In the central space station, the head spoke, "Should we continue putting up a show with these fake space stations?"
The Supreme Head of the real space station was communicating via a device, with only his vague figure visible.
He replied, "Yes, this secret has to be hidden until the time comes, so just continue using them."
The head bowed down respectfully and said, "If that is what the Supreme Head wishes, I agree to it."
His eyes stared deeply at the figure, as if asking for something.
The figure laughed mockingly, "Alright, I get it. If you succeed in setting up all of the fake space stations, your mission will be over. And you can join the real space station led by me!"
His lips curled up and his eyes glowed with determination, "Thanks! I won't disappoint the Supreme Head."
Their meeting ended, and he called all the members of the space station to inform them of everything.
Actually, the fake space stations contained seeds for the members of the real space station, so naturally, everybody knew about most of the intel.
Boom! A sudden bang echoed as the whole space station shook as if the world were being turned upside down.
The head flew out on his own and yelled, "Who dares to attack my space station? Show yourself, idio—"
"I am not hiding myself, fool! How can I show myself if I'm right in front of you? Are you blind or something?"
A figure stood there, his massive shadow capable of engulfing the surroundings, his aura alone enough to suppress the entire area.
"G-GREAT LORD?? Why are you here?" asked the head with a pale expression.
"Why am I here? To prove to the world that I am not just Great because of this ugly stone!"
A purple crystal was shining brightly in his hands, attached to his staff. The head felt suffocated as he retreated out of its range.
With a single command, the entire space station rushed outside.
Still, nobody surrounded Great Lord because of the overwhelming reach of the Pride Crystal.
He spoke, "Place my wanted poster at #1 and print—"
The head was a wise person and knew Great Lord wanted to make himself look impressive, so he interrupted, "I will put only ALIVE and set the highest bounty for your name! Will that suffice, Great Lord?"
Great Lord used a technique, instantly grabbing the head and pulling him close.
The head thought Great Lord was going to agree, but to his surprise, his neck was being crushed in Great Lord's grip.
Great Lord snorted, "Do you think I, Great Lord, can be captured alive, moron? You have to put (IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH) and set the reward as all the space stations present in this solar system! Along with twenty planets—no, wait, I destroyed one, so make it nineteen planets."
The space station aliens saw this and thought:
"He is truly the pride monster!"*
"Damn him! If only the real space station fought..."
"Such audacity! I will build his grave lower than a beggar's!"
The head had similar thoughts. If Great Lord were on their side—the righteous path—the reactions would be the exact opposite.
But none voiced these thoughts. The head choked out, "Agreed! Everything shall be done, Great Lord—the greatest lord of lords!"
Even the space station aliens praised him in unison, thinking that if they fueled his pride, he would leave. They couldn't fight him without courting death, as he possessed a crystal while none of them had one.
Great Lord nodded, "Alright, on to the next matter! Here, take this Pride Crystal and fight me! Then I will kill all of you and revive you back! I can't simply boast without action!"
The head pondered, "A crystal? The Pride Crystal! Even the real space station has none, and the Organization lost theirs too! I am truly stumbling into a fortune."
He spoke up, "Alright, but there's one problem..."
"Speak! What is it?" roared Great Lord.
The head swallowed hard, "How can we guarantee that you aren't tricking us like Lucan did?"
Great Lord laughed loudly, crushing his staff and tossing the crystal to the head. The crystal had been refined by him, so he could freely transfer it to anyone at will.
The head was speechless as he inspected it using his own methods. Suddenly, the crystal activated in his grip.
A dazzling purple light blasted him backward several meters, leaving him bleeding. The other aliens rushed to grab him, glaring at Great Lord.
The head coughed, "Coward! You have no pride! You literally went back on your word and tried to kill me!"
Great Lord flew toward him, grabbing him by the neck again, "Hahaha! So what? I was inspired by Lucan!"
All of their expressions turned ashen. Great Lord's only weakness used to be his rigid honor, but now even that was gone.
Nobody lowered their guard; instead, they subconsciously retreated in fear.
However, Great Lord healed the head instantly and tossed him the Pride Crystal again, "Just kidding! I just wanted to prove to you that it was real. You don't need to inspect it—it hurts my image!"
The head sighed in relief, "Okay... So who do you want to fight? Me? Or..."
Great Lord laughed, "All of you, along with the rest of your space stations! Don't worry, I swear on my pride that if anyone causes trouble when your members arrive, whoever it is, I will kill them!"
The head asked with hesitation, "Mind if I have a few words with my crew before making the decision?"
Great Lord patted him, "Go ahead! Prepare for a million years or do whatever you want!"
The head shifted his gaze to the crystal in his hands—it had shrunk significantly! He sighed, "Only if we have someone with pride as grand as his will this crystal grow rapidly!"
Great Lord shouted, "Oh no! I forgot one important thing, listen!"
The head froze and turned around to look at Great Lord, his heart pounding fast.
Great Lord declared, "Just make sure you broadcast this fight to everybody—including my rival, Lucan, the Organization, and anyone in desperation!"
This news spread far and wide, reaching almost everyone. Only Lucan remained in the dark, completely isolated inside that hidden location.
Meanwhile, in the unknown domain of the universe, the twelve invisible beings watched in silence.
The entire realm was filled with a darkness so intense that even the color black would gasp in awe.
Great Lord's actions were being monitored by all twelve universal beings.
While they usually remained quiet, their leader—the one with the highest power—had previously scolding them for enjoying Lucan's actions.
But this time, to their surprise, the supreme being declared, "Amazing! Awesome! This show is entertaining to watch, guys! Is something wrong?"
One alien asked, "Didn't you get mad at us yesterday for watching these things?"
The supreme being thought to himself, "Hmph! Because that trash was a human! But this person is a purebred alien of our own species! Why wouldn't I praise him?"*
Aloud, he said, "Ahem! That was because the human dominated using the power of crystals, which are among the strongest artifacts in our universe! I hope you all know their might."
Everyone nodded in agreement. He continued, "But this alien gave his crystal to his enemy and is fighting all of them by himself! See the difference?!"
Many of them changed their expressions and began praising Great Lord:
"Wow! This guy has the potential to become a galaxy-level being!"
"Not bad at all! It's been more than a century since we gained new galaxy-level beings."*
Their remarks made the highest-ranking alien smile with satisfaction, pleased that their species was developing better than the humans.
However, one of the beings thought secretly, *"If the humans weren't suppressed, countless talents would have risen among them too. But this Great Lord is truly remarkable—on par with Lucan!"*
On the surface, however, he spoke in unison with the others to avoid raising suspicion.
Inside the sealed galactic room, the imprisoned human was completely healed. This time, he stayed quiet to avoid drawing attention.
He smirked to himself at the scene,
"Hahaha!"