Chapter 882: Breaking News!

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“Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Nick smiled wryly as he checked the most recent reports and e-mails sent to the council.

It’s as they expected; the commotion of his breakthrough indeed ruffled a lot of feathers. Now, they are clucking over each other to know what they, the Human Sovereigns, were up to.

Truthfully, Nick didn’t want to explain himself.

He didn’t want to care about these piles of reports and e-mails. He didn’t want to concern himself with their demands. They’re in position to demand any answers from him.

Nick just didn’t want to deal with any of this.

Unfortunately, he has to. That’s what the Human Council stands for. If they maintained silence, it’s very possible that it would cause mass panic and hysteria, and that’s not something he wanted to see.

And Nick knew that he couldn’t feign ignorance and give them empty promises this time.

There are many people who saw his Empyrean Phantom. While they may not have seen everything from start to finish, they’re not fools. Anybody who’s capable of seeing his empyrean phantom knows who he was and could recognize his face.

Hell, some of the reports here referred to him directly, stating that they saw what happened and are concerned as to what this means.

With this, Nick knew that he had to come out and say something regardless of whether he wanted to or not.

He looked at his friends and asked them, “Should I just come out and say it? Like, be honest with them and all?”

“Well, if I were in your shoes, I would.” Gibson was the first to express his opinion. “I mean, at your position, it’s not like you have anything to be afraid of.”

“True,” Berk muttered, “If you insist on staying silent or lying to them, that might backfire on us.”

“It’s up to you, man.” Urek shrugged. “Regardless of what happens, I believe you can handle this.”

Patricia stayed silent. She gave him a pointed look, which didn’t help at all.

Nick sighed. Well, it’s pretty much confirmed what he must do now.

This could be worse, really. Besides, it’s not entirely a bad thing for the public to know where he stands now. If anything, this should increase humanity’s morale.

What bothered Nick was what would follow this announcement, though.

So, knowing that Nick had reached the pinnacle of life evolution, what does he do next? That’s the main question that the crowd will ask of him.

Most of them would fully expect him to take up arms, march towards the Crimson Womb Chaos Realm, and end the Horde once and for all.

That’s to be expected. After all, everybody will soon understand that Nick was already way beyond what the Bug Empress could handle. If he doesn’t attack them now while he’s still ahead, what exactly was he doing?

If he told them that he’s delaying the attack until Patricia becomes a Primal Origin Lifeform too, there are generally two reactions to that:

One would be the sympathizers who would understand his logic. Two was better than one. To thoroughly exterminate the bugs, there’s no such thing as an overkill. They’d accept his logic and back off. This makes Nick’s life easier.

And two, the detractors. These people will call him a coward, a fake, or a traitor for being so indecisive. They would say that he’s already the strongest; why wait until there’s another one? Wouldn’t that give the Bug Empress more time to prepare and progress? Why not go there anyway, even if only to scare her off?

Wouldn’t it be better to harass them, the same way they did to humans, while waiting for reinforcements? Will there even be a need for reinforcements? Wasn’t he already the strongest existence there is? If he couldn’t wipe out the Horde with his strength, then what’s the purpose of him reaching that stage?

Nick suppressed the urge to groan. He hasn’t even made the announcement yet, but he’s already feeling a headache.

**

Cedric stepped out of his chambers hearing a hubbub of gossip.

He raised a brow, and with one scan of his environment, he immediately learned what happened.

“So he made it public, huh?” Cedric smirked.

Apparently, news of Nick’s breakthrough to the Primal Origin Lifeform has been announced, inspiring a wave of discussions and heated arguments.

The atmosphere in the entire Heavenly Star Chaos Realm was, of course, jubilant. But within Cedric’s own territory, he could hear intense discussions of what this means moving forward.

Some were convinced, others were skeptical and thought that this was just a cover-up story even though the announcement came from official channels.

It’s the same in the virtual universe too. It’s what everybody’s talking about right now, and quite possibly for the next months or years to come.

’The shriveled old men slumbering in their coffins must be rolling over this news too,’ Cedric thought in amusement.

It wouldn’t be surprising if some of them decided to ’wake up’ from their slumber, march to the council’s HQ, and demand Nick hand out his secrets.

He could see the deep frown of displeasure on Nick’s face even without seeing him face-to-face. He knew that the man must be regretting this right now. Cedric laughed and felt bad about it. But hey, this wasn’t his decision to make! He’s not at fault here.

This is the consequence that comes with fame.

However, Cedric knew that Nick would be fine. He’s practically untouchable now.

If those dying and greedy old men decide to push their luck and demand things from him, Nick could just wipe them out of existence with a single glare. None of them would be able to resist his might no matter how highly they thought of themselves.

Cedric could also already see it: people demanding Nick march to the Crimson Womb Chaos Realm to wipe out the Horde once and for all.

Hell, a good chunk of the people in his territory seem to agree with this. They were calling out for action; some were even already preparing for enlistment, clearly anticipating the realm-wide call for arms.

Cedric could easily tell that many voices sang the same tune. They’re waiting for Nick to take action already. They think that they could make this decision for him, that they could tell him, of all people, what to do.

The louder their voices are, the more chaotic it becomes. And obviously, the worse Nick’s headache becomes.

’Hmm…’

’Alright, man. I’ll give you some reprieve, I guess.’

“Somebody,” Cedric called out.

And in an instant, people appeared before him. Some of them were part of his council; others were just people manning his main office.

“I’ve been hearing strong opinions about Councillor Nick’s announcements,” he stated. “There are some fools who think that they could dictate what our dear councillor should do next. They think too highly of themselves.”

Cedric’s eyes narrowed beneath his mask, causing his subjects to shiver in fright and panic.

“I don’t like fools in my territory. If they have the energy to cry out for war, I’m certain that they have plenty more to do other things—things that are far more useful and beneficial for this domain.”

“Do something about it. Subtly, if you can. By the end of this week, I don’t want to hear this kind of stupidity in my domain. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Sector Lord!”

“Good. Go.”

And just like that, they all disappeared to enact his orders.

His orders were overbearing, that’s for certain. But his people had been working for him for so many years now that they completely understood what he meant.

They knew that he just wanted to remind everybody of their place. It is not up to them to decide what Nick should do next, and if they have the energy to gossip this loudly, then they have enough energy to do something else more useful to their environment.

Moreover, Cedric didn’t want his territory to be one of the ones that Nick would have to discipline in his stead. It would be best if his territory didn’t need to be visited by him at all just to ’clear things up.’

That’s why, as early as now, he had to quell the ’activity’ of the fools in his camp.

And once again, his loyal subjects proved that they were chosen for a reason.

When Cedric said that he wanted those notions quelled by the end of the week. They were quelled indeed.

Everybody, no matter how strongly they felt about it, was ’talked to’ reasonably by his men and reminded of their place in this world; some were even led to other avenues to spend their, clearly, abundant energy and passion.

The local rumor mill had been brought under control. Now, it weaved ’righteous’ messages that improved opinions of those who lived and stayed in this domain.

And instead of obsessing over this news, his people just acknowledged it and turned their attention to something else that’s more beneficial for them.

Whatever the Human Sovereigns do moving forward doesn’t concern them much for now, or at least until they become directly involved.

This is how it should be, in Cedric’s opinion.

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