Chapter 1575 - 1575: Submit?

Earth...

New Atlas...

Some time ago, at Miles's suggestion, the Atlas Federation merged all five compounds into one massive city spanning Atlas City and thousands of square kilometers around it.

They named it... New Atlas!

The merger had run into its share of trouble, but after Fallen Star City deployed the Fallen Star Guard and Fallen Star Corps, the operation was ultimately completed.

The Atlas Federation had started with a population of over sixteen million. They lost a little more than a million during the mass migration, leaving just over fifteen million by the time they reached New Atlas.

Under the circumstances, those losses were remarkably low.

There might not be many zombies left outside, but plenty of alien creatures and Outland Beasts had emerged from the Void Realm. Moving more than sixteen million people without attracting their attention had been impossible.

Fortunately, Fallen Star City had escorted them the entire way, keeping casualties to a minimum.

With a population of over fifteen million, New Atlas was even more prosperous than Atlas City had been before the apocalypse. It was now the largest city on Earth, without question.

At that moment, Miles stood atop one of New Atlas's skyscrapers, his hands clasped behind his back as he gazed toward Fallen Star City.

No one in the Fallen Star Squad had changed more than he had.

In just over a year, Miles had grown from an inexperienced young man into a calm, capable leader.

All because Ethan had once told him, "I trust you."

Those three words had been enough for Miles to devote everything he had to managing Fallen Star City on Ethan's behalf.

He had wanted to help Fallen Star City grow from the beginning, but he'd never imagined it would become this enormous.

Now he was running New Atlas as well. Fortunately, Maxwell and the others were there to help, or the workload really might have killed him.

"Captain... how are you guys doing?" Miles murmured, his voice heavy with worry.

Nerissa had told him a great deal about Eldoria, enough for him to understand what kind of place it was.

From what he'd heard, Stage S fighters were a dime a dozen over there, Stage SS fighters were everywhere, and even Stage SSS powerhouses weren't exactly rare.

The Captain and the others had only been Stage S when they left for Eldoria. How were they supposed to survive in a place like that?

They had been gone for almost a month without sending back a single message. Miles didn't even know whether they were alive. If entering the Void Realm had been possible, he would have sent people in to investigate long ago.

"The passage to the Void Realm will open again in a few days. You'll come back early, won't you, Captain?"

Miles looked up at the sky, his eyes reddening.

Just then, a soldier hurried onto the roof.

"Deputy Commander, General Kane has asked you to report to the Council Chamber. There's an urgent matter to discuss."

"All right."

Miles nodded and followed the soldier toward the Council Chamber.

Maxwell, Gabriel, and the former leaders of all five compounds were already gathered inside. Together, they made up New Atlas's current leadership.

Everyone looked furious. Angry curses broke out around the table every so often.

"What the hell is wrong with those people from the Cathay Republic?" General Cross demanded. "There are plenty of Void Realm creatures they could be fighting, but instead they came all this way to attack us!"

"Do they not understand the situation? We're all from Earth. Those other creatures are the invaders!"

"New Atlas and Dragonspire City in the Cathay Republic are the only compounds left on Earth that still belong to humans, yet they want to attack us now?" Rowan's face was livid. "Have they lost their goddamn minds?"

"It's not that hard to understand," Maxwell said. "They were always after us before the apocalypse. Now that they finally have an opportunity, of course they aren't going to pass it up. As far as they're concerned, we're the enemy. The Void Realm creatures are only strangers."

"Damn shame the apocalypse didn't wipe those bastards out," Rowan grumbled.

"The Cathay Republic had better weapons than us in the early days, so zombies probably wouldn't have been enough to destroy them," Damien said with a frown. "What I don't understand is how they survived the Void Realm creatures that invaded Earth. They even have Stage SS fighters now. Could they have someone stronger than Ethan?"

"No one is stronger than our captain!"

The voice came from the doorway, and Miles strode into the chamber.

"Miles!"

Everyone rose to their feet.

Most of the people in the room were in their forties or older, making Miles, who was only in his twenties, seem somewhat out of place.

Yet not one of them dared underestimate him. When the decision had been made to put him in charge of New Atlas, no one had raised a single objection.

The reason was simple. He was the man who actually ran Fallen Star City, second in authority only to Ethan Cole. That position alone was enough to silence anyone.

After Miles took control of New Atlas, however, they gradually realized that the young man was far more capable than they had expected.

No matter what kind of problem arose, he handled it with ease. His thinking also wasn't constrained by the same assumptions as the older leaders'. Many of his ideas gave them perspectives they had never considered before.

Over time, they came to respect Miles for his own abilities, not merely because he represented Fallen Star City.

Miles went straight to the head of the table and motioned for everyone to sit.

"I'm already aware of the situation. The Cathay Republic attacking us isn't surprising. Their strength, however, is."

He took his seat.

"One thing is certain: there's no way they reached this level on their own. They most likely relied on help from Void Realm creatures."

"Why do you say that?" the others asked.

"Is the Fallen Star Squad strong?" Miles asked.

"Of course." Everyone nodded.

"The Fallen Star Squad fought for every bit of its strength. Skill, courage, and luck were all indispensable, and the squad had all three. More importantly, it possessed other qualities that mattered even more. Those were the real reason it accomplished everything it did."

"What the Fallen Star Squad achieved cannot be replicated, much less surpassed."

Miles's voice was firm.

"Even so, our captain was only Tier 35 when he left Earth. Now the Cathay Republic suddenly has multiple Stage SS fighters. There's no possibility they reached that level through their own efforts."

The others nodded in agreement.

They had all survived the apocalypse from the beginning. They knew exactly how extraordinary the Fallen Star Squad's achievements were. If someone claimed another group had surpassed them, none of them would believe it.

"But don't Void Realm creatures treat humans like they're beneath contempt?" Maxwell frowned. "Why would any of them help the Cathay Republic?"

"They're not all like that. The Azure Nereids in Fallen Star City have been helping us all along. Most Void Realm creatures may look down on humans, but a small number are friendly toward us. Maybe the Cathay Republic got lucky and encountered one of those groups."

Miles thought for a moment before continuing.

"Whatever's helping them must also be extremely powerful. Otherwise, it couldn't have raised them to Stage SS."

"That's probably it." The others nodded.

"What exactly do they want from us?" Miles asked.

"They demanded that we submit to them," Maxwell said angrily. "If we refuse, they'll destroy New Atlas."

"Submit?"

Miles gave a cold laugh.

"They have a few Stage SS fighters, and they think that's enough to take down New Atlas?"