Chapter 2430

2430 - Following Up on Progress

Middle Sector 98—

"….." In the middle of the Throne Hall, amidst the thousands of people who had come to congratulate her on her promotion, Renara stood in shock.

A short while ago, a number of guests had begun entering the Soul Society one after another, each finding a seat and quickly closing their eyes after receiving a message one way or another. Within a minute, almost everyone was in the Soul Society.

As for Renara, when she went to Theo to ask what was happening, she found him with his eyes closed as well… but the answer soon came to her.

A Shadow Sword brought a small recorded disc and gave it to her, asking her to examine it spiritually rather than activating it outwardly.

…She had just finished examining it, and she stood there not knowing what to do.

Qarun's recording was a crushing blow—that scoundrel was undoubtedly skilled at rhetoric!

Was what he was saying true? She didn't know, and didn't care. She had taken his side and sworn internally to follow him to the end, so whether Robin was on the side of good or evil didn't really matter.

But…

Renara began looking around with an almost expressionless face—watching the guests open their eyes one after another.

Watching their piercing stares directed at her, as if they are looking at a naked person in the street, their cold hostile gazes as if they had found the killer of their great-grandfather!!

"Calm down."

At that moment, Renara heard a voice from behind, Theo's reassuring voice.

"How can I calm down? Didn't you see the clip? That filthy one portrays us as the greatest evil!" Renara replied with a direct spiritual message, but she maintained her outward expression.

"It's fine, this is how war is. He took a dirty path, but it's a strike like any other." Theo moved to her side, "Deal with the guests as if nothing happened. As for me, I'll go to my father to see what we should do next."

"....?!" Renara was greatly astonished, "How? How can I do something like this? Don't you see their looks?"

"Ignore them. Some of them are thinking about their social standing after attending this gathering of ours and will begin to treat us coldly. Some will leave directly. And some are thinking about how to benefit from our bad reputation by extracting some advantages for themselves. In a little while, you'll find some foolish offers—reject them all… and carve into your memory the reaction of each one of them. We'll need it later."

Then he cast a glance toward Renara, "None of them really care about how accurate the recording is. They came to bless an expansionist military force anyway, not to attend a religious teacher's wedding!"

"….." Renara nodded and then began looking around.

By that moment, Theo had already left, and what remained was exactly what he had expected…

A large number of attendees began politely taking their leave. Some started laughing strangely and coldly, as if trying hard to hide something… and some came with utterly absurd offers. A Behemoth delegation requested a gift consisting of 50 Note Fleets and their manufacturing method in exchange for a secret alliance lasting a hundred years!

Amid the Middle 114 Sector—

*Crash*

Hedrick crushed a small light disc. The hostile look on his face was enough to freeze space itself, "Qarun…"

Around him there was nothing but the Phantom Shadow vessel speeding away… all the lights and sounds of the epic battles had completely faded.

Or rather… he was the one who had stepped far away from all of it to listen to the disc first, based on the Shadow Swords' advice.

In the midst of the battle a short while ago, Helmor began laughing madly after receiving a message, then quickly retreated and vanished… At that time, Hedrick thought he had gone insane because he was the losing side until that moment, but the Shadow Swords' message afterward changed everything.

"Helmooooor!!" Hedrick used the immense Power of Destruction to shake the space around him, his voice resounding through the surrounding solar systems.

Instead of being part of a powerful, honorable empire seeking to stop Helmor after he attacked ten sectors at once, he suddenly became an agent and traitor to outside parties, wanting to kill honorable Children of the universe like Helmor!

This wouldn't stop him from his goal… but it was extremely annoying!

"Hahahaha" Helmor's loud laughter rang in Hedrick's ear, "It's clear you saw it too."

Then *whoosh* Helmor appeared again at a safe distance, "Tsk tsk~ You really serve a scumbag."

"No one here but us, no need to put on an act." Hedrick waved his hand, "What that Qarun did is just a side annoyance. He doesn't know who he's messing with, but he'll soon realize it just as Zargul and Darvion realized…" Then he pointed toward Helmor, "And you weren't there to see them punished."

"Oh, this is extremely terrifying." Helmor clearly did not take his son's threat seriously. "I praised you just a moment ago for teaching you well, but it's obvious you're so preoccupied with military matters that you've forgotten just how much the political side can influence things…" Then he began shaking his head. "Robin Burton's autumn has begun, and everything he represents—you will see with your own eyes everything he built crumbling over the next few decades."

Then he pointed toward Hedrick. "You will see with your own eyes that cloud Throne you built for yourself in your mind collapsing stone by stone, and then you'll understand that playing with the truly great ones never ends the way you imagine… To bring down an enemy, you must bring down your hand and your shield along with him, and in this case, hehe… Qarun brought you all down without lifting a finger."

"…." Hedrick raised his head slightly. "Thank you for the compliment that I'm focused on military matters. What would matter to a sword other than war?" Then he smiled. "As for politics and governance, they have someone who concerns himself with them."

*Zzzn* Hedrick stepped forward again, his sword ringing beside him. "Even if the sky were to collapse onto the earth around me, I will make sure to push you and your army to Sector 113 by the end of this year!"