Although Ves requested the Terrans to make the reception ceremony as subdued, small-scale and restrained as possible, his hosts had a very different interpretation of what that meant. The Terrans were steeped in ceremony and traditions. Everything from the length of the carpet to the various greeting rituals had thousands of years worth of weight to them. That made it difficult for these people to deviate from these steps. While It was not a big deal to make minor deviations, any enemy or rival could easily exploit any major break from the established script. This was why the Devos Ancient Clan took great care to hold a formal and proper reception under the circumstances. Ves mostly ignored all of this useless pomp and circumstance. He practically ran on autopilot as Master Laila Devos introduced him to a variety of high-ranking figures that governed the territory, port system and planet. Although Ves did not care about these people at all, it was still useful to get introduced to them as he could get a lot of useful stuff done if he contacted them in the future. As Ves smiled and stood like a dummy while dozens of important Devosans bowed, spoke elaborate words and made other weird actions, they were finally able to move on to a more suitable venue. After waving and addressing the enormous crowd of students one last time, he along with hundreds of Important figures all moved ro a large and elaborately decorated dining hall. Ves was able to loosen up a bit as the atmosphere allowed for more relaxed actions. The children sat down and began to squeal in delight as they partook In the specialty dishes of the Devos Ancient Clan. A bunch of women seated at the same table greeted Gloriana and politely conversed with her. While she had much less accomplishments than Ves, she still possessed a lot of masterwork certificates in spite of her rank and age, and that made her worthy of respect. They even showed their modest appreciation for her borrowed handbag! The cats meanwhile attracted a lot of appreciative glances as they ate their customized meals from dainty porcelain-like bowls. Though Clixie did nor attract as much popularity due to her known Rubarthan lineage, It was already enough that the Terrans did nor show any open contempt due ro her breed. Lucky on the other hand attracted a lot more attention, especially from mech designers and anyone else with a technical background? "Is that mechanical cat... made out of genuine archemetal?" "That... that is impressive! This is one of the rarest and most difficult alien materials to reverse engineer, but the enterprising mech designer did nor hesitate to upgrade his pet at rhe first available opportunity. What a power move! It completely fits his character as well! The depth of signals that he has conveyed through this exorbitant action is profound." "The technological sophistication of that mechanical cat exceeds that of every other mechanical pet in this star system, no, territory. 1 told you not to underestimate the Larkinsons. They may be upstarts, but under the leadership of their rising star, they may become our equals sooner than you think. Professor Larkinson is here to stay." As the banquet proceeded, many people still paid attention to the protagonist of this Important occasion. Ves had conversed with Master Laila Devos for a while now as he took a few bites off a sausage that admittedly did not taste the best, but was supposedly made based on an authentic recipe that originated from the distant past. Personally, Ves would have preferred it if the Terrans didn't insist on sticking to old and inferior products all of the time, but this was an unfortunate part of their identity. "What Is your Impression of our institution now that you have stepped foot on our campus in reality?" Ves smiled back. "I have yet to explore enough of the grounds and facilities to make a definitive judgment. 1 am impressed by what little 1 have been able to see. 1 have toured the virtual campus several times in the past, but the gardens are livelier and more vibrant in reality." "Our institution is named after lhe mythical Garden of Eden. Il would not be lor us lo do less than our utmost in this regard." Master Laila beamed in unrestrained pride. "You will have plenty of opportunities lo explore our expansive campus during your extended stay. New Constantinople VIII also offers many other sites that are worth your lime to visit. Our ancient clan is more than happy to grant you near-unrestricted access to any location that holds your interest." "Thank you, Master. I will likely take your offer on that. It has been a longtime since ray family and I have spent time on a beautiful civilized planet." 'Will you be teaching your classes in person now that you are physically able to stand in front of the classrooms?" "Of course. I prize personal interaction a lot. I think it would benefit my students a lot more if I can teach them and guide them in person. As a teacher, I think it is important to soak up as much experience in this as possible. I might not have the luxury to do this often in the future. What I will gain from here will shape my approach towards teaching for the rest of my life." The two continued to chat a bit about fairly light and innocent topics, but they eventually veered towards slightly more serious business, "Do you have any intentions to settle on our planet and apply for Terran citizenship?" Master Devos asked in a gentler tone. Ves plainly shook his head. "1 have not changed my mind oil these issues. My clan and 1 do not belong to any state, but we are more than willing to serve all of them If they will have us. While I have great appreciation for your Terran Alliance, there are many more humans that deserve to make use of the entire array of my diverse product lines. The more red humans I can servo, the greater the chance that our civilization remains standing five decades in the future." "Thai is a noble purpose. Lei us toast to that professor." It took a remarkable amount of effort for Ves to come op with answers like these. He knew that he had to be extra careful about stating his position. He couldn't be too chummy with the Terrans or else he would be seen as one of their own citizens. He needed to disclose his intention to sell his products to all of red humanity, which obviously included the Rubarthans as well, without sounding as if he was expressing explicit favor to the latter. Ves had to emphasize his stance of neutrality without making it seem as if he had fallen in lockstep with the Red Association. It was a lot harder to do all of this when he lacked the training and education to handle himself in these high-level social situations! Fortunately, Ves gained more allowances than usual due to his unusual origins and outsized accomplishments. A bit of eccentricity and lack of refinement was expected from a fairly young individual who rose up rapidly through the ranks. As long as the Terrans continued to care about what he could do for them as opposed to how he behaved, relations would continue to remain friendly. Of course, Ves was well aware that if his value to rhe Terrans plummeted all of a sudden, he should not expect any help from them at all. They would not hesitate to slab him in rhe back if the opportunity arose. The only way he could prevent that from happening was to improve his relationship with the Terrans. This was one of the goals of his visit to the Terran Alliance. He wanted to transform a relationship that was purely based on mutual interests to a much more intimate bond that was based on genuine friendship and maybe even love. Ves did not share this particular intention with any of his fellow Larkinsons. They would call him mad for trying to build up a relationship that was as strong as the one he had with the Hex Federation! Nonetheless, the fact that he managed to gain the adoration of an entire state meant that he could do it again. While he couldn't utilize all of the methods he employed last time, Ves was sure he could earn the genuine support of the Terrans. He already had a few ideas on how to accomplish this, though it would be difficult to pull any of them off without damaging his relationships with the Red Two and the Rubarthan Pact. After Ves had spoken enough with Master Laila Devos for the time being, Miss Alexa Streon finally managed to get her turn. She was more gorgeous and charming in reality. The young lady had eschewed the trendy style that she adopted as a young teaching assistant for a more appropriate dress for the occasion. The blond woman smiled at Ves. Tara happy to meet you in person. You are one of the most distinctive Senior Mech Designers that I have ever met." "What do you mean by that, Miss Alexa?" "Your presence and weight is so much greater than how you appear in the projections. I mean this figuratively, not literally. You are a human that Is larger than life. I have only witnessed so much inner strength and gravitas from people who are much older than you. It is no wonder that the mechers have seen fit to promote you to a tier 3 galactic citizen." Ves was not surprised by this remark. Even though he tried to suppress it, his glow and other signs of sublimation had increased his life state to a higher level. It was natural for superior beings to suppress inferior existences. Though Ves did not like this dynamic at all, he had to admit that there were advantages to this dynamic. He doubted that the first-raters would have taken him so seriously if he was as strong as he was back when he was still a citizen of the Bright Republic. Tara sure your renowned grandfather carries a much greater presence." Alexa smiled at that. "He does. You will be able to take in his unwavering conviction for yourself soon. He has already communicated to me that he is eager to speak to you in person." "I... see..." "There is nothing to be concerned about. My grandfather appreciates sincerity and efficiency. He is not too much of a stickler for formality and ritual, which has not earned him too many friends." "Thai is more than okay. I hold the same stance. Perhaps we will be able to gel along fine." Just as Ves was about to bring up another topic, he suddenly froze into place. "What Is it, professor?" "I feel... a change." A distant presence suddenly popped up into his awareness. One that appeared in the neighborhood of the Eden Institute and was moving closer at a fairly brisk pace. This was strange. His intuition transmitted a garble of messy and ambiguous signals that made Ves feel a complex set of emotions. What was happening? While Ves tried to sort out the changes, the staff in the closed dining hall started to make different movements. Al the same lime, Master Laila Devos began to frown as she received an urgent piece of news from security. She began lo throw a doubtful glance towards Alexa Streon. "I was not informed!" Alexa spoke with genuine confusion and distress. "My grandfather acted without any warning!" That caused Ves to snap out of his thoughts. "Explain. What the hell is going on right now?" "The Ouroboros... teleported directly from the hangar bay of the Termite Hill that had just arrived in high orbit. Its destination... is 7 kilometers away from this location. Currently, my grandfather's ace mech is flying in our direction at a steady pace. This is slow enough to reassure the security services that it is not on an attack approach, but it is also fast enough to convey the determination to reach its destination!" Ves widened his eyes. If that was the case, then that meant that he was about to reunite with his former Mastery host and his 'oldest' work! What was worse was that he would be doing so much faster than scheduled and without any adequate preparation! "Why is he coming now of all times?!"