana to allow materials and lifeforms to reach tier 2. However, this usually lowers the fertility rate, as planets can only support so many beings drawing on it's mana reserves, unless they are lower-tier lifeforms.
And this would be an even better thing for him, as the people were somewhat familiar with mana, but they hadn't advanced that much. So once they got access to the Empire's knowledge, perfected by countless experts, their advancement would be astronomical.
Then there would be a higher chance that someone great would come out of there, as they would be empty slates only needing a small injection of Empire's knowledge and resources to bloom. And historically planets like that had done extremely well for themselves. So naturally, the person responsible for their supervision had shared in their glory.
However, what he had gotten was an anomaly planet. Well, no, it wasn't just an anomaly planet. No, it was a goddamn whole anomaly star system. The closest thing to career suicide one could come.
Sure this would have been a great opportunity if only the race hadn't been rigged from the start. And the worst thing was that he couldn't complain about this, as he had gotten a much more valuable asset than he was expecting to get. Chaan was sure if he complained, he would become a true laughing stock, as he would have had to be promoted twice more to acquire this valuable asset as a reward. But this would make his failure just that much more tragic.
He could now see it all clearly, how each perfectly manufactured step had let him to this point, and how he had followed them perfectly like he had been part of the planning to make sure that the play was executed perfectly. "This is what happens when you have stepped on one too many toes. " Chaan lamented his own fate.
Chaan had foolishly thought that the sabotage he would face was limited to the fact that he was promoted to a position where it would be extremely hard for him to cultivate. And to the fact that he would be too far away from the core, so his influence would slowly dimmish.
Oh, how he had been a fool. They had followed the Empire law to the letter and even used it perfectly to trap him. Now he could only affect little things. Because during the integration period, the rules were ridiculously rigid. And one had to follow the principle that everything must be earned, so he couldn't just give his new charges the tools they needed.
As his cultivation speed had been great, and he was talented at commanding, he had fastly climbed the Empire's ranks. Until one day, Elkan whose family held high positions made a mistake that cost him his promotion, so Chaan got it in his stead. This wasn't that big deal, but things tend to stack up.
As Elkan's are other of the Empires founding races, so they couldn't just start quarrels with each other over little things, as that could affect the whole Empires stability.
Around a year later, he found a smuggling ring, and who could have guessed that the same family's oldest son was running it? And apparently, there was quite a few high-positioned personnel who craved his imports. However, he wasn't aware of it then, so he only feared the Elkan family's payback.
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So he got a promotion to Commander and promised that once everything would be ready, he would be given a vassaldom.
And as these things go. Usually, two civilizations are pitted against each other to boost their growth. As nothing drives civilization forward like a war.
So he was given a couple of possible civilizations to choose from, ones that were on the brink of where the Empire would naturally bring them into their folds. Or destroy them.
However, none of them were good choices, so he waited. Until one day, he was informed that explorers had found a civilization that had crossed the recruitment border decades ago. Everything about it looked extremely good. So as he had been promoted earlier than his future opponent, they had allowed him to choose it or let his opponent have it. And as his original choices weren't that good, there was only one logical choice, so he made it.
Then came the finishing blow, and it had taken him over half a year to even realize that his fate had already been sealed.
His opponent, surprisingly another Elkan, had come to him and innocently enough and offered him the regular deal that is usually made in these situations.
Both civilizations would start on tier-higher planets in Secverse, and the winner could keep it, and the loser would have to start over on a lower-tier plane in the Secverse.
It was the standard deal and was a sort of tradition at this point. So, of course, he accepted it and doomed himself. He could have refused the deal then both would have Tier 2 planets, and they would have battled through portals, and the winner would have gotten credits and material as a reward. But who wouldn't be tempted by the regular price and a tier upgrade to the Secverse planet, top it all off?
But now he was aware of the fact that his opponent had a civilization that had always used mana. He could already see how his charges would spend ridiculous amounts of credits just to reach an almost similar level of knowledge that their opponents already had even before the integration. While their opponents could spend the same amount on resources and snowball their growth and achieve an overwhelming victory. It would be an absolute tragedy.
And that was just the start. The weak won't be allowed to keep possession of something as expensive as star system-wide anomaly. So he knew what would be his charge's fate. First, they would lose their Secverse Tier 3 planet and be placed on Tier 1 planet stunting their growth. After that, the challenges would start coming, and they would start manufacturing conflicts.
Even if Empire law protected everyone from forcibly taking over another's territory, there were two ways to do it within the limits of the law. A fair war in Secverse, or when the civilization could not pay their taxes and lands were auctioned off. They were saved from all this during the integration, but once the six years were up, it would be open season for everything that humanity owned.
Chaan already knew what would be the final nail in his coffin, the nail that would stunt his advancement, and make sure that he wouldn't make any more waves in the core.
The forced duel. When one side thinks that they have suffered a great offense, they could put everything on the line, home star system for home star system, the ultimate bet. It didn't care if the other was worth more or not, it only cared about the fact that the attacker was serious enough to bet so much, to be able to attack the other from a greatly weaker position.
The attackers could only send the same amount of same-tier players that the defenders had. And, of course, there was a modifier that the AI calculated based on the age difference of the civilizations so that older civilizations couldn't just roll over everyone.
But this was also the crux of his issue, his vassals sure were a relatively young civilization, but they had never had any mana. So their opponents would be always at an advantage, even if they were as young civilizations. And on top of that, the Elkan's plan had cut him off at the knees. His vassals would have to defeat a superior force while they were still in the cradle in mana application and cultivation. And that would make sure that they would never even have a chance to try to defend themselves before they lost their star system.
And Chaan's advance would end simultaneously, and he was sure the faction that would challenge humanity would be under Elkan's, so it was a perfect plan indeed. He would lose everything, and Elkan's would gain a star system-wide anomaly as a cherry on top sweet revenge cake.
He would have been impressed by the plan, as it was a truly beautiful work of art. If only it wasn't his ass on the line.
As his hands were mostly tied by the Empire laws, so he would have to get creative in circumventing them, if he wanted to have even a small chance to survive this. But mostly, he could only pray that this humanity would surpass his expectations.