"Damn," I muttered under my breath. "I am speechless."
Xeron snorted softly.
"Speechless? That’s new," he said with an amused shake of his head. "You were always kind of bad with words."
I stared at the old Naga for a moment longer.
A strange sense of relief slowly spread through my chest, something I had not even realized I had been carrying all this time. When Dante died I had accepted it. There had been no other choice. I had buried the memory of that moment and moved forward because there was always another battle waiting. I had accepted that he died saving Steve and North.
But now this old man stood in front of me calmly, telling me that Dante had scattered clones of himself across the entire universe like seeds.
I did not know whether I should praise him for that absurd level of foresight or curse him for never explaining any of this to me earlier.
Part of me even wondered if the real Dante was somewhere laughing at the chaos he had created.
I released Xeron’s hand and leaned back slightly, folding my arms as I exhaled.
My plans had just become far more complicated.
When the Naga fleet arrived, I had intended to establish dominance immediately. The situation demanded it. The Order of Absolute had just taken control of seventy-two bases across the galaxy and every major race would eventually come asking questions. Showing strength early would make future negotiations easier.
But now this...
This was different. This was Dante. Or something close enough to him that I could not simply treat it like a political encounter.
"So?" I said.
Xeron scratched the side of his neck thoughtfully before shrugging.
"Yeah," he replied casually. "Now this just got weird."
His eyes shifted briefly toward the others floating nearby.
"Let’s talk in private."
He turned around without waiting for my answer.
"Xebec. Noman," he called out.
Both Nagas immediately straightened.
"Why don’t we get down on the base and have a proper chat with Mr. Billion."
Xebec stared at him for a few seconds, clearly still unhappy about how the earlier exchange had ended, but eventually he gave a short nod. The tension in the Naga formation eased slightly as the soldiers behind them relaxed their stance.
Moments later the entire group began descending toward the asteroid base. I watched them for a second before glancing toward my own people.
"Aurora," I said, "take care of our guests."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward Xeron and then back to me. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she gave a short nod.
"Of course."
I shifted my gaze across the rest of the group.
"Everyone else follow as well. I will have a chat with General Xeron."
Steve raised one eyebrow but said nothing. North simply nodded while Ragnar cracked his neck loudly as if disappointed that the confrontation had turned into diplomacy instead of a fight.
One by one they began flying downward toward the tower. Once everyone entered the tower, Xeron waved his hand. A thin ripple spread through the air and a pocket space formed around us.
Then his body began to change. The hunched old Naga slowly straightened. Bones shifted, muscles tightened, and the fragile appearance faded away as if it had only been a disguise. In moments the old general was gone.
In his place stood a middle-aged Naga, even younger in appearance than Xebec.
Long black hair fell across his shoulders, and the slight frame from before had been replaced by a powerful body packed with dense muscle.
"Ahh... how long have I walked hunched like that?" he muttered while stretching his back.
His head tilted slightly as he looked around the space from his new height.
"The view from up here is much better."
Then his eyes settled on me. A strange smile appeared on his face.
"I must say... never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the leader of the famous Order of Absolute would be someone I had a small role in raising."
He chuckled softly and shook his head.
"Fate works in very strange ways."
"What memories did you see?" I asked.
"All of them," he replied with an awkward laugh. "Even the bad ones."
He rubbed the back of his neck before continuing.
"Dante and I are rather similar in one aspect. Both of us had terrible luck with the women in our lives."
The humor in his voice faded and his expression gradually turned serious.
"But," he said slowly, "he held an incredibly high opinion of you. No... not just high. Ridiculously high."
His golden eyes studied me carefully.
"And now I understand why."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Not even thirty years old... yet already standing at the boundary of becoming a Saint."
He let out a quiet breath.
"Even in the Prime Galaxy there are very few beings capable of reaching this stage at such an age."
"So are you Dante or Xeron? And how exactly does this clone thing work?" I asked.
"In a way, I am both," he replied calmly. "We share the same memories. The only real difference is the point where the separation happened, when the soul split into different clones. From that moment onward our experiences diverged."
He shrugged lightly.
"But the foundation remains the same. Same personality. Same instincts. Even the same laws."
"As for how the cloning technique itself works..." he shook his head slightly. "Even I don’t know. That particular memory was never left with me."
Xeron paused for a moment, studying me again.
"Anyway, it is truly impressive to see how strong you have become." A faint smile appeared on his face. "Dante always believed you would one day change the entire Blue Spiral Galaxy."
His eyes narrowed slightly in appreciation.
"And now I can see that he was right."
"Well," I said with a small shrug, "I’m just trying to grow stronger. Things just happen along the way."
Then I looked at him directly.
"So why did your fleet actually come here?"
Xeron answered without even a moment of hesitation.
"To take over the base, obviously."
He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"We could never seize it from Hollow Star before. Their bases were protected by the System, and directly attacking them would have triggered system intervention."
He spread his hands slightly.
"But your organization does not appear to have any such system protection."
"So our plan was simple."
His golden eyes sharpened slightly.
"Destroy the base... or take control of it before Hollow Star could return."