Chapter 531: It is necessary to have a good talk with father

The ground battle was deadlocked.

Although the Chaos army and the fire lizards had lost the Ascendant OriginalBody, they still relied on their numerical superiority to fight to a stalemate with the over ten thousand Imperial Guard troops that had arrived and the nearly 120,000 Solar Auxiliary forces.

One-on-one, it's an instant kill.

Even when one faces a hundred, although the outcome is still a victory for the Imperial Guard side, the Chaos and fire lizard side has inexhaustible troops.

It seems Leon's earlier speculation was correct; there are indeed more Chaos Astartes hidden in the other space.

Furthermore, when the main universe launched an expedition against the Zero Three universe, knowing defeat was certain, the remnants of the New Human Empire that had fled into the other space also at that time used the portal to set foot again in the real universe.

Seeing this.

Magnus, aboard the Imperial Guard flagship, made a swift decision, ordering the fleet to carry out saturation bombing, with the air force and centuria squadrons responsible for covering, to ensure that all ground troops could withdraw from Salamis.

Because if this continues, Salamis, such a small land, will become an Apocalypse-level battlefield, and at the same time turn into a new 'meat grinder'...

Of course, the Human Empire defines Apocalypse-level as the enemy deploying at least three hundred million troops on a planet's surface.

Furthermore, among every thousand of the enemy there exists an individual capable of threatening the auxiliary forces, and among every hundred thousand there exists an individual not inferior to an Astartes.

On the surface of Salamis, a rough estimate puts the number of Chaos Astartes at 1.5 million; just this alone is enough to judge it as an Apocalypse-level war.

Even the Imperial Guard, on an Apocalypse battlefield where traitors and great demons run rampant, faces a considerable threat to life.

The Chaos side doesn't care how many die, but the Imperial Guard and Solar Auxiliary forces—losing even one makes Sui Bian feel heartache for a long time.

Although Magnus knew his father was seated on the Golden Throne, watching Salamis' every move, he still did not want to worry his father excessively.

Soon.

With the withdrawal order issued, Constantin, Leon and others who had been stranded on the surface, along with various company and platoon leaders, were acting efficiently.

Meanwhile, the Chaos side, noticing that humans had chosen to retreat, naturally anticipated the Imperial Guard fleet's forthcoming 'strike' and likewise rushed toward the portal.

However, the souls of Ares, Achilles and Heracles, whose mortal bodies had long perished, were blocking the portal to act as a rearguard.

After all ground troops had completed their withdrawal and moved away from low orbit, returning one by one to their respective ships...

The flagship of the Imperial Guard fleet.

Inside the bridge of the Fearless.

Having unfolded his helmet and stowed his wisdom blade and wisdom scepter, Magnus stood behind the large viewport, gazing at Salamis, where large numbers of demons and Chaos Astartes remained on the surface.

Immediately thereafter, this OriginalBody, unskilled in close combat, had his eyes suddenly filled with a pale pink light, and he raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers toward Salamis through the viewport.

When Magnus's right hand's five fingers closed into a fist, a planet with a diameter of fourteen thousand kilometers vanished into thin air.

There was no violent explosion, no 'heaven collapsing and earth splitting'; Salamis simply disappeared from the cosmos.

In fact, Magnus had pulled Salamis into the stasis space he had created.

The hundreds of millions of demons that failed to retreat to the other space, as well as tens of thousands of Chaos Astartes, also temporarily fell into a state of time stasis, unless Magnus releases Salamis back into the real universe.

His reason for doing this was to use the demons and Chaos Astartes as experimental material, sending them to the plague doctor who was aboard a transport heading for the Fearless' flagship.

Officially, the plague doctor can determine why the fire lizards underwent a qualitative change.

Privately, the plague doctor is also one of their many mentors from their OriginalBody's youth; no matter what, he must prepare some sort of 'meeting gift'.

Moreover, Magnus is eager to study the relics on Salamis, especially a portal shaped like the Chinese character for 'return' (a square with a cross inside) beneath the surface that can link the real universe and the other space.

If thoroughly researched, perhaps the Human Empire could master the technology to enter and exit the other space at will, even without unleashing large-scale spiritual energy spells.

As for Ares, Achilles and Heracles, who helped capture Wokan, before Magnus dragged Salamis into the stasis space, he let these three heroic spirits return to the Sea of Souls to continue their eternal rest.

'Single-handedly' resolved all conflicts.

Magnus turned around, causing the cloak behind him to flutter, as if…

Whether OriginalBody or Imperial Guard commander, they both like to unconsciously display some 'suave' gestures; but after thinking about it, Sui Bian also has this habit, and everything becomes clear.

'Sir.'

Seeing Magnus arrive at the center of the bridge, a clerical member of the Solar Auxiliary forces reported: 'The doctor has boarded the ship and is currently taking the orbital train to the special cell holding the Chaos OriginalBody.'

'Thanks for the reminder.'

Magnus nodded at that clerical member, then said to those present:

'Notify your commander Constantin that we on this side are ready; we can activate the wormhole engine at any time and head to low orbit above Shensheng Tala to await the main force of the expedition.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Well, thanks for the trouble, everyone.'

Magnus always maintains a modest attitude, and directly activates the teleportation device in his armor; accompanied by a flash of blue light, his nearly five-meter-tall giant figure also disappears inside the bridge.

———————

…

Meanwhile.

The hull of the Fearless.

Inside a large cell, the layout is not much different from the temporary cell of the Moonlight Goddess‑class holding Assasitye, but it is more spacious and bright, with the standard Umbrella style.

'Roar… roar…'

Covered in scales and wounds, yet constantly healing and regenerating, maintaining the form of a black fire dragon, Wokan groaned in pain.

The solid light beam developed by the manager's technology tightly bound the limbs, neck, wings and head of this black fire dragon Wokan.

Together with spatial compression from the restraint rack, Wokan, on the brink of death, completely lost his combat and mobility, unable to move; even his wings, ablaze with raging flames, were forcibly extinguished, exposing the cracked, withered original form.

At this moment.

Magnus, whose height barely reaches Wokan's nostrils, stood at the edge of the restraint rack, silently gazing at this brother who shares blood but has gone in opposite directions in every way.

The Zero Three Emperor is the fact that the father is an isotope in the Zero Three universe; this has long been known among OriginalBodies and Astartes.

Even among the public, some net‑jokingly called 'great god' bloggers have also analyzed this, and it has facilitated the father's establishment of the Human Empire in the main universe.

Of course, the truth about the Zero Three Emperor's meticulous planning of everything is limited to the Zero Three Empire and Sui Bian; even the OriginalBodies cannot know it.

Regarding Wokan and the fire lizards…

Magnus almost completely collected the histories, biographies, and various books of the 03 Universe into the central library of Terra's Shield.

Thus, he knew this loyalist legion should be considered, within the 03 Universe, the one that best matches his father Sui Bian's expectations for a legion.

The individuals are of high quality, the unit works well together, they excel at melt and flame weapons to destroy foes, they value technology and craftsmanship, and artisans are highly regarded and respected.

However, other legions also have these advantages; what truly sets the Fire Lizards apart is this group of giants whose skin is dark due to their gene-seed, and their special attitude toward mortal civilians.

(Including Wokan, all Fire Lizards are not black people; they merely have dark skin.)

Fire Lizards are willing to spend extra time listening to the pleas of mortal civilians loyal to the Emperor, and if they can, they will lend a hand to these civilians.

Some books that should have been ordered destroyed after Helusi Lupercal's rule, but instead survived in the dark sector (under Conrad Koze's responsibility), record that some Fire Lizards even, during festivals, send gifts to the civilians stationed there.

Although the 03 Universe's extreme warriors likewise do not regard mortal civilians as "useless objects" and have a relatively friendly attitude, they generally avoid extensive interaction with mortal civilians for the sake of glory and image.

Thus, after the crusade army collapsed and the new human empire was shattered, Father once mentioned, in private conversation with him and the other OriginalBodies, that when creating the ten legions of the main universe, he had considered the Fire Lizards as one of the ideal models.

Now…

What should have been the ideal legion has instead become one of the Chaos gods' demons' proudest creations, while the most amiable and peaceful OriginalBody has become the corrupt, depraved evil dragon before us.

Magnus truly feels regret and also wants to understand why Wokan has fallen to this state.

Whoosh—!

At that moment, he heard the metal gate behind him open, and immediately after heard the signature tone and exclamation: "Ah~! What a perfect test subject~!".

Without turning, Magnus knew it was the Plague Doctor who had arrived.

Soon, to fit the Umbrella style, the Plague Doctor, who always wears a white coat wherever he goes, carries a black satchel, and as he passes Magnus, he does not forget to tap Magnus's arm plate with his right hand, saying:

"Yo, kid, what are you worrying about?"

"Nothing, Doctor." Magnus shrugged, watched the Plague Doctor dive straight into the restraint rig, then walked at a leisurely pace to the right side of Wokan's head.

"Hmm~ hmm~."

As the familiar tune played, the Plague Doctor set down his satchel and pulled out a super-large surgical blade over a meter long.

Regarding this.

Magnus was already accustomed to it.

Clearly just a satchel that can hold at most a few notebooks, yet it can produce items of various volumes, shapes, and weights, or even living creatures.

Among the mysteries he and his brothers have wanted to understand since childhood, the Plague Doctor's satchel definitely ranks in the top five.

Even Father is quite curious, having muttered things like "four‑dimensional pocket" and "really a different kind of Doraemon…", and so on.

"Skree!!" The blade smoothly slit the sturdy scales and rough hide.

"Roar!!" And the dragon's roar of pain echoed throughout the cage.

Only see the Plague Doctor raise the surgical blade with one hand and precisely cut a chunk of flesh with dragon scales from Wokan's neck.

Ignoring Wokan's awakening howls, the Plague Doctor shoved the flesh into his satchel, then produced a similarly meter‑long syringe and jabbed it through the sealing wound.

"Sizzle!"

"Roar…"

The dragon's roar sounded again, but this time it was weak and feeble.

Next.

The Plague Doctor exploited Wokan's ability to constantly regenerate, tormenting him for two full hours, during which Wokan howled for two hours.

Once he had gathered enough material and observed all of Wokan's reactions as data, the Plague Doctor finally felt satisfied putting away all his tools.

Then he turned and left this place, eager to walk out of the cage, and told Magnus: "Please tell Mr. Sui to give this poor child a quick death."

"All right, Doctor."

Magnus nodded slightly, and using the quantum communicator of the OriginalBody armor, he held a real‑time conversation with his father inside the meditation hall of the main universe.

Soon after, Wokan's body and soul, wracked with agony and howling, began to decay; his massive form rapidly disintegrated and collapsed.

However, Wokan's eyes, occupied by a pink‑purple light, became clear at that moment.

And after showing Magnus a grateful gaze, Wokan completely turned into a dragon skeleton, devoid of life; even the physical beams and restraint rig were now useless.

Regarding this, Magnus's expression was unusually flat; he knew his father had "purged" the Chaos influence and reclaimed Wokan's soul.

"Surely it won't be many years before we reunite, brother."

Gazing at the enormous dragon skeleton, Magnus had already begun to look forward to the day he could fight side by side with Wokan.

Years, time—these notions are utterly trivial to the immortal OriginalBodies.

But another downside of immortality is that it can affect temperament; fortunately, the present Human Empire permits OriginalBodies and Astate to take part in various entertainments, whereas if one could neither act nor think in the 03 Empire…

The galactic universe will sooner or later be engulfed in war.

Thinking of this, although Magnus is rather "dense," interested only in scholarship and the cosmos, the recent "family conference" also made this OriginalBody who rarely leaves his quarters notice that the brothers' verbal sparring has become more frequent and intense, seeming more obstinate.

It is precisely because he often stays by his father's side, does not participate in any activities, and merely helps his brothers lock onto targets that he is able to keenly notice this.

It seems that after the expedition ends, it will be necessary to have a proper talk with his father.

———————

…

Eighteen hours later.

An elite expedition fleet composed of two homeworld vessels, over seventy Glory‑Lord and Moon‑Goddess ships, and nearly a thousand Titans and Olympus‑class ships, gathered at the edge of Shensheng Tala's gravitational influence.

Among them, the Zeus‑class, capable of serving as most headquarters flagships, merely functions as escort‑ship reconnaissance and duties in this expedition fleet.

Afterward.

The Moon Goddess‑class ships that were first fitted with wormhole drives deployed in unison, generating a wormhole about a thousand kilometers in diameter for the expedition fleet to "instantaneously" reach the core of the Eye of Terror.

———————

{Fan title participating in the comment section ~~}

(End of chapter)