Chapter 401: with translation of chapter title

"Shameless" means the Umbrella OriginalBodies are always too lazy to listen to the demons, aliens, and other trash giving their pre‑battle "speech"…

Commonly called "beep beep".

"Ambush" is simple and straightforward: it is when the trash are immersed in their own world making their so‑called pre‑battle declarations to show how strong or correct they are, and the OriginalBodies will "fight dishonorably" launch a surprise first strike, thereby seizing absolute advantage.

For example, right now.

John letting the demon occupying Fugerimu's body utter "your body…" is already somewhat negligent, so while throwing the Fear Spear he also sprints.

"Thud! Thud!"

Only a black shadow accompanied by hurried heavy footsteps swiftly swept across the corridor piled with gold, silver, jewels and banquet tables laden with food, then stepped over the stairs onto the throne platform.

"Bang!!"

Immediately, the black shadow produced by John's sprint directly knocked the Fugerimu that had just dodged the Fear Spear flying, even collapsing a wall, and both vanished from the sight of their respective guards.

Seeing this, the Emperor's Son's and Sparta's most elite guards also launched fierce clashes, with gunfire, artillery fire, and the release of Spiritual Shock and lightning echoing throughout the hall.

The Warriors' Guard side, relying on the exclusive Terminator's defensive power, stubbornly withstood all attacks; they not only kept their linked burst‑arrow guns and large‑caliber shoulder cannons continuously spewing flames, but also imitated their OriginalBodies by hurling power spears at high‑threat targets.

As for going to help their OriginalBodies?

Come on, the Umbrella army's Honor Guard, although its title contains "Guard", should be the OriginalBodies' bodyguards, but in reality it's just a straightforward troop for the OriginalBodies.

Of course, if an OriginalBody truly encounters danger and risks its life, the Umbrella Honor Guard will also employ a sea‑of‑tactics, sacrificing their own lives to give the OriginalBody a chance to withdraw.

But…

The Warriors' Guard's OriginalBody is John.

Even though the ten Umbrella OriginalBodies, after reaching adulthood and leading their respective legions, have never again mutually "compared" — that is, engaged in duels — their subordinate Astate and auxiliary forces have never ceased various rankings.

For example, which OriginalBody is best at managing this aspect, Robert and Feilusi have been vying for first and second place year after year.

Everyone knows Robert's performance; as for the lower‑profile Feilusi, his high rating in management stems from the forging star sector under his jurisdiction, which continuously supplies bulk equipment and ships to all legions and the UNSC.

As for combat strength — that is, the ranking in duels — Leon, Shengjilesi, Rus, and John perennially top the list, and even Magnus has served once; after all, during the interspatial storm's ravages, Magnus once purified chaos‑contaminated star systems and planets together with the OriginalBody's father.

Among them, John and Shengjilesi often "monopolize" first place.

Therefore the Warriors' Guard has absolute confidence; their OriginalBody need not intervene to assist.

In contrast, the Emperor's Son's guards, acclaimed as the "Phoenix", will not be overconfident like the Warriors; they must assist their OriginalBody, even if the OriginalBody is presently demon‑controlled, as long as the flesh remains, they will eventually find a way to save the OriginalBody's soul.

Thus, to ensure they could buy enough time and to satisfy their intense desire to win, a power‑armored veteran whose armor was covered with living human faces and whose swordsmanship was superb, for some unknown reason, led his brothers in a charge against the Warriors.

Moreover, against Warriors wearing the exclusive Terminator armor, a gun‑versus‑gunfight would only end in miserable death, so launching a charge was still preferable.

Perhaps the lingering chaos power still within them could help them survive this tribulation?

That sword‑skill‑excellent imperial prince thought exactly so, and furthermore he used the surrounding brothers' flesh and bodies as cover and cannon fodder, while employing agile, light footwork to dodge.

It truly seemed like chaos's blessing, for against three hundred Warriors' Guard's arrow‑storm, dense artillery barrage, and high‑energy beams, that prince actually rushed to the side of a warrior whose helmet bore an olive‑branch decoration, raised a magic sword emitting eerie purple light, and swung with all his lifetime's learning and full strength to strike him.

But…

"Crack!" the corroded armor and ruined right arm were snapped clean off.

"Sizzle!" the ugly head and fallen body were instantly severed.

"Thud… thud… thud…" the head rolled away.

"Thump!" the body collapsed.

Having just finished the fierce battle, the olive‑branch warrior had already noticed that extremely lucky yet utterly despicable prince lunging to his side; he effortlessly dodged the prince's swing, then, relying on greater speed, twisted off the fellow's right arm, seized the magic sword and casually sliced off his head.

After dealing with that fellow, the warrior strode forward without looking back, continuing to sweep through the Emperor's Son's elite veterans.

"Ha… haha…"

Yet the disembodied skull, gazing up at the hall's ceiling carved with brushwork and inlaid with gold thread and gems, actually emitted a rather gleeful and arrogant eerie laugh.

As if death were nothing out of the ordinary for it.

Soon, the laughter ceased with the death of the physical body, and the last glimmer in its eyes faded completely.

But…

Even though the battle in the hall was drawing to a close, the Emperor's Son's elite veterans were dead or wounded to exhaustion, the Warriors' Guard began mopping up, yet no extremely evil or sudden event occurred.

This calm persisted until no Emperor's Son remained standing in the hall, leaving only the Warriors' Guard still engaged in mopping up…

Still nothing unexpected happened.

Once the Warriors' Guard confirmed that all rebel trash were completely dead, they filed onto the throne platform one by one, passing through the huge breach created by the impact, to seek out and rendezvous with their OriginalBodies.

That sword‑skill‑excellent…

Relative to the Emperor's Son, that sword‑skill‑excellent fellow, who remained arrogantly defiant even at death's door, is in fact a famed entity throughout the Emperor's Son's legion and even the entire 03 universe, known as the "Undying" and also as the Lust God's chosen, Lucius.

Before its fall, this creature was extremely arrogant, favoring its own benefit over loyalty and honor, making it an utterly selfish and self‑serving thing.

At the outset of the rebellion, Lucius actually chose to stand with the loyalists, until he envied his fellow legionnaires seizing command; he then unreservedly joined the traitors, and even before openly rebelling he manipulated the loyalists into slaughtering each other; after succeeding, he gloated over their misfortune and ruthlessly slaughtered his former brothers and comrades without leaving any room for mercy.

Thereafter, Lucius sank deeper into the path of chaos, simultaneously growing ever more insane.

When it "unfortunately" was slain, the Lust God took notice of this amusing plaything and, with a wave of his hand, bestowed the Blessing of "pity" and "loving kindness" upon Lucius.

Not long after, the killer began to go mad, his appearance gradually resembling Lucius; eventually his body was completely overtaken by Lucius, leaving the killer with only a living face‑skin clinging to his armor.

The Lust God's gifts of "pity" and "loving kindness" actually work thus: anyone who defeats Lucius and feels satisfaction or pleasure will be possessed by him, then have their body taken over, ending with only a permanent living face‑skin trapped in their armor — hence the title "Undying".

In contrast, the nameless warrior who slew Lucius in an instant never felt the slightest satisfaction or pleasure.

After all, a figure like Lucius is hardly a worthy opponent for a warrior capable of serving as an OriginalBody's bodyguard for Umbrella.

To the nameless warrior, killing Lucius was just another mundane task of an ordinary day, and he might even find it boring.

Moreover, the nameless warrior is shielded by pure Spiritual Energy and has the Sparta 900‑ship fleet blocking Cilernus and the interspatial realm.

Thus, a lofty divine chosen one's explanation ends here so simply; his soul is even alerted by the System notification from the Master of Humanity, and whenever he habitually spends points on plunder as if auto‑paying, he seizes the opportunity to snatch it from the Lust God's grasp and make it his own…

It is indeed rather "tragic", and no one pays it heed; at least Erebus and Kolfaren were specially ordered by Sui Bian to be personally slain by the Guard Commander.

Meanwhile, while the Emperor's Son's elite veterans tried to hold back the Warriors' Guard, the Phoenix Guard took advantage of the breach to reach the palace's outer assembly square, where they happened to "see" their OriginalBody locked in a bitter struggle.

However, rather than actually "seeing", it was merely through the afterimages left when the two OriginalBodies clashed, and by sensing the anguish emitted from the demon occupying their OriginalBody's flesh, that they deduced the outcome of the bitter fight.

As they expected, even with a serpentine tail and four arms, and a height—or rather length—expanded to about nine meters, Fugureimu still cannot defeat John.

"Rou!"

Returning to the fear spear in his right hand, under John's swing it emitted a screeching rush through the air.

"Poozi!" Purple blood splattered into the air.

In the instant the two OriginalBodies clashed, one of Fugureimu's left arms was sliced cleanly by the war spear's blade.

"Zheng!!"

Feeling the severe pain, Fugureimu hurriedly used his demonic sword, which radiated a bewitching violet light, to repel the war spear that also emitted an eerie red glow.

But this was only John deliberately withdrawing his thrust to readjust his stance and prepare to end the fight in one blow, creating the illusion that Fugureimu had repelled him.

Immediately, Fugureimu's murky eyes reflected the fear spear's cold glint and bloody red once more, and just as he could not dodge…

"Boom! Boom!"

"Twang! Twang!!"

A dense barrage of Spiritual Shock, explosive arrow projectiles and other attacks surged from the direction of the palace.

It turned out that the Phoenix Guard, relying on Spiritual Perception, tried every means to rescue and aid their OriginalBodies, even at the cost of securing a sliver of escape chance for them.

Over three hundred members of the Phoenix Guard, clad in purple‑armored Terminators, surged forward in a wave of sacrifice, launching suicide attacks at John.

Their loyalty is evident.

Even after falling and indulging for two hundred forty years, the Phoenix Guard still remains the most steadfast in loyalty to Fugureimu, despite the Fugureimu before them being merely a demon‑possessed husk.

Their fearless, loyal, and forward‑charging spirit, regardless of corruption, deserves admiration and respect.

Unfortunately…

John believes that the greatest respect for an opponent is to demonstrate one's true strength.

Thus, relying on his nearly unshakable Spiritual Energy barrier, he ignored all of the Phoenix Guard's attacks and, with absolute speed, thrust the fear spear.

"Zi! Zi! Zi!" Three arms were sliced cleanly by the sharp spear tip.

Then, with a "Puchi!" sound, the fear spear pierced the twisted, hateful serpentine body.

"Aaaah!!!" A heart‑rending howl echoed throughout the palace complex.

In a breathless instant, John single‑handedly lifted the Fugureimu hanging on the spear shaft, which was more than two sizes larger than him.

The outcome was decided within two short seconds.

Having dealt with the fallen OriginalBody, it was time to deal with the "commendable loyalty" Phoenix Guard.

John only tilted his body slightly, turned his head, looked at the Phoenix Guard moving in slow motion to him, and finally said, "All of you, lie down."

"Boom——~!"

As John deliberately raised his voice, a visible Spiritual Shock, capable of warping space, surged outward from him in all directions.

"Thump! Thump!"

Any Phoenix Guard member hit by the Spiritual Shock completely lost control of their bodies; inertia from their sudden stop caused them to fall face‑first onto the ground, some even skidding a short distance before finally halting.

Just as John showed ample respect, he easily suppressed the entire Phoenix Guard with Spiritual Energy.

As for why he did not unleash a slaughter, it wasn't because the famously cold‑hearted John suddenly showed mercy; rather, he believed the genetic seeds of these Phoenix Guard members held recyclable value, and if handed to the plague doctor, they might yield unexpected gains.

Of course, the main reason was to deliver Fugureimu to the doctor, for this brother with alien "father" and "mother" still harbors a sliver of salvable soul.

———————

…

2182/09/17.

Since the evil god demon has sacrificed countless humans from the 03 universe, creating a vortex Space Gate that has been linked to the primary universe for two and a half months.

During this period, the New Human Empire's cruelty toward Dianka caused an equal number of OriginalBodies to fall and territories to be lost.

Currently, the expeditionary force led by Sui Bian has captured Conrad Koz, Motarian and Fugureimu, killed and retrieved Loga Aureilian's corpse, while the Angelong Isotope was "executed" by Artemis on Sui Bian's orders.

The New Human Empire has lost half of its OriginalBodies, and half of its territories have likewise been seized by the primary universe's expeditionary army.

Regarding OriginalBodies, the New Human Empire now only has the remnants—Alpharis and the Omega Twins, still contending with Angelong and Shengjilesi; the Magnus Isotope still garrisoning the Scholar Star Zone; Peturabo, responsible for Shensheng Tala's defense; and the New Human Emperor Helusi Lupékar.

Now, more than half of the expeditionary forces have paused their advance to regroup and consolidate occupied zones, while Sui Bian and Rog are preparing to head to the Scholar Star Zone, and the voluntarily surrendered Conrad Koz has already been personally escorted by Kelakesi to the Never-fallen.

(End of Chapter)