Building Interstellar Empire With Universal Synthesis

Moon opened the glass door to the bathroom, noticing a twitching silhouette on the floor.

​At first, she thought a dog must have somehow gotten in. However, when she stepped inside, she saw Neo convulsing and drenched in sweat on the tiles. The scene was eerie, as if a ghost had possessed his body. Startled out of her usual calm, she couldn’t help but scream his name.

​Meanwhile, Neo stood up, completely oblivious to the traumatic experience she had just witnessed.

​"Moon? When did you get in?" he asked.

​Moon quickly recovered her composure. "Just now. But what were you doing on the floor?"

​Neo looked perfectly natural on the outside, but his heart was racing. "It’s nothing. My illness must be acting up again."

​Moon looked at him with a rare flash of worry in her eyes. "Is it epilepsy? Why don’t you get it treated?"

She appeared a little naive and cute.

​Neo sighed, realizing this girl wouldn’t stop inquiring so easily. "Forget it. There are some complexities involved that I don’t wish to reveal yet. Anyway, when are you going to teach me to drive like you said you would?"

​Moon looked toward the meeting table outside, seeing it was still empty. She turned back to meet his gentle dark eyes with her ghostly silver ones.

For a moment, their gazes locked.

​"Meet me after the meeting," she said, quickly averting her eyes.

​With that, she walked out.

​Does she dislike me that much? But why?

The question ate at him. Nevertheless, he followed her out. Just outside the door, they were met with an overly suspicious gaze.

​"What were you two doing in the bathroom, my dear juniors?"

Lady Agnes stood outside, leaning against the wall, watching Neo and Moon with an amused smile. It was the smile of someone who had just caught an adulterous couple red-handed.

​As usual, Moon said nothing to justify herself. Neo, on the other hand, felt the full pressure of the interrogation.

​"Lady Agnes, there is nothing between us like you’re suspecting. This is all a clear misunderstanding on your end."

​Agnes’ smile never wavered. "Is that so? You’re such a playboy, Neo. You stole our emotionless princess’s heart just a day after your arrival. I’m truly impressed." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

​"You are being too hasty with your judgment, Lady Agnes. We will never have the kind of relationship you are assuming."

This time, it was Moon who answered—clear and precise.

​Even though it was technically true, the words coming straight from her mouth hurt Neo more than he realized.

"Just what is wrong with her? Am I so unworthy in her eyes?"

​Lady Agnes rolled her eyes. "Oh well, since our princess said so, I suppose I’ll have to believe her won’t I?" She looked at Moon’s face before adding, "Anyway, it’s just a suggestion, Moon, but I don’t think you should waste this chance. I think Neo is exactly the type of person you need in your colorless life."

​Neo didn’t know about Moon, but his own face was burning due to how blunt and unreasonable Agnes was being.

​"Lady Agnes, can we stop here, please? I think you’re just making Moon uncomfortable. Besides, I don’t have that kind of interest in her either," he replied hurriedly, trying to pull Agnes away.

​Agnes smiled mischievously; then, with a provocative look, she touched the spot right over his heart. "You can’t fool me, boy. I can feel your heart."

​As they walked away, Moon stood there, pursing her lips. For a split second, a flash of jealousy crossed her features, but just as quickly, all traces of emotion were wiped away.

The rest of the crew members arrived not long after.

​Captain Ajaz, Vice-Captain Deus, Monk, Flameboy, Max, and Angelica alos sat around the oval table, the atmosphere completely solemn. Ajaz stood up and pointed at the virtual monitor.

​"Crew, our next mission is finalized to occur in 7 days. Our primary objective is to rescue a little girl on the planet ’Blue Slime’."

​The virtual monitor displayed an image of the planet: completely blue in color and shaped like a glob of dough. With two massive mountain peaks that stared out into the universe like giant eyes, it resembled a certain kind of squishy creature. Next, the image of a little girl, three or four years old with long chestnut hair, appeared on the screen. She was making a mischievous pose for the camera.

​"The target’s name is Elena Rothschild, the daughter of an upper-echelon family on Earth..."

​Everyone, including Neo, was absorbed in the task. Ajaz continued:

​"Blue Slime is a small tourist planet; however, something went wrong during their visit and the little girl disappeared mysteriously. Even her parents have no clue how she vanished. It has been seven days since she was lost, and there is still no formidable lead. We aren’t the only ones; many other mercenaries have received this quest for an exorbitant reward of 500 million Federal dollars. But the task is not easy. The Federal Space Officers working the case said she was likely eaten by one of the rogue slimes.

​Still, her parents refuse to give up until they have solid proof. That is why they have turned to every mercenary company Earth has. If that wasn’t enough, they promised to increase the reward to 1 billion to find her, dead or alive. Even if we return in failure, they have promised to cover the cost of travel."

​"They are going all out, aren’t they?" Agnes said when Ajaz finished.

​Mr. Deus nodded. "The Rothschilds... they are one of the wealthy houses that gained early access to the System. Naturally, their wealth and power is immeasurable. This amount is nothing compared to a Rothschild offspring."

​Max raised his hand. "Vice-Captain, is it true that every Rothschild has a Unique Talent?"

​Neo’s ears perked up at once. This "Unique Talent" felt too important to ignore. After all, he had a unique talent of his own.

​"Yes. That is another trait that makes them special," Ajaz replied.

​"Wow! Such an unfair world," Max grumbled.

​No one denied it or laughed it off. It was the bitter truth, after all.

It was then that Neo raised his voice.

​"Ahem, captain can you please explain what these Unique Talents are?"