Chapter 6944 Compromised Leadership The rise of powerful new aliens that possessed obvious demonic traits but also demonstrated the potential to form armies sounded alarming to say the least. However, there was not much the Larkinson Clan could do against this newly discovered menace. If the analysis of the Daughter of Death was accurate, then the so-called death born presented a galaxy-wide threat against the living occupants of the Red Ocean, Red humanity and the native aliens should have been able to contain this threat if they maintained relative peace with each other. In fact, it would have been acceptable if they maintained the previous state of warfare from before the collapse of the fifth defensive band. At least back then much of the fighting and killing that took place in the dwarf galaxy were contained in the frontlines of the Red War. If any deathborn emerged from the mass graves of quickly forgotten battlefields, then the human or alien garrisons stationed at the star systems would have been able to strange these ominous energy-based life forms in their cradle. Even if a handful of them slipped past the nest and managed to grow up in relative isolation, their threat level remained limited if they were unable to organise in greater numbers. From what the Premier Branch encountered on the surface of New Constantinople VIII, the actual situation was much more pessimistic. The downfall of the fifth defensive bands, the genocides committed on the planets filled with far too many human colonists and the escalating deaths between human and alien champions all increased the death quotient of the Red Ocean by an astronomical degree! These circumstances pretty much sounded like the most ideal conditions to breed large amounts of scary deathborn in a short amount of time! If these dark and violent entities were as mindless and irrational as they looked, then that was not necessary a detriment to red humanity. After all, the native aliens not only possessed the vast majority of territories of the new frontier, but also conquered much of the star systems where much of the killing took place. This should logically cause the deathborn and the native alien occupants of the conquered star systems to come into conflict with each other! The more the deathborn dragged down the native aliens who assumed that they had cleared the retaken territories, the more logistical problems the alien assault fleets would suffer! If the territories to the rear became plagued with raids and massacres committed by increasingly larger amounts of deathborn, then the native aliens would soon have a full-blown crisis on their hands! In this context, the deathborn aided the cause of red humanity. Even if these dark beings were hostile to all forms of life, at least they bothered the native aliens a lot more than others. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least that was supposed to be the case. Yet the fact that these deathborn quietly spawned on the worst battlegrounds of the Red War and managed to keep their worst impulses in check contradicted Helena's description. For these deathborn to keep themselves hidden so well until they finally decided to expose themselves by committing a bold assassination attempt against a well-protected target was undeniable proof that a greater power or multiple greater powers commanded these undead beings! Ves already had an idea or three about the conspirators behind the mobilisation of these deathborn. The identities of one of them was so sensitive that he did not dare to mention his name lightly. The Larkinsons attending this briefing could already tell that this subject was way above their pay grade. Any matter that directly related to the much more powerful native aliens of Messier 87 was no longer an issue that the Larkinson Clan could resolve on its own. Only the greater powers possessed the qualifications to address the threat posed by the latest group of aliens that possessed strong extragalactic origins. For this reason, the gathered Larkinsons moved on to a problem that affected them a lot more directly. Gloriana rose up from her seat. Her imperious expression indicated that she took this issue extremely seriously. "For the first time in the history of the Larkinson Clan, we are confronted by a problem that is more threatening than any of the overt enemies that have fought against us in the past. We are forced to acknowledge the truth that our patriarch and my husband is no longer a reliable leader and pillar of the clan he founded. This is a problem that can undermine or even collapse all of the trust that he has earned from us. As long as there is a realistic possibility that the Ves Larkinson we all know and love can be replaced by a completely different personality, it is irresponsible for him to retain as much power and authority over us as before." "…" None of the Larkinsons wanted to think about it, but that would not make the problem go away. Gloriana merely did her duty by clearly describing the problem at hand rather than trying to bury it into the ground. High Captain Gilbert de Raanvanchas decided to speak up. "As one of the more recent members to join our clan, I still have an outsider's perspective. Compared to the much older and larger Dermont Ancient Clan of where I previously hailed from, the Larkinson Clan is indeed much more dependent on its founder and leader. This is an unavoidable circumstance as it is still new and in a state of development. It is good that our patriarch has already delegated much of his power and authority to other offices and institutions. His sudden absence from leadership should not cause our clan to collapse. This is a much more optimistic state than what I have seen in other young outfits." Organizations founded brilliant and charismatic leaders tended to shoot up like rockets. Yet if their visionary leaders held onto power too tightly, their groups might fall apart like a house of cards the moment their founders disappeared! Many of the organisations that that possessed long heritages such as the surviving Terran ancient clans never put all of their eggs in a single basket. The leaders who were farsighted enough to think past their lifetimes made sure to nurture talented and capable subordinates. They also build up plenty of departments and institutions that could systematically address matters within their scope of responsibilities. As long as they did a good enough job, their organisations should successfully be able to survive and thrive for many centuries or even millennia! There used to be far more Terran ancient clans, but their numbers had steadily whittled down in the years that passed since the Age of Stars. Very few newcomers managed to rise up and take the place of the fallen. The clans that used to reign at the top of Terran society yet collapsed due to their inability to solve the problems that threatened their survival had rightfully been forgotten by most people. Only the most authentic ancient clans managed to endure. Their governance models had withstood the test of time. Its leaders continued to respect the rules as well as the intentions of their predecessors and never sought to usurp all authority in their own hands. By continuing to distribute power across multiple institutions, the ancient clans protected themselves against collapse induced by one crazy and incompetent leader! Many other clans and organisations that failed to institutionalise their power base lasted far shorter than the honourable ancient clans. Did this mean that every organisation should follow the same model? Not necessarily. Not every group needed to be founded with the assumption that they had to last for thousands of years. However, the Larkinson Clan most definitely harboured the ambition to lay permanent foundation for its descendants. It was no coincidence that the Larkinsons imitated many other people and imitated the highly successful model of the Terran ancient clans. In fact, Ves had defied the pattern of other young and energetic leaders and had been more proactive in transferring his power to other subordinates! Of course, it had been a helpless move in his case. Ves was no career politicians or statesmen. He was a mech designer, and a highly successful one at that. He could never spare the time to exercise proper leadership in his clan. Since his time was far too precious to waste on leadership and management, he delegated all of those responsibilities to people such as Gloriana, Casella Ingvar, Ketis and so much more. All of that paid off. Ves smiled with pride when he estimated that his clan would remain just fine if he took an extended break for whatever reason. "While my judgment may be questionable, I would like to mention that I do not think it is likely that I will be able to get rid of my second personality in the short-term." Ves mentioned. "From what I am able to surmise, this is an unwelcome side effect to advancing my phase lord cultivation. I am not sure if I am the first human phase lord to be plagued by this issue, but I have a feeling that this is hardly a unique condition." Vice Director Maria Abselon frowned. "I have spoken extensively with Formation Master Andrea Vos of the Moloch Squadron. She has concluded that it is almost certain that the Phase Lord Department of the Red Collective is aware of this particular issue. However, she is also not very confident that its leaders will agree to 'solve' this problem. This is because their own human phase lords may have shown a different attitude towards this tribulation if they happened to encounter it during their own cultivation." Ves knew what she was talking about. "I have a feeling that I wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of relinquishing my true body to my newly born alter ego if I accepted the arrangement presented by the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean. For whatever reason, this dwarf galaxy wants every phase lord to embrace the delusion of godhood. For mortal beings that were previously frail and did not have anything else to rely upon, the temptation is far too great for them to refuse. Even the loyal humans of the Phase Lord Department is susceptible to this trap as becoming stronger will increase their chances of survival. I think I am one of the few rare exceptions who refused this trap because I have already made far more attainments as a mech designer. No single phase lord can exceed the contributions that I have made by releasing Carmine mechs to the masses." A phase lord was not that much different from a god pilot in his opinion. They were both powerful in personal combat, but struggled to project their power across an entire society. What power and respect they managed to earn was solely predicated on the fear and respect of other people. Ves thought that was pathetic. A mech better leader ought to be a more productive member of society. It was all well and good to put a lot of trust in soldiers who were strong enough to defend a group against external threats, but that did not necessarily make them good at running domestic affairs. A lot of alien phase lords admittedly used to be capable and successful leaders in their mortal stages of their lives. The delusion of godhood admittedly fit their inclinations a lot better. However, Ves rejected the notion that this was good for red humanity. He despised the human phase lords who all found reasons to accept the Devil's bargain made by the Red Ocean. They were much more compromised than him as far as he was concerned! At least Ves proactively sought to preserve his humanity. Those other human phase lords probably exhibited much less hesitance when they were asked to sacrifice their mortal sensibilities! In a period where the native aliens were making too much progress in the Red War, the human phase lords were probably willing to sacrifice a lot more in exchange for power! Maria Abselon's expression echoed Ves' concerns. "The Farseer shares our fears that the Phase Lord Department has quietly become compromised. It would explain the oddities that she has observed. Whatever the case, we cannot expect to receive any assistance from the Red Collective." That was bad.