Published at 6th of November 2026 7:38 am

Chapter 7615: The State Question

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Ves did not like what he heard.

The very notion of taking over a state or several states disgusted him. One of the biggest reasons why he founded his own clan and invested in so many starships was because he wanted to obtain freedom from more worldly entanglements.

It made little sense for him to counteract his present strategy by investing so much in fixed territory.

He could tolerate the formation of planetary branches. While the Larkinson Clan had established many of them across the Red Ocean Union, they did not really amount to much in the greater scheme of things.

Even if a hostile alien raiding force descended on a planet that hosted one of these branches, the life and death of all of those clansmen had no impact on his mood.

He never met them in person. He could not place any familiar faces to their names. The Larkinson Clan probably would not even notice the demise of a single planetary branch.

However, the story would be different if the Larkinson Clan took over an entire planet or an entire territory of star systems.

If the Larkinsons formally took over responsibility of ruling and protecting the people who lived on all of those planets, then Ves could not bring himself to ignore the wellbeing of all of those citizens.

No matter how small or trivial those states may be, the Larkinson Clan still assumed an obligation to defend all of those citizens against threats from within and without.

That was a very heavy burden in a time of total war.

The Red Ocean was increasingly turning into a free-for-all.

The Larkinsons needed to contend with at least three distinctly different but incredibly dangerous hostile alien groups!

At the same time, they also had to stay on guard against other humans!

Ves did not feel that he and his fellow clansmen were up to the task.

"No." He simply responded to his personal assistant. "Founding a state or taking over a state does not align with our development strategy. Even if I am no longer the patriarch, I am sure that the Saint Commander agrees with me. Being tied down is a weakness in this day and age."

"Not every Larkinson is of the same mind, sir." Gavin Neumann gently retorted. "Before you go ahead and complain about the contrarian stance of Saint General Ark Larkinson, there are many more clansmen who possess a more nuanced view of the issue. The fact of the matter is that our clan has grown to a point where the disadvantages of staying rootless are beginning to outweigh the benefits."

Oh? That sounded new.

"Explain."

His assistant began to pace across the office. "It is nothing new. There have always been people who think that our clan has grown so rich and powerful that we should make use of our new leverage. Their reasons are not entirely selfish. They can see just as well as you that we are increasingly suffering from the same set of limitations. Our infrastructure is too small and fractured. While we own a couple of shipyards, they are far from enough to meet our needs. If we own an entire state, we can operate a lot more shipyards. Not only will we be able to build dozens of them, but we will also gain access to the resources necessary to sustain their activities."

That actually made a lot of sense. However, what Gavin did not mention was that taking responsibility over an entire state also came with a lot of burdens. Ves was not quite certain whether it was worthwhile to endure so many additional problems just so that they could operate a lot more shipyards.

"The same thinking also applies to research institutions." The assistant continued. "Every state is home to hundreds of research institutions. Not all of them are large, but each is useful in their own way. An ordinary state is typically able to support several dozen state-backed research institutions, but depending on the specific policies, they can also host hundreds of private research companies. Each of them will be able to fulfill most of their low to high-end manpower needs by recruiting graduates from our own universities. We won’t be able to exert as much control over the private schools, but we can easily dictate the policies of the public institutions of higher education to support the interests of our clan."

Ves actually began to give serious consideration to this proposal.

If he overlooked his old and familiar objections to running a state, he had to admit that possessing his own state could indeed solve all of those long-standing problems.

"I see. What matters the most is population. The more people who answer to our rule, the more they can help us fulfill our goals. A higher population base will always generate more talents. These talents can massively boost the output of our research institutions and fill up other essential vacancies. As long as we can ensure that these up-and-coming leaders remain loyal to our clan, they will not easily work for other groups."

"Exactly. Even third-rate states can be useful in this. Both of us are former third-raters, so you should know much more than others that even the brightest talents can be born among space peasants. As long as our little third-rate state has uncovered them and confirmed their extraordinary talent, we can induct them directly into our clan or simply lift them up and put them into our second-rate state. In addition, if we have identified strong talents among the second-raters, we can promote them into first-raters so that we can exploit their talent and potential to the fullest. Many powers already operate in this way. They have already perfected this mode of operation into an artform."

The Larkinson Clan possessed no experience in this kind of stuff, but many others possessed an overflowing amount of expertise!

This crucial difference sobered Ves up and made him more apprehensive towards accepting the proposal.

"As good as this sounds, the very act of taking over not one, but several states at once is a very complicated matter. I fear that we are far from ready to assume so many new and heavy responsibilities."

Gavin stared down at Ves for a moment before shaking his head in disappointment.

"There you go again, Ves. You are letting fears affect your judgment. It is true that taking over a state and running it is not easy, but I believe our clan is ready for this new phase. This is the right time to do so. Our prestige has never been higher. As a warlord, you can boldly step forward and challenge the rulers of a weaker state. Several warlords have already done so. Their actions may seem tyrannical, but our race cannot afford to tolerate weakness."

Ves recalled that he had indeed heard mention of it when perusing the news lately.

One of the reasons why the leaders of red humanity permitted the forceful takeovers of entire states was because many of them had never been set up to cope with total and unrelenting war against powerful alien species.

Their leaders were not up the task of shifting their states into a war footing. From converting civilian factories into military ones to winning enough battles at the frontline, leaders had to make tough but wise decisions in order to earn sufficient war merits and prevent their states from falling in the rankings.

While there were enough states that had managed to prove their competence and ensure the safety of their current regimes, there were always those that fell short.

There were many possible reasons why they fell short of expectations.

Failure to adequately transform their economies.

Suffering too many painful losses at the frontlines.

Falling too far behind in terms of R&D.

It was not easy for all of those former scions and bureaucrats who had originally been selected or appointed to lead those colonial states to make the necessary happen.

Now that they had lost their original backing from the old galaxy, they struggled to rely on their wits and influence to get stuff done!

In fact, it was one thing for a state to fail to maintain pace with more successful states.

It was another thing when complete ineptitude caused a number of states to descend into chaos!

Given all of those situations, any warlord who had earned enough merits and recognition could issue a challenge to the current rulers.

Such challenges were incredibly risky, but as long as the warlords managed to win against the opposition, they were entitled to establish new regimes!

The logic behind it all sounded rather crude.

A successful challenger meant that whoever took over might not necessarily run the state any better, but at least possessed superior military might and vision.

These strengths mattered more than anything else!

Only by setting up a state for military success would red humanity be able to repel their alien adversaries and contribute to the continued survival of the human race!

If the newcomers failed to do so, then they would be met by other challengers in the future.

No one’s seat was secure!

This was the realization of the principle known as survival of the fittest.

It was never meant to be fair.

The losers could not resort to law, as greater concerns had long rendered them toothless.

Backing from higher powers could only provide a limited amount of protection. It might deter warlords who wanted to avoid offense, but it could not deter those who were willing to bear the consequences!

It all sounded so barbaric and regressive to Ves.

It reminded him of the annual leadership challenge of the Ascended Giants. It seemed that resorting to violence was the only valid means of earning legitimacy at the start of this new age.

However, he could not argue that this radical new custom had been remarkably successful in shaking off the complacency among the top.

Existing rulers understood that they could not afford to slack off and let others assume the burdens of waging war against murderous aliens.

If these pampered sons and daughters wanted to retain their existing power and privileges, then they needed to work seriously and leave their comfort zones!

When Ves thought about these poorly-run states, he attempted to visualize a future where the Larkinson Clan had challenged their leaders for supremacy.

What surprised him was that it was not difficult at all to imagine a successful outcome!

By taking over a small but considerable amount of stellar real estate, the Larkinson Clan would finally be able to scale up massively in terms of population, industries, resources and more.

No matter what bad policies and practices had dragged down the performance of those conquered states, Ves believed that his competent clansmen would definitely be able to enact sufficient changes and reforms to change their original trajectories for the better!

"Gavin."

"Yes, boss?"

"I do not agree with your proposal. I still think that it is not appropriate for our clan to bear so many entanglements." Ves slowly said as his eyes remained thoughtful. "However, I am willing to investigate this matter further. I can permit you to start a feasibility study. I want to obtain a formal report that can explain whether our clan is prepared to assume greater responsibilities and what we must pay to make it happen. I also need to know what promising states we can potentially take over. If our clan truly decides to embark on this venture, then it better be worthwhile. I do not hold much interest in third-rate and second-rate states. If we truly want to play this game, then let us participate in the biggest one. If there is truly a valid way for us to take over a first-rate state, then... I may be persuaded to change my mind."

Gavin almost couldn’t believe what he heard. Had Ves finally seen the light?

Although taking over a proper first-rate state was much more challenging, the Larkinsons may actually have a chance!

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