'So basically they want me to hand over my wealth in exchange for diplomatic and military protection... Heh..."

Mars found the letter funny, Jan that had handed him the letter however was a little nervous and asked

"How do you want to handle this Mars?"

Mars gave a shrug and asked Jane in return

"How would you handle it?"

"Hmm... Well the only real option is to surrender our wealth and officially become a part of the NNE..."

Mars gave a smile and spoke

"Well then let me change your mind about that... Send them an insult in return, make it personal too"

"Is that really... Okay?"

"Have you forgotten what happened with the first army they sent?"

"No but that was the archangel that did that right?"

Mars gave yet another sigh, this time a long one

"I did that and I can do it an infinite amount of times, it doesn't matter if the army is twice the size, all I have to do is wave my hand or snap my fingers"

Jane gave a smile, apparently she was convinced by Mars' speech

"Then I'll craft up an insult that will make them bleed"

"Good..."

"That reminds me, a group of 'sky people' arrived this morning, they say thath they know you and their elder council wish to talk with you"

"I see, so they're finally here... Show them into the courtyard, I'll meet them there"

"Yes, at once lord Mars"

Jane bowed deeply before she walked out of Mars' office, Mars leaned back in his comfy office chair and closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them again and stood up from his chair and also walked out of the office towards the courtyard where he soon arrived and waited for the sky people to arrive, as he waited he watched the training of the guards

'Yel, Varvei and Mary are doing good work with the guards... Maybe I should buy them something soon?'

"Elder"

Mars heard a voice from behind and turned around and saw about 200 sky people kneeling down in front of him along with a very confused Jane

"...Was this Xel's idea?"

Xel rose with a smile on her face, Mars gave a sigh and waved his hand

"Rise please"

The sky people rose to their feet before Mars slowly floated up into the air so they all could see him, then he spoke in a loud voice

"It's good that you all are here... First of all I have prepared homes for you all that have chosen to follow me, secondly I will provide work for you as either self employed hunters or part of the city guard, Finely I'll implant the elder council in the city's government structure so  that the power of the council will remain"

The sky people lowered their heads and all responded

"""""""We thank you elder Mars!!!"""""""

"Very good... now Jane I trust the properties I brought still stand, a.s.sign someone to bring them to their new homes, I'll personally bring the elders to live in the palace"

Jane bowed and answered

"Yes lord Mars!"

"Very good"

It took a few weeks for the sky people to get settled in the city of Ular, during which the group of demons from Green river also arrived, Mars appointed Velvet and the old demon as his a.s.sistants due to their experience in governing and a.s.signed them to overlook the new city walls project along with Jane which took some pressure off her thanks to their help, many were dissatisfied by the sudden arrival of new high standing officials but they quickly quilted down when they learned the history that Mars had with them, after all with the potential reward of immortality they didn't want to stand out in a negative way and complain

"Well then... I think that's enough for today..."

Mars stretched and walked out of the office, then he closed his eyes and listened for a moment before he suddenly trembled and when he opened his eyes again they shone with excitement before he activated [Instant movement] and reappeared in front of Chloe's office and walked in, Chloe was busy with her work and only looked up to cheek who it was that had walked in before she gave a smile and put her focus back on her work again

"What's up Mars?"

"You..."

Chloe got confused by his statement and looked up at him again and noticed that Mars was crying

"Mars, what's wrong?"

"Y-you're..."

"I am what?"

"Pregnant..."

"What..?"

Chloe dropped her pen and looked at Mars with shock before she stood up and walked over to him and wiped his tears before she asked in a slightly shaky voice

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it, the new life...I was not sure before but now I definitely am"

Chloe trembled before a happy smile formed on her face and she hugged Mars tightly for a few moments before she asked again

"Are you really sure?"

"Really sure, never been more sure about anything in my life"

Chloe's eyes lit up before she once again hugged Mars tightly, while she hugged him she asked

"Why were you crying?"

Mars gave a wry smile

"Because I was convinced that this would never happen to me, some part of me didn't think I deserved children"

"How silly.... You are going to be the best dad ever!"

Mars gave a smile, one from the bottom of his heart

"Thanks Chloe, you are going to be the best mom too"

News quickly traveled, no one dared doubt Mars' observation so soon the entire palace was in a festive mood, Mars walked down the hallway with a big smile on his face, he was on the way to oversee the training of the guards, but when he arrived he was greatly surprised by what he saw and quickly walked over to Varvei and half pulled her off the training field, then he sat the slightly confused Varvei down and spoke

"No more training of the guards for you"

Varvei gave a frown and asked

"Why?"

"Because you're pregnant too"

Varvei dropped her long spear and just stared at Mars for a bit before her face lit up with joy and she hugged Mars tightly, a little too tightly given her strength but Mars didn't mind, some of the guards overheard it and quickly congratulated Varvei

"Thank you all very much... But Mars, what should I do for the next 9 months?"

"Hmm... I don't know, just not training"

Varvei gave a smile, Mars' concern for her touched her deeply so she just meekly gave a nod and spoke

"Okay"

Over the next few days Mars was understandably in a very good mood, nothing seemed to faze or bother him, he even showed a smile when he received a rather angry response from the NNE that promised death and destruction to all of Ular

"Is this really okay?"

"It's fiiine... It's just as I expected"

Mars was currently leaned back in a couch feeding peeled fruit to Varvei and Chloe that were snuggled up against him, he was currently living life, that is until he detected something on the edge of his perception a few hundred kilometers away from the city of Ular and gave a sigh

"what to do..?"

""Mars?""

"Don't worry it's nothing... Just that the army of NNE is approaching faster than I expected..."

color drained from Jane's face, Mars gave another sigh and spoke

"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen, well other than the annihilation of another one of the NNE's armies"

"I see... I'll put my trust in you lord Mars"

"Good..."

A few days later the army from the NNE had surrounded the city, Mars sat ready in his office for the show to get on the road or more precisely for the messenger that would ask him to surrender to arrive, he had been following set soldier/messenger with his perception for a while now but instead of hurrying to the palace and delivering his message he seemed to be hara.s.sing the people of Ular by telling them how they would be nothing but heads on poles in a few hours, Mars gradually got tired of this so he decided to appear in front of the messenger and disappeared from his office in a flash of light before he reappeared in front of the messenger and grabbed him by the neck

"You must be the messenger from the NNE, no..? I need you to deliver a message to your general"

"f.u.c.k... You! Ular will be NNE territory in a few hours!"

"Oh well... I suppose your mangled corpse will do just fine"