NOVPUB
Chapter 37: Advent of the Human Race, huh?
The list of obligations was quite simple. In exchange for the various benefits listed, the human race was required to do 6 major things in exchange.
The first was to be an enforcer of the IUAS, assisting it in carrying out punitive measures on lower-ranked species should they cross the line. A portion of humans who awaken their abilities will be required to take on the job of Galactic Enforcers for a few years, randomly assigned within the species by the Prime Representative office.
The second was that the human race was to contribute their best excavated items from special dungeons opened in the local Essence iteration within the planet to the IUAS for studying and compiling, as well as duplication. This also went for items gained in the actual Chaos Realm, though the original copies will naturally be returned.
The third was that the human race would be required to contribute their best minds or those with related abilities to help advance the technological development of the IUAS in conjunction with other top races. Of course, these members would be sufficiently compensated.
The fourth was that the human race would need to contribute a sum of 50,000 units of Chaos Essence to the IUAS every year, as a form of flat tax. No matter how much humanity gained, only 50,000 would ever need to be paid as any form of tax, while other races paid a flexible rate starting from 10% going up to 25%.
The fifth one was that the human race was required to submit all information related to their explorations in the Chaos Realm, including what was found, what it did, and how it got there, especially how to survive various areas.
Damon looked at this list and his eyes were narrow. It wasn’t that the obligations were outrageous, but rather they were too lenient. Looking right at the list of benefits and the list of obligations, if someone told Damon that the human race were the strongest beings in the universe and used their power to be corrupt, he would unhesitatingly agree.
But no, these were the genuine benefits of the 5th ranked species, unique to the top ten races.
"Please pay special attention to obligation 1, which is your participation in the Secret Council." Kissuo hinted during the long silence.
Damon knew what term he was talking about, which was the one that required the current Prime Representative of the Human Race - and the other top ten races - to infrequently meet in a group called the Secret Council to decide core issues facing the universe.
For example, the decision to change the law about discovering new species was done by a Secret Council meeting.
"I’ve noted this. Are there any other obligations we may have overlooked or missed not included in this list?" Damon asked with a calm smile.
"No, the Galactic Union is meant to help species band together to achieve the goal of the Universe Will and everything is geared towards that." Kissuo answered with a shake of his head.
"Do the behemoths have any complaints or disagreements then?" Damon asked as he glanced at Targota directly, not shying away from the powerful creature before him. After all, he had gone toe-to-toe with seven others like him just about an hour ago.
Of course, the key reason was that these powerful beings restrained their auras. Without that, no matter how well-trained or how much spunk Damon had, he would probably be hyperventilating like a normal person before a giant spider.
There was a spell of silence as Targota turned to his two male companions on either side that were also cyclopes like him, both nodding with stern faces. Nodding back, Targota turned to Damon and sized him up before glancing at Kissuo with a lazy look.
"No complaints, get on with it."
This surprised everyone on the human’s side, as they expected the battle to begin from here. However, the entire time, it seemed that the behemoths did not much care about losing their rank and the benefits that came with it?
Damon frowned deeply as he rapidly pondered the possible reasons for this and how to counter them when he heard Kissuo speak to him.
"Alright then, you may now sign the agreement." Kissuo stated as a holographic contract appeared.
Its terms were simple, both parties agreed wholeheartedly to the exchange, and the party that lost rank could not come and trouble the party that gained a rank for any issue whatsoever. There were also a multitude of legal protections within to prevent the cyclopes or any of their allies from even causing a single human to lose an inch of hair.
Looking at it, there were really no flaws. Damon glanced at the slightly dazed Xela and the slightly puzzled Felecia, then back at the agreement. He looked over to see that Targota also read it with a cold expression, his face becoming uglier with each line.
However, at the end, he still signed it and then looked away as if he’d rather be anywhere but here. This caused Damon’s brows to rise as he had some preliminary clues about why things felt strange so far. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
No one pressured him, and Kissuo remained silent, allowing Damon time to think carefully. Damon also freely consulted those who came with him and none of them could see a problem in any of the proceedings, especially in the agreement put before them.
After almost ten minutes, he then lifted his hand to sign on the virtual agreement, cementing the exchange between the two species. Kissuo flicked a finger to summon the agreement over to himself and inspected each of the signatures before flicking it upwards, the holograph disappearing into the ceiling of the room.
"Intion-223, ratify the agreement and place it within the Galactic Union archives." He commanded casually.
"Processing... done. The Rank Exchange Agreement between the 5th place Human Race and the 6th place Behemoth race has been ratified and will take effect as of this very moment." The Intion in charge of this process within the Galactic Union replied in a toneless voice.
The entire time this was happening, everyone had been glancing upwards to where the holographic document went, but Damon had been staring at Targota and the two behemoth aides. He had watched them go from nonchalance when the signing happened to tense when Kissuo collected it and then anxious when it had been sent up for ratification.
Everyone’s attention was soon merged with Damon’s towards the three behemoths as they rose to their feet and cheered loudly, hugging each other with tears in their eyes the moment the agreement was ratified.
While everyone was shocked and puzzled by the behavior, only Damon, Felicia, and Kissuo wore different expressions.
Kissuo was smiling knowingly, Felicia was fearful while Damon’s confident smile slowly warped into a malicious frown full of coldness.
Kissuo shuffled his documents and decided to do a favor for the upcoming race. "You must be wondering if you missed anything or were duped by the Galactic Union by this agreement, given the way these fellows are illogically celebrating as if they have been freed from slavery."
Kissuo chuckled lightly. "In truth, it’s not much different than that. In the past few centuries, the Behemoth race was made of nearly 3 billion individuals of nearly 20 different ethnicities, with the cyclops being just one of them. However today, the behemoth race only has about 1.2 billion in total population with only 8 remaining ethnicities, with 12 being wiped from existence."
"Are there loopholes or traps in the agreement? None, everything that you read is valid and nothing else will be done to change that. Everything the Galactic Union will give you and demand from you will not change by a single word, not even in an emergency."
Kissuo gave Damon a meaningful glance. "However, I have done some research into human culture and I believe you have an apt saying that goes like this. ’Heavy is the head that wears the crown.’"
"The more benefits you agree to give and the more power you have, the more is expected of you. The Galactic Union has given you its list of benefits and demands for being 5th place, but don’t forget that the Galactic Union was created to serve a more transcendent being."
Kissuo shook his head. "This being has its own list of benefits and requirements for the various species in the universe based on their rankings, and it doesn’t take no for an answer. On top of that, this being is not as... considerate... as it does not know things like stress, fatigue, or fear, so the obligations it assigns a race are purely based on their overall ability without any subjective biases or leeways. This has nothing to do with the Galactic Union."
Hearing this, the hearts of the humans chilled greatly, especially since the cyclopes were still celebrating and seemingly making calls back home to share the good news. Damon understood that they had once again fallen into the trap of limited thinking due to preconceived notions, ignorance, and his age.
The human race was not the behemoth race’s biggest rivals; they were their saviors.
The Universe Will was not the human race’s savior; it was going to be the hardest taskmaster.
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Volume 1: ’The IUAS’ is complete.
Volume 2: ’20 Years of Essence’ is underway!
