I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Damn it, Richard, did you just see that? The monster you blew the head off of, it seemed to have regenerated its head," Marina said while undergoing disinfection, recalling and questioning at the same time.

Richard wasn't too concerned with the matter; instead, he pondered how any life form could possibly survive in such a harsh environment.

"Having a strong enough vitality is indeed not bad, but it's just regeneration after having its head blown off. There are quite a few synthetic beasts in the Empire that can do that," Richard didn't care much about this issue.

In his view, it was simply because his shock wave gun was a mini model. If it were up to the Empire, it would be powerful enough.

"As far as the Empire is concerned, this is but a trivial pebble, there is no need to worry about it, my dear." Richard was the first to finish disinfecting and then got up and left.

Marina still harbored some worries about that strange parallel universe in her heart but quickly thought that no matter how powerful these monsters were, they were still carbon-based beings. The Empire had countless ways to grind them into dust.

After she finished cleaning up, she also got up and left.

Outside the laboratory, a group of people came to greet them.

"Congratulations on successfully opening the Quantum Channel to the parallel universe, care for a drink?" The dean of the research institute held a bottle of wine, which was already opened, indicating it was a good wine from his collection.

"Of course. I need a good drink from the dean to settle my nerves," Marina had no hesitation, and Richard had already begun drinking, boasting to a few of the new female interns with his arms around them, clearly unable to change his arrogant ways.

Marina casually turned on the television.

"Those cybernetics are causing trouble again; I don't know why the Empire can tolerate them. If they like modifying themselves so much, they should just turn themselves into canned meat," the dean poured Marina a glass and then glanced at the news playing on the TV, his expression filled with disgust.

On the news, a group of people with mechanical parts replacing more or less of their bodies were marching to promote the benefits of mechanical enhancements.

These cybernetics advocates claimed that flesh is weak and only machines can grant them true strength.

"It's the Imperial Legislators making mischief behind the scenes. Without their support, they couldn't have grown this big," Marina wasn't paying attention to this.

In the Navia Empire, the various factions were very chaotic. Besides the recently noisy and bustling cybernetic faction, there was also the pleasure-seeking Jile Sect, and a faction advocating for equal rights for synthetics and beasts. In short, there were all sorts of factions, and even as researchers, sometimes they had to face these factions.

Of course, they might despise them, but they also had to abide by certain rules. To avoid being swayed by public opinion, even their research had to maintain a certain stance, which meant being "correct" in certain aspects.

Otherwise, if public opinion wrapped up in it, those politicians would take advantage to extract benefits, and then the researchers would be left holding the bag.

However, those politicians couldn't always extract the benefits they sought, since within public opinion lay not just benefits but also dangers.

"Your and Richard's achievements have been reported to the Empire. Tomorrow, the Imperial Prime Minister will represent the Heavenly Emperor and award you. This time, the Sunlight Award is in the bag, but afterward, you'll need to cooperate further with the Empire," the dean said.

Marina was the main person in charge of this parallel universe Quantum Channel project, so he discussed it with her.

But this 'discussion' was more of a notification. For the Navia Empire, it was imperative that they control the technology.

Even though the entire Empire already ruled over its own planet and was reaching out into space, the lack of sufficient space technology meant that their exploration of the universe was still quite rough. Marina's parallel universe Quantum Channel provided them with a brand-new choice.

"Of course, it would be my honor," Marina didn't think of refusing. It was a good thing for her, a very good thing.

"It's just that I suspect it isn't a parallel universe, but rather a completely new universe, and... it comes with certain dangers," Marina carefully chose her words before mentioning the potential danger.

"Are you talking about those creatures Richard mentioned? I heard his bragging, but according to his description, even a regular Shock Wave Weapon would be lethal enough, not to mention that our Empire possesses more advanced laser weapons and Ghost Energy Weapons," the dean didn't take Marina's words seriously.

Marina and Richard might refer to those unknown creatures as monsters, but in reality, they were just beasts.

In the Navia Empire, beasts were all placed in zoos, and even used as samples for genetic engineering to create numerous synthetic beasts.

"Yeah, that's right," Marina originally wanted to mention that beyond that planet, there lurked some sort of unknown terror, but upon reflection, she didn't have enough evidence to prove it, so she also left it at that.

From the dean's attitude, it seemed the entire Empire's upper echelons didn't want to hear any opposition or questioning voices.

The feast lasted for half an hour, not very long, mainly because Marina seemed quite shaken and a little deflated, so she left early.