Chapter 36 - Hycean

Alexander Smith

"I quit!" There is a sense of gratification when Alex announce it out loud. "Since you repeatedly accuse me of being incompetent, the company can do better without me dragging it down."

Alex immediately left the office after that. He had been waiting for his pay to came in before pulling off this antic. Normally, this would have been career suicide but ever since he found out about the truth behind , he no longer cared about his future job prospect on Earth. The cultivation is his true calling and future.

*****

It would never have crossed Alex mind that humanity's first contact with extraterrestrial aliens is actually within a "game". The revelation was so important that Henry was in agreement that their entire family should be aware of the truth as well. Being the disciple of one of the sect's twelve Pavillion Masters (another big surprise for them) has its perks. Their master has quickly given his approval on the contingent any family members in the know needs to sign another contract pledging confidentially. Those ten pieces of paper are so ridiculously expensive that even if they sold their family's entire assets on Eldorin, they will only be able to afford half of the needed contracts. Fortunately for them, their master had generously given them an interest free loan and they can take all the time they need to repay their master. It is nice having an obscenely rich master. It is like a billionaire loaning someone a thousand dollars, he will never miss the money even if the money is only repaid fifty years down the road.

The family had a very important meeting within the day everyone became aware of the truth. The cultivation world is as real as it come and the future prospect is limitless. They are after all cultivating immortality and will live way longer than their wildest imagination. The family once again will need to make a major decision that will decide the family's future fate and fortune. The family might lack experience when it comes to such matter but once again Alex and Henry can fall back to the advice of their master. Nothing beats the experience of a wise man that have been contending with some of the most ruthless and powerful cultivators in the cultivation world for thousands of years.

The private session with their master is unique in a matter of speaking. Their master spent hours exploring a wide number of subjects and their personal opinions to fully grasp their personality and conviction. Politics, human rights, public policies, philosophy, from the conventional all the way into some subjects are plain bizarre. It took almost half a day of discussion before their master finally broach the topic of their family's future. 

For starter, their family have more options on the table in comparison to Daniel. Daniel, being their master's direct disciple and future successor means that he is part of the sect. The sect frown upon any disciple that gets too deeply involved with any local powers. To ensure their disciples know where the boundary is, the sect has define it as never getting appointed as an official of the local power.

In contrast, Alex and Henry being nominal disciple are allowed to get deeply involve in local politics, even being part of the top leadership if they have the mean to do so. Now that their government has entered , they have a golden opportunity being a part of the system as long as they contributed significantly to the construction of America's new minor world, Washington Prime.

Alex aspiration has evolved beyond his initial goal now that he knows that is a true gateway to the cultivation world. Back when he had assumed was just a game, his only goal is to help the family achieve financial freedom. Now that cultivation is true and he has the potential to achieve more, he would like to contribute back to society. Like every other patriotic young adult, he hopes to make the country great again.

However, their master can clearly tell both Alex and Henry are unsuitable for American politics after the hours of discussion picking their brain. Both of their personalities are about rationality and efficiency but the current political system is anything but that. There are just too many entrenched interest groups fighting for their own vested interested. In order to achieve anything meaningful, they will have to horse-trade and in most cases, betraying their own principle doing irrational things. The price is just not worth it.

Fortunately for the two brothers, there are more than a single way to achieve their goals. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. After their master comprehensive evaluation, he had advised them to start from a blank slate. There are many worlds in the lower realm that severely needs a better leadership. The Smith family should choose one of those worlds and slowly build a brand new nation that reflects their ideal version of America in the cultivation world. The brothers can slowly influence their fellow citizens that there are a better alternatives out there and instead of all the empty promises delivered by the politicians, they will show evidence of their success.

The entire family quickly came onboard with their master's recommendation. The youngsters will venture out of Eldorin while the elders will remain to take care of the family's business. It will also be the youngsters safety net in case of a catastrophic failure out in the lower realm. It is always great to have loving elders. They will always be one greatest fallback when they are at their lowest.

After weeks of research, the family has finally picked the world of Hycean to build their future nation. It would probably just take a few hours if their master is willing to offer more advise but this is where he puts his foot down. Too much hand-holding will only be detrimental to their growth and learning.

Learning from all the other countries that have set a clandestine base in the lower realm, the family has also chosen a fringe world as their base of operation. The world of Hycean is rather unique in comparison to the rest of the worlds in the lower realm. It is one of those few worlds where the local hegemons are all sovereign states without a single presence of sects. At the same time, it is one of those rare ocean worlds where there is still sufficient landmass for a thriving civilization.

Hycean only has one continent with landmass the size of Australia. The only empire on this world are entrenched on this continent with all other sovereign states beholden to the empire as vassal states. Aside from the continent, Hycean have three other landmasses of significant importance. Two of those islands are the size of Borneo Island and the last one is the size of Madagascar Island. The rest of the islands are small in size spread across a few major archipelagos.

For extra safety, the family has decided to steer clear of the empire and chosen the island furthest away from it. The name of the island is Teelak and it is one of two island with landmass the size of Borneo Island. The island is under the rule of the Kingdom of Varune and it is split into three major administrative regions. The royal city is on the North side of the island and the surrounding area is directly under rule of the royal family. The other administrative regions, split into the South East dutchy and South West dutchy are ruled by two dukes of the kingdom.

As outsiders, the family through an agent managed to purchase a fief from the duke in-charge of the South West dutchy along with a title of nobility. Such sales aren't exactly uncommon in the Kingdom of Varune. With the vast oceans and thousands of tiny islands spread across the world of Hycean, it creates a rich breeding ground for pirate activities. Rumor has it, some of those pirates have grown so powerful that they have crown themselves king declaring a certain region of the seas their private domain. At times, these pirate kings are daring enough to rally up an armada of pirates to invade the coastal regions of kingdoms, plundering wealth while massacring the population. The last major incursion that happens three years ago have decimated the entire coastal regions of the Kingdom of Varune leaving more than half of the coastal baronies without a lord. The fief the family has purchased falls under one of those ill-fated baronies.