Ves did not possess an overwhelming need to acquire a derived World Tree Seed.
However, he thought that it was better if his clan had one in its possession than not. Who knew when it could be useful one day.
World Tree Seeds were probably especially useful if his clan ever embarked on a deep strike expedition.
Ves was not sure anymore whether red humanity could even pull off the Deep Strike Plan at this stage, but as long as there was an opportunity to go on an attack, the Larkinsons could attain drastically more results with the help of this special seed.
Aside from that, if the worst outco ever took place, then Ves might have an urgent need for a biological superweapon that could quickly terraform a planet to make it liveable for lots of human refugees.
He would first have to find a safe haven that was out of the reach of the native aliens, but he could tackle that problem at a later date. It was not necessary for him to have everything ready the mont he gained possession over the World Tree Seed.
Since Ves did not consider the World Tree Seed a must-have item, he bargained hard for this strategic weapon. He was well aware that a second-generation seed did not co close to the value of a first-generation seed, so he was determined not to get scamd.
In comparison to his relaxed stance towards the World Tree Seed, the Devos Ancient. Clan was a lot more eager to conduct a large trade.
The Devosans and the rest of the Terrans were eager to learn the more sophisticated design applications in the field of living chs.
The product category originally invented by Ves had gained imnse strategic value. By definition, all Carmine chs were living chs. It was impossible to form a Blood Pact with a lifeless ch.
The Terrans had even greater reasons to value living chs because of their inherent synergies with World Trees and other Terran biotechnology applications.
As for superdinsional material, Master Laila Rebecca Devos was desperate to obtain as much of it as possible.
Though Ves had generously agreed to donate a luxurious batch of structure-grade and hull-grade superdinsional matter to her, this would only allow her to conduct research.
A ch designer did not progress by engaging in science. It was only when a ch designer applied his existing understanding of the arts and sciences that he conford to the expectations and obligations of his profession!
If Master Laila Devos wanted to make serious progress in advancing her design philosophy, she needed to design and produce tangible superdinsional chs. She could not do that unless she obtained a lot of tons of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdinsional matter!
To her credit, Master Laila had been incredibly transparent about her lack of progress and her hopes that superdinsional matter would allow her to design the nearly perfectly miniaturized chs of her dreams.
On this matter, the two sides were on complete opposite ends.
Master Laila wanted to gain a massive amount of high-grade superdinsional
matter.
Ves did not want to cripple his own clan's utilization of superdinsional matter. If he truly had to make a choice between adding superdinsional chs to the ch roster or acquiring a derived World Tree Seed, Ves would always pick the forr over the latter!
The shrewd Terran Master clearly managed to deduce that from Ves and adapted her negotiating strategy accordingly.
Eventually, the two sides found a middle ground that was sowhat acceptable to both sides. The two reluctantly shook hands.
"It's a deal, then." Ves said. "Whenever our clan harvests armor-grade and weapon-grade superdinsional matter, you will get 50 percent of our haul. This division will continue until you have enough to produce 6 standard-sized superdinsional chs. On top of that, I will teach you how to design more advanced living chs. At the very least, I will give you my textbooks, articles and notes on how to design second order living chs as well as the fundantal theories related to Carmine chs and the Carmine System."
"That is correct, but do not forget that you must fulfill the superdinsional matter quotas within 2 years. If you exceed this ti limit, you must pay a sizable penalty."
"I rember," Ves tersely replied. "In exchange for all of that, you will hand over a second generation World Tree Seed in my possession by the end of this week along with all of the knowledge required to make use of it. Your clan must also provide supervision and scientific support to us when we attempt to modify or upgrade the seed."
Their deal actually encompassed a lot more clauses, but they were relatively minor details that could easily be hashed out by their lawyers.
Ves let out a deep breath. "The chers and the fleeters will be pissed. They never approved of third parties and private individuals getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction."
risk a breach in their relationship with you over violating a single taboo. They depend too much on your works to defend their outdated principles. Aside from that, have you forgotten about your identity as the chief councilor of the Upper Council of the Red Collective? You are a collie, Ves. That ans that it is legal for you to own your own superweapons as long as the RC gives you permission. This should not be a difficult. task for a man who has amassed as much clout as you in recent years."
"The Red Collective is a big ss, and you know." Ves retorted. "It is not even close to matching the cohesion of the Red Association and the Red Fleet."
"In this stage of the Red War, you are hardly the only private party that has discreetly acquired superweapons. Many individuals are beginning to fear the worst. A superweapon may not be able to preserve their hos, but they can still be used to deter the native aliens from persisting in their pursuits. The prohibition against superweapons that the chers and the fleeters have upheld for over four centuries has beco unenforceable. As long as they are faltering in their attempts to hold back the native alien invasion, they are losing their legitimacy. More and more 'space peasants' are waking up to the fact that the RA and RF cannot be relied upon. The only
Ves pressed his lips. "Don't think I am unaware of what you are trying to do. I already ntioned it before. You are trying to drag onto your pirate ship. By turning my clan into a power that holds a superweapon, it has beco much more aligned with the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact. As more and more groups break off from the taboos imposed by the original Big Two, we are sliding more and more into warlordism."
Master Laila Devos leaned back while smiling in satisfaction. "And you are allowing yourself and your clan to get pulled into our ploy. That indicates that you do not possess enough faith or trust in the chers and the fleeters. Otherwise, you would not have made a decision that is certain to alienate and distance yourself from them. Even if you are able to maintain cordial relations with them, they will still rember
this slight."
The Terran Master was very much correct about that. Ves actually saw this as a good opportunity to make a strategic realignnt.
The Larkinson Clan had beco too close to the Red Association. This did not fit his
desire to maintain his independence.
If he wanted to Red Association to treat him and his clan as friends rather than vassals, then Ves needed to cozy up to other major powers and prove that he could
gain assistance elsewhere.
The deal that he just concluded with the Devos Ancient Clan should make it abundantly clear that Ves had no intention of becoming a sycophant of the Red
Association!
That did not an he wanted to cozy up to the Terran Alliance Ves needed to
carefully balance his relations with all of the major powers in order to maintain his independence.
He stood up and made a short bow towards the Master.
"Thank you for all of the words of wisdom that you have given to today. I need to go back and explain my decision to trade away a huge amount of superdinsional
matter to my wife."
"Goodbye. I shall be in contact the mont we are ready to transfer the derived World
Tree Seed,"
Later that day, Ves briefly summarized his new deal with the Devos Ancient Clan. Just as predicted, his wife was none too happy with this commitnt. "Why do we need a superweapon?! Are you that insecure about our safety? If you
wanted to obtain a weapon of mass destruction so badly, why did you accept the first proposal offered by the Terrans? You should have set aside this ridiculous World Tree and obtained a forbidden solution that is actually effective in space!"
"Gloriana, the value of this World Tree Seed is higher than that of other superweapons.I admit that it is impractical to use in space, but it can create a lot of stuff for us if we plant it on a resource-rich planet. It is a weapon as well as a terraforming machine and production plant rolled into a single organic entity. I have a feeling that there may co a ti where we will all be grateful for the capabilities bestowed by this seed."
His wife scowled. "You were played, Ves! The Terrans understand you so well that they
exploited your impulses to conduct a dubious trade. They only had to dangle a single shiny superweapon in front of your nose, and before you knew it, you traded away enough superdinsional matter to build 6 whole superdinsional chs! SIX! Do you understand how many expert chs and ace chs we could have turned into nigh-unbreakable masterworks with that many tons of superdinsional matter?! You did not even consult before you agreed to the contract in principle!" Ves rolled his eyes. "I do not answer to you, Gloriana. This is a fair deal considering what a World Tree Seed can do. We just need to make good use of it in the next few years. I am not too worried about fulfilling the most critical obligations. The next ti Ketis opens up a portal to the Blue Dinsion, our clan will be ready this ti. I have already tasked the relevant departnts of our clan to stockpile mining shuttles, mining demichs and other relevant gear. Our personnel are also undergoing training to learn how to operate this mining equipnt as effectively as possible. I estimate that we can easily triple or quadruple our harvest of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdinsional matter next ti. We can even get away with more if Ketis has found a region that corresponds to a location in the Blue Dinsion that is more saturated with solid matter."
He knew that the chers and fleeters had already started to figure out how to
conduct surveys in the 365th dinsion.
If they were good enough, then Ves and Ketis might be able to ignore the existence of
the Dinsion Telescope and its expensive upgrades!
They could completely rely on the scouting conducted by the scientists of the Red
Two to open up dinsion breaches to dinsional locations that were rich in superdinsional matter or other materials!
The Terrans had conducted a trade based on the assumption that the harvest of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdinsional ore would only undergo a moderate increase in subsequent runs.
Ves did not believe that the yield would remain so low.
He believed that his clan would definitely be able to obtain a lot more
superdinsional matter at a ti!
Master Laila Devos would have her precious superdinsional matter sooner rather
than later.
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