"You seem tense…"
"… Are you even aware of this shitstorm going on back in Africa?
Fucking American, Russian, Chinese and every other Operative twat has come running to claim their own piece of the pie now that we have done the hard work.
Unfortunately for them, the Assassins and Templars are ruthless enough to keep them in check, and the old man Rashid… well he and his Hassassins have finally splintered under the direction of their new Lord and Master.
Some financial banking family from Europe who wants to use the Hassassins as nothing more but a corporate intelligence agency and to protect their core family members.
What a fucking joke…" Esmond was too furious to contain his anger any longer now that it was only him and Rahzil relaxing together back in the Space.
The Reborn Lich wanted to return home for a bit, instead of staying behind in Astelan to deal with the manipulative Elders.
"… How are things in Outer Space and the Spatial Ark Star World then?" Rahzil decided to ignore the troubles of Earth and focused on the brighter prospects of the Spatial Ark Star World.
"Carter tells me the Citadell is a third of the way through its complete construction, which is far from being ready to take people onboard.
In comparison the Scientific, Military and Exploration or S.M.E Starbase has started helping our scientists in understanding stellar military warfare.
This also includes creating and developing tools and equipment to help our forces.
Some of the scientists have already started using the equipment on the Starbase to help with construction of Starships and our space fleet.
However, the Thazukraans have provided enough construction drones with improved schematics and design characteristics to help with building the necessary ships without needing a SpaceDock or a 'Drydock' on a planet or Mainland.
Honestly all of this work isn't anything special right now since none of it is complete.
Even the construction of the atomic computer is far from complete.
Same as the damn Matrioshka or Jupiter Brain being developed in the Virtual Labs, they are progressing but not as fast as I would hope or like…
Honestly, if I went in ahead and finished the projects instead, I think it'll be easier but to be fair I don't want to interfere with the work of others since it'll reduce morale.
However not a whole lot have been focusing on Mars, Uranus, Jupiter or even Titan.
There are plenty of other projects that require more hands even with the large number of people spawning every day.
Regardless of that, Carter has done enough on a few planets to allow Igdra to finally set the World Tree roots down.
Mars gained a stronger atmosphere that improved the gravity to make it the same as Earth's but stuff like water, trees and wildlife are all coming from the Spatial Ark Star World.
Igdra somehow figured she should stretch her World Tree roots to the core of Mars before further injecting Universal Sentient Spring water to see what would happen.
This would have been ideally better to try on Thazur or Gabrion within the Spatial Ark Star World, but it happened on Mars." Esmond had to stop and take a sip of his drink just as he ramped up his rambling.
"If you saw the previous image of Mars compared to now, you would struggle to understand how a planet could change so fast.
Most of it relates to the trees sprouted by Igdra which sprouted across the planet in large batches but in other areas, mountains have been born with the core coming to life on its own.
From what I've been told… the planet is essentially alive with a spirit of its own according to Igdra." Esmond heavily sighed as he remembered what Igdraasilla told him.
Unable to understand how such a thing was even possible, Esmond visited Mars to find that how a Planet Spirit could be created but once he witnessed the creature floating around on the surface of the planet, he could only sit back with a worried expression.
Thankfully the Planet Spirit was educated and influenced by Igdra that he knew not to reveal himself to humans in the future.
What caught Esmond off guard the most was Mars being added to the Spatial Ark Star World Planetary System, while not needing to be draw into the Space itself.
This surprisingly helped Esmond safeguard the planet through the System, which kept Mars from being noticed by anyone on Earth, since the changes would leave most people questioning who could achieve such a feat instantaneously.
Before similar actions occurred on the other planets in the Solar System, Esmond decided to wait and see how Mars developed.
Esmond named the Mars spirit Akres which saw it turn into a Planetary Elemental Spirit that contained raw strength comparable to Gods.
However, Akres wasn't only enough to understand this strength or its capability to help people without Igdra and the Space.
.
"… Sounds like you need another drink." Rahzil laughed as he started pouring another drink for Esmond as the two relaxed atop a mountain peak within the Space.
Unable to bother with Rahzil right now, Esmond finished his drink before being handed another while thinking about the endless tasks that needed to be dealt with.
Back on Earth, James and Zhao were having their own chat about the changes concerning their daughters.
But whereas Esmond assumed they might discuss the differences between the states of their daughters from before and now, which they essentially were but with a different approach on the subject matter.
"They've… done it…
Somehow and way beyond my means or know how." James said with his tone dead serious and alarmed.
"… Could this have something to do with… your 'nephew'?" Zhao asked, slightly panicked and worried about the dangers possibly liable now.
"… More than likely…
But I don't know how he awakened their bloodlines…
This shouldn't be possible… not anymore, especially 'here'… where there isn't even strength or power to help them advance." James paced around in his office with his phone next to his ear, trying to understand how Esmond had the ability to achieve such a feat.
"Maybe 'They' taught him something we don't know, but that would go against their family ideals, no?" Zhao replied.
"It would.
That's why I know Daniel didn't tell Esmond how to activate bloodlines.
Even so, they are awoken.
Julia's daughter also had hers activated as well… but it's different.
It more… aggressive, powerful, amazing… unstoppable." James found it hard at times to be around his daughter for long times without finding himself agreeing with her every word.
Since he contained traces of the Pendragon bloodline, the force emitted by Amelia's dragon soul automatically made him subservient to her.
Louise, Amelia's mother, also had a tough time dealing with her daughter but since the conversation wasn't ever suggestive or directed then she was fine.
James understood better than anyone that it was dangerous for his daughter and the others once their bloodlines activated.
Ending his call with Zhao, James decided to phone the one person who might know what might be happening.
"You know this line is reserved for emergencies or in the case my son has turned 21, so tell me James… why have you called?"
"… I think… Esmond awoke Amelia's bloodline as well as Layla's and Zhao's daughter's as well."
"… Well… fuck." A deflated Daniel could only bury his head in his hands as he groaned aloud in annoyance.
After heavily sighing and taking a moment to make a decision, Daniel asked James to visit their Adelaide home while he got in touch with a certain person to help understand what had happened in their absence.
"Carter… what has happened since we have been gone?" Daniel asked Carter who appeared on his HUD WristBand in a holographic form.
.
While the conversation between a father and an adopted son started, a young lady in America just finished her last working for the State government of New Jersey and joined a new business trying its luck in America.
"Hopefully everything goes well tomorrow…" Crista Hoffman said to herself as she entered her home, but she quickly stopped dead in her tracks once she noticed some people in her lounge room that she didn't know.
"Crista Hoffman, me, and my associate here work for the Federal Government ma'am.
We were hoping to talk with you about your future employment with the Primal Management Group." Said a stern man with an imposing figure with his female partner beside him.
"I see... may I know who you are exactly?" Crista asked, while wondering what the government saw in the Primal Management Group.
"Yes, of course.
I'm F.B.I Senior Agent Malcom Fletcher and this is my partner Senior Agent Jaina Mathews.
We were wondering if you could help us in the future concerning Primal Management Group and your employment with them." Mathew smiled, trying his best to appear as calm and friendly as he could be.
Unfortunately, after his encounter with Esmond, Mathew turned into a stiff and blocky man that desire to improve not only his natural skills and abilities to their peak but also help expand his technique skillsets like communication and recruitment.
.
Meanwhile over on the island nation of Aeoricia, Felix and Louis were both lounging back on the couches in Louis Gloomy Shadow Games offices.
They were both looking out the transparent glass window panels to stare at their staff members that ranged in the several thousands' at this point.
Working on projects other than the main game of their company, Stellar Wars, the developer teams ranged around a hundred or so each.
Certain people from the Space had taken up positions within the organisation and vastly improved the quality of the work.
One particular person happened to be Eliza Fareq, a Uh'Strod clansman whose height peaked at roughly 6 feet, 4 inches, but her narrower frame gave her a supermodel alure.
This would have spurned the men to run at her, but after the first person ended up in hospital, everyone knew not to mess with her unless they wanted a beating.
Louis and Felix couldn't say much either when it came to discipline since she had every right when the male team member got physical.
Eliza just decided to let her aggressor know what happens when the wrong person was bothered.
She also led the project team for the new virtual reality game which allowed the player to start as a simple serf during a medieval period.
The player would be in an open world situation, where any NPC could offer them any number of quests which could help them Level Up.
Most of the jobs would require them to perform tasks that would help them advance their classes once they achieved a certain Level and evolve.
By chance if a player came across someone fortunate, they could quickly rise up in the ranks and maybe become a Knight for a noble or a thief for some shadow organisation.
But this depended on if the player chose to participate in the online version of the game with other players.
The single game driven story would help the player go from serf to emperor, battle saint, war god, pope or others while providing exclusive gifts and tokens to the player that could be utilised in the multiplayer version of the game.
It would give them a certain edge and power of the others who would run to the online game instead of playing the single player story.
.
"I heard Starlight Entertainment Division purchased Ubisoft along with Activision for just under three billion dollars.
They also acquired Electronic Arts and Take Two Interactive.
Honestly, what kind of behemoth is Esmond?" Louis asked Felix while they shared a glass of wine together.
"Who cares as this point…
I am being paid well.
My children and wife are living their best lives, and I am able to develop extensively large projects that enable me to create all sorts of wild ideas.
Have you seen our new projects revolve around creating new series and franchises!
What else could you want?" For once Felix leg go and became the carefree type of person with his mind focused on creating new content and improving what was already created by the new companies' part of their entertainment division.
Louis however couldn't keep his mind off the utopia that was Aeoricia and its people.
The nation was something different and far ahead of anything else on Earth he'd ever heard about.
Nobody could beat the near instantaneous transportation system with its highspeed subway and railway network.
Even the automated drive programs of the vehicles helped reduce human involvement down to a minimal.
Worst thing about it all was the lack of ability to leave or contact those outside of the island nation, which wasn't too bad, but it bothered Louis that he couldn't travel outside of the Septum Aecors of Terra Kingdom.
Because of the workload on their desks, neither Louis nor Felix ever had the time to travel to the other islands.
Their connection to Esmond afforded them with the best travel and care across the 7 islands, so they wanted to go and see everything on offer but until now they weren't spare enough time.
However, with things easing up in Africa, the two expected to be freed up soon.
They were told by the Mhartel House that Esmond was an ambitious Lord who wanted all of Africa, leading them to understand why the continent was undergoing some big changes.
This included Andre Oumarou who was heavily focused on the changes happening across his dear Cameroon.
On the border of Nigeria and Cameroon, a new port city was being developed at lightning pace with a majority of the city build with people already moving in with every passing day.
Up to 30,000 had already entered the city from both countries with the Phantom Security Services watching over the operations of the city.
With more people going towards the city, Andre found his mind focused on helping his colleague who'd taken over Equatorial Guinea in a coup that ended the dictatorship when people beside the dictator eventually decided on a change of power.
ExxonMobil were ready to strike when the iron was hot and try to put a leader in who would serve their interests even further, however Esmond's chosen leader quickly imposed sanctions on the company for their actions.
A leak about ExxonMobil operations within Equatorial Guinea and Shell within Nigeria quickly made its way to Liber Tellus Media who made the new public, showing detailed information concerning the illegal operations of the company.
The environmental damage was substantial, including the affect it had on the locals which just proved how bad companies behaved when there wasn't oversight.
Staff, management, and sales force of the two companies within the two nations were arrested before they fled and taken to the new jails established by the Phantom Security Services.
This alarmed western nations like the United States of America, England, Germany, France and Belgium whose citizens were arrested and taken 'hostage' according to their media, but the newly established media giant Liber Tellus News had the 'exclusive' update.
When the news came out that a fair trial would be conducted in both nations, western nations quickly calmed down, even if they still tried to apply pressure on the nations.
Actually, they weren't the only corporations who were going through a similar fate across Africa, with all sorts of people being arrested and taken to jail with plenty of evidence to keep them in for decades.
With a new government came change and this included laws that were all taken care of and established before the arrests were made in quick succession, leading a few experts to believe the act was heavily coordinated.
Nobody believed the theory that quickly became a conspiracy among fanatics on the internet with nothing better to do or some student surfing the internet and stumbling on a random YouTube video.
By the time Esmond became aware of the second wave of operations occurring, he immediately felt another layer of headaches crashing down on his mind.
Echo, Vaazakra, and Kane saw this in a different light however, with their minds trying to think of certain demands they could garner from the specific nations.
But instead of focusing on material and resources gain which wasn't an issue for Esmond to gather, they instead thought about gaining political power.
Thankfully all the right people were trained and supplied to the African Leaders to give them a greater edge during negotiation the nations previously didn't have.
Even a call to gather the African Union members was called so they could reorganise the structure of the continental organisation.