From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 597 Life extension
Star Dragon Empire, the imperial capital of Saint Saunière.

On the annual March Sky-Drawing Day, the number of fanatical believers gathered in the area of ​​the Dragon God statue near the Grand Palace is the largest in the year.

Similarly, this is also the most tense time of the year for the Saint-Saunière garrison and the Imperial Guard.

All units entered a state of combat readiness, all available mobile surveillance equipment was put online, and the highest-level military channels near the Grand Palace even entered a rare high-voltage state.

The imperial guards armed with live ammunition, the various armored vehicles behind them, and the HCPs with electromagnetic machine guns loaded with anti-personnel shotgun shells, all looked serious as they watched the fanatical crowd outside the blockade.

However, they were not worried that these fanatics would attack the military police, the state religion cathedral or the Grand Palace - after all, these fanatics were also the most loyal citizens of the Star Dragon Empire.

What they worry about is that believers from different parishes will fight each other for better viewing positions or because of some doctrinal interpretation issues, which will eventually turn into a large-scale brawl.
In the core area near the Grand Palace, this kind of melee involving hundreds of thousands of people is obviously extremely risky, so the main task of the garrison troops and a small number of imperial guards on the scene is to closely monitor all areas and nip in the bud any signs that may lead to a fight.

Of course, this method of "strangling" is obviously not so elegant and humane.

As the three moons hanging high in the sky reached the highest point of the day, all units with air defense capabilities near the Grand Palace detected a small shuttle falling from the sky.

As the identification codes exchanged silently in the night sky, a large number of fixed air defense weapon groups deployed in the dark also unlocked the fire control radar.

In a HCP of the Imperial Guards standing on guard behind the cordon, the pilot looked at the approaching unit frame on the top of the full-circle screen. After it turned into a blue icon representing an "important friendly unit", he also cancelled the activation of the charged particle cannon in the fire control interface.

The omnidirectional sensor on top of the tall HCP also turned slightly as the pilot raised his head, and finally saw the small shuttle entering terminal deceleration and landing on the apron behind the Grand Palace.

Although the target identification frame did not display the shuttle's unit due to permission issues, its pure black paint with gold thread embellishments, plus the highly recognizable 'Discharge Star Dragon' logo, still allowed the pilot to recognize its ownership.

"The Ship of the Silent Ones."

As the shuttle shook slightly, Magnussen, the chief of the Royal Silencers, the Emperor's inner guard, and the sixth-level psychic, slowly opened his eyes.

On a small virtual screen on the right, the words "Landed in target area" were flashing, and at the same time, the pilot in the cockpit at the front of the shuttle opened the shuttle's door.

The biting cold wind of Saint-Saunière at night rushed into the interior of the shuttle impatiently, and then hit an invisible wall in front of Magnussen.

After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the storage box that was locked to his right hand, Magnussen quickly came to the ground via the boarding ladder.

The inner tarmac of the Grand Palace is empty tonight.

All ground crew and other staff were temporarily put under centralized management during the time the shuttle was landing.

Therefore, in Magnussen's opinion, the internal apron at this moment also presents a "quiet feeling" that is difficult to associate with "airport".

But he didn't care about these things, and walked towards the interior of the Grand Palace without looking back.

As an area frequently used by the royal family for daily travel, this helipad was built directly in the core area of ​​the Grand Palace, so it didn't take Magnussen long to reach his destination - the elevator to the underground core area below the emperor's bedroom.

In front of the elevator, the only person who was arranged to wait there, Cormac, a level 5 psychic who was also a member of the Royal Silencer Corps, immediately came forward after seeing the Chief.

An evening breeze blew through this corridor of the Grand Palace, blowing up Magnussen's robe and the empty sleeve on his left side.

Cormac, who walked forward, paused noticeably after seeing this scene. He raised his hand and quickly typed out a series of sign languages ​​that only the Royal Silencers could understand.

"You were injured and lost a hand."

"It does not matter."

Magnussen shook his head. Since his only remaining right hand was holding the storage box, he could only use his psychic power to speak directly into his companion's mind:
"The important thing is that I got back what His Majesty and the Archbishop needed. By the way, is there anything unusual in the Grand Palace during this period?"

"Everything is fine, don't worry."

During Magnussen's absence, Cormac took over his position and was responsible for the emperor's personal protection and the security coordination of the core area of ​​the Grand Palace.

However, he believed that he still could not be as perfect as the Chief, so he was relieved to see Magnussen coming back.

But he never expected that this man who stood at the pinnacle of human combat power would actually lose a hand in this secret mission.
Soon, Magnussen got on the elevator leading to the underground, while Cormac stood at the entrance. After all, he could not participate in the following process with his authority.

The core area underground of the Grand Palace has a height difference of about 900 meters from the entrance. The entire core area is hidden inside the mountain where the Grand Palace is located.

As the elevator continued to descend at a constant speed, Magnussen realized that he had entered the interior of the mountain. This was the thinnest area from the outside world and was covered with hundreds of meters of rock.

When the elevator reached the 'final floor', Magnussen passed through several heavily guarded checkpoints in succession - here, the guards were no longer garrisons and imperial guards, but had all been replaced by the church's 'martyr' troops.

These church troops composed of fanatics and ascetics were more loyal to the old Emperor Frederico, who combined royal power and divine authority, than the imperial guards and garrison troops.

This is why the Imperial Army, which has been thoroughly infiltrated by the Regent and the Princess, has always opposed the expansion of the Imperial State Religion Guard.
After all, there have been precedents of imperial guards being turned against in history, but it would be too difficult to turn this kind of church army against them.

The core area of ​​the final floor is a separate hemispherical room located in the center.

Here, Magnussen finally met Frederico, the current emperor of the Star Dragon Empire, and Jules Mazarin, the Archbishop of the Empire's State Religion, who were lying in the life support capsule.

As the outside world speculated, the old Emperor Frederico was indeed in a critical condition, but it was not because of his advanced age, but because of some extremely rare genetic defect that accelerated his aging and caused him to enter the end of his life almost overnight.

The last hope lies in the still active 'Experiment No. 92' in the Forerunner Research Institute.

Magnussen strode forward to the life support module, then knelt on one knee and placed the storage box in front of him.

The storage box containing the experimental samples had already been unlocked by the method given to him, so when he pressed a switch on the box, there was a heavy unlocking sound, followed by a burst of low-temperature gas flowing out from the gap in the box, and finally turned into a white mist flowing close to the ground. "This is the 'eternal cell'."

Magnussen heard Archbishop Jules's whispered exclamation in his ear, and he also felt that the archbishop had moved forward another step. At the same time, a small camera also hovered near the storage box, and the image in the camera was synchronized on the virtual screen above the life support capsule.

"Magnussen. You did a great job."

An old voice sounded directly in the Royal Silencer's mind.

This is the voice of old Emperor Frederico.

As a sixth-level psychic, Magnussen, who has been trained in 'anti-psychic' and 'psychic shielding' since childhood, can theoretically block out psychic interference from psychics of the same or lower levels - such as speaking directly in the mind through psychic energy.

The emperor of the Star Dragon Empire was not a 'hidden master' who hid himself very deeply, so the ability to speak in Magnussen's mind at this moment was not given to him by psychic power.

Rather, it comes from the innate ability of the imperial family that comes from the mysterious "Star Dragon Bloodline" flowing in their bodies - Dragon Might.

This is why, in Magnussen's perception, Frederico's voice is a 'polyphony' coming from different directions.

Magnussen did not say anything, but just lowered his head a little lower. As a close guard, he seldom communicated directly with Frederico on weekdays. Most of the time, he guarded silently in the dark.

"Retreat and have a good rest. You don't need to worry about my safety here. Remember to go to the Royal Medical College tomorrow. Their chief human modification doctor will replace you with a new prosthetic limb."

Frederico's words were slow and firm, with an air of authority that left no room for doubt.

As a personal guard who devoted all his loyalty to the emperor, Magnussen did not say much and quickly stood up and left.

When the old emperor and the archbishop were the only ones left in the core room, the latter slowly spoke:

"If this 'Eternal Cell' is really as effective as that adult said, then the completion of the 'Star Dragon Body' is only a matter of time."

At this point, Archbishop Jules Mazarin hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to look at Frederico who was soaking in the nutrient solution in the life support cabin.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to use this 'experimental subject'? Or do you really believe what the forerunner said before he died?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

This time, Frederico's voice sounded in the Archbishop's head.

"Do you want me to watch the empire being destroyed? Or do you think that after I am gone, Norton II and my dear daughter will not take action against your church?"

The old emperor's words made Archbishop Jules Mazarin fall silent, especially the last sentence.

Although the archbishop often preaches in the state church near the dragon god statue, it does not mean that he is ignorant of what is happening in other parts of the empire.

All the church personnel in the parishes, middle-level and grassroots levels were actually his eyes and ears. This also made him very clear that the Regent and the Princess of the Empire had actually been very dissatisfied with the church for a long time and wanted to deal with them as soon as possible.

Therefore, no matter which faction between the two sides finally succeeds in taking power, the Empire's state religion may still exist, but it is still unknown how many church members, including him, the archbishop, will remain.

"You seem to be well aware of this, Jules."

Seeing that the archbishop had not spoken yet, Frederico's voice continued to echo in his mind:
"We don't have that much time to waste, Jules. I have a feeling that as long as we can complete the 'Star Dragon Body', all problems will be solved, and the Empire will regain its former glory. No one, whether it's the Federation or the elves, will be able to stop our rise."

As Archbishop Jules Mazarin left the room, Frederico's words were still echoing in his mind.

He had to admit that the supreme ruler of the Star Dragon Empire was right. If the Empire's state religion or church members like him did not want to be purged in the future, they must follow closely behind the old emperor.

This also means that he must put aside the thoughts about various risks in his mind and "extend the life" of the old emperor.

Holding the scepter representing the archbishop's authority in one hand and a storage box in the other, Jules Mazarin walked quietly towards the main personnel transport elevator in the underground core area.

Along the way, the armed forces from the church, whether they were fanatics or respected ascetics, all bowed their heads respectfully to show their respect to the archbishop who was usually majestic and inviolable.

But today, Jules Mazarin's heart was filled with an unprecedented heaviness, which made him ignore everything around him. He just nodded slightly and walked straight into the elevator.

After the elevator door closed again, Jules Mazarin let out a breath and said:
"Command: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇"

The next second, a mechanical female voice sounded: "Verification passed - Welcome, the Archbishop is heading to the 'Final Dogma Area'."

The elevator started working again, but it continued to move downwards. Below the "Final Floor" on the control panel, the words "Final Dogma Area" appeared in red.

There are quite a few high-ranking officials in the empire who know about the underground area beneath the Grand Palace. After the old Emperor Frederico moved in here, some information about this area has been semi-open to the outside world.

In addition to the 'final level' where Frederico is located, there are also some secret organizations and facilities such as the Psychic Research Institute that are not open to the public.

However, not many people know about the 'Final Dogma Zone' which is even deeper underground than the 'Final Layer'.

In total, there are only five people still alive who know the truth, besides Frederico and Jules Mazarin.

This area, built under the supervision of the founding emperor of the empire, is strictly protected from the noise and light of the outside world.

After Jules Mazarin left the elevator and passed through several security doors made of high-strength alloys and composite identification technology, the Imperial Archbishop finally arrived at the core of this mysterious space - a huge freezer.

(End of this chapter)