Published at 20th of August 2026 7:41 am

Chapter 2345: Failed investment

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"You’re giving me an opportunity?" Hedrick revealed a broad smile, the corners of his mouth rising with unconcealed amusement as though he had just heard the most entertaining statement since waking from his seclusion. "How thoughtful of you."

"...If it were anyone other than you who kept mocking me like this, I would’ve either walked away or killed them by now," Robin declared in an even, composed tone, showing no trace of anger despite the repeated ridicule. "But I’ve invested far too much in you to lose you so easily, and abandoning that investment before reaching its intended result would simply be wasteful."

"You’ve invested in me?" Hedrick frowned, unable to hide his skepticism. "You’ve done me one favor after another, I’ll admit that, and I’ll repay every one of them soon enough because I don’t intend to owe anyone indefinitely. But saying you’ve invested in me is a bit much. I was already powerful when we first met, and I haven’t gained anything because of you since then. My cultivation, my understanding, and my path were already my own."

"You’re still breathing." Robin tilted his head slightly, speaking as though he were merely stating an obvious fact. "That’s something you wouldn’t have been able to do if I hadn’t helped you during your war. Without my involvement, none of the ambitions you’re describing now would’ve mattered, because you wouldn’t have survived long enough to pursue them in the first place."

He then let out a quiet sigh before continuing, his voice remaining patient despite Hedrick’s disbelief. "In any case, when I talk about investment, I don’t simply mean pouring money into someone or making them stronger so they’ll owe me a debt or anything like that. To me, investment is about achieving different outcomes depending on the person. Every individual has a different value, a different role, and therefore a different return worth pursuing, so the method and the objective naturally change from one person to another."

Robin spoke calmly, as though explaining an ordinary principle rather than revealing his own philosophy. "Take Kaylis, for example. I treated her poorly at first, then I invested in her and her family afterward so she’d become indebted to my son and serve as a good mother-in-law for him. She sees him as the savior of her family. Even if she hates me personally, she’ll dedicate herself to protecting him, ensuring his happiness, and watching over him without hesitation because that’s where her gratitude now lies. That’s Kaylis’ value now. She lives to be a good mother-in-law, and as long as she fulfills that role, my investment has achieved exactly what it was meant to achieve."

"Then there’s Arkial the temporal... I invested in him by building formations, purchasing his products, and improving them, all for a single purpose: securing an ally against Zargul. Every deal, every resource, and every favor had a clear destination from the very beginning. But now Zargul has already been sentenced to death, and I no longer need such an ally. I no longer have any reason to keep investing in him or trying to satisfy him with money and deals. Arkial no longer has any value in that regard. If he refuses to follow orders and act wisely, I’ll crush him just as I would anyone else, because once the purpose behind an investment disappears, continuing to pour resources into it serves no rational purpose."

"Then I invested in Zavaros through an enormous deal to pull him out of the chaos of Mid Sector 101 and turn him into a source of pressure against Darvion, after you failed to accomplish anything of real value and left me with no better option. But now that I’ve already sentenced Darvion to death, Zavaros no longer has any value either. That meant I had to bring him under control by force. He would either listen to the voice of reason or the voice of the sword, because once negotiations cease to produce results, only authority remains."

"And then there’s you..." Robin pointed at Hedrick without the slightest hesitation. "I’ve invested a great deal in you because I intended for you to become my sword, someone capable of standing where I couldn’t and accomplishing what I chose not to do myself. But you’re far too slow. You couldn’t keep up with me, nor with the pace at which everything around us has changed. I can watch every bit of that investment slipping away before my eyes, and I have only one remaining chance to save it—to make you powerful enough to become my sword. If you can’t become that, then you have no value. You’ll remain here until those one hundred and five years have passed, only to emerge into a world completely different from anything you ever imagined, where everything you believed to be stable has already changed beyond recognition... you will wake up to MY world."

"...?" Hedrick looked at him in profound disbelief, his brows knitting together as he tried to process Robin’s entire line of reasoning. "Are you actually admitting with your own words that you’re nothing more than a despicable materialist with no friends or allies?"

"I’m materialistic? I am the material itself." Robin replied with obvious irritation, his brows knitting together as though Hedrick’s conclusion had genuinely offended him. "Every single one of you allies desires something from me, whether you admit it or not. Did you partner with me because of my charming looks? Or did Arkail go fight Zargul because he believed in my cause and wanted to protect my ideals? Every one of you has your own objective from the very beginning, so why shouldn’t I have one as well? The difference between me and my allies is that, after a while, every one of you becomes nothing more than dead weight dragging at my feet instead of helping me move forward."

He then pointed directly at Hedrick without lowering his hand. "While I continue moving forward, you and the rest remain standing exactly where you are, like stones lying motionless at the bottom of a river, unchanged no matter how violently the current flows above you. What’s even worse is that none of you even try to change the way you deal with me as time passes. You continue demanding the same level of appreciation, respect, and consideration you received in the past, as though nothing has changed between us. You keep taking from me without giving anything meaningful in return. What a pathetic partnership... and what pathetic allies."

He slightly raised his head, his voice growing calmer as though he were explaining a conclusion reached after countless disappointments rather than venting frustration. "That’s why I decided to make this journey. I no longer need more allies or partners—I want loyal followers. Those are the people who’ll actually help me on my path to subjugating Universe B-14, because they’ll move in the same direction instead of pulling me backward. As for allies, partners, and investing in their personal problems, disputes, ambitions, and endless complications... none of that interests me anymore. I’ve matured. I’ve come to realize that those trivial matters hinder far more than they help. They increase my burdens, consume my time and attention, and ultimately leave me carrying responsibilities that produce nothing of equal value in return."

Hedrick’s eyes trembled with anger. Certain things Robin had said in the middle of his speech had completely eclipsed everything else, to the point that the rest of the conversation barely registered in his mind. Every word Robin uttered felt like a blade driven into his chest, not because of its hostility alone, but because Robin was saying those things with complete conviction rather than out of momentary anger. "Me...?" Hedrick muttered, his eyes opened as wide as they could. "...I’m a burden?"

"You bastard, you’re the greatest burden of them all." Robin raised his voice slightly, no longer bothering to soften his words. "Your problems with Zavaros and his sons disrupted my communication with them, and you’ll become another problem if you decide to join me now that Zavaros has already sworn his loyalty." Robin began counting them off one by one with his fingers. "Because of you, I started off as Helmor’s direct enemy, and now I can’t even approach him to reconcile our differences, understand his position, or find out who’s supplying him with those astonishing technologies that appeared out of nowhere."

He raised his voice even further, his tone growing noticeably sharper. "Because of you, and because of your idiotic dream involving Verilion, Mid Sector 101 was thrown into chaos, the Behemoths were dragged into open war far earlier than they should’ve been, and rumors about the Cosmic Elder spread everywhere throughout the surrounding sectors. You’re a fool who keeps creating problems far beyond your ability to deal with, forcing everyone around you to pay the price for decisions you never had the strength to support."

"Enough!" Hedrick rose to his feet in one swift motion, glaring fiercely into Robin’s eyes with undisguised fury. "Don’t say another word." Then he continued in a slower, more controlled tone, carefully looking Robin up and down as though attempting to uncover the source of his confidence. "...There are only two possible reasons you’d dare speak to me like this. The first is that you’re capable of threatening my physical body. The second is that you’ve somehow become stronger and now believe you’ll be able to stop me once I emerge from seclusion. So you came here to convince yourself that you’re powerful by provoking someone who’s in the middle of a breakthrough and can’t strike back, allowing yourself to enjoy a sense of superiority without risking any consequences."

"...." Robin lowered his gaze and slowly shook his head, the anger that had briefly surfaced disappearing just as quickly. "I simply felt my investment falling over the edge of a waterfall, so I reached out at the last possible moment in an attempt to catch it before it disappeared forever. Don’t worry. Your physical body is safe. No matter what happens between us today, I won’t lay a finger on it. In fact, if we fail to reach an agreement, I’ll increase the protection around you. I’m not that much of a piece of trash, no matter what you choose to think of me."

"You’re someone who abandoned every one of your allies the moment you felt you no longer needed them..." Hedrick stared directly into Robin’s eyes, his gaze filled with contempt that no longer bothered to hide itself. "You’re trash. Without a doubt."

"If that’s the conclusion you reached after everything I just said, then I won’t waste my breath explaining another word." Robin shrugged with complete indifference, as though he had already expected such an answer. "Now then, Hedrick, I came here to end our partnership and free myself from having to think about anything related to you ever again. It makes no sense for me to hesitate over the feelings of my useless partner whenever I issue orders concerning the exploitation of Verilion, nor does it make sense to keep carrying responsibilities toward someone who can no longer keep pace with me."

He then raised both hands in a relaxed gesture. "But since I’m already here, I’ve decided to give you one final choice as well. I already know you’ll reject it, but I’ll offer it to you anyway, if only to clear my conscience and ensure that I leave without regretting having overlooked even the smallest possibility..." His expression then became completely serious, and every trace of amusement vanished from his face. "Follow me, and I’ll make you as powerful as Marlik... no, even stronger."

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