Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1357: Sign of Crisis

With Jeremy’s help, Sein was able to approach Nexon more easily and discreetly.

Nexon was one of the most heavily guarded military zones under the Gallant Federation’s jurisdiction.

Given Jeremy’s limited influence through the Doeschers, even approaching the star domain surrounding Nexon would have been nearly impossible, let alone getting close to Nexon itself.

However, if Sein could leverage Jeremy’s connections to reach an outer federal military base near the Nexon Star Domain, that alone would count as a successful step in his mission.

The fact that the Titanfangs were able to initiate contact with Magus World meant they possessed extraordinary abilities.

As long as Sein could make it to the outer military base, the path ahead would be much smoother.

***

Seven years later...

After arriving at Featheris II[1] and investigating a suicide drone manufacturing factory there, Sein suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.

It came out of nowhere, without warning or obvious cause.

In the Astral Realm, Rank Four or higher beings who had ascended through the path of faith could often sense it when weaker beings called out their true names, especially if they were nearby or on the same plane.

As a Rank Four mage from the Magus World, Sein’s powers differed somewhat from those who had ascended through faith, but he still possessed abilities far beyond the reach of lower-ranking beings.

This strange feeling was no passing whim.

Seeking fortune and avoiding disaster was a basic instinct for survival.

This sudden vague but undeniable sense of looming danger was a clear sign that something was coming... and it would not be in Sein’s favor.

Yet despite this ominous feeling, Sein had not noticed anything abnormal in his everyday life. He also rarely dabbled in Magus World’s astrology or divination techniques...

Divination?

Without hesitation, Sein quickly left and returned to the spaceship.

The hexagonal treasure box he had obtained from the Huusians was still with him. Sein had used this simple divination tool before and knew how it worked.

Since he had no better options at the moment, he decided to give it another try.

The Huusian divination method did not involve any overly complicated steps. Before anyone noticed he was gone, Sein had already finished the ritual.

The simplicity of the process meant the results would also be vague and general.

Sure enough, Sein’s sudden sense of foreboding had not been a false alarm.

The reading from the hexagonal treasure box told him that what lay ahead was not just a string of small troubles. A major disaster was coming!

A crisis that could cost him his life was about to unfold!

Compared to the warning he received the last time he used the treasure box, this result was on a whole new level of terrifying!

Sein’s expression darkened noticeably as he stared at the result.

Unfortunately, his skills in divination were lacking. He had no idea how to find out what the crisis was, or when it would strike.

All he got was one vague, ominous message that read “Great Misfortune”.

Outside the spaceship, Jeremy was still busy chatting and negotiating with the head of the drone manufacturing factory, who happened to be a middle-aged blond man from the federation.

This factory was a key project that “Prisenne” and Jeremy had come to survey.

In the Gallant Federation, drones were classified as both ships and robots.

Thanks to their low production cost and widespread deployment across the federation’s major military fleets, drone manufacturing was an industry that Jeremy and Sein felt confident they could break into.

The factory’s manager was someone Jeremy had managed to reach through the Doeschers’ connections. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Although the company had started out as a civilian drone manufacturer, everything changed after the introduction of suicide drone technology.

Combined with the ongoing conflict between the federation and the Magus Civilization over the past thousand years, the company’s value had skyrocketed.

Most federal merchants were no longer qualified to work with them.

Jeremy had been having a pleasant chat with the manager, but eventually noticed that Sein was missing.

It was only after he finalized an agreement to discuss signing a formal contract at their next meeting that Sein finally emerged from the ship.

“Where did you disappear to just now?” Jeremy asked. “Mr. Woodell from Drimecon is surprisingly easy to deal with. He agreed to sell us a large batch of drones at a price 13.6% below market rate, on the condition that our total order is not less than a billion dollars.”

One billion Federal dollars... With Jeremy’s capabilities, it was just barely within reach. But he had other companies and business interests, so he could not possibly afford to risk everything.

Sein, both his friend and business partner, was also someone Jeremy valued deeply.

If they were going to move forward with a billion-dollar contract, then Sein would have to shoulder at least half the cost.

But right now, Sein’s mind was elsewhere. The sudden pressure and that ominous divination result left him with little interest in keeping up with the act.

Something had definitely gone wrong!

Sein had always been confident in his ability to hide and stay off the radar over the years, so he could not quite figure out which part had gone wrong.

Nevertheless, he could not just sit back and do nothing.

He looked up at Jeremy and said calmly, “That billion-dollar order was just our opening offer. Once we go through the contract details and negotiate properly, I believe Mr. Woodell will make concessions.”

He continued, “The price probably won’t go any lower, but I think we can talk him into lowering the total order volume... maybe down to seven billion dollars. This is our first collaboration with them, just a trial run. If Mr. Woodell is truly sincere and sees the value of what we bring to the table, I believe there will be more deals down the line.”

“I think we should head to the next site,” Sein added.

Despite everything, his tone remained composed, and his reasoning was sound enough that Jeremy nodded in agreement.

“We’re leaving now? Mr. Woodell just invited me to his gala in three days,” Jeremy said, surprised.

“Let’s go now. It’s stuffy on this planet, and I don’t like it,” Sein said bluntly.

Jeremy glanced around and agreed. “True, the environment on this planet is just terrible. It’s way too polluted. I don’t like it here either.”

“Let’s go then,” he said.

1. Translator’s Note: Featheris II was actually “White Feather Mark 2 Planet” in the raws. It sounded kinda clunky and lame, so I took the liberty and renamed it to Featheris II. The idea was Pristine + Feather = Featheris. The stylistic choice for II was because of Star Ocean 3’s Elicoor II! Made it sound more sci-fi-ish. ☜