On an oasis at the desert's edge stood a majestic temple.
Totems of the Scarab were carved into the pillars. Countless humans in bronze-gold plate armor gripped their spears, standing guard outside the sanctuary.
This was the residence of the King of Solon.
The stars were brilliant tonight, and the King was lost in a pleasant dream until a voice jolted him awake.
The King opened his eyes, only to find the room empty.
"Is that you, God? Are you calling for me?"
The Vermin stood right in front of the King, but the King couldn't see him.
He wanted to scream at the man, but he bit his tongue.
This idiot was still sleeping like a log, completely unaware that someone had already crept up to the Solon border!
Only The Vermin had seen it.
Those sand worms were his scouts. He had watched that army march from the north, cut through the desert, and reach Oasis City.
If he wasn't mistaken, that female commander leading them was at least a Mid-tier 3rd Step!
And the hundred soldiers behind her were all 2nd Step promoted units. The rest might be ordinary humans, but their numbers, their weapons, their gear.
Whose damn familiars were these?
"A group of armored outsiders has crossed the Solon border. They've come armed."
Armed?
That meant they were here for war!
The King instantly panicked. "Then God, please, perform a divine miracle and drive these invaders out!"
The Vermin nearly spat out a mouthful of blood at that.
'If I could step in personally, would I even need you?!'
What a useless piece of trash!
The Vermin had chosen this man as King for one reason only: he was the most obedient.
But beyond being a "yes-man," he had zero merits.
Every time he couldn't handle something, he'd just beg for divine help!
Usually, that was fine, but this time was different!
They had spent two years hollowing out those mountains to pull out massive amounts of ore.
Among them was "purple gold"—at least, that's what they called it here. Principal Starry's side called it "dark iron."
Same thing, different name.
Besides the purple gold, they had also unearthed bronze, coal, and many other types of minerals.
Their nation sat on a mountain of mineral wealth, so much that they'd even used metal to construct parts of their palace.
But while they had the resources, their tech was primitive.
"purple gold" was the hardest ore they had unearthed, but it was riddled with impurities. Without a proper refining process, they couldn't utilize it effectively.
Since purple gold was heavy, brittle, and unrefined, they had to settle for palladium-copper to forge their tools, weapons, and armor.
palladium-copper wasn't nearly as hard as purple gold, but they had no choice. There were probably very few civilizations capable of mastering purple gold technology at this stage.
As luck would have it, every single soldier in that army crossing the Solon border was clad in purple gold armor and wielding purple gold weapons!
Forget the power gap, just look at the gear. Using purple gold against palladium-copper was like a modern soldier beating up a caveman.
And even worse, this might not even be the enemy's full force!
Now that their location was exposed and their foundation was rooted here, running away wasn't an option. They had to bite the bullet and fight.
"God, why aren't you saying anything?"
'Because you're making me speechless.'
The Vermin realized the King was useless and started brainstorming his own strategy.
His ability was insect manipulation. Over the years, he'd bred some interesting bugs and actually managed to help them "rank up."
Remember how he said ordinary insects couldn't rank up unless they could cultivate?
Well, turns out that was actually possible here!
This world was fundamentally different from Earth. It was an energy-rich world, born from Principal Starry's original realm. Its starting point was much higher than Earth's.
By having the insects devour each other and breed selectively, The Vermin had actually stumbled upon a species capable of cultivation.
However.
"Time is too short."
Those insects had barely managed to cultivate to the 1st Step.
The Vermin had bred two types of cultivating insects. The first was the Desert Sandworm, averaging around Mid 1st Step.
These had evolved from Stone Worms and could chew through rock, even ore. Their ability to eat through earth and stone was the reason they'd managed to flatten the mountain range so quickly; the worms spent their time burrowing and churning beneath the surface.
They would absorb the energy within the soil and stones, then excrete piles of sand.
From a scientific standpoint, they were similar to those Star Familiars, absorbing the internal energy of objects, and that was exactly why this place had turned into a desert.
There was also another type of insect modeled after the Scarab.
Originally, they fed on flesh and blood. The Vermin used this trait as an anchor, allowing them to grow by absorbing the energy within meat.
This had also become a form of capital punishment in this nation.
Lawbreakers would be thrown into a coffin filled with Scarabs, allowing the insects to gnaw their flesh and even their bones until nothing remained.
This method of execution was agonizing; the screams of the dying would last for hours, making anyone who heard them go weak at the knees.
This was also one of The Vermin's methods to consolidate divine authority.
He wanted people to see the consequences of defying a god and to instill a deep sense of dread.
Developed this way, the future prospects looked promising.
But the enemy had arrived too soon!
...
The next morning, at dawn.
Just as the sky began to gray, another army stepped across the Solon border.
However, it wasn't the Star Expeditionary Force, but the army of another civilization.
They rode horses, pulling wagons behind them to form a massive caravan loaded with all sorts of supplies.
The leader immediately requested an audience with the King to state their purpose.
They were here for trade. They claimed the deity behind them was the God of Wealth.
The Vermin immediately realized who the opponent was: 040, the Gold King.
So, he commanded the King to find a minister to receive these merchants.
The King himself certainly couldn't go; after all, these people's true motive might be to assassinate him.
During the meeting, the other side got straight to the point, proposing the implementation of their currency regulations and requesting the opening of a trade route.
Seeing this, The Vermin pondered for a moment. "Are they trying to mimic the Silk Road?"
Currency regulations were common to every civilization. With currency comes trade, and with trade comes the concept of private property.
This could be used to evolve and develop early social structures.
However, regarding specific currency regulations, there was no standard yet; most transactions were still bartering.
This was because the nations lacked a mint to strike coins.
In a situation where no foundation existed, pushing for a gold-based credit system was nothing more than talk on paper.
However, the Gold King's faction had directly rolled out a complete monetary system, defining currency in three tiers: gold, silver, and bronze.
They arrived with goods; to trade, one first had to sell them something to obtain their coins.
And everything the Gold King sold was a hard currency commodity!
From various rare seeds and silkworm eggs to mules, horses, and fabrics.
As The Vermin was weighing his options, the Gold King manifested his true form and appeared before him. "Do you still remember our transaction?"
The transaction.
Of course he remembered. The Vermin owed the Gold King a favor and had promised to act for him once.
However...
"I'm currently in over my head. If you're in trouble, I'm afraid I'm powerless to help."
The Gold King chuckled softly. "Then it's quite a coincidence. I can help you resolve your current problem."
"The conditions?"
"Form an alliance with me."
...
A Star Familiar traveled day and night without rest, taking nearly two months to return to the capital, Anganas.
He reported the information regarding the desert and the Sun Kingdom to the King. Upon hearing this, the King first sought the deity's counsel.
The deity spoke only one word.
"Fight."
With the deity's authorization, the King immediately ordered another army to begin a Southern Expedition.
It was estimated that in three months, this unit would rendezvous with the soldiers stationed at the Solon border to launch a general offensive.
This was the first major expedition, and the King had his concerns. While the Star People could extract energy directly on-site, the regular soldiers still required food supplies.
The supply line was stretched too thin. If they carried enough food for one trip but failed to take the territory with a lightning strike, things would get messy.
...
A month later.
Principal Starry stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance. Not being able to personally join the fray and lead the charge wasn't his style.
On the surface, he was a mage, an astrologer; but in reality, his heart yearned to be a warrior.
To him, magic was a gift and astrology was a hobby, but being a warrior was his passion and his true essence.
But now that he couldn't take the field himself, he had to rely on his soldiers.
So why not teach them magic?
The answer was simple: there was no need.
His familiars were already forms of pure energy—the most refined state of magic. They could grow by absorbing energy directly, a rate of development far faster than studying spells.
So, magic is fine, but the power of potions is far superior.
Rather than settling for the pursuit of magic, isn't it better to just produce a few more familiars?
Another month passed, and news arrived from the front.
They reported encountering another civilization, one that requested an audience with the King, claiming to carry a divine decree to deliver an important message.
Upon hearing this, Principal Starry descended directly to the front lines.
To his surprise, The Vermin and the Gold King were there waiting together.
"First time meeting, I am 040..."
Before the Gold King could finish, Principal Starry cut him off.
"The objective."
The Gold King gave a thin smile. "Straight to the point, then. Fine."
"I won't beat around the bush. We all share this same continent and live in such close proximity; rather than erupting into a war of mutual destruction, it would be better to cooperate for mutual benefit."
Ah, here to play the peacemaker.
However, one must have enough capital for that.
"Life or death—that's a fitting description," Principal Starry remarked.
The Gold King wasn't wrong. Since Principal Starry already possessed a formidable military force, it was only natural for him to fight for crowns rather than lean toward cooperation.
From Principal Starry's perspective, wiping out The Vermin first and then crushing the Gold King to secure two crowns was far more practical than anything else.
His reasoning was perfectly logical.
"You are a 5th Step, aren't you?"
"I am."
"Then have you considered that your only chance to personally intervene is nine hundred years from now?"
"Right now, you can rely on overwhelming military might to campaign and collect crowns, but what will you do during the two critical junctures three hundred and six hundred years from now?"
"Once other monsters take the field, the situation could flip in an instant, and it's impossible for you to eliminate every monster below the 5th Step before then."
The Gold King made a fair point, but Principal Starry wasn't swayed.
"As long as I hold enough crowns, I can ally with anyone. And those I expect to survive until then will undoubtedly be strong contenders for victory."
The Gold King nodded. "That's true in principle, but do you remember what our god once said?"
"At the end of the day, we are still human."
"And as humans, we have emotions and desires. Sentiment will always outweigh cold logic."
"Your thinking is rational, but not everyone follows reason. They might refuse an alliance with you simply because they despise you."
"Furthermore, by the time you plan to ally with them, they might have already formed a massive coalition and will be hunting for crowns."
"And while your familiars are powerful, your true self cannot intervene yet."
"Since you hold so many crowns, why would they cooperate with you when they could simply team up, take you out, and split the spoils?"
"In fact, if I were in their position, that's exactly what I would do."
"So, in my view, neighboring civilizations should form alliances immediately to watch over each other. We should secure more time for development rather than wasting it on war."
"You must realize that as technology and civilization advance, wars become shorter, but the casualties become far greater."
"Launching wars in the later stages often saves a lot of time."
"You have a powerful military and your plan to snowball early isn't bad, but you have a better option now."
The Gold King reached out and pointed toward The Vermin. "He has the richest resources, while you have the strongest army and the largest population."
"And I possess everything you both lack. We can perfectly complement each other; that is what meaningful cooperation looks like."
"Of course, there's no point in discussing the distant future right now, so let's talk about the practical benefits we can gain from an immediate partnership."
"Your army is strong, but you lack mounts. Your main force moves far too slowly. I can provide you with horses, or even faster mounts."
"But to reach that stage, we must push for economic and trade development."
"I need massive amounts of mineral resources, which he happens to have, and will have even more of in the future," the Gold King said, looking at The Vermin.
"Using that as a trade point, he can export minerals to us. We can save time on mining and focus on other areas, like expanding our maps."
"The Vermin can focus on mining and selling ore, while your military covers for him. This division of labor is a win-win on top of a win."
"By then, the trade cycle will be established. The appreciation of currency will also make my abilities stronger, allowing me to provide rare materials that are currently unobtainable at this stage."
"Even legendary weapons."
Hearing the Gold King's words, Principal Starry fell silent for a long time.
This guy was quite a character.
Not even mentioning his eloquence this time, his vision and thinking alone were rare.
Principal Starry was indeed convinced by him.
Perhaps the 3rd Step's entry three hundred years from now wouldn't amount to much, but the 4th Step juncture was a different story.
The power of the 4th Step was overwhelming; a single blow could decimate a city.
This period was exactly when Principal Starry would be at his weakest, since he couldn't personally intervene.
But The Vermin was a 4th Step, who could perfectly compensate for Principal Starry's vulnerability six hundred years from now.
"This partnership... is feasible."
Hearing Principal Starry's words, the Gold King couldn't help but let out a slight smile.
"Then our alliance is officially established."
"Gentlemen, when the day comes for us to ascend to godhood, let's strive together!"
...
Principal Starry withdrew his troops.
But they didn't retreat far; instead, they built a city just outside the Solon border.
The Vermin let out a sigh of relief at this. Thankfully, the Gold King had intervened, otherwise his entire foundation would have collapsed.
He was rooted here now; running away was definitely not an option.
The crown could only be given to followers. Insects and wild beasts—beings with some intelligence but not enough—could not wear the crown.
The criterion for this intelligence was reaching the average human level.
However, the Gold King's meeting with Principal Starry was a risky move.
If Principal Starry were a fool who couldn't be reasoned with and insisted on killing The Vermin, then the Gold King would have been in danger.
His current position was exposed; he was located further south behind The Vermin.
If The Vermin fell, the "teeth would be cold once the lips were gone"—he would be next.
So this cooperation was finalized.
The Gold King had the merchant caravan depart from Solon for the Fertile Land of Anganas, the location of the Star Empire's royal city.
He built roads and drew maps along the way, preparing to open trade routes between the three civilizations, which was crucial for him.
The ability he could use in this game was the Golden Treasury.
However, his original assets were frozen, and he now needed to re-accumulate wealth.
And because the civilizations in this world were too backward, the value of items could only be determined by their inherent, predetermined worth.
That is to say, the value of an object was judged based on the energy it contained.
Rare things were precious; those containing high energy were often extremely scarce, such as certain ores.
Therefore, the first step was to establish currency regulations, bestowing a value upon the currency that exceeded its inherent worth.
For instance, a gold coin is essentially just a certain amount of gold, so its intrinsic value is limited.
But if it is defined as currency and everyone accepts that it holds a higher value, then its worth is elevated.
However, one cannot simply define an excessively high value arbitrarily, as the Gold King had already experimented with such things on Earth.
He once set an astronomical price on a glass handicraft, but no one could buy it, no one wanted to buy it, and no one recognized its value.
Later, the Gold King found someone to buy the glass handicraft, but it still didn't work.
Based on this, the Gold King would not tamper with the currency, especially during this era; any slight lapse in attention could trigger inflation or devaluation.
"Finance is linked to credit, but if fairness and credit cannot be maintained, financial and currency regulations are a joke."
"A merchant must know that what truly determines success or failure often lies in the smallest details."
"Just as a thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant nest."
...
Five years later.
Empire of Stars, April of the Seventh Year of the Unification Calendar.
Five years of campaigning across the north and south had seen the empire's map expand year by year. The Vermin's nation had been reduced to a vassal state, its development sluggish.
This was because they only occupied the single territory of Solon.
Ultimately, Principal Starry remained wary, directly surrounding the north and east of Solon to restrict The Vermin's expansion.
The Vermin could only develop toward the Western Mountains, while the south bordered the Gold King's national territory.
Stretching from the Gold King's territory through Solon to the capital of the Star Empire was an exceptionally broad highway.
This road crossed three nations and was known as the Golden Road.
All traveling merchants used this route to come and go, achieving unprecedented prosperity.
However, Principal Starry's credo had not changed; he simply shifted direction, beginning to dispatch troops toward the west and north.
Griffin Knight Remod rode at full speed, conducting a straight-line expedition westward, until he finally discovered a civilization in the west.
To be more precise, however, it was only a single city.
Remod, mounted on a dark horse, looked at the distant city from a cliff. Before him was a massive rift; to reach that distant city, he would have to take a long detour.
"My lord, what are we to do?"
Remod shifted his gaze. "We bypass it. We take the city."
"But... shouldn't we head back and report first..."
"There's no need."
"It's just a small city. If the military opportunity is delayed and the enemy spots us, can you shoulder that responsibility?"
The soldier lowered his head. "I wouldn't dare."
Remod snapped the reins. "All units, listen up! Advance north through the rift! In three days, launch a full-scale assault on the city!"
...
Two days later, Remod and his men bypassed the rift and pitched camp within a forest.
Since the trade routes had opened, everything they previously lacked had been supplemented.
From silk fabrics to tents, clothing, cloth, salt, wine, chili peppers, and a vast array of resources—they had it all.
However, the Star Familiars couldn't taste these foods, nor did they need to eat them.
Instead, it was the nobles and high priests in the royal capital who maintained their human forms, indulging in fine wine and delicacies.
Those people appeared to be yielding the opportunity for ascension to the military, but in reality, they were simply clinging to human sensations.
After ascending, they would lose their sense of taste, smell, pain, and many other feelings.
Once someone has tasted exquisite food and fine wine, asking them to give it up is a tall order. They simply wouldn't be able to let go.
Unless they were on the verge of dying from old age, none of them were willing to undergo ascension.
Inside the tent, Remod looked at the wine cup before him. He directly shifted his armor's form and drained the cup in one gulp.
Yet, he felt nothing at all, aside from the wine being decomposed into energy.
There was no flavor; he had no idea what made this so pleasant to drink.
But looking at the humans in the tent, everyone's faces were flushed, smiles played on their lips, they were arm-in-arm, singing loudly.
Meanwhile, the ascended ones were all stooped over, silently staring into their wine cups.
Remod saw this and stood up. "We have been stripped of the right to enjoy all of this; that is the price of power."
"But are you resigned to it?"
The crowd was silent. Remod continued: "I am not. Why should we be out here campaigning while being denied even the right to live a normal life?"
"This form granted us eternal life, allowing us to survive."
"However, survival is not the same as living. The crisis of survival has long since faded for us, yet we have unwittingly become prisoners within our armor."
"We have no right to enjoyment; we are tools of war, the sword of the empire."
"We have sacrificed so much. Since we cannot enjoy life, we should naturally possess greater power and status as compensation!"
Hearing Remod's words, the Star Familiars stood up one by one.
Their emotions were stirred, yet it was meaningless; they could never turn back into humans.
What they could pursue was only greater power and higher status!
And Remod had said these words more than once before.
They were all dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.
"The empire's territory was expanded by us, the empire's prosperity was forged by us—we are the empire's greatest contributors!"
"We should enjoy the corresponding status and authority. Only then can we be repaid for what we've sacrificed for the empire!"
"Isn't this only natural?!"