The next day, Lucien gathered the important people inside the Origin Core Shrine.
The chamber was quieter than usual despite the number of people present.
That quiet was not emptiness.
It was anticipation.
The merged Origin Core fragment rested within the shrine like a lawful sun held under discipline.
Around the chamber, the recorders continued their work in ordered silence. Even now, minor matters flowed through the network without rest.
Sect feuds. Merchant price-fixing. Petty insults between rival disciples. And, to Lucien's enduring disbelief, more than one furious quarrel conducted entirely through communication devices.
He had created a world-changing infrastructure.
The first thing many people did with it was argue faster.
Lucien had chosen to stop being surprised by civilization.
Today, however, he had not come to inspect pettiness.
Today, he had come to move the world.
The latest batch of communication devices had sold out completely.
