Chapter 787: An Important Meeting

Varian tapped the table as he watched the holograms of the three Sovereigns he previously asked for.

The Rulers of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus had a frown on their faces as they read the report from the latest clean-up.

"From today, Shadow Order, as we know it ceases to exist," Varian said with a calm expression.

His eyes flashed with a pensive light as he shrugged. "Though their remnants still exist and we can't completely prevent the emergence of another terror entity, it's safe to say we've never been safer."

The Sovereigns, including Micheal Caron, nodded at his words.

After the Guardians and army cleaned up the secret realms that were quickly found by the new detection devices, Varian provided them with another report.

A report that listed tens of thousands of informants, spies, and agents working for the Abyssals.

He even cited multiple sources for placing them on the list.

They guessed he used the power of the Ghost Ship to do the complex calculations to decode so much information.

Then, they began the second cleanup.

From small-time workers to large business owners, the traitors were taken into custody one by one.

It was silent, yet swift.

If the first cleanup was akin to a lightning bolt destroying everything in a second, the second one was like a heavy storm that slowly but surely drowned everything.

The largest number of these traitors were found on Jupiter.

Even when calculated for the same population, Jupiter, on average had more than twice the spies than average.

"Some inspection on why you breed more traitors is needed," Varian said in a light tone as he eyed the Micheal Caron.

"I protect my planet. I fight on the front lines. Why are they still doing this?" Micheal Caron gritted his teeth.

Kevin rubbed his chin in confusion while Irene closed her eyes to think of a reason.

To be fair, Micheal did an excellent job in protecting his planet. Jupiter's soldier deaths and defeats in the planetoid wars were some of the lowest in the federation.

But no matter how secure the border was, the people still betrayed him. And betrayed him more than anyone else.

"W-Wait, can the Abyssals one day buy enough traitors to paralyze us as a society and destroy us from within?" Micheal Caron rubbed his forehead.

As always, he began to think of the worst possibility.

Sovereign Kevin shook his head at his friend's personality he could never get the hang of. Unlike Michael, he always remained positive.

"Right!" Micheal's eyes widened as if he realized something and he slammed the table. "Maybe it's already happening or about to happen! We need to search for the hidden traitors and find their conspira—"

"Woah, calm down there," Varian's calm voice rang in contrast to Micheal's heavy one.

"What do you mean calm down? The survival of Jupiter is at sta—"

"This is why you have traitors. You are too pessimistic." Varian said nonchalantly.

"W-What?!" Michael Caron was at a loss for words. Then, he shook his head and said. "How does that even..."

"It does affect. In every annual speech you give, you mainly report the negatives and downplay the positives." Varian crossed his arms as he looked at the Sovereign with a 'Are you kidding me?' face.

"I do?" Micheal was surprised.

For those annual speeches, he spoke his mind and rejected all written speeches.

And he didn't entertain thoughts or suggestions on such issues even if someone told him to change his speech.

He considered himself to be a realist and conveyed his reality to the people.

"Public perception should be the job of mainstream media," Micheal bit his lip.

Varian shook his head. "Whatever the mainstream media tells them, if you, their Sovereign talks only about negative stuff, people will of course panic."

"Of course, after panicking, people can check the real data published by the military and draw logical conclusions," Micheal argued. But he realized he was just trying to deny the reality.

Rebuking his words, Varian said. "But some people don't do that. They believe your words blindly. You're their savior after all. They'll think we're going to lose. That they're gonna be slaughtered."

Micheal Caron sighed as he finally realized. "So, they wouldn't hesitate in doing the one thing that can save them. Becoming an Abyssal agent."

"Exactly. So, take care of your PR." Varian stated his point.

Micheal looked at Varian with a critical eye before nodding reluctantly.

"Yes."

Then, the Sovereign who stated he disliked Varian, said in a low tone.

"Thanks."

— — —

The Abyss Rulers looked at each other across the round table.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

Despair Queen looked at Mirage Queen's bloodshot eyes and sighed inwardly.

She was reminded of herself when she failed the plan.

If she was the one who failed despite decades of preparations, then Mirage Queen was the one who failed at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And both of them failed due to the same person.

'Varian.'

Despair Queen closed her eyes as she imagined ripping that boy's body part by part with her vines.

"Everyone," Sin King addressed his seven colleagues with a serious expression.

Despair Queen opened her eyes and listened attentively. This meeting was marked red meaning utmost importance.

"The situation on the other side has reached a conclusion," Sin King's words caused the Rulers to stiffen.

"Is it? It's already over? Fairies are really trash."

"How much damage did we inflict?"

"How much are our losses?"

The Rulers fired the questions with enthusiasm.

Even though it had been centuries since their branches left off for this mission. Yet, every Abyssal in the solar system, be it an unawakened or Sovereign, missed their home terribly.

So, even the gloomy news of Mirage Abyss' terrible losses and destruction of Shadow Order was set aside by them.

Sin King remained silent until their noises calm down and began. "The content of the meeting is—"

"Old Man, just give us a summary of the war, okay?" Despair Queen begged with pitiful eyes.

"Yes. My blood boils when I think of killing those damn fairies! Please tell us how many fairies our people killed. How hard did we crush them?" Mirage Queen joined with sparkly eyes.

"Did we kick them out of the northwest borders? Are they begging the Zion dog again?" Demon King asked with an excited smile.

"...We," Sin King sighed deeply as he said. "Our defense was broken."

"W-What?!"

"You're kidding, old guy!"

"We're not losing! We're stronger than them! Always been! Always will be!"

"If this is a joke, then fuck you! It's very bad!"

One by one, the Abyss Rulers cursed him.

Only two of them remained silent.

Thunder King and Hollow Queen.

Thunder King lived in Sin Abyss for a period of time and knew better than anyone else that the old man wouldn't bother to lie.

Hollow Queen, on the other hand, was someone who didn't let her emotions get to her head.

Even though they always won, losing wasn't an impossibility.

So, the question remained. Why did they lose?

Sin King took a deep breath and tapped on a crystal.

The Abyss Rulers, except for Demon King and Mirage Queen, followed his action without a word.

The six holy altars emitted a soft light as the space around them fluctuated.

Then, a screen appeared in front of them.

"I will tell you why we lost." Abyss Emperor's hologram appeared in the room.