Chapter 555: Screening the First Empire

He said.

Sui Bian glanced sideways at the Red Queen and ordered, "Notify Magnus… have him take over my seat at the Spiritual Energy amplification device when he's free, to intimidate interdimensional scamps and ensure they don't exploit the gap while I'm away."

While saying this, he actually felt a slight debt toward Magnus, but thinking that bringing back some "small items" from the universe he was about to travel to and giving them to Tuthmos first should be enough to make up for it.

Yes.

The Red Queen didn't mind her boss's tone or any possible debt, and immediately relayed the order to the OriginalBody.

Also, notify all OriginalBodies and all Empire officers and officials of general and planetary rank: I will be away from the primary universe for about three Earth days, leading part of the Imperial Guard and Grey Knights to engage the Empire forces of another universe in advance, so they need not worry about anything.

"However…" Sui Bian said, then reminded the Red Queen, "You stay in the Imperial Palace, cooperate with the Regulatory Department to conduct a thorough screening of the high officials within the Empire's existing territories, sparing no word or deed."

If any hint of irregularity is found, immediately deploy Ghost agents to resolve it.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Red Queen replied, her face still coldly beautiful.

Sui Bian was indeed about to go to another new universe, but being able to control the flow of time, in theory even if he stayed in that universe for thousands or tens of thousands of years, he could manipulate it according to his own perception, which would amount to only a second for the primary universe.

However, Sui Bian deliberately told the Empire's high command that he would be gone for three days, clearly to use the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive screening of the Empire's ruling class.

Although the reports he compiled indicated everything was normal, with all star systems and star regions unusually stable, that was while he was inside the Imperial Palace, feeling an intense pressure over the entire domain.

And once he leaves, even though everyone knows he possesses the ability to perceive all things, people always retain a certain sense of luck; who can be sure that, aside from the OriginalBody, Astate, and numerous elders, those officials and generals harbor no ulterior motives?

Of course, this "ulterior motive" refers to using high position and power for personal gain, not the so‑called rebellion.

In the primary universe's over two‑hundred‑year interstellar history, the UEG and UNSC eras did see rebellions, but they were quashed early on by reserves or legion headquarters.

As for the rebellious seeds that had long been noticed, Ghost agents silently fabricated various accidents to snuff them out.

And now the head of the Regulatory Department is none other than Agent X‑018 NuoWa, who was taken to Minos Island by Aya Bureiya and, along with many orphans, became Sui Bian's adopted child.

Over two hundred years ago, Sui Bian, to ensure the successful creation of Ghost agents, personally taught NuoWa and the first batch of agents how to proficiently wield Spiritual Energy.

Later, these children could continue teaching the next batch, and thus NuoWa and the first agents regarded Sui Bian as their father and maintained good private relations with many OriginalBodies.

The first batch of agents, a third of them have unfortunately perished, lying in the Sea of Souls… actually on Heroic Spirit Island enjoying true freedom, the remaining agents have taken up positions as Empire officials.

And having survived Conrad's raid, NuoWa, who possesses one of the pinnacle levels of mortal Spiritual Energy, is the unequivocal choice for head of the Regulatory Department.

In contrast, the other pinnacle figure Shala Kairigan…

It seems that having grown up among the Space Wild Wolves, she simply cannot qualify as a Ghost agent, let alone the ministerial post.

Having finished the instructions to the Red Queen.

Sui Bian also reminded the White Queen, "Hand over the matters you have at hand to the Red Queen."

"Yes…" Blue light flashed in her double pupils; the White Queen's cybernetic visage showed impatience as she said, "Your Majesty! The handover is complete; may we now set out?"

"..." Artemis was somewhat speechless.

She didn't understand the situation; one second she was directing wrap‑up work, the next she and half her subordinates were taken to the reception hall, and now they were to go directly to another universe?

Fortunately, Artemis usually gives Sui Bian ample respect and face; unless Sui Bian himself explains, she will not disrupt his rhythm.

"Hmm." Sui Bian, sensing Artemis's mood, gave a slight nod to the White Queen, then addressed the two hundred Imperial Guard and Grey Knights:

"Children, those younger brothers of yours who are a hundred or even a thousand years younger (the Titans where the Grey Knights reside accelerate the flow of time), are undergoing trials across multiple parallel universes against various anomalous phenomena and alien abominations.

And you, the vast majority of you, must wait years to receive a large‑scale extermination and elimination mission, unless you actively apply for one."

At this point, Sui Bian paused deliberately, then continued, "As for me, even before the Empire was founded, I released Spiritual Energy in Universe 05, eradicating billions of alien beings…

Don't forget whose warlike nature you inherited. Frankly, as your father and the lord of humanity, I am constrained and 'bound' by various roles, preventing me from freely engaging the abominations and heretics up close.

Conveniently, while your many younger brothers are occupied with their trials, I have found across the many universes an enemy worthy of a renewed expedition…

It is a faction that calls itself the First Galactic Empire.

They comprise multiple races, humans being only one of them, but their ruling class attained power through rather despicable means.

Most importantly, their emperor and a host of officials and generals have turned toward a chaos akin to interdimensional space, worshipping darkness."

An empire that worships darkness?!

Hearing father speak so, the two hundred Grey Knights and Imperial Guard instantly became eager to try, especially the Grey Knights, whose expertise aligns perfectly!

Moreover, hearing that father intends to join as well only heightened the Grey Knights' and Imperial Guard's impatience.

"Alright…" Sui Bian raised his left hand, gave it a slight wave, and a pale golden light filled the space around everyone.

Immediately thereafter.

It seemed there wasn't even a blink of an eye before the White Queen, Artemis, and the assembled giants found the area that had been the reception hall transformed into a forest.

Along with them, towering, neatly arranged equipment crates capable of holding various types of explosive arrows were also teleported here.

Sui Bian waved again, fully packing the crates for the children so they wouldn't be cumbersome to move.

In fact, no matter how many were missing, he only needed a single thought to complete the teleportation; after all, the Red and White Queens almost every three Earth days compiled detailed inventories of all supplies, equipment, weapons, and so on for him.

As for the surroundings, the trees were extremely tall, each at least a hundred meters high, with trunks wide enough to require more than ten Astate individuals to encircle.

Looking upward, through the gaps between branches and leaves, one could see a stellar ring in the clear sky and, farther away, a satellite.

This indicates that the planet they stand on is not Earth of another universe, or perhaps, in this universe, Earth and the Solar System may not exist.

They observed for a moment.

Everyone's gaze returned to Sui Bian.

Seeing this, Sui Bian twitched his left index finger, causing a flash of pale golden light in the White Queen's double pupils.

Then this AI secretary, adept at "civil affairs," instantly retrieved data on the planet they were on, its star system, and even the entire galaxy.

"Our planet is called Codisanger," the White Queen raised her voice slightly, explaining on Sui Bian's behalf: "This is an outer star domain of the First Galactic Empire, one of the newest natural planets incorporated into its rule.

The star system containing Codisanger has a total population of about 230 billion; the First Empire has stationed a branch of the 332nd Fleet there, with a total force of roughly two million."

Spiritual Energy can affect electronic components, including the White Queen, who is an AI.

Sui Bian simply converted everything he observed into code the White Queen could comprehend using Spiritual Energy, thereby enabling her to provide assistance more efficiently.

"Sure enough." Upon hearing this, Artemis placed thunder into a special leather pouch hanging at her waist and offered her view: "A star system in the outer domain alone has over two hundred billion people; its total mass might even surpass that of our Human Empire."

"Exactly." The White Queen did not deny, "According to the data Your Majesty gave me for comparison…"

Our Human Empire's total population is about eight thousand trillion (Zero Two and Zero Three make up the bulk, and birth benefits have never ceased).

The First Empire's total population, however, reaches seventy thousand trillion (legend has it there is also a claim of a thousand to the sixth power), and just in terms of scale, they are more than ten times us.

However, when it comes to the degree of technological usage in each field, especially nanotech and biotechnology, we are ahead of the First Empire.

Seventy thousand trillion?!

Upon learning that the First Empire has such a population, the Grey Knights and Imperial Guard trembled slightly.

Of course it wasn't fear, but a slight excitement.

Seventy thousand trillion, huh—how many scraps are in there, and how many achievements? Those are the first thoughts that arise in the giants' minds.

Not afraid of many, only afraid of few.

"Seventy thousand trillion…" Artemis whispered.

As former deities of Earth, had they not, after awakening, "voluntarily" bound themselves to human war chariots, they might never have reached other universes, let alone clash with an empire possessing ten quadrillion people.

Bai Hou continued, "At present, I have marked the main population clusters of Kedi Sang'er, as well as the locations of imperial barracks, star ports, and bases, and uploaded them to each of your individual soldier systems."

Upon hearing Bai Hou's words, Sui Bian surveyed the Grey Knights and Imperial Guard present, and continued, "I give you twenty‑four hours to crush the First Empire fleet stationed in this star system.

Of course, I will also take part, but for fairness, I will not employ Spiritual Energy unless necessary."

"One more thing…" Sui Bian's voice deepened slightly, "The upper echelons of this universe's empire are heavily influenced by the 'Dark' side, so there is no need to worry too much when acting."

As for the First Empire's humans and alien beings…

Although our policies toward society and residents are relatively lenient, do not forget that we are the Human Empire; only aliens who fight tooth and nail to join us can earn human status—there is no reason for us to actively invite aliens into the empire.

All clear?

"Yes! Father!"

"Hmm, let's all go hunting."

"Yes!"

As the words faded, a pale blue light sphere flickered in the forest.

Then, two hundred Grey Knights and Imperial Guard vanished along with the sphere, disappearing within the forest.

The Grey Knights' Holy Shield Terminators and the Imperial Guard's Emperor Terminators have roughly the same rank gap; the Holy Shield may be slightly weaker, but both models of Terminator are equipped with a 'single‑soldier jump' capability…

That refers to the literal single‑soldier jump.

More than two hundred years ago, when Sui Bian obtained the Halo's Thunder God Hammer Mark Six and the Fire Spirit, he already conceived the development of single‑soldier jump.

Only after acquiring Shield World 003 did these technologies become reality.

Although the current Human Empire, due to the relatively high cost of single‑soldier jump engines—each equivalent to four Nether‑type Terminators—cannot mass‑produce them for now, they are limited to the Imperial Guard, Grey Knights, and the elite first battalion of the legion; however, once the forging star district ramps up the production line…

Within a hundred years, it should be absolutely possible to equip all Terminators, even the Thunder God Hammer, with single‑soldier jump capability.

Moreover, Sui Bian hopes that this single‑soldier jump technology will not be limited to military use, but will also become rapidly widespread among the populace within a century.

The Star Gate certainly eases travel between star systems, even between universes, but ordinary people wishing to reach another colony planet in this stellar system must either take an orbital elevator, then board the system's 'space high‑speed rail' upon reaching low Earth orbit, or purchase a space shuttle capable of folding jumps.

However, even the cheapest space shuttle still costs roughly ten to a hundred times the price of a common atmospheric flight boat.

In some earlier‑developed colonies, an ordinary family could afford a space shuttle by spending their entire annual salary, such as Arcadia, though doing so is somewhat unnecessary.

In contrast, newly developed colonies lack such purchasing power.

With the proliferation of single‑soldier (single‑person) jump devices, coupled with appropriate laws and standards, humanity's technological 'ascension' or 'transcendence'—as envisioned by Sui Bian—will be one step closer.

The 'one hundred thousand eight thousand li' of various myths and legends is, to empire residents, truly everyday life.

Spiritual Energy ascension is indeed swift, but not everyone possesses Spiritual Energy potential; pursuing physics and technology is the way forward.

Now, BoKen and his spouse, together with Zigler Kaichi, who head the nano project, have safely encoded nano organs into genetic information.

In other words, the experimental couples' next generation, naturally conceived, will possess nano‑robots that cooperate with the immune system without needing external injection.

(Nano‑robots are not 'machines' in the traditional sense; they are a kind of non‑cellular microbe with 'programs' and 'targets', e. g., bacteriophages.)

And at this moment.

Sui Bian also walked out of the forest with Bai Hou, heading on foot toward the nearest city.

Note: The First Empire contains a large amount of fan‑created content~

There is no comparison between Warhammer and Star Wars.

(End of chapter)