"Devouring Came Sooner Than Expected."

??!!

The air in the secret chamber seemed to have frozen solid.

The old man's words were like a sharp dagger, viciously stabbing into the hearts of everyone present.

The nobles' expressions twisted beneath the lights—

Some turned pale as paper, their fingers unconsciously tightening around their wineglasses.

Others' pupils dilated, sickly greed gleaming in their eyes as the corners of their mouths rose uncontrollably, as though they could already see a future where they held divine authority in their hands.

Still others quietly backed away, their backs pressed against the glass cabinets displaying antiques. The cold touch seeped through their luxurious formalwear, yet it could not stop the cold sweat trickling down their spines.

"You started preparing long ago?"

The silver-haired old noble's voice was dry, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

His age-spotted fingers trembled slightly as his gaze locked onto the data chip on the table. The tiny piece of metal glimmered with an eerie blue light beneath the lamps, like a miniature nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.

A cold smile curled across the old man's lips, the wrinkles on his face forming bizarre shadows in the candlelight.

He slowly walked toward a gilded antique clock from eighteenth-century Earth in the corner of the secret chamber. Its ivory pendulum swung rhythmically behind the glass casing.

When his fingers lightly triggered a hidden mechanism, the precision gears emitted a faint click. The clock face suddenly flipped open like petals, revealing the Holographic Projection Device concealed inside.

"From the very first day the Imperium of Man appeared on Mar Sara."

The projection lit up, pale blue radiance weaving through the secret chamber and forming a three-dimensional aerial view of New City, Mar Sara.

The temple structure in the central district was marked by a scarlet ring.