Miranda stayed a bit longer, discussing stuff with Vesperia, as Jake tried not to get in the way. He did feel like the two weren’t being very friendly but overly professional. It wasn’t ideal, but better than them being assholes to one another, for sure.
After Miranda left, Jake had half-expected Vesperia to do the same. However, she made no attempts to but stuck around even as Jake planned on heading to his lab to do some alchemy with one of her Queen’s Guards. She seemed to notice his confusion and quickly clarified:
“I see no reason to go out myself, but will instead only send my drones to do the job. No purpose in me taking any risks for myself, and my sisters were also very adamant about being as safe as possible while here on Earth. And the safest place is by your side.”
“So you’re staying here?” Jake asked.
“Can I not?” Vesperia asked, looking at him with big eyes.
“Of course you can; I was just surprised,” Jake quickly wanted to make clear. “I just think it will be boring for you, as I plan on doing alchemy all the time.”
“It’s fine; I shall attend to my own matters, too,” Vesperia said with a smile. “I have much to attend to within my Internal Hive. It will slow down things a bit that I have one less Hive Queen to assist me with Sandy having taken one, but one should be enough to continue to facilitate my growth.”
“That actually got me thinking… how do the Hive Queens help in the internal world? I thought you said they can’t spawn anything in there?”
“They cannot… but they can help spawn the eggs I make. Making eggs does not consume that much Hive Energy on its own; it’s only as they grow and hatch the true cost comes. I can have other Hive Queens share some of this cost in Hive Energy with me, effectively making spawns cheaper for me, at the cost of reserving some of their Hive Energy on my behalf,” Vesperia explained. “Queens who do this a lot often end up taking one of two Paths. One Path is to become a fully support-type Hive Queen that never aims to make its own hive but only assists the true Hive Queen of the Hive. The second is to become Warrior Hive Queens, focusing all their time on improving their combat skills, as the majority of their Hive Energy remains constantly reserved anyway, making it not worth it for them to focus on creating their own spawns. Ah, but some Warrior Queens also simply never focused on making any spawns in the first place, and they can even lose their ability to do so with evolutions.”
“I see,” Jake nodded, getting a far more detailed and longer answer than he expected. Also, by now, he was wondering how many huge internal secrets of the Endless Empire Vesperia had shared with him so far. Probably a lot, right?“Well, if you’re gonna stick around, how about a quick lab tour?” Jake said with a smile, Vesperia gladly agreeing as the two of them headed down to the laboratory beneath the lodge.
Granted, things did seem a bit cramped in places, as Hank had constructed it with human height in mind, but Vesperia managed nonetheless as Jake showed off the place. He did wonder if she was incapable of shrinking herself in any way, but didn’t ask outright as that seemed rude in case she couldn’t. Actually, if she could, she definitely would have by now, seeing as how she nearly hit her head on every single doorframe.
Once the tour was over, they ended up in the alchemy lab. Due to the alchemy lab itself being inside a giant bubble of glass, Vesperia couldn’t really enter it while Jake did his alchemy, as breathing in toxic fumes wasn’t healthy unless you had Palate of the Malefic Viper.
Luckily, there was a bedroom right next door where Vesperia could set up shop. Unluckily, she had to bend her head a bit to not touch the ceiling. Back to being lucky again, that wasn’t really a problem as Vesperia didn’t plan on actually being in the room much.
Summoning the portal to her internal world, Jake’s first thought was that something would break if one of her large spawns tried to walk out of it. However, she didn’t plan on bringing anything out. Instead, she would go in.
Now, Jake had very much assumed her way of entering her internal world would be through meditation and having an avatar or something in there. Not to physically walk through a portal with her real body, which just left so many questions.
Seeing as she was the source of the portal, wasn’t it like bringing a portal into a portal? Kind of? Secondly, what would happen if someone broke the portal while she was inside? Thirdly, wasn’t having a portal constantly active like this incredibly risky? Like, what if someone decided to toss dangerous shit in there while she couldn’t sense the outside world? True, no living being could enter, but Jake confirmed that he could pump in toxic mist if he so desired.
Also, while living beings couldn’t enter, that didn’t mean they couldn’t try. Trying would usually result in a rejection, but should they be powerful enough and press hard, they could collapse the portal, which brought Jake back to the second problem.
He couldn’t help but voice his concerns at what may be a fatal flaw of how the Internal Hives of the True Royals worked… but in retrospect, he should probably have known they had long either addressed these kinds of things, or it wasn’t really a problem.
“Firstly, while I cannot see outside the portal, it’s pretty standard to leave some scouts outside to ensure nothing unforeseen approaches. More often than not, I wouldn’t even wait for someone to try and enter the portal or throw anything into it but simply collapse it upon noticing their approach. Now, this is a bit annoying, as that leaves me trapped in my Internal Hive, but I can always open up a portal in the same place I collapsed one… and if all else fails, I can simply have one of my sisters come fetch me and help me out,” Vesperia explained.
Still, Jake still saw an issue there.
“What if it happens in the ninety-third universe, though?” Jake questioned. “Will you just be trapped until the universe opens up who-knows-when?”
“No?” Vesperia said, looking perplexed. “My Internal Hive isn’t located in the ninety-third universe.”
“… when you say it isn’t located here in this universe, do you mean it has an actual physical location that one can go to?” Jake asked, very confused. As he understood it, something like an Internal Hive had to effectively exist within the soul of someone, right? At least, that’s how he knew it worked with Sandy and others who had “internal spaces.” Even Jake’s Palate, which could house physical items, was inside his soul.
“Yes?” Vesperia kept looking confused. “The Internal Hive is located adjacent to the Hidden World from which True Royals once entered the multiverse – our deepest heartlands. It exists physically within the void, outside of any universe, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to refer to it as a pseudo-nascent divine realm, at least in its function. To make it clear, my Internal Hive is by no means standard, but one I have obtained due to inheritance owed to me on account of my Lineage.”
“That… huh,” Jake muttered. “Doesn’t that mean it’s a sure-fire escape method to just enter your Internal Hive, collapse the portal, and hide there while waiting for help?”
“No, it’s incredibly risky,” Vesperia shook her head. “I said it’s adjacent to the Hidden World, but distances in the void aren’t truly a concept. No one knows where the Internal Hive is located… but with a collapsed portal, they can track my location, as I lose the system’s effects that help hide it when the portal is active and I’m inside. Seeing as the Internal Hive is located in the void, my enemies will be able to attack me once they know the location. This is how many True Royals have fallen to the Automata throughout the eras. In many ways, it can be compared to how gods try to keep the location of their divine realms within the void hidden.”
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Jake just nodded along, feeling like he learned a lot. Probably a lot of stuff he shouldn’t have, and things that were definitely considered confidential… something that was confirmed a moment later as he heard the voice of the Malefic Viper.
“I’m sure also learning a lot about True Royals today… or at the very least getting quite a few theories confirmed,” the god said, sounding quite pleased with himself. This prompted Jake to quickly raise a hand as Vesperia looked about to speak again.
“Hey, I just wanna warn you, the Malefic Viper is listening in to every damn thing you’re saying… so probably keep all the secrets of the Endless Empire under wraps a bit,” Jake said with concern.
Vesperia just smiled at his warning. “I am fully aware and do not worry. It has been agreed that I can provide both you and the Malefic Viper every piece of information I have volounteered thus far. The Endless Empire views you as a close ally and as if you are part of my Hive. Almost like an honorary member of the True Royals, if you will. Seeing as the Malefic One is your Patron, we also view him, at the very least, as someone we wish to foster positive relations to, and thus will show goodwill towards.”
“And people say you can’t do politics… now look at you, fostering powerful diplomatic ties between the Order and the Endless Empire,” Villy teased Jake.
“You are one of the primary people who call me bad at politics,” Jake shot back.
“Accidentally being good at it once in a while doesn’t make you a professional. At most, you are professionally good at being accidentally proficient in politics,” the Viper teased Jake, who chose to ignore the damn snake god and focused on Vesperia instead.
“I guess I can only thank you and the Endless Empire for the trust. From both me and the Viper,” Jake said with a smile.
“It’s only natural. You’re my Sire, after all,” Vesperia said, clearly not viewing her show of trust as a big deal. Likely because it wasn’t to her.
After a bit more small talk, Vesperia entered her Internal Hive while Jake went into his alchemy lab. His plan was still to work on the Heartrot Poison, but now he had added a bit of stabby-time with wasp venom to feed his Palate.
His alchemy session began, and he was only slightly disturbed when Vesperia went topside and unleashed her army a few days later before going back underground again. She did this a few times, sending her drones in different directions while also using Jake’s phone to sometimes talk to Miranda.
Whenever Jake and Vesperia did talk, it was mainly about getting him some wasp venom. Through the grapevine, Jake did hear a bit about what was going on with Earth, but he focused the vast majority of his attention on doing alchemy.
Weeks turned to months, and things were busy on the planet for sure. Vesperia’s drones swarmed across Earth, spreading her message to all the hives. What’s more, according to her, many of the bigger hives were in contact, and the order of the True Royal would definitely be known to all ectognamorph on the planet before the Prima Guardian arrived. So that was one potential source of trouble dealt with.
Hearing how Vesperia and others helped did make Jake feel a bit guilty about just doing alchemy, but he tried his best to stay focused and with his one-track mind, did a pretty good job.
Even when people started to arrive on the planet, Jake didn’t go out to meet them. It simply wasn’t needed, and Miranda even told him that Jake staying away made Earth look stronger. Jake wasn’t sure if she meant stronger as in actual power or more that Earth’s position appeared stronger when they didn’t even feel the need to bring out the true leader of the planet. As if telling the arriving groups that they were ultimately only guests, and at a lower position, unable to make any demands.
Now, Jake did want to go say hi when Casper and the Risen arrived, but Miranda once more informed him not to, with Vesperia in vehement agreement. She also explained things to Jake, making it clear that the entire “stronger” discussion before was definitely about political stuff. Jake really hated political stuff… especially when Vesperia made it clear politics were to blame for Jake not going to meet his old buddy.
“You view it as your friend visiting, and if he had arrived alone or with only a couple of people, you could have gone. However, he is not here as your friend but as an envoy and diplomat of the Risen. He is here in an official capacity, and before treating him like the individual who is your friend, you must treat him according to the whole he embodies. Anything else could cause misunderstandings, especially as the Risen are far from a popular race, and your showing favoritism toward them will cause dissatisfaction for some. Especially seeing as I doubt you plan to show the same welcoming mood toward the Holy Church, a far more popular faction in the multiverse. Remember, even if they do not have any official position on the planet, many still view them as a positive force in the multiverse, and they do still have some believers around, too. Worst case scenario, your actions may even lead to speculation that in the conflict between the Risen and the Holy Church, you side with the Risen.”
“In my defense, I do like the Risen more than the Holy Church…” Jake muttered, making Vesperia shake her head.
“Better to keep such emotions hidden until you can truly act upon them. Neutrality is a powerful weapon and defense, and right now, you have a powerful position as this planet’s World Leader. You are capable of keeping everyone in check because they all fear being the ones to make you break your neutral stance and act against them, so as long as you remain impartial – at least on the surface – you also remain fully in control,” Vesperia continued to explain.
“You know, for someone who has a hard time understanding human relationships, you are very good at human politics,” Jake said with a sigh.
“The Endless Empire is a mostly neutral faction, so having some basic understanding of politics is a given. Sure, we do act in our own interest, and we do not fear making enemies, but there needs to be something to be gained. Right now, I do not see the benefits of making any factions your enemies or even to make them view you less favorably,” Vesperia continued.
Jake wasn’t going to comment on the absurdity of a wasp that was only a few years old teaching about politics, and at this point, he did have to admit that a lot of it was willful ignorance. All of the pussy-footing and political bullshit was just too opposed to his Path, where simplicity was at the center. Still… best to just listen to the people who know how to politic. Even if politics still suck, but that was implicit.
“So, to sum it up… it’s best I remain all haughty and arrogant, staying as the high and mighty World Leader who refuses to even entertain interacting with anyone visiting before absolutely necessary?” Jake wanted to clarify with Vesperia, who had obviously also talked this all over with Miranda.
“You will show yourself before them soon,” Vesperia said with a smile. “You should have received the system invitation already, haven’t you?”
“I have? To what?” Jake asked, confused, as he quickly pulled up his notifications. Firstly, he had to skip past the four levels he had gained over the last quite a few months – a huge reason for which was definitely the tasty wasp venom he had consumed through repeated stabbings. These notifications also included the period before Vesperia arrived, so it had actually been quite a few months.
’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 272 - Stat points allocated, +35 Free Points
’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 275 - Stat points allocated, +35 Free Points
’DING!’ Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 281 - Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points
’DING!’ Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 282 - Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points
After skipping a few more, he finally found the one Vesperia had been talking about as he wondered how the hell he had missed it:
Announcement to all eligible nobles and special invitees on Earth: A World Congress has been scheduled, set to start in: 14 days & 11:17:54.
You must be within the territory of a Pylon of Civilization and have permission to enter from the City Lord or ruler of the Pylon.
“Oh yeah… Miranda did talk about calling a World Congress before the event started,” Jake muttered. “I guess I’m expected to attend this?”
“Of course,” Vesperia giggled a bit. “In fact, it will be the one thing you will attend, as it will allow you to meet all factions at the same time in a setting where it’s clear you have a superior position.”
“And I’ll be right next to Miranda so she can coach me,” Jake pointed out as a thought struck him. “Wait, will you also be there?”
“Naturally,” Vesperia smiled.
Jake had to hold back a sigh as he could already imagine this little World Congress being quite… something.
Oh well, Jake saw no reason to fret about it. He returned to his alchemy as two weeks quickly passed, and it was soon time for the fourth World Congress of Earth: Prima Guardian Strategy Meeting Edition.