Published at 6th of September 2026 6:20 am

Chapter 2371: Love birds

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

In the Residential District of Planet Orgenus—

Bam!

A young man forcefully pushed one of the doors open as he entered, immediately shouting at the top of his lungs,

"Did I miss anything?!"

The young man had just stepped into an exceptionally spacious house. It was clearly not the home of a poor family, yet it wasn’t an overly extravagant mansion either—simply a warm, spacious residence large enough to comfortably accommodate a big family, with enough room for everyone to gather together without feeling crowded despite the sheer number of people inside.

Sure enough, directly in front of him were nearly forty people dressed in various uniforms: Shadow Swords, Imperial Guards, administrators, researchers, and even teachers, all mixed together without the slightest distinction despite belonging to completely different divisions.

They weren’t gathered around a war table planning anything, however. Instead, they had all crowded around a sofa, completely engrossed in watching the live broadcast.

Some sat cross-legged on the floor, others stood behind the couch, while a few perched along its edges wherever they could find room... yet every single one of them, without exception, had gathered around one particular person.

"Harry, come on over! You’ve missed a lot!" The man seated in the very center, Peon, enthusiastically waved the newcomer over before pointing toward an empty spot on the floor for him to take.

"They’ve already broken into the final quarter, and the fighting has intensified because the defensive forces have become much denser than before. I think Lord Hedrick will destroy all of those defenses and secure that final planetary ring before attacking the Seed within a week at most." One of the young men wearing the Shadow Swords uniform spoke with tightly knitted brows as he carefully analyzed the battle unfolding before them.

"You’re right, but that’s only because Lord Hedrick doesn’t have much support. Otherwise, the battle would’ve already been over by now."

"...?" One of the girls wearing an Imperial Guard trainee uniform looked visibly displeased by that statement.

"He has ten Rapid Intervention vessels behind him carrying roughly four thousand Imperial Guards, around twenty Spectral Shadow vessels, plus dozens of Royal Soul Masters, Nexus State cultivators, and World Cataclysms. What more could he possibly need?"

"Lady Renara has the support of nearly two hundred Note Gen-4 Fleets!" another girl immediately argued back. "I think she’ll reach the galaxy’s core within four or five days at the latest."

"...Alright, you’ve got a point. But Lord Hedrick won’t fall behind Lady Renara. Mark my words."

"The fact that Lord Hedrick has managed to keep pace with Lady Renara this entire time reflects just how extraordinary his military experience is and how well he’s mastered his newfound strength. If their personal power were truly equal, Lord Hedrick would still be fighting somewhere within the middle planetary ring rather than advancing alongside her."

"What do you think, Father? Will they arrive at the same time, or will Lady Renara reach it first?"

"....."

Silence suddenly filled the room.

That silence prompted the children who hadn’t participated in the discussion to gradually shift their attention toward the center of the gathering, looking at their father, grandfather, or perhaps even great-grandfather... Peon.

Peon genuinely seemed worried about something. There was even a faint trace of nervousness lingering across his face as though a thought completely unrelated to the battle had suddenly taken root in his mind.

"This doesn’t look good..."

"What’s wrong?" Rufina, the eldest daughter, continued gently massaging her father’s shoulder while standing behind him as she asked with obvious concern, noticing his unusual reaction immediately.

"...Renara... the Slayer of Emperors. Back when she was nothing more than a somewhat powerful Nexus State cultivator, I could barely get her to leave my office." Peon began absentmindedly rubbing his chin. "How am I supposed to deal with her now that she’s become this powerful?"

"You could barely get her to leave your office?" At that very moment, a voice drifted over from deeper inside the house.

A woman poked her head out from the kitchen. She had a pleasant oval-shaped face and smooth golden hair, and she stared directly at Peon with eyes that had instantly become suspicious.

"You used to have that furry girl in your office, and she refused to leave?!"

"Those were work meetings! Work meetings!!" Peon nearly jumped out of his seat before frantically pointing toward the scene playing on the broadcast as though trying to defend himself with visual evidence. "Do you honestly think I’d stand a chance with someone like that?"

At that exact moment, Renara was bombarding an entire fleet with her nine tails, unleashing relentless barrages of ice, flames, and disintegration from them like a battery of heavy artillery. Not a single shot missed its intended target, and not a single vessel survived after taking a direct hit.

"You mean she’s better than me?!" The woman disappeared for only a brief moment before returning with a frying pan tightly gripped in one hand. "I can aim and shoot too!!" she shouted before hurling it straight toward him without the slightest hesitation.

Bang!

The frying pan landed squarely on Peon’s head as though an invisible magnet had been pulling it toward him from the very beginning.

"Aha... hahaha..." Peon forced out an awkward laugh before pointing at her with his index finger, doing his best to keep a composed smile on his face despite the fresh bump on his head. "Excellent aim, sweetheart."

"Hmph!" Only then did his wife let out a satisfied snort before calmly returning to whatever she had been doing in the kitchen, apparently considering the matter settled.

"So even a High General who cultivates the Merged Law of Eroding Wind can’t dodge a frying pan, huh?" One of Peon’s older grandsons asked with knitted brows, looking genuinely astonished by what he had just witnessed.

"This High General skipped the military academies’ lessons on how to keep women happy." Peon casually pointed toward the ongoing broadcast as though nothing had happened. "Let’s keep watching. You uncle Caesar is going to sound the war horn at any moment now. Enjoy these last moments of peace while they still last."

"Understood."

-----------------------

Mid Sector 101—The Radiance Galaxy

"...."

Kaylis had never known it was possible for her eyes to open this wide.

Had it been anyone else, the expression would have looked strange—perhaps even frightening—but Kaylis’s breathtaking beauty transformed that stunned reaction into something almost artistic, a sight one simply couldn’t look away from no matter how long one stared...

A reaction that had already continued for several days without changing.

"...It’s just..." Not far from the throne, Sirene slowly parted her small lips, her own gaze remaining fixed upon the enormous broadcast. "I’d always heard that Lord Hedrick was powerful, but this... It is too much, this is beyond powerful. I never read something about an individual attacking an established Behemoth Galaxy alone!"

"Don’t fall for it, he was never this powerful!" Kaylis suddenly raised her voice without the slightest warning, almost as though she were arguing with herself rather than responding to Sirene. "Even if he advanced into the Advanced Monarch and obtained a Galaxy Seed, he shouldn’t be this strong!"

"...."

Sirene quietly fell silent after her mother’s sudden outburst.

Then, after waiting for a brief moment, she turned toward the white-haired young man standing beside her and asked in a much softer voice,

"Do you know what’s happening, Richard?"

"More or less." Richard continued watching the broadcast without looking away, countless conflicting emotions passing through his heart, though a faint smile of unmistakable pride stubbornly remained on his face throughout it all. "I’ve never actually met Hedrick, but I was present when what happened to Renara took place. From everything I witnessed... Hedrick received the very same treatment."

"What did you see?!" Kaylis immediately demanded, tightly gripping both armrests of her throne as she leaned slightly forward.

"I saw father do something that turned Renara into someone this powerful. Then I saw him order her to prepare for battle one month later..." Richard let out a quiet chuckle. "That conversation happened exactly one month ago."

"More details, please!" Kaylis abruptly rose to her feet. "What did you see? What exactly was said during that meeting?"

"You’ll have to ask Father himself if you want the full story." Richard gently shook his head. "I honestly don’t know what I’m allowed to say... and what I’m not."

"....."

Kaylis quietly fell silent before slowly leaning back against her throne once again, the excitement on her face gradually disappearing.

Then, wearing an unusually calm smile, she shifted her attention toward Richard and Sirene.

"Alright, alright. What are the two of you still doing here?"

"You’re the one who summoned us." Sirene replied with an expression of obvious confusion.

"I simply wanted to see my little lovebirds, hahaha." Kaylis gently gestured toward the palace doors with a relaxed wave of her hand. "Go on now. Spend your time thinking about the wedding plans and admiring the flowers. There are only ninety-five years left before the ceremony!"

"...?"

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