As the drop pods descended from the skies, they nded with precision, collecting everyone on the ground. Hariko Lee, along with his team, hurried towards the captain's quarters aboard their S2 fgship. An S.O.S message had been received from a distant sor system, twenty light years away. As they moved through the corridors, Hariko realised something odd.

  "Wait a minute," he thought, "this ship is missing 320 rooms."

  Suddenly, a notification appeared in his mind, the Conscious System's voice echoing softly:

  Conscious System: "Would you like to add 320 rooms to the ship you are in? It will cost you 32 points."

  Without hesitation, Hariko agreed, and the ship immediately adapted, seamlessly integrating the new rooms. With that taken care of, he turned his attention back to the S.O.S message they had intercepted.

  Hariko activated the message, and a desperate male voice filled the room. "This is the Triangle Cooperation. We're under attack by the Spider Tribe!"

  "Set course immediately," Hariko ordered, and his fleet surged through the void, making their way towards the troubled sor system.

  Upon arrival, Hariko was met with a grim sight. The once vibrant world had been reduced to a ndscape resembling a war-torn trench, the scars of a century-old conflict evident. Morrigan, one of Hariko's trusted commanders, arrived at the command sector.

  "We've found three worlds in this system," Morrigan reported. "One of them is uninhabited. We've also intercepted a message from the attacking fleet."

  "Send it through," Hariko commanded.

  A screen flickered to life, revealing a female creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider.

  "Is your kind Arachne?" Hariko inquired.

  A male Arachne appeared beside her, responding with venom in his voice. "We discovered that this race refused to supply us with food, structures, and precious minerals. We had no choice but to take what was rightfully ours."

  Hariko's expression hardened. "Your fleet numbers only 50,000 S2 series ships. Withdraw now, or face the consequences of engaging the Dark Side Federation."

  The male Arachne sneered. "We have 400,000 ships patrolling near the disputed Omen Sor System. Withdraw, and we'll assume this is a misunderstanding."

  Hariko’s resolve didn't waver. "Attack," he ordered coldly.

  The battle began in earnest, with the first salvo reducing 20,000 Arachne ships to smoldering wreckage. The remaining ships attempted a desperate counterattack, but the damage was minimal. Hariko's AI issued a warning:

  AI: "Warning: Armor remaining at 99.9%. Can endure 990,000 more hits before sustaining damage."

  "End it," Hariko ordered.

  The S2 fgship's psma cannons overheated as they unleashed a devastating wave of energy. The Arachne ships, unable to withstand the onsught, disintegrated, leaving the human defenders on the ground to jump and cheer in victory. Their celebration, however, was short-lived as 20,000 humans were gunned down by Arachne rifle fire. The remaining soldiers, wiser now, ceased their jumping and focused on their mission.

  "Prepare for orbital bombardment," Hariko commanded, targeting the entrenched Arachne forces. The bombardment was relentless, breaking the enemy's will to fight. As the humans rushed into the trenches, they showed no mercy to those unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

  Hariko’s next move was a decisive bombardment. He ordered his ship to orbit the Arachne homeworld and drop one of its little exterminatus bombs. The crew loaded the bomb into the turret, and moments ter, a massive explosion rocked the pnet. A 500-foot crater appeared, and 20% of the world was reduced to ash.

  "Bring in the Unknown S1 series pnet conversion spaceship," Hariko ordered, "but leave the crater as it is."

  The ship fired a beam, restoring the ash-covered region to a habitable state. However, the Arachne forces, demoralised and leaderless after losing contact with their queen, began to surrender. The Arachne Queen's daughter sent out a signal of surrender to the human defenders and their reinforcements.

  As Hariko received the rewards for completing a hidden objective, he injected himself with the superhuman syrup. Almost immediately, he began to bck out. His body underwent a radical transformation—four lungs and eight hearts formed within him, his muscles grew to an incredible 400 pounds of pure muscle, and his height shot up to 8.5 feet.

  When Morrigan found him on the ground, she quickly brought him to the medical bay. A scan revealed that his bones had become as hard as wrapped steel.

  "So you can take a 500.80 round and keep going like nothing happened," Morrigan whispered into his ear, "but too bad it can't regenerate your bones."

  A day ter, Hariko awoke and effortlessly broke free from the steel bindings holding him down. Morrigan was there to expin what had happened.

  "You used the forgotten syrups from the Ancient Old One Empire," she said. "It's surprising that it still exists after the Chaos Realm waged war against the false gods Ania and Kay."

  For the next hour, the crew avoided Hariko, fearful of his newfound power. Two days ter, his power armor arrived, custom-made to fit his towering new form. As he donned the armour, Hariko felt invincible.

  Meanwhile, the Arachne tribe recovered their dead and wounded. The new Arachne Queen, now leading her people, ordered that no one approach the 500-meter crater where the exterminatus bomb had detonated due to the extreme radiation levels.

  A three-way message request came through, involving the Arachne Queen, the human leaders, and Hariko.

  "We want 20 trillion Interstelr Empire coins for the damages done to the 500 billion lives lost on the frontlines," the human leader demanded.

  The Arachne Queen, desperate, offered, "We have 200,000 gold. Will that suffice?"

  Hariko, however, had different pns. "I just want to cim the third world as my own."

  Both sides agreed to the terms, and Hariko's fgship orbited the third world in the habitable zone. Three drop pods nded on the pnet, and the Conscious System transformed it into a world fitting Hariko's reward.

  The pnet now resembled a mediaeval fantasy world, with both men and women wielding heavy equipment and swinging swords with incredible speed. Yet within the nding zone, a modern city thrived, capable of producing interstelr spaceships and advanced equipment.

  To defend his new world, Hariko invested 450,000 points to bring in 30 S3 interstelr battleships and another 600,000 points for 60 S2 battleships to protect his fgship. Scans revealed a popution of 2 trillion locals and a wealth of materials ranging from S1 to S6 grade. To his surprise, Kanna, a familiar figure, was the leader of the survivors on this world.

  Host Territory Control Update: 3 worlds under the Imperial Empire, 2 in the same sor system, while 1 is 21 light years away.

  Conscious System: 4,907,162 points.

  As Hariko and his fleet headed back towards Mars, Morrigan joined him in the captain's quarters.

  "We should investigate the Omen Sor System next," Morrigan suggested. "There might be a connection to the sve trade."

  Hariko sighed. "This is just a game of whack-a-mole."

  Morrigan nodded in agreement, knowing that their journey was far from over.