Lucien and Seran did not slack off searching for small worlds and barks of the Tree of Creation.

And in the past month, their efforts finally bore fruit.

Two small worlds were found.

The first was luck.

The second was not luck. They found it because of Aurelia.

Long ago, Aurelia had been the one to locate Lucien’s own origin small world. But the backlash had been terrible enough that even Seran, who often treated danger as something to smile at, had lost all humor when he saw the state she was in.

This time, she did it again.

Secretly.

When Seran found out, his expression changed in a way Lucien had rarely seen.

His smile was gone.

"You promised me."

Aurelia looked up at him, tired but calm.

"I promised I would not act recklessly."

"This was reckless."

Seran stared at her.

Aurelia gave him a faint smile.

It did not work.

His voice lowered.

"Wife."

That one word carried more worry than a long scolding would have.

Lucien was unable to decide whether he should speak or let the husband scold his wife properly.

Then he sighed. He too doesn’t want her to act recklessly.

"We need your divination for future troubles. If something worse happens, your sight may be necessary."

Aurelia lowered her eyes.

"I know."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Aurelia’s voice softened.

"You both carry too much. The gray space is vast. I could see one thread. I thought if I could give you that much, then perhaps the people inside that world would not have to wait until monsters found them first."

Seran’s anger faltered.

Lucien’s chest tightened.

Her words meant that, through divination, she had seen the monsters finding that small world.

Lucien finally said, "Thank you. For now, please recuperate properly."

Aurelia looked amused despite her exhaustion.

"You two are very similar when worried."

Seran and Lucien said at the same time, "No, we are not."

Aurelia laughed softly.

Then winced.

That ended the argument.

Seran immediately sent her to the Celestial healing complex.

•••

Grand Confluence received the new small worlds next.

He created another makeshift universe within Grand Confluence.

Then Lucien asked Lilith to build habitats for the populations within Grand Confluence.

Lucien personally oriented the people from the two new small worlds.

He explained the important parts first.

The Liberators from the two worlds were easier to speak with.

They already understood fragments of the truth.

The first was a broad-shouldered woman named Thalira. Her power leaned toward defense, endurance, and communal protection.

The second was a quiet man named Orien. His power carried strange traces of binding, movement, and memory.

Seran helped with the conversation.

Thalira studied Lucien for a long moment.

"You want our worlds to become part of Grand Confluence?"

"I want your people safe first. Then stronger. Then connected properly."

Orien’s gaze moved toward the artificial sky of the makeshift universe.

"And what do you want from us?"

Lucien appreciated the directness.

"Representation. Cooperation. Honesty. Your worlds know themselves better than I do. I want you two to serve as representatives of your people while they adapt."

Lucien continued, "For now, your primary task is simple. Get stronger. Use Lootwell’s systems. Train in the academy. Study what you are allowed to study. Learn the communication network. Understand the rules. Let your people recover."

Thalira looked at Orien.

Orien looked back.

No words passed, but understanding did.

Then Thalira nodded.

"We agree."

Orien added, "If this place is truly what you say it is, then our people would be fools to refuse."

Lucien smiled.

"Good."

Then came the Origin Core fragments.

Lucien did not demand them immediately.

He asked.

Both Liberators surrendered them willingly.

And just like that, two more small worlds entered the growing system of Grand Confluence.

•••

Another significant event occurred that month.

Lucien and Seran found another bark of the Tree of Creation.

Strangely, there were no monsters guarding it.

Lucien and Seran stood before the world for a long while.

Neither moved immediately.

Seran’s smile was gone.

"This feels wrong."

Lucien nodded.

"Yes."

The absence of enemies did not comfort them.

The goblins had guarded previous worlds with obsessive force.

Now there was nothing.

That meant one of several possibilities.

The goblins had realized they could no longer afford to lose more forces.

They had abandoned this site because the bark was no longer important to their current plan.

They had moved their attention elsewhere.

Or they were preparing something worse inside the Black Mass.

Lucien disliked every answer.

He scanned the area.

But nothing obvious appeared.

After several rounds of testing, he reached out and finally went to touched the bark.

It answered.

Creation clauses unfolded.

The bark dissolved into dense strings of existence.

They pierced into Lucien’s conceptual space and shot toward the Tree of Creation above his Divine Energy Core.

The tree accepted them.

And grew.

Lucien froze.

This time was different.

Before, the tree had been young.

Now, as the bark merged into it, the tree expanded with a depth that made Lucien’s entire inner world tremble.

Roots sank farther into his Divine Energy Core.

The trunk thickened.

Branches spread outward, no longer delicate, no longer hesitant. Leaves shimmered with layered creation clauses, and every leaf seemed to contain the outline of worlds that had not yet decided whether to exist.

The tree was no longer merely young.

It was still not complete.

Not even close.

But it had crossed a threshold.

Lucien stared at the tree.

Then he saw them.

Small beginnings hanging among the branches.

His breath caught.

Fruits.

Tiny, luminous fruits had begun forming from the Tree of Creation.

Lucien did not move for a long time.

Then a memory surfaced.

Lilith’s story.

The fruit she had once eaten from the bark of the Tree of Creation had evolved her Law and opened a path she might never have reached otherwise.

Lucien’s heartbeat quickened.

If these fruits matured...

If they could be given to his people...

What would they do?

Would they evolve laws?

Strengthen constitutions?

Awaken hidden authorities?

Help Eternals refine their laws further?

Lucien did not know.

That was the maddening part.

He did not know, and he wanted to know very badly.

Then he noticed something else.

The fruits were growing slowly.

Painfully slowly.

Lucien stared at them for a while.

Then frowned.

"Of course."

A treasure that could evolve laws was not going to ripen politely because he was excited.

•••

The answer came later.

Lucien visited the central chapel of Grand Confluence one afternoon to observe the people wanting residency.

The moment he stepped inside, divine energy moved through the chapel in soft, organized streams.

Faith. Hope. Reverence.

Lucien felt it enter him.

Then something stirred inside his Divine Energy Core.

The Tree of Creation responded.

Lucien stopped walking.

Clara, beside him, noticed immediately.

"My lord?"

Lucien did not answer at once.

His awareness sank inward.

The divine energy flowed into the tree.

And...

The fruits trembled.

Their growth accelerated.

Only slightly. But clearly.

Lucien stared through his inner senses.

The worship-born divine energy was not only feeding him.

It was nourishing the fruits.

The realization struck him with such force that he almost laughed in the middle of the chapel.

Clara’s eyes sharpened.

"My lord?"

Lucien opened his eyes slowly.

The excitement in them was difficult to hide.

"The divine energy," he said.

Clara tilted her head.

"It is circulating properly."

"It is doing more than that."

Her expression became attentive.

Lucien looked toward Clara’s people.

He felt the divine energy rise from them.

Then he felt the fruits answer.

Still, even with divine energy nourishing them, it would take time.

But time was better than impossibility.

Now he knew the path.

The energy had to be sincere, or the tree did not accept it cleanly. Lucien could feel that much. The Tree of Creation was not fed properly by hollow words. It responded to living meaning.

Lucien turned toward Clara.

"Do not force anything to the people."

Clara’s expression became serious at once.

"Never."

Clara placed a hand over her heart.

"My lord, faith built through pressure is brittle. Gratitude cultivated through good works lasts longer."

Lucien relaxed slightly.

"Good."

She smiled.

"However, we can improve chapel services, expand relief quests, increase healing distributions, strengthen public teaching, and give people more reasons to be sincerely grateful."

Lucien stared at her.

Clara’s smile remained innocent.

"That is acceptable," Lucien said.

"I thought so."

He shook his head.

Terrifying woman.

But useful.

Very useful.