From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 684 "Are you ready, Doctor?"

The silver-gray pulse pistol gleamed coldly on the table, its energy bar shimmering with a faint blue light.

Lyons stared at the weapon as if it were a key to an unknown abyss.

Her fingertips trembled slightly; she was only ten centimeters from the gun handle, yet it felt like an insurmountable chasm separated them.

“You have thirty seconds.” Leon’s voice came from behind the cigar smoke, calm to the point of being cruel. “Twenty-nine, twenty-eight.”

Lines shifted his gaze from the pistol to his palm—

There were a few small scars there, traces left by acidic reagents in the laboratory.

She recalled the scene when she first walked into the UED Advanced Research Institute.
In the magnificent hall, elegantly dressed members of parliament chatted and laughed while raising champagne, while she, a scientist from a humble background, had to pass through three security checks to enter the simple laboratory.

"Twenty-one, twenty."

The countdown continues.

Countless images flashed through Ryan's mind.

UED: The slums in the capital city divided into a grid pattern by maglev lanes; the unspoken rule that children of military commission members can directly enter top universities; and the old man who died in the hospital corridor last week because he couldn't afford medical treatment.

"Fifteen, fourteen."

She unconsciously recalled the scene from just now, the holographic image of Homelander lifting the battleship.

A terrible contrast took shape in her mind—

UED generals would rather use nuclear bombs to blew up the land, causing massive civilian casualties, than lose more elite troops, while the human empire's bio-weapons were saving civilians in enemy countries.

".9, 8"

Lines suddenly noticed a line of small characters engraved on the pistol grip: "Fight for humanity" in Chinese characters.

The engravings on these words were very new, gleaming faintly with a golden hue under the dim blue light.

As a top scholar on Earth, Lyons naturally knew the meaning of those Chinese characters. Then she looked up sharply and noticed that Lyon was wearing a ring with the same inscription on the ring finger of his left hand.

".Three, Two"

"enough!"

Lines slammed his hand on the table, but skillfully avoided the gun.

Her chest heaved violently, and the top two buttons of her uniform popped open in her excitement, revealing a small birthmark below her collarbone.

"The core of the purification protocol is the quantum state virus." She spoke at an astonishing speed, as if she would regret it if she hesitated for even a second. "It can spread through the special frequency of the warp engine and infect all carbon-based life in the entire star system within seventy-two hours."

The cigars in Lyon hung in mid-air, their ash about to fall.

"go on."

"call"

Lyons took a deep breath, his fingers unconsciously tracing complex mathematical models on the table: "But there is a fatal flaw: the virus will enter dormancy at -120 degrees Celsius. The closed system at the Antarctic base is used to control this critical point."

As he spoke, Lines' voice became unusually firm, "What do you need me to do?"

She then tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, a gesture that made her look younger. "Let me state upfront, I will not participate in anything targeting civilians."

"Don't worry, we will never lay a hand on civilians."

Lyon interrupted the other person, his cigar slowly twirling between his fingers, a thin layer of ash accumulating in the ashtray.

He stared at Lines' eyes, which were gradually losing their panic, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

“Doctor, you may not know this,” Lyon’s voice was deep and steady, “we belong to the Special Operations Group of the Human Empire’s Investigation Department.”

Meanwhile, Lyons' fingertips unconsciously rubbed against the edge of the table, his nails scraping against the metal surface with a soft sound.

"The solar system of the 18th Universe, which is the Earth Federation (UED) controlled area you mentioned, was originally just one of many parallel solar systems that we routinely investigated."

Lyon pulled a miniature projector from his pocket and unfolded a star map. "Until recently, we intercepted intelligence that the UED was preparing to launch another expedition to the Koprulu Sector."

On the star map, dozens of red arrows point from Earth to the Koprulu Sector, each marked with a terrifying number of troops.

Lines noticed one of the dotted lines, which was specifically marked "Purification Protocol - Final Means".

“My mission list, or rather, assassination list, contains numerous names.” Leon shut down the projector, his gaze sharp as a blade. “Including three members of the Military Council, five fleet commanders, and you, Dr. Lyons.”

! !
Lines' breathing suddenly stopped.

Her back was pressed tightly against the chair back, as if that would keep her away from the terrible truth.

“But now,” Lyon chuckled suddenly, the smoke from his cigar blurring his sharp features, “thanks to a series of unexpected events, and Homelander’s impromptu performance, the plan has changed.”

He stood up, his tactical boots making a dull thud on the floor.

When his shadow completely enveloped Lyons, the usually composed female scientist felt an indescribable sense of oppression for the first time.

“We need you to take us into the Antarctic base.” Leon’s voice suddenly became very soft, but every word carried immense weight. “Get the virus samples, destroy all the research data, and deprive the UED of this last trump card.”

The safe house's ventilation system was still running, but the house was unusually quiet, as if only Lyons' rapid breathing could be heard.

Her gaze fell on her hands—

These hands, which once designed the quantum warp engine and indirectly enabled UED to develop the virus purification system, are now going to destroy their own masterpiece.

"Why me?" she asked, her voice hoarse as she looked up. "You could have forced me."

“Because we need to obtain the complete data,” Leon interrupted her again. “I presume there’s a backdoor in the warp function that you wrote yourself, isn’t there?”

!

Lynes' pupils suddenly contracted.

This secret, unknown even to the higher-ups at UED, was actually...
"What...?"

“There’s an old saying in the Imperial Investigation Department,” Lyon said as he bent down to pick up the pulse pistol and tucked it into his armpit holster, “that every scientist leaves their signature on their work.”

Boom! Boom!
Just then, the area where the safe house was located shook from the roar of a large vehicle's engine, and at the same time, a large number of searchlights began to sweep across the area where the safe house was located.

Leon moved with lightning speed, instantly extinguishing all the light sources. In the sudden darkness, Lyons heard his breathing, which was very close to his face.

“Choose, Doctor,” he whispered. “Continue to be a prisoner of the UED, or become the salvation of hundreds of billions, even trillions of people.”

The silence lasted for a full minute.

“I need three conditions,” Lines suddenly spoke, his voice carrying the calm characteristic of a scientist. “First, ensure the safe evacuation of my research assistants; second, all non-essential personnel must be evacuated in advance; third…”

She took a deep breath: "I want to see your human emperor with my own eyes."

"Ah"

Lyon's soft chuckle was exceptionally clear in the darkness: "I can agree to the first two right now, but the third is almost impossible. Even I need to apply for and get approval to meet the Emperor, unless you make a huge contribution to humanity."
As I just said, to become the savior of hundreds of billions of people, you would likely need no request; the Emperor would extend an invitation to you on his own initiative.

“In that case,” Ryans said, no longer hesitating. “Then I agree to cooperate with you.”

“A wise choice, Doctor.”

Just as the two reached an agreement, the large vehicles outside left, restoring peace to the area where the safe house was located.

The door to the safe house suddenly opened, and the light outlined Chris's tall silhouette: "The raiding boat is in position. We have a twelve-hour window."

"it is good."

Lyon first nodded to Chris, then extended his hand to Ryan: "Welcome aboard the giant ship of the Human Empire, Doctor. There will be plenty of time to discuss your career plans later."

When Lines grasped that calloused hand, she was surprised to find that her trembling had stopped at some point.

In the distance, UED patrol boats roared past, but her steps were firmer than ever before.

The coffee on the table had long since gone cold, reflecting the slowly rotating imperial emblem projection on the ceiling—a soaring dragon clutching broken chains in its claws.

－－－－－－－

On November 22, 0050 of the Imperial Calendar, the dark alleys of the UED capital were like the shadows before dawn.

At four in the morning, the streets were shrouded in a pale blue mist, and abandoned holographic billboards flickered occasionally, projecting fragmented promotional images.

Leon walked at the front, the fur collar of his bomber jacket turned up, obscuring his sharply defined jawline.

Chris brought up the rear, his right hand always resting on the pulse pistol at his waist, his knuckles rising and falling slightly with each footstep.

Lines was protected in the center of the team.

She was wearing a gray hoodie that Mike had found at the last minute. The oversized size made her look like a college student who had stolen adult clothes. On her wrists, which were faintly visible at the cuffs, were the marks of excessive experimentation.

“Turn left,” Lyon said in a very low voice. “Avoid the main road’s surveillance cameras.”

The group turned into a narrow alley.

Behind the piles of trash cans, a gaunt old man was curled up in a thermal blanket.

As Lanes passed by, the old man's cloudy eyes suddenly opened, and his chapped lips moved: "Have you had any mercy for three days?"

Chris quickly tossed a high-energy nutrient block from his pocket, which landed precisely on the old man's lap.

The sound of the old man trembling as he tore open the packaging made Lines involuntarily stop in his tracks.

"Hurry up." Leon gently tugged at her sleeve. "The patrol will be passing by in five minutes."

At the end of the alley, the afterglow of neon lights leaked down from the overpass, lengthening and shortening the shadows of the crowd.

Lines looked up—

Above the bridge is a brightly lit up aristocratic district, where the streaks of light from floating luxury cars streak across the night sky like shooting stars. Below the bridge, on the ground where sewage flows freely, several children are huddled around rusty oil drums for warmth.

"Stop looking," Chris's voice rang in my ears. "I see this scene every time we're on a mission."

Lynes' fingers dug deeply into his palms.

She thought of herself twenty years ago—

The girl who huddled in the ventilation duct of the slum, studying diligently by the light of municipal lighting.

What was my dream back then? To change the world? Or simply to escape this hell?

"Attention!" Lyon suddenly raised his left hand, and the group immediately stopped.

At the crossroads ahead, two drunken young noblemen are urinating casually on the street.

Their expensive custom-made coats were stained with wine, and the holographic terminals on their wrists displayed their spending records for the night, enough to support a family in the slums for six months.

"Take a detour," Lyon gestured.

The group silently retreated into the shadows.

The last thing Lines caught was one of the young men smashing a half-empty bottle over a stray cat, laughing uproariously.

Soon, they arrived near the fifth safe house and began their final preparations.

The safe house hidden in the abandoned sewage treatment plant was even more rudimentary than the previous one.

Rusty pipes crisscrossed the ceiling, the dripping sound as regular as a countdown. Mike emerged from the shadows, the camouflage layer of his nanosuit receding like flowing water.

“The perimeter is clean.” He unfolded his helmet visor, revealing bloodshot eyes. “But the UED’s Antarctic base has just raised its alert level.”

The holographic projection unfolded in the center, displaying a three-dimensional structural diagram of the Antarctic base. Lines noticed a certain area marked in red, which was the quantum virus storage vault she had personally designed.

"Homelander is in position." Chris pulled up the live monitoring screen, where the figure in the red cape was hovering above the Antarctic ice sheet. "He can cause chaos at any time."

Lyon took three prismatic crystals out of the equipment box: "A new type of container, specifically designed for quantum storage devices."

As he spoke, he handed one of them to Lyons, "Your biometric authentication is required to enter the core area."

Lyons took the crystal; its cold touch reminded her of the low-temperature sample cabinet in the laboratory.

Her gaze swept over everyone in the room—

Leon was checking the weapons, Chris was adjusting the communicator, and Mike was stuffing an energy gel into his mouth.

No one showed any surprise at her joining.

"Why do you trust me?" she suddenly asked, "Just because of a backdoor program?"

Lyon paused for a moment.

The moment he looked up, Lines saw for the first time the tiny golden spots on his iris. They weren't colored contact lenses, but traces of some kind of genetic modification.

"Because you used your mother's birthday as the key when you designed the hibernation command." He gently pressed down on his wrist guard, projecting an encrypted log:
Maria Kane passed away on November 11.21.

Lynes's breathing stopped.

This is a detail that isn't even recorded in the UED database.
"You even investigate the dead?"

“We investigate everything,” Chris suddenly interjected, his voice as cold as the Antarctic wind, “especially the instinct for kindness.”

Mike tossed a winter suit to Lines: "Put this on, Doctor. We're going to ride a roller coaster later."

The agent grinned, revealing his fangs, and said, "Hope you don't get seasick."

As Lynes put on her winter coat, she noticed a small line embroidered on the lining that read "Fight for Humanity." The fabric brushed against the old scars on her wrists, where she had been burned by acid in the laboratory, but now felt strangely warm.

Lyon pushed open the back door of the safe house. The howling of the cold wind could be faintly heard outside. He turned to look at Lines, his outstretched hand as steady as a rock in the wind:

"Are you ready, Doctor?"

Meanwhile, in Antarctica, far away from everyone else, the midnight sun stained the red cloaks of the Chinese people blood-red.
(End of this chapter)