Damon's Ascension-Chapter 137: The Great Reshuffle Of Humanity 7

Damon let those final words settle in the air like a lead weight.

The silence wasn’t quite dead, rather being thick with calculation as well as heavy with implication. Eyes narrowed, hands fidgeted over stylus pens and armrests, and advisors leaned forward slightly, murmuring among themselves via short-range comms or whispered mental transmission.

Damon gave them no time to stew.

He stepped back onto the central platform, gaze even.

"With that context in mind, let us begin with the first of the three agendas: political matters. And more specifically... national borders and sovereignty." Damon began.

"I’ll keep it simple. Earth’s nations remain intact. Your cultures, governments, territories—none of them are being dissolved, erased, or absorbed. You are still presidents, ministers, monarchs, and leaders of your people."

A slight shift of relief passed through the crowd.

"But." Damon continued, and the room tensed again.

Damon looked around slowly. "In all matters involving galactic entities, galactic trade, galactic crime, and galactic diplomacy, your states are subordinate to the planetary embassy."

There was a flicker of tension as brows furrowed. Eloise Therrien leaned forward, President Liang’s eyes tightened slightly, and even Viktor Lebedev’s fingers tapped once on his polished steel chair.

Damon pressed on, tone steady.

"You may form trade deals with other human nations, defend your lands against Earth-born threats and police your own airspace. However, no direct communication, alliance, contract, or agreement can be made with any interstellar organization, species, or force unless it passes through the planetary embassy first."

A hand went up. It was Prime Minister Lily Greaves of Britain.

"I take it you’re not referring only to military or political contact? You’re saying even private galactic business ventures must route through you?"

Damon gave a short nod. "Correct. Any company, contractor, organization, or syndicate, if they originate from outside Earth, they do not enter unless cleared through the planetary embassy. And any human that tries to bypass this channel will be subject to Galactic Law."

That turned heads, literally. Several delegates blinked, confused.

Galatic Law?

Kojo whispered behind the camera. "That’s new."

President Rourke broke his silence at last. "And what exactly constitutes Galactic Law in this context?"

Damon’s voice didn’t waver. "It is the IUAS’s legal framework for dealing with species who attempt to operate outside galactic compliance. Once invoked, the violator is treated as a criminal and punished using the penalty tiers system, forced to dig for Chaos Essence in the Chaos Realm befitting their tier of punishment."

The room shifted again, this time with a ripple of discomfort.

Liang Xuejun’s voice followed, calm and calculated. "You’re saying that from this point forward, every nation on Earth becomes part of a larger system... but only one node speaks to that system."

Damon nodded. "Exactly."

There was silence again.

"You may still govern your people, but humanity must speak with one voice to the galaxy, or it will be ignored, divided... or devoured." He said, voice softer.

President Eloise Therrien gave a faint exhale, her tone laced with wry acceptance. "So national sovereignty lives... but only in the backyard."

Damon shrugged slightly. "The backyard is still yours, but the front door belongs to Earth."

President Javier Cruz of Argentina scoffed. "And who gets the garage, the fence, and the goddamn driveway?"

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Depends on whether you pay the property taxes."

That earned a few stiff chuckles and even the stern faced Russia’s delegation smirked.

But Damon’s tone never lost its gravity.

"I don’t want your flags, but I do want your signatures. There will be a formal agreement presented to all your offices, both digitally and physically. Signing it won’t remove your nations from the map... it will just keep you on the one the galaxy cares about."

He gestured toward the spinning hologram above.

"Because on the map that the galaxy uses, it doesn’t show nations, just species."

Damon steepled his fingers gently. "To them, there is no USA, no China, no Russia. There isn’t even an ’earth’, because planets are interchangeable. What they only know is the human race."

"Any objections?" Damon asked, his eyes scanning each representative slowly to see who still wanted to cause trouble.

Silence.

Damon nodded. "Good, onto the next segment, which involves awakeners, specifically those who exist now and those who will exist in future."

"Before we continue, I would like to make a clear definition and distinction for Awakeners. Awakeners do no refer to those who have entered Essence AR instances with their real body, granting them access to the character panel which allows one to use Worldly Essence to raise their level and gain stat points, as well as skills."

Damon pointed to himself. " An awakener is a person like me, one who has done the above AND had their special ability that is linked to the soul brought to the fore using the special and limited awakening agent."

There was a short spell of discussion and murmurs, eyes also falling on the named awakeners in the room that were brought by the leaders of various countries to form a part of the entourage as powerful deterrents.

"Now, to separate the two, normal persons who enter Essence with their real bodies but have not awoken their special ability will be henceforth term as ’Explorers’ in accordance with galactic standards. Meanwhile, those who have awoken their special abilities will be called ’Ability Users’, also in accordance with galactic standard." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Damon allowed that last line to settle for a moment, scanning the faces of the gathered leaders as they digested the new terms. The distinction was simple on paper, but anyone who had paid attention to the last three months knew what it really meant.

Explorers were the majority, literally billions of humans entering Essence Instances, slowly leveling up by fighting, bleeding and in many cases, dying.

But Ability Users? They were gods in comparison and the entire room knew it.

Damon resumed, voice even. "This distinction is important because ability users—by nature, not choice—are exponentially more valuable to humanity’s survival and galactic standing than explorers."

A stir of discomfort moved through the crowd as ministers whispered behind folded folders and a few delegates frowned outright.

"To be blunt, an explorer may take five weeks years to reach a level where they can survive Tier 2 instances easily whereas an ability user might do that in five days. Their power is unique, unreplicable, and defines the threat ceiling of our race in galactic terms." Damon continued bluntly.

Chancellor Holtz of Germany raised a hand slightly. "You’re saying our national elites—military, scientific, or otherwise—will always be less relevant than someone who awakens an ability?"

Damon didn’t flinch. "I’m saying relevance will now be defined by capability in the Chaos Realm. Not titles, not expectations, and not assumptions, just actual results."

There was a brief silence. Then, President Rourke leaned forward slightly. "And what happens when one of these ’ability users’ decides they’re above the law?"

"Then they’ll be treated like any other criminal, and punished accordingly through the Galactic Penalty Tier system. Tier 1 to Tier 5, just as with anyone else." Damon replied smoothly.

Prime Minister Lily Greaves scoffed. "That’s assuming you can catch them."

"Which is why we’re having this discussion." Damon gestured again, this time to a new projection behind him, being two pie charts.

"One shows the statistical contribution to essence acquisition and species prestige by explorers and the other by ability users. The gap is not a gap, it’s a canyon."

A few gasps rippled across the lower rows. The explorer side barely touched 10% while ability users of various races filled the rest.

"And this disparity is only going to grow, which is why I’m proposing—and will soon enforce—a regulation to limit this imbalance." Damon said flatly.

He tapped the air, and a new screen appeared, filled with formal legalese translated automatically into each person’s native tongue.

"From this point onward, all planetary-scale resources, equipment, funding, and instance privileges must maintain a balance of at least 3 explorers for every 1 ability user in terms of direct allocation. This applies to nations, guilds, businesses, and rogue factions alike."

Silence. Then...

"That’s... insane! Why would we give more to the weaker group?!" A Brazilian delegate questioned with shock.

"Because if you don’t, you’ll have one percent of the population dictating the future of humanity while the rest fall behind and revolt. And the last thing we need... is a species-level civil war." Damon said plainly.

Zhenya Urbani, the barefoot awakener from Burkina Faso, cracked the faintest smile at that, but said nothing.

Damon went on. "Explorers will always be the foundation, the backbone. Every explorer can become an ability user through the awakening agent, so why suppress them? Ability users are the cutting edge, but without a stable world beneath them, they’ll collapse under their own weight."

Ling Zun of China finally spoke. "You seek harmony... but by placing chains on the sword."

Damon met his eyes. "No. I’m placing the sword in a sheath, where it can still be drawn, but not every time someone disagrees with a contract."

That got a few nods, including a slow one from Eloise Therrien.

"So, to recap, Ability Users are powerful and rare while Explorers are numerous and essential. We will balance resources to ensure both grow together and this is not optional. It’s the only way we don’t tear ourselves apart." Damon said, clasping his hands again.

He paused.

"Questions?"

Liang Xuejun nodded. "The Ability Users, how do they awaken? We have a simple recount of your procedure in the Overseer’s shop 3 months ago, but we would like to know the full details if possible."

Damon smiled. "I will answer your question when we reach the economic section because awakening is not a matter of politics, but a matter of money and quotas in the galaxy."

Damon gave a slight nod to Liang’s question, then shifted the display above to clear the charts. A new topic banner appeared, neutral and unassuming.

[Emergency Powers: Protocols for Galactic-Scale Crisis Response.]

The moment the words flickered into view, a different kind of tension returned which was less about ambition and more about control.

Damon didn’t waste time.

"Emergency powers are standard in galactic law. They allow for rapid response in times of existential or systemic threat, be it invasion, plague, natural disaster, or large-scale corruption of essence instances." He paused, glancing over the assembly.

"As of now, no human state has such a framework. So here’s what I’m proposing."

He brought up a second screen, this one with simpler text:

[Emergency Response Protocol (ERP) – Human Species Version 1.0.]

The Human Embassy has sole authority to declare a planetary emergency. During this period, all awakened individuals—explorers and ability users alike—are subject to mandatory deployment, training, or resource reallocation. National militaries must coordinate with the Planetary Embassy through a unified command chain. Normal laws governing individual rights may be suspended in direct proportion to the scale of threat, per IUAS guidelines. All media, trade, and teleportation channels may be restricted or redirected at the discretion of the Prime Representative.

By the time he reached point three, the silence had curdled like spoilt milk and by point five, it cracked like broken glass.

"This is martial law." President Rourke’s voice came low and cold, more statement than question.

Damon nodded. "Yes, temporarily. And only under planetary crisis conditions."

President Liang narrowed his eyes. "How is ’crisis’ defined?"

"By scale and impact, if the threat affects more than 30% of our active population, causes instance corruption on Tier 2 or above, or is designated by the Universe Will itself as a Class-3 threat or higher... then emergency powers are authorized." Damon replied calmly.

Chancellor Holtz tapped his fingers together. "And who confirms the classification? You?"

Damon pointed upward. "The Intions. They are the only ones allowed to verify planetary crisis designations. I don’t get to fake it. If I do, and they catch me... it’s Tier 4 punishment."

"Fifty years spelunking the Chaos Realm, minimum harvest requirement of half a million Chaos Essence." Viktor Lebedev’s voice rumbled at last.

He looked up at the other delegates with a mirthless smile. "Yes, we read the fine print."

"But what about misuse below the threshold? Let’s say you see civil unrest building in a few nations that is not global yet, but building. Can you call an emergency and override us all preemptively?" Eloise interjected.

Damon nodded slowly. "In such cases, I’d be required to present a case to the Intions and receive pre-approval. All emergency declarations below Class-3 require third-party verification."

"And if we refuse to comply?" President Cruz of Argentina asked, half-defiant.

Damon’s reply was simple. "Then I will file it as a galactic violation. Your nation’s rights to the galactic network will be suspended, your explorers blacklisted from Tier 2 Essence instances and above, and your awakened will be barred from leaving the Chaos Realm for a period of time."

"That’s... a death sentence for growth." Prime Minister Lily Greaves said bluntly.

"Exactly, because there is no point surviving if we’re too proud to coordinate when it counts." Damon folded his arms.

More murmurs now and even backroom whispers starting even before the first vote.

"Emergency powers are a last resort, but when the storm comes, I’d rather have a central lighthouse than a hundred lanterns arguing over who gets to shine." Damon said, voice steady again.

"I’m open to edits, to limits and to safeguards, but the principle stands: we need a failsafe. Otherwise, the next calamity or collapse could swallow a third of the planet before we’ve even agreed on what to call it."

Silence again.

Then Liang nodded slowly. "Then let us draft oversight committees as well as advisory boards. Perhaps a global relay of rotating representatives who vote on your declaration unless the Intions override."

Damon didn’t smile, but he nodded. "I’m open to it. The goal is function, not control."

A rare moment of agreement, and some leaders whispered to aides while others sent data requests for the proposed clauses.

"We’ll build it together." Damon said, and for once, no one objected.

"Next topic... the economy." He said, as the chamber shifted again, this time toward the only power more explosive than weapons.

Money.