Chapter 22: Interception in Quantum Space

As time slowly elapsed, the spacecraft had already spent a full day traversing quantum space. While passengers aboard such a vessel rarely needed to exert themselves, remaining confined to a single seat for an entire day invariably led to a profound sense of weariness, both mental and physical.

A significant part of this fatigue stemmed from the inability to connect to quantum servers via game linkers while within the quantum channel.

Moreover, the quantum realm precluded any external network connections. Consequently, passengers on these flights typically prepared a variety of diversions in advance, anticipating the need to fill an entire day.

Naturally, a long nap was always a viable option.

This was precisely the case for the young man and his teacher.

His teacher, strictly prohibiting any games apart from quantum acceleration, deemed all others pointless distractions that merely eroded time and willpower. Thus, the only acceptable form of entertainment available to the young man aboard the spacecraft was reading.

‘Damn these history and philosophy books.’

Naturally, web novels were forbidden, save for academic studies of the genre’s evolution or analysis of wildly popular works. In his leisure time, however, such entertainment was strictly off-limits. And as for those cursed history and philosophy tomes, the young man found himself drifting to sleep after merely a glance.

‘Perhaps it’s better to just sleep then.’

Donning his eye mask and turning over, the young man mimicked his teacher’s posture, falling into a slumber in his own seat.

Just as the young man was lost in sweet dreams, an abrupt and jarring disturbance shattered the tranquility, jolting him awake.

“Gentlemen! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“My dear, calm yourself. Examine our credentials. This individual is wanted by the Empire. Do you have any further objections?”

As the young man slowly opened his eyes upon waking, he immediately noticed his teacher, who had been sleeping in the adjacent seat, was gone. The blanket that had covered him lay disheveled on the floor. Standing beside it were several figures in tight black uniforms, their waists adorned with gleaming weapons. Upon closer inspection, the weapons appeared to be etched with Imperial script.

The young man’s mind sharply cleared. The Imperial text inscribed upon those weapons read:

“Specialized Equipment.”

If those characters had been etched in the script of any other star system, he wouldn’t have been so alarmed. However, carved in the unified Imperial script, these four words carried a far more ominous connotation.

Imperial Special Forces.

This designation referred specifically to the Empire’s special operations unit, tasked with handling all matters—both grand and minor—that concerned the Empire across the vast expanse of the cosmos.

Naturally, this implied they possessed absolute authority throughout the universe, wielding an unyielding and utterly irresistible power!

For when they exercised their authority in the cosmos, they did so as the embodiment of the Universal Empire—a power simultaneously feared and revered by all sentient life.

Yet, this very department, notorious for its virtually unrestrained dominance across the universe, had now appeared on a small spacecraft in such a remote region. And their target was just one individual.

An elderly man, seemingly well past his prime?

“Tea… Teacher?”

The young man opened his mouth to speak, only to discover that no sound would emerge from his throat. It was then that he noticed a small metal patch affixed to his larynx. He recognized it as one of his teacher’s various tools, its original purpose unclear, but now inexplicably applied to himself.

Only at this moment did the young man recall his teacher’s instruction before boarding the spacecraft: no matter what commotion occurred, he was not to make a move. It was as if his teacher had foreseen everything.

Helplessly, the young man watched as his teacher was escorted away by the figures. His teacher’s gaze never once shifted in his direction, from beginning to end, as if the two of them had never met, now complete strangers.

Adhering to his teacher’s clear instructions, he naturally remained still. His teacher had a wise saying:

“No matter when or where, no matter what transpires, your first priority must always be to calm yourself. Impulse readily clouds your judgment, and until you grasp the full truth of a situation, refrain from making any definitive conclusions. Every single one of your assumptions could very well have been deliberately planted by someone.”

Hot-blooded impulsiveness would only exacerbate matters.

Especially when dealing with the Imperial Special Forces.

Even without his teacher’s direct command, the young man felt utterly incapable of confronting such a formidable entity as the Empire.

After the spacecraft landed, the men escorted the teacher to the edge of the spaceport’s parking area. There, they boarded a specialized black armored vehicle, which then sped away, vanishing from the young man’s sight.

Staring blankly at the receding vehicle, the young man collapsed powerlessly onto the side of the spaceport road.

Meanwhile, on another front,

The WER Star System Alliance had already mobilized its armies, equipping them with the formidable, virtually invincible super-cannon. This mighty force was now majestically heading towards the coordinates on the star map, specifically to the ruins of a destroyed star system.

Although designated as ruins, the fleet encountered no planets throughout their journey. The cosmic expanse before them was utterly barren, leading many to believe they had strayed into a galactic desert.

Curiously, however, the star map still indicated their position as being within a star system. Upon witnessing this anomaly, the accompanying engineering designers swore under their breath before deploying radar to conduct new spatial scans of the surroundings, gathering data to correct the star map’s coordinates.

Crafting star maps was inherently a meticulous task; even the presence or absence of a single planet in space could drastically alter cosmic navigation routes. The sudden discovery of such a massive void in the universe left the engineers convinced that their future hair loss was now inevitable.

After a period of further travel, the fleet finally reached the reported coordinates.

An empty expanse of space.

Nothing at all.

“Damn it, wasn’t it supposed to be here?! Where’s the star?! Where are the Zerg?!”

The supreme commander of the massive fleet glared at the void outside the viewport, his initially eager—no, fervent—heart now feeling as if a bucket of ice water had been dashed upon it.

A technical supreme commander, standing beside the supreme commander, adjusted his glasses slightly as he offered this explanation. “A technical analysis of the surrounding space indicates that the evidentiary images and video footage are indeed authentic. This means that, until recently, a star and the Zerg mentioned in the reports did exist at this location. Their current disappearance suggests only one possible cause.”

“I understand what you’re implying,” the supreme commander interjected, “but is that truly possible?”

The supreme commander fixed the technical supreme commander with an incredulous stare. This individual was the leading figure among all the Alliance’s engineers, possessing an immense breadth of knowledge and experience. Yet, hearing such an utterly outlandish hypothesis, the supreme commander couldn’t help but voice his doubts.

Nevertheless, the other engineers collectively shot the supreme commander a dismissive glance before diligently commencing their cosmic spatial scans.