Exodus Initiative

"You… what have you done?" General Chimera said as he stared at Alex with anger and fear.

"I just told your Queen Mother the best way that she can save your race, and after hearing what I said… she agreed." Alex replied smugly as he gave General Chimera a sleazy smile.

While saying these words, the gigantic figure continued on following them, as if it was only interested on approaching them.

"What are we even doing here? Let's all run away!" One of the Divine Knights said as he stood up.

But before he could do so, he stopped as he and the others saw something unexpected happening with the gigantic figure.

".…"

Maybe it was just an illusion, but with every step that the gigantic figure too, it seemed to be shrinking in size.

No, it is not an illusion. The giant green figure was actually shrinking!

"Didn't I just say earlier that a World Tree can transform itself into a sentient being by sacrificing its lifespan?" Alex said as he sat back on his chair with a relaxed expression. "Do you think Queen Mother will actually transform herself into a large, lumbering giant? There is no way that is happening!"

".…"

By the time that the Queen Mother was about to reach their location, her height had already diminished to 10 meters.

And by the point that the Queen Mother was in the meeting itself, she had already reached the normal height for humans.

".…" Alex let out a small smile on his face as he observed the new body of the Queen Mother.

At around 5'5, Queen Mother was just as tall as Alina's Human Version.

Her body looked human, although her skin was green. She had no Human clothes, although there was some kind of bark-like material that was covering her body like a dress.

Alex then gulped as he saw Queen Mother's perfect face.

She was actually a beauty just like Alina, although Queen Mother's beauty can be said to be gentle and motherly.

Couple that with Queen Mother's extremely curvy body, and Alex realized that he was staring at another bombshell!

"Muu…" Alina glared at Alex, as if she could see where Alex's eyes were focused.

This glare of course had Alex retreating.

"So you are a lecher too huh. Well it's a good thing that Alina can restrain you…" Asteria snickered in the background as she saw Alex's plight.

As usual, Alex tried his best to ignore the fairy.

"Well, what are you doing? Shouldn't you welcome the Queen Mother?" Alex asked the stupefied Humans and Monsters as he gave a bow towards her.

It took the crowd a few seconds before they could actually react.

"Greetings, Queen Mother!" The Monsters shouted as they bowed in front of Queen Mother.

As for the Humans, they only slightly tipped their heads as a greeting.

Amusingly, all the Humans in the meeting were secretly circulating their power inside them, as if they were preparing to fight.

But they were not jumping the gun, with the Queen Mother present in front of them.

After all, who knows how powerful the Queen Mother could be?

"Greetings to all of you too." Queen Mother replied, with her voice reaching everyone nearby.

Surprisingly, her voice sounded calm and leveled, something that Alex did not expect.

After Queen Mother greeted them all, someone from her followers spoke up.

Unsurprisingly , it was General Chimera who spoke up.

"Queen Mother, what is the meaning of this?" The General asked as an expression of fear and uncertainty appeared in his face. "Why are you doing this?"

The other Monsters also gave the Queen Mother the same look, as if they were thinking the same thing too.

"Sigh…" Queen Mother let out a sigh as she saw the scared expression of her followers. She looked back at Alex, who gave her an encouraging nod.

After seeing this, Queen Mother closed her eyes and then opened them as she looked back at her followers.

Queen Mother's lips trembled a little before she opened her mouth as she said,

"I decided to leave this World already."

"What!!!" The Monsters let out shocked expressions on their faces, while the Humans had the expressions of both shock and jubilee.

Before the Monsters could raise their complaints, Queen Mother raised her hand as she continued talking.

"With the way that the Monster Race is going now, there is no doubt that you will dwindle in the future… Even with the biological agent that I made, it is still not enough to save the Monster Race…"

"..." The Monsters had no reply to that, as what the Queen Mother said was the plain truth.

Even with the help Monster Birth Program, the population of the Monster Race were still declining rapidly year after year.

Couple that with the wars between the Human and the Monsters, and the whole Monster Race was doomed already.

"You know why all of this is happening." Queen Mother said as she glared at the Humans in front of her. "My daughter wanted me to be gone from this planet, and she will do anything to accomplish it…"

"At first I was helpless, since I had no more ideas to help the Monster Race." Queen Mother said as she closed her eyes, with some tears starting to flow down her face. "But then I met Alex and Alina, and there I found the solution."

"....."

Before anyone could say anything else, Queen Mother let out a deep breath as she looked at the mountains on the eastern direction.

No, Queen Mother was not looking at the mountains. She was looking at something much more massive than that.

She was looking at her daughter.

From the looks of it, the Queen Mother wanted to to talk to the second World Tree right now.

Of course Alex was not sure if the second World Tree can hear Queen Mother, but they were both World Trees, so maybe they can hear each other.

"If you will remove the sterilization agent on the Monster Race right now, I will also remove my biological agent, and I will allow those who were transformed into Monsters to be Human again. Not only that, but I promise to also leave this World." Queen Mother said all of these much to the horror of the Monsters and the amusement of the Humans.

"No!!!" General Chimera looked so stricken after he heard what the Queen Mother said.

He tried to approach her, but he stopped after he saw the look being given to him by the Queen Mother.

"Stop feeling like this, Chimera." Queen Mother said as she shook her head calmly. "I only want the best for the Monster Race, and you know that what I plan to do is the best thing to do, right?"

"Yes, Queen Mother…" General Chimera replied as he looked down.

The General looked like he was still hurt, but it seems like he had no plans to stop the Queen Mother from what she was about to do.

"Now then, what will be your answer?" Alex thought to himself as he looked at the direction of the second World Tree, as he and the others waited for her reply.

[You will leave with the Travelers, right?] The second World Tree suddenly replied, much to Alex's relief.

To Alex, the second World Tree sounded a little amateurish, as if she was a little girl.

Well, considering that she was the daughter of Queen Mother, then for her to be childish is somewhat acceptable.

"That is right, my daughter." Queen Mother replied as she tilted her head. "So, do you believe me now?"

[Hmph, your plan sounds good, but what about the Monster Race? Will you just leave them in this World too?] The second World Tree replied. [If you want me to agree with your plan, then the Monster Race should leave this World too!]

"You!" General Chimera stood up as he snarled angrily, but he was once again stopped by the Queen Mother.

"I understand your doubts, my daughter." Queen Mother said as she maintained a calm look on her face. "Do not worry, I have accounted for that too."

"Queen Mother, you mean…" General Chimera looked at Queen Mother sharply, as he realized what she was talking about. "Are we going to implement that?"

"Yes, the Monster Race will implement the Exodus Initiative." Queen Mother said as she leveled her eyes at General Chimera.

[Exodus Initiative?]

"It is one of the plans that I made for the Monster Race." Queen Mother replied to her daughter's query. "The Exodus Initiative is basically an escape plan for my Monster Race. Once the Exodus Initiative was implemented, all the members of the Monster Race will go to a nearby planet that is suitable for life. They will go there through the use of our space shuttles which were designed for interplanetary travel."

"What." This time, Alex was genuinely surprised with what he heard. "You had something like that planned?"

"Yes, and quite frankly, it can be activated anytime now." Queen Mother said as she looked at General Chimera.

"We already have made 10 space shuttles that can support all the Monsters that will join the Exodus Initiative." General Chimera replied as he looked back at Alex. "As long as Queen Mother wanted it to be activated, we are all ready to go."

"Wait, so you had something like this planned before… Then why haven't you activated it before?" Divine Knight Sylvester said as he glared at the General.

"Its because even if we run away, we are still affected by the sterilization agent." General Chimera replied as he looked at the sky. "If we leave for another planet now with our current state, the Monster Race will still die off."

"But if my daughter agrees to my proposal, my Monster Race will be free to reproduce again. Once that happens, they will be fine on going on another planet…" Queen Mother said as she looked back at the direction of her daughter.

"So, my daughter, with everything that I said now, will you agree to my proposal or not?"

"...."

A long silence followed Queen Mother's question, as everyone in the table waited for the answer with bated breaths. Alex and Alina were quiet too, as they waited for the reply.

If she says yes, then Alex and Alina will not only succeed on the Main Mission, they will also be able to gain a new ally in the form of Queen Mother.

"Please say yes, please say yes…" Alex thought to himself as he looked down on the ground.

[I will only say yes if your Monster Race can promise me one thing.] The second World Tree said after a minute of silence. [If they promise to not come back on this planet once they leave, then I will accept your proposal.]

"There is no way that I will let them come back at this planet anymore." Queen Mother replied as she glared at the direction of her daughter. "Consider it done."

[Ok, I will hold on to that promise.] The second World Tree said as she sounded quite relieved.

At the moment that she said these words, Alex suddenly felt an unknown kind of power sweeping through the area.

Alex felt nothing when this power swept through him, but he could see that this power did something to the Monsters nearby.

"This…" General Chimera looked down at his body, as if he was feeling something new inside him. "It seems like I can really bear an offspring now! I… can feel the vitality inside me bubbling like a hotspring!"

"Ugh…" Alex tried to ignore that vivid metaphor as he looked at Queen Mother.

Queen Mother was currently wearing a sad smile on her face as she looked at the Monsters that were celebrating in front of her.

Alex knew that he was happy since her Monster Race are saved from extinction now, but she was also sad since it was her time to leave them.

"Don't be worried for them." Alex said as he approached Queen Mother." They are a strong Race, and they can live without you looking out for them. And quite frankly, I think they will be a stronger Race without you guiding them.."

"Don't try to make me feel better now, human." Queen Mother replied as she hurriedly wiped some tears away from her eyes.

After seeing the way that Queen Mother looked right now, Alex decided to not waste his time as he immediately went straight for his goal.

"So, before you remove your biological agent, I want to offer you first a place as my second Companion." Alex said as he looked at Queen Mother. "Do you accept my offer?"

"I accept."

At the instant that she said this, Alex felt the symbol on his forehead glowing, as Asteria touched it with both of her hands.

"Since you managed to recruit an Ultra Rare Specie as your Companion, you will get a 90% discount to turn Queen Mother as your Companion!" Asteria said as she gave Queen Mother a fawning look. "Welcome to the group, tree girl!"

"....."

Before Alex offered Queen Mother the chance to be a Companion, he already asked Asteria about the cost of recruiting Queen Mother.

According to Asteria, the real cost of recruiting Queen Mother was around 10 Years of Lifespan.

But since Queen Mother was an Ultra Rare Specie, Alex was bound to get a 90% discount, turning the cost from 10 Years to just 1 Year.

This was good for Alex, since his remaining Lifespan was barely more than a year.

That was enough for him to recruit Queen Mother.

"Hong~"

Just like what happened to Alina, the symbol of the Endless Monarch also appeared on Queen Mother's forehead. Alex then saw the Queen Mother being covered by the same glow which reconstructed Alina's body.

Right now, Alex knew that the Queen Mother's body was being modified and adjusted in order to accommodate the changes that she will experience later.

"..." Alex was quite excited at watching the whole process, as he imagined the stage of power that Queen Mother could reach in the future!

After a few seconds of watching, Alex saw the glow fading, showing Queen Mother who looked quite amused with what had happened to her.

"That… was quite fast." Queen Mother said as she observed her body. "I thought it will be more... extravagant."

"Ok, now that you have become my Companion, its time for you to do your part." Alex said as he interrupted Queen Mother's reverie. "You can just inspect your body later."

"…Fine." Queen Mother said as she waved her hands.

At the instant that she did this, Alex heard some slushing sounds inside ALina's storage.

Alex looked inside it, and there he saw that the 5 little monsters were now back at their human forms.

"Waah!!!" All of them were now crying, as it was quite obvious that they were happy right now.

"Oh, now that I remember it, Carlie was a former Human too, right?" Alex thought to himself as he looked at Carlie.

But to Alex's surprise, Carlie was still stuck in her shadow form.

"???"

"After I removed my biological agent, any Human that was turned into a Monster will be back to their Human Form. But if that said Human wanted to stay as a Monster, then they will not be going back to their Human Form." Queen Mother said as she saw the confusion on Alex's face. "You must have seen Carlie, right?"

"Yes." Alex replied as he realized that Carlie must have loathed her past Human life that much that she wanted to stay as a Monster.

"....."

While the Monsters and the Humans were all celebrating right now, Alex saw Divine Knight Sylvester and Divine Mage Imago looking at him pointedly.

"Oh right, the hostages." Alex muttered to himself as Alina waved her hands. "Here they are."

A bunch of people then appeared in front of them, eliciting some expressions of shock from the crowd.

"Teresa!" The Divine Knight shrieked as he ran towards Teresa, who just looked back at her father with a small smile on her face.

Clinging to Teresa were the 5 little Humans, who all looked like they do not want to separate from her.

Teresa, who saw Alex looking at her, gave Alex a glare and a nod as she her father suddenly hugged her tightly.

Alex then looked at Simon and Fred, who seemed to be much closer than before.

As for Alice, she was currently talking to Carlie, who looked quite exasperated right now.

"....…."

Alex then looked at the Monster side, as he wanted to see how they are holding up right now.

To his delight, he saw that all of them seemed to have accepted the departure of Queen Mother.

All the Generals were currently talking with Queen Mother, as Alex could hear them exchanging departure messages with each other.

"...This is great."

Seeing that everything seems to have worked out now, Alex took a deep breath as he realized that he must give a cool speech now.

After all, a good ending must always be accompanied by a good speech, right?

"Well, now that we have worked this out quite well, maybe we should have a party? I will pay for all the expense-"

But before he could finish talking, Alex's voice faded as his body disappeared.

The same thing happened to Alina and Queen Mother, with their bodies suddenly disappearing too.

Only an irritated sigh could be heard from the background as the trio disappeared entirely, leaving none of their tracks behind.

[Main Mission Accomplished]

[Bonus Mission 1 Accomplished]

[Bonus Mission 2 Accomplished]

[Acquired: Ultra Rare Specie]

[Grade: A]

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