Chapter 163: 163. The Cosmic Highway

The void in space between the stars was not empty as you world think.

Owen learned this within the first hour of leaving his planet’s atmosphere. Gorvax’s ship—a sleek, dark vessel that hummed with mechanical sounds—glided in warp speed along a current that wasn’t visible but was absolutely tangible. A space highway of Stabilized lanes that connected worlds like threads.

“How are you navigating?” Owen asked.

“I’m not. The ship is.” Gorvax stood at the helm, his robed form motionless. “Artificial Cosmic energy waypoints flow along these routes. They were built by the Architects eons ago. Even the Tribunal uses them.”

Owen extended his senses, His CE core pulsed at 250 units now, a result of weeks of RCT. He could feel the current beneath the ship, faint but steady.

He closed his eyes as the current pushed against his awareness. Not hostile but indifferent to his probing.

“Focus…” Gorvax said. “…You’ll need to sense more higher level threats than you’ve ever sensed before. The highway is safe, but the space around it? Not so much.”

A light flashed on the console. A Red and Urgent warning.

Gorvax’s hand moved faster than Owen had ever seen. The ship veered left, diving off the route and into a dense asteroid field. Rocks the size of buildings scraped past the hull.

“Patrol.”

Owen’s jaw tightened. “Tribunal?”

“Just a Routine scan. They’re not looking for us specifically. But if they detect my signature—”

“Huh?”

Gorvax didn’t answer. His fingers danced across the holographic interface. The ship’s hull shimmered, then went dark. Not invisible but Masked. Owen could feel the CE signature being suppressed, folded inward and hidden beneath layers of false readings.

The patrol ship glided past.

It was massive, a triangular behemoth with glowing seams along its hull, at least three hundred meters from bow to stern. Through the asteroid dust, Owen could see figures on its deck. Enforcers. Tier 4, maybe higher. They didn’t have halos like the vagrants, instead, glowing rings were embedded into armor uniform, fused with the metal. Their no wings either, their form was humanoid but robotic.

The ship’s shadow passed over them. Cold. Indifferent.

Then it was gone.

Gorvax’s shoulders relaxed a little “Close.”

“And, How often will this be happening?”

“Often enough that I have learned to expect it.” He guided the ship back onto the cosmic highway. “The Tribunal’s reach is vast. But even they cannot patrol every lane.”

—

They finally emerged from the asteroid field into open space.

Ahead, a structure loomed. Not a planet but a massive ring that spun slowly, its circumference dotted with lights. Ships entered and exited through glowing portals. The ring’s inner edge was lined with docking bays, markets, habitats. A city wrapped around emptiness.

“The Veridian Crossing…” Gorvax said. “A neutral port. Outcasts, pirates, exiles. The Tribunal does not patrol here. Too many factions would object.”

Owen studied the ring. “This is a basic world?”

“Just a port, The first of many you will see.” Gorvax guided the ship toward a docking bay. “Basic worlds are not like your lesser world. They are older, denser and saturated with cosmic energy. Your CE will grow faster here. The air alone carries more ambient power than your planet’s mana network.”

They docked as the airlock hissed. Owen stepped onto the station’s deck.

The corridor was wide, lit by ambient light that came from ceiling panels that glowed. Beings moved past him—some humanoid, some not. A creature with four arms and no face carried crates of glowing crystals. A being that was made of floating geometric shapes drifted past, humming a frequency that made Owen’s teeth ache.

A woman with butterfly-like wings folded against her back argued with what seemed to be a merchant over a handful of Cores. Cosmic currency, refined energy from dead worlds.

Gorvax led him to a market square. Stalls lined the walls, each one displaying items Owen couldn’t identify. Weapons that hummed with CE. Crystals that pulsed with trapped Desolate energy. Scrolls written in languages like glyphs that shifted when he tried to focus.

“Do not use your conversion here,” Gorvax said quietly. “Do not reveal your mana-to-CE ability. Do not speak of Progenitors.”

Owen nodded.

They stopped at a stall, behind the counter was a merchant, who was a being of pale blue skin, a cracked halo, his eyes carrying the weight of exile, His wings tattered, feathers missing. He leaned on a staff that glowed with faint CE.

“Gorvax…My man…” The merchant’s voice was low. “…You still live….”

“Barely.” Gorvax placed a small pouch on the counter. “Desolate cores. Grade two. I need supplies.”

The merchant examined the pouch. His eyes flicked to Owen.

“New blood?”

“Disciple.”

The merchant’s cracked halo flickered. “You’re training someone? In this climate?”

“The climate is why I’m training him.”

The merchant grunted. He handed over a bundle. “There’s a bounty. Desolate beast on the outer rim. Tier 5, five-star. The port authority wants it gone.”

Gorvax took the star chart. “We’ll handle it.”

The merchant’s eyes lingered on Owen. “He doesn’t look like much.”

“He isn’t. Yet.”

—

They walked toward the docking bay.

Owen’s CE core continued its slow absorption. 254. 256. The station’s ambient energy was thicker here, almost heavy. He could feel it pressing against his skin.

“Your base CE is increasing,” Gorvax observed. “The RCT is working. But you need more… You need more combat experience…. Desolate beasts drop cores. You will Absorb them, and your CE will grow faster.”

“How much faster?”

“One core can provide weeks of RCT in minutes.” Gorvax paused. “If you survive it, that is.”

They reached the ship. Gorvax plugged the star chart into the console then holographic display bloomed; a map of the surrounding sector, dotted with trade routes, patrol zones, and one red marker.

The destination: an asteroid field, three hours from Veridian Cross. A Tier 5, five-star Desolate beast. A creature that had already killed seven hunters. Its core was Grade three, enough to push Owen’s CE from 256 to 300.

Owen’s fists tightened.

“You’ll fight it alone..” Gorvax said. “…I will watch. I will not intervene… And just so you know, it doesn’t fight as cleanly as a cosmic vagrant pirate captain.”

Owen flexed his fingers as his gauntlets hummed against his skin. Every point of CE he channeled would hit harder. Every punch would land with the force of its full core behind it.

“Phew, hopefully don’t die…right?”

“If you do, then you were not worth training.”

Gorvax’s voice was cold. But his hand rested on the scythe at his side.

Owen sat in the co-pilot’s seat.

Then the ship lifted off.

Behind them, the Veridian Crossing shrank to a point of light. And ahead, the asteroid field waited.

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