"Doctor! Come, Let Me Toast You!"

Imperial Calendar: May 30, 0058.

Location: Main Universe Earth · Imperial Palace · Ruins Core Area.

Earth of the Main Universe, the undisputed "heart" and central hub of the Imperium of Man, had long surpassed the limits of humanity's imagination from the old era in both prosperity and scale.

Within the Ruins Core Area, where the Imperial Palace stood, that grandeur reached its peak.

Once, this place had been nothing more than a virgin rainforest untouched by humanity. Now, however, it was the absolute core connecting countless stars and ruling endless territories.

Most astonishing of all were the twenty massive Space Gates that had already entered stable operation, each built to identical specifications with sides six kilometers long.

They resembled twenty enormous, flawless mirrors of liquid mercury. Within their surfaces swirled vortices of energy, leading to the Empire's known colonial universes, frontline fortresses, and resource worlds.

Countless standardized tracks, like precise silver veins, tightly linked those Space Gates to major transit hubs scattered across the surface and even in synchronous orbit.

Those hubs themselves resembled metallic cities floating amid the stars, ceaselessly handling immeasurable flows of people and goods day and night.

As far as the eye could see, vessels of every shape and size—

From mountain-sized, heavily armored Imperial Navy and Legion warships, to gigantic freighters responsible for cargo transport, and then sleek interstellar cruise liners dedicated to passenger travel—

Moved in and out of the Space Gates in orderly streams like schools of fish obeying some cosmic law, creating a living portrait of interstellar shipping filled with strength and order.

Main Universe Earth was the central node of that vast transportation network, the source where the Empire's lifeblood converged and surged forth.

On the planet's surface, the sprawling Imperial Palace, with its undulating complexes stretching endlessly across the