The Exile Sectors.
The local insect population had fallen to acceptable numbers as of late. Dylan has been spending most of his time in the command centre.
His adjutant approached and leaned over to tell him, “Your Highness, a transmission has come in from the imperial capital.”
Dylan made a sound of acknowledgement.
Under normal circumstances, fleets would always remain in contact with the imperial capital. His adjutant wouldn’t go out of his way to inform Dylan if it was any ordinary news.
He activated a display in front of him with a shift of psychic power, pulling up the recent transmission.
It was Sylvia contacting him regarding that mothership.
Sylvia told him there was no need to communicate with the captives. However, they would be eventually released. They just had to delay things with the Alliance for a bit. There was no need to be too hard or lenient with them. They were the ones who ignored the repeated warnings given first, after all.
That was all. Dylan breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Ano took the brunt of it first. An angry Sylvia was difficult to deal with.
If a delay was all that was needed, that was easy to accomplish. Dylan would just continue to isolate the captives from the outside world since both of their commanding officers were here.
The adjutant hadn’t left yet. “
Your Highness, Admiral Cartabelli has requested to speak with you. He has inquired about your availability.”
Dylan’s brows furrowed slightly. “Now’s fine.”
Cartabelli was mostly cooperative with the previous review. Besides, Dylan was sure the man would get in contact with the imperial capital should he refuse this meeting. That would just add more work to Sylvia and Norton’s plates.
The adjutant made a sound of acknowledgement. A projection of Cartabelli soon appeared in the command centre. Dylan rose, his psychic power connecting to the warship’s systems. Cartabelli’s projection vanished only to immediately reappear on the screen in front of him.
His adjutant explained in a timely manner, “His Highness Dylan is unaccustomed to projections.”
Any Grantz in his place would feel slighted. Despite logically knowing it was just a projection, it felt like their personal space was being invaded.
Cartabelli nodded. He didn’t have a problem with it. “Your Highness, I am contacting you regarding the mothership you captured. I would like to apologize to you now on behalf of the Alliance for the misunderstanding before. They did not intrude into the area under lockdown out of any ill will.”
Cartabelli made his stance clear from the start.
Because the Alliance’s representatives had both been captured and it would take too long to coordinate with Alliance HQ, Cartabelli, as a member of the Alliance, would stage an intervention with Grantz.
Dylan didn’t buy it. “I warned them.”
Meaning this was no mistaken intrusion. Cartabelli coughed with some embarrassment. He too was well aware.
One of the reasons this happened was the Alliance had grown used to always being the top dog and purposely ignored Dylan’s warnings. Another was their assumption that others should accommodate and adapt to their signaling, when Grantz naturally had their own.
Cartabelli’s adjutant beside him bowed.
“My sincerest apologies, Your Highness, but there may be some sort of misunderstanding here. The situation back then was critical and they do not use the same communication channels as Grantz. The warning were not deliberately ignored.”
Dylan was growing impatient with the excuses. “That’s none of my concern.”
His adjutant coughed quietly. Dylan scoffed but quieted down. Sylvia did say to let his adjutant take the lead should the Alliance contact him.
The adjutant spoke, “We understand the specifics of the situation now. Please rest assured. Should our investigation agree that there was no malice in their actions, we will release the mothership and her crew.”
Cartabelli nodded. “Understood. We will cooperate to the best of our ability. I hope this misunderstanding can be cleared up soon.”
The adjutant:
“Additionally, Grantz does not intend to change its warning system anytime soon. Please familiarize yourselves in order to avoid future misunderstandings.”
“I will convey this to the relevant authorities. It has been a pleasure working with you.”
“Same to you.”
……
While Dylan investigated the mothership at his leisure, Hebert seized the opportunity to spread the word about the Alliance.
The galactic network was thrown into uproar once more. Many were no longer as on edge now that the insect tide situation seemed to be under control. They had the energy to pay attention to other things, especially breaking news like this.
[The Alliance? Huh? Sure enough, you’ll see all sorts of things when you live long enough. I can’t believe I’m witnessing history in the making.]
[The fleet of motherships docked in the Exile Sectors seem to belong to the Alliance. Simply put, we’re going to meet the big guys soon. In the best case scenario, this can be a good opportunity for exchanging technologies. The insects would also cease to be a problem. We can request aid should an insect tide be detected.]
[But don’t forget, guys! All those benefits are in exchange for a full third of all our resources! Is it possible to negotiate that price? Because it doesn’t seem worth it from my perspective.]
[It only sounds like less of a deal because the Grantz are around, ah. Setting aside the resources tithe for a moment, if the Grantz didn’t exist, we would all be fighting each other to join up. What I’m saying is the benefits outweight the disadvantages for nations that can’t repel or exterminate insects on their own, if you discount the Grantz.]
[Why are you guys all assuming they’re going to ask for resources? Isn’t that what the resource competition is for? If we’re lucky, we’ll even get a return on investment.]
[Because the average human is as frail as soggy bread, ah. We need to rely on technology to make up for our weaknesses, and they’ve got an obvious edge up on us. In my opinion, we shouldn’t have any expectation about the resource tournament, at least for the first few rounds. Excluding Grantz, of course.]
[But the Alliance hasn’t contacted any countries yet, right? I haven’t heard any of them stating they intend to join.]
[Yeah, about that…it’s because they came into conflict with Dylan somewhere in the Exile Sectors. Their leadership was detained by His Highness. That’s why they haven’t made their move yet.]
[LMAO. The Grantz are on a vengeful streak lately. Now that there aren’t enough insects on the frontlines to satiate their bloodlust, a willing victim ran right to them.]
……
The mothership.
The young woman leaning against the wall spoke up, “The other party is still refusing to let us speak with their leader or provide any updates. They insist on confirming our identities before releasing us.”
The other person in charge clawed at his hair out of frustration. “Has no one gotten into contact with the Alliance??”
“They’re too far away. Even if they intend to help, it would take some time to get here. The other motherships should already have contacted them if they are still operational. Our current situation might already be the result of negotiations. In short, we can only wait…”
The young man slammed his fist into the wall before sighing, “Where did that monster come from? He destroyed our engines in one strike, and in a place like this at that.”
They had just begun approaching the planet. Before they could even touch land, they were captured.
The average human was not strong enough to freely move atop a warship. Just being able to stand at that altitude on a stationary ship was already commendable, much less using a warship as a mobile base for high speed aerial combat.
They could infer from this that the other party possessed formidable psychic power. His effectiveness as a solo operative when outfitted with the latest technologies beggared the imagination.
The young man was indifferent. “Talent does not discriminate.”
Although this was certainly an extreme example.
“He will definitely reach starhood should he participate in the resource tournament. He’ll probably be poached as soon as he debuts.”
Although the procedure was cumbersome, inviting participants from other countries to join your own was legal. Most participants would not reject an invitation from the more powerful nations unless they were particularly patriotic to their homelands.
The thought calmed the young man down somewhat. Once that man made a name for himself, this matter may come to light. It was one thing for a participant from a backward, small country to be exposed, but quite another for one of the superstar players who could shift the tides of the tournament.
Everyone knew mankind’s strongest forces and commanders gathered there. They were able to give awe-inspiring, intense performances on the battlefield each time.
The resource competition was an important event for every nation, but for the civilians it was a must-watch spectacle.
The Alliance ran the competition like a well-oiled machine. Every year, the viewer count would reach terrifying numbers. Even the industries that developed in the wake of the competition were flourishing more than ever, especially a holographic game based on it.
Even if the operational costs were staggering, they were worth it.
This was the stage that everyone had their eyes on, the best opportunity to rise to fame for many. Some participants were even more known to the public than the countries they represented. After all, the Alliance had way too many members to remember. People were naturally more interested in a few exceptional superstars than comparatively dull factoids like countries.
“If only he had grown up in the Alliance or any other nation. His strength could have been even more astonishing with the application of cutting-edge technology.”
The young woman remained passive. “Perhaps.”
The young man was used to it by now. She was always like this aside from the surprise she had shown when they were first taking captive. “The next competition is about to begin. Hopefully we will be back in time to watch it for ourselves.”
……
The Grantz palace.
Ye Muo was completely unaware of the situation brewing in the Exile Sectors. He was having a grand old time as of late, exploring the secret passages and rooms of the palace with his trusty sidekick Theodore.
Theodore had already been given permission to move about the palace provided he didn’t affect normal operations. With Norton’s tacit consent, it made Ye Muo’s little expedition much more convenient by clearing the way.
Faceless tagged along just once before mustering the courage to refuse Ye Muo for once. He felt like he had found out too much already.
Today, Ye Muo was poking around Norton’s bedroom. Ano and Ye Muo’s combined wheedling had managed to persuade Norton to let the child leave his side for once. He allowed Ye Muo to run around upstairs, under the pinpoint supervision of his psychic power.
Meanwhile, Norton was taking tea in a parlor on the first floor with Sylvia and Hebert.
Sylvia smiled gratefully as Adlet swapped her tea out for a cup of coffee. “Thank you, Adlet.”
They were just discussing the Alliance.
Hebert broke the silence first, “In conclusion, we still need to join the Alliance.”
Sylvia nodded. “We need to test the waters at the upcoming resource tournament.”
She turned to Norton. “Ye Muo will be coming along.”
Norton raised his eyes.
Sylvia continued: “You definitely need to be there, and I don’t feel it’s safe to keep him by my side.”
Hebert took a sip of his coffee. It was more likely that Sylvia was worried that Norton would be worried, no?
“Adlet will be going as well.”
Sylvia met Norton’s gaze and sincerely stated before he could respond, “I’m afraid you’ll all let him starve. Only Adlet is trustworthy.”
Sylvia was already plagued with worry before they had even joined the Alliance, before the resource tournament had even started. Ye Muo was so young, and the journey would be so long. They wouldn’t take along many personnel or cargo. Would he be alright with long-term ship life? It was best for Adlet to be there to take care of him.
Norton remained silent.
