Chapter 2242: New heads |
"One hundred and fifteen billion pearls to maintain all the Peacekeeping Armies across one thousand academies for a year?" Robin frowned in surprise, clearly not expecting the figure to be that low considering the scale of what they were discussing and the sheer number of worlds that would eventually fall under the protection of those forces.
"...Fine, give me ninety-five billion and I’ll manage." Blokan gritted his teeth. "I can’t go any lower than that, otherwise the area controlled by the Peacekeeping Armies will begin to shrink, and casualties may start increasing. At that point we’d be defeating the entire purpose of the academies in the first place."
"May?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "You’re making me look wasteful now." He let out a sigh. "What’s your strategy?"
"We’re different from them. They need to throw enormous amounts of pearls into the furnace every year, forever, because of the agreements between the Throne Council and The Syndicate, and because of their endless slave armies." Anger became visible on Blokan’s face. "It was the thing that angered me most, and more than anything else it pushed me to abandon that system. That absurd cooperation, and the complete disregard for the suffering of those slave armies. Every year more pearls are spent, every year more lives are thrown away, and somehow everyone pretends it is the only possible solution."
"...." Robin nodded.
The Throne Council and The Syndicate clearly supported one another, each side benefiting enormously from the existence of the other and from the endless flow of resources that moved between them. At the same time, neither side wanted the other to gain complete control, so they remained locked in a strange balance where cooperation and rivalry existed side by side.
The arrangement was profitable.
Stable.
Efficient.
"...As for us, we don’t need to keep throwing huge amounts of pearls away every year at a fixed rate. We possess a powerful standing army. It may suffer losses and require repairs, reinforcements, and supplies each year, but creating the army in the first place is what consumes most of the money. After that, maintenance becomes significantly lighter, because we are preserving an existing force rather than constantly replacing a disposable one."
Then he continued.
"According to my preliminary estimates, we need forty years of continuous investment to build the army, construct its camps, establish its logistical network, and train the generation that will become the backbone of each academy’s Peacekeeping Force. After those forty years, expenses will fall to less than a quarter of what they were. By then the infrastructure will already exist, the instructors will already be trained, and the academies will largely be producing their own successors."
"So..." Robin pointed toward Blokan. "You want ninety-five billion pearls annually for only forty years, and afterward you’ll need roughly a quarter of that... around twenty billion a year?"
Blokan nodded.
"Less than that." Then he continued. "As long as you insist on leaving tax revenue in the hands of the Academy Masters, I’m afraid these expenses are unavoidable. Of course, these numbers only cover one thousand academies. If we continue expanding beyond that, the calculations will have to be revised accordingly, though many costs will become more efficient as our infrastructure grows."
"....." Robin stared at Blokan for several moments.
A faint smile gradually appeared on his face as he listened to the explanation and silently compared it with the calculations he had already performed himself.
"They always say: give the bread to the baker." He leaned back slightly. "That’s a principle I’ve always followed. Everyone has their own specialty, their own field of expertise, their own responsibilities, and trying to micromanage every field personally is usually the fastest route toward failure." Then he pointed toward Blokan. "This specialty I’ll leave to you, and I’ll trust you to carry it through."
"You won’t find disappointment from me." Blokan nodded and immediately began arranging plans in his mind.
Even before the conversation had ended, his thoughts were already moving through deployment schedules, recruitment quotas, training facilities, fleet production, future expansion targets, supply routes, reserve forces, and dozens of other details that would eventually determine whether the entire project succeeded or failed.
"Morgana." Robin turned toward his side. "While Blokan focuses on the Peacekeeping Armies, fleet security, military camps, and everything that comes with them, I want you to focus on building more academies across every sector and strengthening education." Then he pointed toward Zara. "Arrange a meeting with this young lady and representatives from the rest of the Sky Opening Cities. Take everything that can safely be released to the public and put it into the curriculum." His expression grew more serious. "The people of this universe need to become stronger. Much stronger. If we expect them to survive what is coming, then the average standard of cultivation throughout the universe must rise dramatically."
"Understood." Morgana and Zara nodded simultaneously.
Then Robin turned back toward Blokan.
"With some simple calculations, we can say that you’ll need roughly four trillion pearls to establish Peacekeeping Armies at the desired level over the course of forty years, while Morgana will need approximately one trillion to establish new academies throughout the remaining sectors and improve both education and defense." He clasped his hands together. "That makes a total of five trillion pearls. Correct?"
"..." Blokan nodded.
Then, after a brief hesitation, he added,
"Give us four trillion pearls and we’ll manage."
The moment those words left his mouth, Blokan swallowed, because even after reducing the figure himself, the amount still sounded outrageous when spoken aloud.
Even he felt the weight of the number.
Four trillion pearls.
It was an absurd amount of wealth, enough to influence the future of countless worlds and reshape the balance of power across entire sectors if spent correctly.
A truly absurd amount.
Even for a Monarch of a Mid Sector who possessed a Fundamental Law, it was enough to make one’s heart tremble and force them to think twice before speaking.
Few people in existence could even imagine sums of that scale.
Fewer still could casually discuss them.
No one except the Four Pillars of the Universe could speak about money at that level without feeling pressure or hesitation, because the amount itself represented the accumulated wealth of civilizations, empires, wars, industries, and generations of effort.
"Four?" Robin shook his head.
Blokan sighed.
His mind immediately started recalculating.
Perhaps he could lower the figure further.
Perhaps he could convince Robin to modify some of the decisions.
Perhaps he could delay certain projects.
Perhaps he could spread construction over a longer period.
Then he heard:
"I’ll give you ten trillion pearls."
"...?" Blokan looked up, and even Morgana and everyone else present sent strange looks toward Robin, their expressions filled with disbelief as they tried to determine whether he was joking, exaggerating, or speaking completely seriously.
Ten trillion pearls?!
"Ten? I mean... pardon?!" A strange smile appeared on Blokan’s face as his brows twitched slightly. He had spent the entire conversation trying to lower the required budget as much as possible, worried about asking for too much and appearing irresponsible, only for Robin to casually offer a figure that exceeded everything he had expected.
"...." Robin rubbed his nose. "The coming period... will be a period of strengthening the internal front. My empires will carry my name and my personal glory, and they’ll secure my family and those close to me, but they won’t earn the trust of the rest of the universe and convince them to rally around them. Only the Cosmic Academies Zolan left behind can unite the internal front, and that’s not something I’ll be stingy about." His gaze drifted briefly toward the distance as he spoke. "Empires can expand through conquest, fear, alliances, and political interests, but true unity is something else entirely. If one day I need the entire universe to move in the same direction, it won’t be my empires that accomplish that. It will be the academies."
Then he lowered his hand gently. "Strengthen my armies, Blokan, and build my academies, Morgana. This universe must move when we move and stop when we stop. Only then will we accomplish it... on a grand scale, through open play, and through strength." His voice remained calm throughout, but the vision behind those words was vast enough to make several listeners instinctively straighten their backs.
"..." Blokan nodded firmly. This was the first time he had felt support on this level.
Not merely financial support, where resources were provided and questions followed afterward.
Not merely moral support, where beautiful words were spoken but difficult decisions were left for others.
Support backed by overwhelming power as well.
The person sitting before him had driven away an Executioner and survived a battle that should have ended with the destruction of everything they knew. The confidence generated by having such a person standing behind his plans was difficult to describe. For the first time since assuming responsibility for the academies and their security, Blokan felt that every idea he had been forced to abandon due to lack of resources might actually become possible.
"But follow your strategy. I don’t want you wasting resources." Robin chuckled. "And with the remaining money, I want you to do something for me."
"As you command." Blokan answered immediately, suppressing the urge to ask whether Robin truly understood the size of the fortune he had just promised.
"I remember Althera telling me that most Academy Masters and their deputies come from the second and third generations of the Behemoths’ scions." Robin tilted his head with a smile. "And we’re going to need Masters and deputies for all the academies Morgana will build."
"...?" Blokan frowned as he tried to connect the two statements. "Do you want me to travel around approaching the descendants of the Behemoths and find those willing to manage the new academies?"
"Why not?" Robin laughed. "It’s a respected and famous profession among the descendants of the Behemoths. Offer them a one-hundred-million-pearl signing gift and a personal planet for anyone who accepts the position, and you’ll find plenty willing to join. In fact, once rumors of what you’re doing begin spreading, applications will start arriving on their own. People talk about principles and duty all the time, but very few opportunities combine prestige, authority, wealth, and a personal planet all in one package."
"...." Blokan nodded slowly. This would not be easy, because dealing with the descendants of the Behemoths had never been easy. Many of them possessed exaggerated pride, many had been spoiled by their backgrounds and family names, and many considered ordinary responsibilities beneath them. Convincing them to relocate, manage academies, and become part of a growing system would require patience and careful selection.
Not everyone was Asir.
"But I need two things from you here. First, choose people with good reputations." Robin raised one finger, then raised a second. "Second, make them swear loyalty and pledge to protect the interests of the universe according to the vision of the Hero, the Cosmic Elder."
"You’re the one paying. You’re the one providing support, protection, and resources. Why are you giving your glory to someone else?" Blokan felt anger rising within him. The more he learned about what Robin was building, the more irritating he found the idea of hiding his contributions behind another person’s name.
Even he had initially assumed Robin was merely a puppet of the Cosmic Elder.
Or, at best, a friend who had received some assistance.
But he had seen everything with his own eyes this time. He had seen who stood against the Executioner. He had seen who bled. He had seen who carried the burden. He had seen who made the decisions. At some point the truth became impossible to ignore.
"No one will believe what I did, Blokan. There is no evidence beyond the words of those who were present, and those words can easily be challenged. So let’s keep it a secret." Then he chuckled. "And secondly... in the absence of the Cosmic Elder, I am his vision and his voice. Isn’t that what he said himself? Hehe, we haven’t strayed very far."