Chapter 59: 59
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
"Dear, can I come with you this time?" Iris tenderly whispered into Ivan's ear as she stood behind him sitting at his desk, her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Yes," Ivan sighed, emotionally worn down by Iris' persistent nagging.
Getting the answer she was looking for, Iris grinned victoriously and pecked him on the cheek before running back to her desk. She already had a bag of basic necessities packed at home and was ready to participate in the next business trip.
Ivan had recently reviewed his proposal for hidden guards over several of the planets that Celestial Trade held an interest in at the board meeting. Including the Vulpes homeworld, 7 other major worlds and space stations were approved for a guard to protect against a Scalian invasion.
Flintlock had returned from spending time in the surroundings and was lazing about the floor in Ivan's large office.
With Iris no longer pestering him, Ivan turned his eyes toward the Four-Eyed Devil Lion and said, "Firebug, I've asked you this before, but where are the rest of the devil lions? Surely there must be more. I want to recruit them into our community, build up our forces of natural four-dimensional beasts."
Flintlock didn't even turn its head as it snorted contemptuously.
"Don't forget you are one of us now."
Facing Ivan's domineering gaze, Flintlock looked back at him and shook its head softly before laying it on the floor sorrowfully. Ivan couldn't help but feel there was more to it, but he was incapable of sharing words with the beast and could only try to read its body language.
"Enough, while I am gone on this business trip, I will arrange a large group of guards to travel and meet them. They can either submit or be erased. Your species are too intelligence, I won't allow a group of them to start plotting and attacking from the shadows. Just you were enough trouble."
Flintlock locked eyes with Ivan for some time and tried to tell Ivan not to, but it was already a defeated beast and could only follow his orders. It viewed Ivan as the king, and he had already magnanimously allowed the Four-Eyed Devil Lion to have its way for long enough.
After making arrangements for the matter of subduing devil lions, Ivan left CTHQ along with Iris, a large squad of guards and the rest of the full-time crew of Ivan's Kraken.
"What are you thinking about?" Iris asked Ivan as she sat across his lap on the captain's chair.
Ivan was lost in thought but abruptly came to his senses upon the question. He glanced across the bridge and realized everyone was tactfully looking away from the two of them and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"I'm considering our field of medicine. Four-dimensional beings have a powerful regenerative process so have no need for medical attention unless the injury is too severe, at which time we basically die very quickly anyway."
"Back in the original days of Earth, the field of medicine was abundant and rich to make profits in, but today in the Federation with nanobots and biological samples, as long as you are still alive and have enough money they can basically recreate your entire body."
"I don't understand what your point is."
"It means the only money in medicine at the moment is in illegal drugs and other hallucinogens, there are no medical breakthroughs in sickness and disease because they can already fix everything."
"So we should make drugs?"
"No. What I'm wondering about are all the researchers in the medicine field. I was wondering if there are some passionate people who we can win over to conduct research on four-dimensional biology. Despite all the years gone by, we don't know if there are any four-dimensional pathogens out there or anything that could make us seriously ill."
"We need to know more about ourselves and subspace, but the Vulpes and Celestials' medical technology is far subpar in comparison to the Federation's. I could send teams of Celestials to learn from the medicine courses provided by further education institutes, but they would still need nearly ten years of study and at least ten more working in the field before they could be considered as experts in the field."
"What I'm wondering about is if there are medical researchers fumbling for crumbs in the field that would be interested in becoming Celestials. I would have to be assured that they aren't spies or risk of betraying us, either."
Iris cupped her chin in ponder as she thought aloud, "But twenty, even forty years is a very short timespan for us now. Dear, is it really necessary?"
"There's a thing called risk factor. If we were to encounter an unknown disease or plague in a few years while those Celestials were studying, the damage it would cause would be catastrophic. I want to further research into it as soon as possible."
"Mazur has been studying the biology of the Celestials as four-dimensional beings, hasn't he?"
"Yes, but only the major differences between us and three-dimensional beings. There is a full report of his findings on the Celestial Network. He is currently placing most of his attention into energy circuits and the transformation of energy which he specializes in."
"So what are you going to do?"
"We run the SubNet forum, just pin a recruitment notice to the top of the main page, seeking for individuals specializing in the information. It can wait until we return though, I am just busy thinking about the method of recruitment."
Iris giggled lightly and kissed him just before Ivan pushed her off his lap and told her to consider where she is.
*****
The Kraken descended down below Eridon II in subspace so it didn't appear on the planet. This was a secret meeting in the heart of the Federation so Ivan didn't want to send off any alarms by displaying his massive warship on the planet.
Ivan and Iris, along with a small number of five guards ascended to the planet in the heart of East Immortal City. The rest of the guards and the Kraken were stationed on standby in subspace ready to react to any situation.
At the heart of the city where cloud piercing towers, also known as cloudscapers, extended through the cloud layer, many rich and wealthy people passed walked or rode hoverbikes along the ground floor, but many lanes of hovercars and large transport busses drove automatically between the cloudscapers.
With the earth level mostly vacant, the streets were lined with vibrant trees covered in pink, yellow and purple leaves.
The location Ivan emerged at was nearby the cloudscaper owned by Everal Argentear according to the local map he had on his SubNet Tablet.
"I want to have a look in that store," Iris stated with bright eyes while looking at a large fancy clothing department store.
"Fine, we are in no rush."
"Your five wait outside," Iris said cheerfully as she pulled Ivan's arm to go exploring the store.
Ivan was pulled around as Iris explored peeled back the clothing on the face of her body contacting the surface universe and tried on various fancy dresses.
"Can I buy some and have them recreated when we return home?" Iris asked Ivan with puppy eyes, who looked at the price tag of six digits and felt a cold sweat form.
"You can choose up to three. No more than that though."
Iris took her time visiting half the stores in the district before she decided on which three dresses she wanted, each having a unique design she wanted to have the seamstresses back at CTHQ design and recreate four-dimensional clothing out of. Of course, they would also probably adapt the Celestial artistic sense of overlapping layers of cloth the Celestials preferred.
By the time the shopping was done, it was late afternoon on the planet and the sun was beginning to set, dying the clouds vibrant crimson and gold colors.
"Let's go, we have a meeting to attend," Ivan grabbed the woman who was mesmerized by the sight and truly enjoying her trip to a developed three-dimensional planet, even though the basic three-dimensional structure held a certain blandness for the Celestials.
Ivan used his map to find their way back to the Everal's cloudscaper and entered through the massive gold laden automatic door on the ground floor.
Inside the building was a large waterfall which fell into the pond from the ceiling while the colorful flower bushes planted around it gave the entire lobby a fresh scent.
Ivan and Iris, followed by the five Celestial guards, walked across the polished tiles toward a large reception desk. The lady behind the desk looked at them curiously due to the strange ears and tails of the Celestials along with their strange eyes, due to which she failed to notice the uncanny silence as their footsteps made no noise.
"Sirs and Madam, how can I help you?"
Ivan pulled out the unique sealed pocket and removed Everal's special business card and presented it to the lady with a smile.
"H-hold on one minute," The lady immediately jumped like a frightened rabbit and made a phone call to Everal.
Once she was done, she placed the phone down with a trembling hand and said to Ivan, "Would the Sirs and Madam please proceed to the elevator at the rear, it will immediately take you up to the top floor where Mr. Argentear is waiting."
"Your assistance is most welcome," Ivan said to her with a smile before heading toward the indicated elevator, his mesmerising voice causing the reception lady to be momentarily absent minded.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"Dear, can I come with you this time?" Iris tenderly whispered into Ivan's ear as she stood behind him sitting at his desk, her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Yes," Ivan sighed, emotionally worn down by Iris' persistent nagging.
Getting the answer she was looking for, Iris grinned victoriously and pecked him on the cheek before running back to her desk. She already had a bag of basic necessities packed at home and was ready to participate in the next business trip.
Ivan had recently reviewed his proposal for hidden guards over several of the planets that Celestial Trade held an interest in at the board meeting. Including the Vulpes homeworld, 7 other major worlds and space stations were approved for a guard to protect against a Scalian invasion.
Flintlock had returned from spending time in the surroundings and was lazing about the floor in Ivan's large office.
With Iris no longer pestering him, Ivan turned his eyes toward the Four-Eyed Devil Lion and said, "Firebug, I've asked you this before, but where are the rest of the devil lions? Surely there must be more. I want to recruit them into our community, build up our forces of natural four-dimensional beasts."
Flintlock didn't even turn its head as it snorted contemptuously.
"Don't forget you are one of us now."
Facing Ivan's domineering gaze, Flintlock looked back at him and shook its head softly before laying it on the floor sorrowfully. Ivan couldn't help but feel there was more to it, but he was incapable of sharing words with the beast and could only try to read its body language.
"Enough, while I am gone on this business trip, I will arrange a large group of guards to travel and meet them. They can either submit or be erased. Your species are too intelligence, I won't allow a group of them to start plotting and attacking from the shadows. Just you were enough trouble."
Flintlock locked eyes with Ivan for some time and tried to tell Ivan not to, but it was already a defeated beast and could only follow his orders. It viewed Ivan as the king, and he had already magnanimously allowed the Four-Eyed Devil Lion to have its way for long enough.
After making arrangements for the matter of subduing devil lions, Ivan left CTHQ along with Iris, a large squad of guards and the rest of the full-time crew of Ivan's Kraken.
"What are you thinking about?" Iris asked Ivan as she sat across his lap on the captain's chair.
Ivan was lost in thought but abruptly came to his senses upon the question. He glanced across the bridge and realized everyone was tactfully looking away from the two of them and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"I'm considering our field of medicine. Four-dimensional beings have a powerful regenerative process so have no need for medical attention unless the injury is too severe, at which time we basically die very quickly anyway."
"Back in the original days of Earth, the field of medicine was abundant and rich to make profits in, but today in the Federation with nanobots and biological samples, as long as you are still alive and have enough money they can basically recreate your entire body."
"I don't understand what your point is."
"It means the only money in medicine at the moment is in illegal drugs and other hallucinogens, there are no medical breakthroughs in sickness and disease because they can already fix everything."
"So we should make drugs?"
"No. What I'm wondering about are all the researchers in the medicine field. I was wondering if there are some passionate people who we can win over to conduct research on four-dimensional biology. Despite all the years gone by, we don't know if there are any four-dimensional pathogens out there or anything that could make us seriously ill."
"We need to know more about ourselves and subspace, but the Vulpes and Celestials' medical technology is far subpar in comparison to the Federation's. I could send teams of Celestials to learn from the medicine courses provided by further education institutes, but they would still need nearly ten years of study and at least ten more working in the field before they could be considered as experts in the field."
"What I'm wondering about is if there are medical researchers fumbling for crumbs in the field that would be interested in becoming Celestials. I would have to be assured that they aren't spies or risk of betraying us, either."
Iris cupped her chin in ponder as she thought aloud, "But twenty, even forty years is a very short timespan for us now. Dear, is it really necessary?"
"There's a thing called risk factor. If we were to encounter an unknown disease or plague in a few years while those Celestials were studying, the damage it would cause would be catastrophic. I want to further research into it as soon as possible."
"Mazur has been studying the biology of the Celestials as four-dimensional beings, hasn't he?"
"Yes, but only the major differences between us and three-dimensional beings. There is a full report of his findings on the Celestial Network. He is currently placing most of his attention into energy circuits and the transformation of energy which he specializes in."
"So what are you going to do?"
"We run the SubNet forum, just pin a recruitment notice to the top of the main page, seeking for individuals specializing in the information. It can wait until we return though, I am just busy thinking about the method of recruitment."
Iris giggled lightly and kissed him just before Ivan pushed her off his lap and told her to consider where she is.
*****
The Kraken descended down below Eridon II in subspace so it didn't appear on the planet. This was a secret meeting in the heart of the Federation so Ivan didn't want to send off any alarms by displaying his massive warship on the planet.
Ivan and Iris, along with a small number of five guards ascended to the planet in the heart of East Immortal City. The rest of the guards and the Kraken were stationed on standby in subspace ready to react to any situation.
At the heart of the city where cloud piercing towers, also known as cloudscapers, extended through the cloud layer, many rich and wealthy people passed walked or rode hoverbikes along the ground floor, but many lanes of hovercars and large transport busses drove automatically between the cloudscapers.
With the earth level mostly vacant, the streets were lined with vibrant trees covered in pink, yellow and purple leaves.
The location Ivan emerged at was nearby the cloudscaper owned by Everal Argentear according to the local map he had on his SubNet Tablet.
"I want to have a look in that store," Iris stated with bright eyes while looking at a large fancy clothing department store.
"Fine, we are in no rush."
"Your five wait outside," Iris said cheerfully as she pulled Ivan's arm to go exploring the store.
Ivan was pulled around as Iris explored peeled back the clothing on the face of her body contacting the surface universe and tried on various fancy dresses.
"Can I buy some and have them recreated when we return home?" Iris asked Ivan with puppy eyes, who looked at the price tag of six digits and felt a cold sweat form.
"You can choose up to three. No more than that though."
Iris took her time visiting half the stores in the district before she decided on which three dresses she wanted, each having a unique design she wanted to have the seamstresses back at CTHQ design and recreate four-dimensional clothing out of. Of course, they would also probably adapt the Celestial artistic sense of overlapping layers of cloth the Celestials preferred.
By the time the shopping was done, it was late afternoon on the planet and the sun was beginning to set, dying the clouds vibrant crimson and gold colors.
"Let's go, we have a meeting to attend," Ivan grabbed the woman who was mesmerized by the sight and truly enjoying her trip to a developed three-dimensional planet, even though the basic three-dimensional structure held a certain blandness for the Celestials.
Ivan used his map to find their way back to the Everal's cloudscaper and entered through the massive gold laden automatic door on the ground floor.
Inside the building was a large waterfall which fell into the pond from the ceiling while the colorful flower bushes planted around it gave the entire lobby a fresh scent.
Ivan and Iris, followed by the five Celestial guards, walked across the polished tiles toward a large reception desk. The lady behind the desk looked at them curiously due to the strange ears and tails of the Celestials along with their strange eyes, due to which she failed to notice the uncanny silence as their footsteps made no noise.
"Sirs and Madam, how can I help you?"
Ivan pulled out the unique sealed pocket and removed Everal's special business card and presented it to the lady with a smile.
"H-hold on one minute," The lady immediately jumped like a frightened rabbit and made a phone call to Everal.
Once she was done, she placed the phone down with a trembling hand and said to Ivan, "Would the Sirs and Madam please proceed to the elevator at the rear, it will immediately take you up to the top floor where Mr. Argentear is waiting."
"Your assistance is most welcome," Ivan said to her with a smile before heading toward the indicated elevator, his mesmerising voice causing the reception lady to be momentarily absent minded.
"Dear, can I come with you this time?" Iris tenderly whispered into Ivan's ear as she stood behind him sitting at his desk, her arms wrapped around his neck."Yes," Ivan sighed, emotionally worn down by Iris' persistent nagging.Getting the answer she was looking for, Iris grinned victoriously and pecked him on the cheek before running back to her desk. She already had a bag of basic necessities packed at home and was ready to participate in the next business trip.Ivan had recently reviewed his proposal for hidden guards over several of the planets that Celestial Trade held an interest in at the board meeting. Including the Vulpes homeworld, 7 other major worlds and space stations were approved for a guard to protect against a Scalian invasion.Flintlock had returned from spending time in the surroundings and was lazing about the floor in Ivan's large office.With Iris no longer pestering him, Ivan turned his eyes toward the Four-Eyed Devil Lion and said, "Firebug, I've asked you this before, but where are the rest of the devil lions? Surely there must be more. I want to recruit them into our community, build up our forces of natural four-dimensional beasts."Flintlock didn't even turn its head as it snorted contemptuously."Don't forget you are one of us now."Facing Ivan's domineering gaze, Flintlock looked back at him and shook its head softly before laying it on the floor sorrowfully. Ivan couldn't help but feel there was more to it, but he was incapable of sharing words with the beast and could only try to read its body language."Enough, while I am gone on this business trip, I will arrange a large group of guards to travel and meet them. They can either submit or be erased. Your species are too intelligence, I won't allow a group of them to start plotting and attacking from the shadows. Just you were enough trouble."Flintlock locked eyes with Ivan for some time and tried to tell Ivan not to, but it was already a defeated beast and could only follow his orders. It viewed Ivan as the king, and he had already magnanimously allowed the Four-Eyed Devil Lion to have its way for long enough.After making arrangements for the matter of subduing devil lions, Ivan left CTHQ along with Iris, a large squad of guards and the rest of the full-time crew of Ivan's Kraken."What are you thinking about?" Iris asked Ivan as she sat across his lap on the captain's chair.Ivan was lost in thought but abruptly came to his senses upon the question. He glanced across the bridge and realized everyone was tactfully looking away from the two of them and didn't know whether to laugh or cry."I'm considering our field of medicine. Four-dimensional beings have a powerful regenerative process so have no need for medical attention unless the injury is too severe, at which time we basically die very quickly anyway.""Back in the original days of Earth, the field of medicine was abundant and rich to make profits in, but today in the Federation with nanobots and biological samples, as long as you are still alive and have enough money they can basically recreate your entire body.""I don't understand what your point is.""It means the only money in medicine at the moment is in illegal drugs and other hallucinogens, there are no medical breakthroughs in sickness and disease because they can already fix everything.""So we should make drugs?""No. What I'm wondering about are all the researchers in the medicine field. I was wondering if there are some passionate people who we can win over to conduct research on four-dimensional biology. Despite all the years gone by, we don't know if there are any four-dimensional pathogens out there or anything that could make us seriously ill.""We need to know more about ourselves and subspace, but the Vulpes and Celestials' medical technology is far subpar in comparison to the Federation's. I could send teams of Celestials to learn from the medicine courses provided by further education institutes, but they would still need nearly ten years of study and at least ten more working in the field before they could be considered as experts in the field.""What I'm wondering about is if there are medical researchers fumbling for crumbs in the field that would be interested in becoming Celestials. I would have to be assured that they aren't spies or risk of betraying us, either."Iris cupped her chin in ponder as she thought aloud, "But twenty, even forty years is a very short timespan for us now. Dear, is it really necessary?""There's a thing called risk factor. If we were to encounter an unknown disease or plague in a few years while those Celestials were studying, the damage it would cause would be catastrophic. I want to further research into it as soon as possible.""Mazur has been studying the biology of the Celestials as four-dimensional beings, hasn't he?""Yes, but only the major differences between us and three-dimensional beings. There is a full report of his findings on the Celestial Network. He is currently placing most of his attention into energy circuits and the transformation of energy which he specializes in.""So what are you going to do?""We run the SubNet forum, just pin a recruitment notice to the top of the main page, seeking for individuals specializing in the information. It can wait until we return though, I am just busy thinking about the method of recruitment."Iris giggled lightly and kissed him just before Ivan pushed her off his lap and told her to consider where she is.*****The Kraken descended down below Eridon II in subspace so it didn't appear on the planet. This was a secret meeting in the heart of the Federation so Ivan didn't want to send off any alarms by displaying his massive warship on the planet.Ivan and Iris, along with a small number of five guards ascended to the planet in the heart of East Immortal City. The rest of the guards and the Kraken were stationed on standby in subspace ready to react to any situation.At the heart of the city where cloud piercing towers, also known as cloudscapers, extended through the cloud layer, many rich and wealthy people passed walked or rode hoverbikes along the ground floor, but many lanes of hovercars and large transport busses drove automatically between the cloudscapers.With the earth level mostly vacant, the streets were lined with vibrant trees covered in pink, yellow and purple leaves.The location Ivan emerged at was nearby the cloudscaper owned by Everal Argentear according to the local map he had on his SubNet Tablet."I want to have a look in that store," Iris stated with bright eyes while looking at a large fancy clothing department store."Fine, we are in no rush.""Your five wait outside," Iris said cheerfully as she pulled Ivan's arm to go exploring the store.Ivan was pulled around as Iris explored peeled back the clothing on the face of her body contacting the surface universe and tried on various fancy dresses."Can I buy some and have them recreated when we return home?" Iris asked Ivan with puppy eyes, who looked at the price tag of six digits and felt a cold sweat form."You can choose up to three. No more than that though."Iris took her time visiting half the stores in the district before she decided on which three dresses she wanted, each having a unique design she wanted to have the seamstresses back at CTHQ design and recreate four-dimensional clothing out of. Of course, they would also probably adapt the Celestial artistic sense of overlapping layers of cloth the Celestials preferred.By the time the shopping was done, it was late afternoon on the planet and the sun was beginning to set, dying the clouds vibrant crimson and gold colors."Let's go, we have a meeting to attend," Ivan grabbed the woman who was mesmerized by the sight and truly enjoying her trip to a developed three-dimensional planet, even though the basic three-dimensional structure held a certain blandness for the Celestials.Ivan used his map to find their way back to the Everal's cloudscaper and entered through the massive gold laden automatic door on the ground floor.Inside the building was a large waterfall which fell into the pond from the ceiling while the colorful flower bushes planted around it gave the entire lobby a fresh scent.Ivan and Iris, followed by the five Celestial guards, walked across the polished tiles toward a large reception desk. The lady behind the desk looked at them curiously due to the strange ears and tails of the Celestials along with their strange eyes, due to which she failed to notice the uncanny silence as their footsteps made no noise."Sirs and Madam, how can I help you?"Ivan pulled out the unique sealed pocket and removed Everal's special business card and presented it to the lady with a smile."H-hold on one minute," The lady immediately jumped like a frightened rabbit and made a phone call to Everal.Once she was done, she placed the phone down with a trembling hand and said to Ivan, "Would the Sirs and Madam please proceed to the elevator at the rear, it will immediately take you up to the top floor where Mr. Argentear is waiting.""Your assistance is most welcome," Ivan said to her with a smile before heading toward the indicated elevator, his mesmerising voice causing the reception lady to be momentarily absent minded.
