Advanced Cultivation Civilization

ACC Chapter 16 Interlude; Nikolai

"Milla, now we can bask in the limelight after all this time! I had thought that my glory would come when we finally managed to get our civilization a warp capable ship!"

The chair, which I had not cared to notice previously, now seemed comfortable to me. And my wife, the beautiful Milla, had prepared my favourite dish.

A plate of steaming spiritual rice with a heavenly aroma, coupled with a bowl of brown bean paste, whose aroma harmonised well with the rice's, to create a tantalising attractive force that would turn a mere Spirit Gathering disciple into a rabid beast.

But to me, it only served to add even more excitement to my already epic day.

I picked up the spoon, scooped out some of the rice, dipped it into the bean paste, and then delivered it into my mouth, where flavor assailed my taste buds, eliciting a severing of the other senses, such that I could enjoy the taste without any distractions in these few seconds.

"You should curb that habit of yours..."

"Which one?" She had spoken just after I had exited that state.

"...that smug expression! It makes everyone have the urge to smack your face!"

"Hehehehe...but its pure joy when theory is finally proved to me true!"

"Don't toot your horn. The words of the Devil might have implied different things."

"Yes, but there is an over 70% chance of the existence of civilization levels. And my scale shouldn't be too far off from the true rankings."

"Hurry up and finish your food. You shouldn't make the brat wait."

"Come on! Why do you care for that punk? He isn't your son or anything!"

"Nikolai!" 

My wife appeared in the room, with her white eyes glaring directly at me. She only called my name on the verge of getting furious.

What had that brat Reed, done to make my wife adore him? She didn't even love our kids half as much!

-----

As always, the moon was bright today, lighting up the city that had had its lights extinguished in favour of the projection that was the moon. This soft white light that induced a feeling of being in ice was why I had settled here in the first place.

It was artificial, since this was Mars, but I loved the feelings it evoked within me just by looking up at it.

Even though I was happy that my theory had been proven, there was a part of me that hadn't wanted it to be so soon.

We humans were still in the cradle. Even when we produced a Deity Transformation stage being, we would still be vulnerable. The Devil had implied that there might be powerful civilisations out there that might have already discovered us, only not giving us any measure of scrutiny because of our weakness.

We were probably akin to ants on the ground. They lived within Federation territory, but didn't even understand such a concept, because we humans have never even cared about interacting with them! Why? Because they were not on the same level as us. To even have a sliver of reaching our level, they would have to endure multiple hardships.

"My dear. Today there is no room for frowning, unless you start arguing with Reed."

Milla spoke after walking out of the house to stand beside me.

"I am wondering whether it was good or bad for information at this level to be revealed this early."

"In order for all humanity to work together, the tumor that is the Sects, must be taken care of." Milla spoke while grinding her teeth.

I could understand her. Milla had had it worse during the Sect era, just like many other people. Her rage and anger was understandable. I too, had been forced to do my research in secrecy because of factors beyond my control.

The Sect hardliners were plotting. The President had already notified me and warned me to be careful...after all, they had managed to sell information to the Demons, paving the way for Simba's attack.

"Have any of our children encountered trouble?"

"We would have been alerted if that had been the case. Besides, the Sects wouldn't dare. That would be tantamount to waking the beast that is the Federation." Milla shook her head.

-----

As our tiny taxi landed within the grounds of the Sahra' Resort, I looked out through the open door at the many rides arriving, leaving and parking. They carried quite the crowd, whose attires alone had meticulously been chosen. 

The men were adorned in a variety of big name suits, while the women had chosen extravagant outfits, probably trying to outdo each other.

It was dazzling to the extreme, even making me start to wonder whether to go back and change. After all, the beach shorts and large red airy T-shirt weren't exactly clothes for this kind of party.

"I had thought it was going to be a normal interview!" Exclaimed Milla, who had also chosen some casual wear.

"It looks like these people took advantage of our isolation from the wider spiritual network to lay a trap for us." I spoke as I floated down from the craft, attracting every gaze within the lot.

"Hoh! Mr. Nikolai! Long time no see!"

My face changed at that clearly fake greeting. The youth had plastered on a fake smile, dressed in a black suit and having two women draped upon his arms.

"Boy. Didn't they teach you to respect your elders?"

A spark of rage was on the verge of erupting upon seeing his face. I could even feel Milla's fingers squeezing my hand with such power that a normal Spirit Gathering cultivator's would have shattered.

She was trying to keep control of her emotions, that much I could feel.

"The age's getting to you, old geezer. Anyway, since you are the focus of today's gathering, I won't make trouble for you, bye."

With that, the brat sauntered away with large strides, intentionally even drawing the two women by his aide closer.

"One day, I will kill him." Milla's words were chilling.

"Yes, one day, we will get our revenge."

"Mr. Nikolai. How does it feel to have your theories verified?"

"It feels fuckin awesome!" I shouted out towards the journalist who had taken the opportunity to get close. I had just transformed all my rage to happiness.

Of course it hadn't vanished. If this had been the Sectal era, I would have murdered the brat. But it also meant that we wouldn't have even existed at this point in time.

"What does it mean for our civilization as a whole?" Someone else attacked.

"Let's leave the serious questions for the interview. Besides, we first have to gain a greater picture of the event before the conversation."

"That means that you are willing to sit down with your frenemy?" Chuckles lit up the place at that question. Even Milla had to shield her mouth.

These brats!

"He isn't my frenemy. He's my enemy!"

With a sigh, I decided to switch the mood of the conversation...

"We have to take the words of the Devil seriously, my dear humans. Because if we don't, we will suffer. We have invested trillions of Federation credits into building weapons we believe capable of taking down even those at the Deity Transformation stage...but in the end, they are just weapons. And we also have to consider the possibility of those beyond that stage. If they ever set their eyes upon us, we might face annihilation. We should work together to make sure that such a thing never comes to pass."

After those words, we left the space and headed towards the venue.

"Did you have to word it like that?" Milla asked through divine sense.

"Even if the layman takes it lightly, I want the relevant people to take those things seriously."

"Reed! Hahahahahaha...my dear boy. How have you been? Did that Devil leave any lasting injuries?"

Milla's mouth spewed the questions with such speed that they prevented the person being asked from even answering!

And the moment the first question had left her mouth, my heart had already sank.

"Oh! Madam Milla! How have you been? Has the old coot been treating you right?"

"Boy, did you finally find a woman capable of taming you?" I asked, intentionally raising my voice such that the rest if the crowd could hear.

Hehehehe...if the brat thought that he had the upper hand, then he was sorely mistaken. I had plenty of ammunition here!

"Kardeshev! If the boy becomes nervous because of your instigation, you will sleep on the floor for the next 100 years!"

I sweated at those words and hurriedly closed in on the three people.

"Anyway, let's go in brat." I invited while gnashing my teeth in frustration. Even our kids didn't get to be dotted on by her this much?

This brat...I had to find a way to chase him away. Maybe I could hop onto a warp ship the moment a working prototype appears, and head for some distant planet...?