I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

February 27th.

It was the polar day season in the Arctic region of Abundance.

Although Abundance had a diameter of only 4,000 kilometers—smaller than Mars—thanks to its strong magnetic field, the planet's atmosphere provided a habitable environment with complex seasonal changes.

The Arctic region of Abundance, much like Earth's Antarctic, was covered by ice, concealing the land and everything beneath it.

According to the various scans, tests, and analyses conducted by the Ernio, the average thickness of the polar ice sheet was approximately 200 meters. Additionally, several locations were discovered where the magnetic fields behaved abnormally.

Local colonists, along with successive generations of smart AIs, had never thoroughly investigated these anomalous magnetic sites. Their primary focus was on development, construction, and exploration, leaving little time or resources for scientific endeavors.

In contrast, Atlas, after deploying through the space gates to Abundance, took the firm stance that "high-value alien ruins" existed here and committed significant manpower and resources to search for them.

With the assistance of App, Atlas's engineering team pinpointed one of these anomalous sites in just two Earth days and quickly began excavation.

Aerial views of the site revealed numerous temporary structures at the edges of the excavation, along with landing platforms for flying vehicles.

At the center was an "ice pit" dug out by snow-adapted Hextech robots, and at the bottom of the pit lay a metallic relic.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the metallic wall, inscribed with unknown patterns, was embedded diagonally into the hard rock layers. A blue-green light seeped from the gaps.

Following the already-opened gates, they entered the interior of the ruins.

Wide corridors were illuminated by the same blue-green glow. Atlas's technical staff, protected by the emergency response units, conducted on-site collection and research.

The structure of the ruins was simple, devoid of the labyrinthine tunnels, paths, or traps typical of ancient tombs.

Following the main corridor downward, they reached a vast underground cavern.

Metal pillars supported the area, with many metal structures embedded into the rock walls. The central control platform, resembling an island, was surrounded by a bottomless abyss of darkness.

At the end of the main corridor, two transparent "light bridges" spanned the chasm, connecting to the central control platform. These bridges allowed Atlas personnel and vehicles to move across easily.

At this moment, Samuel Young's team reached the end of the corridor.

Without hesitation, he stepped onto the light bridge, heading toward the control platform.

Fogrim, Angron, and a group of researchers followed closely behind, as if they were floating above the abyss.

"..." 

However, Leman, standing at the edge of the cliff, hesitated and was reluctant to step onto the light bridge.

Peering down, with his Primarch's enhanced vision, he could faintly see what appeared to be a river of molten lava rolling at the bottom of the chasm.

Looking at the light bridge, seemingly composed of some kind of particles, Leman couldn't shake the feeling that the bridge might suddenly vanish, sending him plummeting into the abyss.

After all, he hadn't yet reached maturity and wasn't like his older brother Vulkan, who could take on the responsibility of guarding the space gates. Instead, he had to follow his father deep into this dark alien ruin.

Additionally, he had a slight fear of heights.

Taking a moment to gather himself...

!

Leman took a deep breath, widened his eyes, and quickly crossed the bridge, following behind a researcher whose thinning hair was a testament to years of thinking and overwork. He reached the control platform, where he joined Fogrim and Angron, doing his best to act as though nothing had happened, while watching his father approach the central console.

As for Samuel...

Everything here felt familiar to him. A hundred years ago, by repeatedly playing Halo Wars 1, he had already learned about Abundance and the Forerunner ruins.

After communications on Abundance were restored, App successfully helped mislead the UNSC and UEG about the planet's true situation. At the same time, she provided a wealth of technical blueprints, including the exact coordinates of every colony, from Reach to Arcadia.

The most valuable piece of information Samuel had obtained was that App, through the AI Council, had accessed intelligence from the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). ONI, infamous but essential for protecting humanity in the Halo universe, was currently in discussions with the 18-year-old Catherine Halsey about their "next step."

ONI leadership had concluded that if humanity continued its internal conflicts, at least 30 more years of war and the deaths of 5 billion people would ensue.

This would lead to the collapse of human civilization, with Earth and its colonies losing all contact, resulting in a regression of technology. Some colonies would even revert to the Middle Ages or the Stone Age.

Therefore, ONI planned to restart the Orion Project, creating a new generation of super-soldiers, trained from childhood and surgically enhanced, to target and eliminate rebel leaders, thereby reducing the cost and casualties of quelling uprisings.

The proposal from Catherine Halsey perfectly aligned with ONI's expectations.

However, the UNSC remained hesitant, unwilling to bear the burden of accusations like "child kidnapping" and "inhumane surgical experiments," which would further damage their already poor reputation.

Learning this, Samuel planned to dispatch elite agents from Atlas's investigation division to Reach, taking the opportunity to "capture" Catherine Halsey.

If he could secure that genius among geniuses, Atlas would experience rapid breakthroughs in various fields.

Especially when combined with Atlas's existing biotechnology, they could potentially create a far more powerful "Spartan-II program."

Moreover, App had assisted in perfecting the modifications for the Selene and Phaedus classes, enabling them to be equipped with slipspace drives in the shortest time possible without compromising the ship's structure.

As long as Atlas was given some breathing room and set up 3D printing factories and automated shipyards on Abundance, they could replicate UNSC ships at an unprecedented rate.

App had not only provided designs for the Selene and Phaedus classes but also blueprints for UNSC's mainstream ships, such as the Majestic-class frigate, Phoenix-class support ships, Sahara-class heavy cruisers, and Epoch-class heavy carriers.

This meant Atlas only needed minor adjustments to start building UNSC's mainstream fleet directly.

At this moment:

Samuel set aside thoughts of capturing Halsey and shipbuilding and focused on the control console before him. He reached out with his left hand and touched the blue sphere inscribed with unknown runes.

Swish!

In an instant, the sphere emitted a dazzling light, releasing a three-dimensional star map, immersing everyone on the platform in a sea of planets and stars.

Before receiving App's preliminary analysis of the data, Samuel first heard a cold voice echo in his mind:

"Two Descendants... have descended upon the Arctic region of Abundance."

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