The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2795, The Purifier - Griffith

Elena continued, "Your will is stronger than ever before, even ranking among the top in our personality pool. Therefore, we did not use the usual Purifier modification program to modify you. Instead, we strengthened your remaining organs. Your heart and lungs were modified into new drives, and your brain was implanted with an auxiliary psionic chip. In other words, you can now use psionic energy to a limited extent."

As Elena spoke, a small platform rose up beside her, on which a small metal block was placed.

"Psionic? Is that the Force?" Griffiths raised his hand and gently grabbed the metal block, which was then pulled into his hand by an invisible force.

“The so-called psionic energy and the Force are indeed different names, different methods of use, and different origins,” Elena explained. “However, there are many similarities between the two. We have already learned how to use the Force in the same way as psionic energy. Therefore, for us, this is equivalent to psionic energy.”

"And you actually possess the technology to give an ordinary person the Force?" Griffiths asked, somewhat surprised.

In fact, he suffered greatly at the hands of the Jedi throughout his life. During the Clone Wars, as the Supreme Commander of the Confederation of Independent Systems, he was initially invincible, but as the Jedi Order joined the war, he began to experience repeated defeats against them.

For Grievous, the Force was a lifetime of torment.

Despite possessing far superior command abilities compared to the Jedi and flawless tactical planning, he was repeatedly outmaneuvered, disrupted, and even had the tide of battle reversed by the Force at crucial moments. That untouchable and incomprehensible power acted like an invisible wall, firmly keeping him from victory.

Now, I actually possess such power?

“First of all, you are not an ordinary person. Your strong will is enough to support us in carrying out such modifications. Secondly, this technology is indeed very difficult, and even for us, the success rate of the modifications is very low,” Elena said. “Finally, your Force strength is not very high. If we compare it to the Jedi Order you are familiar with, it is roughly equivalent to the level of a Jedi Padawan.”

“That’s enough! That’s enough!” Griffith felt a surge of joy as he felt the power within him. “I’ve already killed many Jedi! And now, I will kill even more! Yes… even more!”

Elena turned to him, and although the intricate and mysterious light beneath her mask made it impossible to tell whether she had a head or eyes, Griffith could still sense that she was staring at him.

“Clearly, your goal shouldn’t be limited to just Jedi Knights,” Elena said.

“That’s right!” Griffith’s tone gradually turned ferocious as he recalled the past.

The wars waged by the Kali demigods against the Amriy, the Jedi Order's brutal intervention, the Galactic Republic's unreasonable sanctions, the various conspiracies during the Clone Wars, and the greedy exploitation of the outer ring sectors by the supercorporations and the inner circle elites all rushed into my mind.

And in the end, all these images converge into one point—the dark figure sitting on the throne of the Coruscant palace, the dark figure that gathers the darkness of the entire galaxy… He is the instigator of all this suffering, the true mastermind behind war and death.

“Darth Sidious…” Grievous spat out the name through clenched teeth, his anger burning ever brighter, as if it would consume everything.

As his anger intensified, his mechanical body began to change!
All I could see was the energy nodes on my body that were originally radiating golden light gradually turning blood red, and their energy level was much stronger than before!
"No... it's not just Darth Sidious! The Galactic Republic, no... it should be this so-called order that has been established for 25,000 years, that is the culprit behind all the suffering in the galaxy! The power and rules of the core will be completely shattered! This is my answer to this galaxy!" Grievous roared.

Boom! He stomped his foot hard on the ground, the terrifying force causing the entire laboratory floor to tremble!
At that moment, Griffith suddenly realized something. He looked down at his body, which was radiating a red glow, and exclaimed, "...My power! It has almost doubled! This feeling... Ah! Power! Power!! Power!!! The power to destroy everything!!!!"

Elena said calmly, “I’m glad you’ve grasped the power of anger so quickly. This is also the new system we’re testing on you. As I just said, your energy core isn’t a traditional reactor, but a bio-psychic core that combines a reactor with your heart and lungs. So, anger will enhance your power. This is something no machine can do.”

“For this, my gratitude is beyond words,” Griffiths said, expressing his rare appreciation.

It's quite obvious that even within this self-proclaimed Purifier robot, one's own body is of an extremely advanced and unique type. Such a modification would require astronomical amounts of resources!
“This is part of the agreement between Tang Xiao and us,” Elena said. “The Purifiers fully support Tang Xiao’s policies. And you will become the bridge for our cooperation.”

“Then, I will return to Dawn Planet to meet Tang Xiao and express my gratitude… and my loyalty.” At this moment, Griffiths finally confirmed his loyalty to Tang Xiao from the bottom of his heart.

“I’m afraid he can’t see you right now, that’s the information I got from the priestess,” Elena said. “And his last order to you is to lead our fleet to reinforce the Eastern Frontier and then deliver a heavy blow to the Galactic Empire.”

"Your fleet?" Griffith asked.

“You will become an executive officer of the Purifiers, leading an executive fleet to the Eastern Frontier,” Elena said. “Unlike the Protoss’s rigid and conservative council, we Purifiers crave war. We are born for war.”

Griffiths was somewhat puzzled. "It sounds like you don't consider yourself a Protoss."

“We certainly consider ourselves Protoss, however… I’m afraid the other Protoss, especially the Council, don’t think so,” Elena said. “We don’t need to follow their orders. Our choice to ally with Tang Xiao and fully commit to the war is our own.”

“Heh heh heh… I understand.” Grievous let out a muffled laugh. “I’m not interested in your feud with the Protoss, but I’m very interested in your war with the Galactic Empire!”

"Please proceed to the command center. Our fleet has begun assembling and requires you to synchronize the fleet's data." As Elena spoke, she transmitted a set of data to Grievous's system.

"Hahahaha!" Griffith laughed wildly, his eyes flashing crimson light, and turned to walk towards the command center.

However, Elena did not follow him, but turned and walked in another direction. She came to a huge workshop, where she saw countless production facilities and assembly lines working continuously in the hundreds of meters high interior space, assembling one machine after another.

These robots, in appearance, are almost identical to the Protoss Zealot warriors, but their armor is white with gold trim, which is quite different from the golden armor of ordinary Zealot warriors.

These are all Purifier Zealot Warriors! Their numbers are at least in the tens of thousands!
In the center of the workshop stood a Protoss dressed in a technician's robe. He was not tall, and had a beard that was rare among Protoss. The nerve bundle at the back of his head had been modified into three sets of mechanical claws.

At this moment, he is skillfully manipulating the control panel in front of him with his mechanical claw.

“Phase Engineer, Lord Karax,” Elena said as she walked over. “Purifier Executive Officer Griffiths has completed the modifications and successfully activated.”

Karax stopped what he was doing, turned around, and said, "You really did appoint Grievous as the executor. But the Twilight Council won't support this decision."

“What we need is not the support of the Twilight Council,” Elena said. “Griffith has undergone the Purifier’s transformation, and he is also an incredibly powerful warrior with a resolute personality, unwavering will, and a strong soul. We are very proud to have him as one of us.”

"Even if he's not a Protoss?" Karax retorted.

"Would the council care about that?" Elena asked sarcastically.

“I don’t think so,” Karax sighed. “But… the Purifier Project has just started, and you’ve already shown a pattern of disobedience to the Council’s decisions. This is not a good thing for either you or the Council.”

"The Purifiers' ultimate goal has always been the survival of the Protoss. This will never change," Elena said.

"So, you believe that joining this war is crucial for the survival of the Protoss?" Karax shook his head. "The Twilight Council doesn't trust Tang Xiao, even though he's merged with the Dark Archon. The Council is very worried that Tang Xiao might do something detrimental to the Protoss for the sake of this war. For example, he's been secretly supporting the Protoss's traitor—Orega, and the Council is furious about that."

“Every war the Purifiers participate in is for the Protoss,” Elena said. “If we don’t participate in this war, the Protoss won’t gain any more benefits. Are you satisfied with just one place, Dre II? If you want more planets, you can only do so through war. The only difference is whether the target of the war is the Galactic Empire or… the Dawn Kingdom.”

“…I understand.” Karax nodded.

“So, will you support us, Phase Engineer?” Elena asked.

“I support you, Protoss.” Karax said, then turned away and resumed operating the devices.

……

Griffiths stood in a huge hemispherical hall. As soon as he entered, he immediately felt his system connect to the hall. He felt a massive amount of data gushing in, showing him everything about the command center in great detail.

The holographic projections around the hall gradually became clearer, revealing 10 Protoss aircraft carriers silently hovering in outer space.

However, the paint scheme of these aircraft carriers differs from the gold paint of ordinary Protoss carriers; instead, it's white with gold trim. Clearly, these are also carriers produced by the Purifiers.

The data on these aircraft carriers appeared in Grievous's mind in an instant, and he immediately understood that, unlike the Protoss carriers which were mainly driven by psionic energy, the Purifier's aircraft carriers were driven by mechanical and energy cores and did not have high requirements for psionic energy.

In this way, the Purifier warriors can also pilot these warships into battle, just like the High Templars.

Even so, one Purifier Warrior is not enough; to operate a Purifier aircraft carrier, 50 Purifier Warriors are needed. When multiple Purifier Warriors link their bodies and souls together, they unleash even greater computing power.

Furthermore, the drones equipped on the Purifier carrier are also larger than the unmanned interceptors on a regular Protoss carrier, because the Purifier does not possess the powerful psionic energy to amplify the drones' firepower.

In general, the Purifier's aircraft carriers and the Protoss's aircraft carriers are actually based on the same principle. Their warships are more like modifications made to the Protoss warships to adapt to the Purifier's own mechanical characteristics.

"After discovering that Tang Xiao was secretly supporting Orega's actions, the Protoss Council halted its plans to reinforce the Eastern Frontier. They also dispatched their newly formed Executive Fleet to the Chis Territory to annihilate the suddenly rising Kilik swarm," Elena's voice came through. "In other words, the Protoss Council currently considers the Kilik swarm a greater threat than the Galactic Empire."

"That's just their excuse for not wanting to participate in wars between civilizations," Griffith scoffed. "But it's the Protoss's own choice, and I have no right to interfere."

“But the Purifiers have offered to participate in this operation. Therefore, we appoint you as the Purifier Executor and have assigned your own warships to the Executor Fleet under your command,” Elena said. “We believe that participating in the war is in our best interest.”

"So you've rejected the Protoss Council's decision?" Grievous, having lived through the Galactic Republic era, naturally knew what resisting the Council's decision meant. But he also understood that the Purifiers were no longer subservient mechanical beings manipulated by the Protoss; they possessed independent will and judgment.

"We are helping the Protoss in our own way, without needing the Council's permission," Elena said slowly. (End of Chapter)