... Wallace Breen seemed startled by the sound of the door crashing open behind him and slowly turned around.
When he saw the full appearance of the intruders, he froze for a moment. Then, in those calculating and hypocritical eyes, a flash of extreme terror that could not be suppressed flickered through.
!!!
He couldn't be blamed for losing his composure.
Anyone who saw Gao Zan—standing over three meters tall, clad in heavy Terminator armor like a colossal steel god—and Jaghatai—even more imposing at five and a half meters, in streamlined white power armor—would likely find it impossible to remain calm.
For a "scholar" like Wallace Breen, accustomed to maneuvering within circles of power and intrigue, this sheer, overwhelming physical presence was simply too terrifying, far beyond the scope of his daily dealings.
However, Wallace Breen was, after all, the "elite" who had managed to navigate among various factions after the collapse of Black Mesa and climb to the highest administrative position on Earth under Combine rule.
He quickly forced himself to calm down, squeezing out a smile he thought was appropriate but was actually stiff as a board, attempting to pick up his usual negotiation tactics.
"Two noble... uh... Giant Excellencies?"
He chose his words carefully, his voice carrying an imperceptible tremor. "May I ask... where do you come from?
Are you new... rulers?
Have you come for this planet and the humans on it?"
He spread his hands in a welcoming gesture, his tone turning obsequious: "If that is the case, I think... I can offer you tremendous assistance. I am familiar with everything here, familiar with how humans operate, familiar with how to most efficiently...
Manage them.
I can help you take over smoothly, avoiding unnecessary conflict and losses."
This unsightly eagerness to "defect" did not bring any goodwill in the eyes of Gao Zan and Jaghatai. Instead, it stirred deep disgust and contempt in their hearts.
In their view, this was an utter disgrace, the most despicable and bottomless manifestation of human nature, a scoundrel among scoundrels.
Of course, rationally they understood that for someone like Wallace Breen, facing irresistible power and survival pressure, there was no bottom line when it came to staying alive.
Betraying his own kind, serving aliens, aiding the wicked—to him, all of this might just be another "sensible" transaction.
Gao Zan had no interest in engaging in meaningless dialogue.
The legendary captain took heavy steps, crossing the spacious office in just a few strides to stand before Wallace Breen.
!
Under Breen's terrified, dilated gaze, Gao Zan extended his left hand encased in a heavy power gauntlet. Like grabbing an insignificant trinket, he directly covered Wallace Breen's entire head!
!!!
The cold metallic touch on his scalp and the immense sense of power made Wallace Breen's soul fly from his body instantly.
The traitor had no doubt that with just a slight squeeze of the fingers, his head would explode like a ripe fruit!
"No! Don't! Spare me!!"
All disguise, all calculation vanished in this moment. Extreme fear was written all over his face.
The traitor begged incoherently for mercy, his body trembling violently from fear. The proposal of "cooperation" just now seemed so laughable.
Gao Zan ignored the wailing. Controlling the force in his fingertips precisely, he sent a clever shockwave through the skull.
Wallace Breen's eyes rolled back, his voice stopped abruptly, and he fainted directly.
Like tossing trash, Gao Zan casually threw the limp Wallace Breen to a member of the company guard behind him, his voice leaving no room for doubt: "Immediately teleport this scum to the 3rd Company flagship. Hand him over to the interrogation department. Ensure he stays alive; the Empire needs the intelligence in his brain."
"Yes, Captain."
The company guard member equipped with Terminator armor responded, easily picking up the unconscious Breen with one hand.
The device on his armor glowed faintly, activating the standard short-range teleportation function of the Terminator armor. With a distortion of space, he and the captive in his hand disappeared from the spot.
The office quieted down temporarily, with only the sporadic sounds of battle faintly coming from outside the window.
Jaghatai walked to Gao Zan's side, looking at where Breen had stood, and couldn't help shaking his head, his tone carrying a trace of complex emotion: "Captain Gao Zan, I know human hearts can be treacherous. The Imperial archives record countless betrayals and conspiracies.
But someone like him, so 'frankly', so unburdened in selling out his entire race for self-preservation... truly opened my eyes."
The young Primarch had touched the deepest darkness of human nature so intuitively for the first time.
Gao Zan's expression was hidden under his helmet, but his steady voice came through the vox-caster: "Jaghatai, you need not be overly troubled by this. Within the Human Empire, such people have existed and may appear in the future.
Selfishness, cowardice, betrayal—these are the dark sides hidden in some human souls."
His tone shifted, filled with firmness and conviction: "However, remember, as the Emperor's teachings take root in people's hearts, as the order and glory of the Empire shine everywhere, such people will only become fewer and fewer, and their living space will be infinitely compressed."
He pointed out the window, "Look. In stark contrast to this scum are those people who have struggled in desperate situations for twenty years and still haven't given up resistance.
Know that the hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage! Those resistance fighters are the unyielding and shining side of human nature.
As for that Wallace Breen..."
His tone carried undisguised contempt, "He merely represents the dark side of human nature that may degenerate under extreme pressure, but he is by no means the whole, and certainly not the future."
"..."
These words struck like a great bell, making Jaghatai thoughtful, dispelling much of the haze in his heart.
He nodded, feeling more respect for Gao Zan's insight.
After the brief conversation, Gao Zan did not forget the business at hand.
He connected communication with the orbital flagship, reporting to Primarch Vulkan: "Father, this is Gao Zan.
Report: The target mega-structure has been successfully controlled. Traitor leader Wallace Breen has been captured alive and escorted away.
Meanwhile, the clearing operation in City 17 is progressing smoothly. It is expected that all residual resistance will be completely eliminated within half an hour, bringing it fully under Imperial rule."
"Very good."
Vulkan's affirmative response came from the other end.
Purging and rebuilding were about to unfold simultaneously on this traumatized land.
And the light and dark of human nature were vividly displayed in this sudden upheaval...
With the Citadel controlled and the traitor leader captured, the battle for City 17 entered the final clearing phase.
The Salamanders Legion's Astartes, Auxilia, and Helljumpers, like precise war machines, methodically eradicated the last pockets of resistance in the city's intricate streets, buildings, and underground networks.
The forms of combat were varied, full of tests and choices.
Outside a stadium converted into a temporary refugee camp, a group of desperate National Guard traitors attempted to use dozens of terrified civilians as hostages to build a flesh shield, threatening the approaching Imperial troops.
"Back off! Or we'll kill them!"
The traitor leader screamed hoarsely, pressing a pistol against the temple of a shivering old woman.
However, they underestimated the professionalism of the Imperial army.
Several Auxilia marksmen had already locked onto their positions using drones and sensors.
The moment the traitors' attention was drawn to the infantry approaching frontally—Pfft-pfft—pfft!!
Several extremely faint sniper shots, processed by high-efficiency suppressors, rang out.
Thud! Thud!
Several traitors holding hostages fell at the sound, a precise bullet hole appearing in their foreheads or hearts.
Almost simultaneously, several Helljumpers burst in from the shadows on the flank like ghosts, disarming the remaining traitors with lightning speed. The whole process was clean and neat, ensuring the safety of all hostages, with only a few suffering minor scratches in the chaos.
"Don't be afraid, you are safe."
A Helljumper comforted the frightened civilians in the local dialect with a slight electronic tone processed by a translator, while signaling medics to come forward.
On the city's main roads, Salamander combat squads were conducting rapid sweeps.
Like moving fortresses, they directly bombarded strongholds occupied by traitors and Combine forces with bolters and heavy weapons, burning through roadblocks with meltaguns, and purifying all filth with plasma.
Their advance was unstoppable. Resistance in a block often completely collapsed within minutes.
Civilians experienced a psychological journey from hell to heaven.
At first, seeing those Salamanders tall as Titans from myths, they were filled with extreme terror, thinking it was a new type of alien never seen before.
They huddled in ruins, listening to the deafening explosions and gunfire outside, thinking doomsday had arrived again.
But soon, they discovered that although these steel giants were terrifying, they only attacked targets wearing National Guard uniforms and Combine armor.
They saw Auxilia soldiers distributing food and water to survivors walking out of hiding places;
Saw Helljumpers carefully guiding them to safe assembly areas;
Even saw a Salamander warrior gently help up a child who fell during flight with his huge palm and return him to his parents—
Although that action seemed a bit "incongruous" due to the immense size difference, it was full of kindness.
Hope, like rain after a long drought, began to nourish their hearts that had been dry for twenty years.
Fear was gradually replaced by curiosity, gratitude, and an indescribable sense of belonging.
They realized that these powerful beings seemed to have come to save them.
This newborn hope was also mixed with indelible sorrow.
Due to the "reproductive suppression field" deployed by the Combined Empire for a long time, almost no newborns had been born on Earth-21 for twenty years.
In City 17, even young faces under the age of 20 were extremely rare.
The population structure of the entire city presented a terrible aging and gap, a genocidal policy more thorough than any physical destruction.
Outside a library converted into a Combine outpost, fierce fighting was underway.
A squad of Auxilia attempted to storm the building to rescue civilians trapped inside.
A young Auxilia soldier equipped with a basic power suit stormed into the hall first as the point man.
Suddenly, dense energy beams shot out from behind bookshelves on the flank.
Obviously, it was an ambush by Combine soldiers.
Caught off guard, the point man was instantly hit by multiple energy beams. The huge impact made him stagger.
"Buddy!" A teammate behind him exclaimed.
But the point man stabilized himself. He looked down at the charred marks and slight dents on his chest armor. The power suit integrity indicator still showed green.
"I'm fine!" He roared, "The armor held!"
Immediately, anger burned in his heart. He raised his laser rifle and unleashed precise suppressive fire at the ambush point, creating an opportunity for his teammates to advance.
He used his body as a shield, taking attacks that might have been directed at the civilian gathering area in the rear.
In another block, several heavy Auxilia troopers equipped with heavier, hard-lined CMC power armor were clearing a National Guard command post.
Although not as massive as Astartes, they were behemoths compared to ordinary people.
The rotary machine guns in their hands spat tongues of fire, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, sweeping the enemies in front of them with crushing force.
Traitors' small arms fire tickled the CMC armor, while every counterattack from the heavy troopers could open huge holes in walls, shattering enemies behind cover along with the cover itself.
They were like "mini-Astartes," declaring the Empire's power with absolute firepower and protection.
Notably, although the Helljumpers' equipment looked similar to ordinary Auxilia, their coating was a grim black, and their tactical eyepieces or visors flashed with a unique purple glow.
They were also elites handpicked from the Auxilia, specializing in high-speed assault and infiltration behind enemy lines.
The biggest feature of their equipment was the personal energy shield generator.
Although the shield power was far inferior to Astartes titanium armor or Terminator armor capable of withstanding direct heavy artillery hits, it was sufficient to deflect small-caliber solid rounds, neutralize partial damage from energy weapons, and provide effective protection against attacks other than power weapons in melee combat.
This energy barrier, which rippled when attacked, provided crucial survival assurance for them in brutal urban combat, allowing them to charge into battle more fearlessly.
At this moment, inside a highly secured bio-lab and interrogation chamber on the Salamanders 3rd Company flagship, the Indomitable Sacred Flame, in low Earth orbit over City 17.
Dr. Ariel Hanson, a top expert now part of the Imperial Bio-Division, stood before a specially made restraint chair.
On the chair was Wallace Breen, injected with muscle relaxants and in a semi-conscious state.
Ariel did not use traditional torture methods.
Operating precise instruments, several slender probes glowing with bio-fluorescence were connected to specific areas of Breen's head.
Evidently, she was using bio-interface technology to attempt to directly read core secrets from Breen's memory cortex regarding how to actively contact the Combined Empire's high command and the specific path to their dimension.
This process required a considerable degree of skill to avoid triggering potential defense mechanisms or memory traps in Breen's brain while ensuring the integrity of the information.
Meanwhile, on several screens nearby, massive amounts of information decrypted from the Citadel database were scrolling rapidly.
Ariel's gaze occasionally swept across these screens, which clearly displayed data on various inhumane physical experiments, neural modifications, and biological weapon research conducted by the Combined Empire on humans over the past twenty years.
Every report, every image revealed the brutal nature of the Combined Empire, making Ariel's eyes grow colder.
This data was evidence of crimes, but might also hide the enemy's technological weaknesses and future research directions.
The purge was happening on the ground, while the excavation of the enemy's core secrets unfolded in the laboratory in orbit.
The Empire's targeting was launching an assault on the Combined Empire's foundation from multiple levels, physical and informational, simultaneously...
______
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