Chapter 362: Ch

The video then skipped forward.

Now, ten enormous motherships appeared—each at a minimum of 250 km in length, with the largest stretching up to 280 km. They were escorted by ten super battleships, along with an additional forty standard battleships. Within moments, the entire fleet vanished into hyperspace.

At the end of the video, a single line appeared: “There goes our envoy—on a mission to secure a limitless future for our people.”

This post added an even greater favor to all the citizens of the fleet, propelling their excitement, and that of other interested parties, even higher…

……..

Meanwhile, somewhere extremely far away… more than 500 to 600 light years away, if not more, in an undeveloped star system… fleets of ships were suddenly welcomed as they entered, bursting out of FTL space and exiting it at once!!

These fleets were made up of the Star Empire Duke Flexi Fleet, along with fleets belonging to the Alchemy Association and the Mountain Dwarf Clan!! All three fleets, once out, maintained a clear distance from each other of at least a thousand kilometres!

Which shows that though each of them are ’allies’, they don’t have true trust and faith in each other, and are cautious of each other’s moves!!

Each fleet’s commanding officers scanned the whole star system, with many smaller vessels quickly patrolling it and securing the entire system within a couple of hours!!

For the three top officials, a meeting was arranged once again in the flagship of the Star Empire, a dreadnaught-class ship!! Its length was almost 18 km, shaped with sharp design like that of a shark, with wing-like structures on its back!! It gave off a lethal aura, covered in twinkling white armour, with an enormous figure of a star and many beings painted at the centre of the hull!!

Within the same meeting room, Flexi was joined by the representative of the Alchemy Association and the elder of the Mountain Dwarf Clan through long distance!! They opted not to come personally and instead joined virtually!!

Flexi looked at both of them once before speaking, placing both of his hands on the table, “Gentlemen!! After the awkward yet strategic retreat we made to here, we find ourselves in a rather strange predicament!! One, the mission we came together for is now in danger, and two, two of our allies have chosen to walk away, with their reasons still unclear!!”

“Heh, what is there that needs to be clear about?!” the Alchemy Association representative replied in a dissatisfied tone, with a hint of fury!! “I’m not sure about those elven women, but I do know about the Forgers Guild!! They have definitely run in fear of retaliation from this new adversary of ours!! Just because those ’Void’, or whatever they call themselves, showed a bit of power, that foolish man, thinking it might cost him, chose to run away!!”

Furiously, he slammed the table!!

“That might be true, Association representative… but what if it isn’t? What if there’s something else going on that we’re not aware of, at least for now? And another fact is that this new adversary of ours is rather unknown to us!! It can’t be denied that they are quite powerful!! Specifically, their defenses… I’m not even sure we could breach them!!

There are many things that have now become uncertain!! And every step we take should be based on logic and what we actually know!! We can’t proceed while still in the dark!!

If we do, we risk stepping into an ambush that our enemy might already be preparing for us!!”

The Association representative frowned upon hearing Flexi brush aside his way of thinking about the matter!! But his face quickly turned neutral when he heard the reasoning…

Flexi, seeing that, internally sighed in relief before continuing, “And more than that… practically every major and minor power is now paying attention to this part of the galaxy!! With the amount of time that has passed, those older powers should already have an idea about what this place holds, and why we are making such moves!!

Which once again puts us in extreme danger!! Who knows when our enemies might swarm in, taking advantage of some peculiar moment… catching us off guard and dealing severe damage that simply cannot be ignored!!”

“I understand that, Duke Flexi… but besides that point, what are we supposed to do? Just give up on the Holy Region? Do you dare do that now? Knowing the internal situation of your empire, which has practically been splitting in two over the past month since your deployment here?

Given the situation there, there’s no way you, or rather your ruler, would choose to do that now!! So tell me… what’s your plan?

Because just as the Holy Region is important to your empire, it is just as important to us!! And at this point, it cannot fall into the hands of anyone other than us!!”

Hearing this, Flexi’s face turned solemn, a hint of awkwardness flashing across it as he cursed internally, Damn these Association bastards… how did they get this information?

Even though this was happening, everything was still under the Emperor’s control!! He had ensured that no news leaked out… yet these people still knew it…

Internally, he became grim, realizing that the Association must have planted their own spies—ones buried too deep for his side to even detect!! Though furious, Flexi tried not to show these emotions. He coughed once, brushing aside the thought before speaking!!

“I’m not sure where you heard this from… but let me tell you, no such thing has happened within our empire!! It is still as stable as it was during the visit of your Association’s Sectoral President!!”

The Association representative merely chuckled upon hearing this, in a way that clearly said, Oh, really?

“I’ve heard something quite different from what you’re claiming…”

“That’s beside the point!!” Flexi cut in sharply. “One thing I do agree with is that we cannot give up on the Holy Region!! It should be ours—and no one else’s!!

But looking at the deteriorating situation, with a new competitor rising against us and many others lurking in the shadows… the strength we currently have is simply not enough!! Not to mention the withdrawal of those two factions!!”

Hearing this, both the representative and the silent elder narrowed their eyes slightly at him…

“And so, I say this—we need to draw more power from back home!! Strengthen ourselves and prepare for a grueling and cruel battle!! Because it is no longer possible to take this without shedding blood!!”

Looking into the eyes of both, he saw the surprise within them!!

“For this is the only way we can have what we want!! Even then, I’m not sure whether we will succeed or not!! But if both of you are willing to bring in your full strength, I assure you my empire will do the same!! And beyond that… we will take charge if necessary!!

So tell me, my friends… will both of you—or rather the factions behind you—go all in for this, or not?!”

Flexi narrowed his eyes, his face completely serious and solemn!! Though internally, he was almost gloating, knowing that one of them would likely back off—and if they did, he would have a perfect excuse…

Yes… Flexi had now completely given up on the mission of taking over the Holy Region!! It simply wasn’t possible with just the three of them!! No matter what they did, there were too many others now standing in opposition…

The Association representative fell silent for a while, a myriad of emotions passing across his face as he contemplated!! Only after ten minutes did he finally respond—

“I’ll have to contact the regional headquarters for confirmation… but I’m about sixty percent sure they will be willing… if you offer us something more in exchange…”

Narrowing his eyes as he spoke, he made it clear—he would get what he wanted, but not without a cost!! As for who would lead the charge, it didn’t concern him at all!! Whether the Star Empire led or not made little difference… if they were attacked, his forces would suffer as well—perhaps less, but a loss was still a loss…

Flexi’s expression shifted into a frown, clear displeasure on his face before he replied— “That… I cannot speak on right now!! I will have to consult with my Emperor before commenting further on this…”

“Of course… that’s only natural!!”

Nodding his head as if in full understanding, the representative spoke, not at all bothered by Flexi’s displeased expression. “Even though I want it… I’m not desperate enough to jump into it blindly!! If you could provide some kind of guarantee… then maybe?”

Heh… Flexi laughed internally before shifting his attention to the silent Mountain Dwarf elder, who hadn’t spoken a word all this while.

“And what about you, Elder of the Mountain Dwarf Clan?”

The elder, upon hearing this, paled slightly—though outwardly he maintained a neutral expression, hiding his thoughts as he cursed internally.

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