In that quiet room, amidst the glow of holographic maps and the sll of stale coffee, a historical mont was born.
It was a mont that would eventually be etched into the annals of galactic history as the birthmark of the "One Hundred Scions of the Human Empire"—the elite vanguard that would one day lead humanity to dominate the stars.
As the factions ford with lightning speed, the atmosphere within the palace war room shifted.
Hye watched as a wave of new and old faces began to filter into the eting, authorised by their new roles as faction leaders or high-ranking advisors. This was the imdiate, tangible impact of the expansion.
n and won who had previously worked in the shadows or in mid-level administrative roles were now earning the privilege of joining the core assembly, their voices helping to shape the destiny of what was rapidly becoming a human empire.
Seeing this influx of talent brought a profound sense of relief to Hye. The burden of leadership was finally being distributed.
With more capable minds involved in reshaping the kingdom’s future, a flood of innovative ideas and strategic nuances erged, promising a progression far smoother and more robust than he had ever dared to imagine.
He knew he could place his absolute trust in his old friends to oversee this transition.
For years, he had ticulously focused on nourishing this grand pool of talent, and now, at the precipice of his greatest gamble, those efforts were finally yielding a harvest of loyalty and competence.
Leaving his council to finalise the internal restructuring, Hye made his way to his next essential stop: a private eting with Olana. He had left her to her own devices for over twenty-four hours, and he was eager to see if her performance matched her reputation.
When he stepped into the secure chamber where she had been working, he was taken aback. She had done far more than rely follow his instructions.
"Oh, you were really busy," Hye noted, his eyebrows rising in genuine surprise.
Olana hadn’t just provided maps of the hatching world hot zones available for the next month. She had plotted exhaustive, multi-vector travel routes for every sector, calculating the fastest lanes and the most discreet bypasses.
But the true surprise lay in her diplomatic initiative; she had leveraged her influential family ties to close a series of high-level deals while Hye was busy with his generals.
"I’ve settled all the misunderstandings my family harboured against you," she said calmly. There was a distinct note of pride in her voice, a subtle shift in posture that suggested she had reclaid so of her agency.
"They believed the narrative I fed them. They are under the impression that I joined you of my own accord—that I am travelling with you to explore the furthest reaches of the universe and observe the developnt of your territory."
Hye’s eyes sharpened, his relaxed deanour montarily replaced by a cold, predatory focus.
"Easy there. I hope you didn’t give away the specific coordinates or the strategic layout of my territory."
He was not willing to expose his sanctuary to the prying eyes of the grand races, especially not on the eve of his departure for the outer battlefield.
"Don’t worry," Olana replied, unfazed by his sudden intensity. "I told them I would be accompanying you to the outer battlefield for a long-term expedition, but..."
"But what?" Hye asked, his mind already weighing the necessity of her presence. He had already toyed with the idea of bringing her along.
Leaving her behind in his territory was a security risk he couldn’t afford; she was too clever, and if she decided to flee back to her family or sabotage his infrastructure in his absence, the damage would be catastrophic. The only feasible solution was to keep her within arm’s reach.
"I had to give them sothing of substance to keep them satisfied," she paused, carefully asuring her next words.
"I had to tell them about the details of the deal you struck with Moth. Of course, I don’t know every nuance of your arrangent, but the information I provided regarding the trade volu was exceptionally valuable to them."
Hye leaned against the wall, considering this. "They’ll sell that news to the highest bidder, then," he deduced. He could see exactly why her family held her intelligence in such high regard.
Olana nodded in silent confirmation. "It was a necessary sacrifice. If they didn’t see a clear benefit from my presence at your side, they would have started questioning my motives—and yours. They would have suspected I was being held against my will, which would have brought their eyes directly onto this sector."
"That’s not entirely bad," Hye mused. "If they’re busy profiting from the news of a deal with the Hescos, they’ll be less likely to interfere with our dostic growth. It keeps them distracted."
"Precisely," Olana sighed, a flicker of exhaustion crossing her face. "And in return for that intel, I didn’t just settle the debt. I asked them for the resources you so desperately need. I negotiated for them in exchange for a portion of the bones you’ve amassed."
She gestured to a series of data-chips and storage manifests on the table. Hye looked at the figures—thousands of high-grade artificial planets ready for transport. He felt a surge of genuine luck.
Not only had he filled the gap in his territorial expansion plans, but the shipnt also included a massive cache of U.stat crystals.
Without a word, he began the process of integrating the crystals, planting them into his heart crystal’s energetic field even as they spoke.
"I can satisfy their needs for paynt," Hye said, his eyes glowing with the reflected light of the data screens. "But..."
"I’m ahead of you," Olana said, her voice regaining its professional poise. "I sent them a prioritised list of your requirents, and they’ve promised to leverage their deepest connections to bring in more. However, there is a condition. They’ve asked to see exactly which ’bones’ they’ll be receiving in exchange. It seems Moth has already begun circulating the bones you traded to the Hescos, and the market is going absolutely wild for them. Everyone wants to know the source."
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