Major Development and Breakthrough

Imperial Northern Region, Habsburg Province, Imperial Science Bureau Branch.

By the Imperial Year 1022, Dr. Stylish's experimental workshop and its affiliated weapons factory were essentially completed.

Although it was still nominally referred to as a "branch" of the Imperial Science Bureau, in practice, whether in terms of manpower, material resources, funding, or even the research strength of its personnel, the Northern Branch had far surpassed the main Imperial Science Bureau headquarters in the capital.

This greatly infuriated Honest. He already regretted gifting Dr. Stylish to Selene, but now, with both the doctor and the main production base moved to the north, his influence in the capital was diminishing rapidly. Honest's 'prestige' in the capital was practically useless; he couldn't even make small moves without space to operate. The Imperial Science Bureau headquarters was now a ghost town, with only a handful of minor researchers left. The leading experts had all been 'persuaded' by Selene to move to her territory.

Aside from basic weapon production and repairs, the headquarters was practically defunct! Honest didn't even get a sip of the soup, let alone a full share of the meal!

Unlike the stagnation in the capital, the Northern Branch of the Imperial Science Bureau had seen a technological explosion in recent years.

Selene had handed over a massive trove of industrial technology from Academy City to Dr. Stylish and his research team, along with some "small suggestions" from General Selene herself.

The Imperial Army underwent rapid modernization, both in terms of firearms and cold weapons.

Armor and weapons, despite being the same size, became stronger and more durable while significantly lighter. Mass-produced firearms were issued to every squad, and artillery grew even larger and more powerful.

Meanwhile, under the leadership of 'Master Architect' Sebas, Schönbrunn Palace and various factories underwent continuous expansion, symbolizing Selene's growing focus on the Northern Region of the Empire.

As part of Selene's grand plan, the entire Northern Region, including Habsburg Province, experienced explosive growth and development.

To formalize her power, Selene even went out of her way to irritate Honest by requesting the position of Governor of the Northern Region, thus officially bringing one-fifth of the Empire's territory under her rule.

In response, many high-ranking officers of the Imperial Guard, including legions, began moving their families, land deeds, and properties to Selene's territory to follow in her footsteps.

As leaders of the Imperial Guard, they were acutely aware of the undercurrents flowing within the Empire. In Imperial Year 1021 alone, the number of Imperial Guard deployments to suppress uprisings surpassed the total during the reign of the previous emperor!

The Empire was in turmoil. Who knew what would happen to their families and property if they died in battle one day?

Though the Northern Region didn't have the mild and pleasant climate of the southern and central parts of the Empire, it was stable—especially after Selene became the Governor. The soldiers who had fought alongside her for years had complete faith in her leadership.

Moreover, Selene was known for protecting her own. She never shortchanged her troops or withheld their pay. Such abuses were unheard of under her command.

As a result, aside from the Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Imperial Guard legions directly under Selene's control, even officers from General Budo's First Imperial Guard Legion began moving their families to Selene's domain.

...

Inside the experimental workshop, Dr. Stylish—wearing a grass-green suit under his white lab coat, with thick glasses barely able to hide his dark circles—spoke with fevered excitement to Selene.

"General, through my latest research experiments, I have confirmed that stable Honkai energy-enhanced soldiers are absolutely possible! This way… you won't need to be personally involved in every enhancement session..."

"Really…? Doctor, I'm looking forward to it…"

As her power and influence expanded, it had become impossible for Selene to personally enhance every soldier.

However, without her precise control during the enhancement process, those receiving Honkai energy would often turn into death warriors, mindless and uncontrollable.

This had created a bottleneck, severely limiting the scale of Honkai energy enhancements. It was for this reason that Selene had assigned Dr. Stylish to undertake this research project.

"Please wait a moment..." Dr. Stylish rummaged through his chaotic desk before finally pulling out a stack of papers. "Found it! General, please have a look..."

Unperturbed, Selene took the drafts, which were smeared with ink and filled with strange doodles, and carefully reviewed them.

Experiment Log:

First Experiment: Complete failure. The test subject died immediately… corpse disintegration, with no chance of recovery or communication—terminated.

Unlike the T-R1 series serum, which merely repairs the human body and provides minor enhancements, the super soldiers that the General desires require a large dose of Honkai energy. But without the General's presence for fine-tuning, the extreme effects of the enhancement are too much for the human body to endure!

...

Experiment 40: Failed again. This was already the strongest batch of death row inmates, but they still died. Was the dose insufficient?

Experiment 41: Another failure. The Honkai energy dose was too large, and Test Subject 41 couldn't even maintain a human form. Cellular collapse and disintegration turned the body into a puddle of flesh.

...

Experiment 102: Failed again! Damn it! Is the base body not strong enough? Should I try using cyborgs instead?

Experiment 103: Failure... A cyborg, after all, is just a human body with metal implants, so there's no major physical improvement... Maybe I should try using a danger creature instead?

...

Experiment 214: Another failure... Though Subject 104 didn't immediately die or lose its human form after the injection of Honkai energy, it still exploded after a minute.

Could this mean my line of thought is correct?

This danger creature-modified subject was created using the Earth Dragon, a mid-tier Class 1 danger creature… Maybe next time I should try using a higher-class danger creature!

...

Experiment 306: Subject 306 was a danger creature-modified human created using the blood of the super danger creature, Death Tagool.

Death Tagool was once chosen by the First Emperor as a material for creating Imperial Arms! Let's hope it brings me good luck.

...

Although Experiment 306 ultimately failed, the results were promising!

The subject's muscle and bone density increased drastically, yet they still maintained their human form for an entire day! This level of stability was unprecedented in previous experiments!

It seems this path is correct after all!

The adaptability of super danger creatures far exceeds that of humans or ordinary danger creatures.

It appears I need to focus on super danger creatures, especially those chosen by the First Emperor as material for Imperial Arms...

...

Experiment 400: I've exhausted the Science Bureau's entire stockpile, but finally, I managed to secure a proper base body...

At this point, Selene raised her head in surprise, "So, this is your choice?"

Dr. Stylish nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! General, after hundreds of experiments, I've finally found the perfect base body..."

"The super danger creature—Tyrant!"

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