Chapter 21: Giving out homework

And so, the two snakes had made an order for the [3D Matter Reconstructor With Internal Computing Segment] with Emily.

This did mean they had to wait for it’s completion before they could move on with those types of plans while their plans for the desert… They also required the pair to wait for other people. With that being the case Midas calmly walked back towards her deck-chair and Ulwazi sat down on the beach with her feet kicking the clear blue water about.

The {Midas Divine Eulogy Oasis} had greatly improved since the convoy had come; though to say it was due to Midas putting in a lot of effort would be a lie. Rather it was more accurate to say that the oasis had developed as expected. Obviously the [Eulogy Oasis Water] has increased in volume allowing for the whole oasis to gain more of a mythical feeling. Due to being filled with water the golden walkway to the obelisk was sunk below the calm water surface that rippled due to Ulwazi gently kicking her feet about. As for the golden obelisk that pierced through the water and far up in the sky… Well nothing about it had directly changed but it certainly looked far more majestic than before – also with the formations Midas had additionally made a bunch of fat white clouds hovered overhead.

Considering they were in a desert known for its lack of any oasis’ (or really anything one would need to consider willingly settling here) the beautiful rain clouds hovering around an eye-catching obelisk certainly were showing off. To waste this much water on just giving her nest a bit less sun (since it never rained) was akin to a cultivator picking his teeth with a [Supreme Spirit Stone]l an expensive waste. Though, considering Midas was using it as advertisement, it being considered lavish meant it was succeeding!

Nothing got people’s attention quite like clearly expensive things~!

Little did she know that the big four ancient cities she was hoping to provoke into poking her hornets’ nest were too busy trying to figure out if it were a good idea to poke that random attack she did in the desert. Though if you were to ask her she would say that of course they were admiring her wonderful technique. It wasn’t just the humans though but even the {Gold Dust Beast Clans} had all their focus on trying to see what happened in that area. They were terrified that the humans had finally decided to get external help to wipe them out – so terrified they didn’t even realise that the territory of a certain Mutt had changed owners.

Of course, with all the beasts in the area immediately becoming loyal to Midas on account of her being a big fish offering big benefits no way they would tell their neighbours.

Other than the centre and sky of the oasis changes had already occurred in the periphery inside the barrier. It wasn’t a small area as many beasts of various sizes were already running around yet these beasts surprisingly weren’t the only life in this area. Fresh turquoise grass was already clearly in view while the large ferns had already expanded into sturdy if young trees – it didn’t only end at that as many herbs that had been offered to the Ankh’s for access to their water had been planted.

If one didn’t look out from the boundary clearly produced from the barrier they would never know they were in a desert. The clouds greatly helped with the intense sun while the large amount of water made the air far less arid. A mass of life surrounding the water, including many pregnant beasts, gave a sense of disconnection from the world outside. Though it would be even more vast when those beasts finally gave birth to creatures that would know no other world.

This disconnect was even wider when one considered that this abundant nature (of the highest quality) provided more natural Qi of Heaven & Earth. It only made it more like those Holy Lands of legend with a divine beast hiding deep inside… Then again that was technically what was happening since Midas clearly was there. Still with her little attack having been the focal point of many Midas only had more and more time to grow. Though with such a rich area while being a beast (who could automatically take in the qi to cultivate) she literally just had to sit down and rest.

As Ulwazi played around she suddenly lifted her head as if she’d figured something out; turning to her mother she asked in a cute voice.

“Mom, how will we power our [3D Matter Reconstructor With Internal Computing Segment] without any infrasstructure in the firsst place. Wassn’t that the whole problem we had originally with the ban enforced by the heavenss and our god? We won’t be able to usse it if we don’t have any ssuitable energy generation.” <Ulwazi>

Midas didn’t seem worried as her daughter though.

She simply flicked her hand out to have her sunglasses appear once more which she slowly placed on her face again. Hands behind her head letting the softened sun rays shine down upon her gorgeous body. Though Ulwazi wasn’t too affected by the sight of her mothers body since she saw it (though a big chubbier) whenever she looked into a mirror or just below the water since the liquid gold or just about anything made from gold worked well as a mirror.

One may argue that the colour changes when gazing into a gold mirror but with their caramel skin it didn’t really matter much!

Either Way they had enough gold… More was always a positive however.

Either way Midas took her time to answer but when she finally opened her mouth the wise words she said to her daughter was…

“Have you conssidered wearing glasssess? I think ssquare framed glasssess would look quite good on you… Then again maybe circular would be better? Either Way I think you sshould try to appeal to the ‘cute nerdy girl’ crowd ssince your sshort sstature and open love of knowledge would be a huge turn on to certain crowdss.” <Midas>

Ulwazi just blinked.

“W-w-well know, I haven-” <Ulwazi>

“Ssee thiss iss why you’re sstill a baby desspite how many ressourcess I’ve put into you my princesss, you ssimply don’t think about the detailss of the picture. Insstead you focuss on the whole photo while ignoring the really important pointss – thiss iss why you haven’t sseen that we have plenty of opportunity around uss. Your mother issn’t any ordinary reptile Ulwazi shashasha~!” <Midas>

At this those large eyes of Ulwazi widened and began to shine.

“Sso you have a ssolution?” <Ulwazi>

“Indeed~.” <Midas>

“Sso what are we going to do?” <Ulwazi>

“Me? Nothing at all~!” <Midas>

“Then how do we get the en-” <Ulwazi>

“That’ss for you to figure out, it’ss your job to figure out a reassonable way to power the device and I’ll be marking your ansswer after you’ve completed the potential. I won’t ssay too much or I’ll jusst be doing the thinking for you again; I will ssay you need to think about multiple factorss that sshould be included in all your future propossalss ass well. There iss no rush sso make ssure to fully figure out the prosspectss of your propossal sso I don’t end up making you cry when I give you the ressult shashasha~!” <Midas>

To that announcement how could the little snake not be confused for a moment. It truly was only for a moment however. Despite not even being a month old, Ulwazi quickly understood what her mother was getting at despite her keeping her usual sly attitude being clearly present. If she wanted to be the ‘princess’ she needed to be competent and so far all she had done was rely on her mother for everything… This was a coming of age test to see if she was able to think about the future of the [Golden Eulogy Amphiptere] when left to her own devices.

Because of this she quickly leapt into the water only to soon vanish below the gold – only sign she was ever there was the rippling of the two liquids. Though Midas who sent her daughter off to figure out something many adults couldn’t do seemed as if it didn’t matter. Someone else was showing interest though.

“So what are you marking her on?” <Akaibu>

The god hadn’t left yet since she grew a little interest in Midas actually being a positive parent figure for once… Though thinking about how it started involving her bringing up her daughter possibly seducing people? Maybe that was a bit of a stretch after all…

“Jusst ass I ssaid before; the thingss that sshould alwayss be considered when dealing with any project sso in thiss asspect I’ve been eassy on her. Any person sseeking to make or take a deal needss to think about these sso ass my daughter sshe sshould have thesse etched in her heart all the time. Thesse factorss of coursse being sscope, sscalability, modularity, cosstss, manpower, renewability, additional benefitss, ssocial impact, time consstraintss involved in all the previouss mentioned and finally the feassibility of it all.

Ssimpless.” <Midas>

“Uhuh…” <Akaibu>

The {Demon God of Knowledge} couldn’t help but feel sorry for the snake who probably had no knowledge of the terrifying project she had agreed to. Then again when dealing with Midas one had to expect some heartache; it was true she had been nice to her daughter in some ways. For example time was mentioned as not being a problem and she also hinted to the girl to pay attention to what was already around them… Yea, she should be alright, right?

“Now, if you wanted to run before I imagine you probably want to sskedaddle before I go collect my long sstanding reward from my guesstss?” <Midas>

“So you really intend to try to claim that power… We thought it a mere rumour from the older demons as we didn’t think you were suicidal.” <Akaibu>

“Shashasha~ what would be the point of all that I’ve done over the eonss if I couldn’t handle a little power. I don’t plan to attempt it until my body has increassed in realm a few timess though sso you sshouldn’t need to worry. Even if my body breakss down at that time I’ll have my pretty little princesss to handle thingss in the meantime~!” <Midas>

“… Very well, have it your way. As long as you keep your promise to keep the order. Of course, it’s not like we care about the way in which you keep that order else we would have relied on one of those naive Japanese kids.” <Akaibu>

“Iss that not the purposse in all dealss~?” <Midas>

“It’s the Absolute order of demons I suppose.” <Akaibu>

“Shashasha~!” <Midas>

With that another wormhole opened up behind the head of Akaibu only for her to step backwards to vanish as quickly as she had come. Of course, Midas didn’t think this long day was quite over… She believed the one in the forest didn’t lie to her so she would soon gain a guest in her home. She just hoped that a violent streak didn’t come over to destroy her precious little nest.

While thinking that her array had warned her of a new figure approaching the Oasis; a single woman with a bamboo hat.