Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2512 The Resentful

Tyrant Galaxy—

Intares was sitting silently upon his throne with his eyes closed, seemingly unmoved despite the enormous changes that had swept across everything around him.

His interlocking galaxy had been completely turned upside down by everything happening outside, just like every other artificial galaxy caught in the aftermath of those changes, or rather, just like the entire vast expanse of the universe itself.

For everyone throughout the universe, this had become a time to open old ledgers and carefully review every account, a time to reconsider their circumstances and determine their own fate according to the new reality before them, and most importantly... a time for abundant hunting, with opportunities appearing everywhere at once.

The state of advancement that every old planet throughout the universe was currently undergoing demanded an entirely new reassessment, along with a temporary period of seclusion so that every power could thoroughly explore what had changed on its own planets, determine exactly how the influx of primordial energy and cosmic dust had transformed them, and discover what new treasures or unusual phenomena might emerge as a result.

And then there were all those enormous new expanses and newly revealed galaxies that had suddenly appeared. They were vast, empty lands that seemed to have emerged from nothing itself, untouched territories stretching across the universe and waiting for new settlers to arrive and claim them.

All the personal wars that had previously raged throughout the universe had stopped almost immediately. One empire seizing a planet from another, another empire driving its rival out of a contested starfield, old forces fighting over pieces of territory that had once seemed extremely valuable... all of that had quieted down at once without the need for treaties, negotiations, or meetings. Everyone understood perfectly well that those previous struggles had suddenly become child's play compared to what had appeared before them, and that they needed to turn their attention toward the newly emerged wealth instead.

As for the catastrophe ten thousand years from now and the question of which side they should eventually join? Well... before worrying about any of that, they first had to become strong enough to survive until then. That matter would have its time when its time finally came.

That, of course, was merely the general picture visible throughout the universe, because every galaxy and every empire still had its own private agenda hidden beneath that common reaction, along with either some personal disaster that had befallen them because of what happened or perhaps some tremendous gain that could completely alter their future.

And what had befallen the Tyrant Galaxy was unquestionably a disaster, one that struck directly at something they had relied upon for a very long time.

The moment the buffer zones were shattered and disappeared, the Major Space Gates that utilized the seventh degree of the Fundamental Path of Space became almost entirely useless compared to the importance they had possessed before.

Without question, this had been one of their largest, easiest, and most direct sources of income. They didn't need to dispatch inspectors across distant territories, nor did they need to manipulate complicated arrangements or interfere with anything else to collect their share; these gates were under their direct control, and payment for using them was both immediate and enormous—100,000 pearls for a single trip, while hundreds or even thousands of such journeys took place across the universe every single day.

The constant travel of the Soul Society's instant representatives serving distinguished clients was enough on its own to demonstrate the scale of that income, as those people alone spent incalculable sums every single day merely to move quickly enough to satisfy the needs of those clients.

Besides that, the empires themselves hadn't generally relied on ordinary Space Gates for transportation in the first place, instead preferring to depend on spacecraft whenever possible in order to reduce their expenses. Those who truly relied on the gates were merchants, adventurers, and perhaps members of the upper class who possessed enough wealth that they simply disliked wasting their time waiting through long journeys.

Both of those streams had now almost completely dried up at the same time, leaving only a fraction of the demand that had previously existed.

After the destruction of the buffer zones and the removal of the obstacles that had made travel throughout the universe so troublesome, ordinary Space Gates and spacecraft would be more than sufficient for most transportation needs.

Of course, some journeys across the vast reaches of the universe would still take several days aboard spacecraft, especially when compared to the extraordinary speed of the Major Space Gates, but even enduring a journey of several days was preferable to paying 100,000 pearls merely to purchase a ticket for a single person.

Did that mean the Major and Minor Space Gates had now become completely useless and no longer possessed any value whatsoever?

Of course not. Major Space Gates could now transport virtually anyone to almost any location throughout the universe in a nearly instantaneous manner, replacing journeys that might otherwise have taken years, while Minor Space Gates would still remain a useful and convenient alternative for individual journeys, particularly for anyone who didn't possess a fast spacecraft of their own.

...But for a galaxy that had benefited so enormously from their previous importance, that wasn't nearly good enough.

Not for a galaxy that, until only a few hours ago, had controlled a tremendous portion of the economy of the entire universe and benefited enormously from the importance of those gates.

Everything would have to change from this point onward. They would have to make extensive use of the countless relationships they had accumulated over the years in order to prevent or at least restrain the developments currently taking place, and they would have to wage many wars against any party that attempted to discover, establish, or promote alternative methods of travel that could further reduce the importance of their gates.

They would also have to deal directly with the Soul Society and find a way to force them to continue dealing with the Tyrant Galaxy as they had always done, rather than allowing their enormous daily expenditures to disappear along with the old transportation system.

There was simply too much happening at once, too many matters that required immediate attention and too many wars already being prepared behind the scenes, wars whose purpose would have nothing to do with old grudges or territorial disputes and would instead be purely economic...

...But all of that could be left to the children and the economists who would have to deal with those matters themselves.

Intares was sitting on his throne with his eyes closed for an entirely different reason, his attention clearly focused on something far removed from the economic disaster unfolding around his galaxy.

Hum.

At that moment, a green sphere emerged directly from Interas's forehead and floated several meters away from him before gradually manifesting into the shape of a luminous man.

The body of light was broad-shouldered and enormous, with thick strands of heavy green light cascading down across his chest and back. Even as he stood there with his arms folded across his body, the details of the thick muscles covering his upper arms could clearly be distinguished through the luminous form... yet no matter how one looked at him, it remained impossible to make out the actual features of his face.

The luminous man immediately turned around toward Interas, looking down at him from above before speaking in a sharp tone that carried no trace of warmth:

"What do you want?"

"We haven't met in a long time," Intares slowly opened one eye as he looked toward his guest. "At least pretend that you missed seeing me."

"Why don't you pretend to show some respect yourself, human, and kneel as you should?" The luminous man raised his head slightly as he looked at the still-seated Interas. "You haven't even stood up yet... Your insolence truly knows no bounds."

"Our original agreement included neither standing nor kneeling," Intares replied calmly, showing no intention of changing his posture merely because of those words. "You help me dominate the universe and guarantee me a safe path to the Land of Final Shelter, while I ensure a humiliating defeat for B-14 during this cycle that sends it dozens of ranks backward... Our agreement wasn't about anything else."

"What do you want?" the luminous man repeated, raising his voice slightly as his impatience became more obvious.

He had known from the very beginning that he would hear this kind of drivel from a human who wasn't worth even the throne he was currently sitting upon, so rather than wasting any more time listening to him speak about respect and the terms of their old agreement, he spared himself the trouble and asked directly from the start what Intares had summoned him for.

Enduring such insignificant creatures was necessary throughout the duration of the cycle, and tolerating their behavior was simply part of what had to be done until that period came to an end, but afterward....

"I want an explanation." Intares raised his voice slightly as well, his earlier calm beginning to weaken. "When you explained the situation to me, you said that the key to victory was for me to control the economy of the universe and destroy it, and to kill any Master Law user who reached the second degree, except for users of the Law of Truth, whom I could ignore until they reached the fifth degree... You, His Excellency the Resentful, told me that if I did all of this, the mission would be completed easily and with certainty!"

"Of course." The other luminous man, the Resentful, raised his head a little higher, while the irritation within his voice also increased noticeably. "What did you ruin, Interas? Speak clearly."

"Me?" Intares finally rose from his throne, but the reason he stood wasn't respect for the being before him in the slightest. It was anger.

Then he calmly waved his hand, causing a recording formed entirely from light to appear before them... It showed Robin shouting directly at Billy about trust, reproducing the scene Interas wanted him to see.

"...." The Resentful looked increasingly puzzled by what was being shown to him, his indistinct brows furrowing as he continued watching, while what little patience he had brought with him rapidly began to run out.

Then, while he continued staring at the recording, he heard Interas' voice coming from beside him. "By the way, this person is only a fourth-degree Law of Truth user."

"Congratulations." The Resentful replied sarcastically without taking his attention away from the broadcast. "That human is certainly good at shouting, but what exactly am I—"

At that moment, the luminous man's expression abruptly fell and darkened as what was happening in the recording finally changed into something that demanded his full attention.

Robin had shouted about destroying the buffer zones and immediately begun pouring enormous amounts of Transcendent momentum directly into the Spacetime fabric, quantities vast enough to make what the Resentful was watching entirely different from the meaningless shouting he had dismissed only moments earlier.

Amounts... that no human should possess.