Intergalactic conquest with an AI-Chapter 348: Night glow. {4}

After all... the Matriarch had gone to great lengths to ensure it.

Though her heart was blackened by centuries of blood and vengeance, even she, being cold and calculative, had not been immune to their charm.

The moment she had first laid eyes on them, she'd felt something stir in the hollow pit where her humanity used to be. Their hair, pure white like freshly fallen snow beneath moonlight, shimmered with a silken sheen. It was not just beautiful... it was sacred.

To the Blood Clan, this was no ordinary pigmentation. It was a sign of an irrefutable mark of the Progenitor's divine bloodline.

That ancient, nearly forgotten purity had resurfaced in them, untainted and radiant. They were living relics of a time when the Blood Clan still ruled with grace and divinity, before ambition and rot had set in.

She loved them. Not with the gentle love of a mother, but with the feverish obsession of one who sees a key to redemption... or power.

And that was why she had ordered Rex's death.

After several tense hours had passed, the long-awaited moment finally came on the 24th: the female Blood Clan warrior whom Rex had purchased as a slave stirred from her deep, forced slumber.

She had just begun to awaken from the effects of the recent blood extraction procedure, a cruel and painful process that would have left even the most hardened soul in a state of torpor.

But she was no ordinary being. As consciousness returned to her, so did the instincts and pride of a Tier 6 powerhouse. The moment her eyes snapped open, glowing faintly red with fury and confusion, her body tensed with lethal intent.

With a snarl and a sudden surge of stellar energy that shimmered like crimson lightning around her form, she lunged at Rex, ready to unleash a devastating blow fueled by both vengeance and instinct. At that distance, it would have been a death sentence.

Fortunately, Zynaria reacted in the nick of time. In a blur of motion, her hand struck out and intercepted the warrior's strike before it could land. Had she been even a second slower, Rex would have taken a point-blank hit from someone whose power eclipsed entire battalions.

Even though Rex's bionic-enhanced body had far surpassed the limits of a typical Tier 4 warrior, even verging on Tier 5 in terms of resilience and regeneration, the raw might of a Tier 6 combatant was something else entirely.

They were monsters of war, able to channel and manipulate stellar energy with such precision that their mere presence could warp the environment around them. A single direct strike from such an entity was not unlike being hit by a kinetic warhead.

Defeating one was a near-impossible task for most: it required either the coordinated assault of multiple Tier 5 elites, the relentless attrition of millions of expendable soldiers, the firepower of an advanced space fleet, or the intervention of another Tier 6 or a rare Tier 7 entity to even stand a chance.

To put it plainly, a clean hit from that Tier 6 warrior at full power would have torn a gaping hole through Rex's body, regardless of his upgrades.

Later that night, after the little drama had passed, Rex found himself standing outside the modest, rock-like dwelling that Zynaria had managed to rent from one of the planet's gruff locals.

The small structure barely offered protection from the harsh environment of this forsaken world. Bitter winds howled across the barren landscape of the so-called "Death Planet," and the cold bit deep into bone and metal alike.

Rex let out a long sigh, the breath escaping his lips as a cloud of white mist that quickly dissipated into the icy air.

He stood there in silence, gazing out at the grim world before him, a place devoid of warmth, devoid of hope. His tall frame was outlined against the pale light of the distant stars, his shadow stretching across the rough terrain.

{Is something the matter, boss?} a soft, digitized voice came from beside him. Mini Cleo, his loyal companion in her smaller form, looked up at him.

She was bundled in thick, oversized clothes, too large for her petite frame, making her resemble a doll wrapped in blankets. Her mechanical eyes blinked with concern.

"Nothing... it's just..." Rex began speaking, his voice rough and heavy with emotion. "Looking at the two inside that house... watching them talk, even argue... it made me feel something I wasn't ready for. Jealousy, maybe. Or longing."

He lowered himself slowly to the ground, exhaling again as he let his body fall back into the cold dust with his arms folded behind his head. His eyes searched the sky... the endless expanse of darkness that stretched across this part of the universe.

There were no moons here, no satellites casting silver light to break the void. It was unlike any world he had set foot on before. There was only shadow, silence, and the occasional flicker of firelight from the town nearby.

"I miss them all... so damn much," he continued, his voice now like a whisper. "The twins... I wonder how they're doing. I wonder if they've grown. I still don't know if I'll be holding a son or a daughter next... or what kind of life we'll even be able to give them."

He paused, taking in the unfamiliar constellations above. The stars here were sharp, almost cruel in their brilliance, casting no warmth... only reminders of distance and isolation.

From the distance, the rowdy sounds of laughter and clinking glasses echoed through the cold night air. A group of mercenaries were gathered at a crude makeshift bar built from salvaged ship parts and alien stone, drinking, brawling, and pretending that their lives weren't one bad contract away from being over.

The rest of the town was eerily still, lit only by the glow of torches and open flames. It felt less like a settlement and more like some cursed medieval outpost, where technology had been swallowed by superstition and war.

Rex closed his eyes, letting the noise and silence wash over him together.

"This place..." he muttered. "It's like a dying ember... and yet, somehow, it feels familiar."

Mini Cleo sat down next to him, quiet for a while, then reached out and gently took his hand into her small, holographic hands.

"Young Emperor?"

The familiar, calm voice of Zynaria drifted into the stillness like a warm wind brushing through an ancient, forgotten forest.

Rex slowly turned his head, his eyes finding her standing gracefully beside him... her tall, lithe frame outlined by the distant firelight of the mercenary camp behind her. Her crimson eyes, glowing faintly in the darkness, were focused on him with a mixture of curiosity and quiet concern.

He smirked softly, the corners of his lips tugging upward as a glint of mischief returned to his tired gaze. "Oh, Little Red... you're a feast for tired eyes. Why don't you sit with me for a bit? The stars are quiet tonight. Let's ruin that silence together."

With a tilt of her head and the faintest of smiles dancing on her lips, Zynaria responded, not with words, but with action. A soft hum resonated in the air as she extended one hand, and in a smooth, elegant motion, a luxurious reclining chair manifested from solidified plasma and crystal constructs.

It was the kind of seat you'd only ever see in the floating spas of oceanic pleasure-worlds, curved perfectly for comfort, gleaming with polished edges, and humming with temperature-adjusting runes. A seat fit for royalty.

Zynaria, however, did not lie down like Rex had. She lowered herself with poise, sitting upright as though some ancient law still guided her posture. Even here... on a cold, moonless world forgotten by the galaxy, she carried herself as a daughter of kings.

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Though her people were gone, she had not forgotten who she was... a Kaelzar princess of the old star dynasties, a bloodline forged in suns and tempered by the fall of empires.

Rex, now lying half-sideways in the dust, eyes still on the scattered stars above, finally spoke again.

"So," he asked softly, "did she have anything useful to say? And how are things faring in the underground city?"

Zynaria gave a curt nod, her eyes flicking toward a holographic projection that flickered to life beside her.

"Affirmative. The interrogation yielded several key pieces of intel, most notably, the precise locations of some of the most powerful patriarchs and matriarchs still active in the Blood Clan's hierarchy."

"Additionally, it appears that one of the matriarchs has recently taken two promising young warriors under her wing."

At those words, Rex's relaxed expression hardened. His jaw clenched subtly, and a slow-burning fury flickered behind his gaze.

"That's probably the bitch who ordered those bastards to shoot us down..." he muttered, venom lacing every word. His hand instinctively curled into a fist, the memory of the ambush still fresh, still raw.

Zynaria nodded in agreement. "Mmm. I reached the same conclusion. I've already deployed a unit of my personal recon drones. They are currently en route to the matriarch's estate. Please give them a few more hours to complete the mapping."

With a few elegant gestures, several holo-screens expanded in the air between them, showcasing a 3D schematic of the sprawling Blood Clan mansion.

Red outlines marked likely defenses, and several points blinked, indicating locations of interest, energy signatures, movement patterns, and structural weaknesses. It was a fortress disguised as a palace.

Rex's eyes followed the displays in silence for a moment before he exhaled a long breath and turned toward her again.