At one point in time, Rutera had been the center of all advanced technology in the Alliance. The planet itself had required mixed tech to function with lower natural energy levels at first, and their focus continued even after they joined the Alliance and as people ascended to the upper realms.

Now, Rutera wasn't unique. At most they were considered slightly more specialized than other locations. If one was looking for unique technological advancements, they could also consider the Unified Sector and their compound ships. Even if the core had been formation based, now they had many that worked with various purities of advanced tech as well.

Outside of the Alliance but still within the lower realms there was the Aretis Coalition. They had developed along a more technological path, which was in part how Reneden existed. Of course, Reneden's circumstances were quite unique and not something anyone was eager to replicate even if they could.

Especially not the Aretis Coalition. They were already nervous about being next door to Reneden. They had grown used to the idea of Reneden as an individual that randomly developed from neglected computer systems, but Reneden as a multividual was rather more threatening. Or at least frightening.

Personally, Anton wasn't scared of either Reneden or Bear Hug. The latter had not only been in many places at once, they had done so between the upper and lower realms long before. Neither option was scary, though- and not because Anton was stronger than them.

There wasn't any real threat from them. If they were a problem, the Alliance would have numerous ways to take them out. They weren't particularly stronger than any cultivator of a similar rank. Nor did they have any concerning abilities. Reneden couldn't hack into computer systems any better than a modestly capable tech cultivator. The only difference was that sometimes Reneden lived in other things.

It was true that taking over surveillance beacons without asking was more than rude, but the fact that Reneden had been discovered easily meant there wasn't much threat. Despite everything, Reneden's presence was quite visible.

The truth was, people just weren't comfortable with it yet. The same had been true of Akyrisians, then the plant cultivators of Klar. Reneden's main problem was that it wasn't cute. Nor was it gregarious like Bear Hug. People didn't know what to expect, and when that was the case their thoughts often defaulted towards negatives.

Of course, the Lower Realms Alliance was quite adaptable. They weren't so much the problem as the Aretis Coalition. However, that particular group would feel more secure as they continued to grow strong themselves. Anton just wanted to accelerate that comfort, so he was meeting together with some of their leaders.

He had things he wanted to be doing more. Nothing that needed him more, but Anton couldn't help but think of other events taking place. Ones that were quite exciting to him in particular.

News about Chiara, Aerona, and Devon's activities in the Holy Stars would obviously make its way to him. That was one of the big happenings in the lower realms. They had just begun founding some new planets, and Anton was dying to see them. But of course, he couldn't just go visit.

Aerona was one thing. She wasn't very threatening. Was she a huge influence on the response of the Holy Stars? Absolutely. They might recognize that, but she still wasn't scary. Devon was in the background. Another Unity cultivator showing up would look like an attack.

Anton was seriously considering whether he might be able to seal his own energy somehow. There wouldn't be a ton of people to give his presence away. He'd obviously have to avoid binding the local star, but he didn't do that kind of thing without asking first. It simply didn't make sense to do so far from his territory. The Holy Stars could handle themselves.

He'd seen new worlds founded before, of course. Anton had been involved with many himself. He still loved it, though. Furthermore, he rarely got to witness amateurs in the business. He could probably get video recordings, but it just wouldn't be the same. He didn't want to risk the situation, though. The sole remaining divinity there was already acting about as friendly as could be expected towards a group that had pretty much annihilated her entire way of life. Any sort of disruption would be something he couldn't just take back.

But maybe… no, he shouldn't. Yet getting secondhand information just wasn't as good.

-----

Bear Hug knew Anton was thinking about the developing of planets and stuff. Anton always did that. He liked things that grew. That was why Bear Hug shared what was going on with them in the upper realms. Starting around Ratna's territory, they were expanding outward. They being the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance and Bear Hug in particular. After all, Bear Hug was something of an expert. Apparently, if you just did stuff for a few centuries you got good at it.

And Bear Hug had been doing things for a few centuries and also multiple times at the same time. In terms of total experience that might be way more. Or it might not. Bear Hug wasn't sure what they could actually put on their resume. Fortunately, Bear Hug had never needed one. People tended to just figure it out. It helped to have connections.

Anyway, growing surrounding territory wasn't just to expand the Alliance. It was also to make things better for the people there. Most of those people were happy to not have to deal with the Trigold Cluster anymore. The same was true on the other side. All the way to the west in the not-so-little Alliance they were expanding as well- though not right along the border. Instead they were coming in at an angle, sort of wedging open the connection to the core of the Scarlet Alliance.

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Some people probably weren't happy. Nobody could stop them, though. And nobody should. They were making things better. Ultimately, the only people who were unhappy were all of those that had tried to kill the Alliance.

And now? They were unstoppable! Bwahahahahaha. Bear Hug believed that was where an evil laugh was supposed to be inserted. They were going to go around and imbue people's planets with energy and force them to get good at things and be prosperous. Or they could just continue to live as they were, while watching everyone else grow without them. The Alliance didn't actually force people to work. It turned out that if they got something out of it, people actually liked to do it.

Cultivation was always satisfying. Bear Hug enjoyed soaking up sunlight and growing stronger that was as well as learning about new plants and making both new and old plants grow big and strong. They'd never be as big and strong as Lev's willows, but Bear Hug would win in quantity and probably even land area covered. Mass was… a different question. Just the Grandfather Willow was a really big number. That was what happened when you had sturdy wood and three dimensions.

War was bad. Bear Hug didn't like it at all. Post war was good, but it would be better for literally everything to be that way forever. Then they could just forget it was post war and call it peace.

Bear Hug had so many friends. Enough that they hadn't even bothered to count in a long time. They were all over the upper and lower realms. Sometimes, though, those friends died. In the war, to sickness, and to accidents. It was sad. But Bear Hug had learned long ago that sadness wasn't always bad.

Death was bad, but… most people would be reincarnated. Would they be the same person? Certainly some of them. But sometimes the person would be gone, only living on in people's memories. That was hard to think about. On the other hand, if Bear Hug didn't think about them wouldn't they be actually gone?

Was Everheart gone?

Bear Hug wasn't even sure they had ever been friends. Bear Hug wanted to be, of course, but some people didn't make it easy. And now Everheart was dead. Many people weren't sad. No, some were even happy- and it wasn't just meanies and bad guys. It was true that Everheart caused a lot of problems and had hurt people. Bear Hug didn't like that, but they still weren't entirely sure that Everheart should be dead.

Or if he even could, if people kept thinking about him.

"Oh!" Bear Hug suddenly jumped up. "I think I figured it out."

Bear Hug wondered if they should tell someone. Nah, someone else probably already figured it out. And it wouldn't change things either way.

There were a lot of things that humans said that were just saying. Some of them were made to make people feel better about things that made them sad. But also, cultivation made some of those things actually true.

Back on the subject of friends, Bear Hug was of the opinion that everyone should be friends. Sadly, it didn't seem to work like that- and Bear Hug knew hiveminds. Even if they were all connected, they weren't all friends. But just because things weren't perfect didn't mean they couldn't be better. If everyone was friends with enough people around them, there could be peace.

Right now, when their neighbors weren't able to try to kill the Scarlet Alliance so much, they could strike! They could turn some of their neighbors into friends. Then those people would turn others into friends, and nobody wanted to attack friends of friends, especially when there was no good reason.

It was perfect logic and Bear Hug was going to save the whole galaxy. Though maybe there were some people that were just completely bad and they'd have to get rid of them. Or maybe their heads were just broken and someone could figure out how to fix them. Humans were good at fixing things, and the Alliance was especially good at fixing people.

-----

Chiara was stressed. "Is it going alright?" she asked. "Should we be developing faster? Is this enough people? Is it too many?"

Aerona just patted her friend on the head to calm her down. "Everything is within acceptable parameters. We would have told you if it were truly wrong."

Chiara probably didn't hear the words in the moment, stuck on her own thoughts as she was. But they would still help eventually.

The time they had known each other and the time they had actually been friends was significantly weighted towards the former, but the totality of time that Aerona had been trying to get through to Chiara was still there. They weren't ancient friends bound together over centuries. Instead, they were barely over a decade of acquaintance.

"Isn't she adorable?" Aerona asked Devon. "Do you think this is her first time actually being responsible for things?"

"Except perhaps a battle squad, yes," Devon agreed. "And I get the feeling that wasn't quite the same sort of thing." His senses swept around the area. "I really feel like I should help."

"One pair of hands won't make much difference," Aerona said. "And a thousand chains circling the planet would make too much difference."

"How are things actually going?" Devon prompted. "Not the parts I can see, obviously. But I don't know their hearts."

"Well enough so far, though the hearts of humans can be fickle. However… I think we should be able to minimize hatred. I wouldn't expect the Holy Stars to buddy up to the Alliance any time soon, but they can make peace with themselves. And ultimately, that is what they need more than some more stable rule under our direct control."

"It would be so much easier to be a supreme deity, though," Devon said. "And no matter how anyone tries to do it, it just doesn't work out. I'm endeavoring to make sure we continue not to make that mistake without becoming weak enough for our enemies to take over and make things worse than we would."

"Fortunately, Unity accomplishes both," Aerona said. "Sometimes, there is just a best solution. Though everyone is still free to choose their own path, if it doesn't hurt others." Aerona's eyes flicked to Chiara who was still panicking. "Maybe you should help out for a moment. Just pick a few tasks she's worried about. I'll help too, of course."

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