While talking with her lovers, Liu Shu was asked about how the <Dungeon> was going. This question left Liu Shu somewhat baffled. After all, no one was supposed to know that she could create <Dungeons>.

"Um... What do you mean by ’how is it going’, Harmonixia?"

Seeing the bewildered look on Liu Shu’s face, Harmonixia tilted her head. "I mean, I have seen some sort of spatial waves appear outside Ceperet. So, I was asking if you were keeping tabs on them and if you think that it will become a <Dungeon>."

Liu Shu’s hanging heart calmed down, secretly sighing in relief. What she didn’t know was that her expressions were quite easy to read for the Sylvans, confusing them somewhat. Harmonixia glanced at the others and asked, curious. ’Did I ask her something strange?’

The other five shook their heads.

Liu Shu quickly changed the subject. "So... how were the last eight years? Did you girls reach Level 200?"

She could tell by their auras, but she didn’t really want to stay on that subject, so she just forcefully changed it. The girls, realizing this brusque change of subject, silently shook their heads and smiled. Tempestria chuckled. "We did. Our species didn’t change. We just went from <Infant> to <Juvenile>."

Liu Shu blinked. "Didn’t you have other options?"

Tempestria nodded. "We did. However, the others were much weaker. Therefore, it was like not having an option other than getting the slightly more evolved form of our previous species."

Liu Shu was somewhat surprised, but she quickly nodded. Actually, that was the case for most creatures. They usually had one or two very good options, and another three or four mediocre paths that were adjusted to their recent actions. It was like betting for future potential versus immediate gains.

Those who thought their path would end in their <Second Ascension> chose immediate return gains, while those confident of reaching Level 300 were more adventurous.

"I see..." Liu Shu nodded and then sighed. "I had quite a bit of trouble choosing my species..."

The four wives glanced at Liu Shu’s system page stealthily, and seeing her new Eternal Axis species, their breathing hitched for a moment. Reading the new three skills, all four felt their hearts trembling in awe. ’She had trouble choosing with THESE kind of options? I am really curious!’

Cinderielle glanced at Obsidianis and Seraphina, who were glancing at them with suspicious looks as to why they reacted that way. Then, she shrugged. ’Anyway, they will be family soon, so whatever.’

"What were your options, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu, feeling safe and secure in the presence of the six Sylvans, spoke with a troubled look. "My options were Eternal Everbloom Universal Tree, Eternal Axis Universal Tree, Eternal Abyssroot Universal Tree, and Eternal Ethereal Universal Tree..."

Then, she explained a bit about each of them. Seraphina, even when shocked at the absurdly sounding names and skills, frowned when she heard of the Abyssroot path. "You didn’t choose this one, right?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Liu Shu answered honestly, her amethyst-colored eyes pure and innocent. "I was tempted by it. I felt that I would gain both strength and ability to spread quite rapidly if I chose this evolution. In the end, though, the Axis’s ability to manipulate fundamental forces was too tempting to resist..." As she reached this point, Liu Shu scratched her cheek. "Honestly, I am a bit regretful of not choosing the Eternal Ethereal Universal Tree."

Tempestria hummed. "I can tell why. That evolution feels that it would allow your roots to spread incredibly fast, doesn’t it?"

"YEAH!" Liu Shu bobbed her head rapidly and rambled. "While I currently spread fast, I won’t reach nearby stars quickly. Moreover, the distance is growing quite a lot, and even with my ability to cover the entirety of my domain, it will at one point start becoming strenuous, and my surveillance will start becoming fainter."

She grumbled. "Population is growing rapidly, and while there are only three worlds now, once I take over other more populated Solar Systems, things will get messier." Her eyebrows relaxed a tad. "Well, it is a matter of getting accustomed, I guess. It was the same when I went from conquering one town to several cities, and from one continent to several continents. In the end, I do adapt and manage to keep an eye on major crimes."

Seraphina’s eyes softened. "You are too hardworking, love. Ceperet is functioning like a well-oiled machine, and from what I’ve seen while working, there is basically no corruption."

"That’s because the leash and reward are strong." Liu Shu admitted generously. "If I left everything alone and do not react when people do wrong stealthily, it will deteriorate in less than 200 years."

While Liu Shu had not lived that long, that timeframe was not long by objective standards. For interstellar powers, prospering for several thousand years was not much of a problem because conflict occurred slowly. A simple war could easily take a century, while all-out wars could extend for millennia.

In the end, what she needed to ensure was that the system properly punished wrongdoing across all classes. Be it political figures at the very top, middlemen, or normal people. When punishment was clear and reward was clear, things worked best.

If you did wrong, you should be punished!

That was the best way to keep everything going smoothly.

As she pondered on these things, Obsidianis spoke frankly. "I don’t think you need to worry that much."

Liu Shu blinked and glanced over. "Why not?"

Obsidianis smiled. "Because, in the end, the one at the very top is you. If things get faintly crooked and you catch them, you can just get rid of them. Trials, laws, morality, reasons... all those things are useless when the ruler steps their foot down."

Liu Shu chuckled and smiled softly, her eyes faintly gleaming with intelligence. "That’s a beautiful thought, but very naive, Obsidianis. What about during the time I tried to catch them? What if they got hold of precious resources and made those disappear as their final struggle..." Liu Shu’s eyes dimmed a bit. "What if they get hostages like my children through emotional means and not force?"

It was not hard to alienate a child using love and other means. After all, between one’s parents and their lover, many people would choose their lover or even their friends. While Liu Shu believed she had raised her children well and used her best love, the love she gave couldn’t really compare to the love that their partners gave them.

Their partners were there for them all the time, while she was there occasionally, even when she constantly spread out enough mental capability to react if they called her.

Obsidianis couldn’t help but become silent. She was childless and without siblings, so she didn’t really understand too deeply what Liu Shu was thinking. Verdantia, Cinderielle, Tempestria, and Harmonixia were not like that, though. Verdantia hugged Liu Shu tighter and kissed her cheek. "Don’t worry. Aren’t we here as well?"

Liu Shu glanced at Verdantia with a soft look. "I know... I just don’t want to tire all of you with complicated matters. I’ve built the Golden Sap Empire to react by itself, and I am confident of the rules and methods within. However, those new worlds I will conquer have fundamentally different baselines."

Cinderielle hummed. "So, you are not worried about Ceperet, Vorathen, and such; you are worried about the integration of other Solar Systems."

"Yes." Liu Shu admitted easily. Her gaze, which had been soft, slowly became cold and calculating, like that of a True World Tree glancing from the skies. "I will need to purge many... many people. Start anew in many places where corruption has set in too deeply. Will the people there understand? I am sure that they won’t. There will be rebellions in some places..."

As she was starting to speak, Liu Shu stopped herself, her eyes returning to normal. A smile graced her lips. "Anyway, that’s about it. Do not worry much. That’s for me and those who have been trained for years to tackle. If I need help, I will ask for it, I promise."

Cinderielle and the others nodded. "Alright, we understand. That’s more than enough."

Liu Shu nodded with a smile and clapped her hands. "Alright, enough with the heavy stuff! Should we go do something?"

"Like what?"

Liu Shu tilted her head. "Honestly, I don’t know. What do young people like to do these days?"

Tempestria chuckled. "Virtual Reality games have become quite a hit recently. It seems that a company that used your Biological Computers poured their entire fortune into training them to create, analyze, and reproduce virtual environments, and the results have been... exceptional. There is a realism level of about 55%."

"Fifty-five?" Liu Shu was faintly surprised. "That’s... quite incredible. Do we play?"

A fifty-five percent realism level was basically like having your senses slightly dulled, but everything else working perfectly fine. For a virtual game, the amount of computing processing for that to happen in a massively multiplayer online game was incredible.

Liu Shu’s eyes moved over to the company, her roots faintly touching into the biological computer’s core and reading through it. ’Hoh~... Not bad at all. This is one of the first few server sets I asked to be built. It seems that they were people with big dreams, and now they’ve accomplished it.’

She could see normal computers as well, and these computers were in charge of most of the main calculations and such. However, for environmental generation and conflict response, the biological computers did the heavy lifting.

"Interesting~."

The seven of them went to buy the hardware, and after returning, they dove into the game.

Meanwhile, Liu Shu’s main body was currently full of gloom. ’...Where is my luck!?’

A few moments earlier, feeling slightly motivated, Liu Shu had decided to use all 38 of her <Super Rare Tickets>. She was sure that she would draw at least one Mythical, and perhaps hit the 1% jackpot of <World> level being for the new Dungeon. Who knew...

A few minutes ago...

[<Super Rare Ticket> chances: <Common> 35%, <Unusual> 20%, <Rare> 20%, <Super Rare> 15%, <Ultra Rare> 5%, <Legendary> 2.5%, <Mythical> 1.5%, <World> 1%.]

"Alright, let’s start the ticket pulling! Hehehehe. Come on! First roll is..."

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Common> creature.]

"...Ugh."

Her motivation shriveled straight away. Still, she motivated herself. "Alright, don’t get depressed. This is just the first pull! We have 37 to go!"

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Uncommon> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Super Rare> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Common> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Super Rare> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Uncommon> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Super Rare> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Rare> creature.]

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a random <Common> creature.]

"... What is going on?" Liu Shu almost doubted her results. "Was I cursed or something!? Why are today’s results so bad!?"

And what happened next almost scarred her.

[Pulls from 11th to 20th: Uncommon, Uncommon, Rare, Common, Common, Super Rare, Super Rare, Uncommon, Common.]

"WAH! WHAT IS WRONG! QAQ!" Liu Shu got angry and began spending all her tickets one after another. "I DON’T BELIEVE THIS!"

[Pulls from 21st to 30th: Common, Common, Common, Super Rare, Super Rare, Common, Common, Ultra Rare!, Super Rare, Common.]

"ULTRA RARE APPEARED!..." Liu Shu suddenly became silent, tears almost flowing down her cheeks. "To think I’ll become happy about an Ultra Rare pull... NEXT"

[Pulls from 31st to 38th: Uncommon, Common, Rare, Utra Rare, Super Rare, Common, Uncommon, Rare.]

"UAHHH! QAQ! SO BAD! WHY IS IT SO BAD TODAY!"

Liu Shu wanted to sob her eyes out, but, she became blind with rage. "I will use the Ultra Rare tickets as well! Spin 15 times at once! I don’t believe it!"

[<Ultra Rare Ticket> chances: <Unusual> 35%, <Rare> 25%, <Super Rare> 20%, <Ultra Rare> 10%, <Legendary> 5%, <Mythical> 3%, <World> 1.5%, <Core> 0.5%.]

[Pulls from 1 to 15th: Rare, Super Rare, Uncommon, Super Rare, Legendary!!, Uncommon, Super Rare, Uncommon, Rare, Rare, Super Rare.]

"...I AM NOT HAPPY. ONE LEGENDARY AFTER ALL THAT!? ARRRGHHH! RETURN ME MY TICKETSSSSS!"

(Author Note: I was so unlucky today... QAQ! I don’t dare use the remaining 2 <Legendary> and 2 <Mythical> ones... QAQ!)