Chapter 496: with translation of chapter title

Main universe.

Inside the top-floor office of the Terra Shield's inner world.

「…」

Sitting behind the desk, Sui Bian silently faced the holographic screens on the desktop, appearing to be processing various documents, but his eyes were lifeless, and his pupils faintly emitted a pale golden light, indicating that he was not focusing on work at all.

The red and white queens standing to the left and right of the desk also placed their hands in front of their lower abdomens, remaining silent.

Through their micro-expressions, they felt that the boss seemed to be in a bad mood, causing these two AIs to dare not casually speak up to ask.

However…

These two clearly misunderstood Sui Bian; under normal circumstances, he could not have such strong negative emotional fluctuations, otherwise his projection in the alien space would show corresponding changes, which……

This might cause some unnecessary misunderstandings.

As for why he remained silent, it was because he was monitoring the situation in Tai Luo Ke Er through Celesstin's perspective.

Tyranid-like Insect Race.

The unknown insect race ravaging Tai Luo Ke Er, although differing in some traits from the Tyranid-like Insect Race of Warhammer 40k, is essentially the 'Great Devourer' overall.

However, since Tai Luo Ke Er is the first planet to have contacted it, calling it the 'Tai Luo Ke Er Insect Race' or 'Tai Luo Insect Race' is most appropriate.

Initially, he indeed did not focus on the Zero Three universe, and as for the insect incident… frankly, the red and white queens each have to handle nearly a thousand insect incidents per Earth month.

Because of the multiverse and the various star systems within each universe, there exists a 'varied' array of insect races and parasitic insect-like aliens.

Like the Flood, such top-tier insect races are extremely rare, so the red and white queens likewise did not focus on Tai Luo Ke Er until the Thirteenth Legion responded to Tai Luo Ke Er's distress call, at which point the two AIs noticed and informed Sui Bian.

After learning of the anomaly in Tai Luo Ke Er, he attempted to use Psychic Gaze to spy on the Tai Luo Insect Race's 'Hive Mind,' nearly driving him mad with annoyance.

In other words, once Psychic Gaze is used on the Tai Luo Insect Race, Sui Bian would hear a noise beside his ears that is dozens of times more unpleasant than fingernails scratching a blackboard or metal sheet.

Fundamentally, communication is impossible, and it is also impossible to directly repel the Tai Luo Insect Race using overbearing Psychic Pressure.

If anything can be felt and the information feedback obtained, it is 'hunger'; they seem to have a strong 'appetite' for all living beings.

Indeed, it is the 'Great Devourer'.

Later, because the Tai Luo Insect Race was overly 'annoying' (Psychic Shielding Effect), Sui Bian once considered waving his hand to open a portal, personally stepping onto Tai Luo Ke Er's surface, and burning the invading insects to a crisp.

As for his thirteenth OriginalBody offspring and the achievements of the Thirteenth Legion? Although Sui Bian did not want to dampen these children's enthusiasm, the Tai Luo Insect Race is clearly not something a single planet can handle alone.

At that moment, he heard Celesstin's devout prayer and realized that this 'daughter' was about to self-destruct, and he managed to save her.

Sui Bian was unsure whether the Celesstin from the main universe was the 'living saint' from Warhammer 40k that his past self and many players had jokingly called 'E Great Demon.'

However, he also bestowed a 'Blessing' upon Celesstin, which in a sense made her the first 'living saint' under Umbrella, since his Blessing and the Emperor's Blessing are essentially the same.

With Celesstin acting in his place to 'walk' upon Tai Luo Ke Er, local human casualties can be effectively reduced.

Because of Celesstin's piety and the maternity hidden deep within her heart, this Umbrella living saint can likewise use Spiritual Energy to 'save the dead and heal the wounded'; even if torn apart and eaten by the insects, as long as the soul remains in the material universe, Celesstin can 'pull it back' and reconstruct the flesh.

Of course, this overly heaven-defying 'resurrection' method was also intentionally given by Sui Bian.

At that time, the Red Queen again reported to him that Chris's granddaughter, Zax Redfield, had awakened the Soldier Boy, who belonged to the bio-weapon category.

Soldier Boy…

Although he is a superhuman modified by Compound Five, on paper Soldier Boy ranks among the pinnacles of physical physique.

His strength and defensive power are second only to Olympian gods such as Artemis, Hera, or Hephestus, while The Boys: Season Three, due to limited production budget, failed to portray the intended effect,

Compared to an OriginalBody? Even if the OriginalBody does not use Spiritual Energy, Soldier Boy would be instantly killed.

With a living saint and a pseudo-superhero, the situation in Tai Luo Ke Er has finally stabilized.

He pondered for a moment.

Sui Bian no longer observed Tai Luo Ke Er's movements through Celesstin's sight, ended the Psychic Gaze, let his pupils return to normal, slightly turned his head, and said to the White Queen on his right: 'Help me connect with Rog and Shengjilesi; I have something to say to them.'

'Yes, Chairman.'

Upon receiving the indication, the White Queen instead caused her pupils to emit a faint blue glow.

Next, Rog, dressed in a black uniform and sporting a full beard, and Shengjilesi, likewise in a black uniform but with a pair of pure white wings on his back, appeared via the office's holographic device, projected in the central position.

At first glance, it looked as if these two OriginalBodies were actually standing in person before their father.

More mature and steady than before, and not prone to chatter, Rog spoke first: 'Father, why did you suddenly summon me and Shengjilesi? Is there something important?'

. Shengjilesi remained silent, patiently waiting for his father's clarification.

'Not really a major matter.' Sui Bian lightly waved his left hand, 'but the Tai Luo Ke Er in the Zero Three universe has erupted in an insect disaster, suffering an invasion by an unknown insect race from an extragalactic star system; specific information and data I will have the White Queen send to you.'

What you need to do now is to select thirty to fifty battalions from your respective legions, rush to Tai Luo Ke Er, combine with the Thirteenth Legion to form an expeditionary force, and launch a suppression operation against the unknown insect race.

Also, I will have the Red Queen dispatch the large devices 012, 013, and 014 to you two, as well as the ready Ark 002 to serve as an operational base, and accelerate the encirclement and eradication of the unknown insect race.

'Understood (yes).' The two OriginalBodies replied in unison.

'Father…' Subsequently, Rog asked again: 'May I ask who will be the commander of this expedition?'

'You.' Sui Bian immediately appointed him.

As the youngest among the ten OriginalBodies of the 'older generation,' Shengjilesi had no objection; moreover, Rog has spent many years in the Zero Three universe, making him the most experienced.

'I understand.' Rog did not shirk, gladly accepting.

'Then the unknown insect race is yours to handle.' Sui Bian waved his left hand again, and added, 'Remember to look after your younger brother a bit more.'

'Please rest assured, Father.' The two brothers said in unison.

'Very well, go get busy, go prepare.'

'Yes.' Ending the conversation, the two OriginalBodies also ended their respective projections, restoring the office to its original state.

Sui Bian then turned his gaze back to the dense holographic documents on the desk, focusing his thoughts on work.

With Rog and Shengjilesi present, plus the large devices and the Ark, theoretically the Tai Luo Insect Race should not be able to stir up any waves.

However…

Sui Bian seemed to suddenly recall something, looking toward the White Queen and instructing: 'Notify Laura Crouff, ordering her to lead her team to finish their current work, then proceed to the Zero Three universe, and within the Zero Three Galaxy, conduct investigations of various relics.'

'Okay.' The White Queen nodded lightly in response.

Also, notify Leon again, have him temporarily hand over the position of Arcadia supervisor to his wife, and now, immediately, rush to the galaxy of the Zero Three Universe to likewise carry out the investigation of the relics. Sui Bian added.

"Okay." The White Empress still nodded her head.

But if one looks closely, the White Empress's mouth corners turn slightly upward, as if she is barely suppressing a smile; there's nothing to be done, her boss is quite obviously giving different treatment.

Perhaps the current White Empress, and even the Red Empress beside her, still cannot fully understand, but one can vaguely guess that Leon holds a position in their boss's heart that is different from ordinary people.

As for Sui Bian, he didn't pay attention to what the two secretaries were thinking; he issued this order in hopes of using Laura Crouff and Leon to ferret out the Space Death Spirit ahead of time.

Rather than waiting for them to awaken one by one, it would be better to take the initiative and deal with them.

———————

…

Soon after.

Inside the Rift Space of the Zero Three Universe.

A vessel nearly forty-five kilometers in length, with a hull style that differs greatly from previous Titan Class and Olympus Class, and defined as a new-style flagship of the Glory Lord class, is now sailing swiftly.

On the bridge.

Behind the porthole.

A OriginalBody wearing armor personally forged by Hephestus, making its height over 4.9 meters, close to five meters, is silently gazing through the porthole at the Rift Space rippling with water-like light.

Looking closely, the armor's paint is entirely black, accented with dark red, its style reminiscent of ancient Chinese mountain-pattern armor, and the waist is wrapped in tiger fur, while the belt buckle is a metal dragon head with bared fangs and flowing dragon whiskers.

As for this OriginalBody's appearance, it should be the one among all OriginalBodies that most closely resembles the Human Sovereign, but its aura and demeanor are not as introverted as the Human Sovereign's; they are more resolute.

And this OriginalBody's name also follows the same pattern as the Human Sovereign Sui Bian, namely Sui Meng.

As the name suggests, setting aside the surname and looking at the single character "Meng" (fierce), one knows that this newly born OriginalBody's focus is on personal combat prowess.

Sui Meng is the name bestowed upon this OriginalBody after its rebirth by the Human Sovereign, while Sui Meng's past is that of an OriginalBody from the Eleventh Legion whose information and records were erased by the former Human Empire.

However, the Human Sovereign revealed all of Sui Meng's past life, thereby resolving the doubts buried deep within this OriginalBody's heart in advance.

Broadly speaking, during the third decade of the Zero Three Emperor's great expedition into the Zero Three Galaxy, the Eleventh Legion OriginalBody had already been retrieved.

Afterward, the Eleventh Legion and its OriginalBody fought bravely in battle.

To demonstrate absolute loyalty to the Zero Three Emperor, the Eleventh Legion often took the lead, suffering more casualties than other legions.

Thereafter, the Eleventh Legion was also the first to be forced into direct contact and skirmish with the extradimensional great demon.

Due to the great demon's calculations and traps, the entire Eleventh Legion, including its OriginalBody, suffered Spiritual Energy contamination, causing all personnel's bodies to suffer severe decay and distortion.

To force the Eleventh Legion to abandon its loyalty to the Zero Three Emperor and turn to Chaos, the great demon placed the entire legion in extreme anguish—on the verge of death yet unable to truly die.

Nevertheless, every member of the Eleventh Legion chose to grit their teeth and endure; the OriginalBody, enduring the pain, single-handedly drove the great demon back into the extradimensional realm, temporarily breaking the curse.

Unfortunately, the hard-won victory of the Eleventh Legion, due to both flesh and soul being contaminated by Chaos, prompted the Zero Three Emperor to dispatch the Imperial Guard, as well as Leiman Lusi and the Space Wild Wolves, to purge them.

Although Leiman Lusi did not understand why his father would issue such a purge order, he still chose to carry it out, and was waiting for Leiman Lusi to arrive at the planet where the Eleventh Legion was stationed…

Besides corpses littering the ground, there were no other living beings.

It turned out that they heard the demon incessantly whispering in their ears; the Eleventh Legion's OriginalBody and Astate, realizing they had suffered irreparable, irreversible contamination, resolutely chose suicide before Leiman Lusi arrived.

And Leiman Lusi, who had been torn about whether to act as his father's executioner and kill his brothers, was utterly shocked.

Finally, the Zero Three Emperor, to conceal and seal off any information related to the extradimensional realm, erased the existence of the Eleventh Legion.

Having learned of his past life, Sui Meng naturally prepared to uphold this absolute loyalty and the spirit of refusing to submit to Chaos.

Upon learning that Tai Luo Ke Er was under insect race invasion, Sui Meng immediately led his Assault Vanguard Legion, namely the Thirteenth Legion of Umbrella, to rush to its aid.

In fact, the OriginalBody that Sui Bian originally intended to cultivate and take control of the entire Zero Three Universe was precisely Sui Meng.

Currently, the Assault Vanguard Legion has a total of over twelve thousand Astate, with auxiliary forces numbering about two hundred twenty thousand, temporarily organized into twenty-four battalions.

To counter the Tai Luo Insect Race, Sui Meng first dispatched the th Battalion nearest to Tai Luo Ke Er, then left half of the battalions to guard their assigned star sectors, and personally led the Honor Guard and the remaining half of the battalions to rush to aid.

Not long ago, the th Battalion had already arrived at Tai Luo Ke Er and engaged the Tai Luo Insect Race's main force fleet.

As for naval warfare, a single battalion could not withstand a million living warships; therefore, the th Battalion, under fire, transported its ground forces to the Tai Luo Ke Er metropolitan area before engaging the insect race fleet in guerrilla tactics.

Silence persisted for a long time.

Sui Meng continued to gaze out the porthole, turning his back and asking, "How much longer until we reach Tai Luo Ke Er?"

"An estimated fifteen minutes, sir," a crew member reported immediately.

"Hmm." Sui Meng gave a soft acknowledgment.

Immediately afterward, this OriginalBody continued to wait silently for fifteen minutes, finally seeing the end of the Rift Space outside the porthole.

(End of chapter)