I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

"Sizzle."

The central hall of the godly palace echoed with the sizzling sound of flesh being scorched as water rapidly evaporated from the body. 

The once-mighty Zeus, standing at over 3.5 meters tall with a thick beard and flowing white hair, had not managed to utter a single word before the Imperial Spear pierced through his chest.

The immense force of the spear shattered the throne and pinned Zeus to the far wall of the hall. 

Following this, psychic lightning released from the Cawl Wolf's Fang burned and roasted Zeus into a charred corpse.

"."

Having instantly killed the so-called King of the Gods from myth and legend, both Sanguinius and Horus felt momentarily dazed. Their eyes, locked on Zeus's scorched body through their helmets, showed a trace of confusion.

Was Zeus and the Greek gods really this weak?

It shouldn't be.

According to Hera's description, nuclear or hydrogen bombs could indeed kill these so-called "gods," but the Greek gods should have been able to evade such attacks using their heightened senses and extremely fast mobility.

And Zeus was supposed to be able to crush all of the other gods.

When they first got this intel, Sanguinius assumed that Zeus was like a "psychic-powered Superman."

After all, not long after coming of age, he had fought a battle against a Superman-like figure. If it hadn't been for Soldier Boy's radiation, which weakened the Compound V effects in Superman's body, the outcome of that battle would have been very different.

But now, five years had passed since that fight. It seemed...

Their physical prowess and psychic power were strong enough to instantly kill the Greek gods.

Hmm...

Or maybe these Greek gods didn't deserve to be called "gods" at all, considering how easily they were defeated by mere "humans."

After a brief moment of silence, Sanguinius raised his right hand, summoning back the Imperial Spear. He then reported over the comms, "This is Sanguinius and Horus. We have successfully neutralized the primary target of this operation. You can send in the technicians."

"Understood," came Guilliman's reply from the other end. "Good work. Please continue to maintain security on-site. Also, Hera, the anomalous creature who provided us with intel, will accompany the technicians to the crater. You might need to assist them."

"Got it."

Ending the transmission, Sanguinius glanced at Horus, who was inspecting Zeus's body, then at the scattered remains of the other fallen gods. Sensing through his psychic powers that the chaotic energy had fully dissipated from the area, Sanguinius finally relaxed his tense nerves.

He stepped out of the hall and onto the platform at the top of the steps.

Looking down at the ruined palace complex, he saw that the ground forces had also completed their tasks. The sporadic gunfire indicated that soldiers were ensuring the dead were put down for good, reducing the chances of unexpected incidents to the minimum.

Before long, a dozen Falcon assault ships flew through the opening above the complex and began landing in the southern dungeon and other areas of research interest.

One of the Falcons landed not far from Sanguinius.

The doors opened.

The first to exit were a group of technicians, dressed in white protective suits and carrying toolboxes, along with small, white-painted spider-like robots.

They entered the hall and began collecting the remains of Poseidon, Artemis, and other gods. Under Horus's watchful gaze, the robots used high-energy lasers to dismember Zeus's body for easier transport by the technicians.

Next out of the ship was Hera, still dressed in her usual sportswear.

The former queen of the gods wasn't wearing a protective suit like the technicians, nor did she enter the hall with them. Instead, she walked up to Sanguinius and bowed in greeting.

"Not going to take a look inside?" Sanguinius asked.

"No," Hera said, raising her head to look at Sanguinius. Her face showed no sadness, only a sense of relief. "I hated Zeus more than you could imagine, especially after he killed my favorite child. I wanted nothing more than to see him torn to pieces, so I should actually thank you for your help."

With that, Hera stepped onto the stairs and continued, "Now, it's time for me to assist. I assume your emperor father will want my surviving kin to work for your Atlas? Heh, and I won't escape the fate of working for humanity either.

But I've long gotten used to dealing with humans. Honestly, I'm even looking forward to working for Atlas. I wonder what kind of salary your emperor father will offer? Money? Jewels?

Oh, by the way, I really like your cosmetics brand. It's something to consider."

Listening to Hera's ramblings, Sanguinius offered no comment. He simply remained silent and accompanied the former goddess to the southern prison to dismantle the last barrier to the Olympian cells.

March 22.

Halo Universe, Harvest Planet.

Second floor of the command building, at the central control console:

"Mr. Young, based on information provided by the Arcadia ruins and data from the Harvest planet relay station, I've successfully pinpointed the exact coordinates of Shield World 0495."

Appearing at the edge of the central console, Apu reported the latest intel to Samuel Young, who was standing nearby.

"Shield World 0459 is located in an uncharted region of space at the outskirts of the Orion Arm, about 430 light-years from Harvest.

Furthermore, its location is very close to Covenant territory, as you mentioned, sir.

Analyzing the Covenant's expansion trajectory, I estimate a 63% probability that Shield World 0459 has already been discovered by their scouts.

If the company sends a fleet directly, it will likely trigger an early human-Covenant war, which could severely impact the company's development in Universe 08. Therefore, please reconsider the decision to take Shield World 0459."

Upon hearing this, Samuel, who was gazing at the holographic star map, nodded slightly and said:

"Shield World 0459 is key to the company's ability to gain an advantage in interstellar warfare. As such, we will not change our original strategy.

However, if we can temporarily disable Covenant communications and seize Shield World during that window, it should buy the company more time."

He then turned his attention to the small hologram of Apu. "What's the progress on the reverse-engineering?"

"3%," Apu's holographic form flickered. "With just myself and the company's research elites working to decrypt the relay station's data and related technology, it will take at least 400 Earth days."

Though Apu's tone was flat, to Samuel, it sounded like she was expressing frustration over being a lone AI handling so much.

"The company will recruit and capture more AI to assist you and the research division with the decryption."

"Understood," Apu immediately responded and added:

"As for temporarily disabling Covenant communications, it is indeed possible. But I would need to be physically present with the company fleet, and elite forces would have to escort me into Shield World 0459's control center."

"That won't be a problem. However, the company's current focus remains on decoding Forerunner technology and developing Harvest," Samuel replied.

"Yes, sir. Also, Mr. Young, the primarch Horus has already delivered Hera and the remaining Greek gods to the ruins base. They are currently undergoing more detailed interrogation and examination," Apu reminded him.

"I understand. You can get back to work now."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Apu's holographic image disappeared.

Samuel also turned and left the control console, eventually stepping out of the command building.

Outside.

He looked up at the orange-red sky, watching the setting star casting its gentle light, and continued walking toward the nearby forest.

As he walked, Samuel reflected on the events of the past few weeks.

If ranked by importance, the Shield World 0459 issue he had discussed with Apu was at the top.

Thanks to the critical intel gathered from Arcadia by Fulgrim, Lyon, and Mike, Apu had been able to pinpoint the precise coordinates.

Meanwhile, the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), with no solid leads, had tentatively attributed the Arcadia explosion and the attack on its research facility to elite rebels.

Second in importance was the dispatch of warships to Reach and the covert "kidnapping" of Catherine Halsey.

Once the shipyard finishes assembling the first Fides-class vessel, Apu will assist the engineering department in installing the Shaw-Fujikawa engines.

Two days ago, on March 20, the Fides-class ship named Courage departed, carrying Fulgrim, Angron, and an investigative team led by Ada to a region of space about one light-year from Reach.

Using slipspace to directly enter the system where Reach is located would certainly attract the attention of the UNSC.

Therefore, they first made a jump to the system's outskirts and would spend two months traveling stealthily to avoid detection, eventually arriving in low orbit over Reach.

In Halo: Reach, the Covenant employed a similar method, secretly deploying a team of elite Sangheili on Harvest.

Once Courage reaches low orbit over Reach, they'll deploy engineers to the surface to set up an Ark transport device for long-distance personnel and material transport.

As for the "kidnapping" of Catherine Halsey, it's not just about abducting a genius scientist. Ada and her team need to take control of the entire Spartan-II program, including more than a hundred candidates, John-117 among them, who are still children.

This move signifies that Atlas is heading

 toward a more intense conflict with ONI.

The official takeover of Spartan-II will require about six months of preparation. By that time, Atlas's "naval forces" will be strong enough to openly confront ONI.

With resources from eight different universes and highly unified internal management, Atlas will surely be more powerful than the fragmented and war-torn UNSC and UEG.

In fact, Samuel hoped the confrontation between Atlas and the UNSC wouldn't escalate into war. The Covenant could serve as a bridge for negotiations, alliances, and even eventual assimilation.

Moreover, before that happens, Samuel plans to incite the Sangheili—the Elites—to break away from the Covenant's manipulation.

Lastly, there was the matter of one of the Chaos Gods, Slaanesh.

It was unexpected that the corruption of Zeus and the Greek gods was so deeply tied to Slaanesh. According to mythology, it seemed fitting that Zeus would sell his soul to Slaanesh.

This also suggested that the forces of Chaos in the Warp had taken notice of the main universe. However, since humanity in the main universe numbered less than ten billion, it couldn't yet provide enough extreme emotions to sustain the Chaos entities.

Only weaker Warp demons, like the Okatan, focused their efforts on corrupting humanity.

The Greek gods, being a species born from the emotions and faith of intelligent beings, made excellent "food."

Now that Slaanesh had taken note of Sanguinius and Horus, and after listening to his sons recount their experiences, Samuel surmised that events in the Warhammer 40k universe had already deviated from what he knew.

He only hoped there would be more time for "development."

But Samuel didn't dwell too much on it. Now that Chaos had begun focusing on the main universe, Atlas would need to adapt and respond.

At present, 633 Greek gods remained, uncorrupted and true to themselves. Of these, 632 were minor gods, whose roles in ancient human society were akin to generals, warriors, or servants.

The last survivor was the only remaining Greek major god, the goddess of wisdom and war—Pallas Athena.

As one of the few untainted figures in Greek mythology, Athena, despite being imprisoned for four millennia, had always held firm, waiting for the right moment to strike down the corrupted Zeus.

In other words, Athena and the 600-plus minor gods had developed a considerable resistance to the corrupting influence of the Warp.

So, Samuel planned to use Athena and her "people" as the foundation, along with select elite soldiers who had participated in the assault on Mars's Olympus Mons, to form a special investigation unit under the Atlas Investigative Division. This unit would be dedicated to investigating, controlling, and eradicating anything related to the Warp.

Their official title would be the "Supernatural Phenomena Control Department," and Samuel tentatively named them the "Grey Arbitrators."

If the department was successfully established, its enforcers would have the authority to destroy any corrupted sites based on the degree of Chaos contamination, ensuring no further spread.

Furthermore, Samuel would personally brief the members of the department on some aspects of Warp knowledge.

"Hahaha!! Well done!"

At that moment, as Samuel unconsciously walked out of the frontline base and into the surrounding forest, he heard the distinctive hearty laughter of Leman.

Looking ahead, he saw Leman, temporarily taking on the role of "babysitter," teaching the babbling Corax and Mortarion how to walk.

Seeing this, Samuel straightened his expression, especially relaxing his previously furrowed brows, and slowly walked toward his sons.

——

...

Beneath the night sky illuminated by a gas giant acting as a moon, the dense primal rainforest appeared peaceful, with only the buzzing of unknown insects breaking the silence.

From time to time, blue-skinned nocturnal reptiles scurried across the damp soil, flicking out their long tongues to devour the loudly chirping insects, satisfying their hunger.

But if one looked closely, they would see several muscular, youthful figures wearing filtration masks, lying patiently on the thick branches of giant trees, waiting for something...

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