Real estate in the capital world of the Third Parliamentary Republic of Enlightened Humanity had one of the highest costs per square foot in any Territory below the B tier. Some claimed it was the most expensive, but one could never know in the Omniverse.

The high cost came from a combination of being a prosperous nation with high prices in general, being the center of all political and economic decisions in the Third Republic, and having a surprising lack of real estate to go around.

The latter was by design. No building could be taller than two stories high, they all had to be large and spacious, and they had to be built with a large space between each other. The entire planet was claimed already, and erecting a new building was only possible when an old one was destroyed first.

It came as no surprise when that lack of space brought issues even to the government itself. As the Third Republic kept expanding, the bureaucratic body grew to accommodate it. Even with the widespread usage of Artificial Minds, some things required decision-making that the Third Republic found unwise to delegate to non-humans.

Many pushed for a change in the real estate laws, but this was already the twentieth world the Republic used as their capital. The state leaders didn't want to suffer from the same security issues that forced them to move time and time again. Too many people in too little space were simply impossible to control, even for the most advanced AMs. They would rather not suffer from the assassination attempts that plagued the Third Republic's history.

Failing that, the next most obvious solution would be allowing orbital stations to park outside the world. But that would mean private ships getting too close. No one wanted the capital world to get orbital bombarded either.

Thus, the Orbital Rings came to be.

The Orbital Rings were five enormous metallic rings orbiting the world, each one further than the other. Under military control, they had many regulations and a merciless justice system. The primary purpose of the ones closest to the planet was protection, while the more distant ones became extra lodging.

They were also a trap known to but a few.

There were too many powerful monsters in the Omniverse, and most of them were moody. At any day, one of them might get offended by something, anything at all the Third Republic did, and decide to wipe their capital world from the face of the world. If that happened, the Third Republic wanted to guarantee mutual destruction.

Yet, it was with great surprise that one day, when there was apparently nothing wrong with the world, the Superior Leaders in charge of the Orbital Rings received the order to spring the trap.

All the codes matched, all the secret codes were sent, all the safety protocols were observed.

The Superior Leaders intended to follow through at once, but they had no chance to.

A flash blinded them, followed by destruction in its purest form. When the Superior Leaders opened their eyes, the capital world was gone, disintegrated into quarks by a power so great none of them comprehended.

Their scanners only briefly detected a single humanoid standing where the planet had once been, moving much faster than the speed of light towards the edge of the star system.

Their priority became trying to rescue the souls of the parliamentary before they dissipated. Failing that, they were to enact the clone protocol and make do with their backed-up memories.

As for the perpetrator, most powers would just let such a monster go.

Not the Third Republic. Especially not when the culprit ran instead of causing more destruction. The Republic saw it as weakness, and the one thing they were known for was exploiting others' weakness to the maximum.

"Satamor. Yats," one of the Superior Leaders ordered.

In but a few hours, half the soldiers from the Third Republic would be hunting for the culprit.