Chapter 516

Leon successfully escaped the dream and, before awakening.

In the main universe's Solar System, the Empire's palace on Earth, situated on the east side of the Council Hall, is a building named the "Meditation Hall."

The structure resembles a massive celestial altar, its decoration employing abundant gold in a standalone palace style; in the exterior corridors and passages, roughly every hundred meters a squad of black‑gold armor and white‑ribbon‑styled Imperial Guard stands watch or conducts routine patrols.

Upon close inspection, these Astate, hand‑picked from all legions and having undergone Imperial Guard surgery, are each equipped with their own exclusive Terminator powered armor whose power packs are almost invisible, and they wield power‑charged halberds that can launch various explosive shells.

Inside the Meditation Hall, the décor is red and gold; marble tiles cover the floor, and on either side of the central red sound‑dampening carpet stand numerous massive mahogany columns that require three Astate to embrace.

At the very front of the Meditation Hall stands another Spiritual Energy Amplifier.

Just by its appearance, it closely resembles a Maya pyramid, with stepped terraces on all four sides; the flat top covers roughly half a football field, and a plain yet functional seat made of solid gold sits at the platform's center.

Calling it a Spiritual Energy Amplifier, its appearance is more fitting as a symbol of absolute authority—a supreme golden throne.

However, the one seated on the golden throne at this moment is none other than the protector of humanity, the newly crowned Human Emperor—

Sui Bian.

Due to his change of status, Sui Bian can no longer, as he did when he was "Speaker Sui" or "Chairman," casually delegate the duties of sitting on the Spiritual Energy Amplifier to his son Magnus.

After all, in the core world of the Terra Shield on the outer edge of the Solar System, there remains an original version of the Spiritual Energy Amplifier.

With two "seats," Sui Bian cannot "slip away" any longer.

Moreover, he expressly authorized Magnus and the main forces of the Thutmose Legion to relocate from Mars to the Terra Shield, prompting the OriginalBody of other legions to more frequently seek Magnus's assistance, allowing the strongest Spiritual Energy brother to sit more often on the amplifier and aid expedition, extermination, and cleansing operations.

Therefore Sui Bian feels embarrassed to have Magnus shuttle back and forth to Earth to sit on the amplifier—or rather the golden throne—to protect humanity as a whole.

Coincidentally, he also needs to present the demeanor befitting a Human Emperor.

Sui Bian sits on the golden throne, eyes half‑closed, projecting his near‑infinite Spiritual Energy to continuously radiate over humanity's current territories, while also better employing his Psychic Gaze to observe and detect anomalies within those realms.

Leon, only a few years younger than him and among the oldest trusted aides in human society, naturally receives extra attention from Sui Bian, especially since Leon, following his directive, is attempting to proactively uncover the tomb of a Space Death Spirit.

However, in that instant, Sui Bian sensed that Leon seemed to have suddenly "lost connection."

?

This successfully caught Sui Bian's attention.

He therefore temporarily focused his Psychic Gaze on the Sili Lan where Leon is, and discovered that the Sili Lan desert appears shrouded by some kind of "mist," accompanied by an odor that makes him feel nauseous and uncomfortable.

It's not a threat, at most it makes him feel queasy.

In plain terms, it's like eating noodles while a tiny black grub flies before your eyes, and then—without any reason—you wonder why that grub insists on falling into the broth, drowning, and instantly killing your appetite.

In short, Sui Bian is now repulsed by that "mist."

Leon's physical body remains intact, but his mind is under extreme tension, fatigue, and even on the brink of collapse.

?? Perceiving this situation, Sui Bian, while granting Leon his exclusive Spiritual Energy protection, privately remarks that the anomalous "mist"-producing phenomenon seems rather special, as it can cause even the unflappable "Three Lights"—who face interdimensional demons without wavering—to fall into a "bitter battle."

Hmm, interesting.

He then opened his eyes and looked toward the Imperial Guard commander standing not far ahead, clad in a dedicated black‑gold Terminator suit, wearing a black cloak, and wielding a Cassius gun, and ordered:

"Constantine, you will personally lead a squad of Imperial Guard to escort the Plague Doctor to the abandoned planet Sili Lan in the Zero‑Three Universe, assist Minister Kennedy in investigating the local anomalies, and ensure the Plague Doctor's safety. Understood?"

"Yes, Father."

Upon hearing this, Constantine first bowed respectfully to Sui Bian, then flicked his cloak in a seemingly carefree yet practiced turn, strode down from the golden throne platform, and left the Meditation Hall.

"."

Hearing Sui Bian's command, the Red Queen, dressed in a red gown and standing to the left of the golden throne, remained silent.

"Your Majesty," the White Queen, who uses liquid metal to simulate a white dress and stands at Sui Bian's right, reported with interest: "I just infiltrated the local network of Sili Lan and found the planet's magnetic field extremely active.

Moreover, the desert region where Minister Kennedy is located is even more intense, and I also detected a certain special frequency band. Cross‑referencing the database, the Human Empire in the Zero‑Three Universe has only a few records of similar phenomena, limited to the abandoned planets Sili Lan, Orlando, and Scoraca, which all note magnetic anomalies.

Thus I hypothesize that this anomaly may have existed in the Zero‑Three Universe during humanity's Golden Age, or even before humanity's birth, and was suppressed and constrained by the advanced civilizations of the Zero‑Three Universe, causing it to vanish for ten thousand to ten million years."

"Hmm," Sui Bian nodded lightly, saying nothing more.

In fact, without the White Queen's reminder, Sui Bian had already thought of the other two planets upon hearing the name Sili Lan.

It could be some deity or ancient god that, unlike interdimensional entities, has a physical form in the real universe. Considering this possibility, Sui Bian's preliminary guess is that the anomalous phenomenon that drives Leon's mind into a bitter struggle may be akin to "Cthulhu."

"Your Majesty, please look."

At this moment, the White Queen still projects a holographic screen before Sui Bian.

The screen shows footage of Lin Hong, Leon, and others waking up in succession, then clashing with numerous deranged mercenaries and gang members whose bodies have mutated.

He then slightly turned his head toward the White Queen beside him and ordered: "Dispatch two Imperial Guard squads to covertly rush to the planets Orlando and Scoraca for investigation; if they discover anomalies or abnormal creatures similar to those on Sili Lan, eliminate them outright."

"Yes," the Red Queen nodded, then set about conveying Sui Bian's orders to the two squad leaders.

As for Sui Bian, he continued to close his eyes, assuming a meditative pose, and kept monitoring humanity's overall movements.

Although Cthulhu‑type anomalies are hard to handle and may be numerous, Sui Bian believes that with Leon, Constantine, and the Imperial Guard handling the "cleanup," they are more than capable, especially with a Plague Doctor on hand. Currently, Sui Bian's focus lies more on the extragalactic star systems of the Zero‑Three Universe.

After all, the expedition forces led by Rog, Shengjilesi, and Sui Meng continue to clash with countless Tai Luo Insect Race, seeking the origin and source of this creature that only knows how to "eat."

Of course, the expedition's engagements are often when they land on the surface of a suspected planet and are forced to encounter the Tai Luo Insect Race.

The true "frontline battlefield," however, is handled by Ark 002.

At present, Ark 002 has, per the White Queen's order, activated its "automatic cruise" mode: automatically searching for and capturing suitable Earth‑like planets, then devouring and processing them to continuously construct the large device (Halo), which serves as a massive mobile terminal to command all such devices in the ongoing purge of Tai Luo Insect Race‑infested extragalactic star systems.

During this period, some star systems are only lightly infected, and many intelligent species still resist the Tai Luo Insect Race; providing a few, or a dozen, battalion‑level aid could potentially halt the insect infestation.

However, the expedition forces did not act, and Ark 002 and the large device remain obstinate, treating all extragalactic systems uniformly by employing cross‑phase pulse waves to "cleanse" everything.

Separate friendly species?

If populations were previously small and needed rapid development, they might have considered it, but as robots become increasingly mature and widespread, population, while still important, is no longer as crucial as before.

Moreover, Sui Bian's establishment of the Human Empire seeks extreme xenophobia.

On what grounds should he send his sons to face the endless swarms of insects, a Tai Luo Insect Race that evolves rapidly and even poses a mortal risk to Astate?

Just because alien species are intelligent life and the weaker side needing aid, does that mean humanity should grant it? Sui Bian certainly would not endorse such overly "maternal" compassion, and he's already been disgusted by the Zero‑Five (Marvel) Universe's entities that pursue "freedom," "equality," and "protection."

On the surface, this ideology sounds noble, and there may indeed be individuals who sacrifice their lives for it and deserve respect, but in reality most of the lot use it as a cover for their selfishness.

Thus Sui Bian would rather let the extragalactic star systems ravaged by the Tai Luo Insect Race become lifeless "no‑go zones" than dispatch his offspring to suffer, and he's too lazy to spare time to analyze or select which species are worth befriending.

No way, the newly contacted alien species have already passed the best golden period for obtaining 'human household registration'.

If one insists on integrating into the Human Empire and human society, unless policies are relaxed, or one has made outstanding contributions to humanity, it is rare for an alien to meet the standard.

However, it would be a relief if these aliens were not targeted and not regarded as alien trash by the legion garrison.

Moreover, most battalion commanders, in order to earn more merit, actually show weakness when updating equipment for themselves, their brothers, and subordinates, to provoke some alien species into becoming more aggressive, thus providing a reason to launch a series of military operations (slaughter).

Put simply, it's 'fishing' and 'brushing performance'.

But some battalion commanders, like Taibelos who has been recalled to the main universe, scorn doing things properly and instead lead their brothers in 'burn, kill, loot', which matches the man-eating shark's usual modus operandi.

Since Kang Sitanding, the Plague Doctor, and a considerable number of the Imperial Guard have been dispatched, Sui Bian no longer deliberately monitors Sili Lan's movements; besides, Leon and the others' mental states have already returned to normal, so there seems no need to specially grant a Blessing.

———————

Meanwhile.

On the surface of Sili Lan, deep in the desert over a thousand kilometers from Radiant City, inside the camp built at the northern tip of the Strange Mountain Peak, shouts of 'Join us! Join us!'

"Accept the elevation of soul and body!"

Filled with various madness, as if bewitched by demons from another dimension, completely reduced to slaves' roaring speech.

Only to see thousands of mercenaries and gang members who, in dreams, have lost self and reason, their bodies undergoing various mutations, no longer stumbling and slaughtering each other as when they first awoke, but instead picking up weapons, donning mechanical exoskeletons and powered armor, desperately resisting in their eyes the heretical Leon, Lin Hong, and their companions.

"Pa pa!!"

"Tap tap!!"

In an instant, the not-so-small camp erupted with clamor and dense gunfire.

A convoy formed by three Wart Hog vehicles had to face Gauss Spike Ammo and Shellless Pulse Ammo, as well as concentrated fire from a few high-energy beams.

Within a few seconds, the lead vehicle responsible for charging and bursting exploded into flames.

Fortunately, the three auxiliary troops inside the lead vehicle had already realized the Wart Hog couldn't hold, jumped out before the explosion, and then scattered to the sides at a speed difficult for ordinary people to catch or lock onto.

Moreover, all auxiliary troops, including Lin Hong, immediately returned fire; even the two comrades driving the middle and rear vehicles, serving as drivers, fired single-handedly while steering with the other hand.

In terms of accuracy, the auxiliary troops held an absolute edge; with just one encounter, the mutated mercenaries and gang members began to fall in rows.

As for Leon, he finally had the chance to use his 'plasma' pistol.

As the trigger was pulled, a small projectile emitting a cyan-blue light shot out, but the target was not any mutated body, rather a simple house.

This was not Leon's mistake; when the projectile hit the simple house and exploded, it began to continuously expand and split, automatically tracking the surrounding mutated bodies.

And the metal material of the simple house became the 'nutrient' for the projectile's expansion and splitting.

It is obvious that this exclusive pistol employs the nanotechnology of the Administrator Civilization, but the projectile's duration is too short to compare with Rog's apocalypse-level nano pistol.

Relying on absolute sharpness and what can be called 'brutal' accuracy and firepower, the middle and rear vehicles successfully caught up with the three auxiliary troops, and the group crowded onto the two Wart Hogs to continue breaking through.

At this moment, the sky also glittered with a 'meteor shower' representing the supply drop.

Everyone, today is my first day on the job. These days I've been running around, there's also a rental listing, and after finding a place, I didn't expect to also have to get rid of cockroaches!

Having run out of drafts, I shamelessly ask for a day off, hoping everyone can understand~ This time I'll binge-write on Saturday and Sunday, then start a new novel, properly adjust, after all people must strive to work hard! Everyone, let's work hard together~!

Thanks for everyone's monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, rewards, and subscription support~!

(End of chapter)