Chapter 507: with translation of chapter title

Soon after.

Far in the Solar System, inside the Imperial Palace built by the Earth Engineering Department over five months.

The Himalayan mountain range, once the region of Holy Mother Peak, features extremely grandiose multi‑layered buildings, and here in the top‑floor reception hall one can overlook the central square where Sui Bian conducts the Imperial proclamation.

Of course, this reception hall, laid with a red noise‑reducing carpet and surrounded by gilded load‑bearing pillars and exquisite murals, is now gathering a thousand influential figures.

Since the establishment of the Human Empire, the vast majority of these thousand‑plus confidants have been converted from top‑level Umbrella employees into ministers, bureau chiefs, and generals of the various Human Empire departments.

As for Umbrella, which Sui Bian secretly uses to conveniently guide human progress openly and can be described as having made great laborious contributions, it not only remains his directly affiliated Imperial state-owned enterprise, but its iconic red-and-white umbrella logo has also become one of humanity's symbols.

Of course, the Human Empire's emblem and flag are not Umbrella's red‑and‑white umbrella, but rather have a dark black background, with a coiling dragon whose whiskers stream forth, teeth bared and claws brandished, lying at the center.

In the near future, the livery of the legions, navy, army and other branches will all bear the Imperial emblem, signifying the Human Empire's absolute rule.

At this moment.

Over a thousand elders are chatting freely in this reception hall, while the twenty‑one OriginalBodies who are drinking heavily and raising their cups—especially Rus, who has his left arm draped over Peturabo and his right over Foge Ruimu's shoulder and whose voice is the loudest—stand out particularly.

After all, the formal establishment of the Empire did not merely bring change to society and polity; it also thoroughly consolidated the status and glory of these elders, the OriginalBodies, and the Astate.

Although in the past no one would deliberately mention to Sui Bian the idea of founding an empire, this notion grew stronger over time.

Initially, Lai Ang used the term 'traveling palace' to test the waters.

Now, while Sui Bian acts for the sake of humanity as a whole, he also takes into account the wishes of his subordinates and his sons, 'going with the flow' to make the Human Empire stand firm between the galaxies.

One of them, an elder with a middle‑parted hairstyle who looks freshly clean‑shaven and handsome after shaving his beard, sits beside his wife—also an elder, dressed in a red qipao—at a side seat, overlooking the palace and the Himalayan range while drinking tea instead of wine.

These two are the legendary couple, Leon and Aida.

Just now, the two of them caught up with many old friends, chatting and inevitably lamenting how times have changed.

Two hundred years ago, merely possessing three Azure Hawk‑class escort frigates made humanity feel proud and proud, yet now, with a fleet of ten thousand ships, it seems impossible to return to that former state of vigorous vigor and hopeful anticipation.

Speaking of this, Michel·Victoire, who served as commander during the UBCS era, explained everything with the reasoning: 'Perhaps our bodies are not old, but our spirits and inner selves have already aged—we are no match for the young.'

Immediately afterward, Leon and Aida went to the corner, sat on a comfortable sofa to enjoy the scenery, and in passing cleared their minds.

Because after the banquet ends, one of them must return to Arcadia to continue serving as the local intelligence department head while also worrying about their children's problems; the other must use the star‑gate passage to hurry back to Universe 03 and resume the Tomb‑Exploration operation.

At that very moment, Sui Bian, having taken off the gold cloak draped behind him and holding a cup full of white wine, approached the two subordinates alone.

"Chairman. Emperor!"

Leon and Aida hastily rose to their feet, almost blurting out 'Chairman', but realizing the slip, they immediately corrected themselves to 'Emperor'.

Mainly, the couple simply hadn't had time to adjust yet.

"There's no need to be so formal; if you prefer, you can still call me Chairman or Mister—it's just an empty title." Sui Bian raised his wine cup, smiled, sat on the opposite sofa, and gestured for the two to relax.

Seeing this, Leon and Aida dispensed with further pleasantries; as they sat back on the sofa, they in perfect unison lifted their tea‑filled cups, clinked them against Sui Bian's from afar, and then drained them in one gulp.

After the three set their cups on the low table in front of them, Sui Bian turned to Leon, smiling, and spoke first: "Leon, the position of Intelligence Department chief is vacant; I think I needn't explain further."

"Understood." Leon nodded.

The meaning of Sui Bian's words was to have Leon serve as the head of the Empire's Intelligence Department; at the same time, the 141 Mobile Task Force led by Pulaise, Xiaoqiang, Ghost, and Soap—which remains undisbanded to this day—would be merged into the Intelligence Department as its exclusive special squad.

Sui Bian then continued: "During this period while the department chief's post is vacant, I will have the White Empress handle the related affairs; there's no need to rush, and your primary duty remains to seek out any possible tombs of unknown civilizations."

Even more than half a year ago, when Sui Bian ordered Leon to assemble a team to begin the investigation, he had already commanded the White Empress to send Leon his private email containing his knowledge and characteristics of the Space Death Spirit.

Over the past half year or so, Leon and his task force 'only' surveyed twelve suspicious planets, but aside from discovering hostile, grudging goblins and elves and some unnamed races already wiped out by them, they uncovered no useful intelligence.

Leon also knows why Sui Bian places such importance on the Tomb‑Exploration operation, because the possible unknown civilization (the Space Death Spirit) is likewise a pinnacle of physical existence, equivalent to the administrator civilization of Universe 03.

More importantly, that unknown civilization differs from the administrators' inclusiveness and understanding; it harbors intense hatred toward all civilizations, species, and even life itself.

Therefore, upon learning this, in order to maintain social stability and pre‑empt war, Leon devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Tomb‑Exploration operation.

After hearing these words, Leon's expression grew solemn, and he declared earnestly: "Rest assured, we will surely nip war and threats in the bud."

"Hmm." Sui Bian gave a slight nod, then turned to the ever‑silent Aida and asked: "How are Tina and Claude doing?"

"Not bad; they're past the troublesome‑kid stage, hehe." Aida replied with a faint smile.

"You two don't have the idea of letting them join the legion, do you?" Sui Bian asked again.

"Not for now." Leon spoke for his wife: "If Tina's child can avoid becoming a delinquent girl, I'll already be grateful to heaven; as for Claude's lad, we'll wait until he graduates from university before saying more—even if he enlists, he must start in the army."

"That's good."

Having finished the small talk, Sui Bian rose to go catch up with other subordinates, but before that he reminded Aida: "All right, you can now start observing and selecting candidates capable of serving as head of the Arcadia Intelligence Department, and prepare to move back to Earth in advance."

"Yes."

Regarding this reminder‑cum‑order, Aida responded with a smiling nod.

Leaving the couple who had taken over a century to finally unite, Sui Bian took another cup of white wine from the long banquet table, walked out of the reception hall alone, and entered the corridor outside where towering red‑wood pillars stood; using his vision that far surpasses ordinary comprehension, he gazed over the entire continent, sipping his drink and savoring this rare tranquility.

Not long after, his cup was empty, and after confirming via perception that no one was nearby, he couldn't help murmuring softly: "I don't know when humanity will be able to stand truly independent, without needing protection."

Being able to voice such sentiment stems from his urge to dump the mess onto Robert, John, and his other sons, then immediately ascend in dimension.

Even though he has grown accustomed to the constant barrage of hundreds of millions of prayers in his mind, and to the endless struggles of that group of traders in alternate spaces, he inevitably feels fatigued.

For instance, today, in order to conform to the image befitting an emperor and to avoid interfering with normal activities and daily behavior, Sui Bian consciously increased his height to three meters, and his physique changed accordingly, making him appear well‑proportioned with no discord or imbalance.

But this also gradually sparked in Sui Bian the desire to ascend in dimension to see how his family, unseen for over two hundred years, is faring, and the notion of retirement grew stronger.

Suddenly, he sensed a familiar 'person' approaching, whereupon he gathered his fatigue and returned to the appearance befitting the master of humanity.

Soon.

Clad in a pure white gown and wearing an olive‑branch crown, Artemis walked slowly up to Sui Bian's side, smiling and saying: "How so, honored Human Emperor—do you too have worries?"

"Why not?" Sui Bian gave a light shrug, saying: "I'm also human; as long as one is human, everyone has their own worries."

"All right." Artemis, without further hesitation, continued: "After founding the empire, what else do you aim for—wiping out all non‑human alien species, then eliminating every evil god and demon in the alternate realms?"

"Who knows?" Sui Bian did not deny it.

Plans cannot keep up with change.

Not long ago, he still advocated 'harmony' and 'peace', attempting to absorb more friendly species.

But now, having gained through the Kryptonians' 'foreknowledge' and 'foresight' of various future possibilities, combined with humanity's inherent nature and historical past, his extremist xenophobic thinking has come to dominate.

So Sui Bian did not rule out the possibility mentioned by Artemis.

But Artemis, seeing Sui Bian's ever-composed smile, couldn't help but say: "No matter what worries you have, you could never share them with me, or with anyone."

"No, I often share my thoughts with my sons." Sui Bian shook his head in denial.

"!" Artemis was speechless, wanting to get angry but not daring to actually do so.

"Hehe." Sui Bian, as if having succeeded in a joke, lightly patted the left shoulder of the hunting goddess, who was already over a meter shorter than him with his right hand, then walked toward the reception hall, turning his back to her and saying: "I don't want to pay too much attention to future matters; now I just want to drink more, enjoy the present, and relax properly today, Miss Goddess."

Gazing at Sui Bian's broader, more stalwart back than before, and hearing his words, Artemis for some reason averted her gaze, then silently nodded and followed him back to the reception hall.

———————

The next morning.

Earth, on the outer periphery of the Human Empire's imperial palace, at the military star port designated '16', numerous escort frigates, destroyers and other 'small-scale' vessels were docked.

Among all the vessels, there was one about a kilometer long, with foldable structures on both sides for atmospheric flight—'wings'—and a stealth-type design resembling NuoWa's flagship.

Furthermore, on both sides of this stealth vessel, besides the red-and-white umbrella insignia and the imperial emblem, the words 'Griffin' were also printed.

And the Griffin was indeed the vessel belonging to Arcadia's Intelligence Department, and in a sense could also be considered Leon's flagship.

Not long after, the Griffin disengaged from the star port's fixed position, slowly ascended, adjusted its angle, and lowered its side 'wings' to head upward.

Then the Griffin retracted its side 'wings', successfully entered Earth's low orbit, then proceeded into a ring-shaped device resembling the 'Ring' star gate, turning together with many other vessels and ships into slender 'meteors' that vanished instantly within the solar system.

Not long after.

In just over ten seconds, the Griffin used the star gate passage to cross nearly five thousand light-years, arriving at one of the hub star systems of the star gate.

Exiting the star gate passage, the first thing that came into view for everyone aboard the Griffin was a planetary-level energy shield emitting a cyan-blue glow, equipped with numerous orbital defense platforms, plus the planet Dianka garrisoned by a thousand warships, and a space gate with a diameter of up to a hundred million kilometers, through which countless vessels, ships, liners, and freighters travel to and from Universe 03.

Before the star gate was opened by the evil god, Dianka and its star system were merely fringe colonies, but after the star gate opened, Dianka gradually became a planetary fortress, and its star system also became a hub station for the star gate passage.

Next.

First, the Griffin used its warp drive to reach the edge of the star gate, undergoing questioning and investigation by the Sparta Corps; only after receiving approval could it follow the designated orbit and successfully reach Universe 03.

Immediately afterward, the Griffin continued to use the star gate passage of Universe 03, along with some 'outdated' jump navigation, to transport everyone and relaunch the 'Tomb Exploration' operation.

———————

Four hours later.

The Griffin, with its stealth mode activated, was now parked on a planet whose surface environment was dry and hot, mainly sandy-yellow in hue.

Yet, using the ship's scanning equipment for observation, one could still see that although the planet was hardly suitable, it was nevertheless covered with numerous towns and villages, with a population of about sixty million.

According to unrecorded intelligence, the planet named Serilan, once deemed worthless by the New Human Empire due to its harsh environment, had become a gathering place for drifters.

After the main universe's humanity took control of the Zero Three Galaxy's governance, Serilan, likewise remote and lacking development value, was not placed on the Engineering Department's primary renovation list.

Thereafter, Serilan became a gathering place for many prospectors seeking wealth through peril, interstellar mercenaries, and those involved in gray and black industries.

Meanwhile, Leon's focus in the Universe 03 'Tomb Exploration' happened to be an 'undeveloped, unnoticed' planet, since planets that had already been extensively colonized had long been thoroughly studied by the Engineering Department, naturally leaving no unknown tombs or relics.

(End of chapter)