Chapter 390: Spoils of War! The Calm Before the Storm! The Zerg Vanguard!
"It doesn't matter whether it knows who we are. That won't affect our unification plan," Li Ang replied calmly.
To Amon, the appearance of the Universal Megacorp only confirmed its suspicion that there was always a higher power beyond comprehension.
Chances were, Amon was already contemplating how to leverage the Megacorp's high-dimensional invasion to break free from the Void's shackles.
After all, as a Xel'naga bound to the Void realm, Amon couldn't travel to other dimensional universes. Meanwhile, the Megacorp had complete freedom of movement within three-dimensional space.
Yet Amon's divine power remained tethered by the Void.
Speaking of the Xel'naga—a so-called "godlike" species—their greatest power lay in genetic manipulation, in creating and nurturing entire civilizations.
They were the cosmic equivalent of the ancient goddess Nuwa.
Except Nuwa's job was a team effort. One or two Xel'naga alone couldn't accomplish much.
Faced with the Megacorp's high-dimensional incursion, even if Amon knew the truth, it would be difficult for him to mount any meaningful countermeasure.
"Tell the R&D department to assemble the Keystone fragments immediately. The main event is still to come. Everyone should begin preparing for the final battle," Li Ang commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
——
By the time Paul awoke in the Dreadnought's medical center, the battle aboard the Xel'naga worldship had already concluded.
The joint forces of the Daelaam and the Megacorp had easily crushed the remaining Tal'darim forces and each side had completed its strategic objectives.
Thanks to Starscream's timely rescue, Paul had avoided the brunt of the explosion. With the Megacorp's advanced medical tech, his injuries had fully healed in no time.
Now, freshly recovered, Paul was already in the Dreadnought's command center, looking to get updated on the current situation.
"Paul, looks like you're doing fine," Marshal Terrence greeted him with concern from the command bridge, where he was overseeing all military units.
"If you're still feeling off, go rest. Don't push yourself."
The image of Paul's desperate last stand was still vivid in Terrence's mind. He didn't want to lose such a valuable team leader.
"Don't worry. I'm back to full health."
Paul gave his chest a light pat, smiling. Compared to that time in the Star Wars universe when he went toe-to-toe with Darth Vader, this was nothing.
Besides, the Dreadnought was equipped with biological regeneration fields sourced from across the multiverse. As long as someone wasn't killed outright, there was almost always a way to bring them back.
Seeing Paul in good spirits, Terrence nodded and said, "The Hyperion just reported in—Raynor's team secured the fragment from Typhon just before the supernova hit."
"That means we've now gathered all the Xel'naga artifact fragments. We're just waiting to assemble them."
His tone noticeably relaxed—clearly, the recent combat ops had weighed heavily on him.
"That's great news. All our effort finally paid off." Paul nodded in satisfaction.
With all five Keystone fragments now collected, there was no need to keep scouring the galaxy for ancient Xel'naga relics.
The Infinity Night and Moon of War fleets had already departed, escorting the fragments back to HQ.
Meanwhile, the Dreadnought had stayed behind to explore the massive Xel'naga worldship, in case it contained any recoverable tech left behind.
If they could scavenge any valuable scientific data, that would be the best-case scenario.
"How are the Daelaam Protoss doing?" Paul asked.
"They've already left, taking the imprisoned Templar and Tal'darim captives with them. Before departing, they expressed interest in forming an alliance with us."
"Other departments are handling that, so it's not something we need to worry about."
Terrence's response was straightforward. He actually appreciated the Protoss for their bluntness—they were easier to deal with than most.
This time, the Megacorp had won over the Daelaam with undeniable strength, shifting Rohana's perception of humanity.
Going forward, these Protoss might be a lot more receptive to cooperation.
Meanwhile, Naeon's body had been retrieved by the biotech department for research.
Although the Megacorp had yet to fully decipher Protoss genetics or tech, that didn't dampen the scientists' passion for knowledge.
They hoped that by studying the Hybrid Form's unique biological structure, they could unlock the fusion of peak physical and psionic power.
But this technology belonged to the Xel'naga's core domain. Even someone like Dr. Quintessa might not be able to reverse-engineer it with their current capabilities.
"Say, do you think we can restore that Xel'naga worldship and fly it out of here?"
Paul, ever the opportunist, couldn't help but eye the behemoth. Since they'd already come all this way, they might as well try to bring something big back.
If they could fly it home, they'd essentially scored a superstructure for free. Compared to building one from scratch, salvaging old parts was way easier.
Terrence shook his head with a helpless smile.
"The Xel'naga's tech is completely incompatible with ours. Even with a manual, we probably still wouldn't understand how to fix it."
"That ship's been abandoned for at least two billion years. The core components are likely nothing but cosmic dust now. If we want to repair it, we'd basically have to rebuild it from scratch."
"With our current tech, we could refurbish it, sure. But at that point, it wouldn't really be a Xel'naga ship anymore."
He sighed. The worldship wasn't so much a derelict vessel as it was an ancient relic.
Maybe a proper archaeological team could dig up something useful from it.
"I see."
Paul nodded thoughtfully. Even the Tal'darim, after occupying it for years, couldn't get it working.
It wasn't likely the Megacorp would succeed quickly either.
"Any other loot?"
Paul pressed on. After all the blood and sweat they'd poured into this campaign, the Keystone fragments alone might not justify the cost.
"Just the Tal'darim's Protoss machinery. The Daelaam weren't interested in hauling that junk, so they left it all for us," Terrence said with a chuckle.
Free gear was always welcome, even if it ended up collecting dust in storage.
"The only issue is that these machines require psionic energy to operate. And among our troops, psionics are basically nonexistent."
That was probably why the Daelaam were so generous—they knew humans couldn't make much use of them.
In summary, the Megacorp's expedition had yielded three key spoils: the Keystone fragments, the abandoned Xel'naga worldship, and Tal'darim Protoss technology.
All remaining Tal'darim prisoners had been taken away by the Daelaam, who clearly didn't intend to leave the Megacorp any captives to interrogate.
"Guess those Protoss aren't as naive as they look. They know how to cover their bases," Paul muttered, shrugging. He was a bit disappointed—they couldn't exactly kidnap a few Protoss scientists and force them to help develop tech.
"At this point, we've recovered almost everything worth taking. We've also left some AI units and planetary coordinates behind."
"Now it's time to warp out and await the next directive from HQ," Terrence said, clapping Paul on the shoulder.
The Megacorp had just taken a major step forward. The unification mission would likely conclude soon.
"Understood."
Paul nodded. He knew gathering the fragments marked a major milestone—but he also understood that the final stretch would be the hardest yet.
The Universal Megacorp had now revealed itself to all factions. And while they'd secured a shaky alliance with the Daelaam, that wasn't much of a safety net.
Their real threats included the Void god Amon, the ravenous Zerg, and rival human factions like the Terran Federation and the United Earth League.
The StarCraft universe's true crisis hadn't passed—on the contrary, the most difficult chapter was just beginning.
As Marshal Terrence issued the order, the Dreadnought began its departure from the Xel'naga worldship, engaging warp engines to return to the front-line star system.
Nearly half a month later, the Dreadnought fleet finally returned to HQ, where the Moon of War and Infinity Night fleets had long since completed repairs.
As Paul stepped off the Dreadnought, he was greeted by cheering staff and soldiers—celebrating their triumphant return.
In just under three months, they had recovered every Keystone fragment and fought several epic battles, proving the Megacorp's might to the entire galaxy.
No doubt about it—the pace of this mission was practically cheat-level.
"Paul, you mad bastard. I already heard all about it from Starscream. A death-match with a Hybrid monster? You're the only one in this company crazy enough to pull that off."
Sam walked up to greet him. He was now one of the top brass in the Transformers division—essentially a high-ranking officer.
But compared to Paul's incredible track record, he felt completely overshadowed. At the rate Paul was going, surpassing even V seemed inevitable.
"I just got lucky. What about Raynor's team? Did they make it back with the goods?"
Paul deflected modestly, then turned the topic to the Keystone—he was most concerned about what the complete artifact could actually do.
"They've already transferred the pieces to the labs at the Science Nexus. Dr. Fox and Dr. Halsey are overseeing the research. It's still in the experimental stage for now."
Sam answered truthfully.
And like Paul, Megacorp leadership shared the same concern—was the Keystone truly the key to defeating Amon? Or just another piece of ancient tech?
That answer had yet to be revealed.
After defeating Amon, could the Keystone still be used for other purposes?
After all, in any multiversal universe, energy is the ultimate "hard currency."
This artifact was the very definition of real gold and silver.
In the StarCraft universe, Terrazine, Vespene gas, and energy crystals were so valuable precisely because they could be refined into massive amounts of usable energy.
If the Keystone could somehow enable the Megacorp to continuously siphon psionic energy from the Void dimension—well, that would be beyond ideal!
"Raynor and the others are still waiting for you aboard the Hyperion. They're probably drinking and celebrating as we speak."
Hearing this, Paul nodded. He was eager to hear new updates from the lab. Raynor still needed the Keystone, and Paul had made a promise—to find a way to restore the Queen of Blades to her human form.
"Oh, right—Paul, the lab has uncovered something else recently," Sam added.
"The Keystone fragments emit a constant pulse-like radiation signal."
Sam pulled up several video clips and shared them with Paul. The footage showed encounters between Megacorp fleets and Zerg swarms.
From the looks of it, the Zerg forces in the footage were only advance scouts, not a full-scale invasion force.
"These signals seem to constantly attract the Zerg. Even using every type of signal jammer we've got, we can't stop them from propagating."
"It wasn't until we transferred the Keystone into the main universe that the Zerg attacks started to slow down a bit."
"But by then, we had already repelled several waves of Zerg fleets. And once we fully assemble the Keystone, I suspect it will immediately attract the Zerg main force."
"In fact, the main force could already be en route. Our position has been compromised."
Sam's expression turned grim.
And really, it made perfect sense. Amon, having already caught wind of the Megacorp's activities, would never just sit back and let them complete their mission in peace.
Sending wave after wave of Zerg to overrun the Megacorp's front-line base and reclaim the Keystone—that was Amon's top priority now.
This so-called victorious return was nothing more than the calm before the storm. The real final battle was fast approaching—and with it, the highly likely arrival of the Queen of Blades herself.
"…Understood."
Having learned everything about the Keystone's side effects, Paul began preparing to officially extend an invitation to the Raiders—to bring Jim Raynor and his crew into the Megacorp.
Getting them onboard early would allow for smoother integration and role assignments down the line.
However, before formally inviting the Raiders to join, Paul had one more internal issue to resolve:
Tychus.
Tychus had long been maintaining secret contact with Mengsk, the leader of the Terran Dominion. Paul needed to bring him over to their side—and soon.
Securing Tychus would allow the Megacorp to establish a covert intelligence pipeline into the Dominion.
In truth, Paul had known about Tychus's mole status for quite some time—his intel had already been dug up by the Megacorp's intelligence division.
The reason Paul hadn't exposed him earlier was strategic: they wanted to avoid tipping off Mengsk prematurely and hoped to use Tychus as a lead to trace back to the Moebius Foundation's real backers.
That way, they could exploit the Foundation's intelligence network to speed up the hunt for the Keystone fragments.
But now that all the pieces had been gathered, there was no longer any need to rely on Tychus's mysterious benefactors.
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