Chapter 545

Chapter 545: Large Scale Search

Heavily injured, Morris anxiously escaped back to the planet where the headquarters of the Federal Parliament was located.

Once he entered the barriers he had set up, he felt much more secure.

Throughout his journey, his greatest fear had been the ambush from the Shadow King and the Soul Emperor.

Inside the barriers, while he could not block the Shadow King, he could keep the Soul Emperor out.

He was confident that he could withstand the Shadow King, even in his injured state.

Upon arriving within the barriers, his anxious heart began to ease, but a new problem arose for Morris.

What should he do next?

"Why? Why would you rather risk mutual destruction than fulfill the contract and return to the Tree Star Cluster sooner?"

Morris angrily cursed.

He felt that Mares was too impulsive and irrational.

He showed no understanding of making choices.

How could someone like that have survived until now?

Even with a grudge, he should not act on emotions; instead, he should fulfill the contract and try to minimize his losses before planning revenge.

What a mess.

Mares had practically gone insane!

Morris exhaled a breath of frustration and took out his communicator.

After hesitating for several seconds, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to contact Lu Qingxian.

Soon, Lu Qingxian’s virtual image appeared before him.

"Envoy, how is it?" Lu Qingxian asked eagerly as soon as the call connected.

"Mares is being overly emotional and refuses to compromise. The only way now is to capture and control him, forcing him to find and track Yi Chen and the Shadow King."

Morris tried to sound calm: "He is a whole major realm lower than me and should have been no match for me; however, he has a good number of top treasures and materials. Although I heavily injured him, he still managed to escape."

"Then, does that mean…" Lu Qingxian’s hopeful expression abruptly froze, and his demeanor turned anxious and gloomy.

"Don’t worry, he is heavily injured and won’t recover in less than a few hundred years. Besides, this is a star cluster outside our main region; he doesn’t have a Large Battleship and can’t escape back to the Tree Star Cluster."

Morris explained, "On the flip side, while he has decent connections, without a Large Battleship, he also cannot bring in friends to help him."

"This means he can only find a hiding spot somewhere in this star cluster or in the nearby area to slowly recover from his injuries."

"What your federation needs to do is immediately deploy a large number of battleships to search the entire galaxy and the surrounding areas to the best of your abilities."

"Given his speed, he should have already left the galaxy by now. But in his heavily injured state, it will take him at least two months to escape to other star clusters."

"Utilizing the advantages of the Space Jump System, you can completely block off the surrounding areas of the galaxy in advance."

"Mares lacks the ability to shield against the scanner; he cannot escape our search."

Morris confidently said, "As soon as we discover his whereabouts, notify me immediately, and we will surely be able to capture him."

"If, after two or three months, we still cannot find him, it means he is recklessly using methods to tear through the fabric of space. His injuries will definitely worsen, and by searching the entire star cluster and the surrounding areas, we are bound to find him."

"At that time, it may even be unnecessary for me to act; your Large Battleships alone will be strong enough to control him!"

"Is it really possible?"

Lu Qingxian, displaying excellent acting skills, showed disappointment at first, but a flicker of hope and anxiety flashed across his face.

"It is definitely possible!"

Morris stated with great certainty.

"Then… should I arrange it now?" Lu Qingxian asked.

"The sooner, the better!" Morris urged.

"Understood!" Lu Qingxian nodded.

Morris then closed the communicator.

His previously confident expression began to fade, falling into a state of dejection.

His confidence clearly was not as strong as he portrayed.

The root of the issue lay in his repeated failures, which had beaten down his confidence to the point of being completely battered.

Even if it seemed highly certain, he still felt anxious.

However, this was now his only hope.

He could only pray to the heavens, hoping that this time nothing would go wrong.

…

On the other side, Lu Qingxian set down the communicator.

He exchanged silent looks with the Giants from the parliament and the military.

Indeed, they had failed once again.

"Such a hassle; failing is one thing, but he just won’t give up."

"Yes! He himself said that the Tree-Dwelling Tribe and our star cluster are incompatible, that everything goes wrong. If that’s the case, he should just wait patiently and let us find Yi Chen. Why stir up trouble?"

The Giants from the parliament and the military all felt a tremendous headache.

They had never held any hope for Morris.

To them, Morris’s failure was an inevitable result.

But they did not expect that, after his failure, Morris would still create further complications.

He actually demanded that the human federation deploy a massive fleet to search for Mares’s whereabouts.

This task is undoubtedly very troublesome for the Federation Military.

"Or should we just listen and send out a few fleets to go through the motions?"

One military general couldn’t help but suggest.

If it were just searching the entire galaxy, it would be manageable.

But searching the space beyond the galaxy would be quite complicated.

This is because there is vast intergalactic space between the galaxy and other star systems.

To conduct a thorough search, the Federation Military would have to deploy countless battleship fleets.

Right now, the Federation is aggressively invading the Angelic Galaxy, rapidly taking control of it with incredible momentum.

If they recklessly withdraw large numbers of battleships to search for Mares, it would mean sacrificing their advantageous position and slowing down their offensive against the Angelic Galaxy, giving the Angelic Beings time and opportunity to breathe.

Furthermore, a large-scale search around the galaxy would not go unnoticed.

Internally, it could easily provoke discontent and anxiety among the people.

After all, they are searching for a powerful being from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe, and it’s hard not to question whether they are fully aligned with Morris, which could lead to divisions in the Tree-Dwelling Tribe’s attitude towards the human federation.

Externally, if other tribes learned about this, the various races still in a neutral stance would surely begin to have different thoughts.

The Angel Alliance’s races could very well launch fierce attacks on the human federation’s battleships, aiming to take them down one by one and destroy as many as they can.

Most importantly, this could attract Mares’s attention, perhaps leading to communication with Mares, which might also bring certain support from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe.

Moreover, this concerns searching the galaxy and surrounding areas.

If two or three months go by with no results, as per Morris’s suggestion, the search area would even need to expand to the entire star cluster and its surrounding regions.

If that happens, the human federation would be doing nothing but assisting Morris in finding Mares’s hiding place.

Additionally, the risks would be enormous.

After all, they would have to find ways to search other star systems as well.

Morris essentially has posed a massive challenge to the human federation.

"If we go through the motions, we might not escape Morris’s perception…"

Marshal Iron Blood slightly shook his head.

The faces of the Giants from the parliament and military immediately grew grim.

Morris possesses strong Perception Ability.

They can use various equipment in the conference room to block Morris’s perception, allowing them to express their thoughts freely without fear of him finding out.

However, the military personnel cannot do the same.

When they casually chat about military movements, they will inevitably fall under Morris’s perception.

Morris could easily discern through casual conversations that the Federation Military is not conducting the large-scale search of the galaxy and surrounding areas as he requested.

Offending Morris, the envoy from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe, would undoubtedly result in issues for the human federation as a vassal race of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe.

"Let’s just do what Morris instructed!"

Lu Qingxian said, feeling helpless.

The High-ranking Leaders from the parliament and military all chose to remain silent.

There was no other choice; following Morris’s orders would bring the federation a lot of trouble, even affecting the progress of the Federation Military’s offensive against the Angelic Galaxy.

But not following his orders could lead to even more serious consequences.

In a situation with no workable options, they could only choose the plan with the least losses.