Downtime

The traversal, the spatial gate, and the golden flames from before—all these signs led Sui Yang to conclude that this was the handiwork of the God-Emperor of Mankind.

The presence of the God-Emperor implied the existence of the Warp, demons, and malevolent gods. Facing such chaotic filth, humanity required a sufficient period of respite.

In the world of Warhammer 40,000, humanity was "locked" in every conceivable aspect. Beyond the endless, hopeless wars lay only despair and darkness; peace and stability were non-existent, and death was the only true sanctuary.

Furthermore, the Warp held a certain potential for connection to the multiverse, and travelers in the Warhammer 40,000 universe were countless.

By comparison, the main universe, threatened only by Vought and similar entities, could absolutely be considered a "paradise." Even if it were eventually touched by the Warp, humanity at least possessed tens of thousands of years to develop.

Therefore, Sui Yang had reason to believe that the God-Emperor had pulled him into the main universe, granting him immortality, self-healing, physical attributes far exceeding those of ordinary men, and the newly acquired ability to open spatial gates, in the hope that he would lead humanity in the main universe to gradually grow stronger.

Once humanity in the main universe could master Warp-free travel and evolve into a physical and technological race equal to, or perhaps even superior to, the Necrons, then the destination to which the spatial gate led would undoubtedly be the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Yet, Sui Yang could not understand why the God-Emperor had chosen him, of all people.

Truth be told, after he realized it was the Emperor who had pulled some strings to cause the truck accident, effectively saying, "It's time to travel, kid!", he had felt a deep sense of resentment.

Even the philosophy of "since I'm already here" could not settle his mind.

After all, he had served eight years in the military, received his discharge pay, and was finally looking forward to going home to enjoy a hotpot. Who would have thought that with one blink, he would be transmigrated? And with a high probability of being nothing more than a pawn!

Anyone would be pissed off by that.

However, over a hundred years of experience had ensured that such unnecessary emotions lasted only for a moment.

Of course, he was not without benefits, and deep down, he also held a belief in "for the sake of humanity" and "common prosperity."

Returning to the present.

The cold voice in his mind had once reminded him that by clearing the first world, he could obtain [Reset] and [Offspring].

The [Reset] ability was simple and straightforward: by killing the Omega and absorbing its blood, one could seize the power to reset the day.

But this [Offspring]...

Sui Yang was somewhat bewildered.

"T..."

He suppressed the urge to curse, though his hatred for riddlers only grew.

Forget it.

Sui Yang couldn't be bothered to dwell on [Offspring]; his primary goal now was [Reset].

Fortunately, he had watched Edge of Tomorrow countless times and could recite almost every line. When Rita Vrataski explained William Cage's state to Dr. Carter, she said, "He's me, before Verdun."

This indicated that Rita Vrataski had participated in the Battle of Verdun hundreds, if not thousands, of times through [Reset]. Yet, at this stage, Rita appeared to others as if she were "in her first battle." She had performed the feat of taking on a hundred enemies alone, but due to the injuries she sustained, she had fallen unconscious and lost her ability after a blood transfusion at a field hospital.

Having confirmed the timeline where Rita Vrataski lost her [Reset] ability, the next step was how to seize it.

In the film, to lure William Cage into a trap, the Omega had projected a false vision of itself at the Canella Dam in Germany.

Cage, falling into the trap, had died by chance. After completing the reset, he used the "transceiver" developed by Dr. Carter to successfully obtain the Omega's true location—the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Near the end of the film, Cage also lost his [Reset] ability, but thanks to the protagonist's plot armor, the squad of fewer than ten people successfully broke into Paris and achieved final victory.

Sui Yang, knowing the plot, did not need to go to such lengths as the protagonist's team; he only needed to organize forces for a surprise attack on Paris.

France bordered Germany, which had been the first to fall, and the five-year war between humanity and the Mimics had long since turned French territory into a no-man's-land.

However, this operation required Sui Yang to participate personally.

It wasn't that Sui Yang was reckless, nor was it a rush of hot-headedness...

Although in his youth, he had been called "Death on Horseback" or "Monster Strength" by Arthur Morgan and the cowboys of the West, often wiping out entire gangs single-handedly, those were events of the 19th century.

Theoretically, it was feasible to dispatch technicians to collect the Omega's blood and bring it back to the main universe, requiring "only" that they avoid killing the Alpha or the Omega.

But that would not only consume vast amounts of manpower and resources, it would also be prone to unforeseen changes and would attract the attention and interference of the UDF.

Therefore, the best plan was for him to head to Paris with his trusted subordinates.

Moreover, the [Reset] mechanism applied to a single universe and could not affect the main universe.

Even if he failed, he could bomb Paris within 24 hours, forcing the Omega to [Reset] and turn time back to before the operation began.

Personnel located in the main universe could retain the communications and video transmitted back by the wired base station; once a [Reset] occurred, they could transfer the data to Sui Yang. In a sense, he would also possess all the memories from before the [Reset].

The consequence of a failed operation would certainly increase the difficulty of locating the Omega, but it was far from a total disaster.

If the operation succeeded, then Sui Yang, Atlas, and even humanity in the main universe would possess a certain margin for error when facing high-level threats.

"Click, click."

Having finished his deliberations, Sui Yang resumed operating his mouse and keyboard, and the screen displayed a map of Western Europe.

In the film, thanks to the protagonist's plot armor, William Cage had managed to kill the Omega with only Rita and J Squad. While Sui Yang believed his own luck was far above average, he preferred to prioritize stability in his combat and preparations.

In the dead of night, with the moon obscured by dark clouds.

Drip, drip.

Sparse raindrops drifted from the sky, drenching the mud-pitted ground.

There was no moonlight, nor were there any streetlights to provide illumination, causing the pitch-black darkness to meld into a single mass that made it difficult to discern any direction.

If one were hiding indoors, tucked away in a warm bed, and listening to the sound of the rain with eyes closed, it would have been a scene of great security and comfort.

However...

BOOM—! BOOM—!

The roar of engines and the noise generated by rotor blades shattered the tranquility of the place.

A helicopter formation consisting of four black-painted UH-1H Hueys, one CH-53E Super Stallion, and one AH-1W Super Cobra acting as an escort was flying rapidly at low altitude toward the west.

Furthermore, each helicopter bore a striking red "Λ" emblem, indicating that the formation belonged to Atlas.

As a mega-corporation involved in multiple fields, possessing military vehicles was a perfectly ordinary matter, and the 14x14 meter portal was more than enough for Atlas engineers to transport the fuselages and wings to Earth-01 and complete a rapid assembly.

As for the destination of this formation, it was precisely the Louvre Museum, still 20 kilometers away.