Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Forging the Galactic Alliance
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The war was over.
Since my main body had just been sitting still, I didn't feel particularly tired or drained. Time to get to work.
Once I'd made up my mind to dive into work, I had no need for any follow-ups like vacations or rewards for military merit. Condolence payments for the families of the fallen? I'm the family, and I don't need it. Please put it to good use.
The Lushaka Kingdom's citizens didn't require any follow-up measures, but the conquered territories would need management if I planned to make use of them.
For starters, I decided to leave the holy site that sparked the war abandoned. That 'Great One' the knights kept mentioning was a sticking point. The knights worshiped the World Tree as their god, but there could be other powerful factions that held that site sacred. I'd already received more than enough gifts from the knights—no need to get greedy.
I absorbed all the knights' other territories. Of course I did. I won.
I cleanly eradicated the World Tree and the rest of the plants.
The knights had expanded their domain relying on the World Tree's offshoots, so aside from the capital city of Nualalkaima, there were hardly any planets with decent climates.
Still, habitable planets held value in their own right, so keeping them would prove useful someday.
The issue was the other star systems that now formed the new borders. No sooner had ownership changed than they somehow caught wind of it and reached out diplomatically.
Varisa Space Company of the bipedal cat species.
Amphibian Cooperative of the bipedal frog species.
Galactic Peace Committee of the plant species that looked just like treants from fantasy stories?
It felt like a mix of species I'd seen somewhere before.
The common thread among these three powers: each had a history of getting slapped down by the Bahilila Holy Knight Order and losing territory.
Envoys arrived with messages along the lines of, 'Thank you for putting an end to the Bahilila Holy Knight Order's persecution, but you're not planning to attack us like they did, right?'
After some thought, I accepted payment and returned the star systems they'd lost.
None of them seemed like aggressive species, so barring me launching a direct attack or some powerful external force stirring trouble, this border should hold steady. Good relations would only benefit us, no?
Besides, with no habitable planets, I didn't really need those systems anyway.
I struck deals where they bought massive quantities of food on top of procuring large numbers of our bio-ships for use.
It might end up like selling Alaska, but I viewed it as a bold investment and went through with the trades.
"Kat kat kat, long live Her Majesty the Queen. Such magnanimity. Come to us anytime if you need anything. We even keep those deserter tree folk as slaves."
"We express our deepest gratitude for your mercy. Kuruk. We'll treat you as a VVVIP, so please visit the Amphibian Cooperative whenever you like. Kkururuk."
The delegations offered profuse, exceedingly polite thanks before departing with beaming smiles. Both species ran corporate-style states—those envoys were probably in line for promotions.
The remaining nation was the problem; their species looked identical to the Bahilila Holy Knight Order no matter how I looked at it, so I asked directly.
"Yes, that's correct. Nualalkaima is indeed our species' homeworld. We are former Bahilila Holy Knight Order members."
They had once been loyal knights of the Bahilila Holy Knight Order but grew disillusioned with the order's habit of trampling and plundering other species—unlike the mother World Tree, which bestowed and embraced all things—and deserted.
"We are a group dedicated to becoming a haven for the persecuted across the galaxy. We are truly heartened to see the Lushaka Kingdom shares our commitment to peace."
We were the ones who'd wiped out the World Tree, practically a god to the Bahilila species. Was that okay with them?
"Ambassador, there is no god in this universe. If the World Tree had truly been divine, the knights never would have turned out like that."
Aha. These folks were a different breed altogether. Let's stay on good terms.
"The pleasure is ours. May prosperity grace both our nations."
We also resumed diplomacy with the Deneb Federation.
We restarted the briefly halted trade and showed the delegations the sculptures meticulously cultivated by each planet's governors. But I hid EinsteinaVis's lab. No need to flaunt tech facilities.
The delegations earnestly inspected the thoughtfully arranged planetary living conditions before heading home.
On a whim, I showed them a Treegalaon as their lodging. They maintained poker faces, but Hirak could clearly see their eyelids twitching. Feeling the power gap?
It's as good as having fought together against our machine foes—a true ally. Think your space whales could take a Treegalaon? No troublemaking; let's keep things friendly.
After the delegations returned home, we kicked off full-scale tech development using the acquired genes.
First, I plowed under all the Earth rice. No more need for such shoddy plants.
Next, World Tree-rice. I engineered Yggdrasil and planted it.
Would the World Tree be fazed by pests or disease?
Not quite on the World Tree's level, but we'd created an all-purpose rice that grew massively with rock-solid pest immunity. The legion's food production leaped to a whole new level.
From this point, we began exporting modest quantities of food.
Varisa Space Company's planets had barren environments, making self-sufficient food production impossible, so they bought slaves of various species and space critters with food. Even enough to feed their entire cat population was a drop in the bucket compared to the legion's consumption, so trades were a breeze.
Absorbing the World Tree's genes birthed a modified Treegalaon: larger than standard models and clad in tougher shells.
It boasted the weight class of its massive size, a sturdy World Tree carapace, and even auxiliary tentacles (plant stems) for attack. To enable simultaneous strikes while deploying its embarked Remoras, we added gill-like quarters for them.
For its mobile carrier role, it went beyond merely hauling organics. Its body now featured proper ship internals: organs for organic storage, housing for spawning dams and evolution specialists, and more.
This Treegalaon could even photosynthesize.
Requiring CO2 and water, it couldn't operate in vacuum space, but on water-supplied planets, it generated its own energy without extra organics.
Carrying bulky water was less efficient than stacking organics for a Treegalaon, so it wasn't hugely practical for the legion.
This specimen was dubbed Treegalaon-Alpha.
And this cutting-edge bio-battleship, Treegalaon-Alpha, was exported to various nations.
The crowning achievement of Lushaka Kingdom tech, commanding sky-high prices, sold out in a flash upon news of export approval under Her Majesty's benevolence.
The three nations once persecuted by the Bahilila Holy Knight Order, along with the Deneb Federation, showered praise on the Queen's decision. They wrung budgets from their finance ministries by hook or crook, snapped them up, and expressed satisfaction with their skyrocketing military strength.
Their homegrown ships were hopelessly outclassed even by standard Treegalaons, let alone Alphas—they must have been anxious.
Even the Deneb Federation president, who'd staunchly resisted importing space whales, finally relented after deliberation and nodded approval.
Exported Treegalaon-Alphas were handpicked for high photosynthetic efficiency to curb city-scale food intake, with internals customized per species.
We held off exporting Treepalagons separately. The legion's heaviest hitters were the knights' cruiser guns that harnessed Alhamra's light—stronger than rivals' weapons, sure, but I wanted to hand them even better ones to copy.
We'd keep researching ranged weapons ourselves, but bio-species armaments had inherent limits anyway.
We ramped up EinsteinaVis's research team for tech investments, assigned a farming governor to Nualalkaima for food production, exported Treegalaon-Alphas, solidified ties with every nation, and spent our days in peaceful internal governance.
As mutual trust grew, we shared galactic maps, greenlit civilian ship transit, held joint military drills (since everyone used Treegalaon-Alphas anyway), and progressively inked weightier treaties one after another.
In the midst of this, the Galactic Peace Committee floated a proposal.
Galactic Peace Committee.
Lushaka Kingdom.
Varisa Space Company.
Amphibian Cooperative.
Deneb Federation.
Let's form an alliance of these five nations—a mutual defense pact to jointly counter external aggressors. What do you say?
In Earthling terms, they were proposing a space NATO.
Ah, alliances and peace—music to my ears. Plus, with the Lushaka Kingdom holding a massive military stake across these five, our influence was bound to be hefty.
The leverage from that clout would outweigh any treaty compliance costs, so I greenlit it for now. Unfavorable terms? We'd just walk.
And so, I sent our approval to the Galactic Peace Committee.
I never expected the rest to all shoot it down.