Chapter 31: The Inevitable Surrender

The entire scene concluded with a colossal beam of light flashing through space, followed by the impossibly massive cosmic creature taking its triumphant steps.

Witnessing this, the hall erupted into chaos. They had never imagined that their trump card, their ultimate weapon, would inflict absolutely no damage upon the terrifying cosmic creature.

“Silence,”

Odinxis’s calm voice echoed through the hall, quieting every argument. All eyes turned to their leader, their squabbles ceased.

“Initiate Phase Two of the plan.”

Having delivered this terse command, Odinxis simply closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and turned away, speaking no further.

‘This… sigh…’

Everyone intently observed Odinxis’s reaction, a profound sense of loss welling up within them. Yet, they could not fault him. As the current leader of the entire Alliance, he was the one who had propelled them to their highest stage of development, and now he had to abandon it all. His heart surely ached more than anyone else’s.

In truth, they were all mistaken. Odinxis’s heart was, at that moment, abnormally agitated.

He had never truly expected the Alliance to possess the capability to defeat this Zerg organism. The main cannon was merely the most minuscule of all their hopes. If one were to truly consider the Zerg as recorded in historical texts, combined with his own research in cosmic biology, it became clear that the Alliance’s current technological prowess was utterly incapable of posing any threat to a mature-grade Zerg.

If they truly wished to eradicate that cursed creature and confront its physical form, surrendering to the Universal Empire was likely their only recourse.

Indeed, the Empire’s power had far surpassed the imagination of all other minor alliances. With its current strength, the Universal Empire could likely crush five or more civilizations of their caliber.

If they could secure intervention and support from the Empire, then capturing this particular creature would undoubtedly be a trivial matter.

After a moment of collective hesitation, all the high-ranking officials tacitly accepted Odinxis’s proposal. They then dispersed from the hall, returning to prepare for the post-surrender cleanup.

The first order of business was to apprehend all the fugitives who had escaped from the Empire. Given the Empire’s immense scale, even though the Imperial Special Forces were almost omnipotent, there were always a few cunning individuals who would slip through layers of concealment to other fringe star system alliances, adopting new identities to start fresh.

These individuals were often recorded by the Alliance authorities, serving as future bargaining chips—proof of their sincerity when they eventually pledged allegiance to the Universal Empire.

Indeed, almost all minor star system alliances operated this way. The universe was complex; sometimes, even with their advanced technology, they would encounter crises they couldn’t handle. At such times, surrendering to the Universal Empire was the only option. With the exception of a few small, advanced civilizations whose strength genuinely rendered imperial assistance unnecessary, this unwritten rule existed in virtually every alliance.

Naturally, this was also why the Empire was too lazy to deploy troops to eradicate such a vast expanse of minor alliances.

After all, if these alliances ever truly faced a major crisis, the Empire only needed to charge a processing fee to resolve the matter, thereby bringing the alliance under its wing. Deploying troops, however, would incur war expenses, appeasement costs, and various miscellaneous expenditures. It was simply too complicated, and the profits might not even outweigh the cost of waging a war. Given its already colossal size, expanding its territory further would only prove to be a futile burden, and the Empire had no desire to undertake such thankless, arduous tasks.

From the Empire’s perspective, these minor alliances were merely encountering trivial issues that could be resolved with a small sum of money, though in their eyes, such issues represented utter catastrophe.

The chasm of technological advancement often created such terrifying disparities in perception.

It was akin to how history textbooks described ancient humans battling floods, requiring incredibly brave warriors to use their bodies and sandbags to hold back collapsing dams. In the current era, all water resources on Earth were under government control. Water levels could rise or fall at will, making it difficult to imagine how previous eras had coped. Consequently, many Imperial citizens often jokingly referred to those from minor alliances as ‘ancient people.’

Fortunately, discrimination within the Empire was not particularly severe. However, when a leader went to surrender their government, they had to take their entire leadership team for an audience with the Emperor.

Though everyone was accustomed to the term ‘Emperor’ under the Universal Empire’s influence, Odinxis still felt a slight unease. In his mind, ‘Emperor’ was a title used by the ignorant, super-ancient peoples of a bygone era to refer to their leaders.

They would listen to their every word, revering them as gods. ‘What damned gods? Nonsense.’

After all, current technology had not found any evidence to prove the existence of superhumans or the influence of higher-dimensional beings; it was all merely fabrication. Yet, the existence of a ruler like the Universal Emperor perplexed and troubled a great many historians. Even if it was a feudal restoration, it was terrifyingly complete.

Rumor had it that all scholars who went to an audience with the Emperor would, if favored by His Majesty, be retained in significant positions within the Universal Empire. Those scorned by His Majesty would be banished from the imperial palace, forever barred from participating in Imperial politics.

They all shared one consistent trait: when asked about the Emperor’s character, they would always evade the question, or worse, openly display fear or furiously storm off. Such behavior only deepened the mystery surrounding His Majesty.

Thus, Odinxis’s intense desire regarding the massive insect was now slightly overshadowed by his curiosity about the Emperor.

“Lord Odinxis, the surrender and request for aid envelopes have been dispatched.”

Upon seeing his adjutant return with the report, Odinxis nodded coolly.

“Are you truly willing to relinquish your current position and embrace the Empire’s fold?”

“My dear friend, you witnessed the monster’s power yourself. It is simply beyond the Alliance’s capacity to resist. If we were to stubbornly persist, the only outcome would be complete assimilation by that cursed creature.”

Odinxis sighed, rising from his seat. He unpinned the medal from his chest and placed it on the table.

“We have no other path.”

“Understood…”

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