Chapter 805: Out on a walk
Chapter 805: Out on a walk
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Nick didn’t inform anyone. He just got up and left the HQ without any escort because he didn’t need one.
With his strength, he doesn’t need a ship, a crew, or bodyguards to go where he wants to. There’s nowhere in this chaos realm he couldn’t go.
It’s been a long while since the last time he went out like this. Their trip to the Rising Sun Domain didn’t count because that was official business; this was just a casual one.
Each step he took carried him to places; he casually breached light-years’ worth of travel strides to go wherever he wanted. Spatial disturbances, twisting space tunnels, wormholes, dangerous asteroid fields, strong gravitational pulls…none of them were able to slow him down. He didn’t need to slow his pace or pause to consider his next moves; his surroundings adjusted to him instead.
This is what it’s like to be at his power level. You don’t ask the world for permission; it bends to your subconscious will.
Nick went where his heart took him. Sometimes, he overlooked vast cosmic realms, watched the birth and destruction of stars, walked among mortals to be reminded of how mundane their daily lives were, watched life evolve, and struggle and compete for resources to become stronger…
He watched everything as an outsider. He didn’t involve himself with them and didn’t create nor disrupt any karmic strings. He was just there, observing in a detached manner.
The scenes he saw didn’t give him comfort, but they also didn’t leave a negative impact either. Nick just watched everything in the distance…indifferently.
A sigh escaped from his lips at some point.
Inwardly, he thought, ’What’s the point in all this? Why did I even go out here? What exactly am I looking for? ’
It was an impulse that brought him out of the council’s HQ. He went out to decompress because his thoughts were heading into very dangerous territory. But even as he did that, nothing he saw truly offered him any comfort or relief.
It’s not like he saw anything bad. Well, even if he had, he didn’t care.
That’s the entire thing…he just didn’t care anymore.
Somehow, at some point. He just…stopped caring.
When? He had no idea. Maybe it was when his wife died. Maybe he just became jaded with everything. Maybe he’s just tired of everything.
This is something that sleep wouldn’t fix. Even if he were to hide and hibernate until this chaos realm was facing an existential crisis, it probably wouldn’t change what he feels.
The idea saddens him. Because, really, he used to be so passionate about everything.
Back then, he was filled with spirit and determination. He clawed his way to the top, proved that he was special, and for quite some time, he was…special.
He used to be the hero, the protagonist, the chosen one. His meteoric rise dazzled this entire chaos realm. He left his mark in the annals of history, one that’d be remembered by generations to come.
Yet it only took one major setback for that version of him to die.
That old Nicholas? He died when his wife did. He went with her.
The current Nicholas is a mere shell of who he was. And damn, he truly missed what he once was.
“This is so stupid…” Nicholas grumbled.
Just like that, he left. Where to? That’s what he’d like to know. He’s just going where his feet take him.
He crossed chasms and bypassed light-years some more until eventually, he arrived in the east, near the Rising Sun Sector Domain.
Nick remembered what transpired here.
He remembered his nephew’s frantic call and his warnings. He recalled how the Bug Empress slipped through their defenses and how she nearly got what she wanted.
More importantly, he remembered the guy they appointed as the new Sector Lord of this place. That dazzling genius whom the populace has almost forgotten at this point. That same genius that shattered his personal record, the one who came from out of nowhere and raised the bar of what a real monstrous genius truly was.
And of course, he could never forget how this little Universe Master stepped out at the last moment to interfere.
Nick remembered their shock when Cedric promptly snatched the food out of the Bug Empress’ mouth. He could still remember how dumbstruck they were when he appeared out of nowhere and pushed the doors to the Unstable Heavenly Realm wide open for them.
And most importantly, he didn’t forget how this child mocked the Bug Empress’s inability to control space laws before presenting her on the silver platter before the grumpy Supreme Will, whose slumber was rudely interrupted by all the commotion around here.
He’d laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all if he wasn’t so shocked.
The best part? The kid didn’t want any of it. Had anybody asked him, he’d rather stay far away from all of this if possible. But he sure didn’t shy away from showing his allegiance when it mattered.
While everybody craved and sought out the opportunity to enter the Unstable Heavenly Realm, this kid wanted none of it. He didn’t care about it. If anything, he even seems to disdain it.
’What a kid, really.’ Nick shook his head in disbelief.
Most people don’t know that he didn’t disappear. He’s just here, minding his own business as usual. He didn’t care about what others thought about him; he didn’t chase glory, reputation, or fame, just the stability and security of his people.
And he’s doing just that…doing very well at that, too.
In a single scan, Nicholas can see the progress that he made. And deep down, he was impressed. Barely two hundred years passed since they handed him this territory.
What was once a messy and severely underdeveloped sector domain has now turned into a decent and serviceable one.
Even Nick would admit that this was impressive. This progress was really fast.
One has to know that, for Sector Lords—especially ones whose territories started the same way as Cedric’s—this level of progress could only be achieved after thousands of years. Not hundreds, thousands. Maybe even more.
Nick had no idea whether Cedric was experienced in territory management or not, but his performance so far was nothing short of impressive.
’He sure does not play around when it comes to the safety of his people, huh? ’Nick mused to himself.
He saw the grand formations layered around this place. It’s invisible to most people, but Nick wasn’t ’most people.’ He could see where they start and where they end. He knows that every single formation he sees is connected to each other.
Nick could make an educated guess of what they do and what happens when they are triggered. He could also see the holes he could exploit, the gaps in between the formations that hadn’t been filled out yet.
He could see the arrangement and guess Cedric’s vision when he planned this out. And really, it was impressive. This level of detail and planning was simply above what other sector lords would go through for their territory.
From here, it was clear that Cedric wasn’t one to hold back or compromise. He’s not one to do things half-heartedly, and Nick respects that a lot.
And Cedric’s people? Happy and content.
Nick could see how everybody in his territory loved him. They have their own struggles, yes, and most are mundane problems, yes. But all in all? There’s no place they’d rather be. He could see their gratitude for their sector lord and their willingness to serve him.
He wasn’t fazed when he saw demons and other species here. That’s nothing new. None of them entertained any ideas of rebellion or snatching humanity’s home. Every one of them here was just really glad to be here.
And that’s something very rare. Not all sector lords receive this kind of gratitude because some of them just don’t care. Cedric does, and it shows.
All of this passion and care…it was refreshing. It slightly moisturized Nick’s long dried-up heart, even just for a little bit.
Nick then felt something. He glanced at the far side of the domain and felt a presence there.
That’s where he saw him, Cedric.
He stood at the vacuum of space, playing around with his surroundings by folding, stretching, and morphing them into shapes. Nick noticed that the direction he’s facing just happens to be heading to where the edge of the dimensional gap is.
That’s when Cedric’s head turned in his direction. To Nick’s mild shock, Cedric’s gaze found his, and he nodded in his direction before continuing what he was doing.
It wasn’t the casual acknowledgement that shocked Nick. It was the fact that, despite being so sure that he was hidden very well, Cedric still found him.
There was no doubt about that. Their eyes met. More specifically, Cedric felt his gaze despite being hidden, met it, and acknowledged his presence before acting as if he was never there to begin with.
How was that possible? How did this kid find him? How can a universe master like him see through the methods of a half-step primal origin lifeform?
Nick, unable to prevent himself, approached the kid with intentions to ask questions.
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