Chapter 371: Template, Primarch, and Ceasefire

This afternoon, Morin had just finished a heavy set of squats. Shirtless and drenched in sweat, he was guzzling water.

The door to the medical center’s recovery area was pushed open. Major Nicolai stood respectfully by the door.

Immediately following, the Emperor of the Empire, Albert II, the Chief of the Army General Staff, Moltke the Younger, and the Minister of War, Falkenhayn, walked in.

Seeing these three big shots suddenly visit without prior notice, Morin jolted. He hastily put down his water bottle, scrambled to grab the clothes beside him to put them on, and then saluted.

“No need for formalities, Lieutenant Colonel Morin.”

Emperor Albert II waved his hand, a gentle smile on his face.

His gaze swept over Morin’s gradually recovering body, and he nodded in satisfaction.

“It seems you are recovering well.”

“The food at the medical center is quite good, Your Majesty,” Morin answered somewhat nervously.

“Hahahaha… It seems you indeed recovered well, even able to crack jokes.”

Albert II smiled, walked to Morin’s side, patted his shoulder, and continued:

“I heard about what happened in Paris… Although this cannot be publicized, Lieutenant Colonel, you and the instruction unit still made great contributions to the Empire. The Empire will not forget your dedication.”

“For the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the operation, although the Empire cannot make their honors public, we will definitely take good care of their families…”

Obviously, Albert II was now gradually paying more attention to Morin and the instruction unit.

So before coming, he had people gather some understanding of Morin’s usual behavioral style.

What he was saying now was completely a sort of “special attack” aimed at Morin, summarized by his staff.

Otherwise, according to the “tradition” of the Ministry of War, Morin might have had to wrangle with them over the determination of “killed in action” versus “missing.”

In the following time, the three big shots inquired in detail about Morin’s physical condition and recovery.

They didn’t discuss any sensitive topics regarding the “Sentinel Project” or the modification potion, just chatting with Morin like elders caring for a junior.

But Morin knew very well that their appearance here perhaps already represented an attitude.

This indicated that the highest echelon of the Empire attached great importance to the results of this operation.

Moltke the Younger, the Chief of the Army General Staff who hadn’t interacted much with Morin previously, also chatted with him a bit more about the content of army combat reforms this time.

Speaking of which, this Chief of the Army General Staff, in another timeline, would have actually been scolded by the Emperor every day to the point of depression by now, and dismissed long ago.

But in this world, due to the smooth progress of the Gallic campaign, he obviously hadn’t been scolded too harshly by Albert II, and instead looked radiant…

Before leaving, Minister of War Falkenhayn deliberately stayed behind.

“Lieutenant Colonel Morin, just rest and recuperate here with peace of mind.”

This Falkenhayn, who was called the “Butcher of Verdun” in another world, spoke with a serious yet caring tone.

“You don’t need to worry about the instruction unit’s matters… Your unit has been withdrawn from the front line to the rear for rest and reorganization. I personally went to see them. The officers under you have led the troops very well, and the young men’s morale is also very high.”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Minister.”

“Additionally, there is one more point you need to know…”

Falkenhayn paused, then continued to add:

“Regarding your situation, it is currently still classified as top secret. The outside world knows nothing, except for a few core personnel.”

“Madame Falkenstein has sent people to inquire about the situation multiple times. We have already reported your safety to her through official channels, only saying you are executing a secret mission and cannot be contacted temporarily.”

“So, before you are fully recovered and accept the next arrangements, you cannot meet your relatives and friends yet. I hope you can understand, Lieutenant Colonel.”

“I understand,” Morin nodded.

He knew that the fact he was injected with the modification potion was not an ordinary matter to the high echelon of the Imperial Army.

Moreover, he had recently exhibited more and more extraordinary characteristics modified by the potion—for example, being exceptionally capable of eating…

So his current situation had to be kept strictly confidential.

After seeing off the three big shots, Morin let out a long sigh of relief.

And Major Nicolai, who had been waiting outside all along, walked in again, holding a document in his hand.

“How do you feel? Was it very nerve-wracking meeting His Majesty?” Major Nicolai teased with a smile.

“Uh-huh, if I say my legs went soft, would you believe me?”

Morin made a joke; after all, it wasn’t the first time they met.

Major Nicolai smiled, obviously not believing Morin’s words.

And seeing the document in his hands, Morin also guessed the other party probably had other matters, so he asked:

“Major, is there any new situation for your visit this time?”

Nicolai nodded and handed the document in his hand to Morin.

“This is a detailed report regarding the ‘Boulogne Incident,’ as well as the preliminary analysis results of those documents and materials we brought back from Paris… I think you should be interested in taking a look, Lieutenant Colonel.”

Morin took the document, his gaze instantly becoming focused.

Regarding what happened after he fell into a coma, he had only gotten some fragmented news these past few days through others’ descriptions and the refreshed information in [Intelligence].

He roughly knew that some kind of thing crawled out of the underground research institute, but lacked specific details.

And now, the answer was right before his eyes.

Morin opened the document Major Nicolai handed over. It detailed the entire process of the “Boulogne Incident.”

The wording of the report was rigorous and objective, but between the lines, one could still feel the soul-stirring nature of the scene at the time.

Shortly after Morin was put on the transport airship, the negative energy underground in Paris completely lost control.

According to the post-event survey by the Holy See’s purification unit, the negative energy accumulated over hundreds of years in the entire Paris Catacombs seemed to be drawn by something and began to frantically converge towards a single point—that point was exactly the location of the underground research institute Morin and the others had just escaped from.

According to the researchers’ speculation, this negative energy was originally supposed to be rationally guided and differentiated, but for some unknown reason, it became completely disordered after entering the underground research institute.

The massive amount of negative energy reacted within the narrow underground space, ultimately triggering a violent energy eruption underground.

It should be known that even when the Eiffel Tower was still around previously, it merely utilized this underground negative energy, rather than directly detonating it…

Amidst the shaking of the earth and mountains, the area at the edge of the Bois de Boulogne suffered a massive collapse.

A giant sinkhole over three hundred meters in diameter appeared out of thin air in the western suburbs of Paris.

Negative energy, so thick it almost materialized, shot up into the sky from the depths of the sinkhole like a volcanic eruption.

The Saxon Second Army Group and the Holy See’s purification unit stationed outside Paris at the time were all alarmed by this sudden change.

During the process of both sides urgently mobilizing armed forces, an even more terrifying scene occurred.

Amidst that tumbling black energy, a monster haphazardly pieced together from a large amount of flesh, bones, and other fragments slowly crawled out of the ruins of the sinkhole.

The report included a few blurry photos taken with a camera from the armored airship.

Although the resolution of the photos was not high, the terrifying outline of that monster could still be seen clearly.

Morin could tell that this monster originally should have had a fixed form like hands and feet, but the presented effect was like a puddle of mud, or a sugar figurine stomped flat by a foot.

“The people from the Holy See believe the composition principle of this thing is somewhat similar to the ‘Flesh Golems’ that appeared in the Middle Ages.”

Major Nicolai added from the side.

“They are both war weapons created by forcefully fusing a large number of corpses and flesh together through necromancy.”

“But traditional Flesh Golems, whether in size or structure, are far less exaggerated than this.”

“Furthermore, golems usually have a relatively fixed form, such as humanoid or beast-like, but this thing…”

Nicolai pointed to the puddle of meat-mountain-like monster on the photo.

“It looks more like a failed, out-of-control product.”

Morin looked at the photo, his brows tightly furrowed.

He was almost certain that the birth of this monster had an inescapable connection to that old guy Heinrich.

Heinrich, or rather the Gauls, very likely had been conducting research even crazier and more taboo than the “Sentinel Project.”

The report continued.

After crawling out of the sinkhole, that massive flesh and bone construct did not display very high intelligence… or rather, it failed to receive any instructions.

So next, it seemed to rely on some kind of instinct, beginning to move slowly toward the direction with the thickest aura of life—which was the position of the Saxon Second Army Group.

Its massive body rolled over the Bois de Boulogne, leaving a wide trail mixed with black slime and minced meat.

Facing the approach of this behemoth, the commander of the Second Army Group and the Holy See’s purification unit immediately issued attack orders.

Speaking of this, Major Nicolai also emphasized a point to Morin, which was that this thing was definitely developed as some kind of war weapon…

Because according to close-range eyewitness accounts and post-event on-site exploration, it could be confirmed that this monster’s body wrapped up quite a few guns and cannons of various calibers stored by the Gauls underground in Paris.

Structurally, it seemed they wanted to use it as some kind of platform to utilize these weapons.

Next, a completely unexpected battle broke out just like that, only the entire process of the battle was relatively simple and brutal.

The only advantage of this flesh construct was its extremely tenacious vitality, and the physical impact brought by its massive size.

But its disadvantages were equally obvious—slow movement speed, lack of effective long-range attack methods, and low intelligence, only knowing to charge forward blindly.

So in the face of army group-level artillery fire, this monster was basically equivalent to a living target that couldn’t fight back.

Besides its existing 105mm and 75mm artillery, the Second Army Group, like the First Army Group, had also received a batch of experimental 150mm heavy howitzers.

In addition to this, there were the armored airships and armored trains originally supporting the operation, and another armored train was even urgently transferred from another front.

A massive amount of artillery conducted a prolonged bombardment on this monster. Countless high-explosive shells roared and tore through the sky, exploding on that monster’s body.

The light of the explosions and the thick smoke almost dyed the entire sky red.

The monster’s body was blown apart time and time again, flesh and blood flying, but according to aerial observation, it would wriggle and aggregate at a bizarre speed, trying to repair its own damage.

It’s just that this kind of repair obviously required consuming flesh and blood, and the ammunition supplemented by the Second Army Group during this period was obviously far more than the flesh and blood the monster itself had stored…

Plus its lack of long-range attack methods, the armored airships could even directly drop more powerful bombs from the air.

Under the attacks launched regardless of cost by the artillery built under a mature heavy industry system, the tenacious vitality of that flesh behemoth finally came to an end.

In yet another violent explosion, this monster was completely blasted into countless fragments.

However, the battle did not end there.

Those scattered flesh fragments still maintained vitality, wriggling and struggling on the ground like living worms, trying to re-aggregate.

At this time, the Holy See’s purification unit finally came in handy.

A large number of Knights of the Holy Sword and armed deacons, led by Father Francisco, charged into that messy battlefield and began to purify these flesh fragments at close range.

The entire cleanup work lasted for a full two days.

It was only when the last piece of flesh was purified clean that the “Boulogne Incident” truly came to a close.

Closing the document, Morin let out a long breath.

Although he didn’t experience it personally, just from the description in the report, he could feel that kind of “grand scene”… Not being able to see it with his own eyes was indeed somewhat a pity.

“What about those documents we brought back from the underground research institute? Any discoveries?” Morin looked at Major Nicolai.

“There are some discoveries, and there are also many problems among them.”

Nicolai’s expression became serious.

“Based on the preliminary research of those documents and potions, we can basically confirm that Heinrich didn’t tell the complete truth.”

“This second-generation ‘Sentinel’ modification potion is indeed their final result… but this result was built upon an extremely unstable and risk-filled foundation.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that this potion very likely has massive flaws we do not yet know about.”

Major Nicolai opened his mouth and continued to explain:

“Judging from some fragmented experimental logs, the Gauls seem to have been trying to solve the ‘rejection reaction’ and ‘erosion’ problems of the potion all along. But until the research institute was destroyed, they didn’t seem to find a perfect solution.”

“What Heinrich mentioned about needing specific guiding training after injecting the potion is very likely to suppress these side effects.”

This intelligence major of the General Staff’s Department III paused, looking at Morin with complex eyes:

“Lieutenant Colonel Morin, for you to be standing here completely unharmed right now, besides sheer luck, I really can’t think of any other explanation…”

With Major Nicolai’s words, Morin also recalled that painful struggle after injecting the potion, and the countless illusions that flooded his mind, unable to help but feel a burst of lingering fear.

Master Haber, you really dared to do it…

If it weren’t for him having a cheat, purifying the impurities and addictive effects of the potion, he very likely would really be like what Nicolai said now, turning into a madman whose mind was eroded by the potion.

“Then what do we do now?” Morin asked. “Can research on this modification potion continue?”

“Yes, but we must be even more cautious.”

Major Nicolai nodded, his tone very firm.

“The Army and the Imperial Academy of Magitech Research have already established a highest-level joint research group. They will try to analyze and improve this potion based on the two potions you brought back, and… your physical data.”

“Your safety is the top priority of all current work.”

Morin: “So Major, you mean…”

“Before the research makes breakthrough progress, you cannot go anywhere, Lieutenant Colonel. You can only stay here.”

“Alright, I knew it would be like this~”

Morin was not surprised by this result.

Under these circumstances, if the Imperial military still let him run around everywhere, that would be truly strange.

Looking at Morin’s expression, Major Nicolai also continued to add:

“But please rest assured, Lieutenant Colonel Morin… We will not conduct any harmful experiments on you. All research will take ensuring your health and safety as the highest premise.”

“After all, your personal value is not just in the effect of this potion.”

“Well, thank you very much…”

Although Morin had some intention of complaining verbally, he knew very well in his heart that this was currently the only and best choice.

After all, he was no longer an ordinary army lieutenant colonel now… or rather, he wasn’t considered ordinary before either?

Whether he was willing or not, he had already been pushed into a crucial position.

So in the following period, Morin’s life completely turned into the daily routine of an “observed experimental subject.”

A dedicated research team composed of the Empire’s top doctors and mages officially stationed themselves at the Imperial Military Medical Center.

Every day, they would closely monitor all of Morin’s physical data, from heartbeat, blood pressure, and body temperature to the digitized detection of magical affinity, without missing a single detail.

Various examination methods Morin had seen and hadn’t seen took turns.

And what Morin himself had to do was to maintain an extremely high metabolism level through massive eating and exercise.

And then let his various physical indicators grow day by day at a visible speed.

During this period, the research team also conducted deeper research on the two potions brought back from the underground research institute, as well as the massive amount of documents and materials.

As the analysis work advanced, more and more secrets were revealed.

Unsurprisingly, that old liar Heinrich indeed hid a large amount of key information.

This also resulted in the R&D team not daring to completely trust the information left by the other party at all, and could only go step by step through trial and error themselves.

According to the records of an experimental log, the second-generation ‘Sentinel’ modification potion indeed possessed powerful human modification capabilities, but its side effects were equally deadly.

Among them, the most crucial point was its “addictiveness”… or “dependency.”

This potion, in essence, was not a one-time product.

To maintain powerful bodily functions and combat the body’s rejection reaction, the modified person must be given supplementary injections of the potion at intervals.

This cycle, depending on individual constitution, was approximately between seven to ten days.

Once the injections were interrupted, the modified person’s body tissues would rapidly disintegrate in a short time, ultimately turning into a puddle of organic matter devoid of any vital signs.

And the research team on the Saxon side also conducted biological experiments by injecting trace amounts of the potion into white mice.

The experimental mouse that received the potion injection, just 3 days after stopping the injections, had its originally rapidly strengthened body disintegrate.

Its body was like a melting wax figure, skin, muscles, and internal organs all mixing together, becoming a pile of indistinguishable tissue.

However, this deadly flaw did not appear on Morin at all.

More than a month had passed since his first, and only, injection of the potion.

Not only did his body not show any signs of “disintegration,” but it grew stronger day by day, and the modification effect of the potion had been continuing.

“We have reason to suspect that this potion, after being injected into your body, underwent some kind of benign mutation that we cannot understand, with your unique constitution… or rather, the magic within your body.”

At a research meeting, Master Haber held a report and summarized Morin’s current status.

“This mutation not only eliminated the potion’s original deadly flaw but even… optimized its modification effect.”

Morin sat at the conference table, listening expressionlessly.

He of course knew what this was about.

Barring any surprises, all this had to be credited to the intervention the system made after the potion was injected.

Not long after the potion was injected into his body, the system had already prompted [Potion impurities and addictive effects have been purified].

Which also meant Morin obtained the most perfect and purest enhancement effect of this potion.

Of course, it was impossible for him to tell anyone this secret.

“So what’s your plan next?” Morin asked.

“Conduct reverse engineering based on your serum, Lieutenant Colonel Morin.”

Master Haber pushed up his glasses, an excited light flashing in his eyes.

“Your blood can be said to be the most precious alchemical material in the Empire right now… We hope to isolate that mutated active ingredient from it, and then combine it with the two potions brought back, to attempt to synthetically create a brand new, safe modification potion.”

“Although the quantity of the potion developed this way might be limited, we can still use the users of these potions as ‘primarchs’ to develop the next generation of potions later.”

Another older mage Morin hadn’t seen before, named Haeckel, added:

“We don’t expect to mass-produce super soldiers like the ‘Sentinels.’ Even if we can only roll it out to enhance the physical qualities of soldiers, it would be an extremely considerable strengthening for the Empire’s military power!”

This prospect Haeckel spoke of was undoubtedly exciting.

But Morin heard another key problem in it.

“Mass production… but you also aren’t sure if this thing can let ordinary people also gain magical affinity, or even spellcasting ability?”

This question instantly cooled down the enthusiastic atmosphere in the conference room.

Everyone fell silent, and a trace of gravity also appeared on Master Haber’s face.

“Yes, we are not sure.” He shook his head and said frankly: “This is the biggest unknown in current research.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Morin, you yourself are a spellcaster, possessing magical affinity far exceeding ordinary people… The potion can produce perfect effects on you, but we cannot guarantee that this effect can also be replicated on ordinary soldiers.”

“Perhaps the potion can only enhance their existing physical qualities, but cannot let them gain spellcasting ability from scratch.”

“Even an ordinary person without magical affinity, their body might not be able to bear the modification of the potion at all, and would directly collapse.”

“To verify this, there is only one way…”

Master Haber didn’t continue speaking, and Morin knew very well what he wanted to say.

And the mage named Haeckel who had just spoken also sighed: “Currently, His Majesty and the Supreme Command have temporarily vetoed the proposal to conduct the next phase of human experiments.”

“Before having absolute certainty, they do not wish to generate the risk of losing control like the Gallic Republic…”

This conclusion instead made Morin breathe a sigh of relief.

He rejoiced that the Empire’s high echelon wasn’t so impatient as to fast-forward to the human experimentation phase like the Gauls.

However, at the same time, he also realized that his identity as this “only template” probably couldn’t be taken off in a short time.

Moreover, according to what Master Haber and the others said, even if they were to mass-produce Saxony’s own “first-generation super soldiers” in the future, it would most likely be using his serum as a template, combined with the captured potions…

“As long as they don’t tell me when the time comes that the first-generation super soldiers can only produce 20, it’ll be fine,” Morin couldn’t help this thought flashing through his mind. (A reference to the 20 Primarchs in Warhammer 40k).

Days passed one by one amidst this high-intensity training and day-after-day “being researched.”

Morin’s daily life, besides eating and sleeping, was exercising.

To some extent, it was indeed like cultivating a “competition-grade Captain Saxony.”

The Imperial Military Medical Center specially renovated a comprehensive training room for him, and Morin would conduct ultra-high-intensity physical training in it every day.

And the returns exchanged for these efforts were also astonishing.

His strength, speed, agility, stamina… every attribute of his body was rapidly improving at an inconceivable speed.

About a month after waking up from his deep sleep, Morin shocked all the researchers in a comprehensive physical test.

The test results showed that, without using any magical buffs, his pure physical functions—including sprint speed, limit strength, reaction speed, and other indicators.

Had comprehensively approached… and in some aspects even surpassed the level of those first-generation “Sentinels” in the Battle of Creil.

It should be known that those first-generation “Sentinels” were already war machines the Gauls had spent a massive amount of resources, through cruel surgeries and drug catalysis, to create.

And Morin merely injected a single potion, then lay in bed for a month, and exercised for a month, nothing more.

What shocked Morin himself even more was that when he checked his system panel, he found that the modification progress of the [Second Generation ‘Sentinel’ Modification Potion] had only just reached 20%.

This made him not even dare to imagine, if the modification effect reached 100%, to what terrifying degree would his physical qualities reach? Far surpassing those out-of-control second-generation “Sentinels” in the underground research institute?

This thought made Morin himself feel somewhat overwhelmed.

Because he knew that as his military rank continuously increased and the instruction unit’s organization continuously expanded, he certainly couldn’t casually go to the front lines to charge like before.

Kleist, Manstein, and the others also had complaints about this long ago…

So in the situation where he would sooner or later retreat to the commander’s seat, suddenly getting such a wave of “enhancement” gave a feeling of having nowhere to exert his strength.

“I keep feeling like an ‘Imperial Warmaster,’ but this title is obviously unlucky…” (Another Warhammer 40k reference to Horus).

This evening, Morin had just finished a day of physical training. After waiting for the researchers to record his physical indicators, he dragged his exhausted body back to his room.

Pushing open the door, he found an extra person in the room.

An old acquaintance he hadn’t seen for a long time, yet was incredibly familiar with… or to him, could be considered his “benefactor” in this world.

The visitor wore a crisp Saxon Army uniform, standing by the window with his back to the door, seemingly gazing at the sunset in the distance.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, he slowly turned around.

A heartfelt smile appeared on that handsome and somewhat spirited face.

“Friedrich, long time no see.”

“Your Highness?”

Morin was stunned.

The visitor was none other than the Crown Prince of the Saxon Empire, Georg, and also the important driving force who truly supported Morin in establishing the instruction unit.

“Your Highness, why are you here?”

After a brief shock, Morin hastily stood at attention, preparing to salute.

“That’s enough, Friedrich… there are no outsiders here, no need for these empty formalities.”

Crown Prince Georg waved his hand, stepped forward, and gave Morin a solid hug.

“Seeing you are fine, I am relieved.”

Georg released Morin, looked him up and down, a look of lingering fear appearing on his face:

“When I learned on the front line the news that you were severely injured and in a coma, and were urgently transferred back to the rear, I wished I could rush back immediately.”

He sighed, his tone carrying a trace of helplessness.

“But at that time, our battle with the Gauls had already reached the most critical moment. The various army groups on the southern front had already counterattacked into Gallic territory, and the Fifth Army Group was also advancing rapidly… As the army group commander, I truly couldn’t get away.”

Morin nodded, expressing understanding.

He knew that for this Imperial Crown Prince who used to love music and was considered unsuitable to be a ruler, this war could also be considered his best opportunity to prove himself to the entire Empire.

At this critical juncture, he indeed couldn’t leave the front line.

“As soon as I came back, I went to the palace to report to my father first, and then came here immediately.”

Georg’s gaze swept over Morin, smiling gratifyingly.

“It seems Master Haber and the others didn’t lie to me. You have indeed recovered very well, even better than I imagined.”

“Your Highness, eating so much stuff here every day, how could I not recover well.”

“Hahahaha, Friedrich, you are still as humorous as ever.”

The two sat down on the sofa in the ward and chatted.

And Morin also realized that since Georg, as the general commander of the Fifth Army Group, could return to Dresden in the rear at this time, this could only mean one thing…

“Your Highness.”

Morin asked tentatively, a trace of a smile on his face:

“Your returning to the rear now, does it mean… the fighting on the Gallic front has already ended?”

Hearing this, Georg was first stunned, then laughed out loud.

“You guy, Friedrich, your mind is still as fast as ever.”

He didn’t deny it, but nodded cleanly and crisply, the smile on his face growing even brighter.

“That’s right, it’s basically considered over.”

“Just three days ago, the Gallic Republic’s provisional government, holed up in Bordeaux prolonging their dying breath, conveyed to us through a neutral country their desire to conduct ceasefire negotiations.”