Chapter 256: The Sanctum of the Covenant! The Colossal Capital Ships! Bribes Can't Buy Emptiness!
After clarifying his upcoming strategic goals, Li Ang now had a much clearer understanding of the situation at hand.
At that moment, his secretary Lucy suddenly reminded him, "Boss, Director Francis just sent a message. He says there's been a breakthrough in the research on the Flood virus."
"He's asking if you'd like to visit the Bio-Lab Center and see the 2.0 version of the Flood virus in person."
Ever since Universal MegaCorp acquired a large number of Flood samples from the surface of the Shield World, it immediately launched a series of studies.
Li Ang hoped that the biotech division could develop a controllable variant of the Flood virus—one that wouldn't infect humans.
After all, the main function of the Scorpid-Lion virus was destruction—annihilating all lifeforms. It couldn't infect and control targets for strategic advantage.
In contrast, the Flood's high assimilation and infection rate could make up for that shortfall, giving the corporation a potential biological spore weapon to control hostile forces!
But for now, the best they could do was lower the Flood's infection intensity; they still couldn't control it for their own purposes.
"Let's hope the Biotech Division has some good news," Li Ang mused.
If even they couldn't master the Flood, they'd have to wait until the Think Tank was activated to access the information needed to edit the Flood's genetic programming.
Soon after, on Li Ang 's orders, the shuttle returned to the Myriad Realms Base, and not long after, the two of them arrived at the headquarters of the Biotech Division.
…
Meanwhile, in the distant Halo universe—
A faint blue blur shot out from a spatial vortex, and deep in the dark starfield, a massive fleet suddenly appeared.
It was the Covenant expedition fleet led by Elite Captain Morami. They had just completed their slipspace jump and returned to normal space.
Not far from this elite fleet hovered an enormous iron metropolis—none other than the Covenant's capital: High Charity!
Countless battleships and cruisers floated in orbit around this celestial-scale city, creating a truly majestic sight.
Once the jump was complete and the fleet reached the star system, Morami gave the order to accelerate and proceed toward the Covenant capital.
High Charity was absolutely massive—350 kilometers in diameter—resembling a gigantic mushroom in space.
Still, compared to the Reapers' capital ships, it was considerably smaller.
Originally, High Charity was a Forerunner dreadnought, but after thousands of years of modification and patchwork by the Covenant, it had slowly evolved into the titanic structure it was now.
You could say it was a space junkyard's ultimate creation—a cobbled-together megacity of salvaged tech and stolen parts.
But that was no surprise. The early Covenant wasn't exactly rolling in riches or backed by a sugar daddy. Most of its founding species were down-and-out nobodies.
Their homeworlds were either volcanic hellscapes or war-torn neighborhoods where the neighbor's boss beat them up daily. It was a ragtag bunch of street punks chasing dreams of cosmic riches.
Through looting Forerunner relics and slowly upgrading from slingshots to battleships, the Covenant clawed its way up to become the top-tier civilization in the Halo universe.
The history of High Charity's development mirrored the Covenant's journey—from a modest dreadnought to a colossal celestial entity.
It symbolized not only the Covenant's expanding influence, but also the growing internal divisions and factionalism that threatened to fracture the alliance from within.
And yet, this scrap-metal mushroom of a city housed a vast urban dome beneath its hull—enough to accommodate billions of Prophets.
The environment there was Earth-like, with gravity, atmospheric pressure, temperature, and air composition all maintained at habitable levels.
Even humans visiting High Charity wouldn't need hazmat suits or filter masks—they could walk around freely.
Clearly, High Charity served the same purpose as Universal MegaCorp's Ideal City: to attract and accommodate all species across the galaxy—
—to create a shared habitat for the universe.
The San'Shyuum, the Prophet race who founded the Covenant, were the original shareholders of High Charity. During the ancient wars between humanity and the Forerunners, they had even assisted the humans.
Yes, the Prophets once had ties with ancient humanity.
Unlike the newer species like Brutes and Jackals, the Prophets were the real "old money" of the Halo universe—noble aristocrats of a bygone age.
But ever since the Forerunners activated the Halo Array, wiping out all life and rebooting civilization, the Prophets had forgotten their past—just as modern humans forgot they were once ancient humans.
Now that the Prophets had rediscovered the existence of the Forerunners and ancient humans, they had begun plotting a coup to seize power.
They sought to devour the Forerunner legacy and ascend as rulers of the galaxy.
To that end, the Prophets used lies, manipulation, and corporate-style "vision pitches" to recruit powerful enforcers. The mighty Covenant became their sharpest weapon.
One hand on the reins of the Covenant's races, the other digging up Forerunner relics and unlocking ancient technologies, the Prophets steadily advanced their grand unification agenda.
If all went as planned, their early advantages would snowball into overwhelming force, eventually crushing humanity and usurping the Forerunners' throne.
The plot was essentially Halo's version of Sima Yi—usurping the Cao family's estate and rewriting the deed in his own name!
But the arrival of Universal MegaCorp had already thrown that trajectory into chaos.
At that moment, inside a CCS-class cruiser, Jack Wells was peering through a holoscreen, surveying the view outside.
Looking toward High Charity in the distance, he couldn't help but mutter, "That iron mushroom may be small, but the fleet surrounding it sure isn't."
"The Covenant navy might be catching up to us!"
Hearing this, Reed nodded in agreement. "They really might."
"With the naval forces we currently have stationed in Universe 004, we'd struggle to take on that fleet."
"Even if we threw all our Voyager-class dreadnoughts into the fight, winning wouldn't be easy. It'd be a pyrrhic victory at best."
From the central control panel's holoscreen, Reed spotted the marked CSO-class supercarriers—identical to Universal MegaCorp's Endless Night model.
When he realized there were nearly two hundred Endless Night-class carriers near High Charity, a chill ran down Reid's spine.
To think—the corporation had only built fewer than ten of these colossal warships—yet the Covenant possessed over a hundred CSO-class carriers!
Granted, three months ago, he and Jack had already learned of the Covenant's flagship capabilities from Morami's intel.
But seeing nearly two hundred 30-kilometer-long supercarriers, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of cruisers, battleships, and destroyers, all arrayed in tight formation—
—it still made Reed's scalp tingle with dread.
He couldn't imagine the scale of bloodshed that would result if Universal MegaCorp truly went to war with the Covenant.
"Unless we bring out the Moon of War, we don't stand a chance of defeating the Covenant's main naval fleet in a direct confrontation. Who knows how many lives we'd lose?"
Reed couldn't help but exclaim. While the corporation could beat them head-on, Li Ang would never lightly deploy a megastructure like the Moon of War.
And for good reason.
For the alien civilization of Universe 003 Edge of Tomorrow, the Moon of War is like the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads!
Once the Moon of War loses its protective function, the interstellar trade network of Universe 003 would also be severely impacted—leading to far more losses than gains.
That's precisely why Li Ang is going out of his way to sow discord within the Star Alliance and win over certain factions to his side. Otherwise, trying to conquer a monolithic Star Alliance head-on would be an overwhelming challenge.
After all, in order to maintain logistics and resource expenditures on the Halo universe's front, 30% of the mega-corporation's industrial zones are channeling support there.
This is already the absolute limit of what the corporation can manage.
Whether it's building naval fleets or establishing frontline bases and production zones, massive logistical resources and manpower are required.
Other universes also need to develop themselves, defend against other civilizations, and build new trade systems—territories that naturally demand enormous defense costs.
That's why Li Ang can't afford to place all his bets on Universe 004. If his rear catches fire, he'll find himself caught on both sides—or worse, everything collapsing at once.
This makes the missions of Reed and David, the two special envoys, especially crucial—they determine whether Li Ang 's grand strategic blueprint will succeed.
"Supervisors,"
At that moment, Captain Morami arrived before Reed, bringing along his trusted aide, Vadami. Speaking fluent human language, he reported:
"That's the capital of the Covenant Alliance—a mobile space city called the City of Covenant's capital: High Charity!."
"Though it might look a little bloated, this mobile city can reach speeds up to 70% of light speed. Jump travel is also well within its capability."
Morami's words seemed like a subtle reminder to Reed: the mega-corporation had better take down the Covenant Alliance in one go. Otherwise, those old Prophets might just drive off in their "RV" and vanish.
With that, Morami operated the holographic control panel and gave the helm the command to dock the fleet near the City port.
"Captain Morami, we're counting on you for this next step. I hope you'll handle this mission well," Reed reiterated the mission's importance.
"Don't worry—this operation concerns the future of our tribe. I'll act with full caution."
Morami was fully invested in the task—he was hoping this mission would earn him a position within the mega-corporation.
To successfully switch sides, he needed to present a proper token of allegiance and demonstrate his value. Otherwise, he'd remain a nobody.
"Good. That's all for now."
Seeing that Morami was clear on what needed to be done, Reed gave a small nod.
Soon after, Reed and Jack turned and left the bridge. Vadami then promptly reminded Captain Morami:
"Commander, the customs fleet is approaching our ship—they're already running checks on us."
Right as he said this, the communications officer chimed in: "Captain, the commander of the 19th Customs Squadron from the Covenant Alliance has just sent us a communication request."
Upon hearing the reports, Morami nodded and replied, "Accept the request."
Morami vaguely remembered the 19th Squadron's commander—it was Zatan Gaal, a member of the Jackal faction and a notoriously corrupt officer.
"Yes, Captain!"
With the order given, the communications officer immediately patched the signal into the central console and enlarged the feed so Morami could see it clearly.
Soon, the dark holographic screen displayed the interior of a CSO-class carrier and the image of a Jackal fleet captain.
"It's you? Captain Morami? What are you doing here in the Sanctuary instead of conducting your research on the Shield World? You'd better have a damn good explanation."
"Otherwise—hmph! I'll blow you and your crew to bits for abandoning your post!"
The "Sanctuary" Zatan referred to was the Covenant's capital: High Charity!.
According to Covenant Alliance protocols, any fleet dispatched on external missions required approval from the Prophet Council before returning to the Sanctuary.
"Zatan, looks like you're doing quite well with the Brutes—bold enough to speak to me like that. What, did those idiots make you rich?"
Morami didn't bother hiding his sarcasm. Zatan, however, shamelessly grinned, completely unbothered.
"I recently raided a planetary tribe—netted three million slaves and countless treasures. Yeah, I made a tidy fortune."
"And now I'm here to tax freeloaders like you—returning fleets without permission. So how much tribute are you going to pay me to get through?"
Zatan was openly extorting Morami. The "treasures" he referred to weren't ordinary currency, but rare metals or mineral resources from the cosmos.
Rarity determined value—even within the Covenant Alliance, metals like gold were freely tradable.
And for customs officers like Zatan, extorting passing fleets was standard practice—unless the vessel belonged to a Prophet's envoy.
"You're still as greedy as ever, Zatan. Aren't you afraid the Prophets will hold you accountable one day?"
Morami smiled wryly.
Zatan, however, wore the expression of someone immune to consequences. His tribe raided with the Prophets' blessing, and the loot was regularly handed over—so what was there to fear?
"Now fess up. Why are you really back?"
Seeing Zatan unmoved, Morami finally explained, "Alright, I'll tell you the truth. Something happened at the Shield World site—both good and bad. I need to report it to the Prophets immediately, so don't delay me."
His tone turned grave. The research on the Forerunner relics was of significant importance to the Covenant Alliance.
Zatan understood that much.
"Heh, sounds like you found something worthwhile over there. Got anything to share with your ol' buddy?"
"Since we're friends, we should help each other out, right? That's not asking too much, is it?"
Zatan, sticking to his no-free-bribes policy, continued to press Morami for a "gift." He couldn't blast Morami's science fleet with plasma cannons—but that didn't mean he couldn't harass them with red tape.
No bribe? Fine.
Then a full inspection from top to bottom, a delay of ten days to two weeks—just standard operating procedure.
Bad mood? Make it a month.
And if Morami reported him to the Prophets? So what—he'd just take a slap on the wrist and keep doing the same next time.
Want smooth passage into the Covenant's capital: High Charity!? Then pay up.
Faced with Zatan, this shamelessly corrupt old dog, Morami just chuckled lightly—it was a routine he was all too familiar with.
"Fine. Since you see me as a friend, I'll do what friends do."
"The Shield World expedition did yield a lot of good stuff—but we also lost some troops. The Brutes and your Jackal kin? All wiped out."
"A real shame, huh? But I did my best to collect the resources they left behind. So you see…"
The total annihilation of the Brute and Jackal troops was clearly suspicious, but Morami's final comment downplayed the matter's importance.
Sure enough, when Zatan heard that his people had been wiped out, his first reaction was to suspect Morami of using the mission to settle old scores.
But upon hearing that the loot had been "graciously accepted," his anger vanished instantly. The implication was clear.
Unclaimed property? Finders keepers.
"Captain Morami, say no more. Since that was the Brute and Jackal division's legacy, I'll reluctantly step in and take custody of it."
"I'll dispatch a transport craft right away for the handover. Once everything checks out, you're free to proceed. I guarantee smooth passage."
Zatan shamelessly declared. Sure, he was greedy—but at least he delivered on his end once paid.
After all, who says no to free money?
"Excellent. Then I'll leave it to you."
Morami chuckled softly. As expected, money makes the world go 'round. The "gift" he'd prepared consisted mostly of rare metals.
Some of those rare minerals had been imported from the interstellar trade circle of Universe 003 Edge of Tomorrow—precious metals and exotic ores that didn't exist in the Halo universe.
That's why Morami was confident that his fleet would pass through without issue, thanks to this well-prepared "token of friendship."
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