In Ark Simulator, why do I always get a tough start?

Chapter 144 Chen Qi's Future Offspring? An Unparalleled Emperor Who Will Unify the Ocean and the Land?

"So, what are you thinking, kid?"

After being told to leave by Heratia, Chen Qi and his group had no choice but to leave the meditation room.

On the way, Wei Yanwu, who had been silently smoking, took the opportunity before they met up with Jian to solemnly ask his third brother:

"You don't really intend to stay in Agor and let these scaly creatures on their tails extract your essence and use you as a breeding beast, do you?"

"Yes, Father!"

Upon hearing Wei Yanwu's words, Viviana, as a daughter and someone who stood firmly with her mothers, quickly nodded in agreement:

"Although, I don't really care whether Father Emperor has biological children or not."

"I don't consider myself a very good empress either. If Father had his own biological child to inherit the throne of Letania, he would be more reliable than me."

"But... one hundred and twenty is still too terrifying! Too many children will also bring trouble to you, Father!"

"What are you thinking? What do you take me for? A lustful glutton?"

However, Chen Qi shook his head in annoyance at Wei Yanwu and Viviana's warnings.

Chen Qi might compromise his attitude towards the woman he loves.

But as emperor, Chen Qi never made any mistakes regarding his lower body, nor did he ever provoke any women who were not beneficial to him.

Even though it was a political marriage, so far Chen Qi has only had one woman, Vina, and he hasn't even touched her yet.

It is easy to imagine how cautious Chen Qi was when it came to the issue of his offspring.

"Moreover, Agor made no attempt to conceal his schemes against them, actually trying to gain control of the land civilization through my offspring without any investment."

Chen Qi sneered repeatedly, showing no sympathy for the Agor leadership who were trying to exploit his flesh and blood.

"Are you trying to create a weakness to restrain me, so that Agor's side can gain an advantage in future cooperation between the sea and the land?"

"They're dreaming."

"Since you've seen things clearly, little brother, I don't need to say more about what you'll face next."

Faced with Chen Qi's incredibly insightful analysis, both Wei Yanwu and Viviana breathed a sigh of relief, but the more experienced Wei Yanwu still warned them:

“Right now, you’re a hot commodity in Agor’s eyes. To get your genes, these guys will probably try every means to tempt you.”

After some thought, Wei Yanwu offered his solution, saying:
“From now on, little brother, I and your wife will take turns protecting you.”

“With us by your side, I believe it will be difficult for these Agors to find an opportunity to tempt you, and your days should be much easier from now on.”

Viviana nodded and raised her hand seriously, saying, "I can also be a guard and stay by Father's side to supervise him at all times!"

"—Forgive my bluntness, Your Majesty."

However, just as Wei Yanwu and his group were trying to prevent Chen Qi's genes from accidentally leaking into the hands of the Agor clan.

Emerging from her meditation, Kal'tsit, who had been deep in thought, suddenly offered a different suggestion.

“I think you should accept Agor’s terms.”

"what?"

As Kal'tsit had predicted, her words elicited almost a reflexive question of surprise from Wei Yanwu and Viviana.

But at this moment, the Doctor, who had vaguely guessed Kal'tsit's intentions, stepped forward and whispered to the two men with angry expressions:

"Commander Wei, Queen Viviana, please calm down."

“We all know that Kal'tsit will not side with Agor.”

"So, why don't we hear her opinion first?"

"..."

Sure enough, the doctor's interruption eased Wei Yanwu and Viviana's tense expressions a little, and they belatedly realized Kal'tsit's extensive knowledge.

Kal'tsit understands Agor far better than these outsiders do; since she dared to bring it up, she must already have a solution in mind.

"Dr. Kal'tsit, what are your thoughts?" Chen Qi asked Kal'tsit curiously.

"...Your Majesty, this is, after all, the first cooperation between land and sea. If you are so reluctant to follow what Agor considers the safest plan, then the cooperation between our two civilizations will inevitably be fraught with cracks."

Seeing that Chen Qi was willing to listen to her explanation, Kal'tsit seized the opportunity and calmly explained the pros and cons to Chen Qi.

"Now that we are facing the threat from Haisi, we should work together."

"Therefore, Your Majesty, I believe you should not refuse the offer to leave offspring in Agor."

"...So, Dr. Kal'tsit, do you mean that even though I know Agor has dug a pit for me, I have no choice but to jump into it helplessly?"

In response to Chen Qi's teasing, Kal'tsit shook her head and said, "Of course not."

“We need to cooperate with Agor, so we shouldn’t reject their plans outright.”

"But... we also have room for negotiation, which allows Agor's plan to remain in a state of being implemented but not fully implemented."

At this point, a rare, slightly mischievous smile appeared on Kal'tsit's face.

Noticing Kal'tsit's smile, the Doctor, quite curious, stepped forward to strike up a conversation:
"Kal'tsit, do you already have a way to prevent Agor from achieving his goals without disrupting the cooperation?"

"You guessed right, Doctor."

Kal'tsit nodded, turned her gaze back to Chen Qi, and presented her solution:
"Your Majesty, regarding Agor's suggestion that you choose a wife and leave offspring, my advice is that you can accept it entirely."

"With the bond of marriage, the alliance between land and sea will undoubtedly be more solid."

"As for Agor's method of using your descendants to seize control of the land... it is also easy to crack."

Facing the expectant gazes of everyone, Kal'tsit offered a solution that none of them had anticipated—the most straightforward one:
"All I need is for Your Majesty to ensure that your child does not fall into Agor's hands."

“Your Majesty, you may allow your Agor wife to give birth to an heir using the most primitive method of ten months of pregnancy.”

"As long as your child has never entered Agor's laboratory, your child's genes will not have the opportunity to be studied, tampered with, or even misused by Agor."

"As for production... given Rhodes Island's technology and the physical condition of the Agorians, it is by no means a dangerous event."

"And more importantly, you will personally raise your child after it is born."

At this point, Kal'tsit's expression became more serious.

Kal'tsit knew very well that Chen Qi's biggest concern was that Agor would use his offspring to achieve Agor's unification of the land civilizations.

Therefore, the most crucial element of her plan lies with Chen Qi himself.

"Your Majesty... forgive my bluntness, but your life has been extraordinary and legendary enough."

"But it is almost impossible for you to resolve all the crises, achieve a balance between the ocean and the land, or even unify them, in this lifetime."

"Therefore, you have no choice but to place your great achievements and expectations on your descendants."

Kal'tsit calmly and rationally stated this objective fact to everyone.

"You need to personally teach your offspring to cultivate in them the concept of achieving a balance between land and sea civilizations."

"In this way, your child will not be a tool for Agor to unify the land civilization, but an absolute emperor who has the same appeal to both land and sea."

"This is the optimal solution for you."

"At the same time, it is also the optimal solution for the present and the future of land civilization."

"...But if that's the case, will Agor still insist on this plan?"

At this moment, the Doctor, who had been listening to Kal'tsit's plan the whole time, also found a very obvious flaw and couldn't help but ask:
"By entrusting the child who was intended to seize power on the land to Qi for her sole upbringing, wouldn't Agor be wasting a fine woman's life and leaving behind a huge potential threat who might one day turn against them and rule them?"

Will Agor agree?

"Will!"

However, to everyone's surprise, Kal'tsit's answer was so resolute.

This is unlike Kal'tsit's usual cautious nature, which shows just how confident she is in her plan.

Soon, under the probing gazes of everyone, Kal'tsit explained in detail the reasons why she was so certain.

“At present, Agor’s primary crisis is the Hai’s offspring.”

"And their only goal in using His Majesty's genes is to create a second generation of Deepsea Hunters."

"This is their bottom line."

"In other words, as long as they can improve the deep-sea hunters to be stronger, Agor can temporarily put aside plans such as dominating land civilizations."

"With Agor's technology, they have plenty of ways to extract and replicate His Majesty's genes and then transfer them into the deep-sea hunters they want to cultivate."

"This plan was a trap from the very beginning."

"One of them is probably a plan devised by Governor Heratia herself."

At this point, Kal'tsit paused for a moment, seemingly pondering Heratia's reasons for doing so.

If this were on land, Kal'tsit would quickly understand the reason—after all, for Chen Qi, as the emperor, to have his daughter become the emperor's concubine was undoubtedly a cause for celebration.

But this is Agor.

Agorna no longer has a society troubled by material needs; people no longer value kinship or even blood ties.

What reason could the Archdeacon of Heratia have for entrusting this task to her daughter?

"...Although we don't know what the Agor leadership is planning."

After pondering for a while, Kal'tsit, unable to find an answer, gave up, but still continued:
"But there is no doubt that Governor Heratia must have had her reasons for choosing her daughter to carry out this mission."

“Governor Heratia will never waver on this issue.”

Kal'tsit turned her serious gaze to Chen Qi and warned him, word by word:
"Therefore, Your Majesty, you still need to be cautious."

“There is no problem with having children with an Agor woman, but the child must absolutely not be Goredia.”

"She and Governor Heratia may seem to have a strained mother-daughter relationship, but for Agor's benefit, Goredia is absolutely prepared to sacrifice herself."

“We must not let Governor Heratia achieve her goal.”

"...I understand."

Faced with Kal'tsit's heartfelt warning, Chen Qi had no choice but to take it seriously.

At this moment, the silent group finally emerged from the spacious meditation room.

"pray."

Outside the meditation chamber, standing with a group of fully armed Golden Law Guards, Shadow Guards, and the Great Yan Imperial Guards, enduring the curious gazes of all the Agor civilians passing by, Jian finally smiled upon seeing the man she loved. Her cold and wary face had been softened by the sight of him.

But soon, she sensed something was wrong from the subtle look Chen Qi gave her and his embarrassed expression.

"What's wrong, Qi? You look so terrible?"

"Mace..."

Not knowing how to broach the subject, Chen Qi exchanged a glance with Viviana, only to receive a haughty glare from his daughter. Chen Qi knew that, based on Kal'tsit's analysis, his adopted daughter seemed to have compromised; she would have another stepmother and a younger brother or sister.

However, while she rationally accepted it, emotionally, Viviana still despised her adoptive father for having too many women.

Therefore, she would never help Chen Qi explain to Jian.

Under these circumstances, Chen Qi finally had no choice but to resign himself to his fate. He gently held Jian's slightly rough hand and solemnly whispered:

"There's something I need your permission for."

……

Meanwhile, in her meditation, Heratia was still explaining to her daughter the rationale behind her actions.

"...Do you understand now, my little Goredia?"

"I went to great lengths to get the other governors to agree to make you the first choice for this proposal."

"Governors are fighting tooth and nail for research opportunities that allow them to obtain the genes of the emperors on land and make their offspring resistant to the mental interference of sea creatures and demons."

"—Then you may choose those women who volunteer, Archdeacon Heratia."

After listening to her biological mother's full explanation, Goredia's expression remained unwavering in the slightest.

However, under the silent gaze of Clementa, she could clearly perceive the intense resistance in Grandia's eyes... even the hidden murderous intent.

Clementa was puzzled by Greta's feelings toward her birth mother.

After all, even for Agor, who doesn't value family ties much, it's still rare for his children to harbor such hatred towards their own mother.

In Clementa's eyes, Heratia had made the perfect decision for her daughter's future.

The emperor on land possesses unparalleled power to expel evil spirits single-handedly.

In the future, he might even become an important member of the Agors in expelling the Haisi, and a hero in the hearts of the Agors.

As for appearance... even by Agor's standards of beauty, Clementa couldn't find any fault with Chen Qi's looks.

Why is Goredia so resistant?

However, the next second, Goredia showed Clementa through her words and actions.

Her intense aversion to her birth mother stemmed from the "control" her birth mother exerted over her.

"Although the relationship between my mother and me is very complicated, I think you should at least know my personality."

"I will never allow anyone to toy with my destiny."

Goredia stared at the woman before her, the one who had given birth to her but had never truly regarded her as her daughter, and had nothing more to say.

Goredia knew very well that her mother's love for her was never maternal love.

She cherishes herself more as if she were the "most exquisite work of art" she herself created.

She didn't see herself as a daughter, but rather as an exhibit she controlled and was most proud of.

She disrespects her own will and ignores her demands, interests, and hobbies.

She only demanded that her "exhibits" be the best, nothing more.

Even in a society like Argo, the mother-daughter relationship between Goredia and Heratia can only be described as twisted.

From the day Goredia realized all this, she developed a deep loathing for her birth mother.

"You should know the scar I left on your cheek when you tried to hug me against my will last time."

"That was a symbol of my rebellion."

Goredia's gaze had already fallen on an inconspicuous spot on Heratia's cheek, a scar that was still there.

With Agor's medical expertise, Heratia could remove the mark at any time.

However, Heratia regarded the scar as her most beautiful work of art, a "mark of beauty" left on her face, and kept it.

This made Goredia even more disgusted.

“During my childhood, you never cared for me or accompanied me like a mother.”

"Now, are you really going to put on this motherly act and continue to control my destiny?"

Goredia answered solemnly, word by word:
"If you insist on your proposal, then I may have to add a few more scars to your beautiful face in order to resist."

“…I understand, little Goredia.”

However, even as she listened to her daughter's blunt threat, Heratia's tone remained gentle and melodious.

But under the gazes of Clementa and Grace, the smile on the mother's face finally began to fade.

Instead, he exuded the calm and authority of a ruler.

"—Greteia, the second captain of the Deep Sea Hunters."

"exist!"

Upon hearing her birth mother's sudden change in attitude, Gretia felt a jolt in her heart and clearly understood what the other woman wanted to do.

However, even though she was filled with grief and anger and wished she could kill someone to vent her anger, Goredia, in the manner of a deep-sea hunter, immediately obeyed all orders from her superiors.

Sure enough, the next second, under Heratia's cold and indifferent gaze, as if she were staring at a stranger rather than her own daughter.

The order from the consul has been issued.

"Acquiring the genes of the emperors on land is crucial to Agor's future and is a strategy that should never be given up easily."

"Here, in my capacity as consul, I command you to do your utmost to accomplish this mission."

"You are the best deep-sea hunter, a battle-tested warrior, and we have confidence in you."

"—Of course, you don't have to be discouraged if you fail."

The next second, Heratia changed her tone, her voice softening, but her words sent a chill down Greta's spine.

"We also have many alternatives."

"It's alright to tell you, your two teammates are also among the highest priority level in our group of 120 people."

“Even Clementa, and myself, are on this list.”

"By now, you should understand how much importance Agor's leadership places on this plan, right?"

"If you are unwilling or unable to complete this task, then this burden will fall on the shoulders of others."

"I think we can definitely find someone who can complete this task."

As soon as Heratia finished speaking, even though she had returned to the ocean, Gretia felt as if she had suffered a dehydration attack, trembling and weak all over.

Her mind was buzzing, and her hands and feet were as cold as a corpse.

She hadn't expected that Agor's higher-ups would be so persistent about this matter.

She never imagined that such threatening words would come from her own mother.

Even though their mother-daughter relationship had deteriorated to the extreme in Goredia's eyes, none of Heratia's previous orders to her felt as heartless as this one.

Ultimately, he faced a person whose responsibility, if not his own, would fall on someone else's shoulders.

Goredia suppressed all her emotions and practically spat out the words as her reply.

"...Gloria, I obey."

"Ah."

Seeing that her daughter had finally given in, Heratia simply replied calmly, saying:

"Then step down and go and fulfill your duties, Gretia."

"……Yes."

Unwilling to linger in that meditation space for even a second longer, Goredia turned and walked away, not even glancing back.

Before Clementa could even speak, Heratia coldly interrupted again:

"Clementa, you can go down too. I want to be alone for a while."

"...Yes, Archdeacon Heratia."

As the footsteps faded into the distance, there was no one else in the meditation room except Heratia.

Even the "little helper" responsible for assisting ceased its operation, and everything within the meditation space returned to tranquility.

Only under such circumstances did Heratia dare to reveal her true feelings.

"Gloria, my little Gloria."

"You always say that I, your mother, have no maternal love for you... But how do you know how far ahead I've planned for your future?"

Gazing in the direction her daughter had gone, Heratia's soft voice echoed clearly in the empty space of her meditation.

"The strongest emperor on land, the one who single-handedly drove out evil spirits... His genes, his offspring, are something that countless people would flock to."

"Hai Si is Agor's greatest threat, and the Deep Sea Hunter is a twisted product of Agor, who fused Hai Si with Agor in order to fight against Hai Si."

"Everyone in Agor believes that the Deep Sea Hunters are on the verge of collapse at all times, and that they are only one step away from becoming Sea Heirs."

"My daughter, do you know how much my heart ached the day you became a deep-sea hunter?"

Why can't you think further ahead?

"If the Sea Siege is destined to devour everything, then the Deep Sea Hunter will also become a destined failure."

“But if Haisi can really be expelled…then the next ‘outcast’ to be expelled will surely be the Deep Sea Hunter in the hearts of the Agors, who is only a step away from Haisi.”

“At that time, my daughter, you who drove the Haisi out of Agor will still not be treated as a hero.”

"On the contrary, you will become a victim, the last victim of the Agorians."

"...And I will never allow such a situation to happen to my own daughter."

Heratia whispered each word, her noble and elegant face twisted into a terrifyingly grotesque expression under the influence of her almost hysterical maternal love.

"You may not understand me, you may hate me, but Mom has to do this."

“I will seek refuge for you… That man on land can never truly protect you; he is a ‘sacrifice’ in Agor’s plan to fight against Haisi.”

Therefore, only your own flesh and blood can protect you.

"Possessing the robust physique of a deep-sea hunter, the terrifying magic of an emperor, and unaffected by external influences, the strongest offspring who is wholeheartedly devoted to protecting their mother."

"That child will be your last resort."

"An unparalleled emperor who unified the seas and the land!"

(End of this chapter)