Trenches, Guns, and Magic

As Klaus led his men to pounce, an "unrestricted fighting battle" among enhanced soldiers brazenly erupted within the sealed laboratory!

In the monitoring room, Master Haber and the other researchers watched the blurry, accelerated afterimages on the [Eagle Eye] screen, and their incredibly tacit tactical coordination even in hand-to-hand combat. Everyone was shocked speechless.

At this time, they also encountered the same problem Ludwig had faced earlier: the "refresh rate" of the spell-generated image seemed a bit insufficient...

"My God... does this count as completing the combat test early?" a young researcher muttered to himself.

"At least the close-quarters combat test should be pretty much covered..." another researcher chimed in.

The expressions on the other researchers' faces also cracked a bit; they didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

They had previously discussed internally how to conduct tests for the successful subjects that were as close to actual combat as possible.

The most direct method—deploying them onto the battlefield?

Doing so was somewhat risky, and researchers wouldn't be able to conduct follow-up observations.

Simulated combat tests in a testing area?

The intensity wouldn't be high enough. Everyone would pull their punches, so they might not be able to test their full strength.

Well, now this "no-holds-barred fighting tournament" in the testing area had partially solved some of those problems...

Master Haber opened his mouth but ultimately didn't issue an order to intervene. He merely waved his hand, signaling the others to stand by.

Upon receiving his order, the squires wearing magitech power armor, ready to breach, and the soldiers behind them with weapons off safe temporarily halted their actions.

However, the squires still held their war hammers and other blunt weapons, remaining on high alert.

"Master Haber, do we need to lower the mana supply to the laboratory?" another low-circle mage researcher of the Saxon Empire asked.

Hearing this, Master Haber hesitated.

Based on the results of several previous animal experiments and the last human clinical trial, increasing the mana concentration in the subjects' area after serum injection could effectively enhance the modification effects.

Back when he injected Morin in the underground laboratory in Paris, the entire lab was in a short-term high-concentration mana environment due to the magitech core malfunctioning from lack of maintenance.

According to the Imperial Magitech Research Institute's speculation, this high-concentration mana environment also played a critical role during Morin's modification process.

Therefore, when the Imperial Military Medical Center was expanded, a separate mana supply hub was specially constructed for the testing area.

However, the Saxon Empire's technology regarding magitech cores and mana hubs was still somewhat lacking; they couldn't achieve large-scale precise control, so they could only lock everyone together for "centralized mana supply"...

Master Haber looked at the few test subjects inside the laboratory who hadn't fully awakened yet and replied:

"Maintain the mana supply for now. Wait until the remaining test subjects awaken, then cut off the mana supply and lower the mana concentration in the testing area."

"Yes, Master!"

Meanwhile, the battle inside the laboratory instantly reached a white-hot stage.

That out-of-control Guard captain had completely lost his reason; his eyes held only a berserk desire to attack.

Just as he was about to attack the unconscious "Stormtrooper Battalion" soldier lying on the bed, a dark shadow slammed heavily into him from the side.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, the Guard captain flew through the air as if hit by a truck, crashing heavily into a row of metal beds. The massive impact severely deformed the sturdy metal frames.

Klaus, who had brutally tackled the captain mid-air with his shoulder, didn't stop his attack, but pressed the assault.

Because that Guard captain, acting as if nothing had happened, flipped over and scrambled up. With a furious roar, he pounced towards Klaus again.

"The effects of this serum are a bit too good... Is this really only three-tenths of the Colonel's ability?"

While sprinting, Klaus shook his slightly numb shoulder, complaining inwardly.

He could feel that the opponent's strength seemed even a few notches higher than his own.

This was probably because the opponent had completely abandoned reason, unreservedly unleashing the power granted by the serum, while he still had to split his attention to control himself and think.

Seeing the opponent pounce again, Klaus didn't retreat but advanced. With a standard combat side-step, he easily dodged the opponent's frontal charge. Simultaneously forming a fist with his right hand, he struck fiercely under the opponent's ribs from an extremely tricky angle.

"Thud!"

Fist met flesh, producing a muffled sound.

However, the captain's body merely swayed, his offensive momentum undiminished. He countered with a sweeping backhand haymaker aimed at Klaus's jaw.

Klaus had anticipated this. As he dropped his stance, his mind flashed back to the time when Morin, still just acting company commander, shared combat techniques with everyone during their downtime.

"When a punch comes at you, don't dodge backward—dodge forward and press in!"

In the beginning, although everyone admired Morin's combat command abilities, they felt his hand-to-hand combat skills were probably just average.

After all, how strong could a scrawny noble scion be?

But when Klaus sparred with Morin, he realized he was dead wrong...

Morin had real skills.

Leaving aside his fierce boxing and integrated hand-to-hand techniques, he also possessed a mixed martial arts skill set that Klaus and the others had never seen before.

That moment then, exactly like this moment now...

At the time, Klaus also threw a backhand haymaker, even worrying that hitting Morin on the jaw with too much force would knock him out and end things badly.

But Morin, just like Klaus now, dropped straight down to dodge, then stepped in close, closing the distance to point-blank range.

Immediately following, utilizing the power from his front foot landing, he pushed off the ground, dropped his shoulder, lowered his elbow, and twisted his waist. Gathering the strength of his entire body into the point of his elbow, he drove it straight into the target's solar plexus like a battering ram.

"Boom!"

Morin had pulled his punch during sparring, merely tapping him, but this Guard captain was not so lucky.

He was knocked flying for the second time, smashing directly against the wall and cracking a large section of it.

Before the Guard captain even hit the ground, two other 1st Company veterans had already flanked him from the left and right.

The two directly wrestled him to the ground, then quickly pinned his four limbs, finally temporarily controlling this berserk "beast."

"Damn it! Wake up! You idiot!!"

Klaus, who had pounced over, roared. His other hand, showing no mercy, wound up and delivered a massive slap hard across the captain's face.

"Smack!"

The crisp sound was exceptionally loud in the chaotic laboratory.

What answered him were the captain's even more frenzied roars and struggles.

"It's useless! This guy can't understand human speech anymore!"

The veteran pinning the left arm and leg shouted. He felt the guy in his arms was like a bull with infinite strength, liable to break free at any moment.

"Then beat him until he understands!" A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Klaus's eyes. "Hold him down! Don't let him hurt himself, and don't let him hurt anyone else!"

Saying that, he wasted no more words, directly using the simplest and most brutal method of "physical awakening," attempting to slap the opponent out of his madness.

"Ora ora ora ora—!"

Similar scenes played out simultaneously in every corner of the laboratory.

Those awakened 1st Company veterans, using their superb combat skills and seamless teamwork in groups of three, rapidly surrounded and subdued the berserk test subjects one by one.

One out-of-control Alpine Corps veteran possessed boundless strength. He grabbed a metal bed and swung it wildly like a hammer, forcing the three instruction unit soldiers surrounding him to retreat continuously.

"Flank! Attack his lower body!" one of the instruction unit soldiers shouted.

The other two immediately understood. One executed a sliding tackle straight for the veteran's legs, while the other seized the opportunity to close in from the other side, delivering a vicious chop to the back of his neck.

"Clang!"

The metal bed dropped to the floor. The veteran's body swayed, and before he could react, he was already firmly pinned to the ground by the three men.

On the other side, a berserk instruction unit brother-in-arms was astoundingly fast.

He even retained a portion of his "combat thinking," directly using a wall-run to escape the encirclement. Darting around like he was flying over eaves and walking on walls, he was impossible to lock onto.

"This kid is a bit agile. Find a way to take him down!" a veteran tasked with surrounding him shouted.

Hearing his words, another besieging veteran picked up a torn piece of a metal-tipped restraint strap from the floor, anticipated the target's path, and whipped it directly at his feet.

The strap swept over like a tripwire. But this berserk instruction unit soldier was truly agile. In the instant he was tripped and lost his balance, he forcefully propped himself up with his hands, attempting a flip to recover.

However, just this single opening gave the other two veterans a chance.

They seized the opportunity to pounce, using other restraint straps to tie him up quickly and efficiently, just as they bound prisoners during frontline reconnaissance missions.

In the monitoring room, Master Haber and his team were completely dumbfounded.

As people who spent their days dealing with magic in research institutes and mage towers, they had clearly rarely seen such fierce hand-to-hand combat.

Precise judgment, tacit coordination, supplemented by strength and speed far exceeding ordinary humans after serum enhancement...

This group of instruction unit soldiers, even when facing equally powerful, out-of-control peers bare-handed, still managed to display their technical and tactical skills to the fullest.

This no-holds-barred fighting tournament lasted for nearly half an hour.

The entire laboratory looked completely unrecognizable.

Deformed and broken metal beds were everywhere. The walls and floors were densely covered with cracks and craters, as if ravaged by a herd of prehistoric behemoths.

When everything finally calmed down, all the out-of-control test subjects in the laboratory—whether noble Guardsmen, Alpine "kings of soldiers," or their own comrades—had been successfully "subdued."

They were all bruised and battered, slumped on the floor like puddles of mud. Although still twitching and growling unconsciously, they had lost all ability to attack.

And those instruction unit soldiers responsible for controlling the berserk subjects were also sporting quite a few injuries.

Klaus plopped down on the floor, panting heavily.

He glanced at his knuckles, which were already a bloody mess, unable to tell if it was his own blood or that of the Guard captain he had just "physically persuaded."

He looked around, confirming all "trouble" was resolved and all still-unconscious test subjects were unharmed, before looking toward the main door and grinning.

"Alright, Master Haber!"

"You can come in now!"

Soon, the main doors were reopened, and heavily armed squires led cautious soldiers carefully inside.

Because they hadn't seen the combat scenes inside and didn't know how fierce the fighting had been, many gasped when they realized the area was completely unrecognizable from its original state...

And the over twenty instruction unit soldiers, wearing only shorts, their bodies rippling with muscles, stood beside the subdued test subjects.

They were covered in bruises and scratches, some with blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, but their eyes were exceptionally bright.

Only after confirming there was no further danger did Master Haber and the other researchers follow them in.

Master Haber walked quickly to Klaus. Instead of checking on the unconscious subjects first, he grabbed Klaus's hand and carefully examined the wounds on his knuckles.

Only then did Klaus notice that the wounds on his knuckles had actually mostly healed.

"It worked, it really worked... And the modification effect is even better than last time!"

Master Haber muttered, half-shocked, half-delighted, then looked at Klaus.

"After the enhancement from the modification serum, minor wounds like these on your bodies will heal extremely fast. And as long as the wound isn't fatal, your recovery speed will be much faster than a normal person's..."

"And this is only three-tenths of the Colonel's effect?" Klaus asked.

"Yes."

"That's truly... miraculous..."

Klaus raised his fists, looking at the wounds that had already begun to scab over in just a few minutes, and couldn't help but sigh:

"I wonder to what extent the Colonel's recovery speed has reached~"

Master Haber: "Then no one knows. Except for that time in the Paris underground laboratory, I haven't heard of him sustaining any serious injuries..."

"That's true."

"What do you mean 'true'? Don't think laughing it off will make this go away! Reckless! Absolutely reckless!"

Master Haber looked up at Klaus again, his tone suddenly becoming stern.

"Captain Schulz Klaus, how old are you? You have considerable age and years of service, how could you be so rash?! Do you know you guys almost got yourselves killed just now!"

"We are brothers-in-arms."

Klaus looked at the comrades lying on the floor, his eyes softening.

"We never abandon a single brother, whether on the battlefield or in here."

Master Haber fell silent.

He looked at this group of scarred but spirited soldiers before him, looking at the heartfelt concern in their eyes when they looked at their companions, and he seemed to somewhat understand why this unit possessed such powerful combat strength.

While the two spoke, the other researchers had already begun quickly examining the others, especially the dozen or so lying on the floor.

They first injected the unconscious test subjects with strong sedatives, then began checking their injuries and vital signs.

"Report! Test subject 13's vital signs are stable. Visual inspection shows multiple soft tissue contusions; other symptoms currently unclear!"

"Test subject 25's lower jaw dislocated, relocated, no life-threatening danger!"

"Test subject 38... uh, might have three broken ribs, requires further examination!"

"Test subject 11... loss of vital signs..."

"Test subjects 16 and 18, loss of vital signs..."

The final results of the experiment were not perfect. Even though the final survival rate far exceeded the thirty percent Master Haber mentioned, and even though Klaus and his men successfully subdued all the berserk test subjects... not all berserk subjects pulled through.

3 veterans of the 1st Company, 2 Guard officers, 1 Stormtrooper, and 1 Alpine Corps veteran—their bodies ultimately couldn't hold on, losing vital signs just like that after suddenly calming down.

Led by Klaus, the 33 surviving test subjects gathered the bodies of their comrades together, and just like in the trenches on the front lines, held a brief farewell ceremony for them.

As the medical center staff began carting away the bodies, Klaus approached Master Haber.

"Master Haber... what do you plan to do with our colleagues?"

Hearing Klaus's question, Master Haber clearly hesitated, obviously thinking about how he should phrase it.

But ultimately, the Imperial Mage sighed and spoke the truth:

"Regrettably, we need to recover the remains of these test subjects for some research. I believe you now clearly understand their value... But please rest assured, once all research is concluded, we will bury them."

Klaus ultimately didn't dwell further on this issue. After a moment of silence, he asked his final question.

"One more question, Master Haber... when can we return to the Colonel's side?"

"Soon... you will quickly need to begin replenishing a massive amount of energy, so you need to complete that replenishment here."

Master Haber paused, then continued:

"Trust me, the front lines definitely cannot satisfy the energy intake you need at this stage. Once the effects of the modification serum gradually stabilize and you adapt to your new strength, you can return to the front lines."

"As it happens, when Colonel Morin was here undergoing research, he offered some suggestions for the 'Thunder Warrior' project. The Institute has indeed developed some new equipment; you can try it out while you're here."