A week passed since Varian called Enigma. What followed was a rapid military deployment of Human Armed Forces across the federation.
Even if he was living under a rock, Varian would know about the status quo.
At an unprecedented level, armies of humanity and abyssals were beefing up their deployments.
Uranus' planetoids were in a rather precarious position, but due to the reinforcements given by Sovereigns, they were confident in reaching a stalemate.
But even they acknowledged that should the Sequoia arrive in estimated quantities, they'd suffer significantly higher losses than Abyssals.
Soldiers were barred from relaying the ground reality to their loved ones. The general public was kept under the impression that this was a 'normal' deployment match up.
The talks were already underway and soon, both sides would withdraw their forces and things would return to normal.
The propaganda mission overworked itself as every billboard, every news Chanel and every show was aimed at pacifying the public.
"You're safe."
"This isn't a war."
"We are no longer weak. If they dare to attack, we'll destroy their armies and take the planetoids."
The public were largely calm after this narrative was accepted.
Of course, there were problems.
Initially, Hysteria gripped humans from Mercury to Neptune. Taking advantage of the rising fears, Shadow Order recruited many under the pretext of 'joining abyssals to survive'.
While they did get some support, it was very very minor.
It was unexpected for the Shadow Order. They always assumed their fellow humans to be like them—Opportunistic, bending to the strong and bullying the weak, abandoning their identities for survival even if means stooping to the lowest of low.
After all, that was how they were and how everyone else was supposed to be.
But…humans were different.
"We can die, but we will not betray."
"My grandfather died serving the army. How can I seek refuge in them?"
"We trust our army."
"Born as a human, I'll die a human."
This incident left the leaders of Shadow Order dumbfounded. As someone who believed in the vile of humanity, the tenacity of common people in the face of catastrophe left them speechless.
Sure, they didn't know the whole 'truth' about the situation. But the fact of the matter was that humans, despite fearing death, were willing to risk it all for the sake of their race.
"Master, you've been smiling since an hour. You're making me worried." Boo's quivering voice sounded in the ghost ship.
"Somehow…I feel proud." Varian muttered watching the footage from the federation and the Order.
"There are many trashes in my race," Varian's eyes narrowed dangerously, and then he started laughing. "But again, they are only a minority."
After calming down, his face turned gloomy. While he was happy with how people reacted, the ground reality was indeed dangerous. Especially for Uranus.
"Boo, any reports on the secret realms and Sequoias?" Varian propped his chin on his palm and asked.
"Two developments, master." Boo floated in front of him, its small white figure exuding a rare solemnity.
Varian frowned and gestured it to go on. "Firstly, there's a meeting between the Shadow Order and Chaos families.
Secondly, the Sequoias will be shipped after six hours."
After hearing the first news, Varian's eyes narrowed. Shadow Order and Chaos families—the big bosses of Uranus cluster.
Since the findings a few days ago, Varian was wary of their actions against the cluster cities.
If they really attacked the twenty cluster cities, even Shadow Order and Chaos families would be destroyed.
It was a stupid move. Yet, Varian didn't strike off the possibility. What if these terrorists actually got desperate and want to die?
"When is the meeting?" He asked, tapping the armrest.
"It's ongoing. I just found about it from this new secret realm." Boo explained, pointing to the last of the 10 coordinates.
They've found 10 secret realms so far, with the 10th one only found twenty minutes ago.
This number was far higher compared to the four of Earth. But each of these 10 secret realms were significantly smaller than their earth counterparts.
"Let's go." Varian instructed and the ghost ship took off.
They followed a space shuttle that was delivering goods to that secret realm and entered it.
Shadow Order had a habit of not recording the solar coordinates of their secret realm.
Instead, they had the 'tokens' of the secret realms and some other treasures that helped them navigate.
So, if they wanted to enter a secret realm, ghost ship must follow someone who already knew its location.
Thankfully, Boo's stealth made it rather easy and they smoothly entered the 11th secret realm.
*** *** ***
"Do your best. Facing the cluster cities, we'll have great losses. But they're too important to give up." A silver haired man said, glancing at the three people in the conference room.
There was also a fourth person, but that man was largely silent and seemed to be lost in thought.
"You know how hard it's to bring up our families' strength?" Scarlet, the head of Shaw family tilted her head, causing her long red hair touch the conference table.
Following her question, the other two family heads stared at Draven with intense eyes.
They were willing to bear the losses, provided they were given enticing rewards.
Draven knew them all too well. So, he didn't beat around the bush and stated.
"Uranus Abyss will provide you with more than a hundred Siloy potions each."
"Hundred?!"
Scarlet's breathing turned rapid and her cheeks flushed.
The white haired old man and the brown haired middle-aged man both looked at Draven with wide eyes.
Hem Luthor, the white haired old man was the quickest to calm himself and ask. "How many over a hundred? 200? 300? 900?"
Draven paused for a moment and sneaked at the silent man in the room. Seeing no response from him, he shook his head and answered.
"Depends on your performance. The minimum is 100. The rest is up to you."
"A fucking hundred? Diluted or all level 8?"
"Original. Level 8.. If you make use of it properly, you can create at least 50 level 8s."