CHAPTER 34: CH 34 “AND I BELIEVE HIM.”

Grand Admiral John Watcher stared at Kevin’s face through the projection, confusion still clouding his features. Beside him, Fleet Admiral Natasha Watcher looked equally perplexed.

Kevin, noting their expressions, gave a small nod. "Yes, Grand Admiral... if I’m calculating the time correctly, the battle ended about thirty minutes ago."

Both John and Natasha exchanged glances. They thought they’d misheard him. But after a second of stunned silence, they both turned back to the projection and, almost in unison, murmured, "Who...?"

The Grand Admiral suddenly snapped out of it, his voice rising.

"Then explain this to me, Admiral Kevin—why didn’t you send us a transmission?! We were racing here under full emergency alert! You sent a battle-distress call, and now you’re telling me it’s over? And you just... forgot to update us?!"

His voice had the weight of authority, but also the unmistakable heat of personal frustration—as if a father were scolding his nephew for crashing a starcruiser into a training ring.

Which, in a way... he was.

Kevin flinched slightly, as if he’d just been slapped by a memory. Because truth be told, this wasn’t the first time he’d been yelled at by John Watcher. He was, after all, family—the son of John’s younger sister, and a man who grew up more around battle reports than bedtime stories. But Kevin was no child now, and this time, he had reasons that mattered.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he spoke quickly.

"It’s not that I forgot, Grand Admiral. The situation... was complicated. First, the communication systems were temporarily disabled. We encountered a massive energy surge—pure mana-based, as near as we can tell. It disrupted the subspace relays across the entire fleet. We’ve only just finished repairing them."

He saw their skeptical looks and added, "It wasn’t a natural surge. It came from... the weapon that ended the battle."

John raised an eyebrow. Natasha crossed her arms.

"What weapon?" she asked, then with a teasing grin added, "You’re not just making this up to dodge punishment, are you?"

Kevin laughed nervously. "I swear I’m not. Let me explain."

He stepped forward slightly, his holographic projection brightening.

"When our fleet and mech units were at the brink of exhaustion, we detected something unusual—an unregistered vessel appearing on our long-range radar. It showed no hostility. It simply... let us see it. As if it was allowing us to become aware of it."

"A dreadnought-class battleship, easily Tier-7 in size. And from what we’ve since seen... far beyond Tier-6 in capability."

"It opened communications. I accepted the transmission. Thought if they were hostile, they’d have attacked already. So I took the risk."

"And to my shock—they were human. Just two individuals aboard. A man and a woman. They claimed to have come from outside our galaxy—or even a different universe entirely."

John leaned forward slightly, listening.

Kevin continued, "They said they’d only recently become aware that a human civilization existed here. And they wanted to help. They even asked... to become citizens of the Federation."

He paused, letting that sit.

"At first, I was skeptical. But... they hacked our systems. Accessed our databases without tripping a single alarm. Then told us they’d assist—no strings. And Grand Admiral... they did."

"They deployed one attack. Just one."

"In a single barrage—using what they called a basic weapon configuration—they annihilated over 100 insectoid ships. Including a Tier-6 hive mother."

"They lit up the space like a second sun."

"And that energy surge—the one that knocked out our comms—that was the aftershock from their attack. The system-wide disruption wasn’t intentional. Just a side effect. Their ship, the Rangarani

, wasn’t affected. But ours were."

Kevin took a breath.

"They invited us aboard afterward. Allowed full medical testing to verify their species. I took my research team. Ran everything. The results confirmed it—they’re human. Technologically beyond us, but genetically—us."

John sat in silence. Natasha’s jaw had tightened.

"And then," Kevin said, "they asked to be part of the Warlord system. I told them it needed Council approval, of course. But then... William—the one who leads the ship—he made an offer."

Kevin swallowed. Even now, saying it out loud didn’t make it feel any less surreal.

"He offered to gift the Federation two Tier-7-class warships. Fully operational. With full blueprints."

That was the moment John Watcher stopped breathing.

"Gift them?" he echoed.

"Yes, Grand Admiral," Kevin said. "He said it was a gesture of goodwill. A sign of sincerity. And I’ve already begun drafting the full mission report and proposal to the Council."

The holographic bridge fell quiet for a full five seconds.

Then John exhaled, leaned back in his command seat, and muttered:

"...By the stars."

"Is... is that true?" Natasha asked, eyes wide with wonder. She looked at Kevin’s hologram with disbelief—not because she didn’t trust him, but because the words he spoke were too massive to process.

Kevin nodded. "Yes. He said it to me. Directly. Face to face."

He then turned toward Grand Admiral John, who now leaned back in his command seat, still mumbling to himself under his breath.

"By the stars... by the stars..."

Kevin continued, "And when I told him you were coming—you

, Grand Admiral, a Tier-1 officer of the Federation, and our top warship strategist—he didn’t hesitate. He said he’d wait. That if things checked out, he’d hand the gift to you personally."

"You—!" John snapped, pointing at Kevin’s projection with mock accusation, trying to hide the grin spreading across his face. "You almost called me a mad warship supremacist, didn’t you?"

Kevin held up his hands in playful surrender. "I stopped myself, didn’t I?"

But there was no real reprimand in John’s voice. He couldn’t even pretend to be angry. His heart was soaring. The implications of this gift—of Tier-7 warships, of blueprints, of technology that could shift the Federation’s trajectory—were staggering. He was trying to contain it, but it was useless.

"Tier-7..." he whispered, barely able to sit still. "And eventually... a whole Tier-7 fleet..."

Natasha leaned close, her voice excited and sharp. "You understand what this means, right? With those blueprints, we won’t just have Tier-7 ships—we’ll learn. We’ll study. Replicate. Expand. We’ll be able to build our own Tier-7 technology, and maybe even go beyond."

John nodded slowly, and then looked back to Kevin.

"Prepare to welcome us, boy. My fleet will be re-entering realspace in just a couple of minutes. I want everything ready. And I want to know more about this William."

Kevin gave a small smile. "That’s the thing. There’s only so much I can tell."

He hesitated, then added with gravity, "But here’s what I know—he’s direct. Calm. Almost too calm. And while he looks like he’s in his twenties, the aura around him... it’s not something you can fake. He feels ancient. And powerful."

Kevin’s eyes narrowed slightly. "He’s also sharp. Cunning. Don’t mistake his calm for naivety. This man is no ordinary citizen. I don’t know what he is—but I can tell you one thing with certainty: he’s doing us a favor."

He leaned in slightly, serious now.

"So when you meet him—uncle—you might want to be careful with your words. Don’t test him. Don’t press too hard."

Kevin’s voice dropped just a bit more.

"Because if you don’t realize what you’re standing in front of when you board that ship... you will the moment you feel it. His ship isn’t just Tier-7—it surpasses it. And William knows it."

"And I believe him."