Published at 23rd of January 2026 7:07 am

Chapter 3791: Civilizational Darwinism

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Rui’s words made the Shepherd stiffen. She narrowed her auburn eyes as they peered into his through her thick glasses, evaluating his sincerity and his offer. Rui simply remained patient with a smug smile, waiting for a response.

He was glad that he had made a habit of recording every Angel of Laplace data output from each battle he had ever participated in. He had known that there would come a day when he would be deeply grateful that he had taken the effort to do that, and this was that day.

He possessed a copy of the Lost City before it was destroyed. That data was probably not as good as if the Lost City had never been destroyed, but it was clearly enough to attract the Shepherd to his offer.

Her auburn eyes began wandering about as she began biting her nails, deep in thought. A conflicted expression emerged on her face as she weighed the pros and the cons of the offer that Rui had made to her.

"Mmmm..." she began swaying from side to side as her expression grew more conflicted.

Rui simply observed her with an evaluating gaze. She struck him as an eccentric individual, the kind who would get lost in her own work and be completely detached from reality. The fact that she studied the Kandrian Empire but did not know what Rui looked like showed just how one-track-minded she could get.

He would have preferred a more balanced person, but a balanced person would never reach the heights of an immortal sage. It took extreme talent and extreme dedication to even become a candidate for immortality.

’I’ll take what I can get; this person can help me develop my own vision for the country.’ Rui knew he could afford to be picky about the people around him.

"I’ll throw in true immortality if you agree," Rui added. "On top of that, you’ll have access to tremendous resources. We also have deep connections to allies in the true world. I can guarantee you deep access to the lore and history of the dark elves and allow you to study their civilization up close."

Her auburn eyes lit up at those words. "Deal!"

Rui smiled with satisfaction. "Then, it is set. In return for helping me develop my vision for the nation and teaching me your knowledge and understanding of civilizations, I will give you a copy of this Lost City when it was intact, true immortality, and access to civilizations in the true world."

She heaved a deep breath, directing a glance of knowing curiosity. "You drive a hard bargain, Your Majesty."

"I’m not the Emperor yet." He shook his head at her choice of honorifics. "I do intend to become Emperor as soon as possible after the Royal Funeral is over. However, I do need to provide some resemblance of a vision to the stakeholders of Kandria and Panama. Even if it isn’t entirely ironed out right down to the very details, it needs to be fleshed out enough to be both compelling and convincing enough that I’m not talking out of my ass."

He leaned forward with an intent gaze bearing down heavily on her. "That will be your first task, right here and right now, Shepherd. Help me flesh out my vision for the nation. A vision where my Martial might becomes the source of prosperity. Where my Authority of Alpha was wielded to become an engine of growth. A vision where my Adaptive Evolution, my Water, becomes that of the nation’s."

The intensity of his voice hung in the atmosphere even after he fell silent. His ethereal eyes still remained fixed on her hazy auburn eyes, still deep in thought.

Despite the explicit and implicit pressure he put on the woman, he could not sense any anxiety or fear from her. Even if he had been courteous enough not to threaten her in any way, it was not easy for even Martial Sages to maintain their composure in his presence.

Yet, her thought mannerisms did not contain any intensity. She pondered his question with the same seriousness as if someone asked her what her favorite food was.

She maintained her composure not through active effort, but through simply being at peace with any outcome.

A small smile cracked at the edge of Rui’s mouth at the sight.

This was who he needed: people who were not afraid of him, like his new secretary, Claris. He had no interest in subordinates who cowered with fear when he spoke to them.

"...Let us begin by ironing out exactly what you so intently seek from me," she began with a measured tone as she leaned forward.

Her auburn eyes bore into his with a clear gaze, devoid of any deception.

"You seek from me help to flesh out a political framework and philosophy to help you flesh out your vision of Kandria, which currently comprises two criteria," she raised a finger. "The first criterion is that you want your own strength to become that of the nation in a manner that allows it to thrive. Beyond just being a guardian or contributing Martial Art. And the second..."

She raised another finger. "You want a nation that is able to adaptively evolve as much as you are able to, being able to overcome any hurdle. These are the only two elements of your vision, which makes what you ask of me easier than if you had an overly restrictive vision with many criteria and conditions. But with merely two criteria, there is a lot of room to work with."

"So that means you are able to help me, yes?"

"Of course," she continued with a composed tone as she shifted her thick glasses with a finger. "There are a number of ways to fulfill each criterion. Let me begin with the second one, since I find that easier to answer."

Her expression grew serious. "One of the most important variables that decides the long-term health of a civilization is its ability to change accordingly with changing times. Circumstances always change, whether environmental, domestic, international, economic, sociocultural, and so on. Change in circumstances is constant and unstoppable; nations that succeed in changing to be better suited to their circumstances are the ones that survive the test of time, while others do not. In civilizational anthropology, we call this civilizational darwinism."

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