7 Wayward World Expedition

Nagan began to gather the imagery in his head.

But before doing so, he pondered on the inner workings of this process.

What is the connection of mental imagery with this crystal that he was holding? How hypothetical can he get for the process of this portal to connect with the right world within the referred Grand Filament? Is picturing a flat or cube world possible?

Regardless, he managed to picture a world with running rivers, warm temperature, breezy air, pacific herbivore ecosystem, gentle forestation, and a good chunk of precious ore deposit that was pushed to the outermost layer of the planet. Yes, a round planet, orbiting at the habitable zone of a star that was similar to Earth's Sun.

There were some unknown forces that were muddling his thought process, resulting in the imagery session to be—oh not so great. Was there a limitation for inputting the criteria? Or was it that he wasn't mentally strong enough?

Regardless, Owen nodded a proudful smile.

And just like that, the crystal on his hand was shining in gentle purple. And as if the crystal had imparted the purpose of its existence, Nagan was filled with an instinctual knowledge on how to use it.

"... I've found the world." Nagan smiled with wry confidence.

After hearing the confirmation, Owen's face looked glad that the Wayward Crystal worked, as if there was a chance of failing in the first place. "Now, it's up to you on who and how many peons that the Kingdom sent on an expedition to this uncharted land."

Nagan eyed every Usalian Peon, knowing full well that their blood was the same as him.

It might be his unsuspected parental urge, but he couldn't bear the thought of sending these children to a foreign place outside of his eyesight, especially because he would have imagined sending a flock of rabbits into the wild.

"Can I join the expedition?"

"Hmm, it's not suggested. But in this course of action, I guess it would be better for you to join them." Owen relaxed her stance, playfully snickering at her husband. "My beloved isn't like any other Patriarchs, after all~ It should also be a great opportunity to strengthen your genetic score~"

For a human, positive behavioral and lifestyle changes can actually affect them on a genetic level. This might sound crazy considering all humans are born with a fixed genome, but their genes can be altered depending on their activity level.

Especially with the hunter and gatherer part of the human community back then. Their familiarity with their environment, and their cautionary senses got imparted onto their genes for the future lineage on instinctual level.

Though, it might not be any sufficient growth because the Kingdom hadn't attained any mutagenic catalyst yet. Atleast, that was what Nagan thought.

Maybe Owen wanted to encourage Nagan to give his best for the expedition, regardless of the gain.

Or so what Nagan interpreted from the eyes and gesture of his new wife. The Queen should already know how the human constitution works and what it truly needs to progress genetically, afterall.

"Question!" One of the usalian peon, Mako, raised her hand. "Why don't we all go on an expedition? According to the Queen, the Kingdom should be safe enough for no foreign entity to infiltrate the realm!"

"The expedition will take at least days before we're able to settle our long-term resource gathering activity," Owen replied. "While the expedition team scavenge and hunt, we need a logistic team to process the food and materials. And the Patriarch should already know how to utilize the Wayward Crystal by now~"

Nagan promptly continued, "I can attach a Soul Link to the Usalians for communication and supervising purposes. Though in this case, because I'm joining the expedition, I will be supervising the team directly in the field.

"The Wayward Crystal also imbues me with the capability to roughly scan the new world and the needed information to deploy a destination portal from here. It also allows me to put a temporary or long term portal that connects with the Wayward Gate within the Kingdom. Just to inform all of you that the process isn't simple."

An usalian with the name of Hopscotch raised her hand. "Why not use the destination portal to kidnap the needed resources from here? Like, directly overlapping the portal on them! Then we drag the captured object from the Wayward Gate! That way, we don't even need to do an expedition."

"Ahaha, the portal needs approximately thirty seconds to stabilize." Nagan scratched his head as he read out the imparted memory that the Wayward Crystal bestowed to him. "If there's an object overlapping with the portal within that duration, the portal will be unstable and there might be—an explosion."

"Wooah."

"Fernleaf, how big do you think the explosion will be?"

"KABOOOOOOM!"

"We can use the explosion to remove those hills!"

"Won't the grass be blown away by the shockwave?"

"Nooo! My green pastures! My only delicacy!"

"Wait, someone really ate grass??"

"I bet my precious rock that Hopscotch got blown away first."

"If you wished for me to die, say it in front of my face."

"I'm hungry."

"Hi hungry, I'm Pippin."

After an unexpected intermezzo, the member for the expedition team had been chosen. With a great emphasis on uncovering an uncharted land, everyone within the team was assigned due to their personality, and primarily, Nagan's judgment.

The Vanguards: Jingo, Hopscotch, and Karasaki.

Jingo was the silent one of the group. At the same time, the most volatile one. She was chosen because of her instinct when dodging and reacting to the aggression of her fellow usalian.

The other two, Hopscotch and Karasaki, seemed to have a competitive rivalry among one another, a violent one at that. Both of them earnestly wanted to join the expedition and were fit enough to be the vanguard of the team.

The Gatherers: Immortal Dragon Overlord, Clover, and Mako.

Immortal Dragon Overlord possessed a keen eye for details. She could even find a strand of hair lying on the green pasture! How did Nagan know this? Firstly, Nagan gave all of the rabbit a barrage of questions about their own homeworld, the last placement of the shovel used to knock out hopscotch, which side and what wooden infrastructure that have a weird face pattern, which place have a blade of grass with weird grayish edge, etc.

As for the rest of the two: Clover was hungry, and Mako was the most attentive of her surroundings, only second to Immortal Dragon Overlord.

The Scouts: Hoppington, Pippin, and Willow.

Nagan noticed that Hoppington ran much faster than others. He also noticed the impressive footwork she displayed in avoiding attack with a deadpan when the brawl commenced back then. Surprisingly enough, she is a pacifist, unlike Jingo who punches back.

Pippin was chosen because she didn't make any noise when she was moving, which was different from merely running faster than everyone else, which gave nearly everyone the creeps. And Willow was really enthusiastic with the whole operation than the rest who prefer staying-at-home.

For an important reminder, the role assignments were primarily purposed to insinuate responsibility and motivation for the usalians. Reality wise, everyone would flexibly act according to the best efficient designation depending on the situation.

And for the last member of the expedition, Bluebell was chosen, the same usalian who was absentmindedly drooling with no thoughts inside her head when the Queen was taking attendance, in which, she still exuded by absentmindedly drooling even when being chosen to join the operation.

"Allow me to voice my opinion, Patriarch!" An usalian with the name of Charles Hammington the First preached her thoughts, "Almost everyone you chose appears to be a great contender to move our Kingdom forward. But, this individual?" She pointed to Bluebell. "There is no activity whatsoever in her brain! Even if there is, her two brain cells are competing for third place!"

Bluebell was snapped out of her trance, in which she complained, "Hey, that's rude! I should have more brain cells than that!"

"Mmmm~ people are capable because they are used to the failure and repetition of their experienced capability," Owen intervened, as she graciously squatted down and gave Charles a pat on the head. "Let Bluebell venture to the outside. Who knows, the experience might turn her into someone you can rely on in the future."

Charles could be seen red flustered.

"I-If the Queen says so!"

Meanwhile, a brawl amongst the usalian had broken out in the background, all because of Karasaki who provoked the logistic team, saying that those who stayed in the homeworld were lazy weaklings, directly to their faces.