He was Lord Tempa.
Leaning slightly forward in his seat, he spoke with clear dissatisfaction in his tone: "I said it before… it was not a good idea to play it safe this ti."
He glanced around the table, his gaze passing over each of them. "And yet, you all disagreed."
He scoff faintly Before saying. "Now look at this… even in success, we find ourselves troubled."
He leaned back, shaking his head slightly. "Hiyye ya…"
Lord Tempa was clearly furious, but he knew there was no use in displaying it any further. Letting out a long, heavy breath, he could only sigh at what he perceived as the myopic thinking of those surrounding him.
They were teammates who could not see beyond the imdiate mont.
What harm would it really have done to their empires and states to sacrifice a few more shipnts of materials for the hyper-gate's construction? They were rare, yes—but they were not irreplaceable. It wasn't as if such resources could never be found again in the vastness of the stars.
Yet still, they hesitated.
He sighed once more, a simring resentnt lingering just beneath the surface of his calm exterior.
Kashki's expression was also sowhat gloomy.
After all, he had been among those who supported the decision to not deploy higher-grade materials, choosing instead to proceed with lower-quality ones. Even though all of them were Tier One in classification, there were still differences—differences in purity, stability, and overall effectiveness.
And in a place like the Holy Region, where violent mana storms constantly raged, such differences mattered even more.
The hypergate point, under these conditions, would naturally be far more unstable…
Which ant this so-called "success" might not truly be a success at all.
As these thoughts passed through his mind, Kashki couldn't help but glance toward Corvus.
Because in the end, he was the one who had led this decision.
It was Corvus who had proposed it… and convinced everyone. "Instead of wasting precious resources, we should think of a different thod."
That was what he had said back then. And many had agreed. Because, at the ti, it had seed reasonable…
That continuing to pour valuable resources into repeated failures was nothing more than a waste.
Had it not been for Tempa saying that even if a highway is obstructed by a storm, it doesn't an it's closed, that things can still pass through it, the others would never have agreed to try once again at all. And this ti, they did so with a lower quantity of resources, even choosing pirates for the forces they sent.
He saw Corvus with a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was contemplating sothing. And as if sensing his gaze, Corvus raised his head and t his eyes before shaking it slightly, as though acknowledging the anger directed at him.
Then Corvus spoke. "While what you say is indeed right, and we should have tried a few more tis, just as we did the previous four… and it wouldn't have cost us or our backers much…"
He paused briefly. "But you have to understand, Lord Tempa… while your empire is in a rich position because of the white hole under your control, which churns out these resources on a yearly basis—and so you treat them as a common commodity…"
"That is not the case for our association, or the others. Yes, such resources can be found… but in almost limitless space, finding them is like searching for a pin in a field of green."
"And this success is still a success. The situation hasn't deteriorated like you feared. While the resources may be of lower quality… they can still work. And if we utilise so space-stabilising stones, we could still create a stable portal to pass through without much trouble."
He turned slightly. "Am I wrong, Lord Cojack?"
Corvus looked toward a beastkin man, one with the head of a dog and the body of a humanoid race, fur covering him and a tail at his back. He belonged to the beast faction and ca from the Night Hound Federation.
He was also a well-known creator, one with a greater grasp when it ca to manipulating the laws of space—one of the supre laws of the galaxy. Being at the Genesis Law Realm, or simply Tier 6, he stood at a level few could reach. On top of that, he had an exceptional understanding of hyper gate-level technology.
He was even served as the main technical expert for this mission, making him a true specialist in this field. So Corvus directing the question to him only made sense. As for how much logic and truth his words would carry, none of them could say for certain—but they all waited for this expert to speak and bring clarity.
"It is as you say, Lord Corvus. While the materials are indeed… hmm, not as I would have hoped them to be…"
He paused, his expression shifting slightly. "And though I regret that such a decision was made… now that it has happened, we can only let go of it."
He let out a sigh of regret, one that made everyone feel a faint bitterness—at least those who had supported the decision earlier. Yet at the sa ti, there was relief, seeing that he wasn't reacting like Tempa.
"Coming to the main point…" He glanced at the faces of all eleven of his fellows, observing their reactions.
In the end, he could only shake his head slightly at them, before casting an appreciative look toward Tempa.
"While this would indeed cause the spatial coordinates and the hyper loop point to beco far more unstable… we can still lock onto it. But even then, it would remain about forty percent unstable.
Passing through under such conditions would be a death sentence for our fleet—if sothing like a spatial storm were to appear, which is quite likely…" Saying that, he slumped back into his chair.
Hearing this, everyone's faces turned pale instantly—including Corvus himself "But this isn't without a solution. Like Lord Corvus said, using spatial stones, this could be stabilized…"
He fell silent for a brief mont.
The others let out quiet sighs upon hearing that. The pallor on their faces eased slightly, and a few even muttered that there was still so hope. Corvus, too, seed to regain a bit of composure.
"But with only spatial stones, it won't work. Not even close."
His words caused the brief relief to stiffen again. "We would need not just ten of those… but also two void stones, and one Celestial Star Crystal to make the spatial gate a hundred percent stable."
"For using just one or two spatial stones, it would at best raise the stability of the spatial gate to around fifty percent—and that too barely. It would also put imnse pressure on the hyper gate we've built here, and it might not even allow half of our ships to pass… that is, if they can even make it to the other side."
"What??"
Corvus shot up from his chair in absolute surprise. The others were no different—mouths open in shock, including Tempa and Kashki.
Spatial stones… they all knew about them. After all, they were one of the key commodities used in stabilising spatial gates across the galaxy.
But only a rare few actually used them—partly because of their extre rarity, and partly because of their unique ability to help one comprehend the Law of Space more easily, acting almost like a source itself.
So even when there was so supply, many chose to hoard them.
And ten pieces… was no small number.
And that wasn't even considering the void stones—ford from the void beyond the galactic bounds. A turbulent dinsion, not only incredibly hard to reach, but once entered, nearly impossible to escape. Even Tier 6 beings could barely survive there, let alone venture in and return safely.
And there weren't just one—but two.
Everyone's faces paled further. A few who were more knowledgeable even turned their gaze toward Lord Corvus. It was well known that the Alchemy Association branch under him had access to a realm where void ergence was prevalent—at least in part.
Because of that, void stones were ford there from ti to ti, though they were mostly reserved for the association's own use and rarely circulated.
And that was exactly why Corvus was shocked. He knew this responsibility would fall on him—others simply couldn't provide sothing like this.
When he felt the weight of their gazes, he cursed internally.
"It's only natural, everyone. You don't have to look at like that," he said, steadying himself. "I'll personally take responsibility for bringing these two void stones."
A visible wave of relief passed through the room.
"But…" he paused, his eyes sweeping across them, "this cannot be free. Even though we are in an alliance, you should all be well aware of the value of these two void stones. They cannot be used on a whim. ...
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