Legacy of the Void Fleet

He radiated a mysterious aura of limitless, infinite vitality.

Kallus felt a jolt of alarm. This wasn’t just a ”hint” of a threat—it was a real, overwhelming pressure. He knew instantly that the person standing before him was a mighty, transcendent being.

If they fought it out, he felt he might not have a great chance of winning. Though he wouldn’t lose, he wouldn’t win either. That put him at a distinct disadvantage—something he was facing for the first time. After all, most of the battles he had taken part in had always been under his control at worst, and at best, he had effortlessly breezed through them.

This put him on guard in front of this person. He even summoned his weapon in its katana form, holding the sheath with his left hand while his right hand was ready to draw the sword at any moment.

The green-haired old man saw this but didn’t react specifically. Instead, he took a more casual approach than before and said, ”Don’t be on guard, boy. For I haven’t come for a fight. If I had, I would have done it way earlier, when you first stepped into this domain.”

Kallus didn’t have a specific reaction to that, though he didn’t lower his guard. Instead, he asked, ”Is it you, Elder Universal Tree?”

”Huh?” The middle-aged man was taken aback, but he quickly realized the situation and said, ”Oh, so you have given me a name, huh! Indeed, it is correct, for that is what I am! The center point of this domain, along with the Heavenly Dao of this place.” He paused, studying Kallus. ”Which listening to you, boy, though I can see you also have no absolute control over it...”

Kallus was surprised by this comment from the Universal Tree, though he knew it to be true. Well, he was created alongside this domain, so he might really have an innate memory of it, Kallus thought.

”It is as you say, Elder Universal,” Kallus added. ”It’s the work of that being... he is a bit of a quirky one who does things based on whatever thought crosses his mind. You can’t guess his moves because of how random they are,” he sighed.

”Let’s not talk about that being—and certainly not in the way you are talking!” the middle-aged man said speechlessly. He looked around with a hint of terror and even cursed, ”Boy, if you want to get into trouble, do it when you are alone! Why do you want to drag me into it?”

Kallus just smiled, looking a bit embarrassed. Indeed, that being could do anything; after all, he doesn’t like being—umm, let’s just ignore it before he notices.

”Anyway, Elder, why did you come to meet me?”

Hearing that, the Elder said, ”Oh, nothing in particular. I sensed an immense aura of Life and Wood Laws, so I came to check, only to meet you... You, boy, have profound comprehension of the Supreme Law of Life and the Elemental Law of Wood.”

”Oh,” Kallus reacted mildly.

”But since this is our first meeting, as an Elder, I should gift you something now.” Saying that, he raised his hand, and a green light condensed at his fingertip. It shot toward Kallus, who didn’t react at all, as he felt no threat from it. He let it enter his brow and was surprised to find that it contained the coordinates of a star system.

”Elder, what is—?”

Before he could even finish, the Elder said, ”Those are the coordinates of a particularly special star system. There, you will find a Tree of Enlightenment. If you secure it... it might be of great help to you in the future. This is my gift to you; whether you want to believe it or check it is up to you, boy.”

”It was good meeting you. See you some other time.” As he said that, the Elder’s body flickered and soon disappeared, leaving behind a form made of green leaves which blew away with a gust of wind, vanishing from the spot.

”So that’s how it was, huh?” the Red Empress said after hearing his explanation. She narrowed her eyes at him, her gaze sharpening. ”Then why didn’t you mention it to me at the time?”

Kallus, who had been sighing in relief thinking he had avoided a ’catastrophe,’ realized his luck had run out. The Red Empress was still pressing the issue.

”Ah... well... it... it’s like this...” he stammered, at a complete loss for words.

How was he supposed to answer? Back then, he had already made a bet with her, and he was on the verge of winning. Why would he tell her the truth? That would have only led to the cancellation of their bet—a bet he had already secured. Yes, he had been a bit shameless back then, but now that the truth was out in the open, he had no idea what to say.

Meanwhile, in the Celestial Void World Imperial Palace, Kallus struggled to find a way to appease the wrath of the Red Empress, feeling quite terrified in the outermost zone of the southern side of the Sol Region.

This region touched the ruled territories of both the Azura Imperium and the Genomes Empire. Within the 6th Outer Rim Defensive Command, inside Helios Prime, sat a boundary star system. It was like the ”no-man’s land” between the fences of two countries—except in space, there is no fence, and instead of land, there is an entire star system.

Hidden within this system, a small contingent of a stealth battle group was moving. Various sensors scanned the area; since they were quantum-based and far superior to any technology used by either the Genomes Empire or the Imperium, the Void Fleet’s small battle group was able to operate with ease.

Within a light battle cruiser, Mat stood in front of the viewport. He was reviewing the collected data, searching for any anomaly he might have missed. This mission was critical, and there was no room for even the smallest mistake.

”Sir,” the ship’s AI, Hyperion, appeared beside him and reported. ”Our systems are detecting a massive spatial disturbance not far ahead.”

Mat’s eyes narrowed quickly. ”What is it? FTL fluctuations?”

Hyperion nodded. ”It appears so. I’ve also detected the signatures of multiple ships that quickly engaged their own stealth fields. However, I have captured their energy signatures; they will be within our range soon.”

”This is surprising,” Mat said, frowning. ”Despite the mana storm beyond this star system and the unstable space, someone still managed to infiltrate. Who would be desperate enough to try this?”

Just then, on the holographic map, about forty red points flickered into view. Mat’s surprise grew. ”They came in such large numbers...” His interest was piqued. ”Men, bring up the optical imaging. Let’s see who they are!”

Far away from the small battle group, a cluster of battered ships drifted into view. One would wonder if these were even spaceworthy vessels, or how they were even functioning. The hull of each ship was a patchwork of metal; some were even constructed from the mangled wreckage of different types of ships—or at least, that’s what it looked like.

Inside the ships, beings of various races moved about. The conditions within were even worse—cramped and decaying, it looked like a place where no one could survive for long.

Within what appeared to be the command center, a massive green Orc sat in a half-broken, salvaged seat. He shouted, ”Damn it! We barely made it out of that unstable space to get here!”

”Commander! We lost about fifteen ships and twenty thousand of our brethren,” an officer reported. ”Fifteen more ships are barely able to maintain their stealth. Most of their systems are heavily damaged, and they can hardly move!”

”WHAT?!” the Orc commander bellowed.

”Is the vessel containing those materials and those people safe and sound?” the Orc commander asked again.

”Fortunately, they are, Commander! Though their ships are barely spaceworthy now and are in much worse condition than ours; they bore the brunt of the spatial storm and had to be towed.”

Hearing this, the Orc commander sighed in relief. He chewed on the meat bone in his hands before saying, ”It’s good that they are okay. As for what shape their ships are in—who cares! Connect those vessels with the stabilised cables and move toward the asteroid field!

Quickly, find the biggest one out there and conceal the fleet. Then, deploy the mining vessels and let the technicians do the work they came here for.”

”All we have to do is safeguard those people until they’re done with their work. Then we activate the space gate, welcome the grand fleet, get paid... and finally leave this place for good.”

He smirked slightly. ”After that, we build a better fleet for ourselves, brother... and then—well—loot others. Heh.”

”What we don’t have now, we’ll get with the rich payment from this consignment. And then...” he clenched his fist, eyes burning with fervor, ”...we’ll sweep through those who did us harm.”

The orc commander’s words rang out, and the others in the brigade cheered in agreement.