Chapter490 Tim Barglay stood frozen for a brief moment, his eyes still fixed on the place where his fighter had fallen.Tejas.Defeated.Not wounded. Not driven back.Defeated outright. The realization struck him slowly, then all at once.“That’s impossible…” Tim muttered under his breath.His fingers clenched unconsciously. Victor Creel, someone he had already marked as the weakest link was still standing. Not only standing, but steady. Alive. Victorious. Tim turned sharply toward Luthor, anger and disbelief boiling over instantly.“You tricked me,” Tim snapped. “You deliberately distracted me.” Luthor looked at him calmly, golden spear resting loosely in his hand.“You wasted my time,” Tim continued, his voice rising. “You kept talking while secretly channeling your martial energy to Victor!”His accusation rang out sharply.“You cheated!” Luthor’s lips curved into a faint smirk.“Cheated?” he repeated softly.He shook his head.“No,” Luthor said. “I deceived you.”Tim’s eye

Chapter492 As Prime Minister Ulgan’s final announcement echoed across the arena, the overwhelming noise slowly began to settle. The desert field below was still marked by deep craters and scorched sand, silent evidence of the brutal battles that had just concluded. Fighters were being escorted away, medical teams moving efficiently, while the audience remained buzzing with excitement and disbelief. From the honorary seating, Felix rose calmly to his feet. Serena stood beside him, smoothing her robes as she glanced one last time toward the arena floor. Around them, the rulers of various empires also began to stand, some still whispering among themselves, others lost in thought. Without ceremony, they started moving toward the exit corridors reserved for high ranking guests. Christene, who had been seated slightly away from them, was still chatting animatedly. She stood beside Deputy Commander Gene of the Imperium Port Navy, her expression lively, while Major General Clint

Chapter494 After the conversation with Christene and Serena finally wound down, Felix remained seated for a while longer. The dining hall had quieted again. The maids had already cleared the table, moving silently and efficiently, leaving behind only the faint scent of food and warm tea. Sunlight streamed in through the tall windows, illuminating the polished floor and casting long, gentle shadows. Christene had gone off to sketch ideas in her room. Serena had retreated briefly to the inner courtyard, still thinking through ingredients and techniques in her mind. Felix exhaled slowly. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. With a few precise taps, he placed a call. The line connected almost instantly.“Yes, Your Majesty,” came the respectful voice on the other end.“I need you to come to the guesthouse,” Felix said calmly. “Now.” “At once.” Felix ended the call and stood, making his way into the open courtyard. He sat down on one of the s

Chapter496 The moment Felix’s calm question left his mouth, the atmosphere at the entrance of Aurelion Culinary Consortium shifted. The two security guards stiffened. At first, it wasn’t fear that surfaced in their expressions. It was anger. Pure, unfiltered irritation. “How dare you talk to us like that?” one of them snapped, stepping forward aggressively. “Do you know where you are?” The other guard scoffed loudly, folding his arms. “You think you’re someone important just because you can speak calmly?” The humiliation burned. They had just bent themselves over backward to curry favor with a celebrity, someone whose wealth and fame were widely acknowledged. To them, Felix was nothing more than an inconvenient nobody who had witnessed their fawning behavior. And now..He was questioning their authority. The shame twisted into hostility. “Look at you,” the first guard sneered, scanning Felix from head to toe. “Plain clothes. No entourage. No insignia.” He laughed

Chapter498 After concluding his business with the major corporations in the imperial capital, Felix did not linger. He rose into the sky once more, leaving behind the gleaming towers, controlled air lanes, and layered traffic of the Imperium’s core districts. As the altitude increased, the skyline shifted. Polished structures gave way to industrial silhouettes, and the carefully regulated hum of the capital thinned into something rougher, more uneven. Felix adjusted his trajectory eastward. Beyond the eastern industrial belt lay older zones areas that had once been central to production before the Imperium modernized its infrastructure. Many of those facilities had been abandoned, repurposed, or downsized. Others survived in quieter forms, sustained by specialists who valued craftsmanship over scale.That was where the resonance cores could still be found. As he traveled, Felix passed above countless cities and districts. Some were dense clusters of habitation towers, thei