Chapter 403: Soul and Broken Soldiers and Defeated Generals

"All right."

Sui Bian waves his hand, ready to turn and leave, and orders the four guard Daoists stationed here: "Transfer Conrad Koz to the exclusive infirmary."

"Yes." The four guards immediately comply.

Kelakesi, together with his father, left the cell and entered the outer corridor, glanced silently and followed them, while behind him Constantine, who still bore the Kasius gun, turned his gaze forward down the corridor, also keeping silent as he walked with his father.

The whole journey was wordless.

Kelakesi, unlike Rog or Rus, does not like to chatter, nor does he, like Robert, enjoy probing for reasons; this sixth son follows the "father says nothing, he asks nothing" temperament.

Soon, Kelakesi, together with Sui Bian and the equally silent Constantine, arrived at the outside of another special cell guarded by several Grey Knights.

"."

Kelakesi, having stopped, surveyed the tightly shut gate up and down; although the underground facility isolates all chaotic Spiritual Energy and other-dimensional connections, he knows that inside this cell seems to be Fuge Ruimu, about to undergo a "craniotomy" by the plague doctor.

Waiting for the gate to open…

"You bunch of slaves! Slaves! You cannot kill me! Hahaha!"

He and his father had just stepped inside when they heard an arrogant roar of an androgynous voice, and saw the "humanoid serpentine body" Fuge Ruimu bound by solid light beams to an elongated metal platform.

This completely confirmed his earlier suspicion.

Inside the cell, besides the restrained "humanoid serpentine body" Fuge Ruimu, there were Artemis herself guarding the place and elite Grey Knights such as Ran Min, Xi Jisi, who wore the Holy Shield Helmet.

"Ha…ha…"

The demon occupying Fuge Ruimu's flesh, which had been struggling, shouting angrily and jeering, suddenly halted its grotesque, ugly grin, because it stared dumbfounded at the approaching Sui Bian.

Sui Bian stepped to one side of the metal platform, glanced left and right at the serpentine staff that John had stripped of four arms, then raised his left hand, spread his palm toward that distorted, ugly face, and with his characteristic faint smile continued:

"I think I heard you claim you cannot be killed? Hmm… I'd like to try it. So, do you have the nerve to cooperate with me?"

The demon possessing Fuge Ruimu was first stunned, then its expression changed, showing an extremely compliant demeanor, almost whispering:

"No, no, no, esteemed human lord, how could I dare speak so boldly before you? I am willing to give everything, provided you spare this vile and utterly insignificant thing of mine."

"."

Hearing this overly flattering speech, even the usually stoic Kelakesi couldn't help his mouth twitch.

What was once so arrogant is now so humble.

Indeed, most demons lack any sense of dignity or limits, but... Kelakesi, who knows Sui Bian's temperament well, still sensed his father was planning some trick.

"Oh?" Sui Bian ignored his son's doubt, lowered his left hand, and asked the demon, "Are you sure it's everything?"

"Of course!" the demon swore.

"Very well." As Sui Bian fully lowered his left hand, he said, "Then I want Fuge Ruimu's soul; I wonder… can you surrender it?"

"This…" the demon hesitated slightly, but seeing Sui Bian's completely indifferent smiling face, ultimately chose to abandon deceit or trickery.

Soon after, Fuge Ruimu seemed to become rigid, but quickly his eyes cleared from murky to crystal, and his expression changed from blank to intensely sorrowful.

It appears the demon has released the "sub-personality" that is Fuge Ruimu.

"Feilusi!! My brother!!" the newly freed Fuge Ruimu roared mournfully, apparently recalling the moment when, under the demon's influence, he mistakenly beheaded Feilusi Marus.

Moreover, the freed Fuge Ruimu could not control his emotions, thrashing his body and struggling fiercely.

Seeing this, Sui Bian immediately raised his left hand again, directing his palm toward Fuge Ruimu's head.

Boom~—.

A burst of Spiritual Shock flashed and vanished.

In the next few seconds, Fuge Ruimu first experienced his entire body enveloped in golden radiance, then his eyes, mouth, nose, even his ears emitted golden light outward.

Not long after.

The golden light faded.

Fuge Ruimu ceased struggling, his gaze vacant as he stared upward, while Sui Bian's left palm now held a pale violet orb about the size of a ping-pong ball.

A few seconds later, Fuge Ruimu's eyes turned murky again.

Then it stared around bewildered, finally fixing its gaze on Sui Bian, who had already extinguished the pale violet orb and kept his hands behind his back.

Clearly, at this moment the body was not controlled by Fuge Ruimu but by the previously submissive demon, yet it puzzled, "Esteemed human lord, you just…"

"You need not know what just happened," Sui Bian cut him off, turned and left the cell, and as he was about to step through the gate, glanced at Artemis and instructed:

"Tell the plague doctor to stop being so cautious, and to freely experiment without restraint."

Meeting Sui Bian's slightly meaningful gaze, Artemis instantly understood the human lord's thoughts and, without hesitation, replied:

"Rest assured, leave it to me."

"Hmm." Sui Bian responded lightly, then led Kelakesi and Constantine away from the cell without looking back.

"Wait… esteemed human lord! I have already released Fuge Ruimu as you instructed!" the demon howled, its voice tearing his heart, as the gate closed.

However, when the gate sealed completely, no one could give it any response.

"What… what does that mean?! How could he break his word!" the demon's futile roar echoed through the vast cell.

"Noisy."

Artemis, irritated, reached into the pouch at the back of her armor, took out a transparent container no larger than a palm, unscrewed the seal, and poured the entire tasteless, colorless liquid onto the demon.

"Sizzle~! Sizzle~!"

However, the seemingly harmless liquid reacted violently, corroding the demon's serpentine flesh the instant it splashed.

"Ah!! Ah!!" a heart-wrenching, androgynous scream erupted instantly, replacing the earlier futile roar.

"Heh, shredded." Artemis said with disdain.

The liquid that severely wounded the demon was the mass‑producible Moonwater.

She put away the empty container, waved at the square‑faced Grey Knight, and, watching the demon's painful whimper and struggle, casually said, "Ran Min, go, seal this creature's mouth."

Obeying the order, Ran Min attached the Vengeance Goddess' power halberd to his back, twisted his neck joints, producing a "Kaka! Kaka!" sound as he approached the metal platform, then replied:

"With pleasure, madam."

After that…

"Ah!!" the demon let out its final wail.

At this moment.

Inside the underground corridor.

"Father, what did you just do?" Kelakesi, who knew nothing of what had happened in the cell, asked—a rare, proactive inquiry.

"Don't you already have the answer?" Sui Bian retorted, sounding almost like a riddler.

"."

Kelakesi did not rush to reply; as his father had said, he indeed harbored a certain conjecture.

While still in the cage, Kelakesi saw the pale violet orb emanating from his father's left palm and immediately felt it was Fu Ge Rui Mu's soul.

He simply could not be certain.

Yet his father's rhetorical question confirmed his guess: the orb was indeed Fu Ge Rui Mu's soul.

Understanding the answer, Kelakesi nodded thoughtfully. As for what his father intended to do with Fu Ge Rui Mu—or, rather, the Fallen OriginalBody of the Zero‑Three Universe—he, too, now had an answer…

It was to prepare more "brothers" for him and to create additional Astate legions.

Although Kelakesi learned of this when he boarded the Never‑Fall Vessel, he habitually let Rog's words slip through one ear and out the other; after all, his brother was overly talkative, sometimes even less composed than Rus.

Sensing that Kelakesi no longer harbored doubts, Sui Bian proactively asked, "Shall I open a Spiritual Energy portal to send you and your troops back to Nostromo II (the capital of the Dark Star District)?"

"No need, father." Upon hearing Sui Bian's question, Kelakesi shook his head and said:

"NuoWa and the commanders of the 1st and 2nd battalions are holding the fort; the Dark Star District won't see unrest in the short term. Once you free the imprisoned soul of Magnus's Isotope, my troops and I can jump back to Nostromo II without delay."

"Heh, then it's up to you," Sui Bian smiled.

———————

…

Meanwhile.

The straight‑line distance from the Space Gate was about 300 light‑years, within a barren star system that contained only a dim red dwarf and three terrestrial planets; there were no gas giants, ice worlds, or asteroid belts.

Resources were scarce, and the largest terrestrial planet measured merely 6,000 km in diameter, so the Human Empire paid it no heed.

Nevertheless, the terrestrial planet closest to the red dwarf—also the largest in diameter and orbiting on the First Orbit—seemed anything but "barren."

Because the red dwarf emitted low heat and light, the system's First Orbit happened to lie within the habitable zone.

Consequently, the planet possessed an atmosphere that retained moisture, heat, and blocked lethal radiation. Moreover, chaotic forces corrupted the system only weakly, leaving the surface with azure oceans and green forests—no yellow deserts at all—contrasting sharply with the barren worlds on the Second and Third Orbits.

Yet at this moment, tens of thousands of vortex exits emitting violet and pink light suddenly erupted, allowing an equal number of Empire warships to slip out of subspace and enter the gravity sphere of the first planet.

From the hull markings and numbers, it was clear these ships belonged to the Alpha Legion, titled "Hydra," along with civilian soldiers and servants of the service corps, as well as the remaining black war‑banners, Whisperers, World‑Devourers, and Death Guard vessels.

The Prime Universe Expeditionary Force indeed wielded overwhelming force, ending the major battles of the past two weeks, yet some disgraced scum, seeing defeat imminent, chose to flee at the first opportunity.

Led by A Er Fa Rui Si and Ou Mi Jia, the Alpha Legion was ordered to lie in wait near the Space Gate to ambush and sabotage the Prime Universe Expeditionary Force's supply lines, or to slip through the Gate into the Prime Universe, while also rounding up many stray survivors.

However, when confronted by Angelong and Shengjilesi of the Prime Universe, together with Umbrella's Clearers and the Holy Blood Angel Legion's joint encirclement, this hastily assembled rebel fleet had long since shrunk, its vessels totaling just over ten thousand.

Nevertheless, the Alpha Legion, which had lost little manpower while supplying abundant materiel, earned increasing respect and admiration from the remaining soldiers during its clashes with the Clearers and the Holy Blood Angels.

If at first the fleeing traitors had been forced to join the Alpha operation, now Alpha had virtually unified the still‑ten‑thousand‑ship fleet.

Moreover, the most crucial factor that won the traitors' loyalty was the presence of the twin OriginalBodies, A Er Fa Rui Si and Ou Mi Jia…

Even though the traitors could not tell who was A Er Fa Rui Si and who was Ou Mi Jia.

After all, the Astates of the Alpha Legion were far taller than those of other brother‑legions, yet, unlike normal legions, Alpha's twin OriginalBodies were almost indistinguishable in size, height, and appearance from the Alpha Astates—so few even recognized Ou Mi Jia.

Furthermore, Alpha excelled at covert operations, favoring spy networks and sowing discord, making "them" the most mysterious presence to the entire Empire.

Regardless, the presence of an OriginalBody kept the rebels' morale intact, preventing them from merely fleeing when facing the Expeditionary Force.

Now, the fleet, having briefly adapted to the material universe, swiftly dispersed to defend key orbits of the first planet while dispatching numerous transport ships and aircraft to the surface.

Within the atmosphere.

Near the equator on the sun‑facing side, a mixed transport formation belonging to Alpha and the Whisperers skimmed low over the rainforest on the western coast, and upon spotting a genuinely rare clearing within the forest, circled, lowered altitude, and docked here.

The hatch opened.

The transport formation off‑loaded roughly twenty Alpha troops clad in sky‑blue, emerald, and silver‑patterned ceramic‑steel armor with some scaled detailing, along with over sixty Whisperers.

Of course, there were also nearly four thousand ordinary humans whose bodies had undergone varying degrees of distortion and twist.

Moreover, these ordinary humans relied on a variety of crude, clumsy machines, undertaking construction under the supervision of over seventy towering Astates.

With this display, the two twin OriginalBodies seemed intent on converting the first planet into a temporary garrison.

(End of Chapter)