Elder Cultivator-Chapter 1264

Bit by bit, Fire and Bullet scanned the food that had been gathered by their fellows, making certain it was fit for consumption. Some of it would have been sickening to the surrounding humans, but it was not poisoned. Merely out of date, and kept in poor confinement.

It was surprising how many people didn’t have refrigeration on a developed world. Oh, all the cultivators had it, but the commoners didn’t have access to formations that would do the same. Even though everything was in the dominion of the Disciples of the Beyond, not everyone was a disciple. After all, they had to have servants.

It was kind of pathetic. People weren’t going hungry- at least not in the heart of the city- but they weren’t really treated well. If Ramil knew how much devotion he was losing, how much growth… he would probably try to figure out how to squeeze it out without being a decent person. Neither royal guard was confident that his behavior would change after such a long life being awful. He could have made things good millennia ago- he was in absolute control of the territory.

After scrounging food scraps and checking on the maintenance of their ship- which was simply sitting in a small hole in a disused field- the void ants continued their mission, scouring the area for the information they sought. Tiny cameras scanned normal sized documents. Those void ants who could read quickly skimmed documents to determine some level of relevancy.

The primary information they sought was… easily found in the library. There was an entire section devoted to it, in the end. The story? Ramil was a great hero with no flaws who founded the Disciples of the Beyond after he fought his way off of a planet being devoured by distortion beasts. A perfectly reasonable origin, given what he had become.

It was, however, unclear if it was true. They couldn’t find any records of the early sect, either lists of elders or much of anything. Such documents were likely thousands of years old, but there was no reason copies couldn’t be publicly available. It was as if everyone was uncurious about their origins.

Perhaps they were, quite deliberately.

The void ants didn’t give up, visiting a number of different locations- even going into sealed areas. However, they got similar results. They also picked out various shipping routes and such that the Little Alliance might use to cause chaos if- or when- they went to war, as well as anything else they could such as approximate numbers of disciples in different stages.

It wasn’t that the information was secret. It was fairly clear that they simply didn’t know. Did it matter if they had five or ten thousand body tempering cultivators in a certain city? A few hundred Life Transformation cultivators here or there wouldn’t matter, would it?

They probably had Augmentation cultivators on some of their planets. That was the sort of thing that seemed like it would do well to be actively hidden, but that wasn’t the feeling the void ants got after several weeks of infiltration. This planet simply had no idea. The public forums certainly didn’t have any information on where Ramil currently was. Obviously the main sect grounds was the assumption, but nothing more.

So they packed up and moved on to the next planet, and the next. Each time, they transmitted pertinent information back to the Alliance, though they had to limit it to something close to what a personal communicator could manage. The planet Udor was their final destination… but there was no reason they couldn’t have a little fun before then.

Fun, of course, was directly tied to sabotaging the enemies of the Alliance. It wasn’t like they had void ant enrichment complexes available. Besides, most of the time they preferred solving practical puzzles. Real conundrums. Like, for example, how to sneakily kill an Augmentation cultivator in their own territory. A simple but straightforward and practical puzzle.

Objective number two was killing Ramil. As that might be difficult, a reasonable sub objective was weakening the Disciples of the Beyond as much as possible, and that meant starting at the top.

It wasn’t actually a difficult puzzle. Bullet and Fire had the latest products straight from Aconite, things meant specifically to kill Augmentation cultivators without too much fuss. The downside? They had three doses between the two of them that weren’t reserved for Ramil. Everything else would require directly assaulting their target, or hoping they didn’t scan their food or surroundings for poison. And if it was one thing cultivators did well it was paranoia.

They just weren’t ready for void ants. Obviously they knew they were a threat, but they forgot how tiny they were. It was impractical to patrol every square centimeter of their territory constantly to catch spies they didn’t even think could get to them. During a war, with Alliance ships in the sky? They would be vigilant. Now, on a random day in the middle of a period of peace, they were vulnerable.

Once they actually killed an Augmentation cultivator, they would be more cautious. Assuming the communications outpaced them, of course. That might not be the case, not because their ship was particularly fast but because there might be delays. Nobody would want to advertise that their planet let an Augmentation cultivator die.

They couldn’t count on that, but they had options. Like, for example, finding an Augmentation cultivator in sealed cultivation. If they had to pick a random example of something they stumbled across.

“Are we blessed with luck?” Fire asked.

Bullet shook her head. “Not so. For we have scoured these lands with all of our senses, circling their planets for signs of any out of place energy. And only now do we find a single individual.”

Nobody should have been able to get into the area, but ‘sealed’ wasn’t really a true meaning. It simply meant being in isolation, not coming out. Sometimes, that was in a protected area. More often, it should have been in an airtight area. Or guarded. But the void ants would not complain. This was their one chance.

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“You know, this young woman could suffer a random heart attack. Or a stroke,” Fire suggested.

“We might as well,” Bullet signed. “Though the death of one of such youthful appearance is likely to be thoroughly investigated. She must have talent.”

“Perfect. Now, what is our escape plan?”

“Leave before she dies.”

“... Right. In that case, we’ll want numbing agents.”

“But not energy suppressors. The body should feel nothing, such that her energy need not look for anything wrong. Until it is too late.”

“It would be a shame if we failed, but we can’t leave evidence.”

“No. We will apply precisely, no wounds.”

The two of them discussed the optimal method, then carried it out. If they were fortunate, the Augmentation cultivator would not be missed for weeks. It was a bit much to assume it would be years, unless those around her were particularly poor at energy sensing. They might wait a bit, not wanting to intrude, but eventually they would check. They intended to have taken their chance with Ramil before it happened.

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The capital planet of Udor was disappointing. They were biased, of course, but it had grand structures less than a few kilometers from slums. Most likely, it was limited by easy sensory range for most of the stronger cultivators. Obviously Ramil would be able to stretch further from his palace, reaching around the entire planet if he truly wished to, but a comfortable distance in atmosphere for most Integration cultivators would rarely stretch much more than that.

They were here to kill Ramil. The problem? Ramil was not there to die. And relevantly, they couldn’t find the next best option- his anchor. It wasn’t the palace, or any of the grand statues. Granted, they couldn’t have poisoned it so it would have taken a lot of chewing to destroy any proper anchor, but they would have given it a go.

Perhaps he was cautious. They would find out.

Breaking into libraries on Udor was a bit more difficult. They had to take such drastic measures as following people through doors- or rather, hopping onto the hems of their robes and dangling on the inside while they walked in. If someone was sufficiently sensitive, they might notice the fractions of a gram difference. Alternatively, if they were very unlucky someone might accidentally stomp on them.

Most cultivators in friendly territory were not constantly scanning around their ankles for tiny blips of lacking energy, and that was no different on Udor. Certainly they would have techniques, but they would need a reason to use them. The void ants were trained enough to not randomly eat the ambient energy, so they wouldn’t make any signs most people should notice.

The problem with actively used libraries was that people would notice if books toppled off shelves onto the floor, or if they mysteriously opened when out on a table, pages flipping. So they had a very difficult time prying open books on shelves and crinkling scrolls to hopefully spot some writing. If they had access to every piece of technology, they could just bring a book into a scanner- but if they could steal the whole book then they wouldn't be having this issue to begin with.

Small squads were assigned to listen in on elders. It was tempting to think about assassinating several Augmentation cultivators at once, but they held out. Until, finally, three days before they planned to give up, Ramil arrived.

Then he was going from city to city for a day, speaking with various administrators. They never managed to get close, not willing to fly within several kilometers of the man- he might notice their ship even if it had no energy signature. Thus, they had to walk… and that took long enough he was usually off again.

It would be convenient if he went to sleep. But he didn’t. Nor did he truly have to, at his level.

Poisoning his food? He didn’t order any.

He was constantly surrounded by people, which wouldn’t technically stop them. But they never got within ten meters. The oppressive aura of a Domination cultivator affected even the stronger void ants to some extent… and they couldn’t be certain they wouldn’t be spotted. In the midst of battle when he was distracted it would be one thing, but here in his seat of power?

The moment had to be soon… or never. And they chose never.

“Crossed Antennae will be so disappointed,” Fire commented.

“Of course not,” Bullet countered. “She will understand. We have much information to return with, including detailed assessments of our primary objective to peruse. We must not lose that.”

“What if you leave, and I stay behind?” Fire offered.

“She would not like you to sacrifice your life for this.”

“I might not die.”

“So you would remain in hiding after successfully assassination a Domination cultivator until… when? Centuries from now when we gain control of this system?”

“It might not take that long.”

“It might never happen. And centuries would be short. However, if you are confident in your chances of success, I won’t stop you. But you must succeed.”

“... It’s just a shame. We came all the way here…”

“Nothing stops us from returning in a year, or a decade. And on our way out, we might as well poison a few Augmentation cultivators.”

“What a delight! I’ll get started right away!”

“Not on Udor. They can’t know we made it all the way here. They think their planetary barrier means something.”

“With hundreds of ships constantly going in and out, how could it? Every guest appears to be invited. For the most secure planet they have… everyone who sets foot here is assumed to belong.” freeweɓnovel.cøm

“That is the way of things,” Bullet nodded sagely. “Now let’s go before I let you convince me to be foolish.”

“Oooh, would that work?”

“I believe you are responsible enough to want the same thing as me. You are playing. Now let us report back before the war begins.”

“That might be years.”

“It very well might be. Or we may find patterns that say otherwise.”