Elder Cultivator

Chapter 847

Chapter 847

What appeared to be a small number of ants of significantly disparate sizes were having a conversation via sign language, plus their own pheromones and the like that added more than humans could generally pick up on.

I still dont understand why Im the one going, Crossed Antennae said. I dont know if it makes sense. What if we swap?

Seems a bit late, Fearsome Mandibles pointed out. Youve already got a whole colony loading up onto the ship.

Yeah but-

A much larger individual gently tapped her daughters on the head with her own antennae, drawing their attention. You will be alright. It is just nervousness. An expected issue, when dealing with anything important. I have already expressed my confidence in your performance. And our allies have equipped us with an excellent ship, so you have little to worry about on the actual journey.

But what if-

I am confident you will be able to handle everything that comes up, the Great Queen said. Now then, you have familiarized yourself with the controls many times. The destination is also set. And when you arrive, you should be able to contact the Scarlet Alliance. You know everything you must do. Now all you have to do is go.

Youll do great, Fearsome Mandibles assured her sister. And dont forget, you can make more help when you get there.

But if Im not good enough, then any queens I make will also-

From the perspective of the princess- no, she was a proper queen with her own colony now- a terrifyingly large forelimb pressed down upon her head. But the action came with sufficient control to prevent it from causing actual damage. You will do fine. And if you are worried, feed upon more upper energy first. You will find your growth should be significant. But dont worry about time. A year or ten or a hundred all leave you with plenty of time.

I should probably go, Crossed Antennae said nervously. The ship is ready.

Youll do great! Fearsome Mandibles said. Ill miss you! Make sure to send lots of messages!

There was the problem, wasnt it? Messages. A ship designed to go from the lower realms to the upper realms, even one made on a small scale for the sake of void ants it was already rather exceptional. And there was no guarantee it would actually survive the trip, let alone be able to continue on towards the ultimate goal of planting colonies on other planets on the border. If all went well, she might be able to send messages, but would she ever be able to see her mother and sister again? Crossed Antennae didnt have any particular attachment to the other queens she had never met, but Akrys and its people were the only world she had ever known. And she was heading towards a planet that would be quite lonely. The only living things would be some plants probably. There might be other bugs that came along with the temporary colonizers, but that hadnt really been noted on the few visits the people in the upper realms made to such places.

Crossed Antennae made her way onto the ship. It was a small one- barely larger than a hippo, in fact. It was not usable by humans, but instead made for void ants in particular. That meant relying more on technology that didnt involve the use of natural energy, which doubled as a requirement for travel between the realms. But even as a queen, Crossed Antennae couldnt do much manipulation of natural energy beyond devouring it. Certainly, she wasnt close to the Great Queens level.

The interior of the ship was filled with spacious corridors. It was partially a requirement for construction by humans- even if they used machines and the like, they needed more than ant-sized corridors to place things. And there was some leeway for potential growth. The vast majority of void ants would never even reach Crossed Antennaes current size, a bit more than a centimeter from front to rear, but Crossed Antennae herself might grow much larger. Even to the size of the Great Queen, given time. It wouldnt be comfortable, but she could probably navigate the important corridors at ten or fifteen centimeters in length, should she ever reach that point. Though she really couldnt see that happening ever, and if it did it would be centuries.

She made her way to the controls. Since every ant on board was her own progeny, their intelligence was still limited. Pulling levers and pushing buttons without knowing why was about the limit. So she had to do everything herself. That said, the destination was already programmed into the device. And most processes were automatic. She pressed one button, and it began to seal the ship. She waited for the process to complete, then hesitated before the next. This one would send them into orbit around Akrys.

She firmly pressed the button.

She felt heavy, but little more than that. Certainly not as jarring as she might have thought the process would be. And then, a few short minutes later, the process was done. She could see Akrys below through one of the lone windows. Shed been treated to an image of the planet before, but this was the first time seeing it properly. And now she was going to be leaving it behind.

It was scary. But it wasnt the hardest thing a void ant had had to do. Indeed, the Great Queen herself had to rely on the hope that a human cultivator wouldnt kill her and her brood, hiding in Antons storage bag as he returned to Ceretos from Everhearts moon-based tomb. Not that the Great Queen had even known all of those details at the time.

And she hadnt had a mother to guide her or help her grow. Or allies to build her a ship. And while Crossed Antennae would be alone for a time, how long had the Great Queen been alone, in practice? Most of her life, until the human cultivators arrived.

For all her protests Crossed Antennae did want to do this. It was exciting, going somewhere new. But that didnt make it less terrifying.

A message beeped, displaying in small font on an equally small monitor- yet one that was a little large for her at the moment. It was from the nearby ships, watching for trouble. She confirmed that she was alright, and began the next process. It only took a few presses to confirm the information, with the planet that didnt have a proper name yet. That was something she was responsible for as well.

This time, though she was accelerating much more quickly, she noticed the process even less. The ship was made to prevent inertial shocks to those inside of it, and it wouldnt have done much good if everyone was crushed when it arrived. Though void ants could easily withstand an effective gravity of several times normal, a ship made for interstellar travel was much more than that.

And they werent even going to a particularly close star. The closest one across the border had no seeded life at all, which would make it nearly impossible to colonize. They had stores of seeds to add to the ecosystem, things that void ants worked with easily, but that would only work if there was some way for them to not die to begin with.

Akrys faded away, and Crossed Antennae realized she had at least a month of time to herself. The other ants would be in a forced hibernation, to save on supplies. They wouldnt be much help if something went wrong with the ship anyway. Not yet, though she hoped some would grow up to be as interesting as that one Sergeant shed heard about, a void ant not born a royal or really anything, but still exceptional.

-----

Anton was disappointed that hed missed the departure of Crossed Antennae by just a short time. However, the timing of such things was critical, and he didnt want to make people wait for months just for him. By now, she probably should have arrived- a message would likely be on its way. Though it might have to route through the Scarlet Alliance, which would add several more months.

The new queens departure meant more than it seemed. It was a significant step towards their greater plans to cease invasions from the upper realms. It also meant that the Great Queen who had been focused on Akrys for some time would be free to act as she pleased. Anton really hoped they wouldnt need her for anything, but it was nice to know she was an option, at least.

He would speak to her about her plans later. First he had some disciples to check on. The Lower Plains Coalition looked to be doing well. Anton was quite interested to look at some of the different sorts of things they were building. Buildings and tools and the like, with fortified tunnels for their burrowing members.

His first disciple wasnt there, however. Nor was he anywhere on the continent, Anton quickly determined. He eventually found Three Squeaks, radiating the energy of a mid to late stage Essence Collection cultivator, out in the middle of one of the oceans. Quite deep, too. There were some interesting beasts there, certainly, but nothing that immediately stood out as sapient. Then again, it seemed as if some species had developed more recently, so they were less likely to show signs of things like intentional cultivation.

Anton waited for Three Squeaks to surface, not particularly hiding himself but also not advertising his presence. Thus, Three Squeaks continued to do what he was doing for several hours before surfacing and about halfway up he noticed Anton and suddenly swam ahead of his hippo friend.

Sect head! Three Squeaks said, shooting out of the water into the air.

Anton reached out a palm and caught him, standing on the surface of the ocean. Its relative density made it quite a bit easier than flying. Well hello again, my little branch head friend. You seem to have been doing well. How is your exploration going?

Planets are big! Three Squeaks said. But I think Im almost a tenth done? Maybe?

Anton nodded, Oh, very good. Youve been working hard. And your cultivation has been growing quite well. When do you expect to reach Life Transformation?

Well, I Three Squeaks shrugged. I dont really know. Maybe another decade or two?

Anton thought it would be closer to the former. Three Squeaks had decent talent, after all. Anton himself had only spent twenty-five years in Essence Collection total, out of approximately thirty years total at that point. With Three Squeaks now having a few decades of cultivation under his belt as well, Anton thought he could reach Life Transformation in one more. And likely Assimilation before his two hundredth year, maybe as early as a hundred and fifty. And Anton knew Three Squeaks would aim for Assimilation instead of Ascension. That much was obvious.

Just keep working at it. Time, ultimately, doesnt matter. We are quite fortunate to be blessed with an abundance of that right now, Anton said. Have you found any new allies?

Three Squeaks told him about all the nice people they met, as well as the not so nice ones. And the horses were almost as bad as the beavers!

Unfortunate, Anton said. But what do you think about the rest of the horses, now that this Sharphoof is gone?

Well, were watching them. They might be alright. The beavers are kind of a pain, though. I dont know if we can ever take our eyes off of them. Oh, but someone said they saw beavers on another continent! I havent been there yet, but apparently they have water mills and stuff! Just like us!

Water mills had been an idea from Anton, though the coalition had refined it and many other ideas to fit their people. Still, using the power of a river was quite practical, even for those who had cultivation.

I met some new people as well, Anton said, telling Three Squeaks about Kybele and the Shining Cooperative.

Are they going to be your friends?

I hope so, Anton said sincerely. But they seem rather strong, so we need to be cautious.

If they try to fight you, well help!

I appreciate the thought, Anton said. But youll need to be a little stronger to take part in such a war first. Anton could literally take out every single creature on Akrys himself. Though it would be faster to destroy the planet directly and let them perish in the aftermath, if he was the sort to do such things. Which he was not. Also, very much hoping not to fight them.

Right. Well if you need a cute mascot to convince them not to fight

Anton stroked his chin. Well, Ill definitely consider that one.