[ Chapter 49: Internal Strife ]
**Day 1,229 (Afternoon).**
**Location: Station 9 – The Ruins of the Gilded Auction House.**
**Current Status: Disappointed Dad.**
**Mood: Volatile.**
There is a sound the universe makes when an immovable object meets an irresistible force. It is a high-pitched *ping*, followed by the complete cessation of local physics.
My fist connected with Warlord Drakon's face.
I didn't use a technique. I didn't use a skill. I simply introduced his granite jawline to the concept of kinetic compounding.
The impact was quiet at first. Then, a shockwave of pure golden force erupted from the point of contact. The air pressure in the crater dropped to zero instantly. The sound barrier shattered, then the heat barrier, and finally the logic barrier.
Drakon, the Level 850 World Breaker, didn't fly backward. He *streaked*.
He became a blur of grey and red, punching a hole through the floor of the station, through the sub-basement, through the reactor shielding, and finally exiting the moon's crust on the other side. He was currently moving at Mach 400 towards a nebula in the next sector.
**[System Notification]**
**[Combat Ended.]**
**[Enemy Defeated: Warlord Drakon.]**
**[Experience Gained: 1 (Diminishing Returns active).]**
**[Loot Drop: One (1) Slightly Used Warlord Helmet.]**
The silence in the ruined auction house was absolute.
Krog, the lizard lieutenant, was trembling so hard his armor rattled like a bag of silverware in a washing machine. The other patrons—galactic mobsters, void-witches, and cyber-criminals—were staring at me with the wide, unblinking eyes of people who had just realized they were standing in a cage with a loose tiger.
I shook my hand out.
"He had a hard head," I noted casually.
I turned to Krog.
"Your boss has left the building," I said. "I suggest you go catch him before he hits a star."
Krog didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled backward, activated a localized teleporter, and vanished in a puff of terrified smoke.
"Well," Damon said, pulling his massive sword out of a piece of rubble where he had been using it as a leaning post. "That was anti-climactic. I didn't even get to pop a cooldown."
"Efficiency is the soul of wit," I replied.
I looked up through the hole in the ceiling. The Human Fleet was holding position above the station. The Rim Coalition fleet, seeing their leader turned into a celestial projectile, was already scattering, their warp drives lighting up the void like fireflies fleeing a lantern.
"Ren," I tapped my earpiece. "Status?"
There was a pause. A long one.
"Ren?"
**"We have a problem, Boss,"** Ren's voice came through, crackling with static. **"But it's not the aliens."**
"What is it? Did the warp drive malfunction?"
**"No. It's us. It's the guilds."**
I frowned. "What are they doing?"
**"They're... looting,"** Ren sighed, sounding incredibly tired. **"And they're not sharing."**
***
**The Scavenger Hunt**
**Location: Low Orbit – Debris Field of the Coalition Flagship.**
**Current Status: Civil War (Petty).**
The Rim Coalition had fled, but they had left behind casualties. Several destroyer-class vessels had collided in their panic, leaving a juicy field of high-tech debris floating in the void.
To a galactic civilization, this was trash.
To humanity, fresh out of the tutorial? This was treasure.
I teleported from the surface directly to the bridge of the *Indomitable Spirit*. The scene on the tactical display made my blood pressure spike—a physiological feat, considering my heart was capable of pumping liquid neutronium.
The holocast showed two human ships.
One belonged to the **Order of the Iron Serpent**, a guild of tech-obsessed tanks.
The other belonged to the **Lunar Magocracy**, a cabal of high-DPS mages.
They were currently circling a piece of wreckage—a massive Zorgon-pattern Plasma Cannon—like sharks.
"That is *our* salvage!" a voice screamed over the open comms. It was Guild Leader Vance of the Iron Serpent. "We have the tow cables attached! Back off, you robe-wearing fairies!"
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law!" countered High Mage Elena. "My telekinesis hit it first! And we need the plasma coils for our enchanting table! Eat a fireball, you tin can!"
**[Warning: Friendly Fire Detected.]**
A beam of frost magic shot from the Lunar ship, freezing the hull of the Iron Serpent vessel.
In retaliation, the Iron Serpent ship fired a warning shot with a railgun that clipped the mage ship's shield generator.
"Stop," I whispered.
The bridge crew looked at me. They were terrified. They had seen what I did to the diplomat. They had seen the data from the surface.
"Get me a line to both captains," I ordered.
"Channel open, Architect," Zero said instantly.
**"ENOUGH."**
I didn't shout. I projected. I used the **[Voice of the Sovereign]** skill, bypassing their audio receivers and speaking directly into the carbon vibration of their ship hulls.
The fighting stopped instantly. The frost beam cut out. The railguns powered down.
"I bring you to the stars," I said, my voice cold. "I give you access to infinite wealth, a galactic market, and the opportunity to become a Type-2 civilization. And five minutes after the first victory, you are shooting each other over a used gun?"
"Architect!" Vance stammered. "They started it! The loot rules weren't specifi—"
"There are no loot rules," I interrupted. "Because we are one fleet. We are *Earth*. If you are fighting each other, you are looting your own house."
"But the progression..." Elena whined. "We need materials to hit Level 150!"
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
This was the problem. I had leveled too fast. I had dragged humanity up the mountain by the scruff of their neck, but their mentality was still stuck in the mud. They were playing a zero-sum game. They thought power was a limited resource to be hoarded.
They didn't understand that with me as their patron, resources were infinite. The only thing that could kill them was their own stupidity.
"Damon," I said, turning to my tank.
"Yeah, Boss?"
"If they fire another shot, scuttle both ships. Save the crews, blow the hulls."
Damon grinned, cracking his knuckles. "With pleasure."
The threat worked. The two ships backed away from the wreckage.
But I could feel the resentment. It wasn't just these two guilds. Across the fleet, tension was high. The Mercenaries wanted higher pay. The Crafters were hoarding raw materials. The Healers were charging premiums for resurrection spells.
Greed. It was the one debuff I couldn't cleanse with a spell.
"They're going to tear themselves apart," Ren murmured, standing beside me. "The moment you look away, they'll start fighting for territory. We're not a united front; we're a bucket of crabs."
"I know," I said, watching the tactical map. "They need a reset. They need to remember why they formed parties in the first place."
I looked at my hand. The **Limit Breaker Serum** was still active. My mana was unchained.
"Zero," I asked. "What is the status of the 'World Boss' protocol?"
**[Protocol is available, Architect. However, we lack a biological host for a boss of sufficient level to threaten the fleet.]**
"We don't need a host," I said. "We have mana. And we have the Galactic Net."
I walked to the center of the bridge.
"Ren, evacuate the civilian sector of the fleet. Pull the non-combatants back to the Space Elevator."
"Why?" Ren asked, his eyes widening. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to create a raid," I said. "A raid they can't solo. A raid they can't bribe. A raid that will kill them if they don't learn how to pass the aggro."
I closed my eyes.
I accessed the **[Galactic Administrative Console]**.
**[Action: Create Event.]**
**[Type: World Boss (Mythic).]**
**[Source: User Shigu's Mana Pool.]**
I reached into the well of my own power—that deep, terrifying ocean of compounding interest. I pulled out a droplet. Just a single day's worth of growth.
I cast it out of the ship, into the void between the quarreling fleets.
"Let there be monsters," I whispered.
***
**The Event**
**Location: The Void – Sector 9.**
**Time: T-Minus 10 Seconds to Wipe.**
The vacuum of space screamed.
It wasn't sound; it was a psychic shear, a tearing of the fabric of reality that every human with a System interface felt in their teeth.
Between the *Iron Serpent* and the *Lunar Magocracy*, a rift opened. It wasn't a warp gate. It was a wound in the universe. Gold and black energy poured out of it, coalescing into a shape that defied Euclidean geometry.
It formed a core first—a spinning star of condensed gravity. Then, armor plates formed from the debris of the battlefield, pulled in by magnetism. Finally, limbs manifested—massive, spectral claws made of pure malice and math.
**[System Announcement: GLOBAL EVENT TRIGGERED.]**
**[Anomaly Detected.]**
**[Boss Spawned: The Avatar of Avarice.]**
**[Level: ??? (Scales with Greed).]**
**[Raid Size Recommended: All of You.]**
The Avatar roared. A wave of purple energy swept over the fleet.
**[Debuff Applied: Burden of Greed.]**
**[Effect: Movement Speed reduced by 50%. Mana Costs increased by 200%.]**
**[Special Condition: Debuff is removed only when assisting an ally.]**
Panic. Instant, chaotic panic.
"What is that?!" Vance screamed over the comms. "My sensors just fried!"
"It's attacking!" Elena shouted. "Shields up! Fire everything!"
The *Lunar Magocracy* unleashed a barrage of arcane missiles. Hundreds of glowing blue bolts slammed into the Avatar.
**[Damage: 0.]**
**[Passive Skill Triggered: Hoarder's Shield.]**
**[Effect: The Avatar is immune to damage from single-source targets. Cooperation required to break barriers.]**
The Avatar turned its massive, faceless head toward the mage ship. It raised a hand.
**[Skill: Tax Collection.]**
A beam of red light hit the ship. It didn't damage the hull. It drained their mana. The ship's engines died. The lights flickered out.
"It took our power!" Elena shrieked. "We're dead in the water!"
The *Iron Serpent* captain laughed. "Ha! That's what you get! Iron Vipers, target the beast's flank! Claim the kill!"
Their railguns fired.
**[Damage: 0.]**
The Avatar swatted the *Iron Serpent* destroyer like a fly. The massive metal ship spun out of control, its hull groaning under the impact.
I watched from the *Indomitable Spirit*.
"They aren't learning," I said. "Zero, increase difficulty."
**[Affirmative. Engaging Phase 2.]**
The Avatar grew larger. It began to spawn adds—smaller void-constructs shaped like treasure chests with teeth. **[Mimics of Misfortune]**. They swarmed the smaller frigates, latching onto the hulls and chewing through the airlocks.
"This is a massacre," Ren said, gripping the railing. "Boss, they're going to die. That thing is Level 500 effectively."
"They won't die if they stop trying to be the hero," I said. "Look at the debuff, Ren. Read the mechanics."
Ren looked at his HUD. **[Burden of Greed: Removed when assisting an ally.]**
"They have to heal each other," Ren realized. "The mages have to shield the tanks. The tanks have to peel for the mages."
"Exactly," I said. "Basic MMO 101. But they've forgotten it because I've been carrying them for three years."
I tapped the fleet-wide channel.
"This is Shigu," I announced. My voice cut through the panic. "I created this thing. It is made of my power. You cannot kill it with DPS. You cannot kill it with gear."
I paused.
"You are currently playing a single-player game in a raid dungeon. If you do not form a party within the next thirty seconds, I will let it eat the fleet."
Silence on the comms. Then, a voice broke through.
It was Damon. He was on his own ship, *The Brick*.
"Alright, you loot-goblins!" Damon roared. "Listen up! Iron Vipers, get your asses in front of the Mages! Pop your taunts! Lunar Mages, stop shooting and start shielding the Vipers! Healers, cross-heal the other guilds! If I see a green number on your own guildmate, I will personally throw you out the airlock!"
Damon's ship accelerated. *The Brick*—literally a flying rectangular block of tungsten—slammed into the Avatar's leg.
**[Skill: Titanic Taunt.]**
The Avatar roared and focused on Damon.
"Now!" Damon screamed. "Vance, cover my flank! Elena, buff my armor!"
For a second, nobody moved. The old grudges held fast.
Then, Vance cursed. "Damn it! All ships, form up on Damon! Deploy barrier drones!"
The Iron Serpent ships moved. They formed a phalanx of steel around Damon's dreadnought. Blue energy shields flared to life, overlapping and creating a wall.
Elena hesitated, then shouted, "**[Mass Haste]**! Target the tanks!"
A wave of golden light shot from the mage ships, hitting the tanks.
**[System Notification]**
**[Combo Detected.]**
**[Debuff 'Burden of Greed' Removed.]**
**[Buff Applied: Unity of Purpose (+50% Stats).]**
The tide turned instantly.
With the debuff gone, the ships moved faster. Their attacks started to register.
"It's taking damage!" a gunner shouted.
"Keep it up!" Ren yelled into the mic, getting into the spirit of it. "Assassins, target the Mimics! Get them off the healers! Snipers, target the glowing eyes!"
The chaotic swarm of human ships began to shift. It was clumsy at first, like a baby learning to walk. Ships bumped into each other; spells missed.
But then, the pattern emerged. The beautiful, mathematical pattern of a coordinated raid.
The tanks held the line, absorbing the Avatar's massive cleave attacks.
The healers wove a web of restoration light that jumped between ships, ignoring guild tags.
The DPS focused fire, counting down their cooldowns in sync. "Three, two, one, BURST!"
A combined volley of railguns, plasma, and fire magic slammed into the Avatar's chest.
**[CRITICAL HIT.]**
**[Boss HP: 40%.]**
The Avatar shrieked and prepared its ultimate attack. It gathered void energy into a sphere the size of a stadium.
**[Warning: wipe Mechanic Detected. Skill: The Great Filter.]**
"It's a nuke!" Vance yelled. "We can't tank that!"
"You can't," I whispered from my bridge. "But you can share it."
"Link shields!" Damon ordered. "Channel all energy to the front! Every ship! Even the cargo haulers!"
It was a desperate maneuver. Thousands of ships aligned their shield emitters. They diverted power from life support, from engines, from weapons.
They poured everything into a single, massive barrier of pure white light.
The Avatar fired.
The beam hit the shield.
The fleet groaned. Metal buckled. Sparks flew on every bridge.
"Hold!" Damon roared. "Hold or we all die!"
The energy meter on the shield fluctuated. 10%... 5%...
"We need more power!" Elena cried. "We're dry!"
Suddenly, a small freighter—a lowly transport ship belonging to a solo player—flew into the formation.
"I have spare batteries!" the captain shouted. "**[Energy Transfer]**!"
Then another ship joined in. And another. The greedy merchants, the scavengers, the ones who had been hiding. They flew in, connecting their auxiliary generators to the main grid.
"Take it!" they shouted.
The shield flared. It turned from white to gold.
It held.
The Avatar's beam exhausted itself. The boss staggered back, its energy spent.
"Kill it!" Ren commanded.
The fleet didn't need to be told. They unleashed hell.
The Avatar of Avarice exploded. It didn't leave a corpse. It burst into a shower of golden particles that rained down on the ships, repairing hulls and recharging capacitors.
**[System Notification]**
**[World Boss Defeated.]**
**[Achievement Unlocked: The First Fleet.]**
**[Reward: Survival.]**
***
**The Aftermath**
**Location: Station 9 Docking Ring.**
**Time: 1 Hour Later.**
The celebration was deafening.
Usually, after a boss kill, guilds would rush the loot chest. Arguments would break out. Ninjas would steal items.
But there was no chest. The Avatar had dropped nothing tangible.
Instead, the reward was the scene in the mess hall of the *Indomitable Spirit*.
Vance of the Iron Vipers was sitting at a table with Elena of the Lunar Mages. They weren't fighting. They were sharing a bottle of whiskey.
"That shield overlap," Vance grunted, slamming his glass down. "That was... adequate timing."
"Your railgun calibration wasn't terrible," Elena admitted, smirking. "For a brute."
They clinked glasses.
Across the room, mechanics from rival guilds were swapping schematics. Healers were comparing mana efficiency charts.
I stood on the balcony overlooking the hall, holding a cup of tea (which I had to hold very carefully to avoid atomizing).
"They did it," Ren said, sounding surprised. "I honestly thought you'd have to step in."
"People are capable of amazing things when the alternative is extinction," I said. "Fear is a good teacher. Victory is a better one."
I watched them. They were battered, their ships were scarred, but they looked stronger. They carried themselves differently now. They weren't just Earthlings anymore; they were a Fleet.
"Zero," I said.
**[Yes, Architect?]**
"Draft a new protocol. The 'United Earth Charter'. No more guild wars in space. If they want to fight, they can do it in the simulation pods. Out here, in the galaxy? We present a single front."
**[Drafting now. Shall I include a clause about loot distribution?]**
"Yes. Weighted RNG based on contribution. Make it fair, but make them work for it."
I finished my tea.
"Boss," Damon walked up, looking charred but happy. His armor was dented in five places. "That boss... that was you, wasn't it?"
I looked at him innocently. "Me? I was watching from the bridge."
Damon snorted. "Yeah, right. That thing fought exactly like a training dummy I used to hit in the dojo. Same attack patterns. You went easy on us."
"Maybe," I admitted. "Or maybe you just got better."
Damon grinned. "We'll take it. By the way, we got a message from the Station authorities."
"Let me guess," I sighed. "Another noise complaint?"
"No," Damon shook his head. "It's an invitation."
He handed me a datapad.
**[Sender: The Galactic Council – High Seat.]**
**[To: The Entity Shigu.]**
**[Subject: Urgent Negotiation.]**
I read the message.
*Dear Anomaly,*
*Your display of force against Warlord Drakon was... noted. Your subsequent 'training exercise' has destabilized the mana readings for this entire sector.*
*The Council acknowledges Earth as a formidable power.*
*However, there is a greater threat approaching. One that even you cannot simply punch away.*
*We request your presence at the Core. The Silence is spreading.*
"The Silence," I muttered.
I remembered the graph Guest_01 had shown the board. The Zorgon fleet hadn't just been destroyed; they had been silenced. But there was something else. A void that wasn't just empty space.
"Guest_01 mentioned cosmic horrors," Ren recalled. "Things that eat suns."
I looked at the message, then out at the stars.
The internal strife was over. My house was in order. The kids had learned to play nice.
Now, it was time to deal with the neighbors.
"Pack it up," I ordered. "Ren, tell the guilds to repair their ships. We have 24 hours."
"Where are we going?" Ren asked.
I crushed the datapad, letting the dust fall to the floor.
"To the Galactic Core," I said. "Apparently, the game has a main quest line after all."
**[Day 1,229 concludes.]**
**[Time until next Power Compounding: 4 Hours.]**
**[Current Status: Ready for Endgame.]**
**Chapter 49 Ends.**