I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

In the classroom:

"Let's see, who will read the next paragraph?"

Standing behind the podium, a female teacher with half-rimmed glasses, along with the students sitting at their desks, patiently awaited the results of the random name selection displayed on the holographic screen.

Holographic technology was everywhere in this classroom.

The students, dressed in black school uniforms, had desks equipped with 21-inch touchscreens. Floating above each desk was a small hologram displaying the current time and date: "Friday, 02/17/2001, 11:41" and the subject: "Eighth Grade Chinese."

In addition, the real-time surveillance cameras installed in the classroom seemed to be directly connected to the local "Ministry of Education," and the school itself had no authority to turn them off or block them.

However, the teacher and students still used traditional pen and paper, possibly to avoid over-reliance on technology, which could result in students losing their writing skills.

Soon, the random selection landed on "Garan Clovey."

Seeing this, the teacher turned her gaze toward the corner seat by the window, smiled, and said, "Garan, you can read."

"Okay."

The boy named Garan Clovey stood up, picked up his Chinese textbook, which had a white cover featuring a landscape, and read aloud in a clear voice:

"This melancholic face of the worker is shrouded in a shadow of despair. Only in the twilight of life does the graceful light thaw this desolate land."

"Ring—!"

Just as Garan finished reading, the piercing sound of the school bell echoed through the entire building, signaling the end of class.

"Students," the teacher raised her hand to signal Garan to sit down and then addressed the whole class, "Review today's lesson at home, and go over the key points I've marked. Lastly, there's no homework this weekend. Class dismissed."

!!

Hearing the crucial phrase "no homework," the majority of the students lit up with joy.

Since the teacher was still tidying up her lesson materials at the podium, they held back their excitement, afraid that she might suddenly say, "Seeing how happy everyone is, let's write down the key points and reflect on them."

Next:

The boarding students nearly bolted out of their seats, racing out of the classroom while shouting things like, "My grilled buns! I can't let the first-years steal them!" and "Pork rib soup! Pork rib soup!!"

It seemed that the free meals provided by the school cafeteria were quite popular, though they were likely rushing out of fear that the best dishes would be gone.

Garan and a few of his close friends, however, weren't in much of a hurry.

As they left the classroom, the hallway of the school building had already emptied considerably. At the corners of the hallway and along the stairwell, they noticed emergency-mode Hextech robots, folded up and ready for use.

They had long since grown accustomed to these sights.

After leaving the school building, crossing the plaza, and passing through the school gate guarded by heavily armed Atlas security personnel, they arrived at the station next to the overpass, patiently waiting for the approaching sky train.

Standing at this spot, though not very high off the ground, they still had a good view of part of the city.

This wasn't New Accra, Seattle, Libreville, or New Paris (Edge of Tomorrow). 

In fact, Garan Clovey and his friends were natives of Earth-03 (Doom universe), having survived imprisonment and torture by the United Aviation Corporation.

And this city was New Los Angeles, rebuilt by Atlas after the war.

"Hey guys, did you see the recruitment ad on the company's website?"

One of the friends, whose voice hadn't yet deepened, asked the group.

"How could we not?" Another friend, with a buzz cut, sighed and said, "But my parents absolutely forbid it. They said that even as super soldiers, there's still a high risk of death. Plus, if I'm selected, I'll have to go to a military base for closed-off training. They can't bear the thought of that."

They were talking about Atlas' recently updated recruitment notice on the Earth-03 website, specifically for "Astartes Candidates."

This announcement introduced the people of Earth-03 to what Astartes were and provided a simplified explanation of the relationship between Atlas' founder, gene-primarchs, gene-seeds, and Astartes.

Having been liberated by the megacorporation, the people of Earth-03, filled with martial spirit, naturally wanted to participate eagerly in the selection for super soldiers.

Seven years ago, they had suffered oppression and torment but never submitted to those wretches mutated by their 24th chromosome. It didn't take long for them to fully embrace Atlas' core ideology.

After Earth-03 was completely liberated and the people moved past the survival stage with Atlas' help, everything returned to normal. The citizens were now eager to follow the company's lead in rescuing other humans suffering across different universes.

However, the recruitment notice stated that "candidates must be male, between the ages of 8 and 14," which posed a significant barrier.

Atlas made it clear that only this age group could safely adapt to gene-seeding. Additionally, candidates had to undergo genetic testing and military-style training in a closed environment.

As for concerns about fertility, Atlas assured the public that it would "not be affected."

Even so, most families remained cautious, afraid that their children might face accidents or have their lives permanently altered.

But boys aged 8 to 14, after learning about the recruitment, were filled with dreams of becoming super soldiers. They weren't as concerned as their parents. All they thought about was heading to the battlefield to fight against the alien threats to humanity.

"Garan! What did your grandpa say?"

At this moment, the friend who first brought up the topic shifted the conversation to Garan.

"My grandpa?" Garan looked at the sky train approaching in the distance, thought for a moment, and replied to his friends, "He said if I want to do it, I should go for it. If I'm willing, he'll help me sign up at the community office."

"Man, I'm so jealous!"

"Haha, my parents said yes too."

"You two better treat us to something!"

"Stop messing around, let's hurry home for lunch. We still have classes this afternoon."

With that brief bout of chatter, the group of kids stepped into the train's open cabin.

Meanwhile, at the ruins of a base, there was another packed meeting room.

But this room wasn't filled with carefree middle school students. Instead, it was a group of investigators in bulletproof civilian attire, including Leon S. Kennedy.

At the podium, Operations Director Ada Wong addressed the group with a serious expression:

"Everyone, the advance team has confirmed that the eighth portal, opened three hours ago, leads to a habitable, Earth-like planet.

Additionally, the team has discovered a massive structure that appears to be an orbital elevator."

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