I remained suspended above the ruined moon for several minutes. The unconscious observers remained bound beside me, their bodies held securely in a space lock.
A familiar crimson streak appeared at the edge of my perception.
Silver.
He cut through the vacuum in his giant form, wings slicing through empty space with powerful strokes. Even at this scale, his movement carried a sense of controlled aggression. As he approached, he slowed and shifted, crimson mist folding inward as his larger frame condensed back into his usual winged human form. Several unconscious figures floated in a spatial hold behind him.
He glanced at the crater beneath us and let out a low whistle. "You didn’t leave much behind."
"There was no reason to," I replied.
He shifted his gaze toward the unconscious captives. "Same thing on the other moon. Small settlement under a concealment layer. Central tower. Monitoring arrays. Communication relay. They were reporting in real time."
I nodded once. "I found the same here."
Silver’s expression tightened slightly. "Why two bases? If one was compromised, the other would still report. Or they were cross-verifying."
"I am not sure," I said honestly. "Maybe it was their way of surveillance layering. Or someone wanted confirmation from two independent nodes before escalating. Or there are two different factions who wanted the report."
He tilted it. "Which means they expected interference at some point."
"I think they did," I replied.
Silence lingered between us for a brief second as both of us considered the implication.
My expression hardened. "We will give these traitors to Lyrate. She can pull answers out of them."
Silver nodded without hesitation. "Let’s go."
I folded the space and descended toward the planet once more. The curved horizon expanded rapidly in our view, the violet sheen of my earlier ripple still faintly visible in the atmosphere. Within seconds, we pierced the upper layers and arrived above the capital city I had left intact.
We descended into the central area and released the unconscious captives onto the ground in the open plaza. They remained motionless.
Silver folded his wings behind him. "Lyrate will enjoy this."
"She will," I chuckled.
For a moment, I simply stood there and opened the System interface.
Notifications flooded my vision.
[Level up!]
The first series scrolled rapidly, reflecting the elimination of the Eternals and Upper Transcendents. The increase was not minor. A surge of accumulated experience triggered an abrupt jump.
My level rose sharply.
From the earlier mark, it surged forward and stabilized at 469. The next cascade followed immediately, tied to the large-scale destruction of the breeding grounds, the annihilation of Phantom forces. The jump was violent. My level climbed again.
When the sequence concluded, my status displayed Level 487. Just 13 short of reaching the Saint threshold.
Another notification surfaced.
[Contract Nullified – Enforcement Clause with Hollow Star Terminated]
[Merit Gained: 5M]
I stared at the notification with widened eyes.
A five million merit point contract.
For a brief moment, even I was surprised by the scale of it.
"Hey, System, do you have more contracts I can nullify?" I asked aloud without hesitation.
I let out a soft chuckle and shook my head slightly. "It’s alright. If you need me, you know where to find me."
Then I opened the other notifications.
[Abominations Eliminated – Merit Calculated]
[Main Base Destroyed – Merit Calculated]
[Merit Gained: 3M]
Eight million merit points from a single operation.
I could not deny that I liked that.
A small smile crossed my face. This had been only one production world, one layered trap, one network node. And yet the return had been immense.
There was still more to come. Other bases, other hidden production grounds, other observation posts were scattered across the galaxy. If this was the scale of one dismantled node, then systematically targeting the rest would not only end Hollow Star’s operational capacity but accelerate my own growth at the same time.
I remembered what Amun had asked.
All of my laws must reach Major Level Five. My physical stats must advance from Omega to Pre-Origin.
My soul height must reach three hundred and thirty-three feet. And I must accumulate one hundred million merit points.
Out of the hundred million, I already had acquired 8M.
The coordinates from the lunar relay remained clear in my mind. The network was larger than this single planet. This had been a production world and an observation node. There would be others.
I closed the System interface.
"Now," I said quietly, "we wait for Lyrate to finish."
Knight returned first. A small bird made out of shadows looking like a crow dropped dead in front of me and Silver. Then it burst apart in smoke as Knight stepped out.
Silver looked at him and asked, "Was that dead bird for me?"
Knight tilted his head. "What do you mean?" Silver scoffed in response.
"I have gathered what I could," he said, inclining his head slightly toward me.
"What did you find?" I asked.
"This planet is called Abor," he began. "It is located inside the Core Sector of our galaxy."
My expression sharpened slightly.
"The Core Sector," I repeated.
He nodded. "Yes. Not near the outer conflict lines. Deep inside actually. That is what makes this more concerning."
He continued without pause. "Abor was once classified as a high-level Essence planet. Its atmospheric density and planetary ley lines generate above-average ambient Essence. Historically, it was aligned fully with the Prime Universe and was a planet civilised by the Gulbarian race. An Aqua race actually. They contributed to war efforts during the early Eternal incursions."
"And yet it was listed as destroyed," Knight finished.
"Doesn’t look like a destroyed planet to me." Silver spoke
Knight replied calmly. "Official records show that Abor fell during a major engagement with Eternal forces. The reports state that the planetary core destabilized and the surface collapsed. Long-range scans at the time confirmed massive spatial distortion and debris."
He paused briefly. "It was a fabrication."
"They simulated planetary destruction," Silver muttered from nearby.
"Yes," Knight confirmed. "From what I found in their internal archives, Hollow Star and their Eternal collaborators orchestrated a staged annihilation. They manipulated it all."
"And in reality," I said slowly, "they concealed the planet."
"They did," Knight replied. "Abor is hidden within a dense asteroid belt composed largely of shattered metallic bodies. The belt is artificially maintained. In addition to that, a large-scale illusion field has been established in surrounding space. From outside the perimeter, this region appears as an empty stretch of void."
"A void pocket," Silver said softly.
"Correct," Knight answered. "The illusion is layered with spatial dampening. Ordinary scanners detect only residual war debris. The field also interferes with long-range teleportation targeting, making it nearly impossible to lock onto Abor’s true coordinates unless one possesses internal anchor tokens."
"The star-shaped tokens," I said.
"Yes," Knight replied.
He continued, his tone steady and precise. "Abor was selected deliberately. Its Essence density is high, making it suitable for sustaining breeding operations. Furthermore, the surrounding spatial fabric is unusually thin. That weakness allows Eternals to form stable teleportation corridors with lower resistance."
"So they turned it into a hub," I said.
"More than a hub," Knight corrected gently. "It is a central production and distribution base."
He lifted his hand slightly, and a projection of the planet formed between us, marked with highlighted regions.
"There are twenty-seven major cities distributed across the continents," he explained. "And all of them had a breeding ground for abominations attached to them, which I guess you destroyed."
His finger traced red clusters across the map.
"Ninety-seven confirmed breeding grounds," he continued. "Possibly more in remote zones. These sites were cultivating abominations at scale. The creatures were stabilized, conditioned, and prepared for transport. Phantoms oversaw mutation cycles. Selected specimens were dispatched through portal arrays to other bases across the galaxy."
He looked at me directly. "This planet was not merely housing forces. It was supplying them."
Knight continued. "In addition to biological production, Abor maintained relay networks connecting to other concealed planets."
I folded my arms loosely. "Connections?"
"There are confirmed links to multiple planets within the Core Sector and several in outer sectors," Knight answered. "The portals embedded here are calibrated to fixed coordinates. They require paired anchor devices or synchronized activation from the receiving side."
"So the portals are both supply lines and travel corridors," I said.
"Exactly," he replied. "They allowed Hollow Star leadership and allied races, Nagas, Ferans, Elementals, and others to visit, coordinate, and redistribute resources. From financial records I accessed, Abor also functioned as a strategic meeting ground for high-level operatives."
Silver let out a low breath. "They hid their main base in the heart of our own territory."
Knight inclined his head. "Yes. Abor was considered lost. That made it ideal."
He paused, then added one final detail.
"The illusion field surrounding the asteroid belt also distorts temporal readings. Standard patrol routes would pass through this region without registering gravitational deviation. Unless someone knew exactly where to look, Abor would remain undetected indefinitely."
"Wow, so much effort has been put into this place. Now, I am tempted to use this as our base." I said.