Published at 21st of January 2026 6:26 am

Chapter 3787: Search for the Past

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Mother Maeria directed an inquisitive gaze at him with her elder eyes. "You sound busy... does this have anything to do with the death of your father?"

Rui nodded as his expression grew heavy. His silence weighed down on the atmosphere, while his ethereal eyes reflected just a hint of all the emotions that welled up within the depths of his heart. Mother Maeria put her head down as she walked over to Rui with a gentle, caring expression.

"I am sorry for your loss." She gently hugged him.

"...Thank you."

"Your father was an extraordinary man," she spoke with sincerity. "I expected East Genoran negotiations with him to slog, but he wrapped them up in two sessions, smoothly reaching an acceptable compromise for both sides and reeling us in as allies. It was one of the reasons that the Panamic Alliance lasted as long and well as it did."

Rui nodded silently. "...I intend to succeed him."

His ethereal eyes sharpened with determination. "I intend to become the next Emperor of the Kandrian Empire and the next Supreme Commander of the Panamic Alliance."

"...That is a profound undertaking," Mother Maeria spoke to him with a gentle yet deep tone. "Once you have adopted this responsibility, you will no longer be able to live your life the way you have up until now, as a free bird."

Her elder sapphire eyes bore deep into his.

"Is that a fate you are willing to accept?"

"Yes

." Rui’s tone was resolute. "The burden of responsibility will elevate me to greater heights. And I will fulfill that responsibility with my greater power. I don’t think I will be able to partake in this task force the way that I originally envisioned. But I do think that I can do more for this initiative once I become Emperor."

"You certainly can," the elder mother confirmed. "Rest assured, we will work extra-hard in your absence for the sake of all of Gaia."

"With Rael gone, you’re going to be busy, but you don’t need to be personally involved in everything," the Divine Doctor remarked with a tinge of melancholy. "He was a great Emperor, but he is not as suited to dealing with such an abstract crisis as the Fear. You will be much better for us in that regard."

He turned back to the terminal of screens before him, featuring live data feeds. "As for the progress we have made in the past half year..."

His eyes grew more serious. "I’m afraid we will have to disappoint you. We haven’t got anywhere just by scouring as of Gaia as we can with Maeria’s organic sensory apparatus. Not even the flora network of East Genora and all of its sensory capital is enough to find even a hint of what we are looking for. We have yet to find anything resembling an esoteric alien virus that is pumping the planet with negatron matter. Our search was broad and general, and it has yielded nothing."

Rui’s eyes sharpened. "...That is unfortunate, but not unexpected. If it was this easy to find, people would have discovered a long, long time ago. What about your search in the Panama Continent?"

"An exhaustive but preliminary round of data-scouring revealed nothing," Mother Maeria remarked. "I have planted a seed of mine, and it has germinated into an adolescent, but my offspring, even when coordinating with the Elder Tree, is unable to detect anything that could serve as evidence for the hypothesis that esoteric matter is responsible for the negatron matter at the core of the planet."

Rui’s expression grew uncertain. "That... is also unfortunate, but even more expected. The Elder Tree has been around for more than a millennium and has not detected anything off. I suspect we will need to go even deeper and deeper into the depths of the continent."

Unfortunately, they didn’t have the technology for that. The pressures and temperatures only grew stronger and stronger the deeper they went. There was a point where even Martial Sages, with all of their power, were simply unable to survive.

Rui suspected that he would fare much, much better with his Anthean side being able to adaptively evolve to anything, but now that he had committed to becoming Emperor, he did not have the time to go on extended excursions into the depths of Gaia.

"We’ll find a way." He heaved a deep breath, opening his eyes with great determination.

"I refuse to let an alien virus bring about ruin to our world with its machinations. When I’m Emperor, I will gather any and all people with specializations and abilities relevant to this crisis and have them come together to tackle this crisis. I will create an international initiative to achieve this. Until then..."

He turned towards them with a knowing expression. "Continue your diligent work. Even ruling out possibilities is still an important contribution. It will help us narrow the path to the truth."

"What do you intend to do now?" Mother Maeria remarked with a raised eyebrow.

Rui’s eyes sharpened. "...I intend to find my path as Emperor before the Royal Funeral."

He turned towards the Divine Doctor with a knowing gaze.

"Where is the Shepherd?"

The Divine Doctor smiled wryly. "Why do you think I would know where she is?"

"Because you’re the most important keeper of immortality, and also because... the Beggar Sage and I had a little... falling out. He won’t humor my requests." Rui remarked. "I’m sure you know where all of your Immortal Sages are."

"They’re not mine anymore, are they ?" the Divine Doctor mused knowingly at Rui.

Rui’s eyes sharpened at those words. "How did you..."

The Divine Doctor smiled at those words, shaking his head. "I don’t know the exact location of the Shepherd, but what I do know is that she has taken it upon herself to study the life and death of the primordial civilization."

Rui frowned at those words. "The primordial civilization?"

"It is what historians and anthropologists have taken to calling the civilization of primordial homo sapien that gave rise to the seven species and their seven paths," the Divine Doctor explained with a hint of disinterest. "The civilization of humanity that existed before the Epoch of Evolution and before the virus entered Gaia. The civilization that birthed all civilizations that exist today in its death. That is what she has dedicated herself to understanding."

He directed a pointed gaze at Rui.

"Search for the past, and you will find the Shepherd."

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