A faint smirk touched his lips as he added, "I've even had the Minitour clan and their forces seal off every region surrounding the Holy Region. No one's getting in or out—not with the kind of phenomenon stirring there. I won't allow anyone to snoop around and risk leaking what's happening."
The four listened carefully as the Star Emperor spoke. They nodded silently in agreement with the first part of his statement, having already committed to the plan. However, the last part caught them off guard—they had completely forgotten about that detail.
Still, they couldn't help but offer silent praise to the Star Emperor for wisely using whatever resources he had at hand to minimize the fallout. After all, they shared some of the blame. Each of them recalled how they had urged the Star Emperor to deploy his fleet first, citing his empire's proximity to both the Minotaur clans and the Holy Region. That part had been true—but now it seemed their impatience might end up costing them dearly.