Elder Cultivator

Chapter 955

The time lag for messages going back to the core of the Lower Realms Alliance was such that they could be consulted on various matters, but they couldnt provide timely advice. Thus, the main core of what would be done with the locals of Waral was being discussed in quite an urgent manner.

Though ultimately, Devon believed them when they said there wouldnt be any further trouble. There was a connection that the majority of the emancipated individuals shared, and that had allowed them to act together to take out their enemies, at least those who were local.

There were only a few recordings that the Lower Realms Alliance had, as it required one of their ships to be actively watching an area during the incident. All at once, three or four cultivators who were moving down the street turned to attack a single individual. Sometimes that happened with several groups nearby. Occasionally their opponents had successfully fought back, killing some of their members- but others rapidly converged from nearby.

Ultimately, in just a few minutes a huge number of killings had taken place. The vast majority of the onlookers had been left confused and nervous, but the shock of the sudden event had left them without a reaction. Now, they were worried about the freed slaves- perhaps justifiably.

Yet the freed slaves easily agreed to remain separate, where they couldnt cause any more harm- and where the Alliance could prevent worried cultivators from turning on them.

They needed a plan rapidly, and they drafted a workable solution within a few hours. Aerona was quite busy as everyone tried to figure out how to keep the situation from escalating. The one benefit was that the rare remnants of the Numerological Compact seemed uninterested in getting tied up in any further trouble, and the various other sects of free individuals were not able to make any sort of coordinated action.

Devon was able to rest while all of that was going on. He probably wouldn't be at full capacity for at least a few weeks, after the skirmish with Endymion and his Magnitude IV ship, but he was no longer stretched to his limit.

He did end up responsible for passing the message on to Ammar, who was one of the chosen voices of the partial hivemind. It was possible that talking to a random member would be just as useful, but they honestly didnt know enough for that to be certain yet.

We have come to a decision, Devon said. Ammar waited for him to continue. We dont intend to do anything to you immediately but further uses of military force absolutely wont be tolerated. With the exception of self defense, still. Ammar simply took in what Devon was saying, not arguing but not necessarily agreeing either. Ultimately, you will be subject to the same sort of judgment you yourselves have made. Any who think that your people acted unfairly against another individual will be able to raise a petition. You will have to respond to their accusations, and we will judge the evidence for whether or not you were justified.

Ammar nodded. We will cooperate with your intentions. It is an acceptable result, should your judgments be fair. Do not be concerned, all of us are now aware of the situation.

Devon nodded. Very well. We intend to inform the others in the city of this. However, holding you individually responsible is complicated.

Why? Ammar asked.

Because you made some sort of communal decision and your assaults were in groups as well. It is a bit difficult to say who holds the responsibility.

Ammar shook his head. I dont believe that is necessarily the case. We are aware of who made the judgments, after all. These people are willing to accept responsibility. Though ultimately, we believe any case would end with us as the victor, should you do as you promise.

And what about the killers?

What about them? Ammar asked. They were chosen for their ability to take down certain individuals. Nothing more or less.

Well, Im glad you all agree on that, but others might not.

Then we simply must prove that the deaths were justified, Ammar said. Then, it should not matter.

-----

The Lower Realms Alliance knew they were opening a can of worms when they allowed the accusations. Cities of millions, with hundreds of thousands having died all at once? Obviously there would be many grievances that would be aired. Except they werent buried by the monumental load of objections they expected. There were hundreds in the first day, but that was still quite small.

Then again, very few would have any personal grudges with those who had been enslaved. Except maybe those who had perished. So it would only be an issue if family or friends had died. People didnt get to choose family, and many people made poor choices with their friends.

Devon took in the situation as a whole, and it was really quite few people who said anything. And it didnt seem to be fear, though there was certainly some concern about that possibility. In some ways, their side certainly appeared to support the grouped consciousness, allowing them to even have a chance after such a slaughter.

Before Endymions arrival, the plan for this time had been to finish taking over the rest of Waral, assaulting the remaining cities that were split into independent and weaker factions. But instead, they were dealing with trials, repairs, and rest.

Aerona came to Devon at the end of one day, venting about her experiences. Its very difficult not to simply take the side of the freed slaves, Aerona admitted. But I listen to both parties and most of the time it isnt even close. Ive been learning a lot about how people were enslaved, by the way.

Oh? Devon prompted.

Well, the nominal reason was for crime. Extremely shaky allegations, most of the time. Other excuses were debts. But ultimately, it seemed that the Numerological Compact just grabbed people whenever they needed more and nobody stopped them. Instead, many offered up their rivals with flimsy reasoning. So these people arent entirely innocent but also Aerona shook her head. None of them really deserved this. Because when people did something actually wrong, they often preferred executions at the hand of the accuser.

Its fascinating the lengths people will go to justify such institutions, Devon said. So, what about the cases?

Oh, sure, Aerona nodded. Well, the defense is always quite quick about bringing relevant individuals around, providing personal testimony. All truthread, of course. Its accurate enough to serve as a balancing factor. Most importantly, they were able to describe certain other witnesses weve been tracking down. They seem to understand that unilaterally trusting a hivemind is difficult.

Indeed, Devon said. I doubt even they fully know how that works at the moment, but theyre quite odd to interact with.

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A few individuals complained about being attacked during the incident, but the only people who survived were those who reacted and joined into the battle, thinking they were in danger. For the most part, they were taken out without major harm. A few others had more serious injuries, and were more directly caught up in the crossfire. Those who sustained real damage and were actually defending themselves have been awarded some amount of damages.

Is that all? Devon asked.

I sat through about a hundred petitions, and only a few were serious enough to justify more than people handing over healing medicines or wealth to purchase treatments. I can tell you the details of a few others, though.

-----

I have you down for a petition about theft? Aerona asked, looking up at a woman.

Thats right. These uh, these people took a storage bag that belonged to me.

What did it contain? Aerona asked. Were there any distinguishing markings?

It had everything I had saved up. Some medicines, and a large amount of wealth I was going to use to purchase a medicine to break through to the next stage, the woman said.

Her words appeared true enough, and her cultivation was at the peak of Spirit Building which helped corroborate. Yet she also seemed to be hiding something.

Aerona had her provide a better description, then looked towards the local representative standing besides her. We do have a bag of that description and contents, the representative replied. However, it was taken from a man that was part of the retribution.

When was your bag stolen? Aerona asked the petitioner. And by who?

Well you see, my brother had it. I saw him attacked by them.

Aerona frowned. Do you have proof that this was not your brothers?

Some of the contents should make it obvious? And he had his own, I think. Having multiple bags isnt normal.

Yet some people do it, Aerona said. She looked towards the representative of the hivemind though whether they wanted to be called that was still up for debate. They accepted it, but not much more was known given the extremely brief period they had been functioning.

We are aware of the incident. We shall bring forth the cultivators involved and the storage bags.

A trio of people arrived, and Aerona went back and forth between the sides, getting their story. The brother had apparently made false accusations against one of them, getting them enslaved- and there were further incidents that others apparently corroborated.

Ultimately, the woman didnt make any arguments that her brother didnt deserve what happened to him. Especially once Aerona pried out the reason her brother was carrying her storage bag- hed stolen it, and she was trying to track him down. She didnt even see the incident, only heard about it later.

Things were resolved rather easily from there, and the bag was returned to her with the majority of its contents intact. Aerona didnt have to prompt anything once the people involved were convinced. Unlike certain other incidents.

-----

He turned us in! one cultivator from the hivemind argued passionately. It seemed they acted quite normally when speaking about their own experiences. There were several more who agreed with him standing across from their accuser. We all heard about it!

An old man stood there, sadly shaking his head. Then you were fooled just like many others. But my son was not at fault. It was a scheme from an elder of the Numerological Compact to get back at him while keeping enmity away from the sect.

Of course you would say that now, one of them said. But simply caring about your son doesnt make him a saint.

I have other witnesses of the scheme, the old man said. Ive brought them to prove his innocence.

He did, in fact, prove that- again to the point of convincing those involved.

Stubborn. That was what Aerona determined. What punishment do you desire? she asked the old man.

The small group protested. We didnt know. How could we have? Its not our fault. Why should we be punished?

Silence, Aerona demanded. I am simply asking his demands. There is no guarantee that I will follow them. But you could have also been more diligent in your understandings. There were clues even in your own words. Uncertainty.

It seemed even a hivemind could lie to itself though it didnt seem they were quite that tightly interwoven. More like they could all relay their thoughts and emotions on certain subjects, which were still fallible. It was one thing for those who were directly locked up by someone, these few had been tricked like the general public.

The old man pondered. I want my sons things back. And his body. Also he looked at Aerona, clearly trying to judge if he was pushing things too far. Penalties. A fine or something. And if that elder died, I want his head.

It turned out that those who had killed the mans son had already exchanged some of his wealth for various cultivation medicines- many of those freed were eager to cultivate in freedom. And since they had been in slavery, there wasnt any other wealth they had. They easily agreed to retrieving the body, and handing over the elders head as well. At least nobody like that man had survived the purge.

Beyond that, a debt was entered against the individuals involved- specifically those who made the choice. Unlike most situations, the hivemind were clearly aware of the delineation between those who acted for practical purposes and those who gave the orders. They also didnt seem to be opposed to turning over individual members for punishment. Those in question would have to pay somehow from their future wealth. That incident was settled without further death but still showed imperfection in their actions.

-----

I honestly expected worse, Devon admitted.

When you have a million others watching what you think, Aerona replied, You would probably be careful about doing anything that would be judged by the masses.

Its several million, I think, Devon said. Depending on how closely the different cities are connected.

Ultimately, they didnt act with any unjustified malice except for a few isolated incidents where they offered up the perpetrators before accusations were even levied. We might see more flaws in the coming days but Aerona shrugged. The vast majority of the trouble are those bringing false accusations against them. Many of them are not good liars. Those settle quickly, but I wonder if the accusers know what theyre getting into.

You think that the hivemind will seek further revenge?

Just imagine a fifth of the population having memories of you falsely accusing them of something. Its not going to be good for them in the future, even if everything happens within the bounds of law and order.

So do you expect more valid petitions? Devon asked.

Yes, and more opportunists. But weve tried to crack down on those. Anything without a shred of evidence has people fleeing on their heels out of the halls at the end.

Its a good thing we have people like you, Devon said. Otherwise, this would have been an even bigger disaster.

Ultimately they were all prepared to die for their resentment. Im almost surprised they didnt act out more against those who they merely perceived to have worked against them. But it seems that some outside perspectives calmed that down. Only a tiny fraction of mistakes occurred- not counting some collateral damage to buildings and the like.

Devon wondered if the hivemind would expand when they freed the other cities. If so, they needed to convince them ahead of time not to slaughter anyone. Maybe come up with a plan where they could round people up but was there a way to do that fairly? Not without people to help judge.

Funnily enough, Devon wanted reinforcements for that purpose more than combat but hopefully both would arrive soon.

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