He sighed heavily.
"You really have no foresight," he said. "Making the Nagas your allies in this galaxy would be far more beneficial for you in the long run."
"Of course I plan to do that," I replied.
"But not by giving away something this valuable."
I smirked slightly.
"What you will get instead is our help dealing with your rifts."
Xeron’s expression shifted slightly.
"What is a measly headquarters compared to saving millions of Naga lives, General?" I continued casually. "I’ll propose that arrangement to your Matriarch."
He blinked.
"Damn it," he muttered. "You do have some brains after all."
Then his expression turned slightly annoyed.
"But you won’t be able to meet the Matriarch."
"Why not?" I asked.
"She’s gone to the Crimson Zone."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "She too?"
Then I tilted my head slightly.
"By the way... what exactly is this Crimson Zone?"
Xeron scoffed.
"You can go explore it yourself. I have no information about it."
"I think you do," I said.
He looked at me flatly.
"Even if I did, I wouldn’t be sharing it."
His tone carried clear irritation.
I shrugged slightly.
"Fine. One day I’ll find out on my own."
I paused for a moment before adding calmly.
"Until then, I’ll just keep getting stronger... strong enough that your Matriarch will have to come out and meet me herself."
Xeron stared at me for a second before a grin spread across his face.
"Big ambitions."
He nodded slowly.
"Alright then. We’ll leave your base."
Then, suddenly, he changed the topic.
"You know Azalea, right?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why don’t you come with me to meet her?" Xeron said. "She was looking for you."
That caught me slightly off guard.
"She was?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "Something about you saving her life."
He shrugged casually.
"You should visit her. You’ll also get a chance to see the Naga capital."
I considered it for a moment before shaking my head.
"I’m glad she’s doing well," I said. "But I can’t come with you right now. I still have things to take care of."
Then I smirked slightly.
"Tell her she should wait for the day when a silver glow descends upon the Naga planet."
Xeron blinked. Then he stared at me with an amused expression.
"So brazen."
He chuckled.
"But I like that."
"Alright then. It was nice meeting you, Billion."
He paused before adding,
"I won’t go meet Steve and North right now. But do explain the situation to them for me."
His eyes narrowed slightly with interest.
"And when you eventually come to meet us... I’ll have a proper conversation with them as well."
I nodded.
For a moment neither of us spoke. Xeron gave me one last look, something between curiosity and amusement, as if trying to measure just how far I would go in the future.
Without another word, he turned and descended. As he reached the lower levels, the other Naga officers and soldiers began emerging from inside the tower where they had been waiting. They quickly regrouped around their general, exchanging brief signals before moving toward their crafts.
Xebec and the Naga woman gave me a serious look before moving into their crafts.
Engines hummed softly as the fleet aligned itself. Moments later space rippled, gateways opening ahead of them. The ships accelerated and slipped into the vortexes, disappearing into the void until nothing remained but the empty stars.
A few seconds later all my summons, Steve and North flashed behind me, their gazes fixed on the direction where the Naga fleet had vanished.
"So how did it go?" Knight asked.
"Well... it was surprising actually," I said.
All of them looked at me as I briefly explained the real identity of General Xeron and what I had learned during our conversation.
Steve’s eyes widened.
"He is Dante?" he said in shock.
"He’s not Dante, technically," I replied. "More like a clone of the original Dante."
Steve frowned.
"How many clones does he even have?"
"No clue," I said with a small shrug. "Maybe millions... or maybe only ten. Hard to say."
I shook my head slightly.
"The man is honestly a complete mystery."
North had remained unusually quiet through the entire conversation.
I glanced at her.
"North, what’s wrong?"
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
But after a moment she added quietly,
"It’s just... he’s not Dante."
Her eyes were distant.
"He only saw the memories. He didn’t live through them with us."
I exhaled slowly and nodded.
"Yeah, I agree with you on that."
For a few seconds none of us spoke.
"Anyway," I continued, "they won’t be bothering our bases. I’m fairly sure about that. Xeron seemed like a smart man. He won’t come poking around after what he saw today."
I looked toward the distant stars.
"But the same can’t be said about others."
My gaze shifted to my summons.
"Which is why each of you will go and stand guard at one of our bases in the main sector."
Ragnar’s ears twitched with excitement.
"Whether it’s other races or rogue groups," I continued calmly, "ask them once to leave."
"And if they refuse..."
I paused slightly.
"Kill them. Destroy everything. We’ll remain on Abor for a month and stabilize the situation on all bases."
All of them nodded. Ragnar cracked his knuckles with a wide grin while Lyrate stretched her fingers as if warming up for a fight.
Afterward we returned to the headquarters on Abor.
Inside the command dome, my summons had already begun arguing among themselves about which base each of them should guard. Holographic maps floated in the air while Ragnar and Knight pointed at different sectors, debating which locations were most likely to attract trouble from rival races or rogue groups. Ash silently observed the entire discussion.
I left them to their planning and walked toward the far end of the chamber where General Kharzun, Primus, and Saleos were waiting.
"Thank you," I said as I approached them. "For helping us during this entire operation and for lending your people when we needed them."
General Kharzun smiled.
"No, we should be the ones thanking you."
He gestured toward the star map floating in the room.
"You granted us access to the three bases around our headquarters. That alone allows us to monitor Eternal movements far better than before."
His expression turned warm.
"And it is our fortune that we were able to become friends with you... thanks to Primus."
"If you ever need more manpower, more soldiers, or any other kind of help, don’t hesitate to reach out," Kharzun continued. "The Demon Monarch isn’t here right now, but once he returns I’m certain he will invite you for a celebration. He will be very pleased to know that you helped his people during such a difficult time."
I nodded with a faint smile.
"Sure. No problem. I’ll come if needed."
My gaze then shifted toward Primus.
Kharzun chuckled lightly.
"We’ll give you two some privacy."
"Come, Saleos," he said.
The two of them stepped outside the dome, leaving Primus and me alone.
I looked at him for a moment before stepping forward and pulling him into a brief hug.
"Man... I miss the days we used to spend together," he said with a laugh.
I chuckled.
"How is your daughter doing?"
His face softened.
"She’s doing great," he replied. "Now that her mother is back, things have settled down."
He paused before continuing.
"I haven’t told her everything that happened, but her mother has been behaving well. So... things are good now."
"That’s good to hear," I said.
Primus nodded.
"And our secret intelligence organization is developing quite well too. We’ve started expanding to nearby planets."
His eyes moved toward the star map.
"But with access to these bases... I think we can expand even further."
I nodded.
"Make the arrangements. Use them well."
Primus looked at me carefully.
"Do you really want me to look after all seventy-two bases?"
"Yes," I replied without hesitation. "That would help a lot."
I folded my arms.
"We won’t be staying here forever. Soon we’ll have to move out and start fighting bigger battles."
"Closing large rifts. Challenging stronger enemies. Taking the fight to people who think they’re untouchable."
A faint smile appeared on my face.
"If the Order of Absolute is going to grow, our name needs to spread far and wide."
Primus nodded slowly.
"Alright. I’ll handle it."
Then he sighed.
"But I still haven’t received my quest."
"I know," I said. "I haven’t received the quest for my next rank-up either."
I paused for a moment.
"But don’t worry. I think you’ll get it soon."
Primus nodded.
But inside my mind, a different thought crossed my mind. If I ever got the chance to communicate directly with the System again...I would ask why Primus still hadn’t received his quest.