Although Ketis, Alexis and their many collaborators had expanded the scope of the Elental Universe a bit too much, Ves was not necessarily displeased by the results.
Although its new features would certainly attract a lot of unwelco attention from regulating bodies, Ves may be able to prevent the worst from happening.
He did not want third parties to swoop in and usurp control over the Elental Universe.
The Larkinson Clan specifically set up the Elental Universe Consortium in order to ensure that the original creators retained enough control over their creation.
While the Larkinsons might permit other groups to acquire a share into the Elental Universe Consortium, the clan had to retain majority control.
This was the absolute bottom line!
Ves knew that he had to leverage his power and influence as a tier 2 galactic citizen to the fullest if he wanted to prevent the Elental Universe from falling into other people's hands.
"You and Ketis have done a good job." He praised Alexa. "The Elental Universe has exceeded my expectations. However, expanding its access from ch pilots to everyone has massive implications. It may be the first real piece of E-technology that many ordinary red humans gain access to. There is no way to keep the Red Collective out of the ga due to this reason. We can't claim that the Elental Universe falls under the jurisdiction of the Red Association as its scope has already expanded beyond providing training opportunities for ch pilots."
The younger ch designer looked concerned. "We assud that you would be able to take care of any regulatory issues on your end."
"I can see why you think that way, Alexa. While it is true that I should be able to protect my interests in this project, I still have to pay a price. I think I have little choice but to find a strong partner to back up our ownership of the Elental Universe and prevent other third parties from trying to take it over."
"That will not stop them from creating their own alternatives." the woman ntioned.
"That is true, but it will be a lot more difficult for them to compete since they have lost the first-mover advantage."
"Do you have a partner in mind to help us run the Elental Universe?"
Ves frowned in thought. "That is a difficult question to answer. We can't turn to any of the big guys. They may not be interested in the Elental Universe. If they are, then the chances are too great that we will surrender too much control to the other party. We have to partner up with smaller players, but they cannot be too weak. We need backing that is strong enough to deter takeovers, but still manageable enough to maintain a fair balance of power."
"It sounds as if you are looking for a partner that is roughly as strong, wealthy and influential as the Larkinson Clan." Alexa concluded. "I can think of a number of suggestions. It is best to leave out Terran clans and Rubarthan principalities. There are weaker ones among them, but even they have extensive alliances that makes it difficult for them to maintain their independence."
Both Ves and Alexa brainstord for a few minutes.
"The Transhumanist Faction should hold a strong interest in what we are doing with the Elental Universe."
"No." Ves imdiately shot down this proposal. "The Transhumanists may only be a part of the Red Association, but they are led by a powerful god pilot. I do not want to allow any tier 1 galactic citizen to extend his or her tentacles to our work."
That ruled out a lot of possible organizations such as the Cybernetic Empire and the Hunting Association.
"What about the Coalition of Faiths?" Alexa made another suggestion. "Religion has been gaining more ground since the Age of Dawn. This is especially the case when manifestations of faith have beco easier to produce. They can do so much easier at the private halls that we are planning to put up for rent for considerable sums. The largest churches will be happy to make use of our services. The best part is that no god pilot has bothered to take charge over them, so we should be able to hold our ground against their powerhouses."
This was actually a decent proposal. The Coalition of Faiths may be divided into multiple strong faith organizations, but it had decent success in maintaining a united front when it mattered.
However, Ves ultimately shook his head yet again.
"The Coalition of Faith is a growing power in society. Their influence is quite extensive within the Red Collective. However, I have also observed its faults and shortcomings. Its representatives are beholden to different beliefs and occasionally clash against each other. I am also apprehensive of giving any asure of control over the Elental Universe to religious nuts. I believe it is best for everyone if the Elental Universe is run by secularists."
The young lady accepted this argunt without any pushback. "Very well. Leaving aside the Coalition of Faiths and its constituent organizations leaves out many mid-sized groups, though. Aside from individual first-rate and second-rate states, I can only think of educational institutions, Red Collective departnts and various combat associations."
"That doesn't sound so bad." Ves responded as he thought about specific nas. "We can combine the first two suggestions on that list. Cooperating with a specific university is not worthwhile, but the story is different for the Red Collective's Education Departnt. It is quite influential, but it doesn't hold a lot of hard power since it is mainly focused on teaching as opposed to amassing power. I think the educators over there will be glad to take advantage of the teaching possibilities of the Elental Universe. I will reach out to the people over there. I am sure that they will be interested in forming a cooperative agreent."
This was a good start, but they needed more partners in order to make the Elental Universe's backing solid enough.
"What about joining hands with your old partners, Ves? The mbers of the Golden Skull Alliance would love to invest in the Elental Universe, especially since they are already familiar with your work."
That caused Ves to cross his arms. "I am not too sure whether that is a good idea. The Golden Skull Alliance… has not fully caught up with the growth of our clan. To be more blunt, we have outgrown them. I am sure that the Cross Clan will eventually beco a force to be reckoned with, but that is years away. The sa applies to the Glory Seekers, the Adelaide rcenary Company and the Boojay Family."
The Golden Skull Alliance still remained relevant to the Larkinson Clan, but its priority was not as high as before.
While so of the old partners had invested in their own first-class fleets, none of them could compare to the Premier Fleet in size and power.
What was even more important was that none of them possessed as many ace pilots as the Larkinson Clan!
The recent elevation of Saint Jannzi Larkinson had only increased the gap even further!
Therefore, Ves pretty much disqualified the Golden Skull Alliance for this cooperative venture. The other partners lacked the might, clout and wealth to adequately protect the Elental Universe.
The Larkinsons needed to find a bigger partner, one that possessed at least a certain degree of influence in high society.
"The Eternal Vulcan Empire?"
"No. No dwarves."
"The Creation Association?"
"I own the Creation Association. Its support is already included."
Alexa's eyes lit up all of a sudden. "I just ca across a promising party. The Wild Fighter Association should be a good third partner."
This ti, her proposal actually had rit. Ves seriously considered the possibility.
He had cooperated with the Wild Fighter Association in the past and found their cooperation to be pleasant.
The mbers of this wild group may be a bit rowdy, but their hearts were in the right place.
Dealing with them was no different from doing business with principled ch pilots. As long as he did not cross their bottom lines, there should be no problem with maintaining a steady business relationship.
"I am not sure whether the Wild Fighter Association has the interest, manpower and resources to cooperate with us on this venture, but… it is worth a try. Ketis seems to have a closer relationship with the Wild Fighters, so I will let her take charge of negotiations."
Both of them quickly went to work after they composed their list.
Ves did what he promised and contacted the Red Collective's Education Departnt using his own channels.
anwhile, Ketis reluctantly agreed with the premise that they needed to find more backing for the Elental Universe and sought out the Wild Fighter Association.
Both ch designers attained considerable success in eliciting the interest of their prospective business partners.
It was easy to show off the value of the Elental Universe. It offered the sa familiar features of the old MSTS but also offered a huge range of expanded services.
No matter whether it was ch pilots or regular red humans, each of them could find sothing useful and productive to spend their ti and Elental Credits on. The more ECs they had in their pockets, the more use they got out of the Elental Universe!
None of the people who spoke on behalf of the Education Departnt and the Wild Fighter Association were stupid. They possessed enough intelligence and foresight to understand the huge potential and growth prospects of the Elental Universe.
A single demonstration was enough to prove the validity of the Larkinson Clan's claims.
Negotiations proceeded quickly after that. None of the parties wanted to waste too much ti on details when they all wanted to make their mark on the Elental Universe.
The Wild Fighter Association was already pretty content with the extensive fighting and training opportunities, but its most ardent combat fanatics clearly wanted more!
They couldn't wait to design their own elaborate combat scenarios and battlefields for them to fight to their heart's content.
As far as the Wild Fighters were concerned, the Larkinsons had been too conservative in their scenario designs!
True combat should be a lot more chaotic and unpredictable!
As for the RC's Education Departnt, its many teaching personnel embraced the Elental Universe's ability to accurately simulate a lot of E energy-related phenona.
It was quite expensive for the collies to generate special cultivation environnts that were strongly biased towards single attributes.
They had to acquire large amounts of rare and expensive hyper materials in order to construct more ideal environnts.
In contrast, the Elental Universe could simulate the sa environnts without demanding expensive materials.
It just cost a bit of Elental Credits to run the simulated environnts, which was much more cost-effective than the alternatives.
Of course, cultivating in these simulated elental chambers did not provide the full range of benefits.
What mattered the most was exposure. Granting people an affordable way to get in touch with rare and powerful elents made it easier for them to gain the initial comprehension that was necessary to get started with more advanced qi cultivation thods.
The people of the Education Departnt even theorized that the right simulated environnts may even be able to promote the breakthrough of willpower cultivators!
Whatever the case, the Education Departnt was wealthy enough that it did not require a major commitnt to invest in the Elental Universe.
After a frantic day or two of negotiation, the three parties eventually ca to a consensus.
The Larkinson Clan would retain 60 percent ownership in the Elental Universe Consortium.
The Red Collective's Education Departnt was happy to acquire a minority stake of 25 percent.
The Wild Fighter Association did not possess as much negotiating power as the forr two, so it could only make do with 15 percent ownership.
After determining the exact split, the representatives of all 3 organizations quickly t up to finalize the contract and turn everything official.
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