"Oh, my goodness! Mr. Sebas... you actually captured two Tyrants! And one of them is an even rarer evolved variant!"
"Merely luck, Dr. Stylish. I happened to find their trail." Sebas, as always, replied with modest calm, unfazed by the scientist's praise.
"However, Dr. Stylish, there's a reason Tyrants are classified as extremely dangerous."
"The Savage Dragon truly lives up to its name—it was ferocious beyond belief. Even after being beaten to the brink of death more than a dozen times, it kept regenerating with terrifying cellular vitality. If I hadn't been just slightly stronger... I might have fallen prey to that beast myself."
As he spoke, Sebas flexed his hand lightly, his fingers making a small chopping gesture as if reminiscing about the battle.
"Uh..." Though his words made sense, Dr. Stylish couldn't help but feel something was off. Looking at Sebas' spotless attire, perfectly pressed and pristine, there wasn't even a single scratch or speck of dirt on him. Slightly stronger? You mean just a bit... or a billion bits?
Shaking off the thought, Dr. Stylish refocused his attention on the massive corpses before him.
"Great General, do you realize what this means? With these two specimens, the progress of our research will advance exponentially! Such magnificent forms... I never dreamed I would one day witness two legendary dragon-type Super-class Danger Beasts—Tyrants!"
In the rear courtyard of the fortress city, Dr. Stylish paced back and forth, eyes gleaming as he examined the Tyrants' massive bodies. His expression was akin to that of a lecher spotting a goddess—his gaze locked on them with shameless obsession.
He muttered under his breath, repeating words like "dissection," "experiment," and "let me see" over and over.
For a completely ordinary mad scientist, obtaining such precious experimental material was the highest form of bliss.
Seated comfortably in a grand chair made of rare Danger Beast fur, Selene lifted her head with a weary sigh as she watched the pacing scientist. "...Dr. Stylish, they're already yours. I keep my promises. Are you afraid I'll go back on my word?"
"No, no, Great General," he replied hastily, waving his hands in excitement. "I'm merely overwhelmed with excitement! Tyrant cells with such vigorous vitality are exceedingly rare! Compared to these, the samples stored in the Imperial Science Bureau are... well, ancient jerky!"
Despite his words, his hands did not stop moving. He circled the larger Tyrant's corpse again and again—admiring its triple pairs of eyes, then stroking its bloodstained hide. With that crazed expression on his face, he looked less like a researcher and more like a pervert taking advantage of his victim.
"All right, enough of that, Dr. Stylish. Let's get to business," Selene said, rubbing her temple. "I want your opinion—how should we use the orichalcum mine?"
At her question, Dr. Stylish froze, his groping hands stopping mid-motion. His face grew thoughtful. "Hmm... that's not an easy decision."
"Originally, my focus was on the Honkai Energy Stabilized Augmented Soldier Project... but the discovery of the orichalcum vein has... complicated things for me."
Too many miracles at once—it left him torn between two dreams.
In truth, Dr. Stylish's dilemma was a joyful one. Simply put—he wanted both.
The Honkai Energy Stabilized Soldier Project was already a monumental scientific achievement. But the chance to recreate Teigu using genuine orichalcum—that was a temptation unlike any other.
Teigu were legendary weapons, forged from materials harvested from Super-class Danger Beasts and rare metals like orichalcum, combined with long-lost secret techniques. And now, every one of those components was within his grasp.
A thousand years ago, the first Emperor had needed the greatest craftsmen of the entire world to forge the original Teigu.
Dr. Stylish could only sneer inwardly. Hah! Pathetic. I alone surpass them all.
Things that once seemed impossible now felt attainable, thanks to Selene's support and the new scientific horizons she had revealed to him. His ambition burned brighter than ever.
A grand yet simple desire—Dr. Stylish wanted to surpass all the craftsmen and scholars of ages past.
"..." Should he split his resources into two separate projects? Or prioritize the soldier project first, then move on to weapon creation afterward?
He pondered deeply. Augmented soldiers... soldiers... hmm! And suddenly—an idea struck.
Dr. Stylish's eyes lit up as the spark of an idea flared within him—a perfect synthesis.
"Whew..." Selene sipped her tea calmly, waiting for the scientist to speak.
Suddenly, Dr. Stylish dashed toward her, his face alight with manic excitement. He gestured animatedly with both hands. "Great General, I have an idea!"
"The Honkai Energy Stabilized Soldier Project was designed to mass-produce super soldiers, while orichalcum allows us to mass-produce extraordinary weapons. But why are we still thinking like ordinary people?"
"Based on my over four hundred prior experiments—each time Honkai energy was injected—if you, Great General, were not personally present to fine-tune the process, most test subjects, aside from those whose bodies melted outright, showed various degrees of increased skeletal and muscular density."
"But I've been trying to restrict their body size, forcing it to remain within the bounds of normal humans. Looking back now... that was a fundamental flaw in my thinking! It contradicted the very nature of enhancement!"
"Super soldiers should be super! We don't need to maintain their ordinary human proportions. It's perfectly natural for their bodies to enlarge after enhancement!"
"With super soldiers, we'll naturally need specialized weaponry. But conventional weapons can't withstand their power, while Teigu and Shingu are far too few in number to be produced at scale!"
"Even though we've discovered an orichalcum vein, the crafting of Teigu and Shingu is extremely complex—mass production is impossible!"
"So... what if we take another path? Lower the standards, simplify the designs, and use orichalcum to mass-produce weapons specifically tailored for Honkai-enhanced super soldiers?"
Dr. Stylish's words came out in rapid bursts, like a volley of artillery fire. When he finally paused for breath, Selene set her teacup down and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Indeed... I may have fallen into a similar trap," she murmured. "All I originally wanted was to find a method to improve the enhancement success rate without needing to personally oversee every procedure."
She hadn't cared much about power scaling—just wanted ordinary humans to reach at least above Captain America's level post-enhancement, leaving the high-tier combatants to her direct supervision.
But now... perhaps she had been setting the bar too low.
According to Dr. Stylish's four hundred experimental records, a body height of around 2.5 meters was the most balanced and stable form for Honkai energy adaptation.
That realization hit her.
Does that mean my future legions won't just be at minimum Captain America level... but the average soldier will be on par with the Hulk? With the strength of a Space Marine?
The thought sent a thrill through her.
Without hesitation, she made her decision. "Dr. Stylish, this plan is excellent. It's a sound direction. I hereby designate the Honkai Energy Stabilized Soldier Project as—Project Astartes."
"Sebas, Liver—join me in drafting the operational framework. By the Imperial Calendar year 1024, it must be completed."