The Martial Unity

Ru was happy that she helped her sister keep her dreams alive, even if they had been curtailed by the drastic actions that her older brother had taken. It also benefited the goal of colonizing the stars, since water and the oceans were a big part of human civilization.

“You should also invest in terraforming technologies that center around oceans and other water bodies,” Ru remarked with a thoughtful tone. “Water is not omnipresent, but you can create it at extremely high rates with a very simple hydrogen combustion process. And its constituents are not uncommon in the cosmos, based on a spectrographic meta-analysis assessment published by the Gaian Space Organization. It shouldn’t be beyond the means of technology to siphon hydrogen from nebulae, and combust it with oxygen to produce water.”

“I will immediately invest in such technology,” Ranea declared with a determined expression. “I cannot allow any opportunity to preserve the significance of maritime affairs to human civilization to simply fade away.” Ru smiled at her sister before heaving a tired sigh and taking a seat opposite her sister, placing her hand on her enlarged stomach.

Ranea directed a knowing glance at her sister’s swollen belly. “How have you been holding up recently?”

Ru directed a mixed smile at her sister. “It’s been… challenging. The timing was truly bad, in hindsight. But unfortunately, Julian and I made the decision shortly before the Laminar civilization entered our solar system. So…”

She heaved a breath, patting her belly gently. “It has not been easy. I planned on taking a temporary maternal leave, but with how hectic things have been and how important a phase we are in human civilization, I simply cannot afford to leave my duties as Minister of Harmony.”

She had gotten married to Julian a year ago after spending several years getting to know him, and had chosen to bear children immediately. Part of it was also seeing how adorable her niece Ria was and how much she did for Rui. It ultimately convinced her that getting pregnant would be a good thing, especially since, at the time, the world had truly recovered and calmed down to a tranquil peace in the years following the true world war.

“What about Julian?” Ranea asked with a critical tone. “Hasn’t he been there for you?”

“He’s even busier than I am, unfortunately,” she heaved an exasperated sigh. “Our brother has truly thrown both of us out of our comfort zones. Right about now I believe…”

She glanced at her watch.

“He should be having a meeting with Rui.”

And he indeed was.

“He should be having a meeting with Rui.”

And he indeed was.

Far away, in the depths of the manifold, Julian stood before a projection featuring the core of the gargantian seed, along with several other immortal sages, such as the Divine Doctor, the Informationalist, and the Esoterist.

Along with a large crew of researchers and scientists who stood occupied many rows of computer terminals, continuing with their work. Closest to the projection, gazing at it intently was none other than the Emperor of Water. His presence altered the very fabric of the manifold, making it flow rather than simply bend and warp under gravity. The very nature of reality shifted from something that was absolute to that of a fickle, wavering image reflected upon the surface of water.

An image he could dispel any time he wanted.

No matter how many times people had been exposed to it in the past six months since his breakthrough, it was still a truly unfathomable sensation, one that rendered all of them feeling existentially helpless.

Yet, his ethereal eyes remained fixed on the gargantian seed.

“How much progress have you made in the past two years?”

His voice was calm, but betrayed how eager he was for the success of this project.

“We have managed to document the life equation, Your Majesty,” the Informationalist began with a serious expression. “Thanks to you transcribing what you saw in the information dimension, we have been able to create a hyper-dimensional equation. We needed the help of the Mathemaster to actually invent a new form of abstract algebra, actually to tabulate the life equation of the gargantian, but we have managed.”

BZZZT

The Informationalist sent a command from her neural implant to the projector, having it project a truly mind-bogglingly complex mathematical equation that stretched out in three dimensions.

It had operators, symbols, and operations that even Rui didn’t recognize. “Incredible…” he remarked with a sincere tone. “This is the technology of a quasi-Type-Three Civilization, is it?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, if I may, I have reason to believe that this kind of technology is likely common for quasi-Type-Three technology. Especially since our exo-anthropologists have postulated, based on the information from the laminar civilization, that the gargantians don’t have very high technology due to their distance from each other and their absence of an innovation economy,” the Informationalist remarked with a very serious expression. “And you mentioned that the laminars had managed to find our civilization based on changes in the information dimension. I believe that this…”

She gestured to the life equation that described the existence of Garg. “…is the next frontier of miraculous technology. I have taken to calling the field of science and technology metaphysical technology.”

“Metaphysical technology…” Rui remarked with a huff. “Sometimes, I miss the days when technology was no match for Martial Art.”

He had once speculated that it was possible that there would exist technology that would touch upon the power of Transcendents. The laminars and now the gargantians had proven that they could interact with the information dimension to a limited extent, even if they couldn’t outright alter the information dimension as far as he knew.

He shook his head.

If metaphysical technology were possible, then it would happen, and it needed to happen. He would simply need to adaptively evolve to it, as he had done for anything that had dared to impede him. “More importantly,” Rui’s attention returned to his immediate goal, sharpening his eyes. “Have you figured out how this seed uses this equation to terraform planets quickly and inexpensively?”