Two more years passed— "Mmm~!" Robin stretched his arms wide to both sides, a look of pure satisfaction painting his face. He had just finished completing yet another high-value order, this one worth 1.5 million pearls. "Haah~ Alright... so, what’s still left ahead of me now?" The fairy fluttered in a circle around Robin, watching him with wide, almost incredulous eyes. Now that she had witnessed his efficiency and execution speed firsthand—how swiftly and precisely he completed each task—it all seemed almost surreal, as if she were watching a dream unfold in front of her. "Hmmm... this hall," Robin said, glancing around at the glowing walls and symbols carved into the air itself. "You mentioned it increases mental processing speed and sharpens concentration? It’s truly extraordinary. Honestly, it helped me more than I expected. Without it, I probably would’ve needed five and a half years, maybe more." Robin nodded approvingly, then casually waved his hand. The work table in front of him shimmered for a moment—then vanished entirely. "But I’m done here," he declared calmly. The fairy tilted her head curiously, her wings flickering with a faint blue glow. "I’m not postponing them," Robin said with a smirk. "I’m not doing them at all." With a flick of his wrist, he dismissed the thought entirely. "I’ve already completed all the high-tier missions—every one that paid over a million. Anything less than that is a waste of my time and energy. We’ll just let the others deal with those." He laughed lightly, then opened his control panel—and smiled. With the delivery of that last order, his account balance had finally updated, and now—at long last—it had jumped back up above 5 billion pearls! In a strange twist of perception, Robin had begun to feel poor any time his wealth dipped below the five-billion mark—something that would’ve seemed ridiculous to his past self. After all, when he first arrived in the Middle Belt with 50 million, he had felt like the richest man in the galaxy, as though the entire universe were at his fingertips. "Any messages for me during these past few days?" Robin navigated into his glowing message box, expecting to see a stream of updates and notices. Instead, all he found were a handful of pending messages from some Lords. "That’s... odd," he murmured. Renara, Theo, and Hedrick... He sent messages to each—and that was five years ago. Since then, nothing. No follow-ups. No new messages. No replies. the fairy suggested gently, as if remembering something important. Robin squinted suspiciously, then opened his eyes wide. With a flick of her finger, the fairy snapped—snap!—and summoned a glowing rectangular panel in front of Robin. Robin leaned forward as the screen filled with content. A long, detailed article appeared, its title bold and ominous: "Signs of an Impending Cosmic War Brewing in Young Sector 101." "Wait... is this about Hedrick?" Robin narrowed his eyes slightly. That name—101—rang a bell. He remembered it clearly from the auction days. The fairy hovered beside him, her voice steady but serious. They scoured the region from orbit, and after extensive surveillance, they uncovered the truth: the sector houses a disputed Galactic Seed, the core reason behind the ongoing war. They’ve compiled a full report based on what they witnessed.> <...According to their sources, the battle surrounding the Galactic Seed’s atmosphere is raging with terrifying intensity. Several World Cataclysms and Nexus-State warriors are attempting to destroy the Seed from the outside. But Lord Hedrick’s elite generals are guarding it fiercely. They now practically live aboard enormous warships that orbit the Seed around the clock, night and day, without rest.> Every single day, large numbers of hostile warships descend and land on the Seed’s surface. In addition to the well-known forces under Lord Zaryon, there are troops loyal to other Lords—and even unidentified factions—all launching ground invasions against the Seed.> Robin’s expression tightened. His brows furrowed deeply. He tried to imagine the scale of such a war—but it was nearly impossible. The image in his mind seemed more like a legend than reality. And this isn’t even the full extent of their strength—Lord Hedrick has been supporting and cultivating this army for over 200,000 years. The result is a Millennial Planetary Empire, a force of staggering size with countless warriors.> This Planetary Empire under Lord Hedrick’s command has lost no less than 200 million soldiers since the beginning of the conflict, centuries ago—including almost all of its original elite troops. At this point, they are fighting purely based on their overwhelming numbers. It’s a war of attrition—on a cosmic scale.> The fairy continued, her voice quieter now, tinged with concern: She floated beside Robin, her wings shimmering faintly. The fairy paused briefly, then added with a tinge of irony: Robin’s expression remained unreadable for a moment. Then he slowly nodded a few times and exhaled deeply. "It seems the article title wasn’t exaggerated at all," he finally muttered. "These really are the signs of a full-scale cosmic war. If that Galactic Seed is ever destroyed... Hedrick won’t hesitate to unleash hell on everyone he blames. From what I saw during the auction, the seed wasn’t just a treasure to him—it was a dream, a lifelong obsession, something he poured his soul into. He’ll burn galaxies before letting go of it." the fairy responded, her voice dropping slightly. "Hah... then maybe I won’t need to lend him that Planetary Displacement Gear after all." Robin let out a chuckle, half amusement, half relief. This war was happening light-years away, in another sector entirely. It had nothing to do with him, and that’s exactly how he wanted it to stay. After a moment, Robin’s expression shifted. "Any updates on Theo?" he asked casually. The fairy thought for a moment, then shook her head slowly. Robin clapped his hands once, firmly. That was exactly the kind of report he wanted. If Theo’s movements had become public knowledge, it would’ve caused severe complications—especially given the scale of their shared dealings. Now, at least, he could breathe a little easier. Just as he was about to close his control panel and move on, a thought struck him. "Wait... any news about the Empire of the Nine Paths?" "Oh?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "There’s a report?" A floating square window appeared in front of him, displaying a headline. Curious, he leaned forward to read— "What in the actual...!?" Robin’s eyes flew open in disbelief as a flood of dialog boxes began popping up one after another—dozens, hundreds of them, layering over each other rapidly, until they had surrounded him completely on all sides! It was as if the system had been waiting for this moment—and it had a lot to say about the Empire of the Nine Paths.