After the swift execution of Commander Erdogan, Neo descended on the the soil of Zenith.

He didn’t weapons to intimidate the trembling Federation mechs. His Dominator aura alone earned their fear.

Neo spoke domineeringly,

​"Soldiers of the Federation, lower your arms.

​Look around you. You were sent here by a regime that views you as nothing more than numbers on a spreadsheet. Commander Erdogan promised you a swift victory against a primitive, backwater world. He told you that you were hunting a child. Yet, your warship is burning in the upper atmosphere, your commander is dead, and you are standing before a force that can flatten your entire armada within minutes."

​Adonis took another step forward, his eyes gazing onto the panicked captain who had opened his cockpit earlier.

​"The Federation tells you that power belongs only to the elite, that only the chosen few may rise to become Beyonders, while the rest are doomed to slave away in corporate slums or die as cannon fodder on foreign rocks. They told you this world was a threat to cosmic order. But look at these soldiers standing behind me. Just a week ago, they were exactly like you: the discarded, the starved, the forgotten. This Emperor did not conquer them. I elevated them. I gave them a purpose, a future, and a power that the Federation has spent centuries withholding from you."

​The battlefield descended into absolute silence. Federation soldiers inside the mechs were listening attentively, unconsciously drawn in by his voice.

​"All is fair in war and love, your leaders say, yet they use your lives as a currency to buy their own safety. But this Emperor does not play by those mortal rules. If you choose to fight for a corrupt High Command that cares nothing for your survival, you will perish here, and your ash will fertilize the soil of Planet Zenith. But if you surrender your weapons now, you will be given a choice. You can live as free citizens under the crest of the Flying White Dragon, or you can see for yourselves what happens when a God truly walks among mortals."

​Adonis folded his hands behind his back, looking at Federation soldiers below.

​"Your commander’s duty to the Federation has ended. So do not let your foolish loyalty end your lives as well. Drop your weapons and surrender."

Neo also knew he wouldn’t be earning their loyalty like this, but he believed in time. Time would solve everything. He just have to wait and see.

For a long time, there was just silence gazing.

​The elite Federation soldiers’ strict military conditioning screamed at them to fight to the very last breath. But their logical minds, combined with the terrifying reality of 100,000 Beyonders staring them down, told a completely different story.

​The Mech Captain who had previously opened his cockpit looked from the burning wreckage of the warship in the sky down to the god-like figure of Neo Godson.

​The Captain took a deep breath, and reached forward and slammed his palm onto the main power console of his towering mechanical suit.

​CLANK!

​He bowed its heavy metallic head before the young Dominator.

​"I surrender, your majesty. The 17th Mech Infantry surrenders to the Zenith Empire."

​That single action was the final push.

After that, like an avalanche of falling steel, the domino effect rippled across the entire Federation frontline.

​Clank! Clank! THUD!

​Tens of thousands of towering mechanical suits powered down their weapon systems. They opened theur cockpits one by one, stepping out of their heavily armored cockpits to drop to their knees on the alien soil.

​They did not just surrender because they were afraid of dying. They surrendered because Neo’s words had struck the deepest, most vulnerable chord in their hearts.

They were entirely tired of being disposable pawns for a corrupt council sitting safely on a distant throne.

​Neo watched the sea of kneeling soldiers with a completely neutral expression. Inside, however, he felt triumphant.

He had just absorbed the elite ground forces of a Federation fleet without shedding a single drop of his own army’s blood.

​[ Ding! ]

[ Mass Surrender Detected ]

[ 30,000 Elite Federation Soldiers have pledged their submission ] 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

[ Integrating new subjects into the Zenith Empire... ]

[ Subordinate count increasing rapidly... ]

​Neo turned his head toward Elena and Clark.

​"Clark, Elena, disarm them completely and escort them to the outer sector of the Imperial Palace. Provide them with food, medical care, and proper quarters. Treat them not as prisoners of war, but as the newest soldiers of our Empire."

​The thousands of surrendered Federation soldiers looked relived. They initially expected to be chained in dark cells, tortured for information, or simply executed for invading.

But, they were now being offered a hot meal and a place to belong.

​As Neo turned around and walked slowly back toward his imposing white palace, the kneeling soldiers found him quite admirable.

​Commander Erdogan had died, but they had found a new, infinitely more powerful leader to follow.

High up on the grand balcony of the Imperial Palace, safely shielded behind thick, transparent energy barriers, a young girl stood completely frozen.

​Nina pressed her small hands against the cold glass. Her wide, trembling eyes reflected the burning orange sky and the endless sea of kneeling Federation mechs down below.

​She had watched the entire spectacle unfold on a live feed, from beginning to end. She saw the blinding nuclear fire obliterate the enemy warships in the upper atmosphere. She watched in absolute shock as her brother floated in the terrifying vacuum of space, casually throwing a glowing spear to pierce a man’s skull.

And she witnessed 100,000 superhuman warriors bow to his absolute command.

​Her heart pounded.

​Was that really Neo?

​In her memories, Neo was just her kind, fiercely protective older brother. He was the young man who always smiled warmly at the dinner table, the one who worked tirelessly just to make sure she and their parents had a safe roof over their heads.

​But the figure standing down on that bloodless battlefield was not just a brother. He was a ruthless, domineering Emperor. He was a terrifying Dominator who held the absolute power of life and death in his hands.

​For a brief, a genuine fear sparked deep in Nina’s heart. He felt so distant, so impossibly unreachable.

Tud, Tud, Tud.

​Soft footsteps suddenly echoed behind her.

​ Neo walked in.

​He looked a little tired, but his expression was completely at peace.

​"Are you alright, Nina?" Neo asked gently.

​Nina turned around slowly. She looked at his familiar face, desperately searching for any trace of the cold-blooded conqueror she had just witnessed.

​"Brother...I saw how I killed that commander in space. And all those armored soldiers... they were absolutely terrified of you."

​Neo stopped a few feet away. He did not try to deny it. He looked down at his own hands, knowing fully well that they were stained with blood, and knowing they would be stained with much more before his conquest was over.

​"I did, Nina. And I will do it a thousand times more if I have to."

​"The universe is a cruel, unforgiving place, Nina. If I am weak, they will take you, Mom, and everyone away from me. They will destroy our new home and turn us into slaves. I cannot allow that to happen. So, to the Federation, I must become a monster. To the entire galaxy, I must be a ruthless Dominator."

​"But to you, I will never be anything else but your older brother. You never have to fear me."

​Nina heart warmed, and all fear vanished away.

​"I know.... I know you are doing all of this to protect us. Thank you, big brother."

​