CHAPTER 776: NEWS ABOUT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES

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The councillors themselves weren’t wearing anything too extravagant, but because of their position and their aura, they still seemed above everybody else. And that’s not exactly wrong.

They didn’t say a word; they just sat on their thrones wearing masks like Cedric’s, peering down at the crowd.

It was a man who came out of nowhere who greeted them.

"Good day to you all. We, at the Human Council, are extremely glad that you’re able to set aside some time for this little event of ours."

"I am your host, Claudio, and I will be relaying and representing the councillors for this event."

Claudio was appropriately dressed for this event. He’s wearing a suit and tie, his hair was combed neatly backwards, and he wore a pair of clear glasses connected to beads of pearls that wrapped around his neck like a necklace. He radiated an aura of generosity and calmness, like he could maintain his composure through whatever comes his way.

After his introduction, the lights turned a little bit brighter and warmer. Music then flowed through the guests’ ears, followed by the reveal of an orchestra when the curtains were pulled.

’Music Laws, cool.’ Cedric recognized it at the first glance.

It’s a branch of sound laws, emphasizing melody and rhythm. Music laws can inspire or shift the mood of anybody who listens to them, depending on the intent, of course. It’s useful in many cases, and the applications are potentially limitless. Though, this was something that Cedric didn’t explore too much.

Right here, though, the music that the orchestra played was to influence a mellow and easy mood for the crowd. Its influence was subtle; there might not be many people who could even recognize it, but it was harmless. It’s just an extra measure to keep this event light and smooth.

Claudio then continued speaking. His words flowed like silk, and his voice was very pleasant to hear even though most of the things he talked about were just pleasantries.

Nobody interrupted him, though. Not in the presence of the councillors because that would be suicide.

At some point, Claudio brought in the servers of food and beverages before he himself disappeared, letting the guests socialize again on their own.

Once again, Cedric found himself surrounded with ladies, hounding his attention. Some even tried to get a little too handsy with him, only to be stopped cold by his bodyguards.

He actually felt a little bit helpless against these ladies. He knows what they want, and he already expressed that he’s happily married and already has a family, yet somehow that didn’t stop them at all.

If anything, it might even encourage them to go at him harder.

Furthermore, he couldn’t be rude to them. Cedric didn’t want to offend anybody as much as possible. He didn’t want to introduce trouble to himself. That’s not why he’s here.

Fortunately, he was saved when some of the official staff of the council entered the hall and began occupying his attention. They invited him for a more private chat where they discussed his activities in his sector domain.

It wasn’t just him; they came for pretty much everybody.

Cedric hasn’t forgotten that the date of this event conveniently lined up with the day of tribute. Which is why it wasn’t weird for them to invite the guests for private chats.

The people who talked to him didn’t really press him to pay tribute. They came knowing that he’s new, and they also know how much time he has left before he’s expected to pay tribute.

Instead of that, they were more interested in knowing what his plans are for the development of his sector domain and how much of it he has completed so far.

Obviously, Cedric was more than happy to tell them. Not all, just enough to satiate their curiosity. Undersell and overperform—that’s the idea.

Though, Cedric did keep them engaged for as long as possible because he didn’t want to go out there again and be surrounded with thirsty ladies and cougars.

The staff seemed to understand his intent and played along. Even though most of their topics became random and nonsensical, they stayed behind and entertained him. He didn’t need to tell them why he’s doing this, and they didn’t ask; they just played their part.

Unfortunately, he can’t keep them forever. The event has to continue, after all. So, the staff had to excuse themselves. But not before earning a handshake from him, where he also conveniently slipped in his ’tip’ for entertaining him. Each one knew what he did, but they didn’t say anything. Like before, they understand what this meant.

Cedric, accompanied by his bodyguards, then returned to the main hall where the guests are staying. And just as he was about to prepare to be occupied by the ladies again, he saw Claudio emerging from out of nowhere, occupying their attention once more.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention?"

"I hope you are enjoying the event so far. We don’t do this very often, so we’re not really good at it, but I hope that everything was up to your standards so far."

Cedric could spot a humblebrag when he heard one.

"Although I don’t really want to ruin this jolly mood we have so far, I’m afraid that I have to redirect your attention for a bit, because we do have several important matters that you must know."

Then, behind him, a large system window appeared. It was large enough to practically become a backdrop for the hall itself.

The system window displayed what the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm looked like as a whole. Its image was placed right at the very center. On the corners of the system window, there were a few elements and numerical values that indicated the overall status of the chaos realm.

"I will start by listing up all the smaller cosmic realms that have reached the end of their natural lifespans. Please pay attention because some of them might be included in some of your territories. Knowing this information this early will allow you to make plans accordingly."

This got everybody’s attention. And so, Claudio began listing the many small cosmic realms that have reached the end of their natural lifespan.

Around him, Cedric could hear the dissatisfied grunts and sighs of helplessness, mostly coming from his fellow sector lords.

The death of cosmic realms under the jurisdiction of a sector lord could sometimes affect them greatly. If the dying ones were bad and unprofitable to begin with, then it’s all fine. But sometimes, it is the highly profitable, and very rarely, the core realms that do.

One can’t simply extend the life expectancy of a cosmic realm. It could be done, but the effort it’ll take just isn’t worth it. That’s just delaying the inevitable, and in a Sector Lord’s arrangements, that’s just to salvage whatever they’re about to lose. And it’s not always worth the price.

There had been times when the death of a small cosmic realm affected the entire Sector Domain so much that it went bankrupt.

This is why, at some point in their rule, Sector Lords would invite specialists to their domain to do this kind of inspection. The earlier, the better, so that they can plan accordingly.

Cedric didn’t need this. His overall understanding of conceptual laws was great enough to allow him to take this into consideration. He already included this during the years he spent pruning his domain. Therefore, he knew that his domain was set.

And he was right. Claudio didn’t include any small cosmic realms in his territory because there were none that were nearly dying.

"...that’s it for this list. I implore you to personally check your territories upon returning so that you can plan ahead accordingly," Claudio stated after he was done listing the names of the dying cosmic realms.

"Moving on, I’ll tell you some of the important developments all over our territory. Please listen closely."

"First and foremost, tensions with the Horde remain heavy. In this past decade alone, our army has faced at least 200 attempts of infiltration."

"I know that everyone here knows how fearsome the Horde is, especially with their numbers. Surely you understand how heavy this was for our army."

200 attempts—what a number. The Horde never goes out with mere hundreds or thousands; they set out with a minimum of hundreds of thousands, and that’s with a weak intent. Considering that they will be assaulting the main army of humanity, we’re talking about millions then, easily, for each attempt.

A minimum of a million bugs on each attempt, and there had been 200 in the last decade alone. What a mind-boggling concept. Cedric sensed the mood of the guests turning somber; clearly, this wasn’t good news.

"I know that this sounds shocking. It is. But it’s also highly suspicious because even for us, this many attempts seemed desperate. What could possibly compel them to send so many?"

"This suspicion made us investigate the root cause more deeply. And to our luck, we managed to discover the reason."

"As it turns out, the gate to the ’Unstable Heavenly Domain’ was predicted to appear within the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm."

And just like that, the entire hall suddenly became very boisterous.