Chapter 7146: 40 Hours The negotiation between the Dark Apostle and Ves progressed smoother than expected. That did not mean that both sides got hung up over a few outrageous demands. To Ves, the thought of surrendering 40 standard hours per standard week sounded like an intolerable surrender of autonomy. Why should he give up so much precious time when he was doing fine when he ignored his alter ego’s existence? The Dark Apostle did not think so. He graciously let Ves retain ownership of the 128 hours of the remainder of the week. He had made an enormous concession by giving up any attempt at establishing a more equitable distribution. "Quit complaining, you weakling. If I had my way, I would have demanded you give me 84 hours of time to control our divinely sculpted body, but your many friends would probably object to that. 40 hours is my only demand as well as my bottom line. If you do not give me enough time to actually enjoy this life that the heavens bestowed upon me, then we may as well call off the deal right away, because I would know that you have no intention of treating me sincerely. 40 hours is the minimum of uptime that I deserve for not trying to usurp control." Ves had little choice but to accept this sum if he wanted the Dark Apostle to play along. The repercussions were great, especially if the alternate personality started to walk around with a giant version of his own face. He would have to inform a lot of people and make sure they could distinguish who was dominant at any time. In order to claw back a measure of control, Ves began to demand access and control over the Phase Lord Department. "No matter whether you call yourself the Dark Apostle, you will be running around with my face and true body. As far as the public is concerned, Ves Larkinson has become the department head of the Phase Lord Department. This should at least give me a measure of control over the Ascended Giants. Look, I will do my best to avoid stepping on your toes when it comes to your own arrangements, but I want to be involved in the decision-making concerning R&D into phasewater organs and the kind of assignments that the Ascended Giants should undertake." "The Ascended Giants are mine!" "No, they are ours. My name is on the records. Those who remain ignorant of our... condition will assume that I am in charge. I want to be at least partially truthful when I deal with these people. Besides, I do not think that anyone can ever trust a human phase lord with an ideology as radical as yours with complete control over the Phase Lord Department. Give me partial authority and the Red Collective will rest much easier." The two haggled a lot on how to share authority over the Phase Lord Department. The outcome eventually favored the solutions proposed by Ves, if only slightly. The deal they made about the department was a bit complex and lacked definition. They just made a general agreement that the Dark Apostle was the overall leader, while Ves turned into a vice leader of sorts who could issue a large range orders to the mortal staff but possessed much more limited authority when it came to commanding the Ascended Giants. In order to help Ves gain more control over the less exciting parts of the Phase Lord department, the Dark Apostle had to permit the RC to insert a lot more handpicked staff into the hierarchy of the Phase Lord Department. The infusion of new blood that had not been brainwashed would ensure that the middle and lower ranks of the department would remain in line with the policies of the Red Collective. The reason why Ves felt so keen on this demand was because he wanted to make sure he could steer the Phase Lord Department by managing its staff. This was a rather sneaky way for Ves as well as other RC leaders such as the Patient Builder to exert control over the Phase Lord Department. The Dark Apostle was most definitely smart and observant enough to be aware of this trick, but he did not put up too many objections. It was not always the best idea to point out hidden traps and implicit concessions. Both sides were better off if they left certain arrangements unspoken. The Dark Apostle proved to be quite good at judging what he could get away with. The strategic value of the Phase Lord Department was great. With a roster of 361 human phase lords, anyone who controlled the department held enough martial might to reconquer half a zone from the native aliens. Given how much destructive power he may have at his disposal soon, a degree of oversight and supervision was mandatory if the Dark Apostle wanted to remain in the good books of the Red Collective. He hated the RC very much for being so fractured and so deferential to mortals, but he knew that cooperating with the collies was a necessary evil if he wanted to keep his ambitions alive. The Dark Apostle was astute enough to realize that it would not be great if the Ascended Giants became isolated from the rest of red humanity. The human phase lords needed access to lots of phasewater, high-tech products, logistical vsupport and more. He and his men would be able to grow considerably faster and gain more influence in the Red Ocean if the RC kept fulfilling their needs. In order to make that possible, the Dark Apostle forced himself to let the weak and pathetic humans take care of logistics and other tedious affairs. He ’reluctantly’ agreed that Ves and the officers of the RC embedded into the hierarchy would be able to steer the Phase Lord Department in various ways, most notably by influencing the mortal staff. Direct contradiction had to be avoided at all costs, but was that truly possible? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 Neither Ves nor the Dark Apostle thought so. There were just too many areas where both could butt heads against each other. "This is not going to be an easy agreement to uphold." "It is still better than the alternatives." This was a messy agreement that could lead to fights between Ves and his alter ego down the line. They had little choice but to deal with those problems when they occurred. All that mattered right now was to form an initial consensus. Who exactly controlled the Phase Lord Department and what they were allowed to do could be refined over time. There was no need to take every unlikely scenario into account at the start. In the end, the Dark Apostle was happy enough that he would still be able to command the Ascended Giants, who were the only individuals that mattered. Ves was happy enough that he could steer the development of the Phase Lord Department and make sure that his other self did not completely lead it astray. "There is one more subject we need to discuss." "And what is that?" Blinky began to circle above the human phase lord’s head. "Battle. Assuming that I win the leadership challenge and take control over the Ascending Giants, I cannot send them off into battle while I remain in the rear. If I want to maintain my authority over them, I have to step onto the battlefield in person and inspire them with my strength. If I do not do so, they will mount another leadership challenge in time." That caused multiple collies to frown. This was a very serious issue. Ves also did not like what he heard. "I am not eager to throw my true body onto the battlefield, especially in situations where it is not needed." "I do not care how you feel, weakling. What matters is that when a serious fight takes place, you should take a step back and let me take charge over our body. I can contribute much more on the battlefield than a mech designer like you. It is not as if you have a habit of designing and fabricating mechs mid-battle. Your work is only relevant before and after a battle has occurred. I have no problem with what you do during those times. Just give me control during the rare times when my forces and yours enter into a conflict against serious opponents." Though Ves did not like it, the Dark Apostle raised a few good points. There were not a lot of logical arguments that Ves could bring up to counter his alter ego’s arguments. A mech designer was not supposed to participate directly in combat, but it was a different story for a human phase lord. "Ugh, fine. I will let you take control when we are involved in a battle. However, I don’t want you to push me out entirely. The collies are currently working on a solution that will allow me to maintain my awareness and continue to use Blinky as a vessel outside of this ritual chamber. This is one of the special measures that is designed to give us an advantage when we start the leadership challenge. Both of us have to work together in order to defeat at least 2 out of the 4 leaders of the Ascended giants." The ritual chamber was both a stopgap measure as well as a testing platform. The formation masters, ritualists and other qi cultivators were currently gathering a lot of data about Ves and the Dark Apostle’s current state. The hope was to discard everything that was either unnecessary or did not work and compress the stuff that did work into a much smaller and more portable tool. Whether they would be able to complete this tool in time remained to be seen. If the collies failed to make it, then the Dark Apostle would have to fight against those scary Ascended Giants by himself or perhaps only with the aid of Blinky. Granted, Blinky was a powerful enough companion spirit, but Ves himself could bring a lot more to the table on account of being a mech designer. He had cooperated with mech pilots in combat situations in the past and had always proven extremely helpful. Ves was sure that the Dark Apostle needed his expertise on technology to target the weak points of enemy gear. The two resumed their talks. After forming a reluctant consensus on the most important demands, the hostility between the two mellowed out as they began to hash out agreements on less important subjects. Ves still hated the Dark Apostle and vice versa, but they had formed an implicit truce for the time being. There was no reason to direct their hostility at each other at this early junction. They had yet to conquer the Phase Lord Department. They needed to prioritize their collective goal over their emotions towards each other. In the end, Ves was glad that the Dark Apostle proved rational enough to set aside his irrational desires and focus on the bigger picture. Whether he would continue to behave in the future remained to be seen, but Ves strangely felt optimistic about their cooperation. To be honest, Ves still felt a little sour about losing 40 hours of the week, but he could live with the outcome so long as he gained the backing and the protection of the Ascended Giants. No matter the technicalities involved with who exactly was in charge, nobody would take Ves lightly once they learned that he commanded the loyalty of so many human phase lords! Ves would finally step up in high society and become qualified to participate in greater affairs. He could effectively take advantage of the direct military power at ’his’ disposal to sway the outcomes of entire campaigns. He could help his friends and allies win crucial battles, allowing them to survive and thrive in the dangerous years ahead. He could also turn his Ascended Giants into de facto mercenaries. He could send them to reinforce faltering states and groups while demanding heavy rewards in return. In short, Ves could do much with so many phase lords at his disposal, but none of it would mean anything if he and the Dark Apostle failed to win the leadership challenge! "Now that we have agreed to work together, let’s talk about the combat gear that we will be using..."