I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

Outside the fortified structure near the mothership's main control room, a long, cone-shaped Reaper transport ship slowly lifted off, preparing to accelerate towards the Desolator City docking port behind them.

Whizz—boom!!

However, before the transport could adjust its angle, the Imperial Spear, engulfed in golden flames, pierced through the rear engine, causing the ship to wobble uncontrollably and crash into a nearby swamp.

The energy shield generator, which should have reacted, was rendered useless due to the engineers taking full control of the mothership and injecting viruses into all its systems. It became nothing more than a decoration, providing no defense at all.

In fact, it was impressive that the transport ship was operational and able to take off in the first place, considering that lower-level Reaper carrier-based fighters had already become chaotic and ineffective.

At that moment—

Bang! Bang~!!

With a loud commotion, the Reaper Queen, who controlled 3 billion soldier and worker ants, pushed aside the debris that had fallen on her. Clad in a specialized biological protective suit that made her appear massive, she crawled out of the wrecked transport.

Her suit and shield generator were independent from the mothership's operating systems, which is why they had not been infected by the Atlas virus, allowing her to survive the crash.

But just as the Queen steadied herself, a white blur came rushing at her, wielding the Imperial Spear.

"Buzz~!"

Fortunately, the green energy shield she deployed blocked the attack, preventing the sharp spear tip from penetrating her body.

Bang~!!

However, the immense force behind the blow, several tons strong, sent her flying more than ten meters away, face-first into the thick, sticky swamp mud.

Dazed, the Queen tried to rise again, switching her shield generator to a continuous protection mode.

But before she could fully stand, the white blur appeared beside her and stomped down on her back, directly onto her energy shield.

Immediately—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Queen felt the relentless attacks—stabs and strikes—on her energy shield, each blow driving her deeper into the swamp, until in mere moments, she was forced down to the metallic floor beneath the mud.

Despite this, the onslaught didn't slow; in fact, it only intensified.

!!

Seeing her shield's integrity rapidly declining and on the verge of breaking, the Queen struggled with all her might to resist, to fight back!

But unfortunately, all her efforts were in vain.

Pssh—!!

The spear pierced through her shield, swiftly puncturing her protective suit and impaling her body.

Whoosh—!!

Golden flames, indifferent to any defenses, instantly consumed the Queen, burning her to ash before she could scream in agony.

In reality, the entire close-combat sequence—from the moment the Queen barely caught a glimpse of her attacker to the extinguishing of the golden flames—had lasted less than ten seconds.

Yet, it was precisely this brief ten-second battle that tipped the scales of victory decisively in favor of Atlas... or rather, all of humanity.

— 

A few minutes later.

In the underground command center of Atlas' headquarters in Seattle, Earth;

More than a hundred staff members sat at their control stations, fully focused on their tasks, doing everything they could to support the company's fleet on the frontlines.

Due to the inherent communication delay, the information they had received was still a few minutes behind, which kept the atmosphere in the command center tense, with no room for relaxation.

!!

Suddenly, a communications officer wearing a headset sprang to his feet, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Boss!" The officer looked excitedly toward Samuel Young, who stood on the second-floor balcony, and reported:

"News just came in from the frontlines—Saint Gilles has successfully killed the Reaper Queen! Without her unified command, the soldier and worker ants have descended into chaos, unable to pose any threat to our strike forces!"

The officer's rapid report broke the heavy silence, and the entire staff felt a collective release of tension, finally allowing them to relax.

However, instead of erupting into cheers, the employees restrained themselves, turning their attention back to their boss.

Samuel Young, as calm as ever, nodded slightly after hearing the report. He then gave instructions:

"Good. Notify the technical engineering team to proceed as planned and pilot the captured Reaper mothership into Earth's gravitational field.

Also, notify all departments to be prepared. Once the mothership enters Earth's gravity, I want a full sweep immediately. The mothership must become the company's exclusive property."

After giving this command, Samuel scanned the room full of employees, and his tone shifted:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I understand the joy of victory, and I recognize that this battle marks a historic triumph for humanity, our first major victory in space.

But do not forget that behind every victory lies sacrifice. Without our armed forces facing those alien monstrosities head-on, without our logistics personnel working against time to resupply the carrier squadrons, Earth and our fellow humans would have suffered unimaginable losses.

So! Now is not the time for celebration. Immediately assist the fleet in compiling a detailed list of casualties and cross-check it with the human resources database."

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing his words, the employees quickly gathered themselves and resumed assisting the fleet in completing the post-battle work.

Samuel then turned and walked back to the central control console, waving his hand to dismiss the multitude of holographic screens, leaving only a detailed schematic of the Reaper mothership. He fell into a moment of deep thought.

The dense details on the schematic were known only to his Primarch sons and a few key members of the intelligence department. They knew that these results were the product of Samuel's countless "resets."

This was why the fleet had been able to launch a perfectly timed assault, pinpoint the exact location of the control room, and preemptively anticipate the Queen's escape route.

From Samuel Young's perspective, it was like playing a real-time strategy game, reloading saves repeatedly, testing different strategies to minimize losses and achieve the best possible outcome.

But…

Reality is not a game, and his employees were not just lines of code or data. They were living beings, each with their own emotions and families.

No matter how many times Samuel tried or how often he "reset," he could never achieve a "no-loss victory."

The truth was, the gap between the Atlas fleet and the Reaper mothership was too vast. Victory had been won because of Samuel's knowledge of the plot of Independence Day and Atlas' elite strategy.

Even without the "resets," if the Primarchs had led their elite troops in a full-scale charge through the mothership, they would have eventually won, but at a cost of over 90% casualties…

That was not the outcome Samuel Young wanted.

"Sigh."

He let out a sorrowful sigh, then pulled up the "Casualty Compensation Plan" project, meticulously reviewing each detail and adding further amendments.

___________________

Read Ahead

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