Published at 5th of May 2026 7:31 am

Chapter 2129 Company?

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"...Didn't you ever consider taking someone with you?" Robin asked seriously. If the Cosmic Elder brought even a single person along with him, even someone weaker, and that person contributed in fighting the space beasts, it would grant the Cosmic Elder a wider margin to advance, even if only slightly at first.

And with every additional person he brought, that margin would grow larger and larger, stacking over time into something meaningful. Such companionship would allow the Cosmic Elder to gradually shift his focus, until he could dedicate most of his strength solely to fighting ancestor-level space beasts, the true obstacles standing in his path, and that was exactly what was needed for progress.

"Taking someone with me? Hehe." The Cosmic Elder let out a strange, almost mocking chuckle, "Do you happen to have a handful of them prepared for me?" "What do you mean?" Robin frowned slightly, his brows knitting together, "You're the Cosmic Elder. With a single announcement, you could gather all the heads of the cosmic academies, not to mention the Behemoths and the leaders. of the stellar academies who would volunteer to go with you without hesitation."

"What would I do with them?" The Cosmic Elder waved his hand dismissively, as if brushing away something trivial, "Didn't you see what happened when I threw that girl Althera and her deputy against just a small group of mature space beasts?"

"They barely managed to scatter them by fleeing in different directions, and when they emerged from the passage again, they were in a miserable, half-broken state."

Then he continued, his tone growing colder, carrying a trace of

disappointment, "They can't even kill mature space beasts on their own. What would I do with them? Take them with me, only to abandon one or two behind every time a group of mature beasts appears? How many of them do you think would die before I make any real progress?"

He waved his hand again, more firmly this time, "No, no... let them stay here and deal with the universe's problems as usual. That suits them better."

"..." Robin felt that he couldn't find the right words to respond immediately.

Exploring beyond the barrier had been the Cosmic Elder's dream for countless years, something he had pursued relentlessly, and yet even now, he still refused to sacrifice his subordinates for it, no matter how tempting the goal might be.

"Then why not take Athena with you?" Robin asked after a brief pause, his tone more thoughtful, "The distance you could cover wouldn't just increase, it would expand drastically. You'd most likely reach the other side if you had help like hers."

The Cosmic Elder's problem wasn't just the lack of energy, but also his solitude in a place filled entirely with enemies and nothing else. That kind of isolation could wear down even someone like him over time, affecting him mentally more than anything else.

"Athena?" The Cosmic Elder shook his head slowly, "I met Athena a long time ago. Back then, she had fully recovered, completely restored to her peak. She had enough power to make a dough out of me easily in my state back then, and if I tried to fight her within the primordial chaos, she wouldn't even break a sweat before killing me."

Then he paused briefly, his gaze lowering slightly, "...Why do you think she's still sitting there?"

"You mean at the center of the universe?" Robin frowned again, clearly trying to piece together the implication.

"Yes." The Cosmic Elder nodded faintly, "She's a domineering woman who once enslaved Behemoths, someone who stood at the very top, and now she's healed. There must have been a shift in her power, a growth that made her even stronger than she was before that incident..."

"So why is she still hiding?" he asked again, his voice quieter but sharper.

Robin remained silent for a few moments, thinking carefully before answering, "...Are you saying she's afraid to appear?"

"Perhaps." The Cosmic Elder replied briefly, his tone neutral, "She's a proud woman. Maybe she's still embarrassed by that grave mistake and her loss that day against a nest of space beasts, and she's truly afraid... not of the space beasts themselves, but of facing people again after that failure."

Then he raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression turning more contemplative, "Or maybe she simply doesn't care about any of that, and is instead planning something far bigger... something we can't see yet."

"Her seclusion at the center of the universe, of all places, isn't something that can be dismissed as meaningless or accidental."

Then, without breaking his rhythm, thud, he played a card onto the table.

"Can't you verify it?" Robin asked, his tone firm and serious, his gaze steady as if he had already considered the consequences, "If she's afraid, you can reassure her... and if she's planning something, then you should stop her before it develops into something uncontrollable."

Thud Robin played the next card without hesitation, placing it onto the pile with a controlled motion, leaving only a single card in his hand.

"... May I ask how am I supposed to do that?" The Cosmic Elder looked at Robin with a strange expression, as if he couldn't quite process what he had just heard, then slowly straightened his posture and spoke in a mocking, exaggerated tone, "Hello, Athena, are you afraid or plotting something?" Then he suddenly raised his voice and shouted at Robin, "How exactly do you think that meeting would end, for heaven's sake?!"

"Hey, don't shout at me. I'm just giving you options." Robin frowned slightly, clearly displeased by the reaction, "I meant you could investigate her from a distance or something like that, not walk straight into her face like an idiot." "Impossible." The Cosmic Elder waved his hand dismissively, his expression turning serious again, "I can't enter her stronghold without her knowing about it." Then he spoke more slowly, emphasizing every word, "...and by her stronghold, I mean the entire Primordial Chaos region, not just a single location."

Then, thud, he played another card, his movements returning to their earlier

rhythm.

"...I don't want to risk going to her and exposing the passage to her, only for her to destroy it, monopolize it, or worse, enter it again and cause another disaster that we can't contain." The Cosmic Elder spoke seriously, his voice low and heavy, "I can't imagine that woman willingly coming with me like a close pal in the face of danger. That's not how she is."

"You have a point." Robin nodded slightly, acknowledging the logic, then cast a strange sideways glance, his eyes narrowing just a bit, "What about Sevar? Take him with you. It's obvious he's been feeling bored lately, and someone like him

would at least be useful."

"Hehe, are you worried about him being bored?" The Cosmic Elder laughed in his distinctive, almost echoing manner, clearly amused, "Do you want me to take Sevar with me to help me... or because of what he's been doing to you

lately?"

"..." Robin narrowed his eyes in annoyance, his expression darkening slightly, then raised his last remaining card and threw it down carelessly, as if he no

longer cared about appearances.

Then, almost instantly, a look of sudden delight spread across his face when the card flipped over and he saw its face clearly, his eyes lighting up, "I won this

round, haha!!"

"What?" The Cosmic Elder's mouth opened wide in disbelief, his earlier composure completely breaking. With a quick glance, he identified the card, then leaned forward slightly, "Whaaaat?"

The card had no number on it at all, only the image of a king seated upon his throne, radiating a strange sense of authority.

The Cosmic Elder pointed at it, his finger trembling slightly, "What exactly is

that supposed to be?!"

"It's... the Seated King card," Robin said with a raised eyebrow, his tone completely natural as if nothing was wrong, "Whoever plays this card wins the round no matter how bad their situation is, no conditions attached."

"How is this the first time I'm seeing it?" The Cosmic Elder said in shock, clearly

unable to accept what he was hearing, "And secondly, 'Seated King"? Couldn't you come up with a better name than that?!"

"What do you mean?" Robin slammed his hand on the table with force, the sound echoing slightly, "Are you accusing me of cheating again?" "You are Cheating itself!!" The Cosmic Elder threw all the cards onto the table in anger, his patience finally snapping, "How did you do it, you little bastard? Did you use the Master Law of Creation to invent a new card again just to

win?!"

"...Delusions." Robin chuckled lightly, clearly enjoying the reaction. "You-!!" The Cosmic Elder was just about to reach out and grab Robin's hair

again, his hand already halfway forward-

But-

Whoosh

At that exact moment, two shadows rapidly approached the mountain at incredible speed, cutting through the air like streaks of light, instantly drawing the attention of both Robin and the Cosmic Elder and interrupting their argument mid-motion.

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