From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 665 "Devouring. It came faster than expected."

? ? ! !
The air inside the sealed room seemed to freeze.

The old man's words were like a sharp dagger, piercing the hearts of everyone present.

The nobles' expressions were distorted and deformed under the lights—

Some people were ashen-faced, their fingers unconsciously clenching their wine glasses.

Some people's pupils dilated, their eyes gleaming with a morbid greed, and the corners of their mouths turned up uncontrollably, as if they could already see their future of controlling divine power.

Others quietly retreated, their backs pressed against the glass display cases of antiques. The cold touch seeped through their elegant dresses, yet they couldn't stop the cold sweat from seeping down their backs.

"You started preparing a long time ago?"

The silver-haired old nobleman's voice was dry, and his Adam's apple bobbed laboriously.

His fingers, covered in age spots, trembled slightly as his gaze was fixed on the data chip on the table. The small metal piece gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light under the lamp, like a miniature nuclear bomb that could detonate at any moment.

A sinister smile curled at the corner of the old man's mouth, and the wrinkles on his face cast eerie shadow patterns in the candlelight.

He walked slowly toward the corner of the secret room to the gilded antique clock from the 18th century, its ivory pendulum swinging rhythmically behind a glass cover.

When his finger gently activated the hidden mechanism, the intricate gears made a soft "click" sound, and the clock face suddenly flipped like flower petals, revealing the hidden holographic projection device.

"From the very first day the human empire appeared in Mar-sala"

The projector lights up, and pale blue light weaves through the enclosed room, creating a three-dimensional aerial view of the new city of Ma Sara.

The temple buildings in the central area are marked by a scarlet halo, and their architectural style clearly blends elements of ancient Greece and futuristic technology. Silver-armored minor gods guard the white marble colonnades.

Zooming in reveals a clear view of the three-layered defensive perimeter of the temple, as well as the patrol routes that change every half hour.

“My undercover agents have already begun their operation.”

The scene shifts to show a blurry image taken secretly through a telephoto lens:
A black-haired boy who looked about two or three years old was practicing swordsmanship in the temple courtyard. The training sword in his hand was obviously a specially made miniature version, but it still shimmered with a dangerous plasma light.

The most chilling part was the subsequent close-up shot—

When the boy turned towards the sunlight, his inhuman golden eyes were revealed.

“Sui Meng.” As the old man uttered the name, his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth, as if he were tasting some kind of deadly poison. “The young progenitor, Athena’s favorite.”

The projection changed again, this time displaying real-time surveillance footage of the Khar Palace area.

Under the protection of a group of Greek minor gods, that familiar little figure is engaged in simulated combat with two war maidens in the royal garden.

Surprisingly, despite his small stature, the boy's every movement was terrifyingly precise, and he could even predict his opponent's attack trajectory in an instant.

When he accidentally fell, Athena, who was thirty meters away, instantly appeared beside him in golden light. This detail made several nobles gasp in unison.

"Now, this 'treasure' is right before our eyes."

The old man's voice trembled slightly with excitement, his withered fingers weaving through the holographic image as if caressing an invisible treasure. "A genetic prototype that has not yet grown, a seed of a god that can be controlled."

An old clock in the corner of the secret room suddenly struck the hour, its copper hammer hitting the clock face with a dull thud, but no one noticed.

All eyes were drawn to the final image projected onto the screen.

After training, Sui Meng was being gently wiped of the sweat from his forehead by Athena. The scene was as ordinary as any ordinary mother and son, but it made the nobles present feel a strange sense of unease.

The old man's shadow was stretched long and distorted, cast on the oak wall of the secret room, like some ancient evil spirit awakening.

He slowly turned around, a mad spark blazing in his eyes:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing history, not as bystanders, but as creators!"

Bang——! !

At that moment, the young nobleman slammed his hand heavily on the antique mahogany table, causing the crystal wine glasses on the table to shake violently.

The deep red wine overflowed from the overturned glass, meandering across the table in a thin "river of blood" before finally dripping onto the priceless carpet, leaving a dark stain.

"Are you crazy?"

The young nobleman's voice was distorted with extreme fear; beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and he clutched his expensive silk scarf. He said:

"Even a child is a Primarch! Those Astartes are so terrifying just because they are their creations, let alone..."

"Not to mention what?"

The old man interrupted with a cold laugh, his withered fingers rapidly sliding across the projection control panel.

The image is zoomed in, clearly showing the moment Sui Meng fell on the training field.

The boy's knee was scraped, and a few drops of blood seemed to be seeping out.

Almost at the same moment, Athena appeared beside him in a golden light. Her flawless face was filled with heartache, and her slender fingers gently touched the wound, which immediately healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"look!"

The old man's voice was distorted by fervor, his hoarse tone sounding like rusty gears rubbing against each other.

His age-spotted cheeks were unnaturally flushed, and his cloudy eyes were bloodshot. "This is what they call a 'god'? He's just an ordinary child who can cry and make a fuss!"

The temperature inside the sealed room seemed to drop eerily as the old man went mad.

The crystal chandelier hanging from the dome began to sway slightly, and the light and shadow it cast danced strangely on the walls.

The old man waved his withered arms, the jeweled buttons on his cuffs gleaming dangerously under the light. His pupils were dilated to the extreme, and a morbid flame flickered in his eyes, as if he were seeing some kind of illusion that ordinary people could not understand.

“Sosokan”

His voice suddenly dropped to a low hue, like the rustling of a venomous snake gliding across the sand, "If we could control a Primarch."

The words paused deliberately here, and withered fingers gently stroked Sui Meng's face in the projection, "Not only can we blackmail the human empire, but we might even obtain the secret to creating gods."

The young nobleman suddenly took a step back, his back hitting the display case.

The antique artifacts in the glass case clattered together, making a crisp sound. The young nobleman's face was ashen, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.

"You're playing with fire! What will happen if you fail?! Those beings will make us wish we were dead!"

"fail?"

The old man suddenly became eerily calm, his voice eerily soft.

He slowly pulled a paper list from his pocket. "My old subordinates in the army, plus those Ghost agents who survived and still choose to pledge allegiance to the Mengsk family, are enough to organize a Shadow Squad."

The lights in the secret chamber flickered violently, as if even the electrical circuits trembled at the madness of the plan. Outside the observation window above, a pale bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, instantly illuminating the old man's contorted face—

That expression had long surpassed the arrogance of a nobleman; it was more like that of a gambler who had lost everything and was betting his last soul.

"Three Days Later"

The old man's voice was like a ghost rising from a grave, each syllable carrying an aura of decay, "When Athena went to the orbital fortress for the meeting."

He deliberately dragged out the last syllable, drawing a scarlet mark on the projection with his finger, "That's the moment we act."

The projected image finally focused on Sui Meng's innocent and smiling face, the boy's bright smile contrasting sharply with the malice permeating the secret room.

In a corner unnoticed by anyone, the gem on the medieval knight's sword suddenly flashed with an eerie blood-red light, as if foreshadowing a storm that was about to sweep across the entire city of Khar.

The rain outside intensified, and the sound of raindrops hitting the stained glass windows was like countless wronged souls knocking on the gates of hell.

Meanwhile, deep within the Oxtegrad palace complex, inside a Gothic building that had been temporarily requisitioned.
In the dim light, the blue light of the holographic projection shone on the cold, stern faces of the crowd.

At the center console, Leon S. Kennedy crossed his arms, his sharp eyes fixed on the holographic image floating in the air.

The footage clearly shows every detail inside the nobleman's private chamber.

The old man's distorted face, the young nobleman's trembling fingers, and that list.

The camera angle clearly came from the young nobleman who kept arguing, and the button on his chest was a surveillance camera specially made by the Imperial Investigation Department.

"Just as I expected." Mike said in a low voice, his fingers quickly sliding across the holographic keyboard, zooming in on the list displayed by the old man on the screen. "These old foxes really have a lot of trump cards up their sleeves."

"Ah."

Chris sneered, his fingers lightly tapping the plasma pistol at his waist: "Ghost agents? Old guard? These remnants think they can touch the Primarch?"

Nova Terra stood to one side, the optical camouflage of her nanosuit automatically adjusting to the surrounding light, making her almost blend into the shadows.

Her gaze was fixed on the old man's manic expression in the projection, with golden psionic patterns faintly visible at her temples.

Stone stood beside her, his data panel constantly updating the biometrics transmitted from the young nobleman—

A racing heart and a surge of adrenaline clearly reflect the immense pressure the undercover agent was under at that moment.

“Chiru.” Leon suddenly turned to look at the Jedi Master standing silently to the side. “Did you sense anything?”

The blind warrior slightly raised his head, his face beneath the black robe appearing particularly solemn in the blue light. After a moment of silence, his fingers gently caressed the hilt of the lightsaber, as if sensing some kind of fluctuation that ordinary people could not perceive.

"Yes, Agent Kennedy."

Then, the Jedi Master's voice was low and slow, "I sensed some fluctuations of chaos."

"Tsk, chaos again."

Upon hearing this, Baze Marbus spat and crossed his thick arms over his chest, "Those bastards who only like to hide in the warp always like to do something sneaky behind people's backs."

Nova and Stone exchanged a glance, and their expressions simultaneously turned somber.

Through the emperor's blessing, they had long understood the nature of chaos.

Those evil gods lurking in the warp, and their terrifying power to corrupt reality—but theory is just theory, and they never truly confronted such enemies head-on.

"Why would Chaos target this place?" Leon frowned. "This universe hasn't been contaminated by the warp yet."

“Perhaps it is because of our arrival,” Chiru said slowly, his empty eye sockets “gazing” at the medieval knight’s sword gleaming with blood in the holographic projection. “Chaos is like a shark that smells blood; it is always attracted to powerful psionic beings.”

In the scene, the old man's voice continues: "...I have obtained the secret to creating gods."

A cold glint flashed in Lyon's eyes: "We can't wait any longer."

With that, Lyon pressed the communicator, "Ms. Athena, we need to act ahead of schedule. Signs of Chaos corruption have been confirmed. Requesting immediate action."

A faint static crackled from the other end of the communicator, followed by Athena's chilling reply: "Approved. I'll handle it personally." Her calm tone chilled the room to the bone. "Bring those former Ghost agents along. It's time to show them the true darkness."

“Understood.” Lyon abruptly ended the communication and turned to give orders—

"Sir!" a staff member from the investigation department suddenly shouted a stern warning, "Something's up!"

The image in the holographic projection suddenly distorted.

The light in the secret room dimmed eerily, as if swallowed by some invisible force. The ruby ​​on the medieval knight's sword burst forth with a blinding blood-red light, dyeing the entire room a nauseating dark red, followed by a "brilliant" ghostly blue.

The old man's body began to spasm uncontrollably.

His head was tilted back at an ergonomically unnatural angle, his cervical spine making a sickening cracking sound, and his withered hands were tightly gripping his throat, with thick, black blood seeping from between his fingers.

The most terrifying thing was the eyes; the whites of the eyes were quickly filled with a black substance, and the pupils turned into two wriggling drops of blood.

"I dedicate myself," the old man's voice split into multiple hues, interspersed with inhuman roars, "for the eternal feast!"

The young nobleman stumbled backward in terror, knocking over the chair behind him.

Even without a direct view, Lyon and the others could tell that the young nobleman's face was ashen, and his lips were trembling, unable to utter a single word.

The other nobles performed even worse.

Some people collapsed to the ground, their crotches oozing a suspicious dark liquid; others scratched their faces hysterically, leaving streaks of blood on their skin; and several others turned and rushed toward the exit of the secret room, only to find that the door had already been sealed shut with some kind of black viscous liquid.

"No, no!" The silver-haired old nobleman knelt on the ground, his hands clasped together in a prayerful gesture. "We just... we just wanted to..."

His explanation came to an abrupt end.

An old man.
Or rather, the thing that was once an old man suddenly stopped convulsing, and its body slowly straightened up with an eerie calm, its joints making a cracking sound like rotten wood.

When that face, covered in black veins, turned toward the camera, its mouth was torn to the ear, revealing shark-like serrated teeth.

"What a sweet fear."

The voice was no longer that of an old man, but rather a chaotic sound mixed with the screams of millions.

The antique display case in the secret room suddenly exploded, and fragments flew out like bullets. The knight's sword flew into "its" hand automatically, and the blade was wrapped in writhing flesh and blood. The gem turned into a rotating eyeball.

The monitoring device on the young nobleman's chest transmitted the last frame, showing that the moment the "guy" raised the knight's sword, black pus and blood began to seep from the walls of the entire secret chamber.

The signal was then interrupted, and the holographic projection exploded into a cacophony of static.

The blue light displayed by the disconnection illuminated Chiru's solemn face: "The engulfment of chaos is happening faster than expected."

Outside the window, the night sky over Oxtegrad was suddenly stained red by a blood moon, and the first inhuman howl came from the direction of the noble district.
(End of this chapter)