"What's on your mind?; you seem a little distracted," suddenly asked Olivier, who noticed his absentmindedness.
"I am worrying about Guzznad's protective shield around this galaxy," replied Edward.
"The Think Tank has brought up this issue as well," nodded Olivier. "They fear Guzznad will apply a mutual destruction tactic and remove the protection before we defeat him, allowing the Gods to access the Milky Way.
"And even if we defeat him without this worse outcome, there is a chance we might not find the artifact he was using for the shield, leaving us vulnerable."
"Then, there is the fact that this protective measure is not absolute since the Gods can use dreams to send messages," added Edward with a groan. The Empire is not remotely ready to face the Gods of this universe. So, Guzznad's protection works in Edward's favor.
As such, this has become an issue that needs to be dealt with.
"Do you have any solution?" asked Olivier. "Surrounding the entire galaxy with a shield is not an issue. However, the issue is to have one that can keep all these Gods at bay."
"I did find inspiration from my voyage to Black Clover," Edward said as he remembered the fog surrounding the world as protection. "I can replicate the fog as it could perfectly isolate the galaxy. However, as you said, the real issue is to protect from all these gods.
"We will need at least 2 Tier 10 Aether Core to power the fog."
"You might as well not say anything," Olivier rolled her eyes. They went to so much trouble to create one Netheril. So, even if they only needed the resources to create the Energy Core, that was impossible.
Especially since they needed them before the war ended. The Empire could try to plunder more planes for energy, but that was dangerous.
So, the only solution to this problem might be for Edward to make another voyage to some universe to gather energy.
"If it was before, it might be impossible. However, with our recent discovery, the situation is salvageable."
"Oh, what happened?"
Edward sent her the information about the Dark Multiverse, and Olivier immediately knew the implications of such a discovery.
"Your luck truly baffles me," said Olivier with a smile and a sigh.
"What can I say? I'm so handsome and intelligent that even the universe loves and cherishes me."
Olivier ignored him and continued her work, "Our next target is the elves."
"Do I need to meet their queen and king?" asked Edward.
"No, they rejected our request for a diplomatic visit. However, they agreed to a Video Communication."
"Even after everything that has happened, they are still stubborn," Edward shook his head.
"That's because their situation changed."
"Did something new happen?"
"Yes. According to our spies, the Elf Queen, Myrthal, had awakened some of her Sun Elves Bloodline."
Olivier sighed. "The situation changed everything. The King and Elder Council who once favored surrendering to us now completely obey the queen."
"Bloodline Awakening? Did she reach Tier 9 or something?"
"No, Tier 8."
Edward had a look of confusion.
"With her new bloodline, she was able to heal their Sacred Tree–Validator. With it, she could barely deal with one of Guzznad's clones."
"This doesn't change much. At best, they can prolong their struggle against Guzznad."
"True. Unfortunately, the Queen seemed Xenophobic. And with her bloodline, she now has absolute control of the council and the elf race."
"Alright. When is the meeting?"
"Hold on. I will contact them and set it for tomorrow."
Olivier placed the screen on standby before contacting the relevant department to contact the elves. A few minutes later, she appeared again. However, Edward saw her eyebrows twisted, a sign she was angered.
"What happened?"
"They rescheduled to three days later."
Edward was silent for a moment, "Fine."
He returned home to meet his family and cached on the promise Olivier gave him after his return. Then, three days later, he met the Elf Queen. He dressed appropriately while sitting on his throne.
Then, a large screen appeared before him.
"Queen Mythal."
"Your majesty," said the queen with a blank face. Edward frowned slightly before continuing the conversation.
Less than an hour later, the conversation ended, and Edward sat quietly on his throne. Then, a call came from Olivier.
"How was it?"
"I knew these people were arrogant and delusional. But I didn't think it was to this point."
"That bad?" she asked with a frown. "What exactly happened?"
"She probably wants us to help her fight Guzznad while retaining the independence of the Elf Kingdom."
"Oh, what is she offering in exchange?"
"That's the funny part. At first, she made it seem as if it was our honor to help them," said Edward, shaking his head. "Then, she offered a unique specialty for Validor. However, she never specified what the specialty was."
"So, are they hard to get along with?" muttered Olivier with displeasure. "We can wait until Guzznad attacks them before we once again reach out. With the integration of the dwarves and the Star Race, Guzznad will never watch as we incorporate the elves.
"So, he should be planning an attack on them soon."
"No need."
"Pardon me?"
"We don't need to incorporate the elves in the Empire anymore."
"Hey. I understand the queen offended you and hurt your pride, but this is not the time to be acting emotionally."
"You should give me more credit than that."
"Do you have a plan?"
"These elves are too arrogant and not suited for integration–just like the Intelligens. Instead, we will let Guzznad wipe them out while we clone them."
"Clone?"
"Yes. We will send our people to secretly control one of the Elders. Using their powers, we can start a national project to gather the blood of all the elves as an attempt to study the Sun Elf Bloodline and have more people awaken it.
"With this opportunity, we can gather a genetic data bank of their entire population. Once they are wiped out, we can clone them with empty memories, making them easier to integrate into the Empire."
"That's not a bad idea," replied Olivier after pondering for a while. "Before then, we must access all the knowledge of their civilization."
"We can even access the Bloodline Memories of the Sun Elves," added Edward.
"Alright; this will be our new approach for dealing with the elves."
"I just brought back a group of Ninjas. Send them on this mission."
"Isn't it too much for their first mission?"
"They need to prove their worth. Plus, I trust in Itachi's ability."
"If you say so."
Olivier ended the conference call to continue her commanding duty. Meanwhile, Edward called Morgana:
"How is Chris doing?"
"He's currently Tier 4 and is still studying to catch up."
"Once he begins his experiment, give him access to our knowledge on Haki. It should help him with his research."
"Alright."
Edward stood up and stretched. "This war should be ending soon. Now, we must consider how to properly rule an entire galaxy."
He pondered for a moment before realizing this was not something for him to worry about; this headache was for his aunt Amelia. While thinking about her, he suddenly remembered his cousin, Susan, who said she was working on a new project.
"Let's check on her."