The Spider Queen

Chapter 159: Ruin And Destruction

(Procyon Star System)

(Planet Tengiueria- Lunar Colony A-674)

A silvery-grey spaceship was hovering above the location of planet Tengiueria with a tense atmosphere onboard the vessel.

Rokan was leaning on the command chair with a pensive expression as various men and women under his command did not dare to breathe too heavily.

Five corpses lay scattered on the ground with their bodies already torn to pieces, but no one paid them any attention. 

House Peterlor had lost many of its colonies during the war for succession, but the young duke Rokan had managed to regain many of these former territories.

Perhaps the crown jewel of his collection was a lunar colony in the Procyon star system where an oritheium mine was located.

Oritheium was a rare metal used in the creation of class four weapons and above so the profits from the mine were steady.

Lunar colony A-674 was roughly eight times smaller than Gaia with about the same gravity. 

The initial conditions on the moon were not sufficient to support life as the temperature would fall quite drastically during the night cycle.

Years of terraforming and billions of Enas invested by the duke personally had turned this once frozen tundra into a lush and vibrant grassy environment.

But now……

“Explain to me what happened here,” Rokan growled as he shot a dark look at his subordinates kneeling on the ground.

What was once the crown jewel of his collection was now nothing more than ash and rubble.

Bits and pieces of the moon were floating around in the vast expanse of space, but the majority of the mass had already been vaporised.

Katarina had been hospitalised following her injuries as she fought off several qi tide cultivators by herself. 

Her body was filled with vicious death energy as one of the pirates had been a mage, but the stubborn girl had made sure to loop off his head before the effects of the spell reached her heart.

The twins Cain and Luke were off on a hidden mission by the duke himself, so they were not on the lunar colony at the time of the incident.

Unfortunately, this left Jack as the only death guard available to give the report. 

Most of the subordinates onboard the vessel were glancing in his direction with expressions of ‘better him than me.’ 

“We were attacked by a local pirate crew led by a man known as Orin ‘Snake- eye’ Jackson and it seems to be a random act of violence,” Jack whispered as he nervously adjusted his glasses.

“Orin has been classified as a level three terrorist threat by the Federation….” 

Rokan interrupted him with a dry chuckle,

“Do you truly believe this was only done by pirates?” he asked mockingly.

“Have you ever seen a pirate fleet with an orbital cannon and five void cultivators in their ranks?”

“And tell me…. when is the last time a mage has needed to resort to a life of crime in order to make ends meet?”

“A child could have come up with a better excuse than that bull shit you just spewed at me.” 

Silence.

Jack swallowed the rest of his words back down his throat and stepped back into the shadows. 

Small droplets of sweat could be seen on his brow as he silently prayed that the duke never found out about his involvement in this matter.

No one was more familiar with the hidden darkness inside the duke’s heart than his death guards.

The five corpses torn apart on the ground were the void cultivators who were part of the pirate fleet.

As for the rest of the bodies…. the duke had sliced them apart already.

His small movements did not escape Rokan’s eyes and the duke could not help but smile inwardly as he saw how desperately the traitor acted.

Jack had his uses which was why the duke had yet to expose him. 

It was vital to his future plans that Jack be known as the only spy who had successfully infiltrated his inner circle.

Several of the nobles supporting the blood purity faction had chosen to remain hidden which meant that it was difficult for Rokan to find and put pressure on them.

The link between Jack and the man who was bribing him could be a weakness that the duke could exploit.

And truthfully, what occurred today was not a huge loss. 

The oritheium mine had been slowing drying up over the last couple of years and now the remaining supply was worth only about two billion Enas.

An unimaginable sum for most but it was just considered a small loss for a noble house as wealthy as the Peterlors. 

The real valuable assets of the Peterlor household were all stock investments in a wide range of businesses scattered across the Earth Federation.

Rokan had not shared the full list of his business ventures with anyone except the head Butler so even Jack had no clue about the full extent of wealth in his name.

But there was a far more pressing matter to address. 

“Were there any lives lost?” the duke leaned forward with a serious expression.

An intelligent looking woman with dark violet, long hair and a narrow face checked her communicator before answering the duke.

This woman’s name was Emma and she had been working with the duke for ten years as the administrative head of his mining colonies.

“Thanks to the early warning system we managed to fully evacuate all workers on the planet before the fighting occurred,” Emma softly spoke.

“There are a few that sustained mild injuries during the initial panic, but it seems that the objective of the pirates was to destroy the moon rather than capture or kill any hostages.”

“Compensate them properly and make sure that their injuries are treated for free,” Rokan ordered.

“Yes sir!” Secretary Emma bowed and sent a message out to her assistants.

“This was clearly a warning sent to us,” Rokan stood up from his chair and walked over to the nearest window.

Each step was filled with power and his figure swelled as the killing intent normally hidden deep within his body was on full display.

“I intend to return it in kind.”