HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LIGHTYEARS FROM ERA
An old man in a magnificent suit peered at the top-secret report before him.
It was Chancellor Souley, the chancellor of the whole Federation. This report had been submitted to him by Admiral Azerof and was absolutely incredible.
It spoke of a genocide committed by the Orc Empire on the planet Era, involving some strange ritual created by the Orcs with the blood of the Tyottings. This ritual created interdimensional portals which summoned a group called the Eternals, humans all endowed with ascension power.
According to the report, these Eternals had, instead of joining those who summoned them, instead courageously fought the Orcs alongside Federation troops.
Chancellor Souley could hardly believe it!
Not only was the Eternals' sudden appearance a major galactic event, but the Orc Empire, the most powerful galactic nation, had violated intergalactic law by attacking a Federation protectorate!
Chancellor Souley ordered Azerof to clarify this report and ordered the Federal Secret Service (FSS) to investigate the events on Planet Era.
But the chancellor knew he couldn't hide this information indefinitely. Eventually, the report would be made public, and it would surely cause a real scandal! Only time would tell whether these two cataclysmic events would be an overall boon or a hindrance to the Federation.
Regarding the Orc attack, the first step was to inform the Galactic Community.*
***
PLANET ERA
Apophis and Lotus had become inseparable over the two days since they attacked the anti-Federation players.
Though he was enjoying this time, Apophis hadn't seen his family for almost a week, and he was seriously starting to miss it. Of course, he was in a gaming cabin, so his body was being fed with vitamins and food, but he also had to preserve his mental health.
At this point, it was time to come back to reality. After all the PvP, Apophis had collected 113,000 GC, bringing his treasury to 513,000 GC. He'd also reached level 12! This was the advantage to open PvP, which earned the victor all their victim's money and a piece of their equipment, as well as costing the loser a whole level.
Apophis wished he could sell some of his GC to earn real-world credits, but this was a terrible time for it.
The exchange rate was still very low because of the recent nuclear strike and the collapse of the player economy. Apophis would be patient and wait for the exchange rate to rise once the pro-Federation players traveled to another planet with Admiral Azerof.
At that point, players would have access to the full spread of the game's economic functions: the stock market, the galactic auction, and various investment opportunities.
He kissed Lotus one last time and gave her his holo watch number. Then Apophis left her and visited his underground shipyard. He left Antanria some more food and explained that he'd be gone until the Zetark Experimental Corvette.
***
Alexander disconnected from the game—and his head spun worryingly! He was not well at all, but had played too much! Without real physical exercise, even the special gamer vitamins could only do so much.
He struggled to his feet, careful not to repeat the scenario of his first death. Perhaps, he thought, he should install some padding on the sharpest corners of the booth in the future.
Alexander took the opportunity to look at his holo watch while he caught his breath.
*You have 999+ unread messages.*
"Wow," he said in a cracked voice he barely recognized. "Well, I guess I'll read those later."
For now, he would spend some good time with his family.
*Galactic Community: An organization similar to the real-world United Nations. It groups together all the galactic nations and establishes intergalactic law, which all members agree to uphold.
