“Hurry! Take control of this place without damaging any materials. Detain everyone!”
Within the Iron Eagle Fortress, the underground laboratory’s door was violently pushed open, and numerous revolutionary soldiers rushed in, taking control of everyone inside.
Inside the lab, many scientists and researchers were still preparing to evacuate. However, the enemy had breached the city and entered too quickly for them to react.
“Is this the manufacturing site of ‘Thor’s Sword’?”
Chevalier strode in, his face showing none of the previous fatigue.
“No… This is merely one of the more important research facilities. You have no idea how vast this project is. Nearly half the empire’s factories are supplying materials for it…”
As the mole, Dr. Sitt was gleaming with excitement, occasionally pointing out key researchers and sealing equipment and documents for the soldiers to guard carefully.
“Fortunately, this facility was designed to withstand earthquakes, so the damage isn’t too severe…”
After observing the scale of the research institute, Chevalier felt somewhat relieved and better understood their predicament.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to evacuate, but moving so many people along with delicate instruments and equipment was an overwhelming task. Combined with their confidence in Duke Black Rose, the institute had stayed behind with a侥幸 mentality, ultimately benefiting the enemy.
“Where is Duke Black Rose?”
Chevalier asked calmly, thinking about it.
“He committed suicide by swallowing a bullet!”
The female colonel answered expressionlessly, as if the deceased wasn’t an imperial marshal but just an ordinary person.
“What a shame. I was originally planning a public trial…”
Upon hearing this, Chevalier showed slight regret.
“Doctor, can we leave now?”
“No!”
Dr. Sitt shook his head, his expression somewhat strange: “What you see now is only the surface of this research institute. There’s a second underground layer, codenamed ‘Hell’!”
“Hell?!”
The evocative word immediately triggered Chevalier’s imagination.
“Exactly!”
Dr. Sitt took a deep breath: “Hell Laboratory is the empire’s superhuman human experimentation center!”
He walked deeper into the lab, retrieved three different cipher keys from confiscated supplies, and opened a steel door: “Now, witness what true earthly hell really is!”
“I’ve already seen true hell. What’s just a research facility to me…”
Chevalier’s eyes flashed with disdain as he strode into the corridor.
The Hell Research Institute resembled a massive beehive. The orderly compartments were individual cells, some already empty, others containing people whose original appearances were unrecognizable, all having been tortured beyond recognition.
“The most important aspect of manufacturing ‘Thor’s Sword’ is extracting key raw materials… Even the Federation struggles with this technology…”
Dr. Sitt sighed softly: “I had this idea back then, and now it seems the empire has implemented it as well!”
“Are these all the superhumans secretly captured by the empire?”
Chevalier closed his eyes but could still sense their faint auras.
Of course, the truly powerful wouldn’t end up in such a situation. Those captured were mostly individuals with diluted bloodlines and abilities so weak they were nearly indistinguishable from ordinary people.
These were genuine supernatural inheritances, as many of the cells appeared extremely ancient.
“Focusing only on results, not the process?”
For the imperial nobility, they needed weapons powerful enough to conquer the world. Whether the process was scientific hardly mattered.
When key technical steps became bottlenecks and science couldn’t solve the problem, they directly resorted to superhumans, using mystical forces to bridge the gap.
“Ultimately, the situation has developed into the worst-case scenario I feared…”
Dr. Sitt gathered several files and looked extremely grave after reading them: “The empire has already completed Thor’s Sword, and may even have reserves!”
“Oh? Then why didn’t they use it against us?”
The female colonel asked curiously.
“They might still have some reservations. After all, it’s too polluting. From the imperial upper echelons’ perspective, we’re still occupying imperial territory… Of course, after this victory, that might change!”
Dr. Sitt shook his head: “We must immediately restart this facility to produce Thor’s Sword for mutual deterrence, or we’ll just wait to be radiated to extinction.”
“Understood. Before that, bring in a group of reporters, including international ones!”
Chevalier picked up an iron claw-like torture device, his expression unreadable: “I will expose this darkness to the world!”
Human experimentation was already taboo, and some of the devices here were clearly for torture and amusement rather than research.
…
A few days later, in the Crimson Clover Federation.
“…The Hell Research Institute is by no means unique to Pandorn. That empire has completely rotted away, greedily parasitizing on its people’s bodies, feeding on their blood. We will never become strong unless it is completely overthrown…”
Chevalier’s voice came from the radio, impassioned and stirring.
“Never thought the Pandorn Empire could be so authoritarian and indifferent to human rights…”
As a high-ranking church official, Carter had access to far more information than ordinary people. While others were still listening to radio broadcasts and reading newspapers, he had already learned in advance about the consecutive defeats of Pandorn’s land and naval forces, even managing to obtain a few photographs of the Hell Research Institute.
“Now, its international reputation is completely ruined…”
“International reputation?”
Wu Ming shook his head: “Nations interact based solely on interests. Although the previous Pandorn Empire was quite disliked, this revolutionary army might be even worse!”
Capital chases profit. What difference does it make if the other party is a feudal empire? As long as the benefits are sufficient, capitalists would bow and scrape to any emperor.
However, under Chevalier’s rule, the army was completely destructive—not just to order, but also to commodity circulation, which was the lifeline of capitalists.
Therefore, although the international community was vocally condemning the Pandorn Empire, if they had to choose between the two, if the Pandorn Empire was willing to make significant concessions, the Golden Oak Kingdom and the Crimson Clover Federation wouldn’t even need to think twice.
“Indeed…”
Carter wasn’t a foolish man. He thought for a moment and rubbed his chin: “The Federation has indeed started passing legislation to prepare for media control, clearly making preparations for future public opinion.”
“A war?”
Wu Ming smiled: “After the appearance of the time-loopers, warfare has fundamentally changed!”
The Pandorn Empire’s two devastating defeats were clear evidence!
As the master of the Divine Space, with complete knowledge of all time-loopers, Wu Ming knew many secret messages.
“If a war breaks out in the future, it will be a global-scale conflict with apocalyptic consequences…”
He made this prophecy, and the severity of it left Carter speechless, his face pale: “A-Apocalyptic?!”
“Not necessarily the entire planet’s destruction, but something close…”
Wu Ming silently added in his mind: “Thor’s Sword? Isn’t it just a large atomic or hydrogen bomb? It seems a bit different, with increased power and range… Never thought humans in this world would be so reckless. Even with insufficient technological strength, they compensated with supernatural means, and still managed to create this stuff. Are they just afraid the world won’t be destroyed enough?”
His intelligence channels weren’t limited to Chevalier alone.
In the Golden Oak Kingdom, there was Shadow King Oliver, infiltrating the Black Society and secretly stirring up trouble.
In the Crimson Clover Federation, there was a group of time-loopers serving as consultants to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Those major powers only thought about recruiting time-loopers to enhance their strength, never imagining that each time-looper was an eye and ear for Wu Ming. This was essentially allowing numerous spies to enter their own backyard.
Not to mention, currently, whether it was Pandorn’s Thor’s Sword, the Federation’s secret weapon, or the Golden Oak Kingdom’s similar projects, all involved supernatural forces. Naturally, they sought assistance from time-loopers or support from the Divine Space. With numerous clues, Wu Ming immediately saw through the bottom lines of these three major steam-powered superpowers.
“They’ve developed apocalyptic weapons and are recklessly increasing their stockpiles… And I’m partly to blame…”
Wu Ming’s face showed some embarrassment.
Originally, using supernatural powers to extract raw materials wasn’t something every superhuman could do.
The scarcity of production meant other countries couldn’t go crazy with boosting yields.
However, after the Divine Space appeared, everything changed.
A large number of time-loopers played a catalytic role, not only with their supernatural abilities but also with various instruments and equipment they exchanged using contribution points from the space, rapidly enhancing and increasing the nuclear capabilities of the three countries.
“The stockpiled warheads of the three countries couldn’t destroy the planet, but they’re enough to cause irreversible changes to the entire world’s ecosystem… Wait, it’s actually four countries!”
Wu Ming thought of Chevalier.
With his strength, extracting raw materials was too easy. With the help of that crazy doctor and a large number of imperial researchers and equipment left behind, recreating Thor’s Sword was only a matter of time.
Considering his current situation, he was indeed the most unstable factor among the four countries.
The Pandorn Empire was also a concern. Before its destruction, would it go completely insane and drag all of humanity down with it?
“Could I really end up being a savior?”
After understanding the whole situation, Wu Ming felt a mixture of emotions.
This feeling of being both a god and a devil was truly complicated.
“However… With such developments, the impact on the timeline would certainly be profound. What kind of consequences will arise?”
Wu Ming’s expression turned complex: “Did that powerful being foresee this?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage