Chapter 556: Ch

Colt staggered backward as the armored figure slowly approached him.

"Y-You... Stay back! Stay away from me!"

BANG!!

Suddenly, he tripped and fell backward, landing heavily on the floor in sheer terror.

Baku arrived in front of him and stopped a few meters away, looking down at him coldly.

"To think all of you would amount to this much trouble..." Baku muttered slowly. "All because of the trouble you caused us."

"Wh-What?" Colt couldn’t understand what Baku had just said. Although Baku had spoken in the Universal Galactic Language, Colt’s already confused mind was barely capable of processing anything at all.

Baku paid no further attention to him. Instead, he tossed a small glass sphere toward Colt.

Before Colt could even react, the sphere expanded and completely encased him inside.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Colt frantically pounded against the inside of the sphere, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

Unfortunately for him, not a single sound escaped the sphere.

"Lieutenant Baku reporting to Captain Shiba. I have successfully captured the highest-ranking target and secured him!"

Baku immediately contacted Captain Shiba and reported his success.

Shiba, who had already broken through and completely neutralized the pirate mech squadron, was approaching from the front. Hearing Baku’s report, he sighed in relief.

He already knew that Commander Gale had dealt a killing blow to the pirate leader. All his repeated warnings to avoid killing the target had been in vain. But then again, who had told him to send a brute like Gale after the man in the first place?

Fortunately, he had people like Baku in his squad who actually knew how to handle things!

"Good. Secure him completely. And while you’re at it, have everyone begin cleaning up the battlefield now that you’ve finished there!" Shiba praised Baku before issuing his orders.

After that, Shiba ended the communication and hurriedly pushed the Osprey forward!

At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, Patrick had just pulled his blazing Aether Sword out of the frigate’s command bridge. Several frozen bodies of pirates flew out behind him.

He silently nodded and said, "I’ll proceed as you command, Captain."

"Everyone, proceed with the cleanup operation! Plant disintegration explosives around these ships and the mechs floating nearby! We must ensure that not a single trace of them is left!"

"Yes, Lieutenant!" several dozen crew members roared in response as they proceeded with their next task: cleaning up the mess left behind.

Meanwhile, far away in the Sol Region, at the core of the Southern Theater, inside the massive central theater command structure, all the core members of the Southern Theater were gathered.

At the head of the gathering sat Commander Megalodon, the Southern Theater’s supreme commander, holding the rank of Grand Marshal, equivalent to that of a Grand Admiral.

Joining him were the Deputy Southern Theater Commander, who held the rank of High Marshal with two stars, and the four Southern Defense Commanders, each holding the rank of High Marshal with one star.

Second Defense Commander Evanka Lark was currently speaking.

"During the course of these past few months, our Shadow Division has accomplished quite a lot. We have successfully neutralized over..."

"Hiss! So many forces affiliated with those seven superstates were actually found and taken down?" Third Defense Commander Kushner exclaimed in surprise.

"No wonder the merchant groups across the entire theater have been encountering so much trouble. It was all because of these extremist elements, wasn’t it?" Fourth Defense Commander Elon grunted, frowning in displeasure.

Meanwhile, the First Defense Commander, along with the others, remained silent, their eyes fixed on Defense Commander Evanka.

Understanding their looks, Evanka continued.

"Indeed, these groups are responsible for much of the trouble across the Southern Theater. However, their motives are rather strange. We have reason to believe they were actually targeting our procurement orders, which were supposed to be shipped to our patron state within the newly formed Federation. Although we haven’t been able to confirm this, we’ve discovered several clues pointing in that direction."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"Furthermore, over the past month of operations, these groups have become increasingly difficult to locate. It’s almost as if..."

Before Evanka could continue, First Commander Arthur completed her thought.

"It’s almost as if they’ve already begun pulling out now that they know we’re actively taking down their people covertly. Is that what you’re trying to say?"

Evanka nodded.

"That is indeed what I believe, and it’s also the conclusion reached by many of our think tanks."

TAP! TAP! TAP!

This time, it was the Deputy Southern Theater Commander who tapped his fingers against the table, attracting everyone’s attention.

His name was Bruno.

"Well, it’s already clear that our operation has been quite successful. And since we can no longer track these groups down, isn’t it time we call everyone back?"

"Instead, we should focus on something else entirely!"

"And what would that be?" Theater Commander Megalodon asked calmly, turning his attention toward Bruno.

"Well, it should be this, Commander."

As he spoke, Bruno casually flicked his finger, and a holographic projection appeared before everyone.

"Following an unverified report circulating around our spaceports in the border star systems, I dispatched a stealth unit to investigate it, just in case."

The projection began playing a high-definition video.

It showed dark, tar-like substances morphing into various shapes and sizes as they fought against the forces of the Silver Glacion Kingdom.

The kingdom’s forces were completely helpless. Their soldiers were either swallowed whole by these tar-like entities or brutally torn apart by attacks that resembled both kinetic and energy-based weapons.

Following this, the entities launched an invasion of the planet. Before long, nothing remained. The once thriving planet, teeming with life, had been completely wiped clean, reduced to a dead world.

Bruno continued tapping his fingers, and several similar recordings appeared one after another.

The entire room fell silent. The atmosphere grew increasingly heavy as everyone watched the horrifying footage.

Finally, Commander Megalodon spoke.

"What the hell are those things? And how can they possess such terrifying power? Also, unless my eyes are deceiving me, the more people or living beings they absorb, the stronger they become, don’t they? Even if the improvement is small, it’s clear that they grow stronger with every life they consume!"

"We haven’t been able to confirm exactly what these things are. However, the team I dispatched managed to capture one, and it’s currently undergoing experiments. We’ve already discovered a few things about this alien species. Based on our research, we’ve concluded that they belong to an extraterrestrial race. So, their appearance here is..."

"Likely a sign that an invasion is already underway."

Bruno dropped that bombshell, immediately causing everyone to draw a deep breath.

"And indeed, you didn’t see it wrong, Commander. These creatures instinctively prey on living beings, consuming their blood and similar bodily fluids to grow stronger. They’re primarily liquid-based lifeforms, and almost any liquid can serve as their source of nourishment. However, through our experiments, we’ve discovered that they prefer richer sources over ordinary bodies of water!"

"Hiss!"

Elon hissed upon hearing this.

"Does that mean their preferred prey isn’t... No, not ordinary targets, but cultivators and powerful beings? Are those their favorite food?" he asked.

"That is indeed the case!" Bruno nodded. "The worrying thing is that, from what I’ve been able to find, this biological race, which we’ve given the code name Blood Race, is invading at an alarming rate. At this pace, we won’t have much time before they reach our borders or those of many of our allied parties."

"This doesn’t look good either!" Megalodon frowned upon hearing this.

"But what confuses me the most is how something of this scale has gone unnoticed by so many across the galaxy, especially those people. Something this massive is happening, and according to your report, multiple states have already been affected. Some might even have been completely destroyed by now. And yet, there’s no news about it at all? No sense of urgency from anyone else? It’s as if..."

"Those are my thoughts as well, Commander. From the looks of it, those seven superstates either knew about this for some time or were already aware of the threat. What they were doing was mainly intended to divert our attention toward something else!" Deputy Commander Bruno added.

"And they’ve backed off not because their losses were too great, but because they think they’ve already achieved what they set out to do!"

"And they’ve backed off not because their losses were too great, but because they think they’ve already achieved what they set out to do!"

"If that’s the case, then we’ve indeed been played this time," Megalodon said. "We must report this to the Imperial Commander immediately! Much of our forces are already deployed and engaged in battle, and even he isn’t here yet. If things take an unexpected turn, we might find ourselves on the back foot. Even the very foundation of the Federation we’ve established could be in danger."