The laboratory's lights glowed dimly, bathing Asto's face in pale silver as the last sequence of calculations flickered across the display. The simulation of the Penetration Teleportation System was complete.
For a long time, the boy stared at the projections the vast cannon-like structure spanning five kilometers in length and three in width, its chambers designed not to fire projectiles, but to pierce through locked hyperspace fields and disgorge an entire army into enemy sanctuaries.
At last, Asto spoke. His voice was quiet, but steady."Teacher… I understand now."
Lupar Mur looked at him, one brow arched.
"All this time," Asto continued, "I thought peace could be protected by walls, by clever defenses. But I was wrong. My thinking was shallow… naïve. In a universe ruled by predators, peace is only given to dominators. To secure the calm days we dream of, we must first seize the power to end threats before they rise."
His hands curled into fists, not in rebellion but in resolve. "To preserve peace… we must dominate."
For the first time, Lupar's smile softened not mocking, not predatory, but approving. "Good. You see it now. To build is noble, but to rule is survival. Faria seeks to cloak us. You and I, Asto… we will make the universe kneel."
Together, they finalized the blueprint a colossal weapon-engine, forged from Eternal Cosmic Steel and Voidsteel plating, its heart powered by cores of Stellar Steel. Only the combined efforts of the Empire's finest blacksmiths and master mechanics could craft such a monstrosity.
The design resembled a giant cannon, though its barrel was not meant to fire. It was a tunnel, a gate, a scar in reality that could rip open space within locked territories. Attached to a new Mothership, tethered directly to the Main Mothership, it would allow mechs, fleets, and legions of soldiers to be hurled instantly into enemy strongholds.
Lupar Mur's voice was a low whisper, heavy with inevitability."This is no longer a dream. This is the future of war. With this, even the Wolves will choke on fear. Even the Foxes will look twice before raising their eyes to us."
Asto gazed at the towering blueprint, and though fear lingered at the edges of his heart, he forced it down. He had chosen.
Far beyond, across countless light-years, the predators stirred.
In the Wolf Civilization, the Grand Hall of Dominion glowed with golden fire. Emperor Wolfar Wolfein, cloaked in shadows, sat upon his throne of carved obsidian. Beside him stood his guardian, the Grand Protector Jakal Wiliom a towering wolf draped in armor of black steel.
Suddenly, Jakal's ears twitched. His crimson eyes narrowed. Without a word, he dissolved into smoke, vanishing from the Emperor's side.
Outside, in the void above the Wolf capital, a stealth probe shimmered faintly against the darkness. It had slipped through veils of concealment, daring to gaze upon forbidden territory.
But Jakal Wiliom was already there. His red eyes glowed, locking onto the intruder. With one swipe of his claw, space itself cracked. The drone screamed once in static, then exploded into shards before it could transmit a single packet of data.
A whisper drifted through the void No one spies upon the Wolves.
Meanwhile, in the Fox Civilization, a lone figure stood atop the watchtower of a silver citadel. His fur burned orange in the pale light of distant suns, his imperial uniform crisp and immaculate.
This was Jules Rein, one of the Three Watchers the unseen guardians of the Fox Empire. His purple eyes glimmered with calm menace as he studied the faint shimmer of another stealth probe daring to peer into their domain.
He did not destroy it immediately. Instead, he approached, inspecting the design, memorizing the curves of its alloy, the patterns of its cloaking lattice. "So… another civilization dares to reach for us," he murmured. "I will remember this."
Only when he had etched every detail into memory did his hand rise. With a flick of his fingers, the drone crumpled into nothingness.
Turning away, Jules Rein strode down the tower stairs, his cloak trailing behind him. There was only one who must know of this intrusion.
He entered the throne chamber, where starlight pooled like water across the polished floor. At its heart sat Empress Vulferia Vulpes, her gaze sharp, her presence undeniable.
Jules bowed low. "Empress… we have been spied upon. I believe a new civilization stirs beyond the void. I will search for them. I will find them."
The Empress's purple eyes glowed faintly in the dark, a mirror of her Watcher's own. "Then let them learn that the Foxes are never blind."