Neos's gaze lingered on Steve and the others for a moment.
There was no killing intent in his eyes, but they were razor-sharp, as though he were determining whether they had been corrupted by the Abyss or whether he himself was trapped in some impenetrable illusion.
Time crawled thickly through the silence, every second stretched unbearably long.
In the end, he did not order an attack. Instead, he slowly turned to Elysia and Mio, his voice low. "Check the mission panels."
Everyone immediately understood what he meant.
Their personal terminals had now established a stable connection to the mysterious "Hilling Mainframe." Though the regular network remained blocked, the basic mission modules had resumed operation.
When the blood-red directive clearly appeared on the screens, even Mio and Elysia's expressions changed instantly.
"Erase all native and derivative sapient lifeforms resisting Imperium rule..." Elysia read softly, rare confusion appearing in her eyes. "Establish an information stabilization field... Track down the traitor Sandora..."
Mio's fingertips flew across the virtual interface as she pulled up the directive's metadata and release logs. Her brow furrowed tighter and tighter. "Verification passed. Permission level... extremely high. But the content fundamentally conflicts with the Imperium's core principles. This is highly abnormal."
Steve tightened his grip on his shield and leaned forward slightly, though his voice remained restrained. "Mr. Neos, Miss Elysia, we need an explanation. Does this directive... represent the Imperium's final decision?"
"An explanation?"
A hoarse voice suddenly cut in.
Gorda's figure flashed before Steve like a ghost, the shadow he cast carrying an oppressive weight.
"The Imperium's orders are the explanation!"
Before his words had faded, destructive energy had already gathered around his fist—
"Gorda! Stop!"
Neos's voice rang out at the same time.
He had already stepped between them. Without drawing a weapon, he merely raised