Daneel first dismissed the meeting and said that they would reconvene in a day, as he wanted to just sit by himself and think.
He went through each and every iteration that he could think of, and he visualized each and every thing that could happen, might happen, and should happen.
Soon, it got the point that he began to think that he couldn't perfect it any longer, and even though there were a lot of great areas, there was only one last question that Daneel needed to answer.
Was it time?
Was it time to take this step that would define his entire life?
Was it time to finally stop dillydallying, and march forth?
These questions hovered in his mind, and Daneel pondered on them deeply.
He didn't want to make a hasty decision, but something inside him kept saying 'yes'.
'Yes, it is finally time, and it has already been long delayed.'
He tried to ignore it, but it just kept growing stronger.
Finally, Daneel could only chuckle, as he could tell that this was his inner voice that had also wanted this and had been waiting for it all these days.
So…he made his decision, and the moment he did, clarity and determination appeared in his mind, and on his face.
This clarity…made everything fall into place. New ideas started to appear to him, and soon, the plan reached a level that made the previous one seem as if it had been drawn by a toddler.
A few seconds later, a smile bloomed on Daneel's lips, and it was accompanied by a thought which made that smile broaden until it covered half his face.
'Oh, this is going to be fun.'
…
The sovereigns had all congregated again, and as they saw the small smile that still hung on the King's face, they felt expectation rising inside them.
They had done all they could, so it was now up to him. And it seemed…that whatever they had done, had been enough.
As soon as they all sat in their seats and set their gazes on him, Daneel began.
"There are two main parts of what we will do. The first is actually a modification of what we were considering before, and it will be what I will talk about right now. The second… Well, let me just say that it is going to be pretty damn awesome when I pull it off, so I'll let it stay as a surprise. With the story that my father has recited, you might be able to guess a few things, but what is really going to happen will only be apparent to all of you after it is all done. You can look forward to it, though, as this is something that I have confidence in, and also something that has long been coming."
As soon as Daneel said this, strangely, Elanev and Faxul exchanged odd looks, which made Daneel think that they might have discussed something regarding the second part of his plan before this meeting. He knew for a fact that these two had been getting close recently because they had been talking more as they were relatively free now compared to before, and it did make sense that they would talk about this all-important topic that was plaguing them right now.
Well, it didn't matter. No matter what they were thinking, when it was eventually revealed, he was sure that everyone who found out about it would definitely be awed.
At this moment, Daneel realized that he had gotten quite addicted to this feeling of making people drop their jaws, but this only brought a smile to his face, as he didn't see anything bad in it. Others found joy in making themselves happy, and he found it in making others feel as if they had been struck by millions of lightning bolts.
There were a few impatient ones, too. For instance, Aran frowned, and this made Daneel understand that he was the type who flipped to the end of the book to see the ending before beginning it.
Well, no matter what they thought, this was what he was going to do, and if he was being completely honest, he would admit that the reason was also that he didn't want to jinx anything by saying it out loud, as this was going to be a very, very important step in his journey.
Putting all these thoughts out of his mind, Daneel spoke up again and broke the whispers that had started after he had given a pause.
"So, the first part. What we need to do is let the Mad Doctor attack, and make it seem as if I am dead, whereas, in reality, I would have survived with a sliver of my life. Yes, I know we discussed this, exactly, before, but there are a few changes.
"First of all, he will be doing it on our turf. He will be doing it in the location we choose, and he will be led there without any suspicions as a result of the individual jobs that I will be assigning to each of you. You have to be extremely careful, as even though I will be giving each of you a protective formation that will defend you against an attack from a Champion, I don't want any of you to get critically injured in this crucial time."
As they heard this, all of them nodded with, and Faxul even shrugged.
Oh? It seemed that the Bloodline of the Black Raven had given his close friend quite a lot of confidence. Thinking that it would be fun to make to tackle this later as it was definitely not the best idea to get arrogant, Daneel continued.
"Now then, regarding how exactly I'll be doing it… What are your thoughts on cockroaches?"
As Daneel asked this question, he was expecting Eloise to have an averse reaction, as that was what would normally be expected by someone from Earth, where there was a stereotype that women would be disgusted by bugs.
Yet, funnily enough, Eloise only looked puzzled like the others, and it was actually Kellor and Aran who both got uncomfortable expressions on their faces.
"Unpleasant things, my King," said Kellor, and Aran echoed, "It's just weird that they don't die when I crush them under my foot. But why are we talking about them now?"
In response, Daneel smiled and said, "Well, to survive this, I… am going to break through to become a Fighter Champion, and the method I will be using to live after fighting an Exalted Champion is by utilizing the powers of the Godbeast that is the ancestor to all cockroaches in this age."
…
After explaining everything and leaving to begin right away, Daneel chuckled heartily as he remembered the reactions he had gotten after he had said that sentence while he traveled to the Sect of Hedon.
That statement had resulted in even Eloise looking at him weirdly, as they all collectively got the image of the King suddenly transforming into a giant disgusting creature with multiple legs and wings that were too small for the size of its body.
After he explained it , though, Elanev was, unsurprisingly, the one who saw the potential of it first, and this made Daneel understand that the old man had probably given him an explanation regarding it.
Elanev had placed the question that this would result in Daneel's future path being cut off, but Daneel had just said that they should let him worry about that, while they just focused on doing everything that they had to.
Indeed, he had come upon this Bloodline that had seemed trivial and useless to him before after thinking a lot, as only a cockroach would be able to survive this kind of thing. This was a surefire way not to arouse suspicion, and as for him cutting off his future… Well, Daneel had a plan to stop that from happening, too.
And of course, in it, the main factor was the Bloodline of the Shapeshifter.
Indeed, Daneel had finally decided to go all out and pursue a Bloodline for himself so that he could get out of this situation.
Long ago, when he had received the information about all the Bloodlines, itself, this one had captivated him, but the main reason that he had stopped was that it had seemed almost as if there was no way to obtain it in this age.
Yet… What Daneel hadn't taken into account then was the fact that this was one of the hidden bloodlines that the Emperor had chosen to pass down to consequent generations.
And this… Had led Daneel to a bold, bold idea, which was going to be very, very hard to implement.
The thing was that even if he managed to succeed, he would still only be obtaining the bloodline that could only mimic other Godbeasts' appearances, and not their powers.
Yet, after analyzing each and every thing that Daneel had learned about Angaria so far, and using the system to create modules that he hadn't even thought of before, he had also come up with a way to bypass this.
After deciding everything, Daneel had sat down and taken in a deep breath, as he hadn't been able to believe that he had found the answer to the questions that had stopped him from deciding to get a Bloodline before.
As he thought about it, the answer…was that all this time he had taken while delaying his breakthrough had not been wasted. It had been the right idea to give it time, as it had allowed him to keep thinking on it, every day. Like a mountain that could be chipped away if one persevered, he had chipped his way to this answer almost unconsciously. All it had taken was just one more session of thinking hard, and he had obtained everything he needed.
Well, almost everything, at least, but he had gotten the most important thing: a route he could follow that he trusted would be effective in letting him reach where he wanted.
After arriving back at the sect, Daneel sat in his dorm and decided to list all the steps that he would be going through, and all the things he needed to do.
When he was done, he went through it all while remarking that he had set quite a tall order for himself.
1. First and foremost, the rest of his plan needed time, so he first had to return to the Sect of Hedon and ensure that the Mad Doctor's awakening would be delayed. He already had an idea regarding the timeline that the Church was aiming for, which had already been delayed, and he only needed to find out why this had happened and delay it even more.
2. He had to obtain the Bloodline. For this, according to Drakos, he needed the blood of the Godbeast. Yet, Daneel had gotten the idea after that moment of clarity that the blood of an Awakened Bloodline Possessor might also count as the blood of the Godbeast. The system had said that no one had been able to try this, so although Daneel didn't know if it would work, he was confident that he would be able to fix whatever problems there were using the system. Hence, he had to identify someone who possessed the Hidden Bloodline, awaken the Bloodline for them and see whether he could use their blood to give himself the bloodline.
3. He needed to peruse the records of the remaining sect of the Big 4, and find a way to use the Shapeshifter Bloodline to mimic the abilities of the cockroach Godbeast. Daneel already had a clue regarding this which had also appeared during that brainwave, and he was sure that if he followed it, he would find a way, which would be enough even if it wasn't completely effective.
4. Finally, he needed to set the stage for the fight, which would be the most important aspect that would judge the success of the second part.
With this clear vision in mind, all of the panic that he had felt before fled.
Hence, with a casual expression, Daneel walked out of the door…and began the steps that he knew would definitely end with him creating history.