Jin-Woo's smile remained—calm, unreadable.
Yoda stepped forward slightly, cane tapping the ramp, his ancient eyes never leaving Jin-Woo's.
"Sung Jin-Woo, I presume," Yoda said. "The Daughter… she always claimed you are the most dangerous she has ever faced."
Jin-Woo exhaled, bemused. "Hehhh~. One of the Mortis gods, admitting that out loud now?" His eyes flicked to the empty space beside them. "No longer shut away on your floating realm, eh, Daughter?"
A flash of feathers and light shimmered at the edge of the hangar wall. The Daughter appeared there in silence, arms folded, leaning casually against the metal as she stared at him without blinking.
Mace Windu's voice cut through the tension. Cold. Blunt. "Are you threatening the entire galaxy… by merely existing?"
Jin-Woo tilted his head slightly. "If I am… what will you do about it?"
Windu's stepped into a guarded stance, eyes locked on Jin-Woo. "Then I will stop you."
For a moment, the air grew still again.
Yoda lifted one hand—quiet but firm. "Stand down, Master Windu."
Windu didn't move immediately.
Yoda's gaze then turned to Padmé, . "Queen Amidala… is Naboo now independent? Permanently?"
Padmé stood without flinching. "Yes," she said clearly. "I can no longer stand by and watch a failed Senate grovel behind procedure while my people suffer."
"The Jedi Order has done much to help. That, I won't forget. But against the might of the Trade Federation? You're outnumbered. If they want to ambush you… you'll be facing a million battle droids.."
Qui-Gon took a slow step forward, his gaze never leaving Jin-Woo's. His voice was steady—measured—but beneath it ran a current of quiet awe.
"The reason your midichlorian count read as zero… even though Obi-Wan tested it himself… was because you hid it. Until this day. The day you chose to reveal yourself to the galaxy."
"My question is simple, Jin-Woo. Are you part of the balance… or its destroyer? Because from what I've seen… you're more of a Chosen One than Anakin ever was. Your Force presence is overwhelming. Your midichlorian count—it must be above thirty thousand. That would make you the highest ever recorded in this galaxy."
Jin-Woo smirked and folded his arms, a flicker of amusement touching his eyes. "Two hundred thousand," he said flatly. "If you really want to know. I always hid it. From the very beginning. until today. The day I could nearly destroy the Republic… with words and presence alone ."
Yoda's ears shifted. He stepped forward once, slow and deliberate. "Was it intentional, then?" "You nearly destabilized the Republic itself. Was that… your design?"
Jin-Woo's smile faded just slightly. He looked to Yoda—his voice now edged with quiet weight.
"Don't tell me you're about to say it," Jin-Woo muttered. "That ancient excuse the Council loves so much…"
"'We sacrifice one… for the betterment of the many. Because the one you're so willing to sacrifice… is standing right beside me. The Queen of Naboo. The woman the Republic abandoned."
Then his eyes turned to Qui-Gon.
"To answer your question… that depends on the Republic. If they piss me off again or not . I've already proven the Senate is just a hall of masks. Most of them care only for their titles and favors. Maybe a few… like Antilles… still burn clean. But that spark? It's not enough. The image the Republic built—that illusion everyone clung to? I shattered it.
Yoda didn't blink. His tone remained even tinged with a deeper sorrow. "Speak of sacrifice, I did not. No. A question, I asked. Power, you have. Unmatched, it may be. But wisdom… wisdom, you lack."
Jin-Woo's expression twitched—he was about to speak.
But then Yoda interrupted gently, tilting his head with a rare glint of mischief.
"Join the Jedi Order, why don't you?" Yoda asked. "Help the Order… you might. Guide it, perhaps. Change it, even. For the better, the galaxy may be."
Windu turned sharply, stepping forward with heat in his voice. "Master Yoda—! You can't be serious! This man is the most dangerous being alive. He could—"
"I am serious," Yoda said without turning, his voice firm but calm. "To fear him, we do. But fear alone… is not wisdom."
Jin-Woo blinked. Even for him, that caught him off guard. Join the Jedi Order? Did that old goblin hit his head back on Naboo? Jin-Woo thought. Did my fight with him as the Armored Man knock a few screws loose in that little green skull?
Jin-Woo gaze shifted from Yoda to the others, then finally to Padmé. "…After I finish resolving Queen Amidala's problem,"
Jin-Woo said, voice cool and measured, "we'll talk more."
But Windu wasn't satisfied. He stepped forward, voice edged like a blade."That's not good enough."
Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What you did just now," Windu continued, "can happen again. And while the public doesn't know all the details—what we know is enough."
Windu stared at Jin-Woo like a man watching a loaded weapon with a hair trigger. "You act on impulse. Power like yours—if your mood worsens,—everyone will caught up in the crossfire "
Jin-Woo didn't respond. He just smiled—calm, unfazed. Then turned, cloak rustling faintly as he began walking toward the Defender-class light corvette.
Windu took a step forward, voice sharp. "We're not done here, Jin-Woo."
Jin-Woo stopped mid-step. Slowly, he turned his head—not all the way, just enough for the light to catch one of his eyes.
"So you want to settle it here and now?" His heavy with finality. "I don't mind."
He fully turned then, walking a slow circle around Windu, eyes half-lidded with amusement. "But do you have enough power to equalize mine? That's your first problem."
"The second is more obvious." His gaze flicked toward Padmé, who stood silent and still at the base of the ramp. "Shouldn't you be protecting the Republic's interests first… not wasting time with an independent planet like Naboo?"
That's when it happened—. Jin-Woo's right eye ignited in glowing violet light, tendrils of shadow creeping from its corner like cracks in reality itself. The temperature dropped. The air bent. A single pulse of that energy, and it was clear: this time… he would go all out. Anyone who stood against Padmé… stood against him.
Morgan le Fay stood just behind him, arms folded, her expression unreadable. But her smile was there—faint, dangerous, elegant. One subtle gesture from her, and the Lostbelt army and Transfiguration army—millions strong—would fall into formation, ready to reduce Coruscant to a memory. She didn't need to speak. Her silence was a dare.
Near the Defender's ramp, Anakin gulped hard. Did the Lady who keeps beefing with Jin-Woo—The Daughter—really mean it? She wants me to go head-to-head with that man?
Anakin heart pounded. His fists clenched at his sides. I'm still just a kid… not even the Chosen One everyone whispers about. Not the one the Jedi want. I'm not even close.
Anakin looked up again. That single purple eye still burned like a star on the verge of collapse. And Anakin thought something he didn't dare say aloud. If I ever have to fight that man… I'll need to become something more. Something like him.Or I'll be turned to ash before I even take a step.
Before the air could fracture further—before tension detonated into war—Padmé stepped forward. by sheer conviction.
She stood before the Jedi, lifted her chin slightly, and offered a formal, measured bow—toward both Masters of the Order: Mace Windu and Grandmaster Yoda. When Padme straightened, her voice was calm. Laced with silk and irony.
"Thank you, Jedi Masters," Padme said smoothly. "But as you can see—no one helped me. No one stood beside Naboo… except him."
She turned just slightly, enough for her shoulder to align with Jin-Woo's silhouette behind her.
"I'm not disappointed in you. Not entirely. I just finally understand." Her tone darkened subtly. "Democracy… failed me. And the Republic? It's not sunshine and rainbows. It's rot—papered over with procedure. It's full of cowards and corruption. And The Jedi Order…"
Padme eyes met Windu's, then Yoda's. "The Jedi Order—are still shackled to that dying machine. You still let it control you."
Windu's eyes hardened. He shifted slightly, toward Jin-Woo
"There is protocol in this Republic," Windu said, "And all I see before me… is a madman. One who nearly shattered the Republic just by standing still."
Then Jin-Woo laughed, a low sound, like embers crackling beneath ice.
"Then let me ask you, Mace Windu," he replied, . He gestured lazily toward the sky above the Coruscant landing pad, where the Trade Federation's blockade ships loomed over Naboo,
"If your precious Republic tolerates this madness—if it allows the Trade Federation to march on sovereign systems unchecked and watches new powers rise across the galaxy like weeds through cracks—then tell me…"
Jin-woo stepped forward,. "Wouldn't it seem to you that any Senate that permits this, any Council that allows it to pass, even your sacred Order of monks… are just as mad as I am? ."
Mace Windu's purple lightsaber flared, his stance rigid. "This madman's a A galaxy threat set loose!"
Windu stepping toward Jin-Woo, ready to strike. The air thickened, Jin-Woo's aura pulsing, a whisper of the Senate-crushing power he'd unleashed hours ago.
Yoda's gimer stick tapped hard. He raised a clawed hand, voice steady but sharp. "Hold yourself, Master Windu. Correct, Jin-Woo is. Think, we must."
Windu's eyes blazed, but he snapped his saber off, stepping back,. "Master, he's not reasonable!"
"Calm, you must," Yoda said, eyes glinting with cunning. "Consider this, we will."
Jin-Woo's smirk widened, provocative.
Anakin Skywalker, barely more than a boy, stepped forward, his voice sharp with defiance. "Jin-Woo, why'd you save me from slavery? My mother too? If I'm a threat to you, why not just kill me and be done with it?"
Jin-Woo's grin widened, a playful edge cutting through the menace. "Kill you? Nah, Qui-Gon'd throw a fit if I snuffed out the Chosen One himself. Right, Qui-Gon?"
Qui-Gon Jinn's steady gaze hardened, his voice low. "Take this seriously, Jin-Woo. I thought you were just an eccentric merchant, but I've seen your true power now. You're dangerous—wielding something we can't even call the Force. Why are you here, in this galaxy? You lack nothing."
Jin-Woo's eyes flickered, shadows pulsing beneath the surface. "I lack something, actually. Lost it somewhere in this galaxy. And it ain't Sith, Jedi, or your Mortis nonsense."
The Daughter shimmered into view, feathers glinting, her voice icy. "Such disdain for us, Jin-Woo?"
Jin-woo laughed, sharp and cold. "How 'bout you crawl out of your NEET hole and show 'em how the Force really works? From what I see, Jedi and Sith are just tangled in a messy web, screwing up left and right."
Without waiting for a response, he strode toward the Defender-class corvette, cloak trailing behind like a shadow in its own right. He paused at the ramp, turning back for a parting shot, voice ringing across the landing pad:
"This galaxy doesn't need another batch of senators or monks who can't act because of protocols. If you want to know what this galaxy really needs—talk less, do more."
He entered the corvette without another word, refusing to elaborate, his figure swallowed by the shadows of the ship's interior. Padmé followed , passing the Jedi without a backward glance.
Morgan lingered a moment longer on the ramp,. Her gaze swept across the Jedi, her eyes bright with dangerous amusement. "You can still follow the rabbit hole, Qui-Gon. After all, Jin-Woo promised you'd see just how much you never knew."
She allowed herself a small, knowing smile—something more mocking than cruel, as if she pitied them for their naivete. "We'll depart in five minutes, with or without you. we're on the verge of victory. The rest of you… you're just extra pieces on a chessboard that's already been checkmated."
With a last, lingering look—equal parts dare and dismissal—Morgan turned . She stepped inside the Defender corvette, the ramp still open.