Soul Society – Chamber of Meditation

"Ahhh~" Robin exhaled deeply as he let his body fall backward, landing softly on the smooth, luminous surface beneath him. A look of complete satisfaction stretched across his face, his expression glowing with pure serenity. It had been over one hundred and forty years since the last time he had stepped foot in this sacred chamber—since he had last felt this indescribable, tranquil ecstasy flowing through his soul.

Contrary to what he had once believed, becoming a Four-Star Soul Master hadn't reduced the effect of this place on him in the slightest; instead, it had magnified it. The deeper his soul understanding grew, the richer and more profound the chamber's influence became. It was like a piece of divine music—one that only revealed its true melody to those who had matured enough to understand it. Now that his soul force had evolved far beyond what it once was, Robin found himself perceiving layers of harmony and depth within this place that he had never noticed before.

"Finally, you've returned to us, Lord Human!" a cheerful voice sang, light and sweet as a bell. The tiny fairy Timari twirled joyfully through the air, golden dust trailing behind her as she circled Robin's head. "Your absence this time was far too long! We began to think you had abandoned us forever!"

"Hm?" Robin tilted his head slightly, his smile widening. "You told me you were assigned to serve only me, didn't you? That doesn't sound fair to you at all." His tone was calm but carried a touch of humor. "Tell them I've given you permission to help others while I'm away. You don't have to sit here waiting centuries for me to appear."

"What? No, no~ absolutely not!" Timari shook her tiny head so hard that her silvery hair sparkled. "What if you came back and I was busy with someone else? They'd assign you a different fairy—and I can't allow that! No, no, Lord Human, I'll wait for you no matter how long it takes!"

"Haha, is that jealousy I'm hearing, or greed?" Robin pushed himself up into a sitting position, his grin playful and teasing. He knew full well that the fairies received benefits from every session their guest underwent here. For her, staying close to him—even if he only moved once every century—was far more profitable than serving countless weaker guests.

"Yoooh! You're teasing me again, Lord Human!" Timari kicked her small legs in the air dramatically, pouting for a moment before breaking into laughter again. She fluttered to his right side, her wings leaving ripples of light as she hovered. "Hehe, Lord, Lord—what do you want to do today? Should I bring you your messages? Do you wish to hear the latest reports from the Young Sector? News about the cosmic wars? About certain individuals you might be missing? Or do you want to skip all that and dive straight into reviewing the requests inside the Chamber of Truth?"

"No, no," Robin waved his hand lazily, his smile soft but weary. "Spare me the news and politics for now; I've had enough of that to last me a few lifetimes." He lightly tapped the side of his head, as if brushing away a lingering thought.

From what he had heard about the situation of the three Empires—the True Beginning Empire, the Cradle Empire, and the Grave Empire—everything was proceeding far better than even his most optimistic expectations. Each empire was developing smoothly, their leaders acting with surprising competence. And now, after using his influence to double the power of the Grave Empire, Robin felt confident enough to let them move forward without his constant oversight.

But even so, there remained one matter—a single, crucial way he could still assist them directly: money.

One hundred and forty years ago, when he had last met Theo in the palace, he had promised him an enormous financial contribution—an infusion that could have transformed entire economies overnight. Yet that promise had remained unfulfilled, buried beneath the chaos he had encountered upon finding Jabba and the endless swamp of experiments and research that had consumed his time and attention.

When Robin eventually returned to the palace with Jabba at his side, he had expected everything to have stagnated in his absence—decay, inefficiency, confusion. But to his pleasant surprise, none of that had happened. The Empire's machinery had not slowed; it had not even wavered. In fact, everything was running precisely as Robin had once ordered… and in many cases, even better.

Part of this success stemmed from the Empires' growing self-sufficiency. They forged their own weapons, relying only minimally on external trade for raw resources. The more planets they annexed, the more diverse their materials became—and with that, the pressure to spend Pearls on interstellar trade diminished drastically.

Each new world added to their dominion brought hidden wealth: unknown minerals, ancient caches of Pearls, and new channels for commerce. Slowly, steadily, the three Empires had reached a rare and fragile state of balance and stability. Their people prospered, their fleets expanded, and the flow of resources between them became smoother than ever.

Yet Robin knew better than to be lulled by stability. This peace, like everything in the universe, was temporary. Beneath the calm surface of prosperity, he could already feel the faint hum of approaching change—something vast, unseen, and inevitable—waiting patiently to ignite once more, like a spark inside the silent heart of a dying flame.

It turned out that Theo had launched a fierce, intricate operation built entirely around gathering information and selling it to the highest bidder at exorbitant prices. The business model he created—and which the Shadow Swords masterfully exploited—became a crucial lifeline for sustaining the three empires' expenses. In doing so, they effectively forced those empires to continue expanding at the same reckless, unsustainable pace!

Theo and the Shadow Swords... the unseen soldiers behind every hidden movement, the invisible gears that made the impossible happen. Robin exhaled slowly, the weight of realization pressing on him. The best thing he could do to help them now was to ease their financial burden—freeing them to refocus entirely on intelligence work and on supporting the three empires' survival.

"Temari, what's my current balance?" Robin asked quietly.

The last time he had checked, his account held roughly nine billion Pearls—an increase of about four billion over sixty years, thanks mostly to the consistent sales of his talismans and formation arrays. On that day, he had sent five billion to Theo, keeping around four billion Pearls for himself.

Now, he intended to send everything to Theo again—to keep his operations afloat before starting anything new.

"The Lord's current balance is…" Temari gestured with her hand, and a glowing holographic window appeared in the air, "…nineteen point seven billion Pearls."

"What—?!" Robin nearly jumped from his seat. "How?! I haven't published anything new in over a hundred and forty years—how did it increase like that?!"

"I suppose you'll need to listen to a bit of politics for once, my Lord," Temari said with a sly smile, clearly enjoying his surprise. "The truth is, Lord Headrick's war made every major force start discussing the military potential of your array— 'Colonizing the Uncolonizable.' They realized it could be used for stealth operations or for concealing entire armies in hostile environments, hidden from enemy eyes."

She continued with growing pride, "We in the Soul Society took advantage of that sudden wave of attention and reintroduced the array to the market, riding the free publicity that came with the war. That created a new surge of buyers—eventually generating the number you see now. And honestly, if not for the Shadow Swords' little stunt that exposed the array's locations so easily, allowing Lord Headrick to strike those positions… that number might have already reached a hundred billion by now."

A hundred billion… Robin's brows furrowed deeply, his mind running cold.

Indeed, war was always the fastest path to fortune. The war industry—when stripped of all moral restraints—was the simplest way to multiply wealth. All it took was a single, powerful weapon, the right amount of chaos, and a nudge between rival sides… then one could simply sit back and watch their fortune explode.

"Wait… the Shadow Swords?!" Robin's expression stiffened as a sharp thought cut through his mind. "Is their involvement public knowledge now?!"

"Yes," Temari nodded, her voice turning serious. "The Shadow Swords' collaboration with Lord Headrick has become quite well-known lately. Much of their intelligence work with him has been leaked and circulated. Ironically, this has boosted their reputation—they're now seen as a force to be reckoned with. But at the same time, every sector that hosts them has grown wary and anxious, tightening control over their activities. Some even say the Syndicate itself disapproves of the Shadow Swords' blatant interference."

"...?!" Robin fell into heavy silence, the weight of it pressing against his chest. He knew that Theo assisted Headrick, but he hadn't imagined it had escalated this far so quickly.

At this point, there was nothing he could do but trust that Theo knew what he was doing.

After several long seconds of thought, Robin finally sighed and spoke with quiet resolve:

"Transfer nineteen billion Pearls to the account 'Sword-Theo-2.' Then, bring me the latest requests from the Chamber of Truth… it's time I start rebuilding my fortune."

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