Chapter 355: Report (One Update Today)

Returning Star Central Star System, in Titus's Palace...

The quiet atmosphere made people feel a chill down their spines. However, irregular footsteps echoed in the Palace.

"Your Highness Alexei, you've gone the wrong way. It's this way."

"Oh, oh, my apologies." The frivolous tone contained an apology, and then he asked again: "It's rare for Big Brother to look for me. What exactly is the matter?"

"I don't know either. You'll understand once you see His Highness Titus."

"Alright..." He seemed a bit disappointed.

Titus sat on his chair, expressionless, watching Alexei walk straight in.

His pace was unsteady, looking somewhat lackadaisical. After coming in, he looked left and right, appearing somewhat curious.

"Big Brother, I haven't been to your place before." He appeared quite familiar, as if he had an extremely good relationship with Titus.

"Not very good..." Alexei shook his head and curled his lip: "The environment makes one a little nervous. It's like when meeting Majesty Digor."

"Big Brother, out of everyone you could learn from, you just had to learn from our father..."

Alexei's words sounded like a joke, but they made Titus's eyes deepen.

In the Interstellar Era, naturally, there was no such thing as overstepping boundaries, but Alexei's words implied that he was nothing more than a child looking up to his father.

What surprised him wasn't this sentence, but Alexei's attitude.

"Was it you who made the Military issue the secret transfer order?" Titus cut straight to the point and asked.

Alexei didn't expect Titus to be so direct. The frivolous smile on his face gradually faded, revealing a hint of confusion:

"Big Brother, don't politicians always speak with concealment and implications? Being so direct makes me a little unaccustomed."

Titus's tone remained flat: "You said it yourself, those are politicians. But we are brothers, so naturally, we should speak directly."

"Yes... we are brothers..." Alexei inexplicably repeated the phrase, and frankly admitted: "That's right, it was me."

Titus already knew this. He frowned slightly and said: "You want to start a war with me?"

Alexei hastily shook his head and exaggeratedly said: "My good Big Brother, how could I dare to start a war with you? You have an Illustrious reputation..."

Titus raised his hand to stop Alexei's flattery, looking his tender Younger Brother up and down.

Digor had many bloodline Descendants. Titus had interacted with them more or less, and he even brought up some of them himself. He believed he understood most of them well.

However, the Alexei he saw today was completely different from the one he had seen in the past.

Alexei wasn't afraid of Titus attacking him. At least while Digor was alive, Titus couldn't kill him.

"You've already done so."

Alexei shook his head and explained: "The Savior Ark wants Li Yu. I just added a little fuel to the fire."

"But your fueling the fire will damage my plans."

Alexei looked completely unbothered: "Rest assured, I've already instructed them. The Savior Ark doesn't dare to interfere with the Heart of the Titan. Their target is only Li Yu."

"You instructed them?" Titus felt somewhat amused: "Are you the Savior Ark's navigator? Why should they listen to you? Just because of your useless Prince Identity?"

Alexei retorted: "What are you worried about? It's just a Li Yu either way."

Titus's tone was solemn: "I don't care about Li Yu. I only want the Heart of the Titan."

Alexei's tone was still relaxed: "Then there's no problem. The Savior Ark gets Li Yu, you get the Heart of the Titan. Everyone Is Greatly Happy."

He spoke as if it were an established fact that had already occurred.

Because Alexei's words were too stupid, he even found it difficult to distinguish whether Alexei was saying this on purpose or if he was genuinely stupid.

In Titus's heart, the originally frivolous and dissolute Alexei completely collapsed.

A vague impression was established once again—an idiot bewitched by the Savior Ark.

Right at this moment, an attendant hurried in and whispered a few words in Titus's ear.

Titus's expression first slightly changed, and then a hint of confusion surfaced.

Waving the attendant away, he looked at Alexei and spoke: "Keya has a report to make. It's a good opportunity for you to listen as well."

Alexei was bewildered inwardly. Keya was Titus's trusted aide and the person in charge of the Heart of the Titan.

Reporting to Alexei now meant the matters in the Ancient Starpath were When the Dust Settles.

The result didn't matter if the Savior Ark got Li Yu and they got the Heart of the Titan, or if the Savior Ark got both.

The latter was also what Alexei hoped to see, because in that case, he could negotiate terms with Titus.

No... it would be negotiating terms with Titus on behalf of the Savior Ark.

He was just a dissolute and frivolous Prince. How could he dare to confront Titus head-on? It was definitely led by the Savior Ark.

Titus should also be able to roughly guess his purpose, yet he still chose to let him listen in on Keya's report. This truly made Alexei feel confused.

If the mission failed, Titus shouldn't let others see him lose face.

Could it be there was a third possibility: Keya not only obtained the Heart of the Titan but also drove away the people from the Savior Ark?

Is this possible?

Soon, Keya's holographic projection appeared there. Alexei couldn't help but whistle: "Commander Keya, you're still as beautiful as ever."

Keya was in absolutely no mood to talk much with Alexei now, and cast a slightly confused glance at Titus.

"Report. Let Alexei give me some advice," Titus nodded.

"Yes..." Keya glanced at Alexei and said deeply: "An accident occurred. People from the Savior Ark suddenly intervened. Li Yu designed a scheme to gather everyone for a chaotic battle. He lurked until the end, snatched the Heart of the Titan, and calmly left."

Keya briefly summarized the matter. Because the situation was urgent, after the battle ended, she didn't have time to write a battle report at all and contacted Titus.

This was also the briefing Titus had just heard, which was why he was confused, because there were too many incomprehensible things in it.

An indescribable expression surfaced on Alexei's face, looking like blankness, disbelief, and mixed with confusion.

"What... did you just say?" He couldn't help but ask again.

Keya couldn't be bothered with him. Subsequently, she recounted The Whole Story of the entire matter in detail. Including discovering the Savior Ark's ambush in advance... scheming to draw the four factions into a chaotic battle... using absolutely crushing Strength to snatch the Heart of the Titan in advance... the great battle with Brooks... and leaving calmly...

Keya reported to Titus at regular intervals. Titus already understood the previous events. What she focused on was the final battle that occurred on the Barren Planet.

"Good methods. Almost every step was placed at the most crucial point, even seeing through the crisis in advance." Titus couldn't help but praise:

"Although there are still some flaws, this is a post-event review. The battle situation at the time was unpredictable. I'm afraid not many people could have made a more suitable choice than him."

"The most important thing is having powerful Strength to back it up. How much time has passed since he became an A-Tier Lifeform? Half a year? Truly a Talented person..."

Alexei blinked, finally realizing it, and couldn't help but say: "The Savior Ark completely botched it? They were wiped out by Li Yu?"

This was a possibility he had never anticipated, because it was simply unrealistic.

To prevent the Savior Ark from failing, he specifically had them deploy forces far exceeding what Li Yu could currently handle.

Even a Lion Hunting a Rabbit Uses Its Full Strength. Alexei deeply understood this principle and considered he had taken it to the extreme.

Eight A-Tier Lifeforms, one of whom was a Second-Stage Evolutionist, and they still couldn't take down one Li Yu?

However, reality gave him a resounding slap in the face. Not only did they fail to take him down, but the team leader also died.

In Keya's words, he was killed with a crushing posture.

"It's a pity such a Talented person was claimed by Klein in advance." Titus shook his head. With the Heart of the Titan snatched, he wasn't as angry as expected.

The key was also Alexei's intervention, which caused a portion of the hatred to be diverted.

And the people from the Savior Ark being wiped out was equivalent to venting some frustration for Titus.

"Big Brother, don't be happy so early. The Heart of the Titan is still in his hands." Alexei reminded with a hint of displeasure.

"I know. I'll contact him and tell him to hand it over." Titus restored his calm demeanor, but didn't finish his sentence.

Alexei sighed, not doubting this point.

Under the circumstance that Digor didn't intervene, Li Yu was definitely not among the people in the entire Returning Star qualified to resist Titus.

It was a pity he went through so much trouble, yet gained nothing. Oh... not exactly... he gained Titus's "attention."

............

A few minutes ago, in the Meditation Research Institute, Central Conference Room. Around the square metal Table, Senior Researchers gathered, sitting in their respective seats with their eyes closed to rest their minds.

As a large-scale armed scientific research organization, the Meditation Research Institute's Senior Researchers held immense Power.

Each Senior Researcher's attire was extremely luxurious, with vastly different styles, representing the research projects each Senior Researcher was in charge of.

This operation had a significant impact, involving a hypothesis by the Chief Researcher, so the Senior Researchers personally supervised it.

Several hours had passed since Brooks's final report. It was said he had monitored the Gui Xing High Command and found the location of the Heart of the Titan.

So at this time, the Senior Researchers were still waiting for good news from Brooks and his team.

A Senior Researcher checked the time and nodded: "They should have already succeeded."

"The time is about right, but why hasn't there been any news yet?" Another Senior Researcher wondered.

"Perhaps they are cleaning up the battlefield and tallying the gains."

The crowd discussed in low voices, not believing any accidents would occur in this operation.

In their eyes, they deployed a large-scale fleet this time, led by the core strength Brooks, and even brought an Artificial Deity, paying a massive price.

Both quality and quantity far exceeded the opponents, holding a comprehensive advantage. There was truly no reason for failure.

At this moment, the door to the room suddenly opened.

The dome of the conference room was very high, and the door was also ten meters tall. Its texture didn't seem like metal.

Instead, it looked like smooth and warm black jade, but there was no crack in the door. It was like a wall covered in complex golden patterns.

And at this time, this black door began to retract towards both sides from the middle, but didn't open completely.

A figure walked into the room with his back to the light.

The Senior Researchers stopped communicating, stood up one after another, performed an etiquette, and bowed respectfully to this person.

"Chief Researcher."

This person was the Chief Researcher of the Meditation Research Institute—Reinhardt.

Reinhardt hummed in acknowledgment, paced over to the main seat, and sat down.

Only then did the Senior Researchers take their seats, communicating in low voices.

After waiting for a while, Terra's remote projection suddenly popped up in the center of the metal Table—the fleet had finally sent a battle report.

Terra's expression was stiff: "Your Excellency Reinhardt, fellow Senior Researchers... The battle has ended. We are currently evacuating."

A Researcher said deeply: "Hmm, come back with the Heart of the Titan."

However, another Senior Researcher was somewhat confused: "Where is Brooks? Why are you the one reporting?"

Hearing this, Terra opened his mouth, wearing an awkward expression of finding it hard to speak.

Seeing this, the crowd was somewhat confused, while simultaneously vaguely sensing something was amiss.

"Could it be you guys ran into some accident?" someone asked.

"... Yes. We didn't complete the mission. This operation failed." Terra answered, biting the bullet.

The High Echelon used so many resources, yet the mission wasn't completed. Not only that, but they even lost Brooks in the process. Terra also felt it was too humiliating.

Moreover, he knew his own life was also in jeopardy.

"Failed?!" The group of Senior Researchers immediately erupted in an uproar, anger rising in their hearts. They used so many resources, and it could still fail?

"Explain the specific situation. How exactly did you fail? Didn't Brooks say he held all the advantages and even monitored the other party's High-ranking Military Officer?"

"... Uh, actually, Commander Brooks was deceived by the enemy. Every step fell into the enemy's Trap."

Since Brooks was dead anyway, Terra simply pushed all the blame onto him.

The faces of the group of Senior Researchers twitched. Walked into the enemy's Trap? That's really something.

A Senior Researcher couldn't help but question: "You guys brought the Artificial Deity this time. Did Brooks not use it?"

"No, he used it..."

"Then how could things turn out like this?"

"It's Li Yu. Commander Brooks originally had a chance to reverse all this, but Li Yu could ignore the effects brought by the Artificial Deity."

The group of Senior Researchers immediately frowned. This Li Yu again!?

Brooks had reported this matter to them before, but they didn't take this person to heart.

It wasn't that the Artificial Deity was irresistible, but simply because most A-Tier Lifeforms were relatively unfamiliar with the Radiant Council and hadn't fought Divine Spirits head-on.

It wasn't that the Artificial Deity was extremely powerful, but that others didn't know how to deal with it.

"There's one more thing... Commander Brooks was killed by Li Yu." Terra explained cautiously.

The expressions of the group of Senior Researchers changed. Brooks was actually killed as well. At first, they thought Brooks was afraid of the blame and didn't dare to report.

They didn't expect he had already been killed.

A Senior Researcher, suppressing his anger, said deeply: "A bunch of trash. Bring the Artificial Deity back!"

"The Artificial Deity... was also lost..."

"What!?" A Senior Researcher abruptly stood up, obviously enraged to the extreme.

"The mission wasn't completed, the person is dead, and now even the Artificial Deity is lost. What exactly are you people doing?"

"Brooks, he...!" Mentioning this name, he suddenly remembered that the other party was already dead. Even if he wanted to hold someone accountable, he couldn't find the person, so he could only say angrily:

"Trash!"

At this moment, another person tapped the Table and said: "Explain the specific battle process. What exactly is going on."

Terra's heart trembled. He organized his thoughts and spoke: "... This is how the matter went..."

After listening to Terra's hasty description of the battle process and result, the emotions of the Senior Researchers were intertwined with astonishment and anger. They exchanged glances and found a key point.

"The turning point of the matter lies with Li Yu. The Strength he possesses exceeded everyone's expectations, which is why we were Caught off guard." Someone summarized.

"And he learned of the Savior Ark's ambush in advance, calmly laying out his plans."

"This name was mentioned in Brooks's previous report, but none of us paid attention."

Terra's expression flickered. With such a massive mistake having occurred, and Brooks, the leader, already dead, if he wanted to survive, he could only desperately Slander Brooks.

"Fellow Senior Researchers, there is one more thing. Do you remember the Main Ship damage incident?" Terra gritted his teeth.

"Hmm?" Someone looked at him with questioning eyes.

"I investigated carefully afterward. The Main Ship wasn't accidentally damaged in battle at all. Instead, someone infiltrated the Main Ship, fought with Commander Brooks, and even cracked the Main Ship Database!"

Naturally, Terra didn't dare to say he helped Brooks conceal it. He only said he investigated it afterward.

He indeed investigated The Ruins of the Main Ship afterward and discovered unusual traces, which was also to leave a way out for himself, preventing Brooks from turning hostile and refusing to acknowledge him.

"Cracked the Main Ship Database!?"

A series of bad news made the Senior Researchers furious.

They naturally knew the importance of the data, not to mention there was a massive amount of classified information in the Main Ship Database.

The failure of the operation was already frustrating enough, and now they learned of this bad news.

A bunch of trash!

At this time, Reinhardt, who had been listening silently, spoke up, expressionless.

"Was the Database cracked at the time node of Brooks's last report?"

Terra nodded hastily: "That's right, it was that time."

Reinhardt took a deep breath. He thought of a certain matter.

"You did well. Bring your people back."

After saying that, Reinhardt stood up and flicked his sleeves to leave directly. Although no emotion was revealed on his face, the Senior Researchers deeply understood Reinhardt's character. He was probably extremely enraged inwardly.

"Additionally, investigate Li Yu carefully. I want all his information!"

As the black door opened, he left his final sentence.

.........

Six hours after the battle on the Barren Planet, inside Elise's Spaceship, Li Yu lay on the chair, the 【Titan Colonization Armor】 assembling a massage device.

A massive amount of Compressed Nutrition Bars were piled up at his feet. His left hand was still constantly stuffing them into his mouth to alleviate the weakness transmitting from his body.

His right hand, meanwhile, was examining the silver-white Space Compression Device in his hand.

Sorry, I had some matters yesterday, so there's only one update today, but it's 5K words. Extremely sorry... hehe

(End of this chapter)