"...." Robin slowly turned his head to the side, his movement almost exaggerated in its sluggishness. "Excuse me?" he said, his voice calm yet laced with curiosity. Then, a puzzled smile formed on his face as he tilted it slightly. "ApologiesâI sometimes struggle with my hearing, especially when Iâm not expecting absurdities. Why donât you repeat that request one more time, just to be sure?"
"I wonât repeat my words," Hedrick replied, his tone gentle, almost polite, but with a firmness that couldnât be ignored. "You might not have reached the level of a World Cataclysm yet, but Iâm confident your hearing is still sharp enough to catch the gist."
"No, no, that wasnât sarcasm. I genuinely think I misheard," Robin insisted, waving his hand in a confused manner as if swatting away nonsense. "Because if Iâm not mistaken, it sounded like you were asking me to hand over a fourth-grade planetary displacement gearâ
permanently
?"
"Thatâs correct." Hedrick gave a small but decisive nod.
Robin blinked twice, shook his head, then let out a short, bewildered laugh. "No no, hold on. I donât think you understand what youâre asking. Let me rephrase the question to see if weâre truly on the same page... Are you talking about
that
exact gearâthe one I bought for 5.6 billion pearls, despite you telling me you barely have two billion to your name? The one that you and I both know I critically need for a very near-future operation? That same gear?"
"The very one." Hedrick nodded again, as calm and unapologetic as ever.
Robinâs mouth twitched into something between a smirk and disbelief. "Werenât you planning to transfer your seed only after ascending to the Mid Sector? I could get you one of second stage. Heck, even third if you ask nicely. Seriously, donât you have someone else to pressure and manipulate today? Or am I your designated victim?"
Hedrick merely shook his head with quiet composure. "I already possess five first-grade planetary gears, three of the second grade, and one of the third. But I have a specific purpose in mindâso I need one of the fourth stage or higher, and nothing less."
"..." Robin stared long and hard at the man beside him, studying him with an intensity that made the silence uncomfortable. Finally, he sighed and leaned back a little. "Heh~ Alright then. Why donât you go ahead and start listing your threats?"
This time, the surprise shifted to Hedrickâs face. He raised his brows, clearly not expecting the turn. "Pardon me?"
"Let me be clear, so we donât waste any more of each otherâs precious time," Robin said with cold finality. "Iâm not giving it to you. Not now, not ever. Even if you paid me three times its value, itâs still a no. End of story."
He narrowed his eyes. "So if youâve got a threat to make, spit it out now. Then Iâll respond with my own threatsâabout what Iâll do to
you
if you so much as try to act on yours. After that, we can both walk away and get back to our lives. I actually have important things to deal with at the moment."
"...?" Hedrick blinked, then, for the very first time since Robin laid eyes on him, the man let out a hearty, genuine laugh. "Haha, youâre truly an interesting person," he said, clearly amused, tilting his head slightly in Robinâs direction. "But are you saying my threats wonât have any effect on you? Iâm finding that rather difficult to believe."
"Try me." Robin shrugged, entirely unfazed. "Iâm not even going to mention the shard I carry in my soul domain. What will you do? Destroy Jura? Nihari? Go ahead. Obliterate them if you must. My children and I are spread across the stars now. Instead of a single empire, Iâve founded three. No, I havenât reached the World Cataclysm Realm yetâbut I have legions of followers and loyal servants. Maybe Iâm just a mouse in the eyes of a Nexus Being, but Iâve bought more than a few of them myself. Maybe Iâm a speck of dust compared to a Monarch... but I have one protecting me."
Robinâs eyes gleamed with unwavering certainty, the kind that could only come from someone who had clawed his way out of death itself.
"Today... what threat could possibly scare me? The last day I was truly vulnerable was that damned, cursed day. And your sister failed. She couldnât erase me. Now? Iâm fuckinâ immortal. That Chapter has already closed."
This was one of the secret truths behind his strategyâwhy he had scattered his empires, split his children among the stars. The terror of that day had seared itself into his soul. He had feared above all else that his civilization would be annihilated, that every one of his offspring would be wiped from existence, and nothing would remain of their legacy. But now? Now, that fear was obsolete.
Whatâs the worst that could happen today? That
he
gets killed?
Let it be so.
His kids, his armies, his peopleâthey would avenge him. Whether in ten hours or ten centuries,
someone
would rise and burn the stars for his name.
"Haha... Now thatâs a convincing argument," Hedrick nodded slowly, a note of real respect in his voice. "Youâre right. A tiger doesnât let himself get cornered in the same spot twice." He smiled faintly. "And I have no intention of doing such a thing."
"...?" Robin raised a single eyebrow, then turned his head slowly back to the side. "What is it now? Are you trying to negotiate a deferred payment plan for the planetary gear or something?"
"Since the choice ultimately rests in your hands," Hedrick replied smoothly, his tone casual yet deliberate, "I figured I should present the full scope of the problem to you first. Then, youâbeing the wise and elevated figure you areâcan tell me how to proceed. What do you say? A Great Truth Chosen like yourself might be the only one capable of seeing a balanced path forward."
He clapped once, softly, with a faint, almost diplomatic smile.
"...." Robin kept his gaze fixed on his host for several long seconds, the silence thick between them. Finally, with a faint nod, he gestured for him to continue.
Anything that could delay a direct conflictâeven temporarilyâwas worth trying. Maybe, just maybe, one of his children would avenge him if he were to fall today, but frankly... it would be far preferable if he
didnât
die at all.
"Good," Hedrick said with a faint nod, his expression easing a bit. "Letâs hope this becomes a meaningful exchangeâone that helps both of us walk away with something of value. If we can reach even a partial understanding, Iâd consider it a win."
Then, he turned his eyes forward again, staring out over the edge of the balcony at the breathtaking sight before them: streaks of meteors launching upward from the lower atmosphere, piercing through the thick crimson clouds above like cosmic spears, glowing with intensity.
And after a pause, he began to speak again.
"When it comes to how high-ranking figures from the Mid-belt interact with the civilizations in the Young Belt... things arenât nearly as straightforward as most assume. Thereâs no fixed law or universal agreement that restricts our contact with them. The only hard line is thisâweâre not allowed to annihilate the planets themselves.
Aside from that, itâs all gray zones and shifting policies."
"..." Robin narrowed his eyes, confused by the sudden abstract direction of the conversation.
"A great number of planetary kings, emperors, and even rogue elites choose to drain the Young Belt instead of supporting it. The poorer among them take a very direct routeâthey descend upon a planet, make contact with its people, and convince them that he is a divine, transcendent entity to be worshiped. Then, through manipulation and coercion, they force them to hand over everythingâresources, offerings, even people.
But the wealthier and more ambitious ones? They play the long game. They
invest
. They provide the planet with limited tech, selective guidance, and just enough power to let them build armies and start conquering neighboring planets. It becomes a cycleâthe more they conquer, the more they send back to their patron. And thus, the master grows stronger without ever lifting a blade himself. These types are given a specific title:
Overlords
."
"But thatâs just one layer of the bigger picture," he continued, his voice steady and measured. "Then you have the Stellar Academies, who wander the Young Belt endlessly, scanning for outbreaks of the Plague. If they find something large enough, they deploy extermination squads without hesitation, wiping the infestation and everything near it.
And then there are the High Lords and the Behemothsâthe true monsters of the belt. Those ones donât even bother coming themselves. They send elite scouts, or entire fleets of Stellar Surveyor Ships, hoping to discover something valuable.
It could be anythingâa meteor rich in celestial ore, the corpse of an ancient void beast, or even the exposed heart of a long-dead world. Whatever holds value, they claim it."
Hedrick shook his head, his tone hardening slightly.
"For people like usâthose who possess a respectable degree of power and influenceâ
that
is the safest, most practical path to take. Starting a planetary empire from scratch, watching it grow inch by inch, waiting years for it to mature enough to offer you some scraps of tribute? Itâs slow, frustrating, and almost never worth the investment.
And if you do decide to back a growing empire, genuinely believing theyâll remain loyal and join your faction when they ascendâwell, youâll probably end up spending more on them than youâll ever get in return. But if you leave them too weak, and they resort to looting and savagery to survive? That shame, that backlash, falls on
you
. Your name gets tarnished, your alliances crumble, and your enemies grow bolder."
"..." Robin nodded slowly, his expression unreadable.
He couldnât even remember the exact number anymoreâhow many fortunes heâd poured into
The True Beginning
, No, even the Cradle and Grave Empires.
And in return?
Nothing. Whatever profits and loot they won canât come close to what he invested.
Well, he did invest for power and stability, but still... how many can do that?