Chapter 342: Normal Emotions and Ancient Sage Relics

First comes Ifeireni…

As for this long‑eared elf, Sui Bian does not find her unfamiliar; to some extent, he is actually very familiar, especially because of the special "relationship" between her and his eldest son Robert.

In his previous life's Warhammer 40k, Robert was wounded by a treacherous brother and fell into a ten‑thousand‑year slumber, only to "wake up" when Ifeireni arrived, restoring hope to the Human Empire.

Afterwards, the two maintained countless ties, and a Thanksgiving picture released by the Warhammer officials added endless layers to the various "Regent" and "Regent Consort" memes.

Even now, Sui Bian recalls that on the external web of his past life, a veteran player posted forum threads and images, and also uploaded a YouTube video, adhering to a "rigorous" stance while debating whether Ifeireni could withstand Robert.

That perhaps brings a touch of joy to an otherwise grim backdrop; in fact, the two formed a temporary alliance for the benefit of their respective peoples.

After all, the Eda Ling tribe regards humans as monkeys, while the Human Empire treats the Spirit race as damned alien, and humanity, having endured countless alien oppression and slaughter during its darkest era, can no longer trust any race.

In contrast, the humans he protects have never suffered great "grievances" and show considerable "tolerance" toward outsiders, especially the Sangheli, the Mar, and the Ironblood clan.

The Sangheli and the Mar—essentially the elites and elves—have fully integrated into human society, while the fewer Ironblood clan members are more mysterious, never seen in public.

Even the UNSC and the auxiliary legions contain hundreds of millions of elites and tens of thousands of Mar.

The elites excel at charging into battle, often serving as assault squads or shock troops for companies, or as special‑command troops for the UNSC Special Command, Umbrella Intelligence, and Oversight divisions.

By contrast, the Mar, adept at using Spiritual Energy, primarily assist UNSC soldiers in the awkward situations where they are easily suppressed by Spiritual Users.

Beyond the military, in civilian life, the elites' straightforward and sincere nature makes people willing to call them brothers.

As for the Mar…

They are somewhat special.

Among twenty‑million Mar, the gender ratio is 1:7, with few males; their appearance instantly makes humans think of "elf fairies," and unlike the Eda Ling tribe, they are not arrogantly contemptuous of other races.

The Mar admire human bravery, the way humans, in crises, give survival chances to the old, young, women, and children, and confront fear with a fearless willingness to sacrifice life.

Humans likewise appreciate the Mar's rich experience, wisdom, and…

…their beauty.

Indeed, it's clichéd but blunt.

Within the UNSC, many soldiers inevitably develop feelings while fighting alongside the Mar, forming bonds that transcend mere comradeship.

Just as, before the Zero‑One Universe Space Gate opened without warning, a group of high‑school seniors teasing each other about wanting an "elf wife," many youths seem to share this adolescent fantasy.

The UEG Government and UNSC forces under Sui Bian's control are not strict about such "inter‑species" romances and marriages; with the plague‑doctor's vaccine, there's no worry of interdimensional interference, but regarding "reproductive isolation," he will neither spend Umbrella's funds nor research to solve it, nor can he solve it.

Although some soldiers and elves unite for the so‑called "love," they remain a minority; the White Queen once tallied before the expedition, finding fewer than 400,000 such pairs, a negligible figure against humanity's nearly 400 billion population.

Among the many reports Robert sent back, over 300,000 Otino survived and followed the Extremis Legion away from their ten‑thousand‑year home; later, Robert deployed two Newstar III nuclear bombs to "cleanse" the Otino planet, ensuring no more Green Orcs would arise.

But…

That "cleansing" also left the 300,000 Otino homeless, forcing them to temporarily accompany the expeditionary force; however, it gave Ifeireni, who mediates between humans and Otino, a chance to supply the expedition with abundant intelligence on the Green Orcs, and occasionally she can offer prophetic advice.

Whether to act on those prophetic suggestions depends entirely on whether Robert chooses to believe them and whether they would affect the battle.

All of this is normal, and Sui Bian has already tasked the White Queen with dispatching engineering teams within the Solar System to build a settlement on Fast Arcadia, to house the Otino after the war.

Of course, while the settlement is provided, the property rights remain with Umbrella; Sui Bian rents it to the elves, and the Otino must work "for free" for a period to earn credit points before gaining residency rights.

Those matters need not overly concern Sui Bian.

What he worries about is whether this universe's Ifeireni might have any designs on his eldest son.

Sui Bian's sons are all quite "normal" in the literal sense; he simply has never brought it up over the years.

John enjoys honing his martial arts, Rog spends his time studying engineering, Shengjilesi pursues equality and dedication, and Rus needs no further description—drinking and fighting are both indispensable.

In other words, the sons possess normal emotions, including toward the opposite sex.

This point…

Even between father and son, it's hard to bring up, and the sons all know their superhuman physiques, the heavy responsibilities they bear, and their strong self‑control, so they naturally aren't troubled by it.

Through the G‑gland inheritance from him and the OriginalBodies, and the 25 maturation procedures of the Astate, they likewise possess great self‑control; combined with pure Spiritual Energy and the vaccine's effect, Sui Bian does not deliberately regulate them.

Enough.

Sui Bian pulls his worry from his eldest son's mind, too lazy to dwell on hypotheticals, and shifts his focus to the Green Orcs who have already formed the "Waaagh Empire."

Based on the intelligence Ifeireni supplied, he finally begins to lift the "veil" obscuring this group of Green Orcs.

While pondering, Sui Bian shifts his gaze, "focusing" on the planar star map redrawn by the Red and White Queens.

He sees that the former Titanium Empire's territory, marked on the left, now belongs to the Green Orc Empire, spanning roughly 600 light‑years in diameter—not especially vast, and those 600 light‑years are the result of swallowing parts of the former Titanium Empire.

Among them, there are just over 160 Earth‑like planets suitable for Green Orc habitation, but the total number of Green Orcs is measured in trillions; Ifeireni estimates at least 30 trillion, equivalent to 30 quadrillion, or seventy‑five times humanity's size.

Such a massive population, yet concentrated on a "tiny" 160‑plus planets, and this is only the Green Orc Empire's initial stage; without any force to curb them, Ifeireni says the Green Orcs will fully enter an "expansion phase," first seizing an entire star region, then a spiral arm, then the whole galaxy.

At present, the Green Orc Empire already shows the momentum of the "expansion phase"; the fallen Titanium Empire territories and the recently invaded Otino are prime evidence.

As for the "Waaagh Empire," Ifeireni explains that they seemingly lack a name for their empire, so they simply use their most common and beloved term, "Waaagh."

Regarding the 30 trillion, the figure alone does not stir Sui Bian's emotions, but the thirty‑six Orc chieftains and a war‑beast give him a headache.

In his past life, he never studied the Warhammer 40k Beast War closely, but he knows the Beast War inflicted massive losses on the Human Empire, and that an OriginalBody paid the ultimate price to finally eliminate a single "Beast."

Now, before Sui Bian lie thirty‑six heads and a "giant head"?

Although his eldest son Robert cleanly dealt with one of them in the first clash with the Green Orcs, that particular one seemed to be targeted because the Green Orc Empire did not view the Otino as a threat, leaving the weakest chieftain to be handled.

Let alone there is also a war‑beast that commands all Green Orcs and all chieftains…

Clearly, Robert, Leon, and Rog alone cannot completely eradicate the Green Orc Empire as it steps into the expansion phase.

Reinforcements must be dispatched.

As he ends his contemplation, Sui Bian also uncrosses his arms, elbows on the table, extends his right hand, tweaks the holographic control panel, and prepares a real‑time link with Robert nine thousand light‑years away.

Soon, the other desktop screens shrink to make room for the central holographic comm screen; immediately, Robert, clad in powered armor, appears and says first, "Father?"

"Hmm." Sui Bian nods lightly, then says plainly, "I've reviewed your support request; the Orc Empire does indeed need humanity on standby. In a moment I'll have the Red and White Queens assist Shengjilesi, Kelakesi, and Angelong in dispatching legions and the UNSC fleet, expected to reach the prehistoric planet in seven to eight Earth days."

"Feilusi must handle the homeworld's forging, John and Rus must guard against the Covenant's remnants and the Velyn pirates, Magnus will co‑station with me over the Solar System and the entire domain, public opinion need not worry—I'll make society aware of the Green Orcs' menace—but you brothers, you must eradicate the Orc Empire in the shortest time possible, understand?"

The three brothers and the forces of three sectors?

Robert's brief confusion fades as he understands his father, unable to leave human territory easily, hopes the brothers will crush and eliminate the Orc Empire with overwhelming force, and also look out for each other.

Later, in a deep voice he replied, "Rest assured, Father, I'll lead the brothers to win this battle."

"I'm certainly at ease," Sui Bian said with a faint smile. As the eldest son he truly was the most reassuring child, and finally he added a reminder: "Watch out for that war beast."

"Yes."

"Alright, go prepare."

"Yes."

End communication.

Without waiting for Sui Bian to give explicit orders, the Red Queen and White Queen standing on either side of the desk had already begun preparing the relevant matters as soon as they heard the earlier conversation, only awaiting concrete commands from Sui Bian.

Although their minds were already indistinguishable from humans', they would never act without Sui Bian's order; they would not start implementation on their own.

"You've both heard the specifics," Sui Bian said, dispersing the communication screen, refocusing on the battle details, and ordering the two secretaries, "Notify each OriginalBody to concentrate on solving the beast disaster, and again use the network to inform society that people have the right to know about the Beastmen's calamity, and what the consequences of failing to curb it will be."

"Yes (good)." Receiving the concrete order, they finally "let loose."

"Chairman." Yet a flash of blue light flickered in the White Queen's pupils as she reported to Sui Bian, "The plague doctor says he wants more green‑skinned Beastmen samples; if possible, he'd like live specimens for experiments."

Since the end of the Ottino battle, Robert has dispatched technicians to strictly guard Beastmen corpses, blood, and various tissue samples, sending them through the Space Gate of a prehistoric planet to the mother hive, where Umbrella's top researchers conduct study and analysis.

Among them is the "specialized" plague doctor.

Hearing that, Sui Bian looked at the White Queen, "What else did the doctor say?"

"He also said that green‑skinned Beastmen could help improve his vaccine and, at the same time, could deal a heavy blow to the alternate dimension," the White Queen continued.

Heavy blow?

However, if the Beastmen's "Waaagh" stance is applied properly, it can indeed deal a heavy blow to the alternate dimension, so Sui Bian lightly raised his right hand and said, "Understood, tell him to wait a while and continue experiments with the existing samples and data."

"Alright." the White Queen agreed.

Meanwhile.

Along the left border of the Original Titanium Empire's territory, within the gravity field of a terra‑like planet already occupied by humans, the DawnGuardian and the Courage Anthem, together with more than two hundred main warships of the Limit and Dark Angel, were docked.

On the bridge of the DawnGuardian.

"Shengjilesi, Kelakesi, and Angelong—hmm, it's been a while since I've seen them."

Learning that the brothers had reunited because of the war, Lai'ang let out a sigh of emotion.

Standing beside this OriginalBody at the large central console were Robert, NuoWa, Kaise, Ka Luosi and other commanders, as well as a "guide," Yifei Lei Ni.

As for the star map displayed on the console, it showed the Green Skin Empire's territory and also indicated the expeditionary forces deployed across the border zone between the Original Titanium Empire and the Green Skin Empire.

The human side is holding fire for now, focusing on defense, while the supply line arranged by Rog continuously and efficiently delivers ammunition, provisions, equipment and other logistics to each division.

"Esteemed human OriginalBody." At this moment, Yifei Lei Ni first raised her hand to point at the core region of the Green Skin Empire, apparently its capital system, then turned sideways, looked up at Robert beside her, and said solemnly:

"The wave of Beastmen sweeping this sector seems to originate from a… relic of an ancient sage race."

"An ancient sage relic?" Robert fell into thought, following the spot Yifei Lei Ni indicated.

At this point, in all the discussions, the Tiapu Empire that originally sparked the war was long gone.

Because no one cares at all.

(End of chapter)