Chapter 350: Guardian Conversion: Fourteen Years and the Collectibles

Inside the observation room.

The Red Queen and White Queen, both wearing identical black shirts and knee‑length skirts, stand patiently before the observation room's hatch.

Meanwhile, Rebecca and Alekxia, forever clad in white lab coats, stand on either side of Sui Bian, who is dressed in formal attire.

At this moment, the large holographic screen before them shows Constantine continuing to sweep the Xenomorphs bare‑handed, and the upper‑left corner reads "2126/04/14/NRC 10:22 (NRC, New Raccoon City time)".

By that calculation, Rebecca, born in 1980, and Alekxia, born in 1971, should be 146 and 155 years old "old ladies," yet they show not a hint of aging and still look just over twenty.

After all, Umbrella's nanotech has long been masterful, and four years ago Umbrella also obtained the bio‑technology held by the Administrator from a memory vault called "Merk Bēijì Hóngtú," greatly extending human lifespan; now natural death is rare.

Various technologies, plus the anti‑aging serum "Blood Man Flower," keep Rebecca's appearance and figure almost identical to when Sui Bian first recruited her to Umbrella, only more mature.

As for Alekxia, who has perfectly merged with the T Veronica virus, her body is beyond ordinary humans; theoretically she needs no technology or serum to achieve "immortality".

Finally, there is Constantine.

This "Astate" is actually the Guardian Commander under Sui Bian, leading a total of six thousand Guardians.

Although Constantine is one of the strongest forces outside the OriginalBody, his height and build should not be so extraordinary; in fact, this is because he underwent the "Guardian" conversion surgery performed personally with knives by Rebecca and Alekxia.

An Astate will experience three stages before reaching adulthood.

The first stage, Umbrella selects the most outstanding candidates from billions of youths aged fourteen to sixteen, and then implants G‑glands into these candidates for each legion.

In the second stage, the candidates undergo the harshest, most brutal training, receive comprehensive cultural education, and are regularly injected with super serum to "strengthen body and mind".

The third stage consists of a fourteen‑day series of twenty‑five modification surgeries that fully transform the candidates into true Astates, followed by the familiar rookie trial.

Constantine's "Guardian" conversion, however, adds four extra procedures on top of the adult Astate baseline: "Nano Gland", "Tendon Coil", "Tungsten Steel Skeleton", and "Black Carapace".

The "Nano Gland" is cultivated using the Administrator's nanotech combined with Umbrella's bio‑technology, forming a glandular tissue like a "factory".

When a Guardian‑converted Astate eats normally or, in emergencies, swallows various "coarse foods," especially metal, the gland automatically produces nanorobots and stores excess ones within itself, greatly boosting the Astate's excretion, self‑healing, and defensive capabilities.

This explains why the Xenomorph's strong acidic blood, when splashed on Constantine, only reddens his skin slightly.

The "Tendon Coil" involves implanting a metal coil named "Ares" by Alekxia into the tendons of a Guardian‑converted Astate, enabling incredible force contraction that amplifies strength beyond that of ordinary interstellar warriors.

The "Tungsten Steel Skeleton," as the name suggests, coats the bones with a layer of tungsten steel, so terms like bone fracture, crack, or shatter hardly apply to a Guardian‑converted Astate.

The "Black Carapace," cultivated in a growth chamber, initially resembles a black plastic sheet; once "mature," it is sliced and implanted subcutaneously into the torso of a Guardian‑converted Astate.

Within hours of implantation, the Black Carapace tissue rapidly expands, "spreads" along nerve bundles, and after a two‑month "maturation period" can be linked to a dedicated power armor or "bio‑exoskeleton," achieving true "human‑armor integration".

The "slot" on Constantine's skin is the external interface for the Black Carapace.

However, the Tungsten Steel Skeleton surgery carries huge risk, and the Nano Gland can trigger a severe rejection response, requiring a custom, complex procedure.

Consequently, the Guardian conversion surgery is extremely costly and also requires Rebecca and Alekxia to personally oversee each Guardian's operation; however, if all six thousand Guardians complete the conversion, they will become beings between the OriginalBody and the Astate.

Although confronting an OriginalBody still results in an instant kill, facing an Astate allows one to easily take on ten or a hundred; of course, with Sui Bian present, Guardians will never clash with Astates, but at present Astates are best suited as "measurement units".

The time required for the four procedures varies per individual; Constantine, for example, took a full forty‑two days, and after surgery underwent a "second development," making him distinguishable from ordinary Astates by appearance alone.

【9】 Returning to the present.

Return to the present.

"That's good," Sui Bian said after hearing the two senior researchers' report, nodding and ordering, "The remaining children (Guardians) are now your responsibility."

"Don't worry," Alekxia replied cheerfully.

"Mm," Rebecca murmured in agreement.

"Constantine will stay here to assist you; I'm leaving now," Sui Bian said, then turned and exited the observation room, with the two secretaries following closely.

After the automatic doors opened and closed in succession, only the two researchers remained in the observation room.

Rebecca turned to stare at the now‑closed automatic doors, while Alekxia glanced at her friend and colleague beside her, then operated the holographic panel to halt the continued "transport" of Xenomorphs into the trial arena, and opened a broadcast to speak to Constantine:

"Alright, kid, finish off the last few cute ones in front of you, then come out."

"Yes, Doctor," Constantine replied.

On the holographic screen, the Guardian Commander, following Alekxia's words, swiftly "rips" the last few Xenomorphs and hurries toward the trial arena's exit gate.

Seeing this, Alekxia finally dismissed the holographic screen, turned, noticed Rebecca still a bit stunned, shook her head with a smile, raised her hand to lightly pat Rebecca's nape, and said:

"Hey, don't just stand there like a fool, get to work."

"Huh? Mm, okay, let's go."

Regaining her composure, Rebecca nodded and left the observation room with Alekxia, walking through a corridor of pristine, reflective tiles in typical Umbrella style.

"Sigh," Rebecca suddenly asked, "You say the 'for humanity' cause—when will it be considered fulfilled?"

?

Alekxia glanced sideways at Rebecca, thought briefly, shrugged, lifted both hands to adjust her high ponytail, and replied nonchalantly, "When the universe collapses or reaches heat death, that'll be about it."

"Until the end of the world?" Rebecca sounded much more despondent.

"What…?" Seeing her friend's expression, Alekxia suddenly became interested, as if reading Rebecca's mind, and teasingly laughed, "You, woman, seem shy on the surface but are actually quite a tease, haha… No worries, don't worry, we probably won't need the end of the world; I think when humanity becomes the ruler of the galaxy, that'll be about it. Anyway, focus on the kids' surgery issues now, don't get tangled up in trivialities."

"Alright, first focus on the kids' surgery issues, don't get tangled up in trivialities."

"Indeed," Rebecca forced a smile; as for Alekxia's teasing, she was already accustomed, besides…

Alekxia was right.

Soon after, the two arrived at the preparation hall surrounding the trial arena, where Constantine, also present, held his arms out as technicians removed his acid‑corroded clothing and gear and conducted a check.

Meanwhile.

Above, about two hundred meters above the trial arena, the "surface" hosts Umbrella's new headquarters and a massive metropolis comparable in scale to New Raccoon City or any colonial megacity.

Moreover, directly above this city, an artificial star provides illumination, and beyond it lie lakes, seas, forests, and other towns—clearly the view of the Shield World that Robert, Leon and other OriginalBodies seized from the green‑skinned beasts and gave to their father.

The city housing Umbrella's headquarters is the "New Raccoon City," home to 160 million residents and the core of Umbrella, UEG, and UNSC.

As for the Shield World designated "003" by the Administrator, Sui Bian has named it "Shield of Terra," and including New Raccoon City, the Shield of Terra houses a total of 2.6 billion people inside and out.

Among the 2.6 billion are Umbrella staff and their families, UEG officials overseeing civil affairs, and UNSC officers and soldiers stationed there.

The most crucial component of the defensive forces is the over six thousand Guardians who remain on the Shield of Terra with Sui Bian; with them and the Shield World's offensive/defensive weapons, there is no need to fear any known or unknown Xenomorph forces.

However, in the months and even a year to come, the Guardians will sequentially undergo their exclusive surgeries and cannot focus on defense, so Sui Bian's personal guard will drop to its lowest level ever.

Leon, serving as governor in the Temple Star region, requires the Guardians to "rest peacefully," but even with no one beside him, it seems to have little effect on Sui Bian; rather than the Guardians protecting his safety, it is he who protects these children's safety.

After all, Sui Bian only needs to move a finger to destroy a planet; of course, his control over the scale of power is effortless, otherwise all sorts of accidents would have occurred long ago…

These accidents also include everyday trivial matters.

At that moment, a stealth-class warship that had deactivated its Optical Camouflage and unfurled its wings entered the inner earth world through the Arctic gate and headed straight for the Umbrella-exclusive starport in New Raccoon City.

And this side of the headquarters building.

Sui Bian and his two secretaries had just entered the top-floor office; he casually handed the coat he had taken off to the White Empress, walked toward the desk, and at the same time unfastened the cuffs on both sleeves, preparing to roll them up.

"Chairman." The Red Empress reported to him: "The OriginalBody Rus has already destroyed the main fleet of the Predator civilization; currently, the Space Wild Wolves legion is carrying out the final 'cleansing' operation, ensuring the eradication of all brain beasts."

Listening to the Red Empress's report, Sui Bian sat behind the desk and called up the relevant video footage to watch.

On the screen appeared a world with a diameter of as much as 270 kilometers, its surface bristling with guns of various calibers and various facilities—the Space Wild Wolves' homeworld—using the 'inherited' beam matrix from the Administrator civilization, and with absolute firepower it destroyed, in the blink of an eye, the Predator fleet that in the Starry Sea domain appeared massive and grotesquely bloated.

The high-energy beams twisted, bent, swept horizontally or split vertically, cutting and searing every 'living' warship they touched.

Over a century ago, humanity had only three Azure Eagle‑class ships, yet dared to confront the Predator civilization's reconnaissance fleet head‑on, slaying the brain beasts to win; now humanity's warships are countless, and moreover, the Predator forces unfortunately ran into the Space Wild Wolves' homeworld.

A moment of silence passed.

"There may still be unknown wandering fleets beyond our borders; tell Rus not to let his guard down."

"Yes."

After Sui Bian finished reminding the Red Empress, he continued to keep his eyes on the desktop screen, browsing recent files and checking whether any documents needed signing.

The Green‑skinned Empire was already a thing of fourteen years ago; now, although human territory remains unchanged, thanks to the large population base, the total population has nonetheless reached 6902 billion, and within a year it will exceed 7000 billion—but compared with human territory, this figure is still considered 'sparse'.

In terms of military force, the homeworlds prepared for each OriginalBody were completed one after another in 2124; as for the homeworld originally intended for him, it has been scrapped, and Feilusi, who was in charge of its construction, has already dismantled it.

Over these fourteen years, Umbrella has also been studying Halo (Superweapon) technology through memory storage, believing that within forty or fifty years humanity will possess the power to arbitrarily control the survival of a species.

"Swish—"

Hearing the automatic door suddenly open and close, Sui Bian had just begun to lift his head when he saw Artemis in a white dress, her loose waist‑length hair, wearing an olive‑branch wreath, stride to the desk, place both hands on it and lean forward slightly, displaying her most perfect pose, and with a teasing smile she asked:

"Boss, is there something important to discuss by having me return to the Solar System?"

"... " Sui Bian first looked away, rose and headed toward the automatic door, and only then replied, "Come with me."

"All right." Artemis followed behind Sui Bian.

Leaving the office, she and Sui Bian walked down a corridor carpeted with noise‑reducing material to a "collection room" at the end.

As the lights came on one by one, a dazzling array of collectibles appeared before Artemis's eyes, among them items representing the sky and thunder, and also representing her father Zeus—

Thunder.

(End of chapter)