Reborn With A Technology System In A Fantasy World-Chapter 237: Galactic Concordat (2)

The guardian let out a long, slow sigh.

"The message you received, the ’amends,’ is only one of your options. In truth, you have three. But... they are all, in their own way, impossible."

She met his gaze, her kind eyes now filled with something akin to pity.

"The easiest one, the one I can offer you personally, is for you to save yourself. I am bound by Concordat law, but my nature as a former human gives me... flexibility. I can sever your tie to this planet, to this Quarantine. I can elevate you, Adrian, to the heartland of the galaxy. You would be safe. You would be free."

She paused, letting the offer hang in the air. "Unfortunately, I cannot do the same for the others. My power is not limitless, and such an act takes all I have. They... they would have to share the grim fate of this world."

Adrian ruled that option out as quickly as it came. The words barely finished leaving her mouth before his decision was made. He couldn’t imagine himself leaving every person he cared for and running away while they were annihilated. The simple thought of it felt like acid churning in his stomach. It was sickening. He kept his face impassive.

"The next one?"

The guardian noted his refusal with a sad, small smile.

"Well... The other two. They are the impossible ones."

"The one the Arbiter mentioned, the ’amends,’ is the ’easier’ of the two. You have to bring the Garogs back."

Adrian frowned. "Bring them back? How?"

"Not just their ships. Them," she clarified. "You must restore their entire civilization, back to their peak stage before they attacked you. To put it in simple terms, you have to find a way to resurrect all the Garogs you killed, restore their fleet to its full power, and ensure they haven’t lost much."

"...All within 24 hours. That is the amends you are required to make. You must undo your victory completely."

Adrian couldn’t help but gulp. The sheer, deliberate impossibility of it was staggering.

This wasn’t a punishment; it was a mockery! It was a death sentence wrapped in the language of bureaucracy. It was clear they were marked for destruction right from the onset, and this "amends" was just a twisted formality to justify their annihilation.

He bit his lip lightly, forcing his composure to hold. He asked calmly, "And the next one? The third option?"

"The third option," she said, her voice dropping even lower, "is even more impossible than the last. You have to ascend from the Quarantine."

"Ascend?" Adrian was confused, and his expression made it clear he wanted more information.

"Ascension," she explained. "It is the one, single, theoretical path for a Quarantined civilization to join the galactic community. If you succeed, you are no longer a ’Seeded World.’ You become a probationary member of the Galactic Concordat. Anything you earn would be yours by merit. All charges would be dropped and your ’guilt’ erased."

This was it. This was the real path, the only one that didn’t involve surrender or death. "How?" he asked with interest. "How can we do so?"

The goddess’s expression changed instantly, becoming one of profound sympathy.

"Adrian... no Quarantined civilization has ever Ascended. In the entire history of the Concordat."

"Why?"

"Because to do so," she said, "you must present the Ven Key to the Concordat High Council."

"The Ven Key?"

"Yes. It’s a... a symbolic tool. Eons ago, when the Concordat was formed, the original founding races created a ceremonial artifact, the Ven Key, as a symbol of their unity and their right to govern.

It was their charter, their foundation stone, all in one. It holds no real power. It is not a weapon. But it is... everything to them, a relic of their origin."

She sighed. "Thousands of years ago, the Key was entrusted to an Arbiter for a ceremonial tour of the sectors. That Arbiter... was lost. Attacked by a void-creature, a spatial anomaly, no one is sure.

The ship, the Arbiter, and the Ven Key vanished without a trace. The Concordat has spent millennia searching for it. It is their greatest shame, their lost holy relic."

"And," she finished, her voice laced with bitterness, "for cruel, bureaucratic reasons, they made its retrieval the only requirement for Ascension. They decreed that no new civilization could ’join the table’ until their lost symbol was returned. Since it’s been lost for millennia, presumed destroyed or floating in an unknown dimension... it is impossible. It is their way of ensuring no Quarantined world ever Ascends."

Adrian wasn’t listening to her final words of impossibility. His mind had frozen, then exploded into a cacophony of white noise.

His entire consciousness was focused on a single item that had been resting in his [Inventory] for years.

[Item: Xqvëjn Key]

He’d always assumed it was just flavor text. But "Ven Key"? "Xqvëjn Key"?

’What are the chances it’s actually it?’

He considered, for a fraction of a second, pulling the key out and showing it to the goddess.

But he stopped. She said she was human once. She said she was a guardian. But she was still part of this cosmic system.

What if she was trying to manipulate him? What if she knew he had it? Or, perhaps worse, what if she didn’t know, and developed her own greed for it if it truly was as wanted as she said? It was the key to joining the Concordat. That kind of power was absolute.

’No... Not like telling her would change anything right now. If it’s the wrong key, nothing happens. If it’s the right key... I can’t risk her knowing. Not yet. I need to know what it is first.’

He smoothed his expression, letting the grim, hopeless look return. "That is truly unfortunate," he said with a heavy voice. "It seems all three paths are dead ends. Is there nothing else that can be done?"

"Nothing," the guardian said softly. "The Concordat is absolute. I am sorry, Adrian. My first offer is still open, right until the last moment. If it comes to the worst, just think of me. I can pull you out. It is the only help I can truly offer."

"I understand." Adrian nodded briefly. "Is there any other thing you’d like to let me know?"

"Nothing else, Adrian."

Adrian took a deep breath. He didn’t want to be in this sterile, white prison any longer. He willed himself to leave.

The goddess raised a hand in farewell, and then, with a sensation like falling backward into water, the white void vanished.

He was back.

He gasped, sitting up on his bed. It was as if all that had happened was just a daydream.

He checked the time. Only a few minutes had gone by as expected.

Adrian followed his instincts, forming a mind link with Charles.

’Boss?! Any news?’

Adrian forced a sense of calm in his voice.

"Easy, Charles. I just wanted to hear from you. I hope you’re all having a good time down there. I’d hate to have to come down and force you to celebrate."

There was a beat of silence, then a nervous chuckle from the other end.

"Welp..." Charles turned his head around. Karl was trying to entertain a crowd with his ’impressive’ spear techniques, but they were finding his reaction when his spear was insulted funnier.

There were also some elderlies drinking to their content. Some playing board games, and a lot of people were just walking around, reflecting on the war with their loved ones.

He focused back on the call. "Eh... I believe they are, boss. They’re trying."

"Nice," Adrian said, and he meant it. "That’s good. Take care of them."

"Boss, wait, what did—"

Adrian disconnected the call before Charles could ask the question again. His voice had been more jovial than it had any right to be, considering the horror he’d just learned.

As Adrian lay back on the bed, a small, grim smile couldn’t help but curve on his face. Moments ago, it seemed all was lost, that they were doomed by a tyrannical, cosmic law designed to ensure their failure.

And now... now there was hope. A tiny, insane, impossible sliver of hope.

He was still grateful to the goddess for the knowledge. She had given him the true nature of the test. She just didn’t know that he might, just might, already have the answer sheet.

It all fell on fate. It all depended on whether the jumble of letters in his [Inventory] matched the mythical, lost key of the galaxy.

If it was, a whole new series of possibilities awaited the people of Thanad. A path to Ascension.

But if it wasn’t... that could very well mean the end.