The Martial Unity

While it would have been fascinating to get more information on the biochemistry and biophysics of the laminar integuments, it simply wasn’t a priority for Rui. His personal interest was certainly there, but he knew that there were many more important things.

They needed information on the universe and cosmos, which was their highest priority.

“Understandable,” the laminar integument responded positively. “Willing. To. Share. Important. Information. However. Important. Information. Yet. To. Divulge. Will. Share. To. You. Token. Of. Good. Faith.”

Rui frowned with a hint of confusion, only for the laminar integument to immediately clarify.

“Your. Civilization. Exposed.”

His eyes widened at those words. “…what?”

“You. Exposed,” the laminar integument remarked. “You. Warp. Reality. Alter. Information. Dimension. Not. Gone. Unnoticed.”

Chills crawled across his skin at those words as he realized that his flashy washout of the nebulars had become a sort of beacon throughout the cosmos. He recalled that the Laminar Civilization had sensed the Martial Transcendents in the past, and had been searching for them ever since. In other words, each time he used his Transcendent power, he was attracting the attention of extremely powerful forces.

He clenched his fist as a hint of severity came on his expression. “…This is my fault.”

And yet, what could he have done? Just allow his whole planet to be destroyed? That was not acceptable, of course. It was just frustrating that no matter what he did, Gaia would become even more jeopardized.

“Not. Just. Your. Fault,” the laminar integument remarked with light flashes. “Alien. Virus. Beacon. Signaled. Importance. World. Draw. Attention. From. Start. Your. Actions. Exacerbate. Exposure.”

His expression grew even more grim. “How bad is it? When will they arrive? How much danger is our civilization in?”

“Situation. Not. Beyond. Saving. Not. To. Arrive. Soon. But. Danger. High,” the laminar integument quickly answered his questions.

Rui’s ethereal eyes grew more solemn. “…What exactly are we dealing with?”

“Other. Alien. Civilizations. Powerful. Large. Other. Nebulars,” the Laminar Civilization explained patiently. “Gaian. Civilization. Probability. Of. Survival. Long. Term. At. Current. Strength. Zero. Destruction. Likely.”

Rui’s expression hardened at those messages.

“G̴̠̝̝͓̠̻̠͎͆͒á̶̙͍̲̫̝͎̯̥̳̖̞̟͂́̓̕͜͠í̶̢̛̭̞͉̔̽̍̈̄̀̉̈a̶̞͋̈́͆̓̂͌͛̊̈́͠ ̷̡̜̩̻͇̖͖̙̺͔̬̤̜̀̕ h̷̘͓͍̪̉̇͒͐̿ā̵̼͍͖̝̝̣̲̗͎̆̆̍̀̈̚͝͝͠ͅs̷̢͉̟̫͕̤̱̦̦̪̻͕̖̮̀́͆̅̚ ̵͚̞̻̥̇́̇̊ m̸̢̢̛̳̦͈̻̖̤͔̱̻̤̀̔̓͊̑͌̍̓̈́͛͂͐͠e̶̫̲̱̭̝̍̋̈.”

His voice broke through the shackles of causality as it waded against the flow of time itself, permeating through future, present, and past in trans-temporal resonance. A voice that served as the mark of his Transcendence, violating the very nature of reality.

It moved everybody who heard it, including the laminar integument, forcing it to reconsider its statement. Indeed, just the presence of Rui Quarrier alone was enough to change the strategic outlook of entire civilizations. And yet, there was a limit to even that.

“Interstellar. War. Not. Comparable. To. Individual. Combat.” The laminar integument’s judgment was difficult. “Tactical. Dominance. Invincible. However. Survival. Of. Civilization. Dependent. On. Strategic. Power. Your. Power. Limited. To. You. Your. Survival. Victory. Probable. But. Gaia. Survival. Victory. Improbable.”

It was exactly what Rui had feared. He could win every fight against virtually anybody as he was right now.

But protecting Gaia was a whole other thing entirely.

Protecting the lives of his people, of his civilization, of his daughter. These were extremely difficult. Even his wash-out of the nebulars was largely because their attacks against Gaia were unsophisticated despite their tremendous power.

However, if it came to a more advanced civilization using more sophisticated means to destroy Gaia, or a more advanced civilization requiring all of his attention just to survive himself, then he simply would not be able to translate his personal power into survival for Gaia.

“Your. Combat. Prowess. Also. Not. Highest. Recorded,” the laminar went on to add. “Other. Combat. Units. In. Cosmos. Even. Stronger. You. Are. Not. Only. Known. Entity. Able. To. Alter. Information. Dimension.”

His expression grew even more grim. Transcendence might have been the panacea that would have saved all of Gaia, but if there were other entities in the universe that could manipulate the information dimension, then he would be entirely unable to protect Gaia.

“You said you were searching for sources of manipulation of the information dimension, right?” Rui turned back towards the laminar integument. “Why don’t you go to the entities you mentioned prior?”

The light within the laminar integument grew yellow. “Too. Dangerous. Even. For. Us.”

That spoke to the sheer combat power of these entities, if even the Laminar Civilization, which could neutralize Gaian military power with just one of its many thousands of world ships, had decided that these entities were too dangerous.

Just how horrifyingly powerful were the most powerful alien entities in this universe?

And more importantly, would he be able to adaptively evolve to them?

In that moment, he had the audacity to smile.

He was not alone in the Transcendent Realm.

That was good. And yet, it was also bad.

Ever since he had become a father, the prospects of dangerous opponents excited him, but only if they didn’t endanger his daughter.

For instance, he didn’t enjoy even a moment of the battle with the reanimated people of the past, or with the Embodiment of the Noosphere, or with the alien virus, because their very existences were threats to Ria.

He didn’t enjoy the battle with the laminar integument or with the nebulars either.

Because they were trying to destroy his daughter, they were trying to destroy the world, but Ria was his world, so there was no meaningful difference to him.

He would have loved to fight these powerful entities in circumstances that didn’t endanger Ria, for that would be truly fun, to combat against the most powerful living lifeforms that the universe had ever created.

But as long as they were trying to destroy Gaia, then he would have to fight with a more viscerally serious mindset. Not that it mattered, of course, he had long resolved to undertake responsibility because it helped push him to the level of strength that he was. He turned towards the laminar integument that had patiently waited for him to finish processing the information it had given him. “I already knew that I couldn’t protect Gaia, but… your words have only further confirmed this truth for me. If I can’t protect Gaia, then…”

His eyes sharpened.

“Gaian Civilization will have to grow strong enough to protect itself.”