I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

The Flood

As he recalled the terrifying insect-like creatures from his youth that once made him feel helpless, lonely, and afraid while controlling Master Chief, Samuel Young couldn't help but frown. Now, he didn't feel fear anymore, just frustration.

In the Halo universe, the Flood was a biological weapon created by the Forerunners, capable of infecting and consuming all sentient life. They absorbed the bodies, knowledge, and memories of these life forms to fuel their own rapid evolution. 

If a single spore quietly landed on a planet with an existing civilization, the Flood would first enter its wild expansion phase. 

At this stage, the Flood is at its most vulnerable and easiest to control and eliminate. 

However, once the Flood infects and assimilates enough sentient life on that planet, they enter a cooperative phase. They learn to hide their presence, using infiltration and ambush tactics to accelerate their growth in secret.

At this point, unless the planet's civilization is advanced, its only fate is to become the Flood's next meal. 

Moreover, once the Flood successfully breeds a Gravemind using a large number of intelligent beings, it essentially declares that the star system to which that planet belongs has fallen under the control of the Flood. 

They would then proceed with coordinated, tactical, fearless, and highly efficient attacks, spreading outwards until no autonomous thinking remains in the galaxy. Only then would they turn their gaze to other star systems.

Although it seemed that, after Halo 3, the Flood no longer posed a threat to the universe, in reality, they were still lurking, waiting for the best time to wreak havoc again.

Based on the preliminary reconnaissance results from the scouting team, Samuel concluded that the planet linked to the ancient relic base had not yet been invaded by the Covenant. 

This suggested that Universe-08 was still set before the events of Halo Wars 1.

But the orbital drones had captured images of ship wreckage. Samuel frowned slightly, trying to recall the official novel he had read before his journey, Halo: Contact Harvest. 

That was the first Halo novel he read back in high school, downloaded as a TXT file through a search engine and transferred to the "brick" phone his father had discarded. He read it secretly in the dormitory. 

Nearly two hundred years had passed, but he still vividly remembered that the formal colonization of Harvest took place in the year 2468. 

The first contact and battle with the Covenant, also known as the "Sangheili" or "The Covenant Alliance," occurred in 2525, with a population of about 300,000. 

The militia responsible for protecting the civilians consisted of only two colonial militia platoons and three UNSC Marines, totaling fewer than 80 personnel.

One of those Marines was a fan-favorite character from the games, the cigar-chomping, foul-mouthed legendary Sergeant Avery Johnson.

Sergeant Johnson was also a product of the first generation of the UNSC's Orion Project. His physical prowess and combat abilities were superior to ordinary people but could not compare to the "monster-like" Spartan-II soldiers.

The gap between the first and second generations was like that between a small child and a 100-kilogram muscle-bound man. 

So, the fact that Harvest had not yet been glassed by the Covenant, but there was ship debris in orbit, suggested that it might have been caused by rebel forces. 

Following this line of thought, Samuel speculated that the rampant rebellion, combined with strong anti-UNSC sentiments in the outer colonies, had prevented the UNSC from deploying a large military force on Harvest. 

The official novel also pointed out that Sergeant Johnson and his colleagues came to Harvest to avoid provoking the local governor and populace, focusing instead on hastily training a militia to defend against insurgents.

Thus, the timeline in Universe-08 might fall somewhere between 2490 and 2525, when the rebels were most active. 

With this in mind, Samuel, still under the silent gaze of Vulkan, Ferrus Manus, Leman Russ, and Angron, walked to the nearby control console. As a high-ranking member of the Intelligence Department, he uploaded all the information he knew to the investigators' personal computers to assist Lyon and the others in their infiltration and reconnaissance missions.

Since humanity in Halo had not yet entered into war with the Covenant, this granted Atlas significant room to maneuver and ample time. 

At that moment, after Samuel finished the upload, Vulkan, acting as the elder brother of those present, was the first to speak:

"Father, do you know much about the universe beyond the space gate?"

"I'd say so," Samuel replied, neither deliberately withholding nor divulging too much. He continued:

"That universe contains extremely troublesome alien species and enemies. However, some of those alien species might become our allies, similar to the dwarves and elves living on Terra.

Besides, I'll need to deploy some special task forces from Terra to respond to Universe-08."

As he spoke, Samuel scanned his sons present and continued:

"It just so happens that the Research Division has installed a cold fusion reactor on each of your power armors. Once the investigators figure out what's happening on the other side of the gate, if there's a battle, you can provide the Research Division with more detailed combat data.

Prepare yourselves. In thirty minutes, you'll join me in crossing the space gate to Universe-08."

"Yes, Father," the Primarchs responded in unison.

Even Leman Russ, known for his rebellious streak, seemed well-behaved. Perhaps it was the result of being "corrected" by Samuel after too many recent smart-mouthed remarks. 

Once his sons had left, Samuel shifted his attention back through the observation window to the more than a hundred investigators who had disembarked from the carriage and were now undergoing biological department quarantine checks.

At the quarantine station in front of the eighth space gate, even though Atlas had confirmed that the gate had a quarantine function to prevent cross-species invasion or the spread of pathogens, the technicians in white hazmat suits still followed strict protocols, using various instruments to conduct routine checks on the investigators.

"Wow, did Redfield get even more ripped?" 

At this moment, Mike, standing beside Lyon, couldn't help but murmur.

"Huh?"

Lyon followed Mike's gaze and saw Chris Redfield, raising his arms as technicians examined him.

Indeed, as Mike mentioned, even in a loose black T-shirt, it was hard for Chris to hide his muscular frame.

"What? You care about your colleague's weight?" Lyon asked casually after his check was complete.

"I only care about Redfield's weight," Mike replied, finishing his own check and catching up with Lyon as they approached the shimmering space gate. He sighed:

"I want to date his sister Claire, but I'm also afraid he might kill me with one punch."

"..."

Lyon had nothing to say, offering only a helpless smile at his friend and comrade as they stepped through the silvery, mirror-like surface of the gate, their vision engulfed by a brilliant white light.

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