Chapter 171 Eden Prime - Lunar Lagrange HabitatEden Prime was not a space station. It was a floating palace. Built for the absolute elites of the World Council, the habitat was a massive, rotating torus of white steel and reinforced glass. Inside, artificial gravity simulated the perfect conditions for rolling green hills, pristine lakes, and sprawling, marble-columned mansions. It was a biosphere of absolute perfection, insulated from the filth and suffering of the Earth below. The Council Chamber was located at the apex of the station. It was a circular room with a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that offered a breathtaking, unobstructed view of the moon's cratered surface and the distant, swirling blue marble of Earth. High Councilor Valerius sat in his throne, surrounded by his six peers. Heavily armored Void-Knights stood at attention at the massive blast doors. "Cut the feed to the Architect," Valerius snapped at his technicians. "Prep the orbital bombardment fleet. I want Ae

Chapter 173 Before Joe could answer, the heavy double doors of the library swung open. Lena marched in, carrying a silver tray with a pristine stack of paperwork. "Lord Black," Lena announced, her posture perfect. "The deed transfers for the World Council’s terrestrial holdings are complete. I have also taken the liberty of drafting a new set of municipal bylaws for Aethelgard, now that you are the undisputed sovereign."Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Bylaws? What kind of bylaws?""Basic etiquette, sir," Lena said, placing the tray on the desk. "Mandatory fines for littering. Strict dress codes for the central commercial districts. And a zero-tolerance policy for anyone caught chewing gum with their mouth open. Violators will be subjected to localized gravity compression."Joe choked on his own saliva. "You want to crush people with gravity for chewing loudly?!""It is a deterrent, Joseph," Lena glared at him. "A society without manners is merely a horde of animals wearing clothes.""W

Chapter 175"To cover your debt, the Syndicate hereby forecloses on the local satellite known as 'The Moon'. We will also be seizing the atmospheric water supply of your northern hemisphere, and the biological essence of approximately three billion of your species."Joe choked. "You're taking the moon?!""No, he's not," Adrian roared. [ SYSTEM COMMAND: ABSOLUTE SPATIAL ERASURE. ]Adrian unleashed a blast of golden-crimson energy so intense it turned the walls of the library transparent. At once, he aimed a localized singularity directly at the center of the Auditor’s chest, intending to erase the cosmic bureaucrat from existence. The beam of pure, god-tier destruction hit the Auditor and simply vanished. It was mathematically absorbed into the Auditor’s tailored suit with a soft *blip*. Adrian froze. For the second time in his life, his absolute attack had done absolutely nothing. "Hostile action logged," the Auditor noted, scribbling on its clipboard. "A fine of fifty million c

Chapter 177 Adrian bent the digital reality around him, crushing the anti-logic constructs into compressed spheres of harmless data. He tore through the cosmic firewalls, surfing the dying memories of the Sovereign harvester he had destroyed. "Where did the Sovereign deposit its harvests? Where is the local bank?"Images flashed in his mind. Alien worlds burning. Ships the size of moons. And then, a beacon. A massive, automated transit hub and ledger node, floating silently in the icy, rocky rings of a gas giant. Saturn.The Syndicate didn't just operate in deep space. They had a tollbooth right here in his own solar system, monitoring the primitive monkeys on Earth, waiting for them to develop tech worth stealing. [ NEURAL OVERLOAD IMMINENT. INTRUDER WILL BE PURGED. ]The dark ocean began to boil. The pressure on Adrian’s mind reached a critical threshold. Blood began to pour from his nose in the real world. "Adrian!" he heard Cora’s voice, muffled and distant. "Your heart rat

Chapter 179Walking on the outer hull of a megastructure floating in the rings of Saturn is generally not recommended for humans wearing bespoke three-piece suits. The absolute zero temperature, the lethal cosmic radiation, and the total lack of oxygen usually make for a very brief, very messy excursion. Adrian Black, however, had long since stopped caring about what was recommended. The heavy airlock of the dreadnought hissed open. Adrian stepped out onto the dark, non-reflective metal of the Syndicate Ledger Node. He didn’t wear a spacesuit. He simply willed his dark-matter attire to project a localized, breathable atmosphere, a shimmering, invisible bubble of atmospheric pressure that extended ten feet around him. Joe stepped out next, wearing a bulky Vanguard vacuum suit he had scavenged from the armory, his pulse rifle gripped tightly in his thick, gloved hands. Cora followed, her cybernetic arm seamlessly interfacing with the suit’s life-support systems. And finally, Lena.