Building Interstellar Empire With Universal Synthesis

As true to its name, Ghost, operated under maximum stealth protocols, and activated its primary engines.

Buzzzz!

Then..

With a soundless flash of blue light, the warp drive engaged.

The Ghost Ship vanished from the solar system, rocketing toward the Zenith Planet at speeds that defied modern physics.

​Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Federation High Command was in a state of absolute chaos, desperately trying to locate a target that was already gone.

​[Commander Erdogan’s POV]

​I stood in the center of the tactical command center of the Zeta Tower, watching the massive holographic display in dead silence.

​The glowing red anomaly we had been tracking just outside Earth’s atmosphere simply blinked out of existence. The Federation radar operators frantically typed at their consoles, their faces pale with panic, but I already knew it was useless. You do not just lose a ship of that magnitude on standard scanners. They had warped.

​With a chime, the holographic projection of Director Sterling flashed to life at the head of my table.

​"Commander Erdogan, The planetary blockade has failed to intercept. The target has breached the sector."

​"I see that, Director," I replied evenly, keeping my hands clasped behind my back.

​"Good. The 17th Platoon is hereby activated for an Omega-Level retrieval mission," Sterling declared. "Your target is Neo Godson. You will track his residual warp signature, hunt him down, and bring him back to Earth. If he proves impossible to capture alive, you are authorized to terminate the target. Just bring me his Dominator Core. The Federation does not care how many men or ships you lose to complete this directive."

​The transmission abruptly cut off, leaving the command center bathed in a cold, artificial light.

​I slowly exhaled, my heavy combat armor clicking as I leaned over the tactical table to review the newly downloaded mission files. The 17th Platoon was not a standard military unit. We were the Federation’s absolute finest hunting pack. We did not arrest rogue Beyonders or break up syndicate rings. We hunted monsters. We dealt with the cosmic anomalies that threatened the very existence of the governing bodies.

​But as I scrolled through the casualty reports, my chest tightened.

​I looked at the drone footage of the Byzon gala. Elite Special Forces soldiers were torn apart like wet paper. Then I watched the satellite imagery of the Middle Eastern desert.

How the Teleport tower of the Rothschilds had been entirely reduced to a smoking, flattened crater.

All of this destruction was the work of one man using pure brute force.

​A Dominator.

​It was a title I had only read about in the restricted archives of the military academy. They were beings born with the mandate to rule the cosmos, possessing a terrifying power that scaled endlessly with their willpower. Our Solar Sector had not seen a Dominator in thousands of years, and now, High Command expected me to put one in handcuffs.

​"Commander?"

​I looked up. My top three lieutenants stood at attention across the table, their faces hidden behind the dark, intimidating visors of their A gradr battle helmets. They were waiting for their orders.

​This was a suicide mission. If Godson fully awakened fully developed his army, standard strategy would be entirely useless against him.

We would just be throwing ourselves into the jaws of a god.

​But I was a soldier of the Federation. Disobeying an Omega-Level directive was not an option.

​"Rouse the entire platoon and prep the interceptor fleet. Lock onto that residual warp trajectory and set our hyper-drives to maximum output. We are leaving immediately."

I commanded using my full authority.

​My lieutenants saluted crisply. "What are our loadout parameters, sir?"

​I stared at the image of the Flying White Dragon crest still hovering above the console.

Without mercy or kindness, I gave my command:

​"Equip the anti-matter restraints and unlock the planetary siege weapons. We are hunting an Interstellar Emperor today. We cannot afford to be soft. Or else, it will be the end of us."

---

[Nina’s POV]

​I pressed my face against the cool glass of the viewing deck, my eyes wide with absolute wonder. The Ghost Ship was finally descending through the crystalline clouds of Planet Zenith.

​It was nothing like Earth. Instead of gray smog and endless concrete towers, the world below was a breathtaking tapestry of emerald forests, glowing blue rivers, and majestic floating mountains. It looked exactly like a fairy tale come to life.

​When the heavy boarding ramp finally lowered onto the pristine ground, I took my very first step onto an alien world. The air smelled incredibly sweet, like blooming flowers after a fresh summer rain. I held my mother’s hand tightly. We were both completely speechless.

​Suddenly, a chorus of soft, squishy noises echoed around us.

​Boing! Squeak! Boing!

​I looked down and gasped in pure delight. Hundreds of round, colorful jelly creatures were bouncing excitedly toward us.

They were Slimes.

Some were glowing blue, while others were a bright, cheerful pink. The funniest part was that a few of them actually wore tiny, metallic construction helmets balancing perfectly on top of their translucent heads.

​One of the blue slimes bounced right up to my boots. It tilted its round body, looking up at me with massive, sparkling cartoonish eyes.

​"Puuu!" it squeaked happily, suddenly producing a glowing blue flower from inside its gelatinous body and offering it to me.

​I melted instantly. "Brother, they are so cute!" I squealed, carefully picking the little creature up. It wiggled happily in my arms, feeling just like a warm, squishy marshmallow.

​Neo chuckled warmly and gently patted my head. He pointed toward the horizon.

"Look over there, Nina. That is going to be your new home."

​I followed his gaze, and my jaw practically dropped to the floor.

​The Imperial Palace was currently under construction, and its foundation was already the size of a mountain.

The 7 Dwarven Builders, managed the workforce of magic wielders to effortlessly lifted enormous blocks of pristine white marble and glowing crystal high into the air.

​Down below, thousands of the little slimes were working tirelessly alongside the giant machines. They acted like bouncy trampolines to catch heavy falling debris safely, and they squeezed their gelatinous bodies into tight cracks to apply glowing magical cement.

The coordination between the towering Dwarves and the adorable, squishy slimes was the funniest and most amazing thing I had ever seen.

​I hugged the little blue slime tightly to my chest.

For the first time in years, the constant fear in my stomach was completely gone.

​I looked up at my big brother standing tall and proud in the beautiful alien sunlight. He was no longer just the struggling boy who worked odd jobs to buy us food.

He was a Dominator, the ruler of this incredible world. And most importantly, my dearest brother.