Chapter 255: Harak! Strategy! A Just Cause! A Spreading Blaze!
Ideal City, Headquarters of the Multiverse Corporation!
"Boss, Reed and Jack have followed Morami's group into the layer-jump space. They're expected to arrive in the Covenant capital within 72 hours."
The speaker was Loki, Li Ang 's secondary cabinet AI, now one of his personal assistant AIs. Loki handled routine status reports and presided over the AI council, orchestrating the recruitment and control of other intelligent AIs to serve the corporation's interests.
The former AI White Queen had shifted her focus to defending the cyber networks of the Megalopolis, shielding them from hackers and communication disruptions.
Red Queen was responsible for monitoring information flows across all divisions of the corporation. Any ripple or disturbance would be reported to Li Ang at once.
As for petty corruption, secret collusions, or factional maneuvering—things that didn't threaten the larger structure— Li Ang often turned a blind eye, letting them bicker among themselves like crickets in a jar.
But if something crossed a line of principle, he would immediately dispatch personnel to erase all traces—events and perpetrators alike would vanish as if they had never existed.
Too much purity leaves no room for life. Even in the most transparent political systems, there would always be filth and scum. As the CEO of the Megacorp, Li Ang only needed to stay aware of it all.
After listening to Loki's report, Li Ang sat at his desk, deep in thought. He gave a slight nod and replied,
"Alright. Got it."
Li Ang trusted the combination of Reed and Jack Wells.
Jack was a brawler, a powerhouse with the potential to become the second Primaris Astartes warrior. Reed was a seasoned operator who had climbed from the old Federal Intelligence Bureau all the way to deputy commander of the elite vanguard unit.
There was no way a man like that lacked political savvy.
Sending them out together was like Liu Bei dispatching Guan Yu with Fa Zheng as his adviser—a capable duo for a critical assignment.
Their ranks were roughly equal, complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. They could discuss and coordinate as peers, ensuring the mission wouldn't be delayed by friction.
After instructing Loki to send a reminder to Reed, Li Ang resumed scanning updates from across the multiverse.
Before long, he received new reports from V and other senior officers: each universe's development and external conditions were stable. No anomalies reported.
Li Ang breathed a quiet sigh of relief, glad everything was under control. He cleared the clutter of read messages from the screen and opened a new email—
[Position Report: Harak Engineers]
"Harak" was a type of intelligent biomechanical entity David had previously discovered in the Covenant's exploratory fleet. They possessed self-repair and self-replication capabilities.
The name "Harak" comes from Latin, meaning "artificial genius." These semi-mechanical, semi-organic nanotech lifeforms were created by the Forerunners to maintain their technological infrastructure.
Despite being only partially mechanical constructs, the Harak held significant social standing. Within the Forerunner caste system, they were legally equal to citizens.
At the top of Forerunner society stood the "Architects," and the Harak were their assistants—essentially their apprentices.
And the Harak absolutely earned their reputation as model workers: extremely patient, easily conditioned, disinterested in social interaction, and completely focused on work.
They were tireless, introverted, with no personal social circles. Work was all they knew, never letting personal matters interfere with their duties. They were every employer's dream worker.
No matter the civilization or era, workers like these were invaluable.
And indeed, the Harak survivors from the Flood War proved themselves the moment the Covenant fleet discovered them.
The Prophets, known for their obsession with talent, were overjoyed. They immediately appointed the Harak as chief engineers—responsible for scientific research, equipment repairs, and maintenance of Forerunner relics and warships.
They also assisted in excavating and analyzing data from Forerunner ruins, unearthing rare technologies and artifacts.
Being a skilled artisan meant never starving, no matter how the world changed. Every faction treated them like treasure.
But the Prophets, paranoid and possessive as ever, feared the Harak might defect to another faction.
In their twisted logic—"If I can't have them, no one can"—they forcibly implanted self-destruct devices into the Harak.
This sick behavior alienated the Harak. It was bad enough to work for free around the clock—but to also have bombs shoved inside them? That was monstrous.
The Harak may have been reclusive, but they weren't stupid. So when the Multiverse Corporation extended a recruitment offer, they didn't hesitate—they jumped at the chance.
They were eager to start working immediately.
In the Covenant exploratory fleet, there were 60 Harak engineers in total.
Their primary tasks included maintaining starship engines and shield generators, as well as analyzing ground relics.
Thirty had already followed Morami's fleet through layer-jump space, heading to the Covenant capital.
The other half remained in the core region of the Shield World, assigned to unified positions within the Megacorp.
Such rare, high-value personnel were immediately allocated to the Scientific Nexus and Engineering Divisions.
Some were tasked with assisting R&D breakthroughs; others were assigned to maintain the Wanderer-class dreadnought and help decode and reproduce Forerunner technology.
Only by matching skills to tasks could human resources be used efficiently.
After responding to the full contents of the email, Li Ang boarded a shuttle with his chief of staff, Lucy, and soared through a Stargate to the skies above the Shield World's core region.
He gazed down at the dazzling artificial solar light filtering through hardlight structures, making the entire Shield World gleam.
For the past three months, construction on the Shield World had continued nonstop.
Thirty-two massive shipyards worked in perfect coordination, welding and assembling warships of all classes.
Countless Hex-tech robots and Templar Sentinels moved between shipyards, aiding mechanical arms on the production lines.
After signing a Recycler Agreement with Forerunner AI [031 Passionate Witness], the Megacorp inherited all the Templar Sentinels in the Shield World.
Though the corporation couldn't yet create AIs as capable as the Sentinels, the existing units were enough to construct massive infrastructure.
That was how, in just a few months, the corporation had churned out thousands of fully operational warships like dumplings off an assembly line.
From carriers to cruisers to destroyers—everything was available.
As the shuttle flew deeper, Li Ang saw warships docked at shipyards. The production pace was so fast that bridge crews, maintenance teams, and logistics personnel were struggling to keep up.
That's why the transcendent AI Europa had been busy recalculating human resources and reallocating staff from other universes to Shield World.
Combat crews, however, were no concern for Li Ang .
The Megacorp had over a hundred million contracted armed personnel. Li Ang could mobilize an army of millions at any moment.
There were so many reserve soldiers waiting to join fleet units that they couldn't be counted. There was zero manpower shortage.
What did take time was preparing logistics for these new recruits.
Exoskeletons, power armor, all kinds of weapons, and fighter craft all required one or two months of manufacturing in Ideal City's production zones.
That's interstellar warfare for you—it's all about logistics and production capacity.
Right now, the Megalopolis's factories were running at full capacity. Any more demand, and they'd collapse.
Still, just Ideal City's factories were managing to meet the majority of production orders from four universes—already an impressive feat.
Without a steady stream of raw materials from other colonies, the Megacorp wouldn't have been able to bear such massive expenses.
In addition to a vast trade network that drained value from client states using classic American-style exploitation, the Megacorp also had a maxed-out matter decompressor—and a newly built one too—mining twin black holes for endless materials.
That was how Li Ang kept the gears of the corporation turning.
And while the corporation still had surplus capacity to take risks—like opening up a new multiverse or waging an all-out interstellar war against the Covenant— Li Ang had a habit of never going all-in.
Only madmen bet everything on one roll of the dice.
If they lost, they'd just restart. But if they won, they'd walk away with it all.
Yet more often than not, gamblers ended up bankrupt. Leaders who succeeded by steady, snowballing growth were rare.
The bigger the organization, the more redundancy it needed—to cut losses in time, or to stage a comeback.
As for the situation in the Halo universe, Li Ang 's strategy was to take it one bite at a time. No rushing, no missteps.
He'd establish a firm strategic layout first. Once everything was in place, only then would he strike.
Speedruns only work when you can achieve maximum success at minimal cost. Steamrolling with war alone wastes resources like nothing else.
As the saying goes: "When the cannons roar, gold flows like water."
Li Ang would rather spend those resources on production than rashly launch a war.
That's why Reed and Jack's mission was critical.
First, they needed to win over the Elites, securing powerful allies for the corporation and sowing division within the Covenant.
Once internal chaos broke out, that would be the perfect time for the corporation to step in and reap the rewards.
Of course, the worst-case scenario had to be considered. So Li Ang had prepared an elite force of 5,000 Astartes warriors to accompany Reed and Jack.
All of these warriors were equipped with at least two different suits of power armor—the Hulkbuster armor and various models of Mark X power armor—and the weapons they carried included the most advanced firearms developed by the Megacorp.
Just the hardlight weapons alone were enough for every soldier to have two of them!
Two elite forward operations executives, accompanied by five thousand elite Astartes warriors—when the time came to tear off the facade, this force alone would be enough for Reed and Jack to bring down the hammer and settle the chaos in the covenant city.
Of course, Li Ang 's primary reason for dispatching Reed and Jack wasn't to launch a decapitation strike right away—it was to win over the internal tribes within the Covenant and divide their power structure.
Launching a full-scale assassination operation was merely the last resort, only to be used when there were no other options left.
After all, once the higher-ups among the Prophets were eliminated, all avenues for negotiation and peaceful assimilation would be permanently closed. Li Ang would then be forced to divert additional resources and manpower to eradicate species like the Sangheili.
What could've been a clean, all-in-one operation would then devolve into a prolonged war of attrition—an extremely poor trade-off.
That's why the identity of "Reclaimers" assigned by the Forerunners had to be used wisely. It was crucial to win over the Covenant members who were fanatically loyal to the Forerunners.
And once the Covenant fell into internal strife, even to the point of fracturing and turning on one another, that would be Li Ang 's moment to launch a full offensive—uniting both the Covenant and humanity under one banner!
Yes, Li Ang had his eyes not only on the Covenant, but also on humanity within the Halo universe.
Whether it was the mighty United Nations Space Command (UNSC) or the constantly embattled human insurgents, both were unstable factors—forces the Megacorp aimed to bring under control.
When the time came, Li Ang would first send out his forward units to convey the ideas of "The Covenant," the "Reclaimers," and the Megacorp's vision for development to every human faction.
He would demand that both the UNSC and the rebels join the Megacorp's alliance, uniting the three sides against common enemies to forge a brighter future.
Naturally, Li Ang didn't actually expect these plans to work—he never believed mere propaganda would be enough to peacefully absorb both factions.
This was just a formality before unleashing force—a polite warning. A reminder to the UNSC and the rebels: those who comply will be rewarded, and those who resist will be punished.
And barring any major surprises, the UNSC and the insurgents were certain to scoff at the Megacorp's call for surrender. They might even band together to launch a counterattack against it.
The reason was simple.
Power and status are forged in blood. They can only be earned by overwhelming force.
For the top brass of the UNSC, they were comfortably sitting at the top of the food chain. Life was good. Then, out of nowhere, some mysterious force shows up wanting to make them subordinates? Not a chance.
What, like they don't have their own fleet of interstellar carriers? Why should the UNSC bow and scrape to the Megacorp?
And as for the insurgents? Same story.
They were doing just fine on their path of rebellion and entrepreneurship. Sure, their insurgent conglomerate hadn't gone public yet, but the growth prospects looked promising!
Given the UNSC's repeated screw-ups, there were plenty of disillusioned folks across the colonies—ripe for insurgent recruitment. With time and a few strategic alliances, even going public wasn't out of the question.
So who the hell was this Megacorp, suddenly swooping in with a lowball offer trying to buy them out? That was completely unacceptable.
But this was exactly the reaction Li Ang was hoping for. It gave him a perfect excuse to wipe the slate clean—no need to worry about being labeled a brute who didn't play by the rules.
If he could conquer both human factions through diplomacy alone, Li Ang would actually be more concerned—it might mean they were setting him up for some elaborate trap.
Back in the day, Li Ang had led his LA Corporation to swallow up multiple cybernetic giants and even dismantle the once-dominant European Coalition.
He succeeded primarily because of overwhelming force. While the other cybercorps were still playing with outdated ground troops, AI drones, and AI tanks…
Li Ang 's LA Corp was already fielding planet-cracking "Infinity-class" carriers. It only took one clash to shatter his enemies, making it easy to force the other executives to surrender.
But the UNSC and the rebels had starships too. While they didn't match the Megacorp in scale, they weren't completely outgunned either.
And space was vast. If they fled in their starships and adopted guerrilla tactics, becoming scavengers who gathered tech while building power—it wouldn't be impossible.
So, all things considered, Li Ang could already foresee that the UNSC and the rebels wouldn't yield so easily.
Once they began opposing the Megacorp in earnest and prepared for war, Li Ang would deploy his AI, Loki, to orchestrate a massive information campaign through other intelligent AIs.
They would manipulate public opinion across the colonies, broadcasting the Megacorp's gospel far and wide.
Plant seeds in the hearts of the civilian population—seeds that would blossom into wildfire once the Megacorp emerged victorious.
For the ordinary folks of Goose City, it didn't matter whether Lord Huang or the county magistrate won. What mattered was choosing the winning side.
Likewise, if Li Ang utterly crushed the UNSC and the rebels, what awaited the Megacorp would be a tide of "wine and meat to welcome the king's army."
Once the common people saw who held the brighter future, the foundational support of the UNSC and the insurgents would be completely eroded.
Moreover, the "Spartan-II Program," led by Dr. Catherine Halsey, was also making progress.
It was expected to yield its first batch of viable test subjects within a year.
Had they followed Halsey's original timeline, developing the second-generation Spartans would have taken at least 20 to 30 years—ten years at minimum.
But thanks to the Megacorp's research division, which had spent years studying gene-seed technology, they already had a solid foundation in human augmentation.
Halsey only needed to slightly redirect her research and make a few tweaks to bring her vision of the Spartans to life.
In fact, this generation of Spartans might even surpass her original plans for the Spartan-IIs!
Meanwhile, in the public academies founded by the Megacorp, Li Ang had already begun recruiting gifted young candidates to be trained from an early age—either as Astartes or Spartans.
The benefit of this approach was clear: soldiers raised from youth under strict regimens would graduate as fully trained combatants, ready for deployment at a moment's notice.
Of course, unlike the UNSC, the Megacorp didn't need to snatch up children and forcibly experiment on them.
Every child wishing to join the academy had to receive parental approval and pass multiple rounds of testing before being allowed to enroll.
Even better, the second-gen Spartan augmentation technology developed by Dr. Halsey wasn't just for children—it could also be used on adults.
People like Rita and William Cage might very well become the Megacorp's first batch of Spartan warriors!
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