294: crack

The spear shattered, and the will of the Mother Empress was utterly defeated.

Not only did she fail to devour the Star Lord, but she was also severely wounded and permanently lost control of the flagship.

The Star Lord stood on the newly refurbished bridge, feeling the absolute connection with the ship, as if it were an extension of his arm.

He had seized nearly a third of the Mother Empress's bio-tech core and perfectly integrated them with his own Star Divine Power.

He was now both the captain and the ship itself.

"Mother Empress..."

He slowly uttered the name, gazing towards the Scarlet Swamp on the other side of the world: "The alliance is over."

"Now, the hunt begins."

Continent of Bones, flagship Court of Time.

The supreme commander, the Timelord, stood silently before the holographic star map.

On the star map, the dark red light spot representing the Star Lord, after a violent upheaval, became even more solid and dangerous.

And in the World's Heart region, a new, powerful light spot quietly lit up: Su Lei's Federal Fleet.

"Both errors have become more troublesome."

The voice of his adjutant, the Arbiter, sounded behind him.

He wore a grey robe inscribed with golden runes, his aura sharp as a blade, the strongest warrior among the Gravekeepers, and the most fanatical believer in order.

"Yes."

The Timelord slowly turned: "The growth of that variable has exceeded calculations, and the fallen Star remnant has become a new source of pollution."

"The Purifier plan needs to accelerate."

"Commander, I don't understand."

The Arbiter stepped forward: "With our strength, we are more than capable of eliminating them."

"Why must we adhere to those ridiculous game rules and search for the crown?"

"We are the maintainers of order, not puppets in a divine game!"

"Arbiter, watch your words."

The Timelord's cold gaze swept over him: "The Observer's rules are the highest order."

"But, Commander!"

The Arbiter's voice, for the first time, carried emotion: "The power of that crown is enough to allow us... to break free from this eternal, endless mission! To allow us to become new Observers!"

On the bridge, all high-ranking members, their faces hidden beneath grey robes, showed signs of wavering for the first time.

Eternal mission.

These four words were the shackles that had bound them for countless eras.

They were the Universe's scavengers, the guardians of history.

The Arbiter's words spoke the blasphemous thought that had been suppressed in their hearts for billions of years.

"Enough."

The Timelord's voice was like ten thousand years of cold ice: "Your thoughts have been corrupted by desire."

"Go to the brig until your logic is pure again."

"Commander..."

"This is an order."

The Arbiter fell silent.

He gave the Timelord a deep look, then performed a standard salute: "As you command."

Three days later.

A massive sub-fleet, consisting of three mother ships and hundreds of escort ships, carrying fifty thousand of the most elite Purifier robots, departed from the base.

The commander was the Arbiter, who had just been released.

On the bridge of the flagship "Spear of Judgment," the Arbiter looked at the crew before him. These were the loyalists who had carried out the most dangerous missions with him in countless worlds.

"Gentlemen, are you tired?"

"Tired of this endless purification? Tired of this fate as tools?"

"We are born of order, yet enslaved by order!"

"We are the rags that wipe history clean, yet history discards us at will! We pride ourselves as the sharp swords of the gods, yet we don't even have the right to choose our own destiny!"

"Now, an opportunity, an opportunity for us to break free from all shackles, is right before us!"

"That is the crown of the era!"

"The Timelord, he is old! His heart, corroded by mission, has lost its courage! He dares not, but I dare!"

"Now, tell me your choice! Will you continue to be a scavenger with no tomorrow, or will you follow me to seize the crown that rightfully belongs to us, to create a new order, one dominated by ourselves!"

After a dead silence, his adjutant was the first to kneel on one knee.

"We, your subordinates, swear to follow Lord Arbiter until death!"

Like a lit fuse, more and more captains, in this grand gamble, chose to side with the Arbiter.

They were tired.

"Very good."

The Arbiter watched all this with satisfaction: "Issue my command! Fleet, deviate from the original course! Shut down all communications, activate signal jamming!"

"From now on, we are no longer Gravekeepers."

"We are the pursuers of the crown!"

This massive fleet, like a rebellious offspring, resolutely turned its bow and sailed into the unknown darkness, taking away nearly a third of the Gravekeepers' mobile forces.

Within the Court of Time, when the light spot representing the Arbiter's fleet disappeared from the star map, the Timelord was not surprised.

"Commander! The Arbiter has mutinied!"

"I know."

The Timelord slowly replied: "This is his own choice."

"Then we..."

"No need to pursue."

The Timelord raised his hand: "Since the crack has already appeared, trying to mend it forcefully will only make it collapse faster."

"Let this game decide where our race will ultimately go."

"Issue my command, the base enters highest combat readiness, we have one more enemy."

An internal strife stemming from ideology split the monolithic force of the Gravekeepers into two.

On the chessboard, the three-way standoff was completely broken, and a new, uncertain fourth power officially emerged.

And the Arbiter, who initiated all this, was leading his fleet through a dangerous Star Domain composed of countless shattered space-time fragments.

"Commander, where are we going now?"

The Arbiter was silent for a moment, his gaze falling upon the City of Oblivion located at the center of the world.

"To there, to find the crown."

"But the Federal Fleet and the Star Fleet's target must also be there; once we appear, we will inevitably face a combined attack."

"I know."

The Arbiter's electronic voice was cold: "So, before that, we still need one thing."

"Something that will give us enough leverage in this card game."

There, a belt of ruins composed of broken stellar rings and shattered temples floated quietly.

That was where Charon and his group awakened.

The last resting place of the relic hunters of the previous era.

Inside the Kindling's internal world, it had completely transformed into a bloody and chaotic gladiatorial arena.

In the Creation Nest, the Federal Fleet's temporary base, Su Lei stood before the giant holographic star map, the atmosphere as heavy as iron.

In his eyes, the chessboard was intricate and complex.

The Star Lord's fleet had completely become a cancer of flesh and steel, expanding wildly at the world's edge.

The Myriad Devouring Mother Empress was holed up in the Scarlet Swamp, like a giant chrysalis undergoing evolution, exuding a deathly stillness.

The main force of the Gravekeepers still occupied the Continent of Bones; their silence was more intimidating than any declaration.

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