The job change is a bizarre and calamity; the nation begs me to tone it down.

"Sir, could this... could it be that the monitoring station's data is malfunctioning? Or is it some kind of unknown cosmic phenomenon..."

The two special envoys wanted to make one last attempt.

"Data error?"

Crobbick coldly interrupted him, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes: "Did you think that while you were swaggering around and accepting bribes in Starfall God Realm, I, as the supervisor, just sat here drinking?"

Upon hearing the words "accepting bribes," the two special envoys' legs went weak, and they trembled like leaves.

Crobbick ignored them and went back to the sofa, where he sat down.

He crossed his hands on his knees, his eyes becoming deep, as if piercing through the endless starry sky and seeing the galaxy shrouded in black mist.

"Although those old guys in Ashmertine kept the news under tight control and erased all traces, they overlooked one crucial detail."

"At the very moment that so-called 'ancient beast riot' occurred, all living beings in the entire Starfall Divine Realm, and even in several surrounding star sectors, experienced an extremely strange physiological reaction at the same time."

"They, almost all of them, heard a sound."

"It wasn't an explosion, it wasn't the loud bang of colliding energy, and it wasn't the roar of some ancient beast."

"That was... the sound of a heartbeat."

"Thump...thump...thump..."

At this point, Crobbick tapped the sofa lightly with his fingers, mimicking that rhythm: "It was an extremely slow, yet irresistibly powerful heartbeat. It ignored the barriers of spatial distance and dimension, resonating directly in the minds of every living being."

"It was as if... some great being that had been sleeping at the edge of the universe had awakened at that moment."

Having said that, Crobbick stopped tapping his fingers and looked up at the two people in front of him again: "So... are you two still going to tell me that it was just a bunch of irrational beasts fighting over dark matter energy?"

"In my opinion, there are only two reasons why those old guys in Ashmertine went to great lengths to conceal the truth and even risked offending Parliament to get rid of you."

"Or perhaps the secret is too terrifying, and they are afraid that if it were to leak out, it would bring unbearable disaster, so they can only put on a brave face and keep the matter tightly under the lid."

"Either...they want to keep all the profits for themselves!"

Upon hearing this, one of them frowned slightly and subconsciously replied, "Swallow it all? Supervisor, that's god-level power!"

"Do you think those few country nobles from Ashmerkrin can swallow this?"

"Country aristocracy?"

Crobbick scoffed, "Have you been in Parliament too long? You've even stopped reading history books?"

"Or do you really think those guys in fancy suits are, at heart, refined gentlemen?"

"The six ruling families of Ashmerkrin today, going back half an era, were all pure Star Hunters!"

"They started by robbing passing starships and made their fortune by risking their lives for resources in unknown star systems."

"Back then, those guys even dared to ram their starships directly into a star in their quest to seize high-grade star crystal veins!"

"For gamblers, as long as the chips are big enough, even if death is sitting across from them, they dare to put their entire fortune on the table without hesitation."

Crobbick had great faith in his intuition.

The thing hidden in the Dark Star System is clearly the bargaining chip that could drive them crazy again.

They wanted to hide it not out of fear, but out of greed.

Everyone knows that those local bullies are ambitious.

Since the Starfall Divine Realm came under the control of Ashmerktin and his gang of gamblers, its development has been quite outrageous.

In just half an era, the territory expanded rapidly outwards like wildly growing weeds.

Those resource star systems that originally belonged to no one, and even the living space of some peripheral small divine realms, were ruthlessly squeezed and swallowed up by them.

They were like a swarm of locusts passing through, leaving no trace of energy behind wherever they went.

Of course, as the highest governing body of more than a dozen surrounding star systems, the Star Council would not stand idly by and watch them grow stronger.

The problem is that everyone is still outwardly within the framework of the same alliance.

As the nominal overlord, the Universal Star Council places great importance on having a legitimate reason for its actions.

Although Ashmerkrin acts domineeringly, they exploit loopholes in the alliance's rules, leaving no grounds for direct sanctions.

If Parliament were to send a large army to wipe them out, the alliance's credibility would be completely destroyed.

What will the other divine realms think?

Today you can destroy Ashmerkrin for no reason, but tomorrow will it be their turn?

People band together for safety, not to find a master to cut off their heads at will.

Therefore, the parliament cannot directly break off relations or use the military; it can only impose various restrictions and suppressions on them through normal procedures.

For example, raising their trade tariffs and restricting their quotas for high-end resources.

However, programs alone are certainly not enough.

In fact, the parliament had already taken drastic measures a thousand years ago.

At that time, the Shadow Skeletons from outer space launched a massive invasion.

The monsters tore a huge gash in the border, plunging the entire divine realm under the council into panic.

The defenses retreated again and again, and countless star systems became dead zones.

The important figures in the parliament at that time also used this opportunity to make a brilliant move.

Under the guise of resisting foreign enemies, they directly designated a meat grinder called the Starfield Battlefield on the edge of the council's jurisdiction.

In name, the entire divine realm unites to resist external enemies.

They also promised substantial postwar compensation and guaranteed governance of the rich galaxy.

But actually?

This is an extremely sophisticated bloodletting therapy!

Ashmertine's gamblers, driven by a desire for glory and profit, sought to prove their right to a higher seat in parliament.

The family's most elite fleet and highest-ranking professionals were continuously poured into that bottomless pit.

The results were naturally remarkable.

The invasion of the Shadow Skeletons was thwarted, and Ashmerk's elite forces were nearly wiped out.

Their rampant expansion was finally brought to a halt.

Since then, Ashmerktin has been forced into a thousand-year-long silence, obediently hiding in the Starfall Divine Realm to lick its wounds, and no longer has the ability to provoke the bottom line of other divine realms.

Those once arrogant Star Hunters have finally learned to keep a low profile.