Chapter 6: Reward - Basic Version Gene Engine
Chapter 6: Reward - Basic Version Gene Engine
The Black Hawk Military Academy had witnessed unprecedented upheaval the previous day.
Instructor Ruisz and the senior faculty, seeking to demonstrate the true potential of the Gene Locks their cadets possessed, had summoned Lena, known as the Radiance of Lieyang Star. The teleportation's timing, however, was ill-considered. Due to her relaxed demeanor, she arrived during the bath, causing huge chaos.
This sight sent Han Sen, Zhao Xin, Cheng Jiawen, and their compatriots into a frenzy of adolescent enthusiasm. They proclaimed grand delusions of conquering goddesses and surrendering themselves to divine punishment.
Their reward was a thorough beating once Lena had donned her attire.
Qiangwei, wielding her mastery over space-time, had also challenged the solar deity. The encounter left her so thoroughly defeated that she questioned the very foundations of her existence.
The following day, Lena sought an audience with the Master of Mankind directly.
She harbored ambitions of establishing herself as the apex predator within the Super God Gene Academy's hierarchy.
The Emperor's gaze fell upon the self-proclaimed goddess before Him. With the dismissive indifference He reserved for the countless pretenders who had claimed divinity across the millennia, He chose to ignore her entirely.
A petulant child seeking validation merited no consideration from one who had witnessed the birth and death of empires.
"This Lena possesses considerable aesthetic appeal," Raven observed from his perch upon the Emperor's shoulder, then muttered with a dry scoff, "Seriously, kids these days—'mortal goddess'? What era are we living in, the 30th Millennium?"
He fluttered his wings once before adding, "Her temperament burns as fiercely as the stellar energies she commands. Perhaps that's from the Sunlight Gene of the Great Sun in her genetic matrix. Still, someone should teach her that humility is not a deactivated gene."
The Raven's commentary held merit. As the primary deity of Lieyang Star and bearer of the Sunlight Gene of the Great Sun Gene Engine—one of the triumvirate of god-making projects—Lena commanded power that would humble lesser civilizations.
Her physical form had been sculpted by technologies that transcended human understanding of beauty.
Yet to the Master of Mankind, she remained but another pretender just like those false gods and their worshippers.
The Emperor dismissed both Raven's observations and the goddess's presence. His attention was already turning toward more pressing matters.
He sought Instructor Ruisz, intent on continuing His systematic extraction of knowledge regarding the Gene Engine technologies.
Since witnessing the true capabilities of these devices, the Emperor had devoted every moment to their study.
His intellect, honed across millennia of conflict and creation, consumed information at a rate that left even the Academy's most learned scholars struggling to keep pace.
The principles underlying the Gene Engine revealed themselves to His scrutiny with startling clarity.
Through genetic encoding, these devices activated dark energy, granting organisms dominion over forces that lesser minds would deem supernatural.
Should such technology be adapted for the Adeptus Astartes or His Custodian Guard, their already formidable capabilities would ascend to heights previously unimaginable.
The conceptual framework underlying this technology demonstrated exceptional sophistication—achievable only when a civilization's mastery of science had reached its zenith.
Whoever had conceived this technological path possessed genius worthy of acknowledgment.
Meanwhile, Lena basked in the attention her divine presence typically commanded. With her flawless features, graceful form, and aura of barely contained stellar fury, she had grown accustomed to worship and genuflection.
Her greatest pride stemmed not from her dominion over solar forces, but from her victory in beauty competitions—a public goddess crowned by mortal acclaim.
Today, however, she found herself ignored. Bypassed as if she were invisible.
Lena: "..."
She pursued the departing figure with mounting indignation, positioning herself directly in his path.
"I address you, mortal. Look upon me."
Lena widened her eyes, attempting to project the overwhelming presence that had cowed civilizations.
Yet when she faced this enigmatic figure, an inexplicable sense of wrongness troubled her thoughts. Something felt fundamentally askew, though she could not identify its source.
As the Emperor prepared to bypass this latest impediment, Raven spoke.
"Defeat her, and we shall alter the fate node."
The Emperor's attention finally settled upon Lena. He extended one hand with deliberate slowness.
Lena tilted her head, observing his movement with growing confusion. A metaphorical question mark might as well have materialized above her perfect features.
Was this strange individual reaching out in supplication?
The next instant, psychic force erupted from his palm like a tidal wave of pure will. Lena found herself launched through the air, her divine form ragdolling across the Academy grounds. As she attempted to rise, invisible bonds seized her limbs, rendering movement impossible.
[Void energy detected, host under attack]
[Highest level alert: Host Lena's self-perception has been modified, suspected influence from secondary bio-energy, attempting repair]
[Repair failed, unable to parse secondary bio-energy signature from target]
[Activating self-protection protocol, establishing super-temporal communication, Lieyang Star connected, support standing by]
Pan Zhen and Lieyang Star's high command had woven protective protocols into Lena's very being. Should she face mortal peril, they would manifest upon Earth itself.
"This power..." Han Sen breathed from his distant observation point.
"The Goddess was defeated instantly," Liu Chuang added, his jaw threatening to dislocate entirely.
They had experienced Lena's might firsthand mere days ago. To witness such overwhelming force reduced to helplessness by a single gesture defied comprehension.
Lena, struggling futilely against her invisible bonds, began to question everything she had believed about herself.
Could the primary goddess of Lieyang Star truly be nothing more than an elaborate deception? A native of this backwater world had rendered her powerless without visible effort.
The Emperor approached His fallen opponent with measured steps, His presence casting a shadow across her prostrate form.
"There exist no gods in this reality." His voice carried the weight of absolute authority. "Humanity requires no divine shepherds."
"Furthermore, you shall accept My guidance and address Me as you would a Master and Emperor."
"You're delusional," Lena spat, her pride refusing to bend despite her helpless state.
The next moment brought immediate regret.
The Emperor's fingers snapped once—a sound like breaking bones.
Lena found herself suspended in midair, rotating slowly as invisible forces toyed with her form.
"Mortals who forget their place require correction."
As His pronouncement echoed across the Academy grounds, the Sunlight gene of the Great Sun Gene Engine within Lena's body screamed warnings:
[Warning: Secondary bio-energy detected, base logic systems under modification, protection protocols engaged]
[Initiating countermeasures, attempting repair of rewritten base logic]
[Countermeasures failed, base logic successfully rewritten, Sunlight of the Great Sun Engine entering shutdown sequence]
Lena's eyes widened in horror.
What manner of being was this?!
The Sunlight Gene of the Great Sun—a god-killing weapon that had taken millennia to perfect—had simply... stopped. Shut down as casually as one might extinguish a candle.
Her scream echoed across the Academy as she plummeted between two looping teleporter light tunnels, experiencing freefall from the perspective of an ordinary mortal.
Qiangwei watched this display with instinctive dread. The scene struck her as disturbingly familiar.
"Elder brother," Lena gasped when she was finally returned to solid ground, her legs refusing to support her divine form.
"Elder brother, I was wrong."
Despite possessing a stellar-forged body, the shutdown of her Gene Engine had forced her to experience terror and helplessness through purely mortal senses. The fact that she hadn't dissolved into tears spoke well of her mental fortitude.
[Fate node changed 4%]
"Excellent! One percentage point more, and you can return," Raven observed cheerfully. "Then we'll acquire some of those fried potato strips you're so fond of."
"Your power has increased since absorbing the shared origin energy. I expected this would require considerable time, yet you defeated the Sunlight Gene Holder of the Great Sun instantly. Well, not surprising at all."
Raven's chatter continued, though only the Emperor could perceive his presence.
The Master of Mankind had long since grown accustomed to His companion's verbose nature. He chose to ignore the commentary and sought out Academy Instructor Ruisz.
His priority remained the systematic acquisition of Gene Engine fundamentals. This knowledge would prove invaluable when He returned to begin construction of the Imperium's own enhanced warriors.
For the duration of their stay, the Emperor accompanied the Academy's faculty in their studies. He absorbed knowledge of the Kamigawa Civilization, the Ultimate Fear, secondary bio-beings, and related technologies with the hunger of one who had witnessed the birth of human civilization itself.
Han Sen and his companions, under Lena's somewhat traumatized guidance, began their formal training regimen.
To avoid the tedium of such rudimentary exercises, the Emperor dedicated himself entirely to academic pursuits.
He employed subtle psychic manipulation to adjust everyone's perceptions, ensuring they found His absence from training perfectly natural and unremarkable.
Several days later, emergency protocols were activated throughout BlackHawk Military Academy.
Sun Wukong, the legendary simian warrior who had slumbered beneath Earth's surface, had awakened. His terrifying speed and strength created chaos for the military forces attempting to contain him.
The newly trained super warriors received deployment orders to resolve this crisis.
Initially, the Emperor had no interest in participating. How could combat with a single enhanced being compare to the systematic study of technologies that could revolutionize the Imperium's military capabilities?
He harbored ambitions of intensive study and rigorous application. Upon His return, the Empire's super-warrior project would commence immediately.
Then Raven interjected with compelling information.
"Assist Han Sen and his team in defeating Sun Wukong, and the fate node alteration will reach five percent. At that threshold, I can send you back to assess the situation firsthand."
The prospect of returning to evaluate Malcador and Valdor's progress, while simultaneously preparing to initiate the Imperium's super-warrior project, convinced the Emperor to alter His priorities.
"Stable-keeper!" Lena's battle cry successfully provoked Sun Wukong from his concealment.
The ancient warrior materialized with his Ruyi Jingu Bang, the legendary staff sweeping in a devastating arc that sent Lena careening across the battlefield, once again questioning her divine status.
Sun Wukong's supernatural speed and strength methodically dismantled the super warriors' coordinated assault, leaving bodies scattered across the combat zone.
Finally, the Emperor intervened.
Psychic energy coalesced above the battlefield, manifesting as a colossal palm that pressed down with the weight of divine judgment. Sun Wukong found himself driven into the earth, held fast by forces beyond his comprehension.
Han Sen seized the opportunity, raising his greatsword and channeling the final judgment protocol. His blade's energy corrected Sun Wukong's corrupted data matrices, restoring the ancient warrior's rational mind.
The crisis reached its conclusion with minimal casualties and maximum effectiveness.
As celebration erupted around them, Raven received confirmation from the Mist Space:
[Fate node changed 5%]
Before the Emperor's perception, a light screen materialized—visible only to Him and His diminutive companion:
[Super Gene Universe fate node modification has reached 5%, first stage reward unlocked: Basic Version Gene Engine]
[Basic Version Gene Engine: Through genetic programming, transforms the human body into a biological computation matrix, regulating dark energy utilization to grant enhanced physical capabilities and reaction speeds]
Accompanying this revelation, origin power flooded the Emperor's consciousness—a torrent of fundamental force that elevated His already transcendent capabilities to considerable heights.
The Master of Mankind distanced Himself from the celebrating masses, seeking solitude with Raven.
"We have achieved the five percent threshold. Return beckons." Raven's tone carried satisfaction tinged with anticipation. "At this stage, regardless of duration spent in your origin reality after temporal anchoring, only one day will elapse here."
"However, I must provide advance warning. As fate nodes shift and our interdimensional traversals multiply, the temporal flow rates between universes will gradually synchronize. This anchoring method will become increasingly ineffective."
"Eventually, temporal consistency will be achieved—whatever duration passes in this universe will mirror exactly in your origin reality."
Raven's explanation carried the weight of cosmic law.
During initial crossings, the universes existed in complete isolation. Temporal anchoring could exploit this disconnection.
As repeated traversals created dimensional bridges, universal laws would merge, synchronizing temporal flow and eliminating such exploits.
"Excellent. Now we return to acquire those fried delicacies you've grown fond of."
Raven opened the All-Heavens Space-Time Tunnel, granting the Emperor passage to His origin universe.
Malcador and Valdor had maintained their vigil.
They remained precisely where He had left them, pacing with growing anxiety as the hours progressed. The closer midnight approached, the greater their apprehension became.
According to Raven's explanation, regardless of the Emperor's duration in the alternate universe, only one day would pass in their reality.
Should he fail to return by midnight, it would confirm Raven's deception.
Terror consumed them both—not the clean fear of battle or the honest dread of xenos threat, but something far more insidious. Terror that the Raven was indeed a deceiver of the most pernicious kind.
Terror that their Emperor would depart and never again grace humanity with His presence. Terror that mankind would be abandoned forever in the darkness between stars.
As the chronometer's final hand completed its rotation and time crossed into the new day, despair reached its absolute zenith in both hearts.
Then, at the moment when hope seemed lost entirely, luminous energies coalesced before them. A swirling vortex of impossible geometries tore reality asunder.
The Master of Mankind stepped forth from within.
"My Emperor." Malcador's voice cracked with relief, his usual composure shattered by the overwhelming tide of emotion. The Sigillite, who had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations with stoic acceptance, now shouted with unrestrained joy.
"My liege." Even Constantine Valdor's eternally impassive features betrayed the faintest trace of elation—an expression so rare among the Custodian Guard that it might as well have been a miracle.
"Forgive me the burden of uncertainty I have placed upon you both," the Emperor spoke, His voice carrying the weight of genuine contrition. "The Raven spoke truthfully. Traversal between dimensional matrices is not only feasible—it has proven... illuminating."
His gaze swept between His two most trusted servants, noting the relief that replaced their carefully concealed anguish.
"We must now craft an entirely new stratagem. A more perfect design that grants us a greater probability of ultimate victory."
"We shall forge warriors beyond even our current achievements. They will conquer not merely the stars of this galaxy, but the very cosmos itself—and dimensions beyond counting."
"To rule across all realities is the manifested destiny of our species. Humanity's dominion shall know no boundaries, no limitations, save those We choose to impose."