In the northern territories of the Empire, within the Habsburg Province, stood the Imperial Science Bureau's northern branch.
By Imperial Year 1022, Dr. Stylish's research workshop and its affiliated armory had been fully completed.
From that point on, though it was still called a "branch" in name, in reality—whether in manpower, resources, funding, or even sheer research capability—the Northern Branch of the Imperial Science Bureau had far surpassed the main headquarters in the Imperial Capital.
This only served to further enrage Honest. It had already been painful enough for him to "gift" Dr. Stylish to Selene. But now? The man himself—and the main production base—had both moved north.
Honest's so-called "prestige" in the capital was utterly useless. He had no room left to maneuver. The Science Bureau headquarters in the capital was now practically empty, with only a handful of minor researchers remaining. All the top scientists had been "persuaded" by Selene to relocate to her domain.
Aside from basic weapon production and maintenance, the headquarters was little more than an empty shell—he didn't even get a drop of soup from the pot!
In stark contrast to the stagnation and regression of the capital's Science Bureau, the northern branch had entered an age of technological explosion over the past few years.
Selene had handed over vast amounts of industrial and scientific data acquired from Academy City to Dr. Stylish and his team of researchers. Combined with a few "small" suggestions from Great General Selene herself, the Empire's military underwent a rapid era of modernization—both in hot weaponry and cold steel.
Armor and blades became stronger and more resilient while simultaneously lighter. Mass-produced firearms were distributed across every squad. Artillery grew larger, more powerful, and more precise.
Meanwhile, under the supervision of Sebas—the so-called "architectural grandmaster"—Schönbrunn Palace and the surrounding factories underwent continual expansion. This symbolized Selene's complete strategic shift toward the Empire's northern territories.
Thus, under Selene's meticulous planning, the entire northern region of the Empire, including the Habsburg Province, entered a period of explosive development and large-scale reconstruction.
To formalize this, Selene had even gone out of her way to irritate Honest by requesting and obtaining the official title of Governor of the North, granting her legitimate political and administrative authority over nearly one-fifth of the Empire's total territory.
Following Selene's lead, numerous generals of the Imperial Guard Legion—including Kinshasa and the other legion commanders—began relocating their families, properties, and lands to Selene's domain.
Those of high rank could clearly sense the growing unrest within the Empire. In the single year of Imperial Year 1021 alone, the Imperial Guard had been dispatched from the capital to suppress rebellions more times than during the entire reign of the previous emperor!
To prepare for the worst—yes, that was the unspoken motive. The Empire was simply too chaotic. Who could say what would happen to their families, estates, and children if they were killed in battle one day?
The northern territories might not be as temperate or comfortable as the southern and central regions, but they offered something far more valuable—stability. Especially now that Selene had officially assumed her post as Governor of the North, those who had long served under her command trusted her completely.
Moreover, Selene had earned a reputation for protecting her subordinates. She was strict but fair, never once withholding pay or exploiting her soldiers for profit.
As a result, even beyond Selene's own 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th Imperial Guard Legions, officers from Great General Budo's 1st Defense Legion had also begun moving their families into Selene's northern territories.
...
Inside the research workshop, Dr. Stylish—dressed in a light-green suit beneath his white lab coat—stood with two dark circles under his eyes so heavy that even his thick glasses couldn't hide them. His expression was manic as he spoke excitedly to Selene.
"Great General! According to my latest research experiments, the creation of stable Honkai Energy-Enhanced Soldiers is absolutely possible! With this, you won't have to personally oversee every single enhancement process anymore!"
"Oh? Doctor, I'm looking forward to it."
As Selene's power and forces expanded, it had become impossible for her to personally perform Honkai energy enhancements on every soldier.
However, if the enhancement process was performed without her direct, precise control, there was a significant risk that the subjects would mutate into mindless death soldiers.
This created a bottleneck—one that severely limited the scalability of Honkai enhancement programs. That was precisely why Selene had tasked Dr. Stylish with developing this research project.
"Please wait a moment..." Dr. Stylish said, rummaging frantically through the piles of papers and scattered tools on his cluttered desk. "Found it! Great General, please take a look!"
Unbothered by the grease stains and bizarre doodles covering the pages, Selene accepted the stack of notes and began reading carefully.
Experiment Log:
Experiment 1: Complete failure. The subject died instantly—corpse transformation, no chance of recovery or communication. Destroyed.
Unlike the T-R1 serum, which merely repaired cells and offered minor physical enhancement, the Great General's goal was the creation of true super soldiers—requiring large-scale Honkai energy infusion. However, without the Great General present to perform precise control, the overwhelming surge of power was more than the human body could endure.
...
Experiment 40: Failed again. These subjects were the strongest among the condemned prisoners, yet they still perished. Could it be that the dosage wasn't high enough?
Experiment 41: Another failure. Due to excessive Honkai energy infusion, the subject's body could not even maintain a human form. Cellular collapse occurred instantly, reducing it to a puddle of flesh.
...
Experiment 102: Failure! Damn it! Could it be that the host's base strength is insufficient? Perhaps I should try using cyborgs...
Experiment 103: Failure... Turns out that mechanical augmentation—merely replacing organs with metal components—does not fundamentally enhance the body's tolerance. Perhaps I should test Danger Beast hybrids next?
...
Experiment 214: Still a failure. Although Subject 104 managed to survive initial Honkai energy infusion and maintained both human form and consciousness... after one minute, the body exploded.
Does this mean my line of thought is correct?
This time, the test subject had been modified using the blood serum of an Earth Dragon, a Class 1 Danger Beast—not too weak, but not particularly strong either. Next time, I'll try using a higher-ranked specimen.
...
Experiment 306:
The 306th subject was a hybrid created using the blood of a Super-class Danger Beast—Death Tagool. It was the same species once chosen by the First Emperor as a raw material for forging Teigu. Let's hope it brings me luck.
...
Although Experiment 306 ultimately failed, the results were promising!
The subject's muscle and bone density skyrocketed while it maintained a humanoid form for an entire day—the longest and most stable result so far!
It seems this direction is the correct one.
The adaptive potential of Super-class Danger Beasts far exceeds that of humans or standard Danger Beasts.
Therefore, I must shift my focus entirely to Super-class Danger Beasts, especially those previously selected by the First Emperor as sources for Teigu materials.
...
Experiment 400:
After exhausting the Science Bureau's entire inventory, I finally obtained a suitable specimen...
...
Reading up to this point, Selene looked up, a hint of intrigue in her crimson eyes. "So... this is the one you've chosen?"
Dr. Stylish's voice trembled with manic excitement. "Exactly, Great General! After hundreds of trials, I've finally found the perfect host—"
"The Super-class Danger Beast—Tyrant!"