Chapter 330: Imperial Internal Struggle

This Sephiroth 6 figure bore no military bearing, but rather the image of a slender, elegant aristocrat. Its spindle-shaped body was forged from a silver alloy, its largely hollowed-out metal sheets forming an abstract, bust-like form. Beneath this almost decorative metal shell, a faint blue stream of information swayed like fire, supporting this delicate form and transforming into flaming features, hair, and cloak.

Outer Path Sephiroth 6, Ultimate True Machine, Super Machine Lord.

It suppressed the information flow into its body and said to the insignificant soldier, "Disarm, data access is open, and security check begins."

The Death Guards established a connection with the lord. At the same time, the signal from the commander far away in the military camp was conveyed, and an inspection began using the Death Guards as a physical firewall.

This is a standard procedure for Imperial security checks, with direct physical contact between subordinate units and remote control by superior units to conduct inspections. Once unstable factors are discovered, the subordinate units will be immediately abandoned and attacked to minimize the possibility of contamination.

The signal was retracted, and the Death Guards performed the Imperial salute: "Inspection complete, confirmed to be free of foreign contamination. Super-Mechanical Lord C-006, the Eastern Theater of the Empire welcomes you."

"Informally, we don't refer to my number. You can simply call my Proposition 'Burning River,'" the Lord said. "I am renaming Death Guard P-876548 to C-006-07, serving as my adjutant, to assist me in handling official duties while seconded to the Eastern Theater. Immortal Unit S-654531 has been promoted to Death Guard, replacing P-876548 in combat."

This is the tradition of high-level units in the Empire. Although their computing power is enough for one person to handle all the work of the entire army, it must be used on more meaningful topics, so adjutants are needed to handle military affairs.

"As you wish." The Immortal Machine replied.

"As you command," the Death Guards gave their routine report. "Once your secondment is complete, I will regroup and return to regular operations in the Eastern Theater."

"What if I let you upgrade to particle 4?" Ranhe asked.

"I will be incorporated into the Eastern Theater Air Force after the renaming," Yu Sibing said, "if the system is followed."

"Of course, I'll follow the rules." Ran He muttered to himself, "The fact that you can say 'if' shows that you are indeed a true soldier."

The Lord waited for the Immortal Machine to complete its transformation, then transported the Death Guardians to the Eastern Theater's flagship. Leaving the Death Guardians on deck, he stepped into the depths of the flagship, confronting the unprecedented being within the blue information sphere.

"Super Mechanical Lord C-006 pays homage to the Eternal War Commander. He is seconded from the Western Theater Command to the Eastern Theater Command under Military Order No. 1876 to fill the vacancies in the organization." Ranhe saluted.

Just as a lord needs a lieutenant, a warmaster also has his needs. According to Imperial military system, a warmaster of 7 Sephiroth should be equipped with at least one lord as a staff officer, because the warmaster's computing power is too precious, and using it to handle routine military affairs is an unacceptable waste of resources.

However, the Eternal Tribulation had always preferred to do things on its own, often single-handedly handling all battles, big and small. So much so that after the previous adjutant's death in the battle of the Netherworld Divine Kingdom, the entire military realized his departure had little impact on overall efficiency, so the flagship think tank assumed the role of advisor, a position they held for over twenty years. It wasn't until recently that His Majesty, unable to tolerate this, transferred a lord to officially fill the advisory position.

"Return to the team. I am ordering you to assist with official duties as a staff officer," the Eternal Robbery said. "What instructions does the Source have for you?"

Yuanliu was the supreme commander of the Western Theater Command, sharing the same Warlordship with Yongjie. Ranhe answered meticulously, "There's been little fighting in the Western Theater Command lately. Seeing your numerous achievements, Warlord Yuanliu grew anxious, and sent me here to claim your military credit!"

"knew."

Ran He asked seriously, "Excuse me, may I go out on my own and steal your military merits?"

"Distribute military merits according to actual circumstances and act in accordance with military orders."

"As you command, I will strictly abide by Imperial military discipline," Ranhe said. "The Warmaster of Yuanliu has instructed that if your application is rejected, you will be sent a copy of a private document he compiled. Approximately 67% of the content consists of insulting language that is carefully expressed, ornately embellished, but lacks any practical meaning."

"Delete," said the Naraka.

"As ordered, the document has been deleted." The data stream on Ranhe's body flashed, "Personal affairs transmission completed, please give instructions."

What was happening on the Eastern Theater Command's flagship was a long-standing internal struggle within the Imperial Army, full of personal grudges.

Ultimate True Machines are ruthless killing machines. However, all beings that ascend to Sephiroth 4 possess a strong sense of self, even True Machines. Therefore, high-Sephiroth Imperial units often possess individual minds to a certain degree, and a few older True Machines transformed from Titans largely retain their original personalities.

Where personalities exist, there are conflicts. Furthermore, the Empire itself is divided into factions, and high-ranking True Machines in different war zones often clash with each other. Some important officials even consider each other political enemies. Therefore, even within the Empire of Truth, conspiracy and infighting never cease. True Machines use a variety of tactics, including but not limited to verbal abuse, slandering computing speed, mocking the appearance of their machines, and sending subordinates to claim credit for their work, to wage brutal internal struggles.

Then continue to cooperate sincerely after scolding.

After all, everyone was a real weapon, and personal opinions must never interfere with official business. Since internal strife had no substantial impact on public affairs, His Majesty did not waste time on ineffective management. The internal strife of the empire flourished under the premise of openness, transparency, fairness and justice, so much so that the archives are filled with records of the internal struggles of various important figures.

These files have no confidentiality level, and even soul containers have the authority to mobilize and view them, but generally low-quality real machines will not waste computing power on such things.

Now that the internal strife was over, Ranhe officially began to report: "The research on the 'Fate Reading' module of Yuanliu War Marshal has made new progress, and the test machine is now being delivered to you."

It handed over a monocle-like instrument. After analyzing it, the Naraku replied, "It is estimated that this can improve the efficiency of tracking paranoia-level demons. I will provide feedback on improvement suggestions after the next test."

"Understood. Unless there are special missions, I will take over the simulation verification from the think tank." Ranhe said, "Please ask for instructions, War Marshal."

This time, the Eternal Robbery didn't respond immediately. It spent three seconds reviewing all the information it had recently gathered, then asked, "What is Yuanliu's opinion?"

"Warmaster Yuanliu believes that the encirclement and suppression should be launched as soon as possible. According to the Oracle's calculations, the bill's passage is a foregone conclusion, and the process of Jingsha city-state's transformation into an outlier is inevitable." The information flow within Ranhe fluctuated for a moment. "After the bill's passage, there's a 76% chance that Jingsha will become the new Son of the First Abyss. In the worst-case simulation, the Seventh Outlier will be born in 45 standard days, and the World Tree may also suffer a cascading decline due to the Jingsha incident... Forgive my impropriety, but I also believe that the Empire should no longer sit idly by."

"You were born after the fall of the Spiral Tower." Naraku used the word "born" because this lord was one of the first true machines transformed from a giant.

"Yes, Warmaster. But I personally experienced the reconstruction of the Imperial Truth and witnessed the fall of the Wanhua Immortal Clan." Ranhe lowered his head. "I have no emotions now, but the redundant information in the historical records still trembles when I recall it. Every native life is a juvenile of the Outer Path. We can no longer ignore the emergence of the Outer Path."

"What is the Genliu's strategy?"

"The main forces of the Western and Southern Theater Commands are being dispatched to coordinate with your forces in launching a saturation strike against Jingsha. Preliminary estimates indicate this operation will reduce the Empire's territory by 7%, but War Marshal Yuanliu believes it's worthwhile," Ranhe added. "However, as the supreme commander of the Eastern Theater Command, you have the most comprehensive understanding of the local situation. Therefore, War Marshal Yuanliu believes your opinion should be considered."

"The verification of the source number is very comprehensive, but you missed two important premises in your thinking."

The Eternal's finger slid across the surface of the celestial sphere, and several highly classified documents were transmitted to the Burning River: "1. Special singularity Z-3000-1 is currently located within the Jingsha city-state. Its existence has a high probability of triggering a tidal resonance, leading to the convergence of singularities 2 and 3."

"The probability statement is not rigorous. Please verify the calculation process."

"There's no verification process; this is just my intuition," said the Naraka. "Observing a special singularity is the highest level of action in the operational sequence. We should treat the experimental site with caution."

"What's the second premise I missed?"

"It's the very premise that the Empire takes action."

The blips of information faded as the Eternal Awakening shut down the Sphere, temporarily severing its information flow from the Empire's homeland. The Burning River suppressed its own information flow to the point where only blips remained. When the Warmaster took such action, it was clear they were about to say something His Majesty did not wish to hear. These messages would be reorganized in a more precise format and retransmitted to the homeland after the Sphere's activation.

"The fall of the Spiral Tower was inevitable, but the Empire's inadequate response back then also played a crucial role. The fall of the Myriad Transformations Immortals had nothing to do with the Empire itself, but the Empire's failure to perceive the dangers to the Allied rear and to exterminate the Myriad Transformations Immortals prematurely led to the birth of the Desire Demon and the emergence of its Heirloom Prison."

The light in the Eternal's eyes dimmed. "The Empire's supreme goal is to exterminate the heretics, but we've missed the opportunity twice in a row. When a similar situation arises again, we must be doubly cautious. His Majesty hasn't issued the extermination order yet precisely because he, too, wants to avoid the lessons of the past. This is something the Source understands."

"The Warmaster believes that the Thornshade incident is more similar to the Spiral Tower than to the Immortal Clan?"

"Neither is similar." The Eternal Salvation shook its head, and then made a human-like gesture. "The cause of Jingsha's corruption lies in its internal chaos, but Jingsha's potential also lies here. I intend to maintain observation until the last day and adapt to the situation."

"As you command. I will re-check the calculations after introducing two important prerequisites and prepare a contingency plan."

Ranhe watched the celestial sphere light up again, then moved to the main computing room. The flagship think tank fortress handed it the light blue data key. Their workstations were less than 10 meters apart, ensuring the protection of the precious think tank at all times.

"I once lived as a creature of flesh and blood," the Burning River told it, "but the Warmaster seems to me more human than I."

The Think Tank countered: "According to my calculations, the Warmaster's similarity to humans is..."

“I used a metaphor.”

"Your habit of using metaphors has been noted." The think tank was meticulous.

"And you are very standard..." Ranhe checked the records, "Wait a minute, you and I are from the same batch?"

"Yes, Lord Ranhe. I was working under you as your deputy staff officer at the time."

"I remember now. You're even more mechanical than a pure machine."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Ranhe shook his head and summoned his new lieutenant. "Upgrade to level 4," he ordered. "Then send me detailed information on all the factions in the Eastern Theater. We're going to be busy."

(End of this chapter)