(Heber's POV)
-Jorde, can you explain this to me?- Heber asked calmly, pointing to the report about the attack on Black Spider's planet.
After some investigation, nothing could be hidden from Heber's eyes, whoever dared to hide would not see the next day. Heber could forgive mistakes, but to deceive him? The result would be death.
Jorde was the individual in charge of the Military Strategy Department of the Land of Bloodshed. He was a Super Grade A and one of the Tyrant's former subordinates. That's why Heber didn't kill him directly, instead, he questioned him calmly.
Jorde broke out in a cold sweat for a moment, feeling that things had gone in a very different direction than he had anticipated.
-My lord, after Fosters told me what happened last time, I felt we needed to at least teach Black Spider a lesson. I... I'm sorry if I failed you.- Jorde bowed, not out of fear of Heber, but genuinely saddened that the mission had failed.
Heber looked at Jorde indifferently for a moment, before looking away, disinterested. - Yes, you failed, that was your mistake.
Heber wasn't blaming Jorde for acting, but rather for failing. Even though Heber didn't want to step on Ames' toes for a while, they didn't act directly against Black Spider, but attacked one of his "industries". This was clearly the kind of thing that happened behind the scenes.
For Heber, this wasn't really considered going to war, it was just a simple warning, so he didn't take this kind of act seriously, but there were two problems with it.
First, Jorde failed, that's a fact, and he would be punished for it.
Second... Ames seemed completely furious this time, Heber even felt she might attack him now, but from his informants, it seemed she hadn't moved yet, even so Heber had no doubt that Ames had reached her breaking point.
If he crosses that line again, there's no turning back, it will be total war.
Who would have thought that all this would begin with a humble fellow like Black Spider? Heber couldn't understand Ames's madness, she was clearly weaker, but instead of changing course, she kept coming and warning him repeatedly over an ant.
Heber was genuinely curious about how Black Spider had gained such trust and protection from Ames, he even wondered if Black Spider was some illegitimate son of the woman, judging by her age, it wouldn't be impossible.
In any case, Heber turned to Jorde and spoke. -Your failure has a price, I will inform you of your punishment later, but for now, cease any action against Ames and his subordinates.
Jorde seemed a little surprised, not by the punishment, he had expected it, but by the fact that Heber had let Ames's affront go unpunished, not only that, he had even given in!
If he hadn't been looking at Heber while he was saying this, Jorde almost thought it might be a fake Tyrant standing in front of him.
Heber seemed to see the strangeness in Jorde's eyes, but he only let out a slight snort, pressing Jorde with his energy, the man quickly trembled all over and lowered his head.
-Yes! I understand!- He spoke quickly, seemingly having irritated the Tyrant, so he quickly admitted his mistake. He had truly been surprised a moment ago, and then he made the mistake of confronting Heber.
Luckily, he was close enough to the man, or he would have died long ago for his insolence.
Heber smiled slightly, finding Jorde's quick change of attitude interesting. He stood up and walked away, uninterested in continuing the conversation, he had other things to do.
Jorde stood there without daring to move until Heber had completely left. He sighed, picked up Black Spider's file, and his lips trembled. It seemed he had caused more trouble than he had helped, but Heber was already showing signs of accumulating power. Probably the Tyrant's retreat involved something bigger, something he didn't know.
At that moment, he just wanted to slap himself, he should have let it go. Now there's nothing more to be done, he can only accept his punishment.
Furthermore, he needs to make it clear to the other officers, stop messing with Ames.
Shaking his head, he turned and left the room, his eyes thoughtful throughout the process.
//-//
(Black Spider's POV)
In Trihexa, Black Spider was bored watching Trax and Rick play Wayne Cards. Slugcat perched on Black Spider's shoulder, watching the game with excitement, it was clear she was interested.
Unfortunately, she was very bad at the game, so she didn't like to play, but she still enjoyed watching.
Black Spider also rarely saw a game, he usually used the clone's evolutionary energy to enhance Black Spider himself, bringing him ever closer to actually entering Grade A.
He only went out for a bit to interact with the crew, after all he needed to improve his bonds with them, unfortunately nobody wanted to play with him because of his luck, in the end it turned into a competition between Trax and Rick.
-Hahahaha! Cry in despair! Since I have Austin on the field, I can use a Grade S spell! I use Meteor Shower! It destroys all the monsters on your field!- Rick shouted excitedly, laughing and downing a bottle of beer.
Trax snorted, flipping a face-down card from the back of his field. -I have Ames on the field, so I can use the quick-play ability card, Dragon Emperor's Bounce, negating any ability or spell activation and returning its effect to its caster!
Rick stopped swallowing and lowered his gaze, shocked, Slugcat on Black Spider's shoulder was already jumping excitedly.
The next moment, all of Rick's monsters, including the painstakingly summoned Austin, went straight to the graveyard.
Trax's feline face displayed a toothy grin from ear to ear that would make any child cry.
-Come on, your turn isn't over yet.- Trax gave Rick a smug look.
Rick's lips trembled as he looked at Ames in Trax's field, his field cleaner than his bottle. He felt like he was going to cry.
Sighing, he threw the rest of his cards on the table and said. -Fine, I give up, but you only won because I'm drunk, otherwise you wouldn't have stood a chance!
Trax scoffed with a light growl. -You're always drunk.
This elicited a genuine laugh from Black Spider, and even Slugcat was swaying with laughter.
Rick pursed his lips, muttered under his breath, and stood up, tired of playing.
Just as Black Spider was about to comfort Rick, he paused for a moment, the ship received a call.
Controlling a clone to answer the call, everyone looked at a holographic screen that appeared in the room. From there, a pure-blooded Godoran was seen, he looked completely frightened and nervous. As soon as the connection was made, his eyes glowed.
-Lord Black Spider? Please help us! Our fleet is being attacked by Dark Star ships, we're hiring nearby mercenaries, the reward from Godora will surely be generous!- The Godorian spoke quickly, as fast as he could.
Black Spider paused for a moment, curious. The next moment, his future vision activated. He smiled slightly and spoke. -Alright, but all the ships and people I capture will be considered my spoils. Do you agree to that?
Godorian nodded as quickly as he could, smiling with relief. -Of course, of course, please come quickly! We can only hold out for another half hour!
Black Spider nodded and controlled the clones to change direction, the battle wasn't far away, ten minutes should be enough for him to arrive.
Trax stood up, smiling. -Looks like we have a fight.
Rick sighed, looking at Black Spider, who was upset and raising his hands as if surrendering to the police to be handcuffed.
Black Spider rolled his eyes, grabbed the man's arm, and used his evolutionary energy, rapidly metabolizing the alcohol in his body.
Rick seemed even more unhappy, but he quickly dismissed it and went to get his sword.
Slugcat wasn't strong, so Black Spider left her with Rick, she could help him with her stealth skills.
Ringo, on the other hand, was thinking about what he had seen in his vision of the future, on one of the Dark Star's ships there was... a mutation source! Why on earth they were fighting Godora instead of handing over the mutation source was the big question, but Black Spider wasn't worried, instead, he was excited.
He had been eyeing this thing for a long time, the ability to heal damage through energy and absorb energy through damage... he was crazy about those two abilities.
He had expected to achieve this in the future with the Silvers' mission, but now... Ringo was excited.