Chapter 1521: Decision

That short conversation had been a rollercoaster of shocking revelations.

The allied front had found the True Chaos’ home world, only to discover that it lived inside a separate dimension with unclear size.

It was also unclear what that pocket universe actually held. The True Chaos’ Kings were already troublesome, but that dimension could contain other hurdles with similar or superior strength.

That was the disadvantage of invading the enemy’s lair without doing due research. The lack of information could increase the number of unavoidable casualties and ultimately lead to the allied front’s defeat, but the meeting had highlighted even bigger problems.

Apparently, Khan was quite literally the key to starting that dimensional invasion. Completing the Nak’s mission had made him the only being in the entire regulated universe that could hope to replicate the True Chaos’ God’s energy and reopen the passages his troops had used.

While troublesome and vague, that still was within the realm of what Khan could conceive and, probably, achieve. He guessed he would need the help of massive amounts of mana to succeed in such a task, which didn’t make it any less doable.

Instead, the other aspect of the issue was where the actual problems lay. The opportunity to launch a dimensional invasion had a time limit, which wasn’t nearly enough to prepare for a war that had the regulated universe’s survival at stake.

The joint war effort genuinely had miraculous results. The allied front had achieved in weeks what its species would have taken months and years to succeed at individually.

However, it had merely been two weeks since the True Chaos’ invasion, and the scientific division had predicted that the allied front only had seven additional days to prepare if the dimensional counterattack had to happen as soon as possible.

That was simply not enough. Khan had been busy pushing his attunement with mana to its very upper limit, so he had yet to read updates about the other tasks.

Yet, three weeks were still three weeks. No revolutionary discoveries could happen in such a short time, let alone findings that could change the terrible odds in that universal war.

On top of that, the alternative was arguably equally bad, or even worse.

Missing that opportunity would mean that the allied front would have to endure another invasion before getting the chance to counterattack.

The timeline for the next attack was unclear, which could be a good thing. Still, the opposite could also be true. Just like the allied front could prepare better, so could the True Chaos, and the latter had the undeniable upper hand.

The sudden invasion had targeted the Nak’s remains, but the next would have unclear targets and might. Khan could try to guess, but the variables would remain too great to prepare any viable defense effort.

Chances were the regulated universe would be weakened beyond reason during the second invasion, if it survived it, that was. The preparations the additional time had enabled would be for naught in that case, worsening the allied front’s odds even further.

Of course, both options were terrible, but Khan still had to decide on the least terrible one. The Emperor’s stance had partially made it for him, but he couldn’t just go along with that reckless sentiment without giving it proper consideration.

After all, the decision wasn’t only about Khan or the Thilku Emperor. It was about giving the regulated universe a shot at survival, as well as sparing it from countless, pointless casualties.

Khan wasn’t exactly an expert in universal wars, but could identify the most crucial aspect of the issue. Since the decision was between additional preparations or a lack thereof, Khan considered what the former could realistically bring to the table.

Revolutionary discoveries aside, and even including those, Khan couldn’t see much value in waiting. Giving the troops additional time to find better ways to deal with the True Chaos wouldn’t change the war’s outcome. That would be decided by the battles among the two armies’ greatest experts.

When it came to that, Khan was set now that his attunement had reached its intended goal. The same went for the Emperor. Delaying the war wouldn’t do anything for them.

At most, the only meaningful benefit Khan could find was in the form of additional experts who could rival the True Chaos’ Kings.

Still, the call to arms had already happened. It was safe to assume the regulated universe only had that many experts at that level willing to fight in the war, so waiting wouldn’t do much there, either.

“Update me on the mutagen and the artificial organ,” Khan eventually said, knowing his brain was already moving toward one decision.

“The Niqols and Nele have cultivated decent quantities of the mutagen’s primary resource, my Prince,” Garret explained. “Production is planned to ramp up in the following days.”

“We finalized a prototype for the artificial organ,” The Fuveall scientist in the room continued. “It’s still unstable to some extent, but we are stabilizing it by the day.”

“How long until it’s stable enough for a war?” Khan wondered.

“Two, three days,” The Fuveall said, understanding what his answer could mean for the regulated universe, “Depending on the risk level you consider acceptable.”

“What about its mass production?” Khan asked.

“The Kros have built preliminary factories,” The tall sphere revealed in its manufactured human voice. “They will be finalized once the artificial organ’s blueprint is perfected.”

“Can you finalize them and arm an army before the deadline?” Khan questioned.

“The Kros can arm thousands each day,” The tall sphere promised.

Khan ran out of questions at that point. He had asked everything he needed to ask, receiving answers that part of him was afraid to receive.

That fear wasn’t anything special or profound. It was merely a sign of the undeniable conclusion Khan had reached and what it meant for the universe.

Khan glanced at Liiza, who spoke entire poems through a silent gaze. Khan’s eyes then moved on Lord Envoy, who matched his gaze, conveying resolve. The three didn’t need words to understand each other, but Khan had to voice the order for his scientific division.

“Rally the troops,” Khan declared. “We depart in one week.”