While the Gaian Alliance prepared to seize the transit hubs and transit nexuses, other private eyes had set their eyes on other stars of the Local Bubble, and of the Milky Way, the Esoterist found himself pondering a deep problem.

"Esoteric matter exists elsewhere in the universe, but not in ordinary star systems or planets."

This was the reality that he needed to reckon with. He found himself standing before a titanic underground automated manufacturing hub that mass-produced components that would go on to be used in the creation of esoteric matter. The familiar hum of machinery helped him think clearly, allowing him to assess his situation better.

He was a master of esoteric matter, esoteric technology, and esoteric science.

The keyword being esoteric.

While he had naturally needed to gain mastery in the fields of technology centered around conventional matter, at his heart, he still only cared about esoteric technology. And he actually disliked the hybridization that efforts led by Julian Quarrier had created.

Now, however, he knew that the process was going to accelerate to an extraordinary extent now that the stars were open for the taking. And since the stars had ordinary matter and energy, he simply couldn’t bring himself to care all that much about the stars.

What he was interested in were sources of interstellar matter.

He brought up a live feed of the remains of Garg’s core body scattered in outer space, being mined by the Panamic Alliance.

Among the ruins were esoteric matter.

That was good, the supply had increased.

But it had not increased as much as he would have liked it to.

"No, it needs to increase continuously because ordinary technology will continue growing, and a constraint in supply will be devastating for mass adoption of esoteric tech, especially as demand keeps growing..." he murmured under his breath.

So far, however, there were only two known sources of esoteric matter: the alien virus and gargantian planetary species. Rui had managed to get his hands on the gargantian seed and had already put it into research, but until they fully reverse engineered, they had no chance of getting access to the method of creating esoteric matter in a cost-effective manner. Not to mention, it was possible that the method was not contained in the seed, but rather was something that gargantians developed themselves as they matured.

It was possible that Gaia could generate more esoteric matter.

But he didn’t like that the method was out of his control. He wanted to get his hands on a steady supply of esoteric matter that he could use for his ends as he pleased.

"I need to get my hands on gargantian specimens."

That was ultimately the conclusion that he came to. He wasn’t interested in territorial expansionism. He wasn’t interested in resource extraction. He wasn’t even strictly interested in participating in the frenzy that had begun for tertiary races surrounding goods and services, but he did want to get his hands on a new source of esoteric matter that would allow esoteric matter to become as central a part of human civilization as normal matter.

However, in order to get his hands on a gargantian specimen, he would have to find one, of course. Based on the information provided to them by the Laminar Civilization, gargantians primarily existed in the Mariv Star Strand. That made them entirely out of his reach for now.

"There must be more specimens out there in this star strand."

He was certain of it.

He just needed to find them. And he needed to be prepared to hunt them alive when the time came.

"It won’t be easy, based on the power that these extraordinary lifeforms have, I will have to prepare a lot." He heaved a sigh. "Which will probably mean expanding across the stars to gain more resources and energy anyway."

It was unfortunate, but every method of gaining access to more esoteric matter was ultimately doomed to him gaining more power first.

"You’re so stupid for fixating on the esoteric matter." The voice of the Astromind from behind contained a hint of derision. "Just because your name is the Esoterist doesn’t mean you should dogmatically stick only to esoteric matter and nothing else. This fixation is preventing you from reaching your true potential."

The Esoterist turned to take a good, long look at the man behind him, scoffing at the exo-suit he was wearing. "I don’t want to hear about fixation from someone who wears spacesuits on land."

Astromind shrugged. "You can say that, but I would say my fixation is being vindicated. We have entered an era of space conquest. An era of stars. An era of the cosmos."

He grinned at the Esoterist. "Out of all the immortal sages out there, this era belongs to me more than any of them."

The Esoterist huffed before turning away. The reality was that he couldn’t deny his colleague’s words. Space truly was the thing that the man had dedicated his entire life to, with very few results, but then all of a sudden, human civilization was ready to accelerate to expand through the cosmos.

"I can’t wait to see what kind of things are out there waiting for us to discover them," the Astromind continued. "I can’t wait to see what the cosmos is truly like in person."

"If you’re looking to hitch a ride with the Esocline Federation, you can forget about it," the Esoterist grumbled.

"I will create my own adventurer fleet," the Astromind remarked with a serious tone of voice. "A self-sustaining spaceborne adventuring venture."

The Esoterist raised an eyebrow. "That takes capital, you know?"

"I don’t care for extravagance," the Astromind replied nonchalantly. "I don’t care for territory, land, or anything else. I simply want to explore the cosmos with like-minded individuals."

"...I suppose this is where we part ways then," the Esoterist remarked with a serious tone of voice. "My goal is esoteric matter. And I will get my hands on a way to create more of it, one way or another."