The Broker's light dimmed, creating a localized cone of silence. "You have the eyes of a predator, Traveler. If you wish to walk among the stars without being erased, you must know the Sub-Sectors of the Council. The Council of Order doesn't soil its hands with minor systems like yours; they have The Triad of Enforcement."
The Stellar Inquisition
Role: The ideological branch. They hunt for "Illegal Cultivation Paths" like your Null-Logic. If a civilization begins to develop technology or mana-arts that bypass Council-approved physics, the Inquisitors arrive.
The Power: Led by Rank 4: Dimension Walkers. They specialize in "Sealing Laws," locking a planet's mana-flow until its population starves into submission.
The Void-Trade Syndicate
Role: The economic vampire. They control the flow of Celestial Iron and Star-Cores across the galaxy. Every transaction at Terminus Station pays a 30% "Stability Tax" to them.
The Power: They possess a private fleet of Rank 3: Galactic Overlords (Pulsar Stage). They don't fight fair; they use "Economic Black Holes" to bankrupt entire solar systems, forcing their leaders to sell their own children into mana-slavery.
The Gene-Cleaners
Role: The biological janitors. They ensure that no lineage—like the fallen Vance or Lia lines—becomes a threat. They track DNA signatures across light-years.
The Power: Masters of viral mana. They can infect an entire star-cluster with a "Genetic Decay" virus that prevents any newborn from reaching even Rank 1.
"They are the layers of the cage," the Broker whispered. "The Syndicate starves you, the Inquisition blinds you, and the Cleaners ensure your children stay weak. And above them all, the Judges of Rank 5 sit in their White Palaces, rewriting the laws of gravity so that only their ships can fly at warp speeds."
Yuan's binary hearts pulsed in a dark, synchronized rhythm. He saw the structure clearly now. It was a factory of stagnation. He wasn't just facing a government; he was facing a biological and physical blockade designed to keep the universe in a state of "Orderly Decay."
"So," Yuan said, a thin, predatory smile stretching across his obsidian-etched face. "The Syndicate controls the resources, the Inquisition controls the spirit, and the Cleaners control the blood. To break the Council, I must first feast on their hounds."