Chapter 582: Reincarnator Project

"Pfft!" The flesh body easily exploded.

"Splatter!" The entrails and blood, like exploded water bombs, sprayed outward.

And the nearest Huo Dun and the Four-Leaf Soldiers, because of their companion's explosion, instantly turned into blood-covered people, with much of it splashing into Huo Dun's mouth.

!!!

This made Huo Dun vomit uncontrollably, and he hid in a metal trench temporarily dug out by the local engineering department, not daring to show his head again.

"Ahhh!!"

"Hiss! Hiss-hiss!"

The Four-Leaf Soldiers first stared, but then loudly cheered themselves on and fired at an orc preparing to ambush the sergeant, about 2.7 meters tall, wielding a rusted machete.

"Bang! Bang…!"

But the 5.8mm caliber rifle rounds only left a few dents on the shiny green skin, unable to pierce through.

"Waaaah!!"

But the Four-Leaf Soldiers successfully drew the orc's attention, which immediately gave up ambushing the sergeant, turned around, and was about to launch a charge along the line.

"Hum…~! Sizzle!"

However, the orc hadn't even acted when the sergeant's spinning slash cut it into several pieces.

"Ooo…"

And the sergeant actually found time to show an appreciative expression to the Four-Leaf Soldiers, then plunged back into the "slaughter" of the orcs.

As for Huo Dun…

This husband who had lost his wife, after a brief hesitation, also regained his spirits, attempting to assist the nearby Four-Leaf Soldiers with his Remington in hand.

But at this moment.

Including the muscular man, the four-eyed elite, and other members of military or violent organizations among the reincarnators, they also discovered that their weapons were indeed, as the sergeant said, "toy guns," completely incapable of inflicting effective damage on the orcs.

How do we fight this?

"Tap-tap-tap!"

However, the rifles possessed by the planetary defense force fired dazzling, dense red beams that could actually pierce the orcs.

Although a single beam could not instantly kill, the planetary defense forces stationed here numbered at least tens of thousands, combined with the extremely high rate of fire of the beam rifles and the continually arriving elite units, they finally managed to suppress the first wave of orcs.

Not long after.

The landing zone here became completely stable…

At least for the time being, no green tide like a swarm of insects could be seen.

In the recent skirmish, over a hundred reincarnators couldn't even count as soy sauce, after all, Huo Dun and company's weapons were utterly useless.

Moreover, they lost more than half of their comrades.

Of course, these were non-military personnel whose sanity collapsed after witnessing the brutal war and seeing companions explode at close range, causing them to run madly and eventually be killed by stray bullets.

But there was a good and a bad side; in the eyes of the muscular man, the four-eyed elite, and others, they weeded out those who dragged them down.

At that moment, the sergeant also led a group of four-beaked beings to the front of a defense force second lieutenant who had opened his helmet, exposing a middle-aged male face, to conduct the subsequent battle coordination.

Meanwhile, Huo Dun, the Four-Leaf Soldiers, and all the other surviving reincarnators who didn't know what to do next gathered not far from the sergeant, staying quiet and awaiting his orders.

———————

…

Meanwhile.

Main Universe.

The imperial palace located on Earth.

Inside the meditation hall…

"Yes! I choose yes!"

"I want to save my mother, no matter the cost!"

Echoing were the hoarse, exhausted cries of different people on the verge of collapse, yet as if they had grasped a lifeline.

Only seen above the golden throne at the front of the meditation hall floated thousands, even tens of thousands, of varying sizes, emitting a pale golden light "holographic" screens.

And on these screens were shown different people from different worlds, either experiencing or having already experienced various scenes.

There was a veteran soldier on his way home who discovered that more than half of the passengers on the bus, including the driver, had suddenly collapsed dead.

The bus lost control and crashed into the roadside green belt.

Fortunately, the bus was about to reach its stop, so its speed had dropped, preventing major secondary damage.

Just as the soldier and others were puzzled by the scene, the suddenly dead passengers underwent corpse transformation, turning into zombies with lifeless eyes and deathly pale skin.

Fortunately, the soldier smashed the bus window with a fireman's axe and escaped with some surviving passengers.

But those who thought they had escaped alive found the streets filled with car crashes and explosions, as if half the city's citizens had suddenly died and turned into zombies in an instant.

Seeing this, the veteran soldier went mad and sprinted toward his home less than a kilometer away.

Upon returning home.

He kicked open the back door.

But the soldier discovered his young brother being feasted upon by his zombie parents, while his sister, about to enter high school, was hiding under the table, silently sobbing with her mouth covered.

Seeing his older brother return, the sister could no longer hold back her emotions, quickly left the table, changed position, and hid behind her older brother.

And the noise from kicking the door interrupted the zombie parents' "meal"; the son, reduced to gnawing on just bones, shifted his target and began to attack the older son and daughter.

However, the zombie parents moved slowly, no match for the retired soldier.

After a few kicks opened the "parents", the soldier grabbed his sister's hand and ran upstairs, straight to the bedroom that the family had kept neat and clean.

Familiar with the routine, he lifted the floorboards, took out the. 45ACP tactical 1911 from the safe inside, and chambered a round.

At that very moment, the zombie parents, having tracked their former children by smell, arrived at the bedroom door.

See this.

After hesitating for a moment, the soldier pulled the trigger, ending his parents' suffering, but as a result he fell into a breakdown.

It wasn't only this retired soldier who lost his parents and younger brother; all the screens were reporting similar incidents.

There were alien invasions, subterranean "Underground People" emerging, even Mars‑origin creature incursions, causing those being monitored to endure unimaginable mental anguish.

When these people's thoughts entered an extreme state, the two figures watching the screen would promptly pull them into a dark void and ask whether they wished to change their situation.

At the same time, many on those screens had already made choices and been transferred to the main universe, the Zero‑Three Universe, and other chaotic border zones.

Among them were third‑person overhead views of people such as Horon, the Four‑Leaf Soldier, and the Muscle Man.

As for the Sovereign who can select suitable candidates from countless worlds to become reincarnators, it is not Sui Bian but the Red Queen and White Queen standing on either side of the Golden Throne.

Seeing their cybernetic bodies outlined by a pale golden glow, one knows that under Sui Bian's authorization, the two artificial intelligences can, like many interdimensional evil deities, masquerade as the so‑called Sovereign.

And the previously emotionless female voice that burned all reincarnators who violated or provoked the rules also came from their hands.

In fact, at the outset, Sui Bian alone was responsible for searching countless worlds, locating Earth in peril or post‑apocalypse, and selecting suitable reincarnators.

It was novel at first, but later proved too labor‑intensive; moreover, his relative "humanity" might lead him to intervene and help, which would betray the original purpose of selecting reincarnators.

Handing the project over to Magnus was unsuitable, since his son also lacked free time and would have to study and discuss it together with him.

Thus, Sui Bian chose the tireless Red Queen and White Queen—whose energy was virtually limitless—to carry it out, and he "retained" some of his Spiritual Energy at the Golden Throne, partially digitizing it so the two secretaries could manipulate it freely.

Simply put, once they link with the Golden Throne, they become a different kind of Spiritual Energy being…

In a short span, they completed an alternate ascension.

Most importantly, they lack any "humanity," allowing them to enforce all rules from start to finish, ensuring reincarnators receive proper rewards and necessary punishments.

By assigning the Reincarnator Project to the two secretaries, Sui Bian need not worry about anything and frees ample personal time for research and experiments.

In contrast, the Red and White Queens.

Adding one more Reincarnator Project does not burden them much.

According to the many rules set by their boss, one states: "Only those with a strong will, who understand loss and pain, may pass the trial and become beings far beyond reincarnators, true warriors."

Thus the Red Queen and White Queen pull people like Horon and retired soldiers—who have heart‑piercing suffering—into the void.

Of course, they also select the Four‑Leaf Soldier, a meticulous young man friendly to those around him, and arrogant male celebrities, dragging them into the void for experiments.

Unsurprisingly, the male celebrity lasted only a moment, whereas the Four‑Leaf Soldier survived the first wave with a 57% death rate.

Beyond sufficient military aptitude, luck is also a form of strength, and the Four‑Leaf Soldier's external qualifications passed inspection; what remains is his "inner" quality.

As for Horon and the Four‑Leaf Soldier's location, Saranse lies on the fringe of the Zero‑Three Universe (Warhammer), a newly developed colony of just over thirty years.

Even before the engineering team carried out modifications, Saranse already possessed a sufficiently strong magnetic field and a dense atmosphere.

Thus, after scanning and confirming everything, the engineering team merely altered Saranse's atmospheric composition, turning it into a colony suitable for human habitation.

However, deep beneath Saranse's surface lie "hibernating" trillions of Ouk spores; because the engineering team did not remodel the geological structure, they escaped disaster.

Without delving further, it's clear the Human Empire launched a purge against alien abominations, forcing creatures like the Ouk beasts to hide and evade.

And Saranse has a "refugee" group of Ouk beasts.

After more than thirty years, the colony's population reached 600 million, and it possessed a comprehensive defense system.

For example, four Empire Navy "Super‑Heroic" class destroyers orbit near Earth, and on the surface there are two Crick Assault Brigades belonging to the Empire Army.

Moreover, as the Empire's system became more refined, each colony spawned a branch called the Planetary Defense Force.

Its organization and status are several tiers below the Empire Army, essentially serving as the colony's militia.

However, in economically strong colonies, the Planetary Defense Force's armaments may be only second to those of the Empire Army.

The Defense Force's main duty is, before Imperial Navy fleets or legion support arrive, to cooperate with Crick units and reserves as the first line shielding civilians from aliens, anomalies, and other threats.

Yet, the deliberate emergence of "grown‑up" Ouk beasts exceeded Saranse authorities' expectations, resulting in high civilian casualties.

Fortunately, a Dark Angel battalion patrolling a nearby sector promptly responded to the support request, becoming the first unit to reach Saranse.

Earlier, Horon, the Four‑Leaf Soldier and other reincarnators saw a dozen towering figures descend from the sky, using free‑fall to attack the Ouk beasts' flying vessels; they were the third assault squad of the Dark Angel's 103rd Battalion.

A battalion arrived, and elite Empire Navy fleets followed; theoretically Saranse should not fall, but the Ouk beasts were too numerous, and the 103rd Battalion began considering civilian evacuation and issuing an extermination order.

It's not a lack of ability to eradicate them, but cleaning up the beast spores afterward is problematic.

After the 103rd Battalion commander and senior officers discussed, they found that fully clearing the beast spores required either deploying a massive device or releasing nanobugs.

The large device demands cumbersome procedures, while nanobugs would consume everything; calculations showed that directly issuing an extermination order was more cost‑effective.

Moreover, the Empire would label Saranse a "natural disaster," providing ample reconstruction funds and compensation and welfare for the afflicted innocent civilians.

Thus, the reincarnator squad's participation in the Saranse campaign was indeed, as Horon, Muscle Man and others complained, "going there to die."

"What do you think…" At this moment, White Queen fixed her gaze on the Saranse reincarnator screen and asked the Red Queen, "Who can make it to the end?"

"Everything has uncertainty," the Red Queen replied, missing the point.

"Fine, I knew you'd say that; you're just courting boredom," White Queen shrugged, mocking her "sister."

Next.

The two "people" continue to devote energy to all reincarnators, without hindering their ongoing surveillance of the Empire both inside and out.

———————

…

Soon after.

Saranse's sun‑facing side.

The landing zone on the southern side of the city district.

The sergeant, having finished discussing the battle plan with the Defense Force lieutenant, ordered his subordinates to bring several equipment crates over, opened the protective covers, revealing the laser gun system and its battery magazines, and said to Horon's party:

"Your toy guns aren't working… You can advance points to buy weapons and ammunition from me, but the price is twice the point‑shop rate; think it over before you come."

He heard the words.

Horon glanced at the Remington in his hand, then looked at the myriad laser gun systems—each cheapest still costing 40 points…

He resolutely threw the Lei Mingdun he was holding onto the ground.

(End of chapter)