Chapter 7345: Dr. Gabriella Chamois The Dark Apostle fought hard during the battle earlier, and now it was Ves’ turn to put up a good fight. Even if Ves did not strictly belong on the battlefield, that did not necessarily mean that his life was devoid of struggle. Politics could be just as contentious as actual warfare! Many rights, resources and opportunities were at stake today. Although the Larkinson Clan had already formed an initial agreement with the big players about concessions, such a hasty and informal deal could not be completely relied upon. They could not dispute the core terms, but they could still gain advantages by fiddling with the details. Ves needed to assert his rights and authority if he wanted to prevent the other parties from nibbling away at them. Only by putting up a firm demeanor would he be able to protect the concessions that he rightfully earned through his work and sacrifices. Everyone present was smart enough to know that, so Ves did not envision any problems in this regard, especially since he knew over half of the people here in person. In a situation where both sides understood each other’s intentions, neither of them would be stupid enough to try anything foolish. This meant that Ves only needed to show a specific attitude in order to steer the discussion to a more beneficial direction. Before he arrived, it looked as if Commodore Zonrad Reze had subtly taken the lead. This should not be a surprise. Eric Manot and Gabriella Chamois did not enjoy a high status within their organizations. They should be ranked at the lower-middle of their respective hierarchies. They were important enough to wave the flag, but not enough to dominate the discussion. Andrea Vos used to be a highly accomplished academician who specialized in mathematics, theoretical physics and humanist philosophy before she embraced the profession of a formation master. Compared to the others, she belonged to an older generation and possessed much more qualifications. Not just any scientists could climb her way up to become the dean of a university department. That she managed to beat out many highly intelligent competitors proved that her political acumen was not small! However, it was exactly because of her cleverness that she maintained a more low-key and subdued demeanor today. Not only was she ’outranked’ by Ves, but the Red Collective she hailed from was too new and fractured. Still, it didn’t matter too much if she had to take a backseat. The Red Collective represented a broad swathe of people. It would always gain a share of the research results no matter the outcome. How much depended upon whether their expertise and specializations could play a useful role in the research project. Everyone began to take their seats at the table. A moment of silence passed as they all waited for Ves to open his mouth. He was not in a hurry to talk. He had concluded a battle not too long ago. The exertion of having to monitor everything while simultaneously casting curses on a massive Goliath had taken a spiritual toll on him. Even with the benefit of his companion spirit’s powerful support, he could not help but feel weary after hours of tense strategizing and combat. Compared to what he faced on the battlefield, a simple meeting like this seemed a lot more trivial in comparison. He sensed a similar mood among Commodore Zonrad Reze and Formation Master Andrea Vos. Both of them were senior leaders who were in charge of their respective military detachments. They had played an integral role in leading their units and helping the Rubarthans defeat the voribugs. Still, their duty had not ceased now that the fighting had come to an end. Out of all of them, Sigrund bore the most pressure. The Ixith Goliath’s existence unveiled a hidden side of technology that no human had ever conceived in the past. So long as the researchers could fully decipher the strange biotechnologies invented by the mutated voribugs and devise a coherent theory from their subsequent experimentations, the existence of willpower-carrying warships became possible! Such a vessel was no longer a fantasy anymore! Although no hard proof existed at this time that red humanity possessed the capacity to realize such a radical concept, that did not stop the Red Fleet from raising the priority of this matter to the highest level! In fact, Ves was aware that the tier 1 galactic citizens such as the fleet admirals and the Star Designers handled the real negotiations. Commodore Reze only needed to ensure that the others did not quietly sneak the research specimen away or engaged in other dubious activities. Aside from that, given his secret alien origins, Ves suspected that the humanized AI may be able to make substantially more contributions to the research project than anyone else suspected. It had been years since Ves last thought about the sandman race, but now that he thought back on the Sand War, it appeared that the sandman race had a few things in common with the distributed intelligence behind the Ixith Goliath. Although the two races were still very much different, Ves strongly believed that as long as they utilized the same model of controlling large amounts of weak subordinates, their methods should have many parallels! This meant that Ves could not afford to ignore Commodore Reze’s input for that reason. As for the others, he could already sense their competitive spirits brewing behind their expressions. No matter what ideas they might have, they had an obligation to secure as many advantages as possible for their respective groups. The initial research into the captured Goliath was of great importance to them because it could give them a head-start into further studies. Nothing was fair. Nothing could be made fair. Inequality always existed. The key was to bend the scales in one’s favor. That was easier said than done. As Ves collected his thoughts, he finally began the meeting. "Alright, everyone. While I may not look like it, I am pretty sure that my galactic citizenship is the highest in this star system. Given that multiple parties have already expressed strong interest in the same research specimen, one that could only be captured with the help of one of my latest works no less, I think it is best if I have the final word on decisions being made today." That sounded like an aggressive power grab, yet it might just work. Professor Vector Loban responded with a smile. "Agreed. Everyone is aware of his accomplishments. He also has a reputation for honesty and integrity, which is one of the core reasons why his ascent to a tier 2 galactic citizen progressed so rapidly. Without the presence of a firm leader, we will all be spending hours arguing about the most trivial of decisions due to the strong demands from our respective leaders. Rather than waste our time, we should entrust Professor Larkinson to take charge of the initial research direction while we are preparing to ship our priceless cargo back to Yernstall." The captured research specimen could not possibly remain in the dangerous frontlines of the Voribug War. It needed to be transferred to the unofficial capital of red humanity as soon as possible. Yet this common sense decision immediately invited dispute. Dr. Gabriella Chamois immediately voiced her disagreement. "The Yernstall Central Star Node is not and has never been the safest star system of our civilization. That honor belongs to Bridgehead One, the first and ultimate stronghold of red humanity. It is located much further to the rear. Our war planets, Masterwork Installations and many other unfathomable high technologies have made the core of our empire impregnable against alien incursions. We have entrenched every light-hour of space for over half a century since the moment the ancient phase whales caught us by surprise. I respectfully recommend that the escort fleet should chart a route to Bridgehead One as opposed to Yernstall. The sooner it arrives, the sooner our Cybernetic Empress can begin to conduct her research on the Ixith Goliath in person." "No!" "That is out of the question!" "Our leadership will never agree with transferring the research specimen to Bridgehead One!" "I have to agree with the rest, Dr. Chamois." Ves spoke a few seconds later. "Logically, I do not disagree that Bridgehead One is more likely to keep the research specimen safe... against external enemies such as the native aliens and the mutated voribugs. That does not necessarily mean that it will remain ’safe’ in the hands of an untrustworthy rival. I am sorry, but your Cybernetic Empire has not done itself many favors since its reappearance. I fully support the decision to escort the research specimen to the Yernstall Central Star Node." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 The Sapphire of the Red Ocean was the most acceptable destination for this trip. It was jointly controlled by the RA and the RF. It was also conveniently located at roughly equal distances from the borders of the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthn Pact. This favorable location turned it into a very popular trade and commerce hub starting from the early years of the opening of the Red Ocean. In short, pretty much every major player maintained at least a decent presence in the massive star system! The only ones who fell behind the rest were the Cybers, who missed a lot of developments in reality and worked hard to catch up on matters that they couldn’t address during the time they stayed in isolation. "Yernstall is not safe enough, nor is it a good location to conduct ground-breaking research on this fascinating organism." Gabriella argued. Ves turned to the member of the Energy Weapon Tower. "Doctor, this is not an issue relating to competence. It is a problem related to trust. The same reason why people are willing to give me the benefit of the doubt is also the same reason why it is denied to your star empire. The Polymath... does not have a good reputation for honesty and integrity in the Red Ocean. She has demonstrated not once, but multiple times that she is willing to break everyone’s trust. Ostensibly, she is doing this to benefit our race as a whole, but in reality she always manages to place herself at the absolute top of the hierarchy. This is not a problem if she has proven herself to be a leader that we can trust." Yet this happened to be a hurdle that no amount of technology could erase so conveniently! "Our superiors would never agree to your proposal, Gabriella." Jovy Armalon told the scientist. "It is best to pick your battles carefully. Ves is correct. The Cybernetic Empire has shown very little goodwill since it has introduced itself. Your self-crowned sovereign prefers transaction over honor. That is her decision to make, but the consequence is that she has no right to demand our trust." "Yernstall it is, then." Ves spoke. "We do not need to wait for confirmation from the higher ups. If they are not divided enough to enter into a gridlock, then they will definitely choose Yernstall." The may be too noisy and far too congested, but it was the best compromise selection all-considered. The research specimen might get transferred out not too soon afterwards, but that was not a relevant problem to him anymore. Since the final decision on this matter was not up to them, the gathering did not linger too long on this subject. The discussion soon moved on to another contentious subject. "We require greater access to the Ixith Goliath." Dr. Gabriella Chamois said. "This is what we are entitled to based on our agreements with the Rubarthan Pact. However, we have received too few slots. Most of them are taken up by the Rubarthans themselves. What is worse is that we are not allowed to gather larger research samples." Ves inwardly sighed. He could tell that this would probably take a while to resolve. Still, it was better to be proactive than let others decide on these matters.