First Intergalactic Emperor: Starting With The Ancient Goddess-Chapter 477: Executing Plan

Six days had passed since the quest dropped into Xavier’s vision.

He could’ve killed Velkhar the first night if he wanted to. He’d already been close enough, already seen the layers of security, already tasted how complacent the man was inside his own little kingdom. The problem wasn’t access.

The problem was timing.

Seven days meant something. The reward was obvious, but the penalty was the part that mattered. Kylus making a deal with AIL wasn’t just a consequence, it was a signal that other pieces were moving on the board whether Xavier moved or not. It also told him something else, something he didn’t say out loud to anyone.

Reva and her group were going to hit Helior Prime soon, or close enough that the city’s gravity would start pulling them in.

If Velkhar died too early, Helior Prime would tighten. Inspections would get meaner. Checkpoints would swell. Security would start acting like it had something to prove. That kind of shift didn’t just crush smugglers and criminals. It crushed people trying to slip through the cracks.

So Xavier waited. He let one day remain.

Then he got ready.

Xavier and Arlen had moved into Rin and Klatos’ room because Xavier and Arlen’s place looked like a fight had happened inside it and the furniture lost. The bed frame had snapped, the room’s neat order ruined, and the whole space carried the kind of damage that didn’t come from gunfire.

Rin didn’t comment when they walked in. He only looked at the broken strap on Xavier’s wrist where a cuff button had been forced back into place, and then rolled his eyes like he’d already decided he hated everything about it.

Klatos shut the door and checked the lock anyway.

Arlen had a device docked into the projector. A wide grid floated over the wall, white lines and layered markers. She was drawing with her hand like she’d done it a hundred times before, using the stylus like a weapon.

Xavier stood behind her, one hand in his pocket, the other pointing at the projection.

"Start with the entrance," he said. "Double doors, scan gate to the left, two guards posted, and the third one sitting behind the host desk pretending he’s not security."

Arlen nodded, drawing fast. "Got it."

"Bar location stays centered," Xavier continued. "Main floor tables here, lounge section here, and this part needs the angle right because it gives a line of sight to the private lift if you stand at the wrong spot."

She adjusted the geometry, adding partitions and reflective panels, placing service corridors where they belonged instead of where they looked good. She marked staff-only paths, emergency routes, maintenance hatches, and the elevator access that led up into Velkhar’s level.

Rin leaned on the far wall with his arms crossed, watching like he was bored, but his eyes stayed sharp. He didn’t speak because he knew the plan was being built right in front of him, line by line, and he didn’t want to break the pace.

Klatos hovered near the table, shoulders tight, beak slightly open like he wanted to interrupt every ten seconds and ask how the hell this was possible.

Arlen finished the outer layout and began detailing the private floor access, marking guard placements and probable choke points. She added the balcony section, the seating arrangement, the service doors that masked exits, and the corridor length that led to the level where Velkhar liked to sit and pretend he was untouchable.

By the time she finished, the Aurex Club stood on the wall in clean structure, detailed enough that even someone who’d never been there could walk it without hesitation.

Arlen stepped back and exhaled, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "That should be it," she said. "Unless you want me to start drawing where people breathe."

Xavier’s mouth curved slightly. "This is enough."

Klatos finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. "How do you even remember all of that?" he asked, voice strained between disbelief and anger. "You were there once. You were inside for minutes."

Xavier shrugged like it was a boring question. "It’s not hard."

Klatos stared at him, feathers shifting with frustration. "That’s a lie and you know it."

Xavier looked at him with calm amusement. "Back on Earth, people do this all the time."

Rin snorted. "Bro, nobody does this on Earth."

"You weren’t on Earth for long, so you probably don’t know it."

Arlen didn’t press it either. She’d already learned that when Xavier brushed off his own abilities, it meant he didn’t want the conversation to go there. Rin and Klatos knew it too, and they let it drop because pushing only wasted time.

Xavier looked at the projection again, eyes steady, already adjusting pieces in his head.

"Alright," he said. "Now we do it properly."

They stayed in Rin and Klatos’ room until the projection began to feel like it was breathing on the wall, the full layout of Aurex sitting there in clean detail, every corner accounted for and every route pinned down.

Xavier pointed at the private elevator shaft and then at the service corridors behind it. "Tomorrow night," he said. "We move then."

Rin’s face lit up immediately. "Finally."

Arlen didn’t share his excitement. She looked at the map like it was a sentence that hadn’t been passed yet, then nodded anyway because she was already committed.

Klatos hesitated a fraction longer, feathers shifting at his neck. "This is going to shake Helior Prime," he said. "Even if we do it clean."

"It’ll shake," Xavier replied, "but it’ll land where I want."

Klatos gave a quiet nod. He still didn’t like it, but he didn’t argue. Neither did Arlen. They had their reasons, and most of them had Xavier’s name in the center.

Rin clapped his hands together once, grinning. "I’m gonna sleep like a baby tonight."

"Try," Klatos muttered, already looking tired of him.

They went downstairs afterward, took a table in the hotel dining area, and ate like they weren’t planning to light a fuse the next night. Rin talked too much, mostly trash, mostly half-serious complaints about being stuck playing quiet for days. Klatos answered when he had to, Arlen stayed present without really being there, and Xavier ate with focus, the kind of focus he slipped into when food was the only simple thing left.

When dinner ended, Rin and Klatos headed back first.

Arlen stayed behind with Xavier.

In the lobby, she hovered beside him while he walked toward the desk, then spoke like she already knew what he was about to do. "We’re switching rooms."

"Our room’s done," Xavier said. "We need something clean."

The staff didn’t ask questions when he requested another room. They didn’t blink when he mentioned the change. They moved fast, offered a suite higher up, handed over a keycard and the access code like he was doing them a favor by not demanding an apology.

Xavier took the card, glanced at it, then turned and placed it into Arlen’s hand.

"Go," he told her. "Get settled."

Arlen frowned. "You’re not coming?"

"I’ve got to settle the damage," Xavier said, voice flat. "And pay the bill. We haven’t paid anything since the first night."

Arlen lifted her chin, stubborn. "I can wait."

Xavier stepped closer, close enough that she had to tilt her head up to keep eye contact. He slid a hand to her waist and pulled her in, fingers pressing with quiet authority, then let his hand drift lower and squeeze once before speaking near her ear.

"You can wait," he said, "or you can make yourself ready. I’ll be there soon, and I’m expecting you to do your job tonight."

Arlen’s breath caught.

Her cheeks flushed fast, the reaction immediate, and her mouth opened like she wanted to say something clever but her brain didn’t cooperate in time. She turned away first, muttering something under her breath that didn’t land as an insult, then walked toward the elevator with her steps slightly quicker than they needed to be.

Xavier watched the doors close on her.

The elevator rose.

He stayed where he was long enough to confirm the floor indicator hit the right level, long enough to confirm she’d reach the room without interruption.

Then he turned and walked toward the desk.

But... he didn’t stop there.

He passed it and left the hotel.

Outside, Helior Prime was still awake, lights and movement stacked into a skyline that never truly slept. Above it, Jupiter’s night sat like a ceiling that didn’t belong to Earth, darker and deeper, with distant bands of light stretched across the sky like scars across a giant’s skin. The air carried that clean chill unique to this world, a reminder that even the richest city here was still sitting on a planet that could swallow it whole.

Xavier looked up once, breathing in through his nose.

Then he muttered, almost like he was talking to himself.

"Time to introduce myself to Jupiter."

He adjusted his coat, set his shoulders, and started walking toward the Aurex Club alone.