Published at 22nd of December 2025 7:16 am

Chapter 1865 The Grand Celebration

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In the twenty-sixth year of the last fifty years, Hedrick -who had just returned, driven by a raging, unrestrained fury, Hedrick who felt he no longer had anything left to mourn- erupted through the sector like a storm, a violent, vengeful force that seemed almost beyond human comprehension. His return alone sent tremors across the star systems, for everyone could sense that this was not the same Hedrick who had departed; this was a man carved anew by grief, wrath, and purpose.

After destroying Guardian Skorvian's armada, the balance of power simply ceased to exist. The cosmic order that once governed the conflict shattered like fragile glass. Now Hedrick had three armadas, vast and disciplined formations that answered only to him, while the allies were reduced to merely two battered armadas: one with Zaryon himself, and the other under a different Monarch from the Cursed Galaxy-each struggling to maintain order within their panicked ranks.

After the allied armadas had previously fallen into a state of stagnation - treating the locals harshly, stealing resources, establishing temporary colonies while waiting for reinforcements that never seemed to arrive- Hedrick's relentless attacks forced them back into space, shattering their morale. This time the tables had turned completely, with a decisiveness that stunned even neutral observers across the sector.

Now it was the allied forces who had to move constantly, terrified that Hedrick might catch them! Every signal they received, every blip on their radars, every faint energy fluctuation became source of panic. They retreated from system to system, no longer acting like conquerors but like prey desperately fleeing a predator far beyond their capacity to resist.

These allied forces, who were originally meant to be 6000 fleets, and were then reinforced by 1000 additional fleets from two galaxies along with two Guardians and two Monarchs... now the survivors were running across the sector like stray dogs, aimlessly, with no strategy or dignity left. They drifted in a strange and humiliating condition-one that made the sector's inhabitants lift their heads toward the skies in sheer astonishment, unable to believe that such mighty armadas had been reduced to fleeing shadows.

This chase continued for nearly an entire year, a long and exhausting pursuit across every major route and corridor in the sector, during which Hedrick hunted them without pause. He drove them from nebula to nebula, system to system, until he finally forced them into the boundary zone between Sectors 101 and 102.

There, cornered and terrified, they fled into the open region -an area filled with dangers, spatial storms, wild anomalies, and ancient ruins- simply out of fear of Hedrick.

It became one of the most astonishing scenes of the era, repeated across countless transmissions and historical records.

With this, it was officially declared that Hedrick was the victor of this war.

He had not only defeated the invading forces- he had killed and expelled every enemy of the sector!! His name echoed from one civilization to another, spoken with awe, fear, and gratitude.

Of course, everyone knew it was a symbolic victory, for in another year an army would arrive that he could never hope to withstand... an army so vast that even Hedrick's ferocity would not be enough.

Yet despite that, the Millennial Empires still organized a grand celebration of Hedrick's victory, in open defiance of Bright Galaxy, as if declaring to the cosmos that they stood with him regardless of the consequences.

At that celebration, Hedrick publicly announced that he was fighting for the entire sector, and that he wished to help its people-whether through funds, manpower, or equipment. Behind closed doors, he met with the six Millennial Emperors and requested a new military deal similar to the previous one, but this time at lower prices, leveraging both his recent victories and the mutual benefit his strength brought them.

The game was now out in the open, and anyone with a mind understood that this was no longer a personal war. Hedrick formally requested their participation in the conflict-if not with their armies, then with equipment, resources, and long-term logistical support. It was a political maneuver that shifted the entire sector's dynamics.

And indeed, Hedrick succeeded in purchasing 50 fleets from each of the six empires, along with a massive armament and supply package costing 4.5 billion, giving him a fourth armada of 300 fully equipped fleets, complete with trained soldiers, modern weaponry, and comprehensive arsenal reserves. The six empires even took upon themselves the responsibility of maintaining all of Hedrick's existing armadas in their own shipyards or replacing damaged vessels! It was a staggering, unprecedented show of support.

Not only that-several Centennial and multi-planet empires also offered to sell fleets, eager to align with the rising power Hedrick had become. From them, he gathered an additional 300 fleets for only 3.8 billion, granting him a fifth armada as well, expanding his military strength to heights no one had imagined even a few years earlier.

This was not everything Hedrick gained from the celebration.

Several powerful commercial entities-massive conglomerates that had long dominated trade across the Middle Belt- joined forces and presented Hedrick with something truly exceptional. It was not a military deal, not a fleet or a weapon, yet it held a value no less significant than acquiring two full armadas. Their offer was subtle, strategic, the kind of offer only those who understood the deeper mechanics of war would consider priceless.

They proposed taking all the Pearls that had been drained dry from his cannons, all the Pearls whose internal essence had been exhausted. They would store, tend to, and recharge them at their own pace no matter how many years, decades, or even centuries it required- but immediately replace them for Hedrick with fully active, fully energized Pearls, entirely free of charge!

Pearls, unlike fragile energy stones or the liquid energy essence, do not vanish or shatter into dust after use. They do not lose their existence. Instead, they merely dry out, entering a dormant state where they instinctively begin absorbing energy from their environment to revive themselves. But depending on the region, the atmosphere, and the strength of ambient energies, this natural recharging process could take as little as five years, or as long as a full

century.

For this reason, impatient factions, especially those engaged in continuous warfare, often purchased eight active Pearls for ten dry ones-and sometimes at even more cut-throat, exploitative rates, such as six active in exchange for

ten dry.

Every major commercial power in the sector relied heavily on these exchanges. It was one of their most stable and profitable revenue streams. They would collect the ten dry Pearls, place them into specialized energy arrays intricate structures capable of saturating Pearls with controlled energy- and within ten years or so, they would have ten fully restored Pearls.

A simple and brilliant profit cycle.

This meant the buyer began with only six Pearls, but after ten years, those six would become ten, all without the buyer doing anything at all.

But for Hedrick, everything was different. For him, the deal was one for one, a perfectly even exchange that is unheard of. All the major commercial entities in the sector had united specifically to grant him this privilege. And instantly, nearly 1.4 billion Pearls from Hedrick's armadas were swapped for fully active onesblazing with fresh energy.

Hedrick never expected anything like this. During the celebration, he found himself looking around with a strange mix of disbelief and wonder- astonishment at such generosity, gratitude toward their gesture... and a faint, bitter sense of disdain as well.

They all knew he was fighting on behalf of every one of them. They all knew the brutal truth: it was only bad luck that he happened to be the one chosen as the spark that heralded their inevitable doom.

And yet, despite this, they preferred to empower him, to push him back into the battlefield stronger and fiercer, rather than join the fight themselves. Perhaps living under Kaylis for so long had drained the will to fight out of them... perhaps they were simply too accustomed to fear. Hedrick sighed and shook his head that night. Equipment support was still better than no support

at all.

And the good news did not end with the celebration's aftermath.

Eight months later, another reinforcement arrived-60 Note fleets, a mixture of second- and fourth-generation models collected from three different empires. They had been formally requested by the Shadow Swords to expand Alexander's armada, bringing it up to 200 fleets in total.

Along with these fleets came several World Cataclysms and Nexus State experts from all of the True Beginning Empire's branches, their arrival causing

Caesar and Aru to erupt in fury and disbelief.

Those sixty fleets-this towering armada of 200 Note-class fleets- was

enough to place a genuine smile on Hedrick's face, even if only for a few

seconds.

He now commanded five full armadas:

Four armadas of 300 fleets each, totaling 1200 fleets, and at their head a Full

Note armada of 200 fleets, bringing the grand total to 1400 fleets under his

direct authority.

And he alone commanded them- he, the sole individual present with the might

of a Monarch. But even then, the streak of good news had not yet reached its end.

For a month later, just days before the arrival of the cursed Darvion's forces...

someone unexpected, someone truly significant, arrived in Sector 101 of the Middle Belt.

Helen had come.

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