Chapter 597: Extending Life

Star Dragon Empire, the imperial capital of Saint Saunière.

On the annual March Sky Day, the dragon statue area near the Grand Palace gathers the most fanatical believers in the year.

Similarly, this is also the most tense moment of the year for the Saint Saunière garrison and the Imperial Guard.

All units have entered a state of combat readiness, all available mobile monitoring equipment has been put online, and the highest-level military channels near the Grand Palace have even entered a high-voltage state.

The Imperial Guards with live ammunition, the various armored vehicles behind them, and the HCPs with electromagnetic machine guns loaded with anti-personnel shotgun shells, all look serious and alert to the fanatical crowd outside the blockade.

However, they are not worried that these fanatical believers will attack the military police, the state church or the Grand Palace - after all, these fanatical believers are also the most loyal citizens of the Star Dragon Empire.

What they were worried about was that believers from different parishes would fight each other in order to occupy a better viewing position or because of some doctrinal interpretation issues, which would eventually turn into a large-scale brawl.

In the core area near the Grand Palace, such a brawl involving hundreds of thousands of people was obviously extremely risky, so the main task of the garrison troops and a small number of imperial guards on the scene was actually to closely monitor all areas and strangle any signs that might cause a brawl at the first opportunity.

Of course, this kind of "strangling" method was obviously not so sophisticated and humane.

As the three moons hanging high in the sky reached the highest point of the day, all units with air defense capabilities near the Grand Palace also detected a small shuttle falling from high altitude.

As the identification codes silently interacted in the night sky, a large number of fixed anti-aircraft weapon groups deployed in the dark also released the lock of the fire control radar.

In a HCP of the Imperial Guards standing on guard behind the cordon, the pilot watched the approaching unit frame on the top of the full-circle screen turn into a blue logo representing an "important friendly unit" and also canceled the activation of the charged particle cannon in the fire control interface.

The omnidirectional sensor on the top of the tall HCP also turned slightly as the pilot raised his head, and finally saw the small shuttle entering the terminal deceleration and landing on the apron behind the Grand Palace.

Although the target identification frame did not show the unit to which the shuttle belonged due to authority issues, its pure black paint with gold lines, plus the highly recognizable "Discharge Star Dragon" logo, still allowed the pilot to recognize its ownership.

"The ship of the Silent One."

As the shuttle shook slightly, Magnussen, the chief of the Royal Silent Ones, the Emperor's inner guard, and the sixth-level psychic, slowly opened his eyes.

On a small virtual screen on the right, the words "Landed in the target area" were flashing, and at the same time, the pilot in the front cockpit of the shuttle opened the shuttle's hatch.

The biting cold wind of Saint-Saunière at night could not wait to get into the interior of the shuttle, and then hit an invisible wall in front of Magnussen.

After confirming that there was no abnormality in the storage box locked with his right hand, Magnussen quickly came to the ground through the boarding ladder.

The internal apron of the Grand Palace was empty tonight.

All ground staff and other staff were temporarily centralized during the landing of the shuttle.

So at this moment, the internal apron, in Magnussen's view, also presented a "quiet feeling" that was difficult to be related to the "airport".

However, he did not care about these, but walked towards the interior of the Grand Palace in front without looking back.

As a common area for the royal family to travel on weekdays, this helipad was built directly in the core area of ​​the Grand Palace, so it didn't take long for Magnussen to reach his destination - the elevator to the underground core area below the emperor's bedroom.

In front of the elevator, the only person waiting here, Cormac, a level 5 psychic from the Royal Silencer Corps, immediately came forward after seeing the chief.

A gust of evening wind blew through this corridor of the Grand Palace, blowing up Magnussen's robe and the empty sleeve on his left side.

Cormac, who came forward, paused after seeing this scene. He raised his hand and quickly typed a string of sign language that only the Royal Silencers could understand.

"You are injured and lost a hand."

"It's not important."

Magnussen shook his head. Since his only remaining right hand was holding the storage box, he could only use psychic energy to speak in his companion's mind:

"The important thing is that I took back what His Majesty and the Archbishop needed. By the way, is there anything unusual in the Grand Palace during this period?"

"Everything is normal, don't worry."

During the time when Magnussen was away, Cormac took over his position and was responsible for the emperor's personal protection and the security coordination of the core area of ​​the Grand Palace.

However, he thought that he was still not as perfect as the chief, so he was relieved to see Magnussen back.

However, he never thought that this man who stood at the top of human combat power would lose a hand in this secret mission.

Soon, Magnussen stood on the elevator leading to the underground, and Cormac stood at the entrance. After all, he could not participate in the next process with his authority.

The core area underground of the Grand Palace has a height difference of almost 900 meters from the entrance. The entire core area is hidden inside the mountain where the Grand Palace is located.

As the elevator continued to descend at a constant speed, Magnuson also felt that he had entered the interior of the mountain. The thinnest area here from the outside world was covered with hundreds of meters of rock mass.

When the elevator reached the 'final floor', Magnuson passed through several tightly guarded checkpoints - once here, the guards were no longer garrisons and forbidden troops, but were all replaced by 'martyrs' of the church. 'force.

These church troops, composed of fanatics and ascetics, were more loyal to the old emperor Frederico, who combined royal and divine power than the imperial army and the garrison.

This is why the Imperial Military Department, which has been thoroughly infiltrated by the forces of the Regent and the Princess, has been opposing the expansion request of the ‘Imperial National Religion Guards Army’

After all, the Imperial Guards in history have all had precedents of being incited to rebel, but it is very difficult for this kind of church army to be instigated.

The core area of ​​the final floor is an independent hemispherical room in the center.

Here, Magnussen finally met Frederico, the current emperor of the Star Dragon Empire, who was lying in the life-support cabin, and Jules Mazarin, the archbishop of the empire's state church.

As speculated by the outside world, the old emperor Frederico was indeed in a critical state, but it was not because of his old age, but because of some extremely rare genetic defect, which accelerated his aging and made him almost He came to the end of his life overnight.

The last hope is all placed on the 'Experiment No. 92' that is still active in the Forerunner Research Institute.

Magnussen strode forward and walked to the life support module, then knelt down on one knee and put the storage box in front of him.

The storage box where the experimental products were stored had already been unlocked by the method assigned to him, so as he pressed a certain switch on the box, there was first a heavy unlocking sound, and then a burst of low-temperature gas flowed out of the gap in the box. , eventually turning into a burst of white mist flowing close to the ground.

"This is the 'eternal cell'."

Archbishop Jules' low voice of exclamation came to Magnuson's ears. At the same time, he also felt that the archbishop moved a step forward. At the same time, a small camera also hovered near the storage box, and the images in the camera were synchronized. on the virtual screen above the life support cabin.

"Magnussen. You did a great job."

An old voice sounded directly in the head of the royal silencer.

This was the voice of the old Emperor Frederico.

As a sixth-level psyker, and having been trained in 'anti-psionic' and 'psionic shielding' since childhood, Magnussen can theoretically block psychic interference from psykers of the same level and lower levels - for example, directly through The spirit speaks in the mind.

The emperor of the Star Dragon Empire is not a 'hidden master' who hides deeply, so the ability to speak in Magnussen's mind at this moment is not brought to him by his spiritual power.

But it comes from the innate ability brought to them by the mysterious "Star Dragon Bloodline" flowing in the bodies of the imperial royal family - Dragon Power.

This is why, in Magnussen’s perception, Frederico’s voice is a ‘multiple’ coming from different directions.

Magnussen did not speak, but lowered his head a little lower. As a personal guard, he rarely communicated directly with Frederico. In most cases, he guarded silently in the dark.

"Come back and have a good rest. There is no need to worry about my safety here. Remember to go to the Royal Medical College tomorrow. Their chief human modification officer will put a brand new prosthetic leg on you."

Frederico's words were slow and firm, with an unmistakable meaning.

As a personal bodyguard, Magnussen dedicated all his loyalty to the emperor without saying anything and quickly stood up and left.

After the old emperor and the archbishop were left in the core room again, the latter slowly spoke:

"If this 'eternal cell' is really as effective as that adult said, then the completion of the 'Star Dragon Body' is only a matter of time."

Having said this, Archbishop Jules Mazarin hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Frederico who was soaking in the nutrient solution of the life-support cabin.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to use this 'experiment'? Or do you really believe what the forerunner said before he died?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

This time, Frederico's voice sounded in the Archbishop's head.

"Do you want me to watch the empire be destroyed like this? Or do you think that Norton II and my dear daughter will not attack your church without me?"

The old emperor's words made Archbishop Jules Mazarin fall into silence, especially the latter sentence.

Although the Archbishop stayed in the National Church near the Dragon God Statue to preach all year round, this did not mean that he was ignorant of what was happening in other parts of the empire.

All the parish, middle-level and grass-roots church personnel are actually his eyes and ears, which also makes him very clear that the regent and the imperial princess are actually very dissatisfied with the church for a long time, and they want to deal with it quickly.

Therefore, no matter which faction between them finally takes over, the Imperial State Church may still exist, but it is unknown how many church personnel, including him, the archbishop, will remain.

"It seems you know this very well, Jules."

Seeing that the Archbishop had not spoken yet, Frederico's voice continued to ring in his mind:

"We don't have that much time to waste. Jules, I have a hunch that as long as we can complete the 'Star Dragon Body', all problems will be solved, and the Empire will regain its former glory. No one, whether it is the Federation or the elves, will be able to stop our rise."

When Archbishop Jules Mazarin left the room, his mind was still echoing with Frederico's words.

He had to admit that the supreme ruler of the Star Dragon Empire was right. If the Imperial Church or church members like him did not want to be liquidated in the future, they must follow the old emperor closely.

This also means that he must put aside the thoughts about various risks in his mind and "extend the life" of the old emperor.

Jules Mazarin, holding the scepter representing the Archbishop's power in one hand and the storage box in the other, walked quietly towards the main personnel transport elevator in the underground core area.

Along the way, the armed forces from the church, whether they were fanatics or respected ascetics, all bowed their heads respectfully to show respect to the normally majestic and inviolable archbishop.

But today, Jules Mazarin's heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of heaviness, which made him ignore everything around him. He just nodded slightly and walked straight into the elevator.

After the elevator door closed again, Jules Mazarin exhaled lightly and said:

"Command: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇"

The next second, a mechanical female voice sounded: "Verification passed-Welcome, the archbishop is heading to the 'Final Dogma Area'."

The elevator started to work again, but it continued to move downwards. Below the 'Final Floor' on the control panel, a red word 'Final Dogma Area' also appeared.

There are quite a few high-ranking officials in the empire who know about the underground area under the Grand Palace. After the old emperor Frederico moved in, this area has been semi-disclosed to the public.

In addition to the ‘final floor’ where Frederico is, there are some secret institutions and facilities such as the Psychic Research Institute that are not open to the public.

But there are not many people who know about the ‘final dogma area’ that is even deeper underground than the ‘final floor’.

In total, there are only five people who know about it alive in this world, except Frederico and Jules Mazarin.

This area, built by the founding emperor of the empire, is strictly protected and away from the noise and light of the outside world.

After Jules Mazarin left the elevator and passed through several security doors made of high-strength alloys and composite identification technology, the archbishop of the empire finally came to the core of this mysterious space - a huge freezer.