Lord of the Truth

"The spirit of the planet...the spirit of the planet..." Robin sat down again and continued to tap his knee slowly and began to mutter in a low voice, "Greenland is not a special planet to have a spirit of its own and the rest of the planets do not, it's not the biggest nor the oldest and definitely not the richest with natural energy, so it is safe to say that the rest of the planets also have a spirit of their own too... You said the planet's spirit was born defective and needed someone to refine it, so it now becomes logical that the planet's spirit tries to strengthen its potential owners and gives special abilities to babies in their mothers' wombs until it finds a good candidate to refine it, but isn't it also natural for the planet's spirit to try to communicate with people until it finds good candidates?" 

Robin then shook his head, "But this is definitely not the case. It simply does not happen. I can say categorically that even the Emperors of Nihari do not know anything about the planet's spirit and eternal life yet, otherwise, everything in Planet Nihari would have completely changed and that mild peace the Giants have now would have collapsed long ago. Of course, the same applies to Planet Jura and the Farm Planet, the residents of both planets have no knowledge of this matter, and I'm certain the top icons don't know either or signs would have shown..."

"...There is something missing, why don't the plant's spirits elsewhere try to communicate with their residence as well? Planet Nihari even has Martial Emperors there! ...Does this mean that in order to sense the planet's spirit and begin the refinement process normally one must be at the realm above the Emperor Realm at the very least?" 

Robin continued to tap his knee, "This makes sense since it took you more than 200 thousand years and you still have not been able to refine the spirit of the planet, How could another living being survive all that long? If this had always been the case, it would have been an impossible task for any species other than the treants, and the ancient ones at that! There are definitely conditions to refine the planet's spirit, and they should have something to do with the maturity of the spirit itself or the level of power of its refiner, this is the best explanation I can come up with. It is that you Ancient Treants reached the planet's spirit by accident because of your special nature and you started the refinement process way too early. This should not have happened, and it probably won't happen anywhere else, because the presence of Treant creatures and the effects of Returning to Earth on this planet is a special case that will not be repeated."

The Tree Father remained silent and attentive as he heard these conclusions. These were things he had thought about countless times before, but he had no information from other planets that he could measure against, so Robin's words now were important to him and could even be described as eye-opening... Was the task of refinement and eternal life really impossible for them from the beginning? Why didn't the planet spirit say anything all that time?!

As for Billy, his thoughts were focused on something else, "The Farm Planet? What do you mean by Farm Planet?!" Then he gasped, " Damn, is it what I think it is?!"

Billy's shouting brought Robin out of his state and he looked at Billy in stupefaction, but he was too busy to give an answer so he quickly ignored him and went back to looking at Father Tree, "What are the other Tree Fathers planning now?"

"The souls of the six of us have been gathering constantly within the planet's spirit domain since the day you fought against the Warlords. Everyone recognizes the capabilities of your Empire now, but no one is willing to give up on anything. Although no one trusts anyone until this moment and we do not go into many details during the meetings, There is something unanimously agreed upon, your war from now on will not be against one Tree Father. If you stay put they will ignore you for now, but once you decide to advance further, you will be facing all of us-- I mean all of them." Tree Father Descartes replied with fluctuating emotions.

Robin nodded a few times, "Hmm, it's nothing unexpected, and what about the rest of the local human tribes? Even if you don't have authority over their lands, I'm sure you have a way to spy on them, right?"

"Their position has not changed much. They view you as intruders who want to take what is theirs, In this regard, you are not much different from us, the Tree Fathers. And I see that you will personally support these ideas very soon. I do not think that you intend to hand over the lands of Hoffenheim to those three tribes and return your army from where you came from, right?"

Robin waved, "I will give them what they deserve according to their contributions, but hand over everything? Of course, it is impossible. We are here to stay, not to do charity work."

The avatar of the Tree Father raised his shoulders slightly, "Then keep in mind that you will not fight the five Tree Fathers alone, and do not underestimate the human alliance either, if they were easy to deal with, they would not have been able to trouble us until today. Oh, beware of the Northern Fury Tribe as well, as they have been in constant contact with the human alliance lately."

Billy took a step forward and shouted annoyed, "It is impossible for the local humans to fight us. Our presence will give them a better life and save them from living on the brink of death daily. With what reason would they choose to antagonize us?" He had dealt with the citizens of the Northern Fury Tribe and the Grazing Rat Tribe for six years, even if it was light dealings, he rejected the idea that they would become enemies!

"A devil you know is better than an angel you do not know. This is a simple logic that humans have used everywhere since the beginning of creation. Sometimes some people choose to side with the tyrant they know rather than hand over the reins to a stranger. Isn't this ironic?" But Robin was noticeably calmer

"That's because they don't just know us. When they see our treatment of the three tribes who participated in the Tree Father Hoffenheim War and we convince them that we will give them a better life and teach them better techniques, they will definitely feel comfortable with us!" Billy quickly intervened

"If you intend to court them and persuade them to be reasonable, then do whatever you want in your free time and in a way that does not harm the prestige of the Empire, as for me, I do not plan to sit and persuade anyone. They are not children and they must bear the consequences of their actions... The invasion plan will go as it is, at the very worst, we will just make a few more enemies." Robin waved indifferently when comparing those human tribes to battling against the armies of 5 Tree Fathers at the same time, he simply didn't have time to care for them.

Then he continued as he looked towards Descartes' avatar, "I want you to announce that you have joined the True Beginning Empire, and you will allow the Fifth Legion and the Grazing Rats Army to move freely in your lands as confirmation of your announcement."

"Wouldn't it be better if I concealed my joining you and remained among them?" The avatar furrowed his brows, the thought of opening his lands to humans still gave him shivers

"And do what exactly?" Robin smiled and shook his head, "You said yourself that they don't trust anyone. If one of the Tree Fathers has a secret weapon or something like that, he won't tell you before using it. What's the point of pretending that you're still on their side then? And when I start the invasion again, you'll announce you're joining me, Or will you fight against me, or perhaps you will choose neutrality? Tsk tsk~ These are all options that are not in our favor. It is better for you to announce you're joining me and damage their morale even more. The news of Hoffenheim's death and your declaration of loyalty to the Empire will restrain them for a while, and perhaps some of them will reconsider which side they are on as well."

"...Alright then, what else?" The avatar sighed and surrendered

"Your joining me means that now the lands of the Empire extend from the lands of Hoffenheim and your lands, and the four human tribes are attached to them. This is a piece of land that represents more than a quarter of the planet, A one piece of beauty with no gaps in between, and it can be declared a kingdom." When Robin thought about this, he naturally smiled, "No one can say that he is better than a Tree Father when it comes to defending and expanding borders, so I want you to cooperate with my army generals to make decent defenses around our borders and prepare for any external attack. I also want you to attend the meeting that will happen in a few days at the headquarters to see what the four tribes intend to do and then we will act accordingly, it will also be a good opportunity to get to know the rest of the generals in the Empire, they will be your companions from today on."

"I'll be there, what else?" The avatar nodded

"You will act accordingly with the four tribes? What do you mean?" Billy furrowed his eyebrows

"You'll know then." Robin motioned for Billy to be silent and then returned to speaking to the avatar of the Tree Father, "Now I want you to hand me one thing and I will take and leave. Then you will stay here with Billy to tell him everything you know about the Tree Fathers and the human alliance and your experiences in fighting them and give him copies of all the techniques and abilities you and the rest of the Tree Fathers possess."

"...What do you want me to hand now, your Excellency?" The tree father spoke without emotion. He knew that such demands would arise when he swore allegiance. He no longer had the right to keep secrets to himself.

Robin showed a meaningful smile, "Give me the way to access the planet's spirit."