Chapter 629

The surface of Morning Star.

At this moment, the fierce battle erupting in the metropolitan area, plus the struggle for control of near-Earth orbit, seemed to set the entire night sky ablaze; even without lighting, one could see objects a hundred meters away on the road.

Many skyscrapers suffered collateral damage from artillery fire and crashing warships, but on the side of Metropolitan District 15, a necropolis suddenly surfaced, causing tilting and collapse.

Around the pyramid whose exterior is wholly black, with details and crevices flashing emerald light, countless necro warriors stand guard on all sides.

At important locations such as intersections and skybridge corridors, there are also 'Triple-foot Scorpions' equipped with large-caliber, high-power Gauss cannons; these are units that move via three legs, or anti-gravity pads, or even a scorpion tail, and are typically the necro side's destroyer units.

Those equipped with ultra-phase blades are Scorpion-type Destroyers; those able to hover, like small tanks, are Locust-type Destroyers, and so on.

Meanwhile, countless necro warriors and various destroyer types are escorting human prisoners from all directions to the necropolis that has surfaced above ground.

Among the prisoners, over ninety percent are civilians, a small portion are police, Imperial Army and Imperial Marines, and there are even extremely few Krieg, Auxiliary Army, and Reserve personnel.

However, these people are not all captured merely to save their lives.

Such as the Krieg, Auxiliary Army, and Reserve.

Krieg are soldiers created through genetic engineering; from birth, besides possessing normal human emotions, they also have an unwavering faith: to fight for the Emperor.

The Auxiliary Army requires extraordinarily strong will, being the elite among mortal elites, to qualify for the Auxiliary Army augmentation program.

As for the Reserve, needless to say, since the Human Emperor is their father, they would never consider surrender, lest they lose face.

Therefore, these prisoners were either briefly knocked unconscious by blast and impact, or directly crippled by high-ranking necro units, leaving no time to overload the reactors of their respective power armor.

Ultimately, these super-soldiers, unable to resist, were forcibly stripped of their power armor and then confined in transport vehicles equipped with stasis fields.

Meanwhile, among civilians, police, and Imperial soldiers conscripted from local or nearby star systems and sectors, the 'abundant martial virtue' and 'fearless of death' certainly make up the majority, yet there will always be a minority who fear death and thus abandon resistance, willingly surrendering.

These anti-gravity transport vehicles, driven by necro warriors, each emit an emerald stasis field, imprisoning humans kept in a dazed state, and continuously convey them to the necropolis.

Following the convoy escorting the prisoners, passing through the pyramid's outer wall with a standard 51° slope, entering the necropolis interior, the first thing that comes into view is a dazzling array of glowing prisms.

The emerald hue, together with the occasional 'ah…-ah…-' wail, makes the interior of the necropolis extremely oppressive.

Although the prisoners whose freedom of movement is restricted cannot move, their eyes and ears can still perceive changes outside the vehicle, and naturally they can also hear the anguished cries of their fellow countrymen.

In a minority of their eyes, fear and confusion show, but the majority display anger and resentment.

The convoy, under the necro warriors' driving, splits apart.

Those carrying mostly civilians simply dock at the nearby open field, after which a swarm of metal beetles descends like a blanket, and many metal spiders approach nearby, awaiting the moment the stasis field lifts to immediately impose bodily control on the prisoners.

And the few vehicles carrying the Krieg, Auxiliary Army, and Reserve also set off in different directions.

One of the transport vehicles, holding ten Reserve members with various injuries, is parked within a shimmering light circle at the edge.

Wait a moment.

At the edge, a cylindrical light wall rises, and on the wall there are also meaningless texts and symbols.

A flash of brilliance.

When the light fades, the originally somewhat chaotic hall instantly switches into a large sealed chamber.

Here too is the emerald hue, but there are many neatly arranged platforms resembling coffins, just like operating tables specially used for surgery.

And on the floor, like black ink stone bricks, remain large amounts of bloodstains and flesh pulp, further confirming that those coffins are surgical operating tables.

'Thud, thud.'

Seeing the transport vehicle appear in this chamber, the Imperial Guard stationed around it immediately steps forward; half hold special melee weapons, not ultra-phase blades, while the other half also wield firearms that are not Gauss rays.

It appears the Imperial Guard hopes to use non-lethal force to coerce the ten Reserve members about to have their stasis field lifted.

Roughly counting, about two hundred Imperial Guard are already in position; farther off, the Senior Guard with more 'stalwart' and 'broad' metallic physiques, armed with Gauss firearms, keep watch.

Everything is ready.

The large sealed chamber falls into silence.

Hum……

As the weakening energy's movement reverberates, the light representing the stasis field also flickers like an old human lightbulb, finally dissipating completely.

'Ah!! Die, all of you, die for me!!!'

'Damn! Give you lot of metal stink bugs a face!!!'

When the stasis field vanishes, all the Reserve members roar angrily, turning into blurs, and bare-handed engage in melee with the nearest Imperial Guard.

Bang!

Sizzle!

In less than the blink of an eye, many Imperial Guard are torn apart by the Reserve members' hands.

Having quicker reflexes and a sturdier physique means nothing to the Reserve members, whose average age is under twenty; to them it's just reckless bravado, no matter what you are.

Moreover, the Reserve members without power armor are far faster than when wearing it, and they truly gain the upper hand by brute strength alone.

However, after all, it is an elite unit responsible for guarding the Death Spirit Overlord; the Imperial Guard, initially set back, quickly reversed the situation.

Buzz—! Buzz buzz!!

The Imperial Guard waved their weapons in orderly fashion, attempting to restrict the reservists with no protection whatsoever.

Swish! Swish!

Meanwhile, the Imperial Guard wielding non-lethal energy guns, through rapid calculation, judged the reservists' movement trajectories and fired ahead into the air.

Boom!! Boom!!

A pale green light sphere directly struck six reservists, simultaneously causing a violent explosion; the smoke instantly engulfed these six inexperienced young Astate.

Thud… thud…

Immediately afterward, these six reservists, completely blackened, suffering severe burns, and with parts of their skin charred, collapsed onto the ground, motionless.

The so-called "non-lethal" weapon is one that the Space Death Spirit analyzed and judged against the Astate's physique, incapable of causing a fatal blow in a single strike.

If those pale green light beams had struck ordinary people, they would have been vaporized and evaporated long ago.

As for the reservists, even if their reaction speed were as fast and their skin as hard as steel, without the protection of powered armor, it would be like a hero lacking armor and sword—fundamentally unable to accomplish the feat of slaying a dragon.

Moreover, the reservists are reservists precisely because their combat experience, especially in close-quarters combat, is far insufficient, and the major division is still at the stage of moving from theory to practice.

"！！" (just exclamation marks) no names.

Brothers! Ah!! You damn monsters!!

The reserve soldier, sporting prominent fangs and a full beard despite his youth, was furious and rushed straight at the Imperial Guard carrying 'non-lethal' weapons.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Boom! Boom!

Several energy bolts struck the reserve soldier directly, instantly causing a violent explosion and choking smoke.

Get lost!!

Yet the reserve soldier stubbornly withstood the attack, ignoring his injuries, charging out of the smoke and bursting with speed far beyond his limits into the enemy ranks.

Bang!

Snap!

Sizzle!!

The reserve soldier who charged into the troop was like a wolf among sheep—tearing, head‑butting, doing whatever he could to rip the metal apart with his bare hands.

Pah!

Of course, when the reserve soldier was pushed to the brink, he didn't forget to spit at one of the Imperial Guard.

Hiss…!

His highly corrosive saliva pierced and dissolved the metal skull.

Ri~whoosh!!

Boom!!!

However, the troops in the distance wielding high‑powered Gauss weapons, seeing the reserve soldier suddenly erupt and the close‑combat Imperial Guard unable to contain him, chose to open fire directly.

Er...

Having been hit by the Gauss barrage and feeling himself slowly disintegrate into a pile of scrap, the reserve soldier still wore anger and contempt, raising both hands at the distant Imperial Guard to flip them off while sneering:

You bunch of worthless trash, hahaha! I've got another life coming, what about you? Hahaha!

Laughing and laughing, the reserve soldier was completely disintegrated by the Gauss beam, but the pair of middle fingers held aloft lingered longest before finally turning to ash and drifting down.

Moreover, during the outburst of the fanged reserve soldier, his three other brothers also managed to subdue the Imperial Guard, so in the end none of them could move until after they were struck by the Gauss beam.

The Imperial Guard possessed a degree of autonomous logic, yet they could not comprehend that, according to their data, their numbers and weaponry should have been enough for total domination—what had just happened exceeded their processing capacity.

But they didn't linger in confusion; instead, as soon as the battle ended, they immediately gathered the metal 'corpses' that were undergoing self‑repair.

At the same time, they moved the six seriously wounded, unconscious reserve soldiers onto the operating table.

Having completed their orders, these Imperial Guard units left the chamber via the transport device, together with the earlier transport vehicle.

Immediately afterward, hundreds of metal beetles were released from above the chamber, then split into six waves that surged toward the six unconscious reserve soldiers.

Accompanying the beetles were countless tiny green‑glowing specks, like fireflies, which actually burrowed into the reserve soldiers through their mouths and noses.

Soon, the reserve soldiers' pores and burn cracks began to emit a faint green light outward, though no one knew what experiment those 'fireflies' were conducting.

Meanwhile, the beetles attached themselves to the reserve soldiers to cut and dissect them.

One would expect such extreme experimentation and surgery to involve excruciating pain, yet these six reserve soldiers lay completely still, as if dead.

Thud, thud.

At that moment, a sharp scraping sound came from within the chamber as something poked the floor.

There appeared a gigantic version of a 'triple‑footed scorpion,' walking toward the platform where the six reserve soldiers lay.

This tri‑footed scorpion looked even more refined, fitted with multiple prosthetic limbs, and it wielded a special scepter, indicating its status at least as a noble.

In fact, the individual conducting experiments on the reserve soldiers is none other than Zelas, whom Talasin spoke of—the ruler of the Undead Dynasty on Morning Star.

Coincidentally, Zelas also calls himself the Morning Bringer.

As for why it favors experiments and why Talasin bears a grudge against it, it's simple: during the era when they were still fearing death, the Star Gods shared the knowledge of uploading biological consciousness into living metal—and the one who led the transition from theory to practice was precisely Zelas.

In other words, setting aside the Star Gods, Zelas is nothing short of an infamous arch‑villain.

Furthermore, according to Talasin, Zelas is extremely enthusiastic, even obsessed with unraveling the mysteries of life, and has never seen anything wrong with becoming a mechanical body.

Because Zelas believes it will eventually become a 'god,' its mechanical form is merely a transitional stage; it is quite satisfied with this body, needing no food, drink, excretion, or sleep—only to focus on 'research'.

And Zelas is unaware of some of its own little secrets, which Talasin has already revealed; at this moment it is focused on analyzing the structure of the main universe's Astartes.

However, just as it approached one of the sarcophagus platforms, preparing to get hands‑on…

Dead…monster!!

Let's…go together…!

Ha…hahaha!!

Of the six reserve soldiers, three actually broke free from the metal beetles, summoning all their strength to lunge at Zelas.

It looks like they intend to go down together with Zelas.

Yet, although it appears as a feeble human‑empire technician—like a clumsy oaf who can't even hold a chicken—it remains an undead overlord.

In an instant, Zelas's scepter released a stasis field, once again immobilizing the three reserve soldiers.

Then it twitched its metal fingers, causing the three reserve soldiers to float back onto the sarcophagus platform; it tilted its head, its single eye sensor flashing, and said:

'Your resistance is meaningless, just like your lives; don't try to fight back—you will become the foundation of the path to godhood.'

After confirming that none of the reserve soldiers could break free anymore and that the analysis and experiments could proceed normally, Zelas also controlled the earlier fireflies, gathering a portion of them before it to form a hologram‑like screen.

On the screen appeared Artemis and over a hundred divine servitors efficiently dealing with the undead legions surrounding the tomb, while attempting to rescue as many human captives as possible.

Seeing this, Zelas rapidly tapped the screen with its metal fingers and issued the following command:

'Awaken the Death Mark units, input the command: one, attempt to capture the target; two, if capture fails, eliminate it.'

Having said that, Zelas redirected its focus back to researching the Astartes.

After saying that, Xerath refocused his attention on studying the Astartes.

However…

Whoosh!!!

Zelas did not notice the rear; a blood-colored claw mark was swiftly lunging at it.

(End of chapter)