Inside the [Break Room], Clover was standing right in the middle of a narrow circular platform. Much like the witness stand in a courtroom, the circular platform was placed at the center of the entire grand hall. Surrounding it were high stands arranged in concentric circles, with the inner stands being lower than the outer ones.
The [Break Room] was the place where all trials in the Universe Immortal Clan were held. There not many times where the [Break Room] had the chance to be used in the past. Because of how small the Universe Immortal Clan was and how few members there were in the clan, all the Universe Immortals were very tightly united.
There were not many cases that were serious enough to deserve a trial in the [Break Room]. Clover's trial was the first in more than a thousand years.
For such a serious case concerning the number one treasure of the Universe Immortal Clan, it was natural that it would be held in the [Break Room].
On normal days, the [Break Room] was just a hall where the elders of the clan came together to discuss laws and determine the general running of the clan.
Seated in the stands around Clover were the various elders that made up the governing body of the whole clan. They were the ones who were responsible for ensuring the Universe Immortal Clan continued to function safely and properly.
The Council of Elders was made up of the oldest and strongest members of the Universe Immortal Clan, who had made great contributions to ensure the prosperity of the clan.
Every member of the Council Of Elders was said to have lived for over a million years and they had seen the birth and death of countless life forms in the universe. They had also borne witness to the rise and fall of countless races and civilizations and were said to be incomparably wise and farsighted.
Every Universe Immortal trusted and respected these elders that govern them.
As Clover stood in the midst of these powerful seniors, his heart was calm and undisturbed.
Clover had had more than a hundred years to prepare for this day. He knew that sooner or later, he would have to face these powerful elders. Apart from raising his sisters to the best of his ability, Clover had also prepared himself to receive his sentence.
This was actually not the first time Clover was standing here.
The first time Clover had stood on this very spot, he had still been a young boy barely a hundred years old. Clover had just lost his parents and his sisters had been lying sleepily in his arms.
At that time, when Clover had had to face those high stands and was interrogated for his role in the death of his parents as well as the loss of [The Obelisk]... Clover remembered how he had been trying his best not to cry. He didn't want to wake his sleeping sisters.
At that time, it had not been easy for him who had gone through the pain of losing his parents, followed by being accused of contributing to their deaths and the loss of [The Obelisk]. It had not been easy for him to act tough, even though deep down he had been terrified and in pain.
It was after that day that Clover had been forced to mature early for the sake of himself and his sisters.
Right now, this trial was nothing more than a formality. Clover was simply here to receive his sentence since the trial had already been conducted a long time ago.
Now, after a hundred years, it was time for Clover to pay for his crimes.
The sentencing immediately went underway as soon as clover showed up.
An old voice that carried a dignified tone to it was the first to speak up.
"Let the trial begin!"
Gong!!!
Immediately after those words were spoken, a loud sound echoed from the top of the lighthouse and it spread towards the entire observatory.
On the top of [The Lighthouse] was a large bronze bell that was ornately designed which hung exposed in deep space. As soon as the trial began, the bell started to ring on its own, signaling the start of the trial.
Normally, there was no way for sound to travel in space, but due to some mysterious reason, the sound of the bell could be heard by every single living being that resided in [The Observatory].
That bronze bell was known as [Big Ben]. The only time [Big Ben] is ever rung is when a very important matter that affected the whole clan occurred. Naturally, the sentencing of the man who had led to the most important treasure of the clan being lost definitely qualified for this.
Everybody who heard the sound of [Big Ben] ringing, no matter where they were or what they were occupied with, immediately stopped what they were doing before looking into the sky and waiting. This went on for a long time until [Big Ben] finally stopped ringing.
At this time, the entire sky of [The Observatory] and in the depths of space lit up with a bright light, momentarily blinding everybody. When the light finally faded away a little, what appeared before everybody's eyes was the image of Clover and the Council Of Elders who were inside [The Lighthouse].
Nobody seemed to be surprised after seeing this image. It was common knowledge that every time [Big Ben] rang out; it was always followed by this such a scene.
Finally, with all the preparations made, Clover's trial immediately began.
A voice sounded out, saying, "Today is the fourth cycle in the immortal calendar. A hundred years ago, a tragic incident happened that led to the loss of two of our greatest warriors who were tasked with a most important duty. Before the main event of the day begins, let us first take some time to mourn our fallen comrades who had given their lives to fulfill their duty."
Following these words, silence fell inside the already quiet [Break Room]. At the same time, everywhere in [The Observatory] fell into a solemn state of silence. Apart from the sound of nature itself and the universe, all other artificial sounds themselves fell silent as everybody remembered the matter of one hundred years ago.
That had been the most significant upheaval that had shaken the Universe Immortal Clan since a very long time ago.
It should be noted that today was actually the anniversary of the day [The Obelisk] was lost.
It is also the anniversary of the death of Clover's parents.
On this day one hundred years ago, Clover and his sister lost their parents and were orphaned, and the number one treasure of the universe immortal clan... [The Obelisk]... was lost.
Among some races, one hundred years was a very long time and a lot of things can happen in a hundred years. But for the universe immortals that had eternal life, one hundred years was not long at all. That is why the loss of [The Obelisk] one hundred years ago was still fresh in the memories of the clan.
When it came to how time was recorded for the Universe Immortals, time is dated in cycles. Each cycle is equivalent to a single earth month.
Taking the standard earth calendar as a method of calculating time, a single cycle is equivalent to a thousand years. The Universe Immortal Clan follows the Immortal Calendar and in this calendar, ten cycles actually complete the entire calendar. That means that a single immortal year is the equivalent of ten thousand earth years. Every ten cycles of the Immortal Calendar makes a single Stellar Period.
When you look at it like this, then you realize that a hundred years is really too short a time for anything of significance to actually happen.
After a brief period of silence finally, the previous voice continued speaking.
"We have honored our fallen heroes, Casimir and Pricilla Newell. we pray that their souls may find eternal rest in the vast seas of [The Othershore]."
"Now, on to the main order of the day. On this day, one hundred years ago, apart from losing two of finest warriors, we also lost something that was much more important to us than anything in the universe."
"On this same day, a hundred years ago, [The Obelisk], our lifeblood and the greatest treasure of our clan, was also lost. This was a very tragic event that is enough to shake the foundations of our very clan."
"Efforts have been made to locate and retrieve this lost treasure and return it to its right full place under our care. Unfortunately, no leads have been found as of yet that will lead to the successful return of [The Obelisk]. Although this is the case, we will continue to put more effort into making sure that [The Obelisk] is returned to us safely."
"As for the main order of the day, it is finally time to carry out the sentencing of the main culprit behind the loss of our most important treasure... Clover Newell."
Clover was facing trial before the eyes of every living being in The Observatory.Before thousands of universe immortals and countless other living creatures that inhabit The Observatory, Clover was going to be sentenced.In a corner of the observatory, on a small modified asteroid, Clover's sisters, Arya and Verna looked up at the sky towards their big brother who was standing trial and they could not help but sob.Today, when they had woken Clover up and told him that he was asked to go to the lighthouse, the sisters at that time already had a feeling this was what was going to happen.Ever since the sisters, Arya, and Verna were old enough to understand a little of how the world worked, they had already understood that their brother who had taken care of them and loved them in the place of their parents was basically a convicted felon waiting for his sentence to be passed out.Throughout their childhood, the sisters had had to deal with others l
The trial continued...The elder immortal who had been speaking finally reached the final point of his speech. He immediately started to announce Clover's sentence."In consideration of various events leading to the loss of the Obelisk and the deaths of Casimir and Pricilla Newell, Clover Newell has been pardoned and would be exempted from having his soul and life force extracted from him.""But... although Clover Newell has been pardoned, a crime cannot go unpunished. In order to atone for his crimes, Clover Newell will hereby be exiled from this realm never to step foot inside ever again until such a time comes when he is able to find and retrieve the obelisk and return it to its rightful place.""This is the final verdict and it will become effective immediately starting down."Following those words, the large bronze bell... Big Ben... rang loudly once more.Once again, the entire observatory was thrown into an uproar.Every living
"Big sis Ursula... what are you doing here?""What did you mean by what you said?"Why are you preventing us from going to save big brother?"Verna immediately shot off a torrent of questions at the lady who had appeared in the garden.This lady had a head full of golden hair that flowed beautifully like a clear stream down a brook. Her face was angular and had sharp contours that were usually found in a man giving her a handsome and valiant look.Her eyes were a clear blue, and they sparkled like stars, much like how the sister's eyes did.This lady looked to be in her late teens and although her face was not cold, there was a certain dignified aura about her that gave her a confident look. Standing at the entrance of the garden, this lady exuded a comfortable feeling that would make one relax at the mere sight of her.Unfortunately, the sisters were not in the right mood to relax. Their big brother had just been given an unfair sent
Verna collected the letter from Ursula, and both she and Arya read it together. At the first glance, the twins were able to confirm that it was indeed their big brother Clover who had written this letter.The handwriting on the letter was definitely his own, and there were no signs of forgery. Aside from that, the twins were also able to recognize the specific coded words that one three of them used when communicating with each other.These coded words had been developed using a specific series of weirdly sounding words that the sisters uttered when they had still been babies. At first, it had only been a prank that Clover had come up with to tease his sisters, but in the end; it developed into a secret code the siblings used to communicate in secret.There was nobody other than the three of them who should be aware of what these weird words meant. Others would simply take it as words of endearment the siblings used to show their love, much like how a boy may ca
Click!With a clear clicking sound, Ursula locked the large crystal gate of the Newell residence on the small asteroid.On both sides of Ursula were the twins, and they each had a look of reluctance on their faces as they started at the locked gate.Arya and Verna had spent all their lives growing up in this small residence with their big brother, Clover, and it was the only place that they had a close connection to. Everywhere else in the small observatory was alien and completely foreign to them. It was natural that they would be reluctant to leave this place to start living somewhere else. Especially when their brother would not be there with them.But thinking about the letter Clover had left for them and his instructions that were secretly written inside, the twins managed to perk up and they became resolute.Thinking of the future, Arya and Verna were no longer as reluctant to leave as before. Instead, they started to look forward to their ne
The depths of space were filled with boundless darkness, with not a single strain of light in sight. It was barren and desolate and treacherous, and it could twist the minds of men and women alike.Traveling in space was just like walking on a tightrope high in the air, with a pool filled with alligators below and a tree of thorns above.With a single misstep, one could lose their footing and, along with it, their life.The universe was never friendly to anybody as it sort out different ways to kill a man and if it can't, break them! Nobody could ever predict what they would meet when they ventured into space and sought to tour the universe.This was how it was for Clover...After being exiled from his home, Clover was escorted to the very edge of the observatory where the space between this upper realm was the thinnest. There, it would be easier for somebody to break through and venture beyond the realm.Of course, there were much better an
It has been a long time since Clover started his journey into the universe, and he had completely lost any sense of time or direction he used to have. In this desolate and barren place... all of that could be thrown out the window because it was completely useless.In the void of space between realms, all sense of time and direction completely lost their meaning.Most people who find themselves outside here for one reason or the other did not lose their lives because of the dangers that resided here. This place is originally barren in the first place so there was not actually much danger to find here.No, the reason why most people lost their lives after venturing into the void between realms is that they were totally lost.With no way to tell where they were headed, most people simply wandered the barren void between realms until they either starved to death or, by a stroke of bad luck, ran into a realm bubble and was obliterated from existence.T
Clover had spent more than a month in the void between realms. He knew this because the Going Broke's internal clock was still following the standard time of the observatory. So, according to time in the observatory, it had been a month since Clover was exiled.Clover was missing his sisters very much...By now, they should have moved in with Ursula and settled down. Clover hoped that they would be able to cope without him there with them. He also hoped they were not being bullied. After all, their brother was a criminal and an exile, so they would naturally be implicated.Although the social relations of the universe immortal clan were inclined to be more close-knit and they usually took care of their own people, it might still be hard for Arya and Verna to get along with immortals of her own age.There was nothing Clover could do about this. He wished there was a way to do all this without having to implicate his sisters. But there was no other way.
Before Ktulu was able to call out, the Vogul had already grabbed Clover by his shoulder. He was just about to pull Clover to his side when suddenly, Ktulu, with fear and trepidation in his hand, suddenly rushed to tackle him, prying the Vogul away from Clover.Dum!There was a dull sound of collision as Ktulu pushed the Vogul away from Clover, causing the two of them to crash and tumble to the ground.This sudden turn of events caught everybody by surprise. Especially the Vogul, who felt like the wind had been knocked out of his lungs, leaving him wheezing and gasping for breath.Ktulu was not in a better state than him. In his hurry to stop the Vogul, Ktulu had not held back at all to reach him in time. Because of that, he had misjudged the amount of strength in his charge. When Ktulu knocked into the other Vogul, he ended up hurting his arm against the solid chest of his opponent, leaving him in pain and with his shoulder dislocated.This couldn't be helped at all. Although the othe
The confrontation between Clover and the Vogul drew a lot of attention, causing a crowd to form around them. The loud clamor of noise then proceeded to draw even more attention and people to them.Ktulu, who was leading the way for Clover, noticed the commotion that was going on at the entrance and his gaze was attractive over there.Ktulu had already gone a bit further away from the entrance, so from his side, he could not see what was going on clearly. But Ktulu did not appear surprised. As he looked at the crowd that was gradually forming, Ktulu also commented."Do you see this, my lord? Things like this are a common occurrence in this space station. The inhabitants here are a rowdy bunch and they like to cause trouble.""Most likely, it is some ignorant newcomer who doesn't understand the ways of the station that is being harassed right now. Serves him right!""You don't have to be surprised, my lord. Probably you will stumble across two or three such scenes like this. It might se
Past the docking bay, there was a common area. After going through a few corridors and taking a lift to the upper level of the station, one would arrive at the common area. Here, this was where most of the residents of the space station conducted most of their activities.The Houndclaw space station, as dilapidated as it looked, was still a proper space station. The size of the space station was about the same as Earth's moon. The overall structure of the space station was in the form of a rhombus-shaped brick.There were four places from which one can enter the station depending on the direction one came from. Each of these docking areas had access to an identical common area and from there, one could explore the space station. There were multiple facilities that catered to different needs in the station and, depending on what they were in need of, it was possible to get it.Following Ktulu as he led the way, Clover observed his surroundings. There was nothing much to say about it. T
There was a line outside the Houndclaw space station, where a simple check was being conducted. Every ship that wanted to enter the station would have to go through the check before being permitted to do so.But like was said, the check was simple, and it was mainly to register the ships that were docking in the station.Unlike other space stations that were very strict, the Houndclaw space station was quite lax in its management. This was because the main population of those that resided in the station was made up of outlaws, pirates, and fugitives of the law.The good thing about this is that there was a minimum guarantee of secrecy when business was being conducted at the station. But as a consequence, the security in the station was terrible.Clover was not concerned with all these factors. He was rather satisfied with the place. Due to how lax the security was in this place, it made it easy for Clover to avoid his pursuers and lie low while attempting to fix his ship. With this s
The process of absorbing the life force from the obelisk was very fast. Over time, the feeling of his life order increasing that brought so much pleasure to Clover gradually faded, and the look of pleasure on Clover's face eventually eased. Very soon, Clover let out a breath as everything ended and he quickly composed himself once more. As Clover opened his eyes, there was a dazed look on his face as he recalled the feeling he had just experienced. It wasn't the first time Clover was absorbing life force, but every time he did it; it was still as intense as ever. Clover thought by now he would already be used to it, but that wasn't the case. Every experience was more intoxicating than the last, and the feelings that came with the process sought to overwhelm Clover's will. This feeling was very addicting. Some times, Clover felt like every time he absorbed a bit of life force from the obelisk, a part of him felt lost like something was missing. This feeling came from Clover's body an
Clover looked inside him at the obelisk fragment in the white space. The fragment of the obelisk was irregularity shaped without any well-defined dimensions. It was like a block of twisted metal and it could not look any more ugly. Anybody that saw this object would never have thought that it was a fragment of the legendary artifact, the obelisk.Right now, the fragment revolved on its own axis while giving off a dull resplendent glow as it floated while suspended in the air. Looking at it, the fragment could not look any less remarkable. The only thing that stood out about the fragment was the faint mysterious air that surrounded it.After looking at the fragment for a moment, Clover quickly turned his gaze away. This was not the first time Clover was seeing the obelisk fragment, as it had been with him for more than a hundred years. In all this time, the fragment had not changed, and it remained exactly the same unless for a few rare occasions.This time, what clover was interested
Due to the importance of the obelisk, it was kept closely guarded by the universe's immortal clan. But despite its abilities, the clan never used it. The reason was that using the ability of the obelisk to absorb the life force of other living beings to refine it was the same as killing them. This means if the universe immortal clan wanted to use the obelisk to grow stronger, they would have to constantly kill living beings in the universe to absorb their life force.For a clan that advocated balance in the universe and considered themselves the protectors of life in the universe, this was something that went against their bottom line. They would never consider turning against every living being in the universe just to increase their strength.Even if they wanted to do that, it was certain that other races in the universe would not allow them and they would fight back to destroy this clan of immortals that saw them as prey. This is why the obelisk was also a taboo artifact that was fo
For the past 3hrs, while he was meditating, Clover had been waiting for this piece of news and now it was finally here. Not wasting any time, Clover no longer paid attention to his still world for the time being. Instead, he looked deeper within himself.Soon, Clover's vision shifted and the scene of his still world changed and was replaced by a completely white space located somewhere inside his body. Clover didn't know where this space was in his body. He only knew that it existed and that inside it, his most important treasure and asset rested.The space was not large, about one cubic meter, and inside it, the fragment of the obelisk that was broken from the main body and fused with Clover floated.The obelisk was the most important artifact of the universe immortals. because of an accident involving Clover and his parents, it was broken and scattered all over the universe with a fragment of it fused with clover and becoming a part of him. The abilities of this artifact were heaven
The journey to the Houndclaw space station was uneventful. After settling Ktulu down somewhere on the ship, Clover went back to his cabin to rest and meditate.Having set the coordinates of the space station in the ship's navigation system, Clover didn't have to worry about anything and he could leave the ship to Trudy to watch after. If anything happened during their journey that Trudy couldn't handle on her own, she would inform Clover. Only then would Clover have to come out to deal with it.With everything set, Clover went into his room and started meditating immediately. He was still exploring the changes that had happened in his still world. During the process, Clover found out that the efficiency at which he visualized the vitality of the universe had increased greatly. This made Clover's connection to the universe even closer, and he was able to reap multiple times the harvest during his meditations compared to before.This sudden boon excited Clover, as it meant his strength