First Intergalactic Emperor: Starting With The Ancient Goddess

The pickup station was quiet, just the distant hum of the city air traffic above and the occasional flicker of holograms advertising things Xavier would never buy.

And then, the silence shattered.

A convoy of armored AeroCruisers descended like thunder, scattering the few pedestrians and bringing traffic to a halt. Patrol cops blocked the road, guiding all nearby flyers to reroute. The lead black vehicle hovered down first, lowering itself with a hiss of pressurized air before touching ground.

The side door of the car opened. One of the officers who had been riding inside stepped out and walked straight to the transport van behind. The van’s rear door slid open.

Dominic Hart was seated comfortably in the back seat, one leg crossed, eyes behind dark visors glowing with interface data. He looked at Xavier through the open door.

”What are you waiting for? Get in,” Dominic said.

Xavier didn’t move. His expression was blank. ”This isn’t how I was taken from the academy.”

Dominic’s eye twitched. His hand balled into a fist for a moment before he gave a sharp exhale and tapped his wrist device. ”Switch it,” he ordered.

The officer who had gone to the van turned back, signaled the others. They stepped out wordlessly and guided Xavier into the same car as Dominic.

As Xavier sat down beside him, the door closed with a quiet thunk, sealing them off from the noise outside. A moment later, the engines flared and the entire convoy lifted off.

Inside the cruiser, the silence was tense. Dominic watched Xavier out of the corner of his eye.

”Where’s the evidence?” he asked.

Xavier didn’t even look at him. ”When we reach the academy. After you fulfill the second part of our deal.”

Dominic clicked his tongue, leaning back, jaw tightening.

This boy... no, this kid—two days ago, he was just a quiet nothing. A kid from the countryside who didn’t know the difference between a crawler and a cruiser. And now? Dominic was the one dancing to his tune.

He studied Xavier again.

Two days.

Just two days.

’How the hell had he changed this much?’

He had lied. He had manipulated him. He had turned the entire academy, the media, even the police force upside down.

And worst of all?

He had won.

’What he had told me about all the evidence and shit was true, or was that a lie as well?’ Dominic wondered to himself. ’No, he showed me evidence, and even though I know he was lying, it’s a fact that he indeed has some and enough evidence to open the case again.’

Dominic’s thoughts darkened as his mind drifted to the call from yesterday morning.

Alexander hadn’t answered the first few times. When he finally did, his voice wasn’t calm or calculated like usual. It was deranged. Violent. As if he was five seconds away from ordering a planetary strike.

”What the fuck happened?” Dominic had asked.

The answer chilled him.

Piolet—the mercenary hired to eliminate Xavier—was gone. Not just failed. Gone. No trace. No comms. No signal. Just radio silence.

And Piolet wasn’t some street-level thug. He was part of The Spade Hounds—a space gang so powerful most officials paid them to stay off-world.

Now, the Hounds were pressing Alexander for answers, demanding full data on Piolet’s mission, identity, and last transmission. The moment they fed Piolet’s last ship data into their systems, what they got back spooked even them.

The radar had caught glimpses of something—an entity had descended Beast Land. Vague. Hazy. Unreadable.

But enough to make one of the most violent groups in the solar system whisper the word god.

Dominic clenched his fist.

He was supposed to plan Xavier’s execution with Alexander this morning.

Instead, he was chauffeuring him like royalty.

And now, they were out of time. They couldn’t even make another move until the Hounds backed off. If they ever did.

Dominic turned and glanced at Xavier again. The boy’s eyes were fixed on the window, watching the clouds blur past.

’This village brat is a damn nightmare. Also, why is he so calm? Don’t tell me... has he already found that treasure? No... I got the black box before him, so it’s impossible. Heh, this son of a bitch is relaxed because he thinks I don’t know about the treasure. It’s a good thing that Maximillian had accidentally recorded everything!’

Dominic had no idea that the game he was planning, Xavier had already finished playing it.

Dominic had tried everything. He tried to freeze Xavier’s account, lock him out of his funds, even blacklist him from the system. But the account didn’t show up. It was like it never existed.

But Dominic wasn’t worried. He told himself it didn’t matter. That once he got the evidence from Xavier, he’d wipe the boy off the map, body and take everything from him.

Eventually, they reached the academy.

One of the officers opened the door and motioned for Xavier to step out.

But Xavier didn’t move.

Dominic glared at Xavier and tried to control himself.

He knew what this was.

A power play.

Xavier wasn’t stepping out until he did.

It was a humiliation for Dominic. But he had no choice.

And so, with every ounce of pride he had left shriveling up inside him, Dominic opened the door himself and stepped out.

The same Dominic Hart who had dragged Xavier out of the academy in cuffs two days ago... was now leading him back with full honors.

All the officers walked behind Xavier like his private guard.

One of them even repeated, like a broken PR machine, ”Due to a mishandling of evidence, Xavier has been proven innocent. We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding.”

Students stared. Some whispered. Some avoided eye contact entirely.

When they reached the class, Dominic turned toward him, jaw clenched. ”The evidence.”

Xavier didn’t even blink. He tapped his screen and sent everything to Dominic.

Pictures. Videos. Data logs. Including the brand-new fake report Angel had cooked up.

Dominic’s lips curled into a smile.

Ten million dollars? Worth it.

Now he could erase Xavier without worry. The threat was gone.

At least, that’s what he thought.

Until Xavier said, ”Oh, and by the way—I’m keeping a copy.”

Dominic’s eyes snapped up. ”What?”

”I said,” Xavier repeated, ”I’m keeping a copy for myself. Insurance.”

”That wasn’t part of the deal!”

Xavier turned to face him fully, the weight of his stare making Dominic flinch. ”You don’t get to talk about fucking deals. You didn’t set the terms. I did. Or did your rotting brain already forget that part?”

Dominic opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Xavier stepped closer and lowered his voice, his tone venomous. ”If anything happens to me—anything at all—every single piece of evidence will be dumped on the global net. No filters. No censorship. No time delay. So if I go missing, arrested, or my heart so much as skips a beat for the wrong reason—your son’s face will be plastered all over the news as a rapist. I will destroy you and everything you care for!”

Dominic was frozen.

Xavier smiled. ”Have a nice fucking day.”

Dominic stormed off like a kicked mutt, fury bottled under his skin, but he couldn’t do anything. Not now. Because he was alone.

And with a bell, the classes started. It was supposed to be a normal day. But that evening, justice was served.

One of the four bullies had died in a tragic accident.