Chapter 27: New Nobles – Section 9

Veli? What do you want from me now?
Hei Fa glanced at the sky. The huge artificial sun represented by the Seven-Six Three Stars had long since disappeared without a trace; it was now a night filled with countless stars. At such a time, for a noblewoman to arrange a private meeting with him alone—no matter who thought about it, they probably wouldn’t have any good intentions. No wonder the servant in front of him looked so strange.
Yet Hei Fa wasn’t complacent enough to think that Miss Veli had taken a liking to him. The information provided by Sharo earlier immediately came to mind.
That new race… were they about to take action?
Indeed, that was the case!
When Hei Fa and Xue Tong rushed to Miss Veli’s residence, before they could even settle in, the impatient Miss Veli revealed her true intentions. Along with that, there was also a delicate stone slab.
“Lord Beck, this is your mission for this time. I can only give you half a month to organize the Third Fleet. Then you must set out immediately to capture this place for me and my father.”
Hei Fa took the stone slab expressionlessly and connected it to the device on his wrist. With a soft click, a fully three-dimensional star map appeared before him. The area covered by the map wasn’t large, but it still spanned three star systems. Through the countless miniature stars, Hei Fa could even see figures working there.
Well… they were creatures that resembled stone people. With the special magnification of the star map, Hei Fa could see that their bodies were entirely made of stone. Although they had a roughly human shape, both in size and appearance, they were completely different in scale. What was recorded on the map were footage of them at work—entering underground from time to time, digging out something, melting it, shaping it, and attaching it to their bodies. Behind them, rows of warships were parked.
Unlike what Hei Fa had imagined, these warships belonging to those special creatures weren’t the common type seen in space. Instead, they were massive structures resembling tops, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, like diamonds magnified countless times. They stood abruptly on the surface of the planet. From afar, they were so dense that it was impossible to count them at a glance.

“What’s this?” The black-haired man frowned and pointed at one of the planets. The star map immediately zoomed in, showing the planet in clear detail. From his perspective, it was evident that these stone-man cities were actually giant mountains. The surfaces of these mountains had countless holes, clearly indicating they were hollowed out from within.

“We’ll call these creatures Rocklings for now. They were detected recently. They’re about thirty-six standard jumps away from here—quite far, indeed.” Miss Veri rubbed her brows, likely also worried about this. “Unfortunately, the Empire doesn’t have any star stations in that area, so we have to send those closest to us.”

“Was this a direct order from the Empire’s higher-ups?” The black-haired man was surprised, his eyebrows rising in astonishment.

To be honest, he hadn’t expected this before coming here. From what he had learned so far, the Moor Empire was quite autonomous. In other words, aside from sharing the same name, the high nobles of the Moor Empire already had all the authority to act independently. Not only could they decide on personnel appointments, but they could also initiate wars against entire factions, races, or even entire cosmic regions on their own.

This was probably the root cause of the Moor Empire’s aggressive nature. Who wouldn’t want their own faction to be larger and stronger? With such autonomy, it had become common for the high nobles to wage wars on their own. Take, for example, the Dark Hand Duke whom the black-haired man had just offended. This temperamental noble allegedly sent fleets out hundreds of times last year alone, conquering nearly twenty star regions. Even the Taro Duke, though less impressive, had seized seven star regions. And this Star Station 763 was also a newly established stronghold.

Under such circumstances, there were few targets left for the Empire to conquer. Only particularly important ones would warrant orders from the higher-ups. Could this new race be something special? Doubt deepened in the black-haired man’s eyes, but he didn’t ask right away.

As a spy, he knew well when to ask questions and when to stay silent.

However, Miss Veri was clearly an understanding superior. Before the black-haired man could ask further, she explained everything at once.

“That’s right. This race is exactly the target set by the imperial elite. I’m not quite sure of the specific reasons. But it seems they possess something that’s extremely important to our people. If that thing falls into the hands of hostile beings, it could pose a threat to our Moor Empire. That’s why this mission was given such urgency. And now, the only one I can trust is you, Lord Beck. You won’t disappoint me, will you?”
“Of course not. Miss Veli, please trust in my loyalty,” replied Blackhair firmly, his expression turning resolute, instantly winning Miss Veli’s approving gaze.
In truth, he also knew that the so-called only trustworthy person could sometimes apply to many others. As for Miss Veli relying solely on herself now, even if given more courage, he wouldn’t dare think that way. Come on, do you think the Storm General just sits around doing nothing? Do you think the other fleets under the Grand Duke of Tarot are just for show?
Well, nobles like to play this game when gathering their confidants, and Blackhair didn’t mind playing along. Though he knew Miss Veli was acting, good supporting roles were needed to keep things interesting, right?
But what Blackhair didn’t know was that at the current Seven-Six Three-Star Station, the only formidable military force might well be Lord Beck’s third fleet!
It was all because of Lord Locke’s betrayal.
The star stations of the Moor Empire were essentially hubs of human power. Given the strength of the Moor Empire’s fleets, generally, just one fleet was enough to control a vast region of space. The Seven-Six Three-Star Station belonged to the Grand Duke of Tarot, so its fleet strength naturally couldn’t compare to that of the Grand Duke of the Black Hand. Previously, only Lord Locke’s fleet was stationed there. But after this unfortunate lord’s betrayal, his fleet was on the verge of being disbanded.
Things changed fundamentally only with Blackhair’s arrival.
The Moor Empire was a nation that relied on force. Years of warfare had pushed their military production to terrifying levels. Coupled with the vast resources plundered from others, it could be said that as long as there were talented people, having as many warships as needed wasn’t a problem. The issue was the scarcity of talent.
The real reason Blackhair was immediately recognized by the Grand Duke of Tarot was precisely because he was a talented individual. If he could achieve such a status just by making the Grand Duke of the Black Hand suffer once, wouldn’t that mean everyone in the Moor Empire was an idiot? So now, Miss Veli’s hopes truly rested on Blackhair alone.

Seeing Black Hair’s response, the noble lady naturally felt pleased, her smile widening. With a gentle gesture, the mysterious, ghost-like butler reappeared beside her in an instant.
“Prepare a room. Lord Beck shall stay here tonight. Although the Dragon Gate Inn has a nice atmosphere, it’s still a public place and not suitable for a noble lord like him.”
“As you wish, my lady,” the butler replied respectfully before disappearing…
Hearing this, Black Hair was terrified. He instinctively felt that Miss Veri intended to harm him.
A single noblewoman inviting him to stay at her home, followed by a candlelit dinner, fine wine, and beautiful women—such scenes had appeared countless times in Earth’s movies in the past. Given Miss Veri’s current words, it was likely this would happen tonight as well!
Oh, damn God. Do you know how terrifying Miss Veri is? Can’t he find a real beauty for an affair? Spending time in the same room with a woman as skeletal, with blood-red lips and paper-thin skin, surrounded by dim lighting—it was like a horror movie. Black Hair was sure he’d have nightmares.
But Black Hair was clearly overthinking it. Miss Veri didn’t make any further moves. She simply handed him a stone slab and said casually, “Well, this is another estate of mine on this planet. The environment is nice, though a bit remote. If Lord Beck doesn’t mind, I’ll give it to you. As a lord, you certainly need a residence befitting your status.”
“Ah, then I won’t refuse. Thank you very much for your generosity,” Black Hair said, knowing when to show obedience. He naturally accepted the stone slab, though his gaze inadvertently drifted toward the door, clearly intending to leave.
Seeing his expression, how could Miss Veri not understand his thoughts? She sighed inwardly, her face showing a hint of sadness, but quickly replaced it with a smile.
“Hehe, it seems Lord Beck isn’t used to staying at my home yet. That’s fine. But tomorrow, I expect to see you at the third fleet’s airport. Your coordination is needed there. After all, we don’t have much time left.”
“As you wish,” Black Hair nodded with a smile. Seeing that Miss Veri had no other intentions, he finally stood up to take his leave.
But just as he was about to leave the room, a phrase from Miss Veri suddenly rang in his ears.

“Lord Baker, be careful on this mission. If my guess is right, the Dark Duke’s fleet… will also be there.”