Chapter 463: Ch
Choose a suitable star system within it and start the groundwork without delay.
And by that, I almost forgot—prepare to integrate the conquered territories soon. We will be welcoming a huge influx of humans from those regions into our fold. What you need to do to stabilize, settle, and secure them afterward is something I shouldn’t need to tell you, right, Prime Minister?"
He fixed his gaze on Narendar, waiting for the veteran statesman’s confirmation.
"Naturally, my Lord," the Prime Minister replied with a respectful bow.
Kallus nodded his head, greatly pleased with the reply. He then looked down at the Red Empress in the well area below. As she looked back up at him, he raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry, to which the Empress gave a slight shake of her head. Kallus gave a final nod in response.
This silent exchange went entirely unnoticed by the others in the chamber. After all, it was merely a subtle nod and a shake of the head—what could that possibly tell anyone? They wouldn’t have thought twice about it even if they had noticed.
Meanwhile, Kallus, having received the answer he was looking for, addressed the assembly. "Then that is it, gentlemen! This concludes today’s military council meeting. This council is hereby adjourned."
Just as those words left his mouth, the Red Empress struck the gavel. Kallus stood up as the gavel fell three times, exiting through the main door. The moment he departed, the military higher-ups followed suit, leaving the council chamber and dispersing toward their respective administrative buildings within the massive complex to tackle their own shares of the work. Others rushed to prepare for the monumental workload that would soon land on their departments.
Time was of the essence, and they moved as fast as they could. This included the Prime Minister, who, upon checking his quantum watch, immediately contacted his secretary.
"Have all the interior council members rush to the interior council chamber quickly! If they cannot make it in five minutes, have them attend via holographic projection. But I need every single one of them—specifically the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Equipment Procurement, and the Minister of the Starship, Weapon, and Defense Forging Department," the Prime Minister ordered in a single breath, practically jogging as he spoke.
"U-under stood, Prime Minister!" his secretary stammered, momentarily bewildered by the sheer urgency before quickly snapping back to reality. "I will contact each councillor and minister immediately and have them rush to the chamber!"
With that, the secretary quickly cut the communication, immediately rallying the entire secretarial department under his command to work at full force. They contacted the ministers’ personal secretaries directly, urging them to get their respective councillors and ministers to the interior council chamber without a moment’s delay.
"No! No matter what Councillor Duck is doing, you go in there and tell him this is a direct order from the Prime Minister and the Emperor himself! His absence at this moment would be a massive problem!" one of the senior officers of the secretariat barked into his communicator, completely cutting off Councillor Duck’s secretary, who had been trying to explain how busy his boss was.
"But—wh—what—"
The officer didn’t even let him finish, speaking with brutal finality. "This is an order from the Emperor, do you hear me? The Emperor! Whose matters take precedence? Councillor Duck should understand that, unless he wants to be held in contempt of the throne!"
Gulp.
The secretary shuddered on the other end, his throat dry as he stammered, "I—I will go and have Councillor Duck move ASAP."
"You had better do that. You only have four minutes at most left." With that, the officer abruptly cut the communication and immediately dialed another number, moving down his high-priority list.
Meanwhile, Councillor Duck’s secretary stood rooted to the spot. He looked through the glass toward the outer terrace, where Councillor Duck could be seen relaxed, chatting with a middle-aged man of a similar age. The two were casually playing a game of chess, laughing and talking about some ongoing business.
That other man was a representative from the Dominic family—a rapidly rising family faction originally hailing from the Propus Super Star System, also known as the Immortal Fall Star System, located in the inner region of their territory.
Having recently joined the elite strata of the empire, they had become one of the newly established families to successfully run a company dealing in the highly profitable field of combat mechs and smaller-class starships, following the blueprints and standards set by the ten supreme champion-built elite corporations.
The Dominic family’s influence was expanding rapidly. Just a couple of days ago, they had struck a major manufacturing deal with a few Tier 3 factions who had no choice but to turn to them, given the sheer backlog and maxed-out production lines of the top ten super-corporations.
And since the entire Immortal Fall Star System fell directly under the administrative jurisdiction of Councillor Duck, it was only natural that the two men shared a very close relationship. While nothing openly illegal was happening on the surface, their ties were undeniably deeper and far warmer than a standard administrative connection.
The secretary had secretly known the Councillor had strictly ordered him not to disturb them. But this situation was quite literally a matter of life and death; he couldn’t just stand there and disregard an order handed down directly from the absolute highest authority in the Empire. Gritting his teeth, he popped the door open and stepped out into the courtyard. The moment his feet touched the stone, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Councillor! Urgent telegram from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat! The Prime Minister has ordered all Councillors to gather in the Interior Council Chambers immediately, by the direct decree of the Emperor! Everyone’s physical presence is a absolute must!"
Duck, who was already furious the moment the door clicked open, had stood up with a red face, fully prepared to throw a massive tantrum at his secretary for disturbing him a second time. But he instantly froze.
"By decree of the Emperor?" Duck repeated, his voice cracking as cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.
The secretary, seeing his boss’s dazed and terrified expression, quickly pressed on. "And we don’t have much time, Councillor! About three and a half minutes at most. We need to hurry and leave right now!"
"W-Wha—What?!"
Councillor Duck’s entire body shook. Then, right before the astonished eyes of both the secretary and the head of the Dominic family, the heavy-set Councillor did something completely unexpected: he bolted.
"What are you standing there for?! Come with me, quick!" Duck yelled, practically flying past his secretary in a desperate sprint.
The secretary quickly snapped out of his daze and ran hot on the heels of the Councillor. The two of them scrambled into their private high-speed shuttle, which immediately blasted off into the sky, rushing toward the council chambers. Fortunately, they weren’t too far away, and with the flying shuttle’s extreme, high-tier velocity, they would make it just in the nick of time.
Meanwhile, back on the terrace, the head of the Dominic family stood completely rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the empty chessboard, utterly dazed by how fast the powerful Councillor had vanished.
Incidents like this were not uncommon across the capital today. In fact, several other Councillors who were currently out on business across the Celestial Void Planet realized they wouldn’t make it to the physical chamber in time. They had to frantically log into the meeting virtually via high-priority holographic projections while their physical shuttles screamed through the atmosphere at maximum burn.
But in the end, when the final seconds ticked away, every single one of them had successfully connected or sat in their seats. A collective, silent sigh of relief swept through the room, saving their skins. They knew all too well that they could be many things, but lax in their duties was not one of them. If anyone was found lagging or negligent under the Emperor’s direct summons, the punishment was unimaginably severe.
The offender wouldn’t just be demoted; they would be exiled to one of the most extremely dangerous, hostile sectors within the Universal Domain. Before being thrown in, their cultivation power would be forcefully suppressed by three entire major levels. To make matters worse, they would be fitted with the dreaded Undying Armor.
This horrific piece of technology would never allow the wearer to die; the moment they were on the absolute brink of death, the armor would trigger, generating an impenetrable shield to protect them from the vicious beasts that had just mauled them.
The armor would then aggressively heal their broken bodies back to full health. But the moment the healing process was complete, the protective shield would vanish, leaving them completely vulnerable to be beaten to a half-dead state by the beasts all over again. The cycle would repeat endlessly—an eternal loop of agony.
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