"The Atlan civilization… Who's your ruler?"

Since Merlin had entered the Atlan civilization, naturally, he wanted to figure out the structure of this civilization. The Spell Caster civilization knew very little about the Atlan civilization. Their knowledge was limited, not even knowing who the highest ruler was.

The captain replied immediately, "None of us is the highest ruler. The institutions with the highest authority are the Senate and the military. Initially, it was just the Senate but this recent foray the Void Zone has always been advocated by the military. Therefore, the influence of the army has now reached a point where it's comparable to the Senate. These warships, puppets, and so on belong to the army. Even the Marshall who has led us into the Void Zone is a military man as well. However, he has links to the Senate too, which is why he's the best choice."

After the captain's explanation, Merlin gradually learned that in the Atlan civilization, it was the Senate that held the supreme authority. It consisted of merely nine Senators. The Senate controlled each department of the entire Atlan civilization, allowing systematic development.

At first, the Senate controlled the army as well but after the military had proposed to exit the dimension and enter the Void Zone, the army's influence had expanded. Currently, they had grown to a point nearly equal to the Senate. This was the current situation of the entire Atlan civilization.

"You're now returning to the army?"

"That's right, we're returning to the army."

Merlin fell into silent contemplation. He knew that he must never let this warship return to the army or there would be trouble. However, he could not let them go. Without his Mind Control, when these people had regained consciousness, they would recall this incident of Merlin's Mind Control.

In that case, the only option was to completely destroy this warship!

Nonetheless, even so, he could not just destroy it rashly. If the warship was suddenly destroyed, it was sure to attract much attention. In the end, the ensuing investigation might notice some abnormalities or detect Merlin, considering the Atlan civilization's technology.

Therefore, he must destroy this warship without attracting too much attention.

After a long moment, Merlin asked the captain, "Would an empire-level warship self-destruct due to some malfunction? In a way that neither the Senate nor the army would find out the cause?"

The captain's mind was now under full control, so he would not object even to their own suicides. Thus, he thought carefully. "There's a way indeed. Most empire-level warships might suffer from engine failure. Plus, it just so happens we're now passing the energy storm zone. This is where the Dimension Core's energy runs wild, and even dimension-level warships might be destroyed. If we're swept into this zone, there'd be no way to find out the cause at all."

Merlin thought it over. This was a viable plan indeed, so he nodded. "Very well. You're now to send a distress signal to the army immediately, saying that there's some problem with your engine and you're unable to control your warship. Then, quickly head toward the energy storm zone."

The captain followed Merlin's orders and started to send a distress signal. Following that, he intentionally headed toward the energy storm zone. Soon, Merlin could see the gusts of terrifying storms before him, inducing a sense of threat in him.

"It's all energy… This dimension created by the Vestigial Time is truly unusual!"

Merlin knew that this was merely a trickle of energy discharged by the Dimension Core. It was able to stir up such a mighty storm. Even if the Atlan civilization were to exploit this for countless years or a hundred million years, it would not make a dent.

What the Atlan civilization lacked was certain resources, especially some precious minerals. Although energy could be transmuted into many materials, a warship could not be transmuted solely from energy. Only by relying on the Void Zone's resources, constantly delivering them back here, could they manufacture endless warships and puppets.

"Very well, go on. Head toward the energy storm!"

Merlin's eyes were icy without a trace of mercy. He knew that this was the best plan. It would not reveal his tracks, plus he could leave safely. His only recourse was to let this empire-level warship self-destruct.

"Didimoss, let's go!"

From the warship, Merlin piloted a small spaceship. This sort of small spaceship had no fighting power and was tiny, able to accommodate a few dozen people at most. Moreover, it bore no special mark and could be found anywhere in the Atlan civilization. Most Atlans used this small-sized spaceship to travel around.

Therefore, even if Merlin piloted this small spaceship, he would not arouse suspicion.

"Rumble."

After the empire-level warship moved ceaselessly into the energy storm zone, the frightening crushing force of the energy immediately tore the warship into pieces. There was no trace of life left.

Merlin knew that this warship was utterly annihilated. Not even the Atlan civilization would be able to find the true cause, and they could only treat it as a regular "warship accident".

"Didimoss, we can't stay here. The army's warships will be here soon, so we have to leave."

After Merlin had ascertained that no one had survived, he immediately steered the spaceship into the distance. With this spaceship, Merlin could disguise himself as an actual Atlan for now. The only trouble was his identification.

Each Atlan had their own identification. To enter any starship, one must have identification. Otherwise, if he was unable to be identified, he would be treated as a "terrorist".

Therefore, Merlin would try his best to avoid entering the starships.

"Merlin, where are we going now? I have to say, there are no ultimate existences, so let me have my fill. I'll gobble up all of these Atlans."

The black cat Didimoss said lazily. He had been by Merlin's side for so long and had nothing to do. Plus, these Atlans looked puny and pitiful.

Merlin laughed in response. "Didimoss, can you swallow the entire herd? With such a massive dimension, even if you keep on eating, you'll never finish."

"Even if I can't, there's still the Slothful Beast. It has a huge appetite, able to swallow gigantic dimensions. Even if this dimension is bigger, we'll just eat the Atlans. Soon, we'll polish them off."

As he stared at the black cat Didimoss' plump body, Merlin shook his head powerlessly. If he truly went this route, based on the Atlan civilization's immensity, it would take a few hundred or thousand years to eat up all of the Atlans.

Furthermore, he still had not determined if the Atlan civilization possessed some terrifying items. Acting hastily might lead them to danger. Even with the Slothful Beast, Merlin had to be cautious.

"We'll understand the situation first, then look for clues regarding the void-level warship. Once we do that, and there's really nothing of any threat to us, we'll strike."

Merlin's thinking was different from Didimoss'. The black cat Didimoss wanted to swallow everything but Merlin wanted to learn how to fully control the Atlan civilization.

Even if he could not control, he would have to destroy the Atlan civilization utterly. He must not be trapped here in the Atlan Dimension without end. Otherwise, as time dragged on, when his opponents had manufactured their void-level warship, the Spell Caster civilization would be at risk.

The black cat Didimoss did not say anything else but sprawled across Merlin's shoulder, choosing to take a snoring nap. Meanwhile, Merlin controlled the small spaceship, keeping his distance from the starships as he moved along casually.

…

In the peaceful air, three enormous warships were chasing after a small spaceship.

Although the spaceship was tiny, it seemed to have been modified. Its speed was not inferior to the three warships at all. Furthermore, it had an offensive system as well, only it appeared rather weak against those three warships.

Within the small spaceship, there were currently ten or so men and women, dressed in black armor. This was ordinary protective armor. Of course, it was not the most classified Gray Light Armor found in the Atlan civilization's internal factions.

"D*mn it, we still can't shake off these three tails. What do we do? If we continue running, the three city-level warships are enough to wipe us out."

A woman with long, blonde hair stared at the screen anxiously. Behind them, the three city-level warships were pursuing them relentlessly.

"They won't destroy us. They want us alive. Otherwise, with their warships' attacking power, they'd have destroyed us long ago. They must want us alive."

A muscular man with a scar on his face spoke in gravelly tones.

"That's right, they want to capture us alive. After all, we're worth a lot of money in their eyes. Thus, we can simply keep running without worrying about anything. The only concern is, how much energy do we have left?"

At the mention of energy, everyone in the spaceship fell silent. This spaceship had been modified, boasting great speed and attacking powers, and could be considered an armed spaceship.

Nonetheless, a spaceship was still a spaceship. Even though it was armed, it had no way to compare with a real warship. It must be known that these were city-level warships. One shot was enough to wipe them out. Even though the warships were not firing at them, wishing to capture these people alive, their power source could easily outlast the spaceship's power, finally capturing them.

The three warships behind them planned on exhausting their energy before capturing them alive. Although everyone knew this was their opponents' plan, it was a solid plan. Plus, the spaceship could not retaliate.

"What do we do? Are we just going to wait for our doom? We don't want them to capture us alive."

"If we don't want to be captured alive, there are many solutions. If we really reach the moment where our energy's run out, and have no other options, then we can only choose self-destruction! At that point, we'll make them pay even if we have to die!"

The scar-faced man said brusquely, his words revealing a hint of determination.