Chapter 695: Soft Power

"We're the most dangerous when batshit weak!"

At Inala's words, Virala became calm, thinking of the time when he was targeted by Brandal Brimgan. A moment later, he stared at Inala, "The Brimgan Empire should have the means to perfectly lock our Spirit Containers. Brandal Brimgan was an expert in the field and I think Boul Brimgan might be able to do it too."

Spirit Container Lock!

It was an ability on par with a Nature that was conceptualised by Brandal Brimgan, one that used a combination of his eight Minor Treasures to accurately target the opponent's Spirit Container and seal it.

When that was used on Virala, he was unable to transform and even harness his Prana. If not for Brandal Brimgan's desire, which allowed Virala to take advantage and eventually free himself, he could have still been trapped in the Brimgan Empire's prison.

Equipped with all of Brandal Brimgan's memories, Virala knew exactly what they had to do, asking Inala, "They should be able to use a Spirit Weapon Lock that seals our Natures and brings us down to the Spirit Stage."

"Spirit Stage? That'll be perfect!" Inala laughed in joy, "That'll give us minimal leeway with things while keeping us batshit weak."

Inala was a Pranic Beast at the fundamental level. However, Mystic Royal Art turned the human characteristics he gained through the Primary Nature of Mystic Royalty and made him a complete Quip Clansman.

This meant that if his Spirit Container were to shatter and he retained only one unit of Prana, he'd end up at the Spirit Stage. Of course, that was only when he was in his human form. If it were to happen in his Pranic Beast form, even with a single unit of Prana, he would still be at the Body Stage, because Pranic Beasts were born at the Body Stage.

As Virala explained details about the variations of Spirit Container Lock, Inala understood that there would be no problems on their side once the ability was used. The combined power of eight Minor Treasures was terrifying.

Once the ability fully takes effect, even Inala would be unable to break free from it. The only means to overcome it would be to undergo surgery and rip out the Spirit Container. Following that, he would have to focus on condensing a new Spirit Container.

For anyone else, that might be impossible. But Inala had already researched about it at the Cooter Clan in the past and was capable of condensing a brand-new Spirit Container. 'At present, four people can do it.'

Inala, Zhya, Resha, and Brangara. Resha had done it at the Mammoth Clan. The remaining trio had achieved it through their combined efforts at the Dralh Sea.

Upon seeing his thoughts run amok once again, Inala controlled himself and stared at Virala, "Give me a few minutes. I'll give instructions to my Clan. We'll depart immediately after."

"Alright," Virala nodded and watched Inala swim across the water. In the meantime, he arrived at the floating platform situated right underneath the stream of water leading to the Dralh Sea. He sat in patience and looked around, commenting as he took in the sights, "This place is a utopia for Ravaged Tribesmen."

"If only the Fourth Major Disaster doesn't start here." He sighed and stared at the void extending beyond the planet's atmosphere, "Somewhere out there lies the clue to the Transcended Plane."

Influenced Region—Transcended Plane!

Not much about it was known other than the fact that it was the Influenced Region created by the Seat of Transcendence. In Sumatra Chronicles, Resha was killed at its entrance.

Unlike other Major Disasters, the Fourth Major Disaster would be terrifying on a whole other level, since two Major Treasures would be revealing themselves, not to mention the Seat of Transcendence originating from a Mystic Tentacle. It was the most powerful Major Treasure, on the same level as Brangara.

While Virala pondered about many things, Inala had arrived at the Quip Clan Settlement, approaching Zhya immediately in response. He consumed Prana until the allocated limit and dropped to his base state as an Expert Silver Grade Royal Zinger.

He condensed a second body and replenished his Prana, giving the remaining orb to Zhya, "I'll be leaving."

The newly condensed body separated from the stack and distanced itself from the other body. The body at the peak of the Body Stage retained the Major Treasure of Flight while the new body was the one that would head to the Wean Clan.

To ensure that when pressured by circumstances, Inala wouldn't take the easy way out by entering the Mystic Grade, he created a second body. Now, irrespective of the distance between the two bodies, the moment any body changes Grade, there would be an implosion.

This danger prevented Inala from harnessing his full strength and forced him to think of ways to survive, for at the Silver Grade, Sumatra became a terrifying place to live once again. Now, he'll claw his way through the variables and do his utmost for survival, desperately doing everything he could.

To avoid revealing his ability to change Grades to Virala, he layered himself with a Mystic Biome Bomb that maintained a Mystic Grade presence. He also commanded it to shatter itself once the ability of Spirit Weapon Lock was used on him.

This way, no one will realise that he could change Grades. And even if they were to notice any discrepancies, they'd only assume it to be a plan or scheme of his in order to appear weak and not that he could actually become weak by choice.

The newly condensed body stared at the other body and nodded once. And then, it began to swim toward the platform on the water surface.

"I'll pray for your success." Zhya cupped her hands with a respectful tone and stared at his swimming back. Immediately after, she returned to her task at hand, continuing to work for the growth of the Quip Clan.

The moment the body of Inala at the Quip Clan is able to condense a second body once again, it would imply that the one sent to the Wean Clan had died. This would be his cue to enact another plan.

Surfacing before the platform, Inala climbed onto it and stared at the figure of Virala admiring the sights, "It's a peaceful place, right?"

"Yeah," Virala sighed, "This is a hundred times peaceful when compared to the current Dralh Sea and a million times peaceful when compared to the Dralh Sea ruled by the Cooter Clan."

"Maybe one day, without the threat of the Celestial Boar, we could spend the days idly, without any drive, fishing for days at a stretch without any aim or skill. That would be wonderful." Virala said and stared at Inala, correcting his statement, "I meant it with my people, not you."

"Even if I'm bored of my mind, I won't pay you a visit."

"Trust me, I'm not looking forward to seeing your mug either." Inala shrugged and stared at the stream of water heading to the Dralh Sea, "Have you informed your people?"

"Yeah," Virala nodded, "They'll be staying behind and continue to train here."

As he spoke, a large Tratham submarine surfaced near the platform. Immediately in response, a large stream of Quip Zingers in human form began transporting goods into its storage.

The goods primarily consisted of Prana Bombs produced by the Quip Zingers, Life Bombs rich with Lifeforce produced by the Zinger Queens—those that cannot birth a Queen—and finally, specialised products produced by Ravaged Tribesmen.

These products ranged from bizarre horns to intricately woven hair with a bio-luminescent nature, nails that twitched and produced minute exploding sounds at every interval, skins perfect to be used as manuscripts for longevity preservation, etc.

The Ravaged Tribesmen had bizarre forms, and in their transformed states, they were able to produce a variety of biological products, whether outgrowths or ingrowths. Through the Biome Puppets that Inala controlled, he traded with a variety of Ravaged Tribesmen, using Parute Fruits as currency, and purchased a large amount.

He formed an underground market in multiple cities, transacting large volumes of these body parts. For the Ravaged Tribesmen, this was easy money. They just needed to sever a body part of theirs that could rapidly be regenerated through Prana.

Since they had an excess number of Phells to consume, they could regenerate easily. Moreover, they were paid fat lumps of Parute Fruits, which was more beneficial for their growth, since they could permanently increase their Prana serves until the limit simply by consumption alone.

Parute Fruits could also be used to make medicines and Elixirs that raised their probability of giving birth, which was extremely in demand in the Ravaged Federation. The Parute Trees were limited, but as the case was with the rest of Sumatra, the demand for Parute Fruits always exceeded the supply by a multiple.

The Brimgan Empire had a luxury market. And these body parts served as a collectible, resulting in a profitable trade for both sides.

The Brimgan Empire also researched these materials to create new minerals to forge Human Avatars from, so they had a voracious appetite. In response, the Quip Clan gained precious medicines from the Brimgan Empire that were useful for their growth, saving them immense time and resources.

Banditry was the instinct of Quip Clansmen. Being holed up in a room researching and producing things wasn't their forte. That was why Inala didn't try to change them. Instead, he made them expand upon their advantage, creating trade routes for various regions.

The Zingers will run errands between different Pranic Beast resources, buying and selling goods from the respective places and charging a commission. They'll glide across the dangers and deliver goods, with the Deing Canyon serving as their hub of operations.

Plans were already underway for it, with the resources, plans, and constructs—like poles to climb to a high altitude and glide forth to farther regions—supplied by the Ravaged Federation.

The Mystic Humans only acted as the intermediary for trade between the Quip Clan and the Brimgan Empire, for it was easier this way. Virala had no idea about the arrangements Inala was performing in the background, away from all prying eyes.

By the time others learn about it, a full-fledged trade network centred around the Zingers would already be operational. This trade network would make the lives of countless Pranic Beasts simpler, providing them with resources to grow and prosper with minimal risks to their side.

Targeting this trade network would be no different from destroying their peace, growth, and convenience, which would force the Pranic Beasts to align themselves with the interests of the Zingers.

In the words of Earth's geopolitics, that was termed Soft Power. And this soft power would turn large populations of Pranic Beasts against the Varahan Empire if they were to declare war on the Zingers.

"Shall we get going?" Inala asked once all the goods had been loaded on the submarine.

"Yeah," Virala nodded as the duo boarded the submarine and entered the stream of water leading to the Dralh Sea. Upon selling the goods at the Brimgan Empire, they'd request help from Boul Brimgan, paying the price necessary for the assistance.

Following that, they'll make their way to the Varahan Empire.

The submarine sped through the stream of water as Virala wasn't concerned about continuing the trade even without him. His fully grown body was at the Dralh Sea while the Mystic Humans were already capable of creating smaller submarines.

Instead of a massive submarine like his, they'd journey with a smaller fleet of submarines. The group staying at the Ravaged Federation had grown enough to do it on their own.

At present, other than Inala and Virala, fifty Mystic Humans were also on board the submarine. They were in charge of future trade, beginning to put their growing strength to use for their race's benefit.

A month later, the submarine was en route through the Dralh Sea. Upon informing the mature body of Virala stationed there, the submarine continued on its way to the Brimgan Empire, arriving at their destination eventually.

'It's still here.' Inala thought as he stared at the massive statue of Amita Brimgan at the entrance of the Brimgan Empire.

The Brimgan Guardian!