From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 683 "Use it to understand yourself".

Several hours later, inside the safe house in District 7.

The lighting in the safe house was so soft it was almost "ambiguous," giving the bare metal walls a warm-toned camouflage.

The ventilation system emitted a soft hum, perfectly masking the chaotic noise of the distant city.

Dr. Lines' eyelashes fluttered slightly as her consciousness slowly emerged from the sedative's haze. The first thing she felt was the cool touch of the folding chair beneath her, followed by a non-existent restraint on her wrists—

This made her raise an eyebrow slightly.

The moment my gaze focused, a face with sharp, angular features came into view.

Leon S. Kennedy.

The legendary agent casually straddled the metal crate opposite her, his discarded flight jacket draped over the back of the chair, wearing only a close-fitting black tactical vest.

The strong arm muscles rippled slightly with the pen-twirling motion, and a few faded scars were visible where the cuffs were rolled up.

The overhead light in the safe house cast a shadow on his deep-set eyes, making his blue pupils appear even sharper.

Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up.

Lyon stopped twirling his pen, a perfectly timed smile curving his lips. "Coffee or a tranquilizer? Our Human Empire's agents are very attentive to service."

Lyons subconsciously touched the back of his neck—

The tingling sensation from being hit by the pulse dagger still lingered there.

Her gaze swept over the safe house: a small space with a folding table, two surveillance cameras, and a host of other items she didn't recognize.

There were no visible guards, but that only made it more unsettling.

"I thought I would see a room full of mechanical prosthetics and electronic eyes."

She gathered her disheveled blonde hair; her white lab coat had been lost in the chaos, and she was now wearing a standard gray turtleneck sweater, which unexpectedly accentuated her beautiful curves. "UED Intelligence Agency suspects that your human empire's agents are all cyborgs."

"hehe."

Lyon chuckled softly: "And I think the chief warp expert at UED should be an old man with thick glasses."

As he spoke, his gaze lingered on her slender neck for half a second. "It seems we've both wasted our emotions on the wrong information."

"."

A barely perceptible blush rose on Lines' cheeks.

She suddenly realized how absurd her situation was—

Captured by enemy agents, they are now judging each other's appearances.

But professional instincts quickly overcame his embarrassment: "So, is this an interrogation or..."

"Afternoon tea." Leon magically produced two mugs from under the table, the aroma of real coffee beans wafting through the steam. "A specialty of the Jupiter colony in the main universe, ten times stronger than the synthetic caffeine in your lab."

When Lines took the cup, their fingertips briefly touched, which made her immediately pull her hand away.

"You are more human than I imagined."

Then, she sipped her coffee, the rich aroma easing her tense nerves slightly. "According to the intelligence obtained by the UED, your human empire's agents and soldiers seem to be emotionless killing machines."

Leon suddenly leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

This action subtly revealed the scent of his perfume, a strange blend of citrus and cedar, like a deliberate psychological tactic.

"Doctor, do you know why I'm the only person you see when you wake up?"

His voice suddenly lowered, “Because my colleagues think you should be injected with a truth serum and suggest using a neuroscanner to directly read your memories.”

As he spoke, Lyon tapped his fingers lightly on the rim of his glass, “But I bet a case of cigars that I can get you to cooperate in a more civilized way.”

In the shadows of the safe house, a hidden surveillance camera subtly adjusted its focus.

Meanwhile, at another secure location, Chris and Mike were observing the confrontation through surveillance cameras.

“He’s using the same old trick.” Mike chewed his gum and shook his head. “This trick works surprisingly well on him and on female opponents. The only problem is that we can’t let Manager Wang know, otherwise… tsk tsk.”

Mike didn't continue, but Chris, sitting to the side, could easily imagine how Ada Wong, their superior, would "severely punish" Leon.

Chris stared at Lines' slightly reddened ear tips and said, "An effective tactic is a good tactic."

Inside the safe house, Lyons was unconsciously stroking the rim of his cup.

Lyon's pupils appeared an almost transparent blue under the light, like the color of deep glacial fissures.

She suddenly realized—this might be one of the most dangerous "weapons" of the human empire.

"What do you want?" Her voice was hoarser than expected. "Warp technology? Fleet deployment maps? Or..."

"chat."

Lyon suddenly stood up, his tall figure casting an oppressive shadow on the wall. "For example, what exactly is the UED's Antarctic base, or what do you know about the Xel'Naga, and so on."

Outside the safe house, the night wind swirled up a piece of waste paper.

The special forces members hidden in the shadows were on high alert, knowing that the real battle was just beginning.

Lyons' back was pressed tightly against the metal back of the folding chair, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Her gaze wandered around the safe house, deliberately avoiding Leon's stare, finally settling on a patch of rust in the corner—

There was a piece of peeling paint, about the size of a fingernail, shaped like a twisted cross.

“I have nothing to say.” Her voice was unusually dry. “UED nurtured me for twenty years, and you… you just suddenly appeared.”

Lyon sighed softly and tapped a string of codes on his wrist guard.

With a soft "beep," he took out a metal device the size of a cigarette box from a hidden compartment in his tactical belt.

Seeing this, Lines frowned.

As a warp technology expert, she immediately recognized it as a quantum holographic projector device, but it was much more sophisticated than the one used by the UED military.

This prompted her to instinctively offer a professional assessment: "Your projection device is 40% smaller than our military's most advanced one, and the energy circuit design is also..."

As she spoke, she suddenly realized she had let something slip, so she bit her lower lip hard to stop herself from continuing.

Lyon's lips curled into a slight smile.

He lightly swiped his thumb across the top of the device, and a beam of blue light instantly spread between the two of them, weaving together to form a semi-transparent operating interface.

"check it out."

His fingertips lightly tapped the light screen, and a set of holographic images unfolded like a scroll.

Lines had to admit that the human empire's projection technology was indeed advanced, with a resolution so high that you could see the trembling of every pedestrian's eyelashes, and a sound field positioning so precise that it felt like you were actually there.

The first video showcases a magnificent golden city.

Streamlined aircraft weaved between towering spires, but what surprised Lines most were the pedestrians on the street—

Humans walked side by side with several alien races. An alien with pearly skin was helping a human child pick up a dropped toy. "The capital of the New Rome Sector," Lyon said calmly, "one of the most ordinary of the tens of thousands of colonies of the Empire."

Upon hearing this, Lyons scratched the inside of the cup with his fingernails.

This is completely different from the report she received from the UED that "the human empire enslaves its people".

The scene switches to a spaceport setting.

A medical ship bearing the Imperial Dragon Emblem is unloading cargo, with containers being handled by robotic arms clearly labeled "Free Medicine - For the Luko Sector Only".

Subsequently, a large number of Astartes from the Sons of the Emperor's Legion were responsible for escorting these containers to the planet's surface and personally administering injections to the local disaster-stricken population.

"Last year, a plague broke out in one of the Empire's colonies, and our Empire provides comprehensive free aid and post-disaster reconstruction in the face of such natural disasters."

Sizzle!
Lines suddenly stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.

Her chest heaved violently, and the top button of her uniform had come undone at some point.

“What does this prove?” Her voice trembled. “Just carefully selected footage. UED also has charitable projects.”

Lyon turned off the projector, and the safe house suddenly fell silent.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, a posture that cast a shadow on his brow bone from a strand of blond hair that fell across his forehead.

“Doctor, do you know why I chose to show you this?” His voice suddenly became very soft. “Because three Earth days ago, we intercepted instructions from the UED to the Antarctic base—requiring preparations to activate the ‘Purification Protocol’.”

? !
Lynes' pupils suddenly contracted.

That code name, known only to the highest-ranking scientists, felt like an ice pick piercing her back.

"Impossible," her lips trembled slightly, "that was a last resort."

"What's the last resort?" Leon suddenly grabbed her wrist, with just the right amount of force so that she couldn't break free but wouldn't feel any pain.

The coffee on the table had gone cold, with a thin, oily film on its surface, while the old ventilation system in the safe house emitted a regular hum, like some kind of countdown.

Lines suddenly realized that she was standing at a crossroads far more dangerous than any scientific experiment.

Immediately afterwards, Lyon switched the content of the holographic projection to show Lines the scene of Homelanders "making a ruckus" in the UED capital at noon today.

? !
At this moment, Lines' breathing became rapid and shallow, his chest heaving violently with each inhale.

Her fingers were twisted together, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the excessive force. Her gaze was fixed on the red-cloaked figure in the holographic projection who was supporting the wreckage of the battleship. Her lips trembled slightly, but she could not utter a sound.

Lyon's finger slid lightly across the projector screen, switching the image to a clearer view—

Homelander braced himself against the falling warship with his arms. The ground beneath his feet cracked from the impact, but the residential areas within a five-kilometer radius remained intact.

“This is impossible.” Lanes’ voice seemed to come from a great distance. “The human physiology simply cannot withstand this.”

“It is no longer human.” Leon turned off the projector, and the metal device made a slight clinking sound on the table. “Its codename is ‘Homelander,’ a strategic biological weapon that our Imperial Biological Department has upgraded multiple times.”

The lights in the safe house flickered suddenly, and the vibrations from some heavy vehicle passing by in the distance caused ripples in the black liquid in the coffee cup.

It seems that Homelander's departure has not made the UED lower its guard, as it has still dispatched a large number of troops to patrol near the capital, and a large transport plane appears to have passed by above the safe house.

Lines stared at the tiny ripples, as if he could find an answer to escape reality within them.

"You create these monsters," her voice hoarse, "just to prove you're stronger than the UED?"

"hehe."

Leon suddenly laughed, but his laughter was tinged with weariness: "We created it and modified it to fight against what truly threatens the survival of humanity."

As he spoke, he tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, “For example, the Purifier virus that your Antarctic base cultivates.”

Lynes' body trembled violently.

The reaction was so obvious that she herself felt ashamed.

Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, but she felt no pain—those areas had been burned countless times by laboratory chemicals, and the nerve endings were numb.

"I do not know what you're talking about."

She mechanically repeated the actions, but her eyes betrayed her.

Lyon did not expose him immediately.

He slowly took out a cigar from his inner pocket, cut off the end with his tactical knife, and lit it.

The rich aroma of tobacco quickly filled the small, safe room, creating a wonderful balance with the bitterness of the coffee.

"Doctor, what exactly is the purification protocol?" He exhaled a smoke ring. "You should be one of the few researchers who know the true transmission method of the virus."

The projector lit up again, this time displaying a complex data stream.

Lines recognized it at a glance—it was the quantum warp virus delivery model she had designed.

"Using warp technology to inject pathogens directly into the entire surface of a planet," Leon read the title on the screen softly. "Brilliant, and cruel."

Ryan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

She recalled that late night when she submitted the final report to the Military Commission and the fervor that flashed in the general's eyes.

At the time, she thought it was an appreciation of scientific progress, but now she realizes it was the executioner's excitement at seeing a new instrument of torture.

“They assured me,” her voice was barely audible, “that it would only be used in the most extreme circumstances.”

"For example, when they've been fighting the human empire for a long time and find themselves no match for it?" Leon sneered. "Do you know how many innocent civilians will die in the Koprulu Sector once this virus is released? Two hundred billion? Three hundred billion?"

The hum of the ventilation system suddenly became piercing.

Lyons then realized that his back was completely soaked with cold sweat, and his lab uniform clung to his skin like a second layer of shame.

“I had no choice,” she murmured, more as if trying to convince herself. “All the researchers signed confidentiality agreements.”

Leon suddenly leaned forward, the smoke from his cigar forming a hazy barrier between them, while his eyes gleamed coldly behind the smoke, like two daggers pressed against her throat.

"Now you have."

Outside the safe house, a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar, followed by three rhythmic knocks on the door—two long and one short.

Without turning his head, Leon made a gesture, and the noise outside the door immediately ceased.

“Come with me.” He stood up, his shadow completely enveloping Lyons. “Not as a prisoner, but as a scientist who will prevent the extinction of his people.”

The coffee on the table had gone completely cold, and the grease that had formed on the surface resembled a cloudy eye, reflecting Lines' pale face.

She looked at the rusted cross-shaped mark in the corner and suddenly realized that she was standing at a crossroads in human history.

“What if I refuse?” She forced herself to look up and meet Lyon’s gaze.

The agent's expression remained unchanged: "Then I'll give you a gun, with only one bullet in it..."

Leon's voice, however, remained very calm as he continued, "To understand yourself."

(End of this chapter)