CHAPTER 996: CHAPTER 513: ADAM’S TRUE OBJECTIVE, THE EMPIRE’S GREATEST FOE

Empire Capital Star, in a spacious office, Adam sat behind a large desk, his fingers gently sliding over the holographic report.

Dozens of data windows floated above the desk, each displaying different information streams—from interstellar trade data to military deployment maps.

The quantum clock on the wall showed the time in different star domains, its ticking especially clear in the silent office.

Adam’s brow furrowed slightly, his pupils reflecting the rapidly scrolling text and images. This was the latest report from the Flowing Light Star Gate Node.

"...Traces of dimension blockade, space peeling, quantum interference, super ionized fields, and a series of blockade traps have been discovered..."

"Hmm... Why did it cause such a commotion?"

Adam was quite surprised; the incident had occurred half a day ago. He had marked the Flowing Light Star Gate Node and several other star gate nodes.

Therefore, the Empire’s intelligence personnel immediately carried out a summary of the intelligence.

And due to the scale of the attack, the Federation had already sent people to investigate.

"Such a large-scale ambush isn’t something an ordinary person can prepare. Someone is secretly targeting Li Ming." Adam rubbed his fingers, his eyes flickering.

The report had been dragged to the end. At present, this was all the information available; Adam had no way of knowing Li Ming’s current situation.

While pondering, a communication request popped up on the window before him. It was from Costat.

Adam’s expression slightly tensed, swiftly connecting the call and asked in a low voice, "What’s wrong? Has something happened in the Deep Dimension World?"

"No..." Costat shook his head and explained, "The Azure Dragon just contacted me, requesting to speak with you directly, and... his attitude is extremely firm."

"Oh?" Adam’s heart stirred, "What’s going on?"

"I asked him, but he wouldn’t say, just insisted on speaking with you directly. What do you think..." Costat was unsure of what to do.

If it were before, he certainly wouldn’t agree, perhaps even being able to refuse on his own.

Is Adam someone you can meet at the drop of a hat? Even if it’s an X Level Life Form, it’s not happening.

But since returning from the Red River Star Stream, the Azure Dragon’s status has been elevated, making it hard for him to decide.

"Transfer it over through the encrypted channel." After a brief thought, Adam nodded.

"Understood." Costat nodded, Adam’s expression was restrained, and the screen in front of him slid through several transitions as the signal began to transfer and decrypt.

Soon, the chilling large face of the Azure Dragon appeared, the screen’s light casting shadows on his face, making his expression even more sinister and frightening.

"Holy Emperor..." the Azure Dragon spoke first, with almost no emotional fluctuation in his voice.

"Lord Azure Dragon." Adam nodded, his demeanor gentle. "Prince Costat told me you had something urgent to discuss with me. What is it?"

"Holy Emperor is unaware?" the Azure Dragon questioned bluntly.

"Hmm..." Adam couldn’t help but frown, "What should I know? Could you please be clearer, my lord?"

"Seven hours ago, my student Li Ming was ambushed at the Flowing Light Star Gate Node and is now missing!" the Azure Dragon’s voice was icy, without any tact.

There was no restraint, even considering Adam’s status.

"Li Ming was captured?" Adam was unsurprised, recalling when Costat mentioned it.

He already had a prediction when he saw the Azure Dragon’s expression, confirming seven or eight-tenths of it.

But hearing it from the Azure Dragon himself still gave him a sense of surprise.

Heckler acted so decisively this time?

He immediately thought of Heckler, but was uncertain, as he hadn’t received any information about the mobilization of large-scale blockade equipment.

Unless it’s Heckler’s private property, but would he be so willing?

While pondering, Adam responded without delay, his face darkening as he asked back, "Lord Azure Dragon, are you implying that the Empire did this?"

"What else? The Empire seems to have always coveted those under my command." The Azure Dragon was extremely firm in his stance, staring this Holy Emperor down: "I have never actively provoked the Empire, and everything that happened before was passive retaliation, including the incident with Ryan."

"If the Empire truly dares to harm my student, I will retaliate at any cost!"

Adam felt a slight chill inwardly, it seemed... this time they’ve truly touched the Azure Dragon’s bottom line.

But then he recalled that the Azure Dragon was still complaining, as he kept sending Li Ming into dangerous ventures.

Adam became expressionless, regardless of what he thought inside.

But now that someone was threatening the Empire, he couldn’t show any weakness, his expression solemn:

"The Empire does not fear any threats or challenges. If Lord Azure Dragon believes this incident was done by the Empire, then you may carry out whatever retaliation you see fit."

After saying this, Adam added another sentence: "But I must emphasize one point, under no circumstances has anyone within the Empire acted upon my authority against your student in any form of attack or abduction."

This guy... Hearing this, Li Ming slightly frowned, automatically ignoring the first half of the sentence, cooperating with a deep voice: "You didn’t authorize it, but does that mean no one else authorized it either?"

Adam’s tone softened somewhat, even with a hint of helplessness: "This is beyond my control. The Empire is too vast, even I cannot fully manage it."

"What do you mean?" The Azure Dragon couldn’t help but frown, "You can certainly make it clearer."

"You should be aware of the Scarlet Wolves incident from a while back," Adam hinted meaningfully yet ambiguously, "Does Lord Azure Dragon really think I sent those people? I’m not that foolish."

"The Scarlet Wolves..." Li Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly. It seems this Holy Emperor doesn’t know everything after all.