The village development plan

Lark looked at the diagram one last time, then started following Glitch.

They stopped high enough to see the entire forest from one end to another.

Glitch unfolded the map in his hand and handed it back to Lark. "I want you to add descriptions of each subspecies on this map."

Lark nodded and took the map. "Ok, boss."

Glitch pointed down. "Do you know, Lark, each path has its brutality, where the ruler needs to force many things on their species?"

Lark did not respond; instead, he asked, "Boss, if we are the only two geniuses on this path, won't our space village be the slowest?"

Glitch shook his head. "It's not like that. In other paths, they approach the entire species. Even if a genius dies, others could use the knowledge they find. If a legend dies, others could use his leftover position."

Lark nodded. "This is why their graph moves up faster, right, boss?"

Glitch nodded his head. "Yeah, but in our case, it is about creating stable, higher-grade individual creatures. All that takes time and resources, plus we cannot even be sure the creature we create will be stable enough to act as a puller. Imagine there were thousands of Shakhans roaming all around the space village, and we introduced multiple groups of new high-grade subspecies. What do you think will happen?"

Lark looked down to think of the scene where a lot of Shakhans were roaming around, fighting one another for food and stuff. He closed his eyes for some time and said, "Boss, if we drop a few elite-grade Shakhans, they could either join the madness and hunt the lower-level Shakhans, or they can rule over the lower-grade Shakhans. In this way, each elite group will make their own system."

Glitch clapped, "You are absolutely right. You see, if they do the second, then that's great. But if they start doing the first, then we will have a risk that these powerhouses will hunt a lot of creatures from a specific few subspecies, leading to their extinction. Like, out of 10 subspecies, if one group died right now, that would instantly decrease the bloodline combinations by a lot."

Lark asked, "But boss, can't we create a system to manage them?"

Glitch smiled. "That's my plan. You see, this Forest of Beginnings will be the sanctuary where 1000 of each subspecies can live a carefree life with no outside involvement."

Lark looked up at him, "1000, boss. Can so many creatures live in this small region?"

Glitch pointed to the border of the forest. "Don't worry, I plan to expand the border of the forest into regions suitable for each of these subspecies. This small forest is going to be the center of the massive sanctuary."

Lark nodded in understanding. He realized the importance of the fact that if any of the 10 subspecies disappeared, there wouldn't be any way to create them. It was better to have a place where they could live peacefully.

Now he understood why the boss teleported them. If most of those creatures did not get to see their ruler again, then most likely they would relay today's events as tales to the new generations.

He still did not understand one thing. "Boss, I understand this sanctuary idea, but you say there won't be outside involvement in the forest. Then how am I going to make sure that nothing bad happens to them?"

Glitch shook his head. "You don't have to think that much. Just make sure to avoid direct interaction with them. This way, whenever they see you, they will remember the first meeting. That first meeting needs to remain a big mystery to them."

Lark did not question and just nodded his head, "Okay."

Glitch then clicked his finger, and both he and Lark teleported to a faraway location. This self-teleportation was a simple passive ability he gained from species and space-village integration.

He did not have to enter observer mode to use the teleport on himself and his assistant.

Lark looked around the empty, dark land with a face full of doubts. They were so far away that he could not even see the forest. "Boss, what are we doing here?"

Glitch floated down to the ground. "This is going to be the second area where we will interact with the Shakhans. Save this point in the marble. This point will be the center of our space village civilization."

Lark just took out the marble and fumbled his finger over its smooth surface. In the past few days, he tried distinct features of the marble, so this time he did not have any problem saving the coordinates. "Done, boss."

Glitch nodded his head, and soon they were on the ground. "Lark, I have a new task for you."

Lark stood straight. "What is it, boss?"

Glitch looked at this familiar, stiff action and sighed. Lark was back to his action-following stance.

Well, he did not expect a total change in one day. He said in a casual tone, "Just monitor the Shakhans. This first group is not stronger than normal humans. Most of them could not use their traits. Just announce a taboo that killing each other within the forest will lead to punishment. Also, announce that I will summon worthy ones."

Lark tilted his head. "Boss, I don't think I can look at 100 of them all the time, and what is the punishment?"

"You don't have to look at them. Just make sure the overall order does not collapse." He winked. "There is no punishment. This announcement will serve as a warning. It will also train them to get summoned in the game world."

He looked up while thinking. "Ah yeah, also keep an eye on the prey monsters. Just call me if any of their numbers fall below Shakhan's numbers."

Lark noted all the orders and asked, "What about you, boss? Should I teleport you out?"

Glitch waved his hand. "You don't have to worry about me. I have a few more things to do. I will call you when I want to go out."

Lark just bowed a little and then disappeared from there while saying, "I will do my best boss."