Chapter 40: The Emperor’s Secret and the Massive Insect’s Return

After that, Filis discussed other matters with His Majesty the Emperor before excusing himself, claiming he needed to play a game.

As the elder exited His Majesty the Emperor’s chambers, his previously composed expression gradually gave way to a look of resignation.

Reflecting on the question the Emperor had posed earlier, Filis found it hard to believe such a thing could truly stump him. As a teacher, he intimately understood the vast capabilities of his student. To guide a once-mighty but declining empire back to its path of resurgence was no ordinary feat.

It could be argued that the current Emperor’s abilities far surpassed those of the preceding ten emperors. Indeed, to be more precise, this Emperor was a rare ‘progressivist’ in the entire history of the Empire—a leader capable of propelling the Empire into a state of development.

However, the Empire had nearly reached a state of saturation across the entire universe. Any alteration to a major policy or the implementation of a minor one required an exceptionally long time to process.

As the supreme leader of the entire Empire, His Majesty the Emperor naturally needed to grasp its general trajectory. Even with the most advanced artificial intelligence at the Empire Central’s disposal, an ordinary imperial leader would find it challenging to operate the entire Empire with ease.

Consequently, most mediocre emperors throughout history belonged to the conservative faction. They prioritized internal stability and focused on maintaining the Empire’s basic operations.

Yet, according to historical patterns, if an empire remained stagnant for many years, its internal structure would become incredibly fragile. Much like a machine, if not regularly maintained, its continuously operating parts would eventually break down.

Such a colossal empire would ultimately collapse due to the failure of its components.

The current Emperor, by all accounts, was an exceptional ‘cleaner.’ Under his diligent efforts, the Empire’s performance in recent years had been completely revitalized. Should this trajectory continue, he would very likely be recorded among the emperors who made the most outstanding contributions to the Empire’s development.

Filis had initially believed this to be true. However, one day, he suddenly stumbled upon another mystery. Through quantum technology, human scientists seemed to have discovered certain indescribable entities. His Majesty the Emperor was keenly interested in this matter.

Yet, Filis knew this was a domain humans should not touch. Therefore, he used the pretext of taking over this research to subtly sabotage it, ultimately scuttling the entire research project.

When the Emperor subsequently inquired about the issue, Filis deflected His Majesty’s questions with the excuse of ‘unobservable, unalterable.’

His Majesty the Emperor was clearly not content, seeking deeper research findings. But Filis soon slipped away from the Empire under the guise of an ‘inter-universal tour,’ going into hiding within various minor star systems and nebula alliances.

His Majesty the Emperor likely suspected his teacher was concealing something. Although His Majesty had not been as aggressive after bringing his teacher back, this still allowed Filis a small measure of relief.

What Filis did not know, however, was that after his departure, His Majesty the Emperor secretly allocated a portion of his funds to establish a new investigation team. This team then initiated a fresh round of research without Filis’s knowledge.

Thus, while the surface appeared tranquil, undercurrents of turmoil secretly surged.

Far away in the Cosmic Desert, the massive insect was tallying its dwindling supplies.

“How much time has passed?”

Although the items it had devoured included many ‘clock-like’ objects for recording time, the massive insect had not bothered to record this aspect of technology, nor had it kept track of how long it had been since leaving human-inhabited space.

For the massive insect, time was simply too abstract, simultaneously existing and non-existent. There was no need to remember it. The only thing that mattered was the amount of food stored.

The resources of three star systems were indeed immense. However, compared to the appetites of its children and its own occasional irresistible urges to snack, these provisions were still insufficient.

Seeing its stored supplies gradually nearing depletion, the massive insect ultimately decided to lead a portion of its children back to human worlds to forage.

After assessing the strengths of its children, the massive insect decided to take some of the stronger ones out with it to forage. Weaker children required more food but were also more fragile, and the massive insect felt extreme heartache at the loss of even a single one of its offspring.

Therefore, adopting the most cautious approach was the best solution at present.

Having made its decision, the massive insect swiftly gathered a group of children whose strength had reached the third to fourth tier. It then activated the Quantum Anchor Point it had previously hidden. Though the anchor was embedded within the wormhole it had gnawed open, the collapse of a wormhole posed virtually no significant threat to itself.

It inherently possessed a certain immunity to the damage of cosmic space. Why it possessed such power, the massive insect itself did not understand; it was simply born this way. Perhaps this was what they called talent.

As the insect pondered this question, it leisurely opened the Quantum Gate and plunged through.

Because it brought only a few children this time, the massive insect passed through the Quantum Gate extremely quickly. Upon emerging, it specifically checked the surrounding wormhole for any signs of damage.

Evidently, there were no traces of damage, nor were there any spaceship航道 in the surrounding space. This indicated that the other party had given up the pursuit after seeing it enter the Cosmic Desert.

Indeed, choosing to venture into the Cosmic Desert had been the correct decision. Compared to hiding and pursuing in ordinary cosmic space, the Cosmic Desert was far more terrifying. In places not even recorded on star charts, once one journeyed deep into the desert’s expanse, the surrounding silent darkness would swallow all entering creatures and spaceships.

Presumably, even if the other party utilized the warships of that so-called Empire, they would not dare to undertake such a risky endeavor.

Based on the human souls it had devoured, the massive insect had inversely analyzed human leaders. The result was clear: the individual who had become the leader of the Alliance by achieving great military feats through expelling pirates would never do something so contrary to their own interests.