I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

In the meeting room, a holographic projection displayed the scenery and brief data from the other side of the portal to the investigators. 

The data included: 

- Gravity: 0.998g

- Nitrogen: ~77%

- Oxygen: ~21%

- Carbon dioxide: ~0.03%

At the same time, drones deployed by the advance team captured close-up images of the massive structure Ada Wong had mentioned. Just the fact that the structure reached into the sky confirmed that it was an orbital elevator. 

However, until the full investigation was complete, the company and Ada were still cautiously referring to it as "suspected." 

In addition to the elevator, the drones captured vast farmland, fully automated agricultural machines harvesting crops, and—

Humans.

Among the fields, humanoid figures resembling humans in both appearance and clothing style were seen working the land.

Sitting in the back, Leon couldn't help but feel that the humanoid beings the drones captured looked exactly like human farmers.

At this point, after allowing everyone to review the images and data, Ada continued:

"Based on the advance team's preliminary investigation, we can confirm that the planet has gravity and an atmosphere extremely similar to Earth's. Furthermore, the drones' footage suggests that humans from Universe 08 might have terraformed the planet.

If the humans from Universe 08 possess planet-terraforming technology, this indicates that their overall technological level surpasses that of Atlas. Therefore, the company requires us to gather detailed intelligence and, as usual, infiltrate and investigate."

Just as she finished speaking, a notification appeared on the screen behind her. Ada reached out, touched the display, and read the update.

After a few seconds, she looked up at Leon and the others and said, "The orbital drone launched by the Engineering Department has successfully entered the designated space sector and captured part of the planet's surface."

She gestured, bringing up a new projection for all the investigators to see.

Through the scattering effect, the planet's atmosphere appeared to radiate a soft blue glow, much like Earth's. The drone footage revealed stunning blue oceans, green land masses covered with vegetation, and white clouds, forming a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

However, the orbital drone also captured countless "bright spots" reflecting light in the planet's sunlit orbital zone.

Upon zooming in, Leon and the others realized that these "bright spots" were actually the wreckage of destroyed spacecraft, turned into orbital debris circling the planet.

!

Upon recognizing the shipwrecks, the investigators' expressions grew more serious.

Ada added, "Using the orbital drone's visuals and curvature measurements, the company estimates the planet's diameter to be around 4,000 kilometers. 

Once again, I'll emphasize your mission: infiltrate the local human society, gather detailed information about Universe 08, and uncover the origin of the shipwrecks. Any questions?"

After outlining the mission objectives, Ada scanned the room.

After a brief silence, during which no one raised questions, Ada nodded and said, "Dismissed," before leaving the room first.

Following her lead, the investigators stood up, grabbed their packed travel bags, and rolled their equipment cases down the hallway toward the nearest station.

Leon, alongside his close colleague Mike Monardi, lagged slightly behind the rest.

As they walked, Mike leaned in and whispered, "Hey, what's going on between you and Director Wong?"

Leon frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb." Mike grinned. "It seems like your charm doesn't work on her, but why does she always give you special treatment?"

"…" Leon didn't know how to respond.

Ada did indeed treat him differently, but not in the way Mike imagined. She often assigned him the most dangerous solo missions. 

Though she always told him things like, "You can do it," or "You have a unique knack for getting things done," Leon sometimes felt like he was being singled out.

Despite that, he was curious about Ada and had even considered asking her to dinner. Unfortunately, he'd never had the time or opportunity.

Sensing Leon's thoughts, Mike suggested, "What are you afraid of? Just go for it. If it works out, you'll have a girlfriend like the Director. If not, no one's going to say anything.

Actually, I will—I'll say, 'You're a real hero, my friend.'" Mike patted Leon on the shoulder in a mock-serious tone.

"Cut it out," Leon shook his head in exasperation. "We need to focus on the task at hand. Now's not the time to talk about feelings, and besides, I don't have that kind of interest in the Director."

"Yeah, right. I believe you," Mike teased as he patted Leon's shoulder again.

The two of them, along with over a hundred of their fellow investigators, arrived at the station and boarded the train, which took them to the core area of the ruins base.

Through the train's windows, they caught sight of the shimmering surface of the Eighth Portal, which reflected like mercury.

Heavy-duty magnetic-levitation trucks and low-altitude transport aircraft from the Engineering Department continuously passed through the portal, heading to the planet's surface on the other side to begin construction.

Meanwhile:

From the second floor of the command center located in the core area, Samuel Young stood by an observation window, watching the train carrying the investigators as it slowed down on its way to the portal's waiting zone.

Not long ago—

Sixteen days earlier, to be precise—he, along with Guilliman and Sanguinius, had attended a hearing convened by the United Nations. Seizing the global attention drawn by the event, they launched a military takeover of various nations, including the USA and UK, using relatively brutal methods to eliminate the remnants of the hidden elites.

It should be noted that Guilliman did not return to the Prime Universe alone. His eldest son brought with him 270,000 armed personnel to assist in Atlas' consolidation efforts.

In Universe 01 (Edge of Tomorrow), countries like Britain and America were also controlled by powerful organizations of elites. 

However, due to the invasion of the Mimics, the world order in Universe 01 had been forcibly reshaped, resulting in an even more chaotic environment than in the Prime Universe.

Samuel saw this as an opportunity, appointing Guilliman as Governor of Universe 01 and gathering millions of refugees, using Europe as a base to expand outward. Capitalizing on the "moral justification" provided by public opinion, they launched a decisive campaign against Britain, the U.S., and their elite backers.

By the end of 2000 in the Prime Universe, Atlas had completed its unification of Earth-01.

This also freed up over two million armed forces for Atlas.

The reason Samuel had not initially adopted a more aggressive strategy in the Prime Universe was to minimize casualties while waiting for external factors to disrupt the existing stability. This would give Atlas the perfect "excuse" to strike back and ruthlessly purge the elites who had plunged Earth into chaos.

The arrival of the Reaper scouting ship provided the perfect opportunity.

First, they dealt with the external threat of the Reaper ship, then turned their attention inward. Using the favorable public image Atlas had built over half a century, they enabled the people to resist negative narratives, providing yet another "justification" for retaliation.

The elites in the UK and U.S., in their desperation, resorted to increasingly reckless tactics. But their actions were, in part, a reaction to Samuel's "uncompromising" business competition and the various assassination attempts they had made against him.

This is why Atlas referred to the elites as the "remnants" of the ruling class—because most of them had already been eliminated.

Samuel had left these remnants in place to serve as the catalyst for the unification process.

Another crucial factor was that many high-level officials in various nations were secretly loyal only to him.

Take Aynes, for example—the one who helped Arthur Morgan swiftly gain control of Washington, D.C. He was an orphan whose parents Samuel had adopted in the 1930s.

These undercover agents within different countries rarely communicated directly with Atlas, and they publicly denounced Atlas on social media while openly opposing officials and military leaders supported by the company.

As a result, by mid-2000, 25 states in the USA had fully broken away from federal control due to Atlas' overt and covert manipulations.

Still, the unification operation sixteen days ago had thrown the Prime Universe Earth into turmoil, with a surge in violent incidents and unavoidable armed conflicts. 

This unrest would likely continue for several more months.

However, the attack of the Reaper scouting ship made Samuel realize that the Prime Universe harbored many other alien species and civilizations, which meant he needed to adopt more forceful measures to accelerate progress. The internal strife on Earth had to end quickly so that Atlas could focus entirely on development, expansion, and colonization of the solar system.

As for establishing a human empire like in Warhammer 40k's 30th millennium, well, that was certainly within Samuel's long-term plans. But Earth in the Prime Universe still needed more time to transition. Rushing it would only be counterproductive.

For now, the formation of a "United Human Government" seemed like one of the best options.

As of now, Atlas' official armed forces numbered about six million, with one-third of that force stationed in Universe 01.

The official military, known internally as "Armed Security," was equipped with mechanical exoskeletons, modular firearms, and various armored and aerial units.

Most people joined Atlas' armed forces for better pay and the hope of advancing into elite units, where they could earn higher wages and receive better benefits.

Of course, Atlas also needed these

 forces to serve as the backbone, responsible for maintaining security, guarding key locations, and participating in large-scale military operations.

For the elite units—those with proven physical fitness and combat experience, such as the Emergency Response, Quick Reaction, Orbital Assault, and special task forces—the total number stood at around 360,000.

These elite forces were handpicked and shared the core ideology of the company, or rather, Samuel himself.

Their salaries were typically five to twenty-five times that of regular Armed Security personnel, and veterans who had served for more than three years received free healthcare.

If an elite soldier died in action, the company's oversight department would verify the family's situation and continue to provide benefits for up to three generations, ensuring that the soldier's immediate family wouldn't have to worry about survival or medical expenses.

However, the oversight department would also monitor these families discreetly. Any unlawful behavior or excessive spending would result in the immediate revocation of all benefits.

Atlas, which had ventured into multiple universes, had wealth—no doubt about that—but it would never tolerate waste or excess in any form.

Additionally, Atlas had openly recruited Astartes candidates from the people of Universe 03 (Doom).

Forming legions using his sons as templates was one of Samuel's primary objectives at this stage.

The main reason he chose Universe 03 was the people's unyielding willpower, far surpassing that of their counterparts in other universes. When fighting the Chaos forces of the Warp in the future, this would significantly reduce the risk of corruption or temptation.

Lastly, there was Universe 08.

Samuel entrusted the unification efforts there entirely to Guilliman and Sanguinius, while he prepared to open the Eighth Portal today.

When Captain Price led the advance team into Universe 08 and the intelligence began to flow back to the command center, Samuel instantly recognized, based on intuition and his knowledge of pre-transmigration video games, that the portal led to—

Halo.

The first first-person shooter Samuel had ever played was Counter-Strike 1.5, and the second was Halo: Combat Evolved.

In Halo, the witty, sarcastic Marines, the formidable Elites, and the goofy Grunts left a lasting impression on him.

And of course, the undisputed protagonist of the Halo series, the character Samuel and all players controlled—the Master Chief—was a super-soldier created by the human military organization UNSC.

To combat the growing colonial insurrection and prevent the fragmentation of the United Earth Government (UEG), the UNSC launched the second phase of the Orion Project in 2511, which eventually became the infamous SPARTAN-II program.

This project was spearheaded by the brilliant scientist, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey.

After 2511, the UNSC, under Halsey's guidance, secretly kidnapped a group of children who met the genetic requirements for the program and replaced them with defective clones.

Subsequently, the candidates underwent high-intensity military training and grueling gene-enhancement surgeries, which had a mortality rate exceeding 50%. In the end, only 33 candidates survived, becoming the legendary SPARTAN-II super soldiers, feared by all enemies.

Among them was none other than John-117, the Master Chief, who possessed extraordinary luck.

While Samuel had been a Halo fan before his transmigration, that didn't mean he was eager for Atlas to directly interact with this parallel universe.

This was because that universe was home to ancient interstellar rulers, an alien alliance that worshiped those rulers as gods, and a creator race responsible for not only the rulers but also ancient humans and every intelligent species in the galaxy.

But beyond these threats, there was another: the unstoppable, all-consuming flood of alien organisms, the Flood, which ravaged the galaxy like an uncontainable plague.

___________________

Read Ahead

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