1832 Mourning These families were all fighting back so hard against Earth, not realizing that this was doing nothing other than hindering their own progress. Aleck hesitated for the first time in a long while. Assimilating with Earth wasn't just about power, but they felt like they were losing a part of themselves in doing so. Although their World Spirit would eventually give way no matter what they did, unless they could somehow conquer Earth, it still felt... off, almost like they were abandoning their ancestors. Leonel chuckled a bit inwardly, not pressing Aleck very hard. In truth, the Patriarch had already exceeded his expectations in this regard. The man was much smarter than he had originally given him credit for. Ultimately, this was a problem of the Human Domain, not just Earth. Humans weren't a cohesive whole, nor did they follow the same strict sort of hierarchy standards and paths that other races did. This was both their strength and their greatest weakness. To a Rapax, being assimilated by another Rapax family might feel bad, but they were ultimately the same people, with the same heritage, and the same culture and thoughts. More importantly, they also all followed the same paths. In the human race, there were no obvious markers of nobility and peasant, or the greater thans and lesser thans. This caused those at the bottom of the rung to have a chance to climb up so long as they put in enough effort and got lucky enough, but it was also the reason why even with such obvious benefits right before them, these families were reluctant to take the obvious choice. Aleck took a breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they had some resolution in them. "You say that if we assimilate, our evolutionary potential will rise?" "Immediately." Leonel said without hesitation. "Your children, as of this generation, will begin to be people of Earth. My grandfather also has a method of shortening the five generation period and allowing your talents to catch up almost immediately, however this will require loyalty and contributions on your part. "Even so, without these contributions, you'll be able to directly take part in the evolution of your resources. Your weaker territories will quickly catch up, and your main resource, the Thrusting Skies Galaxy, will become a hundredfold more valuable." Aleck nodded slowly and pressed a hand to his chest. He took a deep breath and his eyes watered. Leonel's gaze sharpened when he saw this. He could feel Aleck's emotion, he was clearly distraught by this decision. Leonel felt that he was wrong about something for the very first time in a very long while. 'Is this normal? Am I too heartless on this topic? Or is there something else going on?" Leonel's gaze shifted toward the elders of the Skies family and they all looked equally as distraught. Many of them even had to be held back by others, but there was clear murderous intention in their eyes while they were looking at Leonel. Leonel hadn't been alive to experience a divided Earth. The only Earth he knew was a single united nation under the Ascension Empire. Skin tone, race, culture, it had never mattered, so Leonel never really thought about it either. This was the first time Leonel was seeing such a visceral reaction related to one's pride in their country and their fellow man. Back on Ancient Earth, there were probably any number of smaller nations that may have led better lives by obediently handing the reins over to a large nation, but how many of them chose to do that? How many wanted to do that? Aleck was willing to open up his family and show Leonel their everything, but when it came to this decision, one that Leonel felt was a nobrainer, he felt deeply hurt and troubled. Leonel's sharp gaze softened and his oppressive air cooled somewhat. Still, somewhere deep inside, he felt like there was something he had missed. '... I remember back when I cleared my first Zone and met Uncle Montez, he had said that as one of the first four to succeed, I should have received a quarter of the World Spirit with a chance to fuse them into one in the future. However, it had already chosen its owner long ago, so I lost that chance forever... '... It chose... It chose.. could the World Spirit be sentient?" If that was true, then wouldn't the World Spirit have all the same instincts as any other living being? An instinct to survive? An instinct to evolve? And if that was the case, what would be the best way to do that? Wouldn't it be to stoke an undying devotion in the people it served? Leonel felt a slight hint of guilt within. Even he found it difficult to just dismiss these very real emotions that Aleck and the others were feeling as the mere manipulations of a semi-sentient spirit. However, at the same time, he had to acknowledge it as part of the equation. The troubling part was that, in practice, the truth didn't matter. No matter what had caused it, the fact was that most people would feel this level of devotion toward their World Spirit. The more powerful the World Spirit, the more powerful these feelings would likely be. Unless he could find the right combination of circumstances, getting people to give up their World Spirits willingly might be an almost impossible task, and Leonel wasn't sure if taking it by force was possible. While he could kill the wielder, the World Spirit didn't have to follow him, and given what Leonel knew about them, he wouldn't be able to catch it either. Only if he was a member of the World Spirit's world would it follow him so simply. Aleck pulled his hand away from his chest and raised it into the air. A mournful cry spread across the Thrusting Skies Sector and the entire region shook. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 Within the Ascension Empire, Emperor Fawkes looked up with an unreadable expression before he suddenly chuckled. "Interesting.