Published at 3rd of May 2026 8:57 am

Chapter 4091 Lamenting Change

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"Are we really going to capture that thing?" Sage Ceeran's voice rang with uncertainty as he gazed at the distant gargantian through the window in a warship of the reinforcement fleet.

Despite the great distance between him and it, his enhanced vision allowed him to see it perfectly. He could see the exotic planet revolving around the red dwarf star of Sirius as if nothing had happened. The planet had decided to simply ignore their existence at the very edge of the solar system, deeming that they were no longer of any meaningful threat to them.

"So I've heard," Sage Vericita remarked with a serious expression. "It appears that His Majesty wants to capture it so that they can study its reproduction method and replicate it for Gaia in order to accelerate our expansion across the cosmos."

Sage Ceeran had a hard time fathoming those words. "Expansion through the cosmos, huh? That's truly… unbelievable."

"What is?"

"The fact that we were just a regular civilization and people in the Panama Continent just a little over ten years ago, and now we've suddenly become this space-faring civilization," Sage Ceeran remarked. "Life before the Unfolding was so different. It was so… simple."

Sage Ceeran missed those days. He missed the days when Martial Artists could simply fight on land or in the air, rather than having to rely on an exo-Martial suit in the vacuum of space. It was truly astonishing how much had changed in such a short amount of time.

Sage Vericita directed a gaze of sympathy towards him. She couldn't blame for lamenting what civilization used to be and what it had become. The reality was that Martial Masters and Martial Sages like them had seen better days in the past. There was a time when Martial Artists were king, where, even if they didn't rule the world, they were the most powerful forces in the entire continent.

It was known as the Age of Martial Art, so familiar and yet so distant. Things had changed with the Era of Darkness and the Beast Incursion, but even then, the fundamental truth that Martial Artists were the most powerful force that human civilization possessed hadn't changed.

"Everything changed after the Unfolding." Sage Vericita remarked with a hint of lamentation. "Perhaps we shouldn't have tried to peer past the horizons of the manifold we were in. Perhaps we would have been happier."

It was a truly dark thought, but they weren't the only ones who had had it; very Martial Sage had thought of it at least once. That they were better off never having opened the manifold and simply living within the comfortable prison it offered them.

After all, things had only gone downwards for the average Martial Artist since then. There were other pathwalkers, many even stronger on an individual basis, like the tekvores, even if they had dire energy requirements that Martial Artists didn't suffer from.

It was a truly dark thought, but they weren't the only ones who had had it; very Martial Sage had thought of it at least once. That they were better off never having opened the manifold and simply living within the comfortable prison it offered them.

After all, things had only gone downwards for the average Martial Artist since then. There were other pathwalkers, many even stronger on an individual basis, like the tekvores, even if they had dire energy requirements that Martial Artists didn't suffer from.

That had been the beginning of the downturn for Martial Art as technology and technological solutions grew more and more powerful, and MECHA truly began to take off in human civilization. Of course, there was the Enlightenment of Self AI process that could help Martial Masters break through to the Sage Realm, which made Martial Sages increasingly common. But the reality was that it only benefitted human civilization as a whole; it made Martial Sages like them mean much less than they used to be.

There was a time when the Kandrian Empire only had fifteen Martial Sages, and those fifteen were enough to make the nation a powerhouse internationally.

Now, all of human civilization had thousands of Martial Sages, and the number rose every day. Truly, they had seen better days for their self-worth.

"Though I have heard rumors that things might be getting better," Sage Vericita remarked, walking to his side as she took a good, long look at Garg. "I've heard rumors that His Majesty is considering privatizing expansion."

Sage Ceeran raised an eyebrow. "It means that we can build fleets and go out there and conquer planets and stars for ourselves, if we are strong enough," Sage Vericita remarked with a hint of intrigue. "The reality is that most of us simply don't have any choice in that regard. We may become kings and queens if we please."

Sage Ceeran's eyes lit up. "I like the sound of that."

"However, in order for that to happen, we will need to succeed in catching it," she gestured towards Garg. "That specimen is the key to achieving rapid expansion across the cosmos. That is why we need to continue gathering information on the creature. The more information we gather on its combat prowess, the greater the likelihood that we will be overcome its defenses and successfully capture it."

"Well, when you put it like that," Sage Ceeran grew more motivated. "I'm all fired up to get as much intel on this thing."

Sage Ceeran had chosen to opt for the Pioneers because he was truly getting sick and suffocated in the Panama Continent with how dense its power structures were. The idea of setting up his own little planet was certainly very endearing. It was one that he hadn't even considered before, but anything was better for him than the current state of the Panama Continent and its stifling regime of order under the Emperor of Water.

Of course, even if he said that, there wasn't anything for the infantry to do in this case. The reality was that he would simply have to wait and watch as the crews of the spaceships did their job and gathered ever more information on their target.

They then sent that intelligence back home to the Panamic Space Organization and the Panamic Space Force, which, in turn, further transmitted it to the Gaian Space Force central command that would analyze it and begin developing an appropriate strategy for capture and takeover. Human civilization quietly prepared for its biggest operation outside Gaia. An operation that would ostensibly involve all forces of humanity and all major civilizations.

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