From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 689 "How many did they actually send?"

Before the man-eating sharks and the investigation department launched their operation.
On the streets of UED's capital, cold winds swirled scraps of paper and dust across the empty squares.

The once bustling commercial district is now deserted; the holographic billboards still flash, but no one stops to look at them.

Armed soldiers set up checkpoints at every street corner, armored vehicles rolled over broken glass and discarded electronic equipment, and the roar of their engines was particularly jarring in the deathly silent city.

Outside the UED headquarters building, the once pristine glass curtain wall is now covered in cracks, and several charred marks from damage caused by Molotov cocktails are clearly visible, indicating that a riot had occurred not long ago.

Three layers of blast walls were added around the building, and automated turrets and snipers occupied the high ground, so that any unauthorized approachers would be immediately suppressed by fire.

Internally, security protocols have been raised to the highest level.

Biometric identification, brainwave verification, and quantum encryption—layers of protection have turned this building into an almost completely isolated fortress.

However, even the tightest defenses could not conceal the fact that the threat they feared most—the figure in the red cloak—had vanished without a trace.

In fact, after completing their cover mission in Antarctica, the Homelanders quietly returned to the Stealth-class ships.

At this moment, "he" is hovering inside the ship's maintenance bay, where a nanoscale repair system is adjusting "his" biofield and replenishing his energy reserves.

His eyes were slightly open, and his icy blue irises glowed faintly in the darkness, like a lurking beast ready to tear the battlefield apart once more.

Furthermore, UED not only needs to guard against another attack from Homelander, but also the complete collapse of public opinion.

UED's online regulatory body has completely lost control of public opinion.

Despite the Earth Federation government's emergency shutdown of communications in some areas and deletion of a large amount of sensitive information, images of the Homelanders and positive reports about the human empire continue to spread wildly.

A large number of high-definition videos are circulating on various forums.

In the scene, Homelander holds up the wreckage of a falling battleship with his hands, while his eyes emit laser beams that precisely evaporate the giant waves that are about to crash into the residential area.

The cameraman's voice-over trembled: "He could have ignored us."

Another video captured an even more shocking scene: Homelander soldiers traversing through gunfire to pull a hovercar carrying children from under the wreckage of a crashed transport plane.

The cries of children and the voices of gratitude of mothers could be clearly heard, while in the background, UED's mech forces continued their indiscriminate bombing.

Headlines like "They want to kill us! And he's saving us!" and "Is the UED a human regime??" are spreading virally on social media platforms.

What enraged the UED leadership even more was the large-scale infiltration of positive information from the Human Empire.

Anonymous data packets were dropped onto civilian networks, containing images of the prosperity of the human empire's colonies, free medical and educational systems, and Astartes providing aid to disaster victims.
There was even a blurry yet shocking video—

A five-meter-tall giant clad in black and gold armor (likely a human emperor) stood in a plaza in a star sector, curing tens of thousands of plague patients with a wave of his hand.

Slogans such as "The Emperor blesses believers" began to quietly appear in graffiti on the streets and alleys, and some people even began to hold secret gatherings to recite the "Emperor's Holy Words" obtained from the Internet.

A series of events led to the collapse of the blockade.

UED's cybersecurity chief erupted in fury at an emergency meeting, exclaiming, "Our firewall was torn apart by some advanced AI! It even tampered with our internal database!"

He was not wrong.

The stealth-class ships' intelligent AI has already penetrated the entire information network of the UED.

This intelligent entity, far exceeding the technological level of UED, roams like a ghost through every data fiber, easily cracking encryption protocols, paralyzing review systems, and even reversing the flow by implanting false instructions, causing UED's network monitoring department to contradict itself.

When UED technicians tried to trace the signal source, all they saw on their screens was a line of flashing gold text—

"Fight for humanity."

Therefore, a full state of martial law was imposed in the UED capital to prevent public demonstrations and riots through extreme control measures, but resistance was already brewing in the shadows.

In the basement of a raided bar, a dozen young people gathered around a modified data terminal, watching a holographic propaganda video of the Human Empire.

A glimmer of hope shone in their eyes.

"I heard... He really will come to save us?"

The youngest female bartender asked in a low voice.

No one answered, but everyone already knew the answer in their hearts.

Outside the bar, on the street, UED patrols are equipped with standard mechanical skeletons.

One of the squads, consisting of ten soldiers, was walking with slightly unsteady steps through the empty streets, the servo systems of their mechanical exoskeletons humming rhythmically.

Their helmet visors constantly scanned the buildings on both sides, and any suspicious heat source would immediately trigger an alarm.

However, if you break into their encrypted team communication channel, you'll hear a completely different story.

"Have you heard? The Third Fleet was completely wiped out in Antarctic orbit." A young soldier's voice crackled on the channel, his deliberately lowered tone unable to conceal the tremor. "The surveillance footage shows that guy, who looked like he stepped out of a superhero movie, took care of it all by himself."

"Shut up!" the squad leader's shout crackled with static. "If you spread any more rumors, you'll be court-martialed!"

The channel was silent for a few seconds, then a hoarse veteran's voice rang out:

"It's not a rumor. My nephew is in the First Mech Squadron. They saw with their own eyes that the guy's eyes were shooting lasers. That monster is simply not something a human can fight."

"."

The soldiers' breathing became heavy over the communication channel.

Their combat boots clattered against the broken glass, making a crisp cracking sound, as if stepping on everyone's taut nerves.

"You've all seen the propaganda video for the Human Empire, haven't you?" another voice cautiously interjected. "That five-meter-tall giant... if he really is their emperor..."

"Enough!" The squad leader abruptly stopped, his mechanical boots screeching to a halt, sparks flying from the ground. "If we discuss this any further, we'll all be court-martialed! On the mission!"

But the seeds of fear have already been sown.

These soldiers clearly remembered last week's supply list: daily expenses had decreased by 30%, medical kits had expired two months ago, and even the most basic maintenance supplies were being rationed. Meanwhile, the military council generals were still enjoying luxury goods shipped from the colonies.

Buzz~————Whoosh——! !

Just as the oppressive silence was about to engulf the entire squad, a piercing alarm suddenly shattered the night sky.

"Warning! Warning! Level One combat readiness! All units, return to your positions immediately!"

The scarlet warning lights flashed wildly on the buildings on both sides of the street, stretching the soldiers' shadows into distorted red ghosts.

The tactical screen inside the squad leader's helmet was instantly flooded with emergency commands, such as "The target suspected of causing the Antarctic base to lose contact is rapidly approaching" and "The orbital defense platform and the First Fleet are under attack."

"Quick! Assemble immediately!" The squad leader's voice trembled with fear. The soldiers turned and ran, but they had barely run a hundred meters when the entire street was suddenly enveloped in a blinding blue light.

boom--! ! !
A deafening explosion came from ahead, and the shockwave overturned armored vehicles parked on the street.

The soldiers staggered to their feet, and when they looked up, everyone froze in place.
A "giant" clad in heavy armor appeared in the middle of the street as if by magic.

The "giant" in the middle of the street slowly straightened up. The Terminator armor's servo system emitted a deep hum. Its height of over two and a half meters was even more imposing with the power armor. The pattern of a man-eating shark tearing at a warship etched on the chest plate gleamed with a blood-red luster under the alarm lights.

The shark teeth and skull emblem adorning the sides of the helmet sway slightly with the "giant's" movements, and each metallic clang sounds like the whisper of death.

There appeared to be dried bloodstains at the joints of the armor, but these had not been cleaned off.

"My God!"

A young soldier's legs went weak, and the rifle in his hand clattered to the ground.

His pupils contracted violently, and the biological scanning system on his tactical goggles flashed a red warning: "Threat Level: Unmeasurable." The physiological monitor inside his mask showed that his heart rate had exceeded 160, and his adrenaline level had reached a dangerous threshold.

Meanwhile, a naive young man's index finger was still on the trigger, and the rifle's calibration system had just lit up with a blue light—

Thud!
The roar of the explosive projectiles shattered the remaining glass on both sides of the street.

Puff-!
The young soldier's head exploded like a watermelon, and red and white fragments radiated outwards onto the armor of his comrades behind him.

The splattered brain tissue even stuck to a lamppost five meters away, appearing eerily pinkish-purple under the red warning light.

The headless corpse swayed for two seconds, and the arterial blood gushing from the severed neck formed a brief mist of blood under the pressure of the air. Then it collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, the mechanical skeleton's servo system still twitching unconsciously.

"Everyone, listen to my command! Surrender immediately!!"

The squad leader's roar was almost distorted; the pain of his torn vocal cords made his voice sound twisted.

Furthermore, the captain's helmet screen displayed the "Regulations on the Treatment of Prisoners of War" circulating online, originating from the Human Empire.

It seems the captain also frequently browses matters concerning the Human Empire in private.

? ? ? ?
The young soldiers were stunned.

Just a minute ago, the captain was emphasizing military discipline, but now he is swinging his weapon three meters away in the most standard posture, raising his arms high.

The ever-slick veteran moved even faster, not only throwing away his gun but also quickly disengaging the weapon locking system of his mechanical exoskeleton. He even deliberately popped open the armor plate on his chest, revealing his unprotected uniform underneath.

"Do it! Quickly!"

The seasoned veteran kicked the stunned recruit beside him, the force leaving a noticeable dent in the recruit's armor. "If you want to live, fucking do as I say!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out one after another, and within seconds, all the weapons of the entire squad were discarded on the ground.

The soldiers maintained their raised hands, and the joint locking devices of the mechanical exoskeletons emitted a "click" confirmation sound, a surrender mode unique to UED mechanical exoskeletons and power armor.

"."

The giant, or rather the veteran shark-like creature, turned its visor toward the surrendered soldiers, its crimson goggles scanning each person's vital signs.

The muzzle of the parallel bolter was still emitting wisps of smoke, and the crisp sound of the spent cartridges hitting the ground was particularly jarring in the deathly silent street.

He didn't continue firing, but instead pointed his power claw at the corpse on the ground, and a metallic voice came from his helmet's speaker:
"A wise choice. Remember this lesson, and you'll hesitate less next time."

It seems that no matter how ferocious the man-eating shark is, it will not easily slaughter its fellow humans who choose to surrender.

Boom, boom, boom——

The heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

The Terminator armor's magnetic boots left three-centimeter-deep dents in the road surface, each step accompanied by a slight hum from the servo system.

"call"

Only after the figure of the embodiment of death disappeared into the rising smoke around the street corner did the squad leader dare to deactivate the mechanical exoskeleton and lower his arm.

His helmet screen showed a heart rate of 152.

"Team leader?" a soldier's voice trembled, his mask fogged up with sweat. "What...what do we do now?"

The seasoned veteran was the first to act, deftly picking up his weapon but deliberately not reloading it.

He checked the rifle's readings, confirmed the weapon was still in a safe position, and then hooked it back onto the magnetic latch on his back.
"According to our 17th amendment, prisoners of war should remain in place to await internment after confirmation that the enemy has accepted the surrender."

He glanced at the headless corpse on the ground, and kicked the still twitching mechanical arm with the tip of his armored boot. "That kid deserved it. Didn't he see the claw marks on the shoulder armor? The rumors online say that those giants are the Astartes, who are fighting against the most dangerous enemy. He actually thought he could fight them head-on?"

"Hiss."

The squad leader took another deep breath and opened the public channel, only to find that the communication system had been switched to another channel.

After a moment's hesitation, the captain pressed the send button according to the newly appeared operation prompts: "This is the Seventh Patrol Team. We have encountered enemy super soldiers and have chosen to give up resistance. Repeat. We have disarmed according to procedure."

His voice trembled, but every word was spoken with exceptional clarity, as if he were reciting a standard procedure from a training manual.

The channel was silent except for a faint electrical hum.

Ten seconds later, intermittent responses began to come in—

"The Third Defense Group also surrendered."

"The eastern watchtower has surrendered."

"The cargo platform's garrison requests instructions."
Bang—bang bang—!
Several more booming sounds, characteristic of bolters, came from afar, but the intervals between them grew longer, occasionally interspersed with the shrieks of plasma weapons overload and the muffled thuds of collapsing buildings.

Clearly, an increasing number of UED units are making the same choice—

Faced with an enemy they could not defeat, the instinct for survival, the fear of the human empire and their homeland, and the mistreatment by the UED, led them to completely give up resistance.

Boom. Boom.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble rhythmically.

That wasn't a shockwave from an explosion, but rather the low-frequency vibration characteristic of some kind of machinery weighing several tons in operation.

At the corner at the end of the street, a steel giant dressed in the same attire was striding towards them. The warrior's shoulder armor was decorated with golden shark fin-like protrusions, and fresh blood was dripping from his power claws, which did not deploy a plasma field.

"Good heavens," the seasoned veteran muttered to himself, this time deliberately leaving the external speakers on. "Just how many did they send?"

(End of this chapter)