"Saya!"
"It's Saya!"
"My god, he can still be here? I heard he was dead."
"Maybe he climbed up from some junk planet, who knows."
"Logically, Saya is the first in line to the Lyresasfamily. His appearance here is going to be interesting."
"Heh heh…"
A multitude of gazes, some surprised, some mocking, some amused, some sarcastic, converged on Saya. Various whispers filled the air.
Saya saw Hobert in the crowd. This was the Speaker of the Polo star region, who had warmly received him on the main planet of the region. Now, impeccably dressed, he held a glass of wine, looking at him with great interest, as if he were a complete stranger.
There were also some people who called themselves Saya's aunts and uncles; back then, all it took was a casual remark from him, and they'd travel across several star regions to bring back rare and interesting trinkets just to curry his favor. Now, they looked at him with a lack of concern, their gazes no different from those directed at a stray dog on a garbage planet, perhaps even more contemptuous and disgusted.
And there were many more. Saya stood among these diverse people, each with their own unique expression. At this moment, he felt like a clown. He had become a special entertainment at this banquet, a guest meant to be ridiculed and mocked. Now that he had stepped into the banquet hall, the last vestige of pride and self-respect he once possessed as the eldest son of the Lyresas family had finally and completely shattered.
Saya clenched his fists tightly, gritting his teeth. After a few seconds, he finally relaxed his grip, his hands hanging limply.
"Take him away. We'll deal with this after the banquet."
Bos, leading the group of family elders, coldly gave the order. Heyer frowned, stepping forward to say something, but Bos cut her off with a single sentence.
"Even if you come from the Whitemoon'ro family, you have no right to interfere in the affairs of our Lyresas family. If you don't want to be kicked out immediately, you'd better stand still."
A dozen figures rapidly approached Saya from the crowd. Tang Dun stepped forward, blocking their path towards Saya's path, and said in a muffled voice, "Looks like you'll have to rely on me again..."
But Tang Dun's words were cut short. Someone grabbed him by the neck. It was a tall, thin middle-aged man, who looked ordinary, but Tang Dun, a martial arts level 12 expert, seemed as weak as a chick in his hands.
"Mr. Wu."
The elders of the Lyresas family, including Bos, greeted the middle-aged man with utmost respect. The latter merely nodded slightly, then glanced casually at Saya, who felt as if struck by lightning, staggering back two steps.
In that instant when the middle-aged man glanced at him, Saya felt as if his very soul was being torn apart. A single sentence stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.
"Level...13."
Saya had heard his father mention that the family spent a great deal of money each year to support a level 13 martial arts expert who protected them. He had never seen him. Unexpectedly, the first time he saw him, it wasn't for protection. It was truly ironic.
Several large hands landed heavily on Saya, the powerful force from their palms completely suppressing his martial arts strength. He was like a fish surrounded by a school of sharks, firmly pinned down.
"I was hoping you'd witness this moment, but it seems… you won't have the chance." Wells waved to Saya, a victor's smile on his face.
In that instant, Saya finally lost one of his few remaining sources of strength. A profound despair completely enveloped him.
"The prophecy… was the prophecy false?"
Saya surprisingly felt no anger; instead, a strange sense of absurdity and ridiculousness filled his heart. A self-deprecating bitter smile appeared on his face as he muttered to himself, "I was so stupid. To actually believe in some bullshit destiny…"
The slip of paper tucked in his pocket, bearing the so-called prophecy of destiny, now seemed like the greatest mockery.
As everyone was laughing and watching him about to be dragged away from the banquet hall, suddenly,
"Boom!"
A deafening whooshing sound echoed overhead. The immense noise drew everyone's attention. A spaceship of unimaginable size slowly emerged from the void. The bow alone was many times larger than the planet they were currently on. The defensive barriers on the planet's surface seemed as fragile as paper before this behemoth, a cosmic beast.
"What...what is this?"
The people at the banquet stared in disbelief for a moment, murmuring.
Suddenly, a massive, dazzling star emblem caught everyone's attention. Upon seeing this star marker, a small group of people's expressions changed drastically, revealing an indescribable shock and excitement.
"The Chief Star Elder! That's the Chief Star Elder's vessel!"
"The Chief Star Elder has graced this planet with his presence!"
The words "Chief Star Elder" exploded like a bomb dropped into the crowd, unleashing an unparalleled commotion. Who was the Chief Star Elder? Across the entire Hundred Great, there were only two Chief Star Elders. One commanded the frontlines of the interdimensional battlefield [in the Hundred Great Battle District], defending against the incursions of Alien Beasts from another universe. The other presided over the Hundred Great Star District, and was the most noble and revered figure among the trillions of star races in the entire Hundred Great Star Regions.
Whichever one had arrived, they were both prominent figures who are normally beyond their reach. They were top-tier beings standing at the pinnacle of over a hundred star regions. Even the Speaker of a star region is insignificant before them. Let alone those of them whose status was even slightly lower than that of the Speaker.
In an instant, the entire banquet hall erupted in chaos. Countless dignitaries and nobles were filled with excitement, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the spaceship. Even Region Speakers like Hobert were no exception, quickly tidying their appearance and watching the ship in the sky with excitement and anticipation.
Wells and the elders of the Lyresas family were overjoyed. They felt as if they had been struck by a tremendous surprise.
Regardless of the reason for the Star Elder's arrival, it coincided with a change of power within the Lyresas family. When this matter would be publicized, by leveraging the Star Elder's prestige, in time, their Lyresas family's business and influence would surely spread throughout the entire Hundred Great Star District!
Saya was also gazing up at the suddenly descending, enormous spaceship. At this moment, he, who had originally been the center of attention, had become completely ignored due to the unexpected arrival of that prominent figure.
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Translation notes by Dhoo
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The Hundred Great Star Regions (which I often call the Hundred Great or the Hundred Great Star District) is an area whose name is written with the same characters as the Star Regions (Yamu Star Region, Polo Star Region, etc.), but it is confirmed now that it's actually the name of a cluster of a hundred or so Star Regions within the Celestial Serpent Galaxy. I decided to give a name to these nameless clusters of Star Regions led by Chief Star Elders: I'll call them Star Districts. Mokodo and Soyas are the two Chief Star Elders of the Hundred Great Star District.
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Mr. Wu
A level 13 martial artist working for the Lyresas family.
吳先生 wú xiānshēng - His name is used only once in this story.
吳 wú - Wu is a Chinese region, dialect, and surname.
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millions of star races
兆 is trillion(s) in Taiwan and million(s) in Mainland China - I'll go with millions
The author likes big numbers. Millions of advanced races (the Azure planet fo example was not advanced enough to know of all of this), in the Hundred Great which is a part of a galaxy, sounds like a lot and it should be enough; trillions would sound really exaggerated. The Hundred Great is made of 100+ star regions and it is located in a galaxy which has several thousands of star regions. Let's say the Hundred Great represents 2% of the galaxy. It is estimated that the Milky Way has 200 billion stars. If the Celestial Serpent galaxy is similar in size, then the Hundred Great has around 4 billion stars. Hmm, millions of advanced races, why not, that would mean roughly one advanced civilization for every 1000 stars. Trillions of star races on the other hand would mean 1000 advanced civilizations for each star :'D or the Celestial Serpent galaxy could be an insanely big galaxy, thousands or millions of times the size of the Milky Way.