Chapter 456: Splitting the Star God's Fragment! Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors! The Chain of Suspicion!
In the realm of psionics, with Amon and Kerrigan—two deities of the Void dimension—sitting in the Megacorp's camp, suppressing the Void Dragon shouldn't be too difficult.
But Song Zhaomei was still uncertain where exactly the Void Dragon's power lay on the scale, which was why the Emperor's presence was needed as insurance.
If Amon and Kerrigan could control the Void Dragon, and then confine it using devices powered by the Warp, the Megacorp would no longer need the Emperor's assistance.
If not, then the Emperor would have to subdue the Void Dragon's fragment once again before they could work out how to keep it contained.
As long as they could secure the fragment inside a safe, controlled universe, even if it managed to escape, the Megacorp's fleets would inevitably hunt it down sooner or later. After all, in other universes there were no other Star God fragments to aid it.
"You know what you're doing. If anything goes wrong, I'll step in at once," the Emperor nodded.
The power of a Star God fragment was indeed extraordinary, but compared to the Emperor—a god walking among men—the Void Dragon still fell short, unless all its fragments were reunited.
ROAR——!!
As time went by, Paul and the others had no idea how far they had walked within the secret realm. At first, they would stop and linger in the illusions, but gradually they grew used to them, building up a resistance.
"We've arrived."
At that moment, the Emperor and Malcador stopped in unison. Yet Paul and the rest could clearly see the road continuing ahead—how could this be the place where the Void Dragon was imprisoned?
"This is it? That can't be right," Xu Shiming frowned, looking around. The surroundings didn't look any different from when they had first entered. Where was the Void Dragon?
"Have you heard of a Möbius strip? This secret realm has neither beginning nor end. Hundreds of joints link together reality, the void, and the region where the Void Dragon is bound."
"If someone were to stumble in here by accident, they would only wander in circles forever, never finding their way out."
Malcador explained patiently.
Xu Shiming nodded thoughtfully. Perhaps the "ghost walls" told of in old Huaxia tales worked on a similar principle. Who would have thought the Emperor could wield such powers?
Then, the Emperor stepped up to a wall, made a gesture, and the once-solid surface turned soft, rippling like the surface of a lake.
"Follow me." With those words, he passed through first.
The others hurried after him—and immediately beheld a colossal dragon coiled in the void. Its body was sheathed in some strange material, as though its scales were woven from shimmering, spectral light.
Around it swirled halos of energy in blue-violet, crimson, and eerie green, adding to the sense of raw power radiating from its long, muscular form. The Void Dragon exuded an overwhelming presence.
This dimension, set apart from realspace, was the Void Dragon's prison. In the dim, lifeless void, dazzling anomalies flashed and shifted without end.
Here, no frame of reference existed to measure time or distance. The warped, shifting phantasms made it feel like standing in a dream.
Even from more than ten kilometers away, Xu Shiming could feel the creature's breathing reverberate through the space, its slumbering body rumbling with unearthly noise.
The Megacorp had encountered dragon-like beings before, but never anything remotely this vast.
And this was no mere beast—this dragon was a god.
"Malcador, stay here and guard them. I'll wake it."
The Emperor rose into the air, flying toward the slumbering Void Dragon. Muttering an incantation, his words condensed into tangible power—golden runes glowing as they pierced into the creature, rousing it.
In an instant, the Void Dragon's vast eyes snapped open, and it let out a furious roar. The sound seemed enough to shatter the realm itself, while lightning storms exploded across its body.
Malcador raised his staff, summoning a shield of energy to absorb the devastating shockwaves.
Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt——!
Bolts of lightning hammered down, filling every corner of the realm. Each strike lit Malcador's barrier with searing white flares.
"This is the heart of the Labyrinth of Eternal Night. Ten thousand years ago, the Emperor sealed the Void Dragon here. And even after all this time, it's still as unruly as ever," Malcador said with a wry smile, then glanced at the Megacorp contingent to see their reactions.
To his surprise, none of them—not even Song Zhaomei—looked alarmed. They seemed utterly calm, as if such a sight was nothing unusual.
Malcador's respect for them deepened. These people were no ordinary mortals.
Meanwhile, the Emperor ignored the storm of lightning lashing him and continued calmly forward.
The Void Dragon remained bound, still pinned where it had always been. Its immense eyes burned with fear as they fixed on the tiny human approaching.
It had not forgotten the memory of being sealed by this same being.
"You again. It wasn't enough to imprison me here? What now—have you found some new trick to try and kill me? Hah! You don't have the power."
Its speech was a harsh, grating screech full of guttural syllables, but the Emperor understood every word.
He gave no reply. With a single raised hand, he lifted the Void Dragon into the air, dragging it helplessly toward the deepest point of the labyrinth.
A rift tore open in the void, flooding the realm with blinding light.
The Void Dragon realized instantly what he intended—he meant to take it out. It thrashed violently in resistance, but the struggle was pointless.
"Didn't you long for freedom? I'll give you a chance."
But to the Emperor's surprise, the Void Dragon resisted with all its might. It would rather stay buried in this labyrinth than leave.
It seemed even the Void Dragon had grown addicted to seclusion, unwilling to step outside after so long.
Its struggles were meaningless. With a single push, the Emperor forced it through the rift, hurling it out toward Mars's orbit.
At the same time, Malcador and Paul's team left the labyrinth in their airship. A warp gate stood ready in the skies above Mars, awaiting them.
Soon, the Emperor flung the Void Dragon into the gate. Some of the Martian Tech-priests sensed something amiss, but the moment was too fleeting for them to understand what had happened.
By then, the Emperor and the Megacorp team had already passed through the gate—emerging into Universe 003, Edge of Tomorrow!
—Half a month later—
After several rounds of adjustment and refinement, the Megacorp, with the aid of Xeelee nightfighters and the Emperor himself, managed to split the Void Dragon's fragment into multiple parts.
Each fragment embodied a distinct field of knowledge and technology—biology, space, time…
Building a single device strong enough to contain the whole fragment would have been far too complex and energy-intensive. Splitting it apart made things much simpler.
Now, twelve smaller Void Dragon shards were sealed separately within stasis-field cages. Each one roared impotently from its prison.
The original fragment had been only one part of the greater whole. Now, divided into twelve, the shards were weaker and easier to control.
Even so, their tempers remained savage. Each shard had its own "personality," but without exception, they were hostile to humanity, refusing all cooperation.
"Cursed humans! You think this will make us bow? Go on then, cut us again if you dare!"
One shard shrieked at Song Zhaomei, its rage echoing through the cage.
Thanks to the Infinite Machine AI's language analysis, it had taken the Megacorp only three hours to fully master the Star Gods' tongue. They could now converse freely.
Song Zhaomei, however, showed no concern at the shard's defiance. She wasn't afraid of its anger—silence was what she feared most.
As long as it still had the strength to hurl insults, there was still a chance to communicate.
"Void Dragon Fragment No. 3, you're no longer in your old universe. Whether you believe me or not, the fact remains: you've been captured by the Megacorp, and nothing can change that."
Her calm words slowly cooled the shard's fury, forcing it to take in its surroundings.
The Megacorp had confined it within a custom stasis cage of barely ten square meters. For a being accustomed to soaring through the void and devouring stars, the space was crushingly narrow and oppressive.
It could not even stretch its limbs freely. Faced with this unbreakable prison, the Void Dragon's Fragment No. 3 felt only crushing suffocation—and utter helplessness.
The butcher holds the knife; the fish can only lie on the block.
"The glory of the Star God race will never shine again. You should have been cast into the river of time as a defective remnant. Yet your knowledge still has some use to us—that's the only reason I came here to speak with you face to face."
Song Zhaomei regarded the restless dragon coldly as it writhed inside the stasis field. "If you cooperate with our work, we might consider moving you to a more comfortable place.
"Otherwise, you'll remain here forever—nothing more than the Megacorp's backup battery. If you don't want to be drained dry and vanish into nothing, I suggest you behave yourself."
Her words instantly infuriated Fragment No. 3. What did she mean, a "more comfortable place"? Why not just release it outright?!
"You dare! I will never cooperate with you!"
The Void Dragon roared in defiance, stubborn to the bone.
Song Zhaomei, unfazed, wasted no further words. She turned and left with her assistants, heading toward the areas where the other fragments were confined.
The Void Dragon No. 3 froze. They just… left? Shouldn't she have pressed again, offered new terms, kept negotiating? This was not how it had imagined the exchange at all.
Clang!
The gates of the No. 3 stasis prison sealed shut, plunging the bewildered fragment back into Infinity darkness.
Elsewhere, the other eleven Void Dragon fragments were receiving similar visits from the Megacorp's executives. Even the Emperor himself joined in, speaking directly to them.
Without exception, every fragment refused. Even broken into pieces, they were still Star Gods, possessed of boundless lifespans.
Even if the Universal Megacorp meant to drain their energy, it would take thousands of years. So be it—they would endure.
But the Megacorp's executives had no intention of doing that. The Megacorp already had more than enough power plants; energy was never in shortage.
To exhaust the fragments as mere fuel would be meaningless.
What they wanted was knowledge—every scrap of technological information these beings held.
To accelerate the process, Xu Shiming proposed a ruthless stratagem: the ancient ruse of two peaches killing three warriors. He announced that whichever fragment first provided useful knowledge and valuable information would earn "points."
At each milestone of accumulated points, rewards would be granted:
A larger stasis cage. Expanded space to move. Freedom restored. The right to devour another fragment of the Star God. Eventual, complete liberation—roaming freely in Universe 003, Edge of Tomorrow.
As long as they did not damage Megacorp facilities, the fragment could go anywhere it pleased—within 003.
A cruel ploy indeed.
Whoever spoke first, and spoke the most, would survive as the one remaining Void Dragon. None of them wished to fall behind and be devoured.
The moment the chain of suspicion took root, all resistance crumbled. Freedom—reuniting into a singular Void Dragon once more—was temptation none of them could deny.
At first, most of the fragments sneered. Surely their kin would not fall for such a trick. Yet inevitably, some chose to test the offer.
When Song Zhaomei relayed the footage of fragments that had already cooperated, those still silent soon broke. One after another, knowledge spilled forth in torrents.
Competing for survival, all twelve fragments began volunteering information and technology at a frenzied pace.
"I've spoken with the Void Dragon countless times," the Emperor muttered as he watched the feeds, shaking his head in disbelief. "Never once did it yield so much. But your people—you managed it in half a day."
Song Zhaomei answered modestly, "That's only thanks to your help. Without first cutting the Dragon into twelve, we'd never have managed this."
Yet as she spoke of how such methods had been devised, an image rose unbidden in her mind: Li Ang.
Who else could it have been? Only their Chief Executive, Li Ang, had trained them so.
With the fragments subdued, the Emperor did not rush to return to the Warhammer universe. Instead, he remained in Universe 003, intent on continuing the visit he had been forced to delay.
"Director Song," he said earnestly, "may we hasten the schedule? I wish to meet your highest Executive as soon as possible."
The desire was plain—he had long yearned to meet this legendary figure, but fate had never allowed them to speak face to face.
Yet instead of agreeing, Song Zhaomei shook her head. "I'm sorry. Our Executive never grants audiences to strangers."
Strangers? After so many dealings with the Megacorp, was he still to be called that?
At first the Emperor frowned, bewildered. Then the truth struck him: he had never formally joined the Megacorp.
Only by entering their ranks, becoming one of them, would he cease to be a stranger.
Had it been anyone else, such words might have provoked fury. But the Emperor paused only a moment before replying calmly:
"Director Song, then tell me—what must I do for the Megacorp to accept me, to let me join?"
He understood: he needed a pledge of loyalty, a token deed to prove his commitment. All prior exchanges had been mere barter of resources.
That was not the same as true allegiance.
Now came the real test.
"Your Excellency," Song Zhaomei said, meeting his eyes, "you are perceptive. Since we speak as equals, I will not hide it. I came here with a mission."
She revealed the plan Li Ang himself had laid.
"Thanks to the temporal technology provided by the Golden Age's AI Iron Men, we have filled in the missing gaps in our time-theory. Now, we can use stargates to open parallel universes within the same cosmos."
Her sudden mention of parallel universes left the Emperor taken aback. Wasn't this about his trial, his pledge of loyalty? What did this have to do with parallel worlds?
And with the Megacorp's might, opening new parallel realms of a universe was trivial. At most, it gained them more territory. Could it be their Executive wanted him to take one universe alone, as his pledge? Would that truly have meaning?
"Director Song, forgive me, but what do parallel universes have to do with my task?" he finally asked.
"Everything," she replied. Patiently, she explained, "We intend to open parallel universes within the Warhammer cosmos—there, we will seek the ultimate solution to the Warp."
In earlier days, the Megacorp's Chief of Scientific Hubs had suggested using an Aether Resonance Engine to drain the Warp. But with their present technology, such a device was still far from achievable.
And even if it could be built, to hollow out the Warp entirely might trigger even greater catastrophes.
After so many campaigns of universal integration, both Li Ang and the other executives had come to a hard-won understanding: each universe possesses its own balance mechanism.
Good and evil, light and dark—only in tension, in equilibrium, could the greatest gain be won at the smallest cost.
Therefore, obliterating the Warp, ripping out its demons wholesale, was no viable path.
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