Chương 562: Chapter : 562

Princess Hestia did not sit down. She walked over to the wooden table. She looked at the map covered in red dots. She let out a long, quiet sigh.

"I did not come here to socialize, Iris," Princess Hestia stated firmly. Her voice sounded very crisp.

"I came here to discuss the mutant bugs. My unit secured the western sector this morning. But the bugs are relentless. They keep swarming the streets. We are wasting a massive amount of magical energy just to keep the sidewalks clean." Zaima sneered. She pointed an angry finger at the map.

"The entire capital is infested. The bugs drip toxic sludge on the marble floors. It is completely unacceptable. We must find the source."

"We were just discussing that," Sayma offered politely. She pushed her glasses up.

"We believe the bugs follow a centralized hive mind. If we locate the hive, we can eliminate the entire swarm at once." Princess Hestia nodded slowly. She folded her delicate hands in front of her dress.

"I agree," Princess Hestia said. Her green eyes looked very sharp.

"But that is not my only concern today. This bug invasion is incredibly unnatural. It is too vast. It is too organized. It feels like a deliberate escalation." Laxmi tilted her head. She dropped her tiny fire spark.

"An escalation? What do you mean?" Princess Hestia looked at the elite girls of the 13th Unit. She looked at her own servants. She spoke with absolute seriousness.

"The Succession War started as a simple competition," Princess Hestia explained smoothly.

"We were given basic tasks. We cleared small dungeons. We raced for artifacts. It was a controlled environment. But over the last two weeks, the scale has changed entirely. We fought a massive biological monster in the streets. We witnessed a toxic bomb destroy an allied nation. And now, a continent-wide bug invasion." Naomi frowned deeply. Her green eyes narrowed.

"You are right. The missions are getting completely out of hand. The threats are becoming massive."

"The Upper Council is losing control of the narrative," Hestia declared.

"Or, worse, someone in the shadows is intentionally pushing the danger levels higher. They are testing us. They are forcing us to fight world-ending threats just to earn points." Ken grabbed another potato chip. He popped it into his mouth. He chewed it slowly.

"It is the classic anime power scaling," Ken mumbled lazily. He pointed a finger at the ceiling.

"The writers always do this. The first season is super easy. The heroes just fight local bandits. Then the second season starts. Suddenly, the bad guys are giant monsters from space. The power levels just keep going up. It is very exhausting. The heroes never get a break." Elma glared at him.

"Stop talking about cartoons! This is real life! We could actually die!" The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I am just analyzing the plot structure," Ken argued cheerfully. He slouched his posture.

"If the power scaling keeps going up, we are going to need a training arc. Training arcs involve a lot of running. I absolutely refuse to run. I will just sit on the bench and cheer for you guys." Naomi smiled warmly. She patted his back.

"You will not have to run, Ken. We will do the fighting. You just keep finding the clues." Princess Iris looked at her older sister.

"Hestia, you believe the war is shifting into a more dangerous phase."

"I am certain of it," Hestia confirmed.

"I came here to share this concern. Our temporary alliance has proven highly effective. I despise your messy estate, but I respect your combat results. If the threats continue to escalate, we must maintain a level of communication. We cannot afford to be blindsided by another apocalyptic event." Sayma nodded politely.

"Shared intelligence increases our survival probability by a massive margin. It is a highly logical decision, Princess Hestia." Before anyone could say another word, the front doors of the estate opened again. Loud, echoing footsteps entered the hallway. The sound of clanking metal and turning gears filled the air.

"Speak of the devil," Zinia grinned a tough, confident grin.

"The engineers have arrived." Prince Hephaestus walked into the strategy room. The 9th Prince did not look like a royal. He wore a simple gray shirt. His shirt was covered in dark oil stains. He wore thick, dirty leather pants. He kept his heavy welding goggles pushed up onto his messy brown hair. He held a large metal thermos of black coffee. He looked completely exhausted. Heart walked right beside him. The tough Vice-Captain of the 9th Unit wore a thick leather apron.

She carried a massive steel wrench resting on her shoulder. She had a streak of black grease across her cheek. She smiled a friendly smile at Zinia. Several other engineers followed them into the room. They carried glowing magical tablets and small metal gadgets. They looked like they had been awake for three days straight.

"Sorry we are late," Prince Hephaestus announced. He took a huge gulp of his black coffee. He let out a loud, tired sigh.

"We were busy installing new defense turrets on our mansion walls. The bugs tried to eat my favorite generator. I was very upset." Ken sat up slightly in his chair. His sleepy dark eyes lit up with pure joy.

"Hephaestus!" Ken cheered happily. He gave the tired prince a massive, goofy wave.

"It is so good to see you, man. I totally love your outfit. You understand the value of comfortable clothes. You are a true inspiration to my lifestyle." Prince Hephaestus laughed a deep, genuine laugh. He walked over to the wooden table.

"Thanks, Ken," Hephaestus smiled warmly.

"Your suit looks very wrinkled today. I respect the dedication to comfort. Do you have any extra chips? I forgot to eat breakfast."

"I have plenty," Ken offered lazily. He slid the bag of barbecue chips across the table.

"Help yourself. Chips are the ultimate breakfast food. They require zero cooking time." Hephaestus grabbed a handful of chips. He ate them quickly. He swallowed and looked around the room. He saw Princess Iris and Princess Hestia standing together. He realized the meeting was very serious.

"I see the alliance is fully gathered," Hephaestus noted. He set his thermos on the table. He rubbed his tired eyes.

"I assume we are talking about the giant bugs. And the fact that this war is turning into an absolute nightmare."

"We are," Princess Iris confirmed softly.

"Hestia believes the danger is escalating intentionally. We are analyzing the situation." Heart stepped forward. She dropped her massive wrench onto the floor. It made a loud clank. She crossed her strong arms.

"Hestia is totally right," Heart stated bluntly.

"We brought our historical data files. We ran a massive comparative analysis last night. We looked at the records of every single Succession War over the last five hundred years. We found a very disturbing pattern." Sayma pushed her glasses up immediately. Her analytical mind sparked with intense interest.

"You analyzed the historical patterns? What did the data reveal?"