Chapter 453: Ch
Going forward, Kallus stated that, during this time, everyone should stay away from speaking about the Federation and its existence until they were united within one territory. Only then would it be made public.
"If word gets out before then, the consequences will be severe for everyone in this room."
Kallus warned everyone and said that he hoped they would all remain quiet and secretly build up their strength.
Saying that, he explained that some trouble was inevitable. The trade among them would eventually become visible to anyone who paid close attention, and once that happened, encountering trouble would not be difficult.
His words made many frown their brows and even break into a slight sweat.
But then he said something that made everyone sigh in relief while, at the same time, feel a bit panicked—not for themselves, but for the Celestial Void Empire itself.
For what Kallus said next was something far, far bolder, to say the least.
"But don’t worry, everyone," Kallus spoke as he eyed everyone for a moment, ensuring they all paid close attention. "To ensure that you all have enough time to make preparations against the expected pushback for allying with us, my Empire will soon launch a counteroffensive against the Orc Race located near my territory. The Azura Imperium will also be our partner in this campaign.
After we have completely destroyed the Orc Race and taken over their territory, we will launch another counteroffensive, this time directly targeting the Star Empire head-on and with our full force."
There, Kallus paused as he observed each and every person seated around the table. Seeing how tense they had all become, he nodded approvingly to himself before continuing.
"We will not stop until we have fragmented the Star Empire as a whole."
"And we won’t stop there. After that, we will follow up and attack while supporting two of our member states here. Well, if we think about it carefully, it would actually be three—the Legion of Dark Angels, the White Moon Wolf Empire, and the Dark Sun Empire.
Together, we will bring down the White Holy Angel Empire and the Blood Moon Empire, and we will only stop when these two Empires have ceased to exist."
With that, Kallus didn’t speak further and simply drummed his fingers on the table.
The other leaders looked at him speechless and with terrified expressions, so much so that many gulped down their own saliva. Kallus had dared to say something so enormous.
Even Alice of the Titan Race was stunned. The same went for Lord Lucifer, ruler of the Legion of Dark Angels, Magnus, ruler of the White Moon Wolf Empire, and the military councilor of the Dark Sun Empire, who had come here to ask the Celestial Void Empire to supply them with a larger consignment of warships and weapon systems.
But who knew that before they could even bring up the matter, Kallus would utter such astonishing words?
After the initial surprise, however, came a surge of excitement among the three leaders. Having witnessed the strength of the Celestial Void Empire’s defense fleet, they became even more excited just imagining what it would be like to fight alongside its main battle fleets.
The three leaders could already see the future blinking before their eyes. They saw themselves crushing their long-standing enemies with overwhelming force while fighting together with the Celestial Void Empire. The mere thought of it filled them with excitement.
The others, however, were worried.
They feared that the Celestial Void Empire might fall if it truly acted in such a manner. Such bold actions would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention as well as fear from countless powers.
And fear could very well lead to those powers gathering together with a single purpose—to eliminate the Celestial Void Empire and, along with it, every partner that stood beside it.
Because of that, a few panicked at that moment, and one of them even dared to speak.
"L-Lord Kallus, everyone... I think doing that would instead be counterproductive to your pure intentions. Such a level of display of strength could attract unwanted attention towards us and even provoke a response from many parties joining together, which would achieve the exact opposite of what we want.
"So... so why not pause the attack against the Star Empire as well as the other Tier 2 Empires? Or even if attacks were to happen, completely erasing them should not be considered, right? Such genocide could make the storm even harsher for us."
The one who spoke was a Tier 2 power belonging to a deer-specific race.
This species was known throughout the galaxy and even the universe as one of the most peaceful races, a race that always wished to stay away from galactic struggles and bloodshed.
But the laws of the universe were cruel. Not participating in the struggle was a death sentence in itself—something the Deer Race only came to realize after witnessing the massacre of their own people. Only then did they begin building their strength.
Yet, as the saying went, some inherited principles died hard.
Peacefulness was in their blood and bones. No matter how much they suppressed it, it would still surface at some point.
And this was exactly one of those moments.
That peaceful nature had once again made them forget the cruelty of the world and had developed into a deep-seated fear of the powerful. Despite possessing considerable strength themselves, they dared not confront stronger powers with their full force. Instead, they would always try to talk their way out of conflict.
Saying that the Green-Horned Deer Race was a soft Tier 2 power was no joke.
Because of that, no one got angry over his words. They had seen this coming the moment Kallus spoke about annihilating the two Empires and their races altogether.
Still, there was something that a few didn’t agree with, and they voiced their opposition without mincing their words.
"This is where you are wrong, Lord Orenai.
"The reason Lord Kallus wants to attack is to give us enough time to make our preparations and, at the same time, give the Federation enough time to build itself so that it can support us during our difficult times, should those enemies arrive as we expect them to.
"And even if people and powers were to form an alliance against us—which, in itself, is far harder to accomplish than it is to simply say—we wouldn’t have to fear them.
"I don’t believe such a thing will easily come to pass. After all, the interests of every power are different. To gather them together, someone would have to provide enough benefits for them to take the risk of fighting the Celestial Void Empire.
"By the time they finish thinking, negotiating, and preparing to attack, we would have already gained enough strength to make them fear the Federation’s newfound power once again.
"That would rebalance the situation and, in turn, give us even more time to continue building our strength."
"It is just as Lady Naia said, Lord Orenai.
"I suggest what you should be worrying about is how you will stabilize the internal situation of your own power once outside forces begin creating pressure on it, and prepare for the exchanges as per our discussion.
"That is what you should be worried about and thinking of. Even if something worse were to happen, it would happen to us much later than it would to the Celestial Void Empire."
The one who spoke was Vulkun of the Fire Spirit Empire.
The Fire Spirits were a unique race of the galaxy and were considered exceedingly rare throughout the universe.
They were among the most valued races by countless galactic powers and empires because of their unique racial abilities, which allowed them to accelerate the growth of fire-based Heaven and Earth spiritual plants, as well as naturally generate fire-element materials of exceptional quality.
Hearing this, Orenai looked at them all. He wanted to speak, but he wasn’t able to clearly put his thoughts into words. Ultimately, he swallowed everything he wanted to say, as the words of the two people made sense to him. Not to mention that the others also seemed to agree.
Even Kallus himself nodded before giving Orenai a glance, causing him to shudder and abandon the thought of speaking any further.
Seeing that no one else had anything more to say, Kallus continued.
"This operation should buy us anywhere between two to five months at most. During that time frame, I expect none of you to slack off and that every resource-based demand made by the Federation be met, provided they have paid for the procured resources.
"And no one should lose their vigilance. These are the times when things can quickly go sideways, and when that happens, without any preparation, you can all guess what would happen to the unfortunate."
Everyone there nodded their heads heavily.
Seeing that, Kallus stood up from his chair, and with that, the others did as well.
