Chapter 484: Ch
At first, they thought the Targer family had betrayed them. However, as they closely monitored the situation of the star system and saw the horrific scene of habitable worlds turned blood-red in color with no sign of life left, they realized the truth: the Targer family hadn’t betrayed them—they had been completely wiped out, and their fortress had been seized by the enemy.
Just as they sent word back, they were ambushed by Ritika’s fleet and Ritik’s fleet at once, and were quickly taken down.
Meanwhile, within the high-level discussion chamber of the Bright Moon Republic on planet Moon Prime, the environment was less like a place of discussion about serious matters and more like a zoo.
President Vance, sitting at the head of the table, rubbed his throbbing temples while staring at the holographic chart hovering over the center table.
The atmosphere in the room was far too intense for everyone present—be it top military strategists, think tanks, government ministers, representatives of the five supreme families, or the head of the Valen family himself.
Seeing the heavy silence hanging over the room, Vance couldn’t help but speak. "Four days... no, make it five days without a single ping from any of our Tier 2 subordinate powers! The same goes for two of our supreme families! Nor can we reach out to our business partners across the whole star sector. All diplomatic channels with these Tier 2 powers have been completely severed. And here you all are, telling me nobody has any idea about it?"
Vance’s face reddened as he stopped for a moment before continuing, his voice rising. "How does more than half of our quadrant go silent in such a short timeframe, yet we have no idea why?! What are you all doing? What are the intelligence agencies doing?! Why do we still have no clue, damn it?!"
"It is definitely someone targeting our Republic, our forces, and our businesses, Mr. President," the Patriarch of House Valen spoke up, slamming his hand—laden with gem-embedded rings—onto the table. "Someone is definitely choking out our foundation!"
BAM!!!!!!
Suddenly, the heavy doors of the grand conference room were blasted inward with a deafening screech before slamming violently against the bulkhead. Through the open doorway, a young lieutenant rushed in, his uniform rumpled and badges askew, gasping wildly for air.
He stumbled into the room and stopped in front of the round table, saluting the higher-ups while barely maintaining perfect form.
"M-Mister President..." he wheezed out hoarsely, his body language and wide eyes showing absolute terror. "The vanguard unit sent to check on the situation of the Targer family in their main star system, the Targdong system..."
The soldier stopped right there, as if unable to force out the words that followed.
Vance frowned, a deeply ominous feeling settling in his gut. His expression darkened instantly. "Report, Lieutenant. Tell me what happened. Is everything fine with the Targer family and the vanguard fleet?"
"A-Ah... t-they..." The soldier still hesitated, paralyzed by dread.
At this moment, the Patriarch of the Valen family slammed the table again, unable to bear the tension. He pointed directly at the trembling officer. "Lieutenant! Will you speak or not?!"
Paling instantly, the lieutenant blurted out, "The... the Targer family across the entire Targdong star system has been completely wiped out! Not a single living being is left alive! Along with that, their moon fortress has fallen into the hands of forces belonging to the Human Faction!"
He paused, taking a ragged, desperate breath before adding, "A-And... the vanguard unit cannot be reached after they sent this message. We... we are trying every available means to connect with them, but nothing has worked. We think... we think they too have been wiped out!"
"Wh-What?!"
President Vance and the Patriarch of House Valen stood up, horrified, while the expressions of the other higher-ups changed instantly for the worse.
"How... how can that be possible?!" stated one of the military strategists, his face pale. "They had a fleet of more than thirty thousand ships, twenty percent of which were Tier 3 class and the rest Tier 2! How could they be wiped out in such a short time?! Are you lying, or is the intel wrong? Speak, Lieutenant!" the strategist demanded immediately.
Hearing this, the lieutenant shook his head and said, "We have verified the information more than once, and it is more than likely that our forces have suffered total defeat. Mainly because it was an ambush laid by the human fleet.
The second our fleet dropped out of hyperspace, the Human Faction—using the Moon Fortress as a base—launched an all-out attack on them.
Our vanguard barely had time to send that bit of intel before communication was completely cut off. We only managed to learn who was attacking us... beyond that, we have no other information."
A chaotic murmur rippled through the hall immediately. But before the room could devolve into full panic, the lieutenant continued, revealing that he had more to tell.
"Before our vanguard fleet fell, they managed to send us additional telemetry data... which carries the worst news of all. Scanning systems from our fleet had mapped the entire Targdong star system before they were destroyed. Mr... Mr. President... the entire Targer race, along with every single living being in that star system, is gone. They were completely undetectable."
He swallowed hard before delivering the final blow. "Worst of all, all the habitable planets were covered in a dark red fog, and all the cities below were destroyed and crushed—mostly by our own falling star cities and space habitats. As for what that red fog was, we have... we have no idea. All in all, there was not a single biological signature remaining in that star system other than the humans."
"Wh-What did you say?!"
A member of the Targer family who was present—acting as the spokesperson for the entire Targer clan and its main lineage—paled instantly, unable to believe what he had just heard, or if he had even heard it correctly.
A heavy, suffocating silence fell across the chamber. However unbelievable it sounded, everyone knew it was true.
The Patriarch and the other members of House Valen stared at each other in sheer disbelief.
Hearing what had happened to the Targer clan, a supreme family just like them, and thinking about the missing two other families, they realized that whatever had struck the Targers had likely already happened to those factions—including the Illyarins.
They cast pitiful glances at the representatives of those clans, who might very well be the last remaining survivors of their respective races if the lieutenant’s report held true.
Then, a wave of pure dread washed over them. If it really was the humans attacking, and if they had already wiped out three supreme families, the Patriarch of House Valen knew that his house and his people were almost certainly next on the target list.
Thinking of this, every member belonging to House Valen had the remaining color drained from their faces.
And as if to confirm their worst fears, the lieutenant spoke again.
"And... sir," he said, his voice dropping to a low whisper that nonetheless sounded like a thunderclap in the silent room. "The human fleet didn’t stop there. Our tracking systems beyond the Targdong star system have detected the opening of multiple hyperspace channels. We fear that they might be heading toward either the Central Star System or..."
The lieutenant stopped. He dared not utter the final words, but his terror-filled gaze said everything as it fell directly upon the trembling members of House Valen.
The members of House Valen, seeing that gaze, were instantly horrified as they understood the lieutenant’s unspoken meaning the moment his eyes fell on them. They were no fools, having sat in these positions of power for decades—some even for hundreds of years. How could they not understand?
Before they could even speak, other officials jumped up as the chamber erupted into pure chaos.
"To total extinction in a matter of a few hours?!" a minister shouted, jerking backward out of his seat. "How could that be possible?! Impossible! The humans of the Celestial Void Empire, while powerful, shouldn’t have that kind of firepower!"
"Those humans must have been hiding their true power in the dark!" a member of House Valen declared immediately. "Or else how could they repeatedly stymie superpowers like the Star Empire and even multi-galactic factions like the Alchemy Association?!" he added, gritting his teeth as he wiped away the beads of cold sweat on his forehead.
"We... we must not let this continue!" the Patriarch of House Valen pleaded, looking frantically at the head of the table. "Mr. President! I ask you to deploy our forces immediately to protect the Valen family! If things go the way we are all thinking, then their next target will be my family. We... we need to send our forces and ambush them if that’s the case! We can’t just let them walk all over us!"