"On behalf of my Empire, I thank you for your valuable gifts," Gehen cupped his fists, thanking Krune with a tone of respect. "I haven't seen cultivators with your disposition. You're a rarity even in the God Realm."
"Haha, I just don't wish for the problems I caused to scale up beyond the tolerable limit," Krune smiled as he said in response. "The Monster Geckos are strong monsters. They aren't as strong as the Great Dipper, but they're still strong."
"Great Dipper?" Hearing that, Gehen decided to ask, "How strong are they?"
"A Great Dipper King is as strong if not stronger than a Monster Gecko Emperor. In any case, a Monster Gecko King might be able to solo a Sonic Radar." Krune then said after a moment of thought, "You can ask the Seamstress for more details. She has better knowledge about them than me."
"I'll do that then." Gehen nodded, looking at the Motor Fishes and the Tongue Fishes. "Still, to think you can create such remarkable species. They are…free Godly Points."
"Indeed." Krune nodded, "That's why once they served their use, I have killed all of them. These are the last of their batch. There are four Motor Fish Emperors in my boat. That's all."
"I don't wish to screw the value of Godly Points and cause problems in this place any more than necessary," Krune said as he looked at Gehen before continuing, "But in your hands, I'm sure they would be used accordingly."
"You have my word on that," Gehen nodded as he replied. "I've been trying to create a stable structure in my Empire. Since I plan to live here for the rest of my life, I don't wish to create a half-baked barbaric empire."
"I have already begun to develop culture, education, and other crafts in this place. I'm basically speedrunning civilization here. Since all the people are ex-cultivators, they quickly caught up on my idea and have settled accordingly. Thanks to that, I have been able to accelerate the development of this place," Gehen smiled as he half-boasted.
He then summoned a small Checkpoint Turtle to carry the container, motioning for Krune to follow him. "Let me show my sincerity next."
Krune was curious about a lot of things. Thus, he smiled and followed Gehen as they arrived beside the throne, with Gehen touching a lever hidden within the armrest. The throne then parted to the side as the entire platform began to head into the ground.
It was like the entire platform had been converted into a lift. Krune watched as his surroundings turned dark for a moment as they descended down through a tunnel. Soon after, they entered a massive dome-shaped cave, one that spanned at least a kilometer in diameter.
Plus, it seemed luminescent rocks had been embedded in the walls, causing the place to be bright. Krune noticed a ship situated in the water, half-submerged. It was the pirate ship that had been constructed. He had seen it through his Sonic Radar right before leaving for the Secondary Landmass.
And now, there were Motor Fishes swimming around it in great numbers. All of them were the normal Motor Fishes, unlike the ones Krune had created. Gehen placed the container on the ground when the tiny Checkpoint Turtle jumped into the water and returned soon after, holding something in its mouth.
It then spat out a bag that Gehen took and gave Krune, saying, "This is my sincerity."
"What…are these?" Krune wondered as he opened the bag and looked at the tiny spheres within. Based on the smell, they seemed like Water Essence, but he knew that they were something entirely different.
Upon seeing his reaction, Gehen laughed as he explained, "While forming this Empire, I recruited countless geniuses. And among the 10 Kings, I created five of them."
Krune could not help but whistle in amazement at Gehen's words. He knew just how difficult it was to obtain an active ability. The fact that Gehen not only became the first King but also nurtured five others to do the same showed his deep foundation.
It hasn't even been long since they had arrived at Layer 3. But already, Gehen displayed the sheer accumulations that only an Empire with centuries of history would possess.
Smiling, Gehen continued, "Just as how you determined a method to create these two species, every other genius had figured out something of their own that allowed them to grow stronger faster than everyone else. With that, I recruited all of them into my Empire and nurtured them while learning their methods."
"Thus, I had numerous breakthroughs as a result." Gehen pointed at the spheres within the bag, telling Krune, "I call them Development Spheres. Eating one sphere would allow you to reap in a couple of days the fruits of a year's worth of training. On top of that, they also improve your stamina, causing you to surpass your limits one after another."
Krune looked into the bag, noticing that there were five Development Spheres, shuddering at their value as he asked, "Just how expensive are these?"
"Hmm..." Gehen thought for a moment before saying, "Considering present-day value, those five spheres have the same worth as a Primary Landmass."
'That's expensive.' Krune's eyes widened as he looked at the Development Spheres once again. "I heard you had created a currency that's almost similar to God Stones. Are they…Development Spheres as well?"
"Yes." Gehen nodded. "Though, they are distilled. We have created tiers for these Development Spheres. Tier 1 Development Spheres give you a day's worth of training results, while Tier 2 Development Spheres give you a month's worth of training results. And, the one in your hand is a Tier 3 Development Sphere. We have yet to create the Tier 4 version. In any case, the higher the tier, the stronger the effects. So, their value grows at an exponential curve, unlike the God Stones."
He then let out a chuckle as he continued, "In comparison, a Tier 1 Development Sphere is almost useless since it needs a day to give the effect of a day's training. So, it hardly has any value. Anyways, it forms the basis of our currency. Only I can produce them, so there is no fear of others creating it and inflating market prices."
"If there are people with stronger constitutions, can they eat more than one Development Sphere?" Krune asked.
"For Tier 1 Development Spheres, it's possible. It has also become a show of talent if anyone can consume more than one per day. We also use the same thing to pick out talented soldiers to train further." Gehen then shook his head as he said, "But beyond that, it's not feasible. Consuming two Tier 2 Development Spheres on the same day won't give as much effect as consuming a Tier 2 Development Sphere on consecutive days. It's the same for Tier 3 Development Spheres as well."
"Is there a limit as to how much you can grow using these?" Krune asked.
"Yes, there are distinct limits." Gehen nodded. "Then again, the limits are because of the individual. It seems the class of the monsters applies to us too. Mutant, King, and Emperor, the same applies to us. So once they hit their respective limits, consuming Development Spheres won't give them any effect. Unless they experience something that expands their potential, their growth stagnates at that point."
"But for us, we will continue to develop in the realm of a Supreme Monster until we hit the limit," Gehen said. "And based on my calculation, once you consume enough Tier 3 Development Spheres worth a century, you'll reach the absolute peak of this world."
"A hundred…" Krune muttered. "Even you haven't reached this point yet, right? How long does it take to create a Tier 3 Development Sphere?"
"It only takes one year, but..." Gehen sighed as he lamented, "That is in the case my Checkpoint Turtle is only working on creating the Tier 3 Development Spheres. Unfortunately, it also needs to produce Tier 1 and 2 Development Spheres. So, production has stalled recently. As the Empire continues to expand, the load on me would increase further."
He then let out a sigh once more as he said, "I only have one more Tier 3 Development Sphere left with me. Thankfully, once it's year 20, no more people would be brought in."
"The influx of people would stop?" Krune asked in surprise.
"Indeed." Gehen nodded. "As the first to obtain an active ability, I was given some extra perks, a contact channel, if you will. One of them is with the cities in Layer 2. And the other is with that damn octopus. It said that people would only be brought here for 20 years. Since 10 million people are brought in every month, we would have a staggering population."
"Since I have already created a base for humanity, we would eventually expand accordingly from this as the focus. Even if many humans die as a result of being unable to adapt to this Double Ocean layer, our population would still be enormous." Gehen surfed his tablet, saying, "When the Third Wave arrives, people will stop entering Layer 3. We would then be like Layer 2, having no other visitors. And, it seems the Gods that created this Sub-Realm plan to take the next two thousand years to develop Layer 4 completely."
He laughed as he continued, "And once Layer 4 is completely developed, it would signal the end of this Sub-Realm's creation. They would fill it up with people, same as with Layer 2 and 3. And after that, they would slowly work on expanding the size of this Sub-Realm even further."
"Wait, you mentioned Gods? I thought only one God made this Sub-Realm?" Krune was confused.
"Nope." Gehen laughed as he explained, "Just based on what I listened to, at least five Gods are involved in the creation of this Sub-Realm. That's why its size is this absolutely vast."
"That makes sense now." Krune nodded, shaking his head as he sighed. He then looked at the Motor Fishes he had brought, warning Gehen, "Don't mix them up with the rest. Their bloodline would be diluted. Even I don't have any guarantee in being able to create them once again."
"Relax." Gehen laughed as he eased Krune's worries. "I plan to keep them exclusively to this place while relocating all the normal Motor Fishes to another location. I'll make another place to house the Tongue Fishes. These two species would improve our navy in the fight against the Monster Geckos."
"Are they a threat at present?" Krune asked.
"Not at present, no." Gehen shook his head. "They only have one Emperor-level Monster Gecko leading them. Then again, their insane fertility is definitely a problem. Give them 3-4 decades, and they would grow enough to match our staggering numbers. And if they manage to produce a Supreme Monster, they would be on equal footing as us."
'They have the bone trees in their possession. And now that they have figured out its details…' Krune pondered over it before telling Gehen, "Two decades, or even shorter.. They'll produce a Supreme Monster within that time."
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