When Emperor Rael had told his son to dominate the Great Void Ocean, he had expected that Rui would use his personal Martial power to expand the Panamic Alliance’s territory within the ocean.
He did not expect that Rui would sohow gain control over the World Serpent’s forces. He had ruled out this possibility because he had already tried getting Jormungandr to play a more active role in the world and had failed miserably.
He had ultimately given up, resigned to having them serve as security. Thus, when Rui surpassed his expectations and singlehandedly beca the new emperor of the Great Nam Ocean and of the sea monsters of the true world, he was beyond shocked.
Beyond shocked, and even more displeased.
He sat at his table with sharpened golden eyes and steepled fingers. His normally perfect golden hair was ssy, while his royal attire was slightly crumpled.
BZZZT
His commpad buzzed before him.
BZZZT
The Emperor of Harmony simply stared at the device, waiting for the call to be picked up.
BZZZT
TING!
The three-dinsional project set-up before him was activated, projecting a three-dinsional hologram of Rui sitting on the chair opposite his father. His black hair was wet, plastered to his forehead, while his clothes were drenched, dripping water continuously.
It was clear that he had been deep in the ocean just monts prior.
"Father," Rui casually acknowledged. "To what do I owe this call?"
"Don’t play dumb, Rui." Emperor Rael was not in a humorous mood. "You didn’t tell that you would gain control of the army of sea monsters in the Great Nam Ocean and drive it to the Great Void Ocean."
Rui shrugged nonchalantly. "You told to dominate, and I did it. Not sure what the issue is here."
Emperor Rael heaved a deep breath. "You know exactly what the issue is here. When I told you to dominate in the Great Void Ocean, I said that with so reasonable expectations based on your power. I didn’t think you would dominate to the point that you would unite our enemies against us. That’s not helpful, Rui. You are undermining much of the work that I’ve been doing for the past year since the Unfolding. You think alliances with brand-new entities are forged in a matter of months? You have squandered a year’s worth of efforts with countless polities with whom I’ve carefully built a relationship."
His voice was composed, but his tone made it clear that he was deeply displeased by the consequences of Rui’s actions.
"I can imagine that it has caused harm," Rui replied knowingly. "But that’s not important compared to negatron matter. Rather than having a bunch of mini-nations as our allies, it is better to stockpile as much negatron matter as we can get our hands on than fair-weather allies."
To an extent, Rui’s argunt was substantiated. Unlike allies, the value of negatron matter was extrely undeniable. It was the future of all civilization and a gateway to the entirety of the universe. Given that Panamic Civilization was deprived of large sources of energy like the stars or other forms of energy-generating technology that the true world had, they needed to get their hands on far more negatron matter than everybody else had access to.
That was the only way they could achieve parity with the rest of the world in the race to the stars.
Allies would not help them in that regard.
The Emperor of Harmony shook his head. "Your analysis is shallow. These allies might not be vital to our place in the stars, but they are vital to our place in Gaia. Not everything is about racing to the stars, Rui. In fact, the most important priority for us is finding peace and stability in the true world, and you have completely jeopardized that interest. Have you forgotten that the biggest threat to us is those who seek our resources? Gaining allies whom we can rely upon when the ti cos is the most important task. You attacking everybody except for existing allies has put cracks in the relationships with the nations that I’ve been communicating with."
Rui’s expression slackened as he grew thoughtful. "...You have a point, although I think allying with the dark elves and the therianthropes is enough, and I don’t think negatron matter should be compromised."
"You are neither Emperor of Kandria nor Supre Commander of the Panamic Alliance," Emperor Rael sharply retorted. "If you want your vision to beco the guiding light for our civilization, then you should beco Emperor and Supre Commander formally. I don’t mind abdicating my throne if you are willing to take that responsibility."
Rui heaved a deep breath, shaking his head. "I’m good."
He had dropped any claim to the throne a long ti ago and had no interest in ruling as an emperor. He had to admit that his father had a point, if Rui was going to take matters into his own mind and decide the future trajectory of human civilization, then he ought to formally take responsibility and beco king.
"Since you are unwilling to do that, you don’t have the moral authority to take the reins in such a manner," Emperor Rael replied. "Doing that will simply undermine my position as the Supre Commander of the Panamic Alliance, which will make the true world distrust the credibility of my words, which will stall all alliance and bilateral trade negotiations. This will eventually incentivize them to beco our enemies in the long run. This is not good for our people."
"You’re right," Rui replied, heaving a soft sigh. "I was a bit too hasty with this. Still, I also don’t think those relationships are non-salvageable. I’m sure you can spin this in a positive manner, can you not?"
The Emperor of Harmony heaved an exasperated breath. "I can, but I will need your cooperation for that. Right now, however, the biggest problem will be to deal with the consequences."
Rui directed a knowing look at his father. "You an...?"
Emperor Rael’s expression darkened. "The only reason our continent wasn’t at war all this ti is that those very sea monsters you have now commandeered protected us all this ti. Now that all those monsters are in the Great Void Ocean, it ans that the Great Nam Ocean is entirely devoid of protectors."
The air grew heavy at those words.
"War, Rui," Emperor Rael remarked. "That is the consequence of your actions."
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