With the Queen slain, the Beastmen army collapsed completely. Countless Beastmen were slaughtered mercilessly by the Inquisition. Whether they begged for mercy or resisted, every single one of them met the same fate before the Astral Soldiers—death and annihilation.
Afterward, Duanmu Huai planted another core-detonation bomb underground, blowing apart the entire Beastman hive. Molten lava quickly flooded into the surrounding tunnels, turning the labyrinth into a blazing hellscape.
The Beastmen's main forces were utterly finished.
But that wasn't what concerned Duanmu Huai now.
Compared to the Beastmen, he was far more worried about the plague and the parasitic organisms behind it.
Fortunately, with the data Mia uploaded, Rebecca and Shirley finally figured out the evolutionary pattern of these parasites and understood why they appeared in the form of a plague!
In the beginning, the parasites showed almost no abnormal activity. But according to the conclusions Rebecca and Shirley extracted from the research logs, this parasite possessed a unique property:
The more host organisms it infects—and the higher the infection density—the more active and aggressive it becomes.
This was the real reason the parasite spread in the form of a plague—not because of a genetic mutation, but because of the massive infection rate among the Beastmen deep underground.
Indeed, the Beastmen had long suffered from persistent Lambent infection beneath the earth. Many Beastmen had been infected and transformed into Lambent creatures. And since the Beastmen were not a mechanical civilization like humans, but a biological civilization relying on controlled subterranean beasts, this caused a chain reaction:
Whenever they fought the Lambent, both the Beastmen soldiers and the subterranean beasts they controlled would be exposed to Lambent infection—eventually converting into Lambent creatures themselves.
As the number of infected organisms grew, the Imulsion parasites became increasingly active, evolving into forms better suited for infection and wide-scale spread.
Thus appeared the mysterious plague.
Not only that—the parasite's adaptability was frighteningly high. This meant that vaccines or biological counteragents would be almost useless against it. The parasite could rapidly adapt and develop immunity to any biological remedy deployed against it.
But fortunately, there was still a potential solution…
"Directed radiation?"
Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes at the report. Rebecca nodded.
"Yes. This is Dr. Adam's plan. He has isolated the Imulsion parasite's biological core and is attempting to design a radiation emitter specifically tuned to it. By using this system, we can blanket the entire planet with a radiation wavelength that targets and destroys the parasite's core structure, forcing it to break down."
"Hm… this thing is pretty interesting…"
Duanmu Huai stroked his chin thoughtfully.
He was very interested in this directed-radiation device.
The reason was simple—
this thing might even work against the Plague God.
Among the Chaos Gods, the Plague God's methods were the most revolting. Wherever his filthy apostles traveled, they spread every kind of disease imaginable. Many worlds had been completely infected and ultimately purged with Cyclone Torpedoes by the Inquisition.
But if they could deploy something like this directed-radiation system…
Perhaps, just maybe, it could counter some of those plagues.
Even though this one was tailored to Imulsion parasites, once the tech existed, they could theoretically tune the wavelength and amplitude for other infectious agents on other worlds—releasing targeted radiation pulses to wipe out specific pathogens.
Yes… this technical report needed to be filed for future use.
Someday, it might become critically important.
For that alone, maybe he'd consider giving that old man a whole corpse.
"Alright then. I'm leaving this to you. Complete it as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
After closing the comms, Duanmu Huai exhaled softly and looked out toward the clear blue sky. Just as he began thinking about his next steps, a commotion erupted outside.
"Let go of me! Let me in! You damned bastards!!"
Frowning, Duanmu Huai stepped out of the room and into the courtyard. There, several fully armed COG soldiers were surrounded by Astral Soldiers. Even so, the man in front—a bandana-wearing soldier—was shouting furiously at the Inquisition troops.
"What's going on?"
Duanmu Huai asked as he approached.
The leading Night Watcher saluted at once.
"Inquisitor sir, these men forced their way into the camp and demand that we release a prisoner—"
"A prisoner?"
"Yes—Adam Fenix!!"
The bandana-wearing man roared the moment he saw Duanmu Huai.
"That's my father! Why the hell did you arrest him?!"
The one causing the commotion was none other than Marcus Fenix, captain of the COG elite squad. After the Beastmen war ended, Marcus attempted to contact his father—but was informed by the Vyan Government Alliance that the Inquisition's Astral Soldiers had raided his father's research facility, confiscated all equipment and data, and even arrested Adam Fenix!
The Inquisition had only left a brief notice afterward:
Adam Fenix was suspected of betraying humanity and colluding with xenos, and would be executed as a heretic.
Hearing this, Marcus immediately snapped. He and his squad stormed the Inquisition camp to get his father back.
"Why?!"
Marcus demanded.
Duanmu Huai stared at him coldly.
"Because he is an enemy of humanity."
"You—you're lying! My dad would NEVER betray humanity!"
"We have more than enough evidence to prove that long ago, your father was already secretly communicating with the Beastman Queen. He not only knew about the Lambent—he also knew about the Beastmen's plans to invade the surface. And he told NO ONE. His silence directly caused the Imulsion Incident and the fifteen years of Beastman War that followed."
Duanmu Huai stepped toward Marcus, voice like ice.
"From the day of the Incident to now, every single person who died in the Beastman War…
is on your father's hands."
Hearing this, Marcus froze.
Even his squad members were stunned.
"Hold on—are you saying he knew the Beastmen were a threat, and he didn't tell anyone?"
"Exactly. I cannot understand his logic, but that is irrelevant. He betrayed humanity. Colluded with xenos. His crimes are unforgivable. Only death awaits him."
To be honest, even Duanmu Huai thought the old man was an idiot.
He knew the Beastmen were growing underground—yet kept silent.
If he had reported it to the Vyan Alliance, they would have tried to cover it up to protect themselves. At least then, the blame could be pinned on the Vyan Alliance.
Instead… the CO Gforces had assumed the mutated test subjects from old experiments had long died somewhere underground. They had zero idea that a whole Beastman civilization was flourishing beneath them.
And the only person who knew—Adam Fenix—chose to say nothing.
Thus, when the Beastmen finally attacked, humanity was blindsided.
Even the Vyan Alliance didn't know where the Beastmen came from.
So yes—Adam Fenix bore sole responsibility.
"We have years of communication logs between him and the Queen. He knew the Beastmen were evolving underground. He kept constant contact with her. Even after the Incident, he still refused to stop—"
Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.
According to the old man, he hoped to persuade the Queen to call off the invasion and return underground, promising he would find a cure for the infection.
Ridiculous.
Did he think he was some sort of savior?
That whatever he said magically went?
After a decade and a half of mutual slaughter—millions dead on both sides—this was already a blood feud, a war between species. Unless one side was completely annihilated, there would be no peace.
Naive.
Childish.
Weak-willed fool.
That was Duanmu Huai's only assessment of Adam Fenix.
He thought he could stop a species war with his own "face"?
"Right now, the Inquisition is constructing the radiation-based purification device. Once the plague is dealt with, we will execute him immediately."
Duanmu Huai glanced at Marcus.
"Take him to see the prisoner. One final meeting.
That is my decision."
With that, Duanmu Huai turned and left.
Behind him, Marcus bowed his head in despair.
His squad members exchanged uneasy looks—
Because if what Duanmu Huai said was true…
Then Marcus's father really was a traitor to the human race.
After everything Marcus had done searching for him, this blow was almost too cruel.
With Inquisition technology, building the directed-radiation system wasn't difficult. During this time, Duanmu Huai also made a public broadcast to the entire planet—announcing two major things.
First:
The origin of the Beastman War, the creation of the Beastmen, and Adam Fenix's heretical betrayal.
Public outrage exploded.
The COG was harshly criticized.
And Adam Fenix—who not only created the Beastmen's existence but knowingly concealed their threat—was condemned as the greater criminal.
The Inquisition announced his execution, satisfying the public's fury.
Second:
The Inquisition was constructing a radiation device to purge Imulsion.
All plague-infected humans MUST report to the Inquisition within one month for treatment. Otherwise, when the directed-radiation system activated, all organisms containing Imulsion in their bodies would be killed instantly.
Including… humans.
(End of chapter)