The brutal clashes on the battlefield and the open schism within the Alliance seemed to be put on pause.
After suffering a devastating blow from Mark's Stellar Fist, the Great Old Ones' chaotic core, which had obscured the galaxy, slowly retreated into the deepest, darkest folds of the universe like a wounded beast, no longer revealing its true form.
Taviel, almost shattered by Mark's single punch, also vanished without a trace.
In their place, Great Old Ones' contaminated byproducts, having lost their unified command, spread like a plague throughout the entire universe.
Corrupted energy entities, flesh-and-blood abominations, and corrupted interstellar creatures...
Like worker bees without a queen, they instinctively and with residual contamination frantically attacked any uncorrupted planets and civilizations.
Without the direct will of the Great Old Ones' true form, these byproducts, though vast in number and still severely dangerous, had a significantly reduced threat level.
They lacked strategy, had simplistic attack patterns, and were easier to identify patterns and weaknesses.
Trigg, Mark, and the Council of Elders, after their acrimonious meeting, tacitly chose to go their separate ways, each acting according to their own ideals.
Trigg fully pushed forward his Fortress Galaxy Cluster plan.
Leveraging his vast power base and control over core industrial star systems, he invested immense resources to construct an unprecedented super-defense system in dozens of selected key star systems.
Massive space fortresses, planetary-scale shield generators, and automated defense platforms spread throughout asteroid belts...
These fortress systems, reinforced with some fundamental geometric stability formulas provided by the Titan, possessed astonishing defensive capabilities.
His fleets used these fortresses as strongholds, acting like efficient scavengers, sweeping the surrounding star systems of Great Old Ones' byproducts.
Their operations were characterized by stability, efficiency, and territorial control, never venturing easily into unknown dangerous areas.
Over three years, Trigg's core controlled territory nearly doubled, his population surged, and order prevailed, presenting a scene of safety and prosperity.
The White Lion, as a deterrent force, frequently patrolled the major fortresses, and his reputation for fighting valiantly became the most powerful propaganda symbol for Trigg's faction.
But in a top-secret laboratory located deep within the Fortress Galaxy Cluster, protected by multiple layers of dimensional encryption and physical isolation, Trigg's true ambition festered in the darkness.
In that battle, Mark's punch shattered Taviel's core, sending countless fragments containing the Great Old Ones' primordial power, shimmering with chaotic starlight, flying.
One fist-sized piece, within which countless distorted portals seemed to flicker in and out of existence, was fortuitously discovered and secretly hidden by a member of a Hyena squad under Trigg's command, performing a covert cleanup mission among the debris on the battlefield's edge.
This member, harboring fantasies of presenting the treasure for reward, was secretly executed by Trigg's confidants on charges of colluding with the enemy during his return trip.
That strange fragment ultimately fell into Trigg's hands.
For three years, Trigg invested his top scientists and forbidden resources to research this Great Old Ones' fragment under absolute secrecy.
He knew its danger, but he craved its power even more!
That chaotic, mighty power capable of distorting space, eroding rules, and reaching the very essence of the universe!
If he could analyze and control it, even just a trace... he could completely escape the shadow cast by Mark, and perhaps... truly gain the qualification to converse with those cosmic-level beings.
In the laboratory, a faint blue containment field enveloped the constantly shifting fragment, and eerie whispers echoed beneath the shielding field.
Researchers in the highest-grade protective suits recorded every faint energy pulsation.
Trigg himself regularly inspected the progress via encrypted holographic projections, his eyes burning with cold greed, despite the maddening illusions brought by each attempted contact.
Power, ultimate power, was the only truth in the universe!
Mark, however, did not stop his progress due to Trigg's fortress strategy.
He consolidated the forces that followed him.
Comprising an elite staff led by Allan, the Earth GDA task force trained by Eve and Rudy, and some Alliance fleets swayed by his ideals and power—though much smaller in scale than Trigg's, they were well-equipped, high-spirited, and, most importantly, had key collaborators.
Three Titan Avatars.
Following the coordinates provided by the Titan, they embarked on an expedition to find the Rule Singularities and repair the Barrier Core.
The journey was arduous, filled with unknown spatial traps and death-star systems deeply contaminated by the Great Old Ones.
Mark's semi-cosmic power and the Titan Avatars' insight into rules became crucial for the expedition team.
They successfully located several singularities containing special Rule Energy, acquiring precious repair materials, but also paid a considerable price.
At the same time, Mark's faction was more like a mobile emergency response team and an order reconstructor.
They did not hold territory but instead traversed the fringe star systems and low-level civilization planets ravaged by Great Old Ones' byproducts, which Trigg had not incorporated into his fortresses.
Mark's powerful strength became the core for cleansing the contamination, and the purification protocols provided by the Titan Avatars could effectively remove low-intensity Great Old Ones' contamination.
They rescued civilizations on the brink of extinction, helped them rebuild their homes, and taught basic defense knowledge.
Mark's reputation soared in these forgotten corners, and countless rescued races and planets voluntarily joined his Order Alliance.
Although his territory and total population were not as large as Trigg's, his potential and cohesion were extremely strong.
The Council of Elders, on the other hand, focused on their areas of expertise.
Scientific research, diplomacy, and basic public welfare.
They established several Titan technology application research institutes in relatively safe star systems, focusing on analyzing the basic geometric stability formulas shared by the Titan and converting them into civilian defense technologies.
Such as city-level shields, contamination purifiers, and more efficient 'Titan's Fist' weapon systems.
They attempted to act as mediators between Trigg and Mark, though with little success, but maintained the nominal framework of the Alliance and minimal information-sharing channels.
They also received a large number of civilians fleeing from war-torn star systems, responsible for resettlement and basic welfare work.
Three years, in cosmic terms, was but an instant.
Within the Alliance's controlled territories, including the spheres of influence of the three factions, the clouds of war seemed to truly be dissipating.
Trigg's Fortress Galaxy Cluster was impregnable, internally prosperous and stable, making it difficult for Great Old Ones' byproducts to invade.
Mark's Order Alliance continuously cleared threats on the fringes, acting like the universe's janitors, bringing hope to desperate corners.
Under the Council of Elders' governance, scientific research and public welfare steadily developed, and the total Alliance population experienced explosive growth in a relatively peaceful environment, with new colonies springing up like mushrooms.
New products based on Titan technology circulated in the market, and life seemed to be returning to normal.
The disappearance of the Great Old Ones' Taviel created a misconception among many, especially the populace in Trigg's controlled areas.
The Great Old Ones had been intimidated!
The Alliance, or rather Trigg and the White Lion, possessed enough power to deter them!
An optimistic mood spread.
Calls to celebrate the third anniversary of the victory were rampant.
Only a few high-ranking individuals who had truly experienced the horrors of the core battlefield remained vigilant.
However, beneath this false prosperity, some subtle, imperceptible, eerie ripples began to quietly spread.
Initially, there were only scattered reports, appearing in several resettlement sectors and trade hubs managed by the Council of Elders, where population movement was high.
In Sector K-7, a medium-sized immigrant space station, three engineers responsible for maintaining external sensors mysteriously disappeared during their shift.
Space station surveillance showed them last entering a maintenance passage, after which their signal was lost.
Searches yielded no results.
Three days later, the three reappeared unharmed in the space station's public cafeteria, looking composed, with vague memories of their three-day disappearance, only saying they got lost or fell asleep.
Medical examinations showed no abnormalities.
In the freeport city, New Dawn, a well-known interstellar merchant disappeared after attending a trade conference.
His private spaceship was docked in the port, and his personal belongings were intact.
Five days later, he returned to the port in his spaceship, claiming he had decided at the last minute to inspect a remote mining planet and that his communicator was broken.
But his spaceship's flight log was cleared, and his accompanying bodyguards were nowhere to be found.
His personality seemed to have become... more enthusiastic and talkative.
On a newly purified agricultural planet under Mark's Order Alliance, a small village of a hundred people collectively vanished overnight.
The houses were intact, the livestock remained, but the people were gone.
A week later, the villagers collectively appeared at the village entrance at dawn, looking bewildered, claiming they had a very long dream, dreaming of going to a place full of light.
They had no memory of their time missing, and medical examinations also showed no problems.
Initially, these incidents were attributed to post-war trauma stress disorder, sequelae of space travel, or even the abuse of new interstellar hallucinogens.
After all, the universe is vast and full of wonders.
The missing persons all eventually returned safely, without substantial harm, and seemed insignificant given the Alliance's enormous population base.
At an internal high-level meeting of the Order Alliance, Allan routinely reported on recent affairs, mentioning several similar incidents of temporary disappearance and return, speaking casually and viewing them as normal minor episodes during the post-war social recovery period.
Mark, who had been listening with his eyes closed, slowly opened them, and a subtle, sharp glint flashed in the depths of his molten-gold eyes.
"Allan."
Mark's voice was calm, yet it instantly silenced Eve, Rudy, and the others present.
"Compile detailed reports of these incidents for me, including the times and locations of disappearance and return, the backgrounds of the individuals, and the specifics of their words and actions after returning."
"Especially... those who returned safely."
Allan was taken aback.
"Mark, do you suspect something is wrong?"
"Medical examinations were done, no problems found. Psychological assessments, while showing some vague memories, also fit the characteristics of PTSD..."
"A hunch."
Mark interrupted him, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
"The Great Old Ones... will not retreat easily. Taviel... He was severely wounded, but He will never disappear."
"These disappearances... are too clean, too... perfectly returned, like... carefully packaged gifts."
The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavy.
Eve immediately recalled the victims who were mentally controlled but unaware during the early stages of Great Old Ones' contamination.
Rudy also frowned deeply.
"Understood, I'll get right on it!"
Allan's expression became serious.
"Furthermore..."
Mark added, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
"In the star systems we control, especially near the edges of Trigg's fortresses and the Council of Elders' densely populated resettlement areas, deploy personnel."
"No need for a grand show; use the most covert methods. Keep a close eye on those who returned safely, record all their words and actions, the people they interact with, any subtle changes!"
"And... pay attention to any new disappearance reports, especially those missing for more than three days and not yet returned!"
Mark's orders were quickly carried out.
A secret observation team, directly led by Eve and composed of the most loyal and reliable Earth GDA veterans and some alien warriors rescued by Mark who possessed special tracking abilities, quietly dispersed.
Like the most patient hunters, they blended into the crowds, weaving an invisible surveillance net with advanced miniature equipment and their own keen senses.
Initially, everything was normal.
The returnees seemed to have truly resumed their normal lives, working, socializing, without any abnormalities.
Until a month later, an encrypted message from the City of Hope resettlement area, managed by the Council of Elders, arrived at Mark's desk.
The message came from an observation team member codenamed 'Night Owl,' and its content was brief but shocking.
"Returnee Kalan, former miner, returned after 7 days missing, abnormal behavior."
"For three consecutive nights at midnight, he infiltrated a public water supply system node, staying for approximately 15 minutes. No damage was done. Behavior pattern consistent with... sampling. Water samples remaining at the node after his departure have been collected."
"Analysis results: detected unknown inert organic nanostructures, not local technology, no match in Titan databases. Structure exhibits... self-replication and weak mental synchronization characteristics. Requesting further instructions."
Mark looked at the report, his gaze fixed on the words 'self-replication' and 'mental synchronization.'
He picked up the microscopic structural analysis spectrum of the water sample, and the strange, tiny, twisted portal-like nanostructures made his molten-gold pupils suddenly contract!
A chilling name instantly flashed through his mind.
Taviel!
This was no minor incident at all!
This was... a silent infiltration, far grander in scale than imagined!
Those who returned safely might no longer be their original selves; they were walking sources of contamination!
They were Great Old Ones' time bombs planted in the heart of the Alliance!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.