Chapter 456 - 1st Company, Fall In!
This time, the person who walked in was a man wearing the signature robes of the Imperial Magitech Research Institute. He was followed by several researchers also in white robes, clutching file folders.
The newcomer was none other than Master Fritz Haber.
His gaze swept around the waiting room, and a slight smile appeared on his face when he saw the thirty soldiers wearing the instruction unit's uniform.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting."
Master Haber walked to the center of the room, his voice gentle yet firm.
"First of all, please allow me, on behalf of the Imperial Magitech Research Institute, to extend our highest respect to everyone present—the finest warriors of the Imperial Army."
He didn't offer any superfluous pleasantries, cutting straight to the chase.
"I know you all must be filled with questions... Now, I will explain the nature of this mission."
Master Haber paused, seemingly to organize his words, and also to give everyone a moment to mentally prepare.
"You will be participating in a top-secret project spearheaded by the Institute: the 'Donnerkrieger (Thunder Warrior)' Project."
"Simply put, this is a human enhancement experiment... We will inject you with a newly developed 'modification serum'."
"This serum will significantly enhance your physical attributes, granting you strength, speed, and reaction times far exceeding those of ordinary humans, making you true 'super soldiers' of the Empire."
As Master Haber explained, everyone in the waiting room grew serious. Even the instruction unit soldiers, who had been relatively relaxed just moments ago, showed expressions of surprise.
However, Master Haber's next words were like a basin of ice water poured over the newly kindled flames of excitement—mostly for the ten Army elites, of course.
After all, the members of the instruction unit had already been given a heads-up by Morin.
"However, everything comes with a price... This serum is currently still in the experimental phase and carries extremely high risks! Based on our previous clinical trial data, the survival rate of the recipients... is roughly only thirty percent."
"Survival rate... thirty percent?"
The moment Master Haber's words fell, a deathly silence descended upon the waiting room.
The ten elites from the Guard Corps, Alpine Corps, and Stormtrooper Battalion couldn't help but frown at this moment.
Thirty percent?
This meant that of the forty people sitting here, nearly twenty-eight would die in this medical center.
This wasn't risking their lives fighting the enemy on a battlefield, but lying on an experimental bed, entrusting their lives to a small vial of potion, and gambling on that minuscule chance of survival like a game of chance.
A Guard captain's face turned ashen instantly, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.
He thought of his father's expectant face before he departed, thought of his family's honor and future.
Was this so-called "opportunity to change the family's destiny" just gambling on whether he could become a so-called "super soldier"?
The muscles on the faces of the three Alpine Corps veterans also tightened.
They danced with death year-round among the snow-capped mountains and sheer cliffs; they had long disregarded life and death.
But that kind of death was fighting against nature, fighting against the enemy—it was full of honor and dignity.
And now this... what was this? Being a guinea pig?
Even the four Stormtrooper Battalion soldiers who had crawled out of the hell of Verdun revealed a hint of gravity in their eyes.
They were long past fearing death, but they didn't want to die so... pointlessly.
The atmosphere in the waiting room was suffocating. Master Haber stood quietly, observing everyone's reactions.
He didn't rush them, merely waiting patiently, knowing these men needed time to digest this cruel news.
After a long while, one of the Guard captains seemed unable to hold back and was about to say something.
But he ultimately just opened his mouth, looked at the silent "kings of soldiers" around him, and swallowed his words.
He was of noble birth. The education he received since childhood told him... "Honor is my life."
If he were the first to stand up and quit now, he and the family behind him would completely lose their honor because of his actions.
No one else in the waiting room moved either.
They were the elite of the Imperial Army, the pride of their respective units... They could die in battle, but they could not be cowards.
Being a deserter in front of so many colleagues would be worse than killing them.
In this suffocating silence, Master Haber's next sentence "detonated" among the instruction unit veterans like a heavy bomb.
"Before you make your final decision, there is one more thing I need to tell you."
He paused, his gaze shifting to the instruction unit soldiers, his voice carrying a special implication.
"The 'modification serum' provided to you this time could be developed, and possesses such powerful effects... because we obtained a unique 'source blood'."
"This 'source blood' comes from a hero of our Empire... And through our refinement and improvement, we have the first-generation serum you are about to be injected with."
Master Haber's gaze finally landed on Klaus's face.
"And the source of this serum, I believe you gentlemen of the instruction unit should be more familiar with than anyone else."
"He is Imperial Army Colonel, your commander—Friedrich von Morin."
"?!!"
Master Haber's words exploded in the minds of all the instruction unit soldiers like thunder from a clear sky.
"The Commander?!"
"The modification serum is... made from the Commander's blood?!"
Klaus snapped his head up, eyes wide as saucers, staring fixedly at Master Haber as if trying to discern the truth of those words from his face.
The 1st Company veterans behind him also broke into a commotion. Their faces were written with shock, confusion... and an indescribable excitement.
They knew very well Morin's superhuman physique and combat power...
Able to charge through a hail of bullets, able to hip-fire a heavy machine gun with one hand, able to weave through the battlefield like a ghost!
And now, what they were going to be injected with was the power originating from the body of the commander they revered and trusted the most!
The ten elites from other units were also struck speechless by this news.
Colonel Morin!
This name was already a legend in the current Saxon Imperial Army.
His deeds—from the miraculous airborne assault on the Liège Fortress, to turning the tide on several Eastern Front battlefields, to saving the day in Vienna... and his recent miraculous performance in the Balkan Peninsula—had long been passed by word of mouth among the soldiers, deified countless times.
They had previously been guessing what kind of mission required mobilizing so many elites... and now they understood.
This was to replicate the legend of Colonel Morin.
Looking at the excited, flushed faces of the instruction unit soldiers, Master Haber nodded in satisfaction.
He cleared his throat and continued: "Alright... now, does anyone have any questions?"
This time, the moment he finished speaking, a hand shot up with a "whoosh."
It was Klaus.
"Speak, Captain," Master Haber signaled.
Klaus stood up, his eyes burning as he looked at Master Haber, his voice trembling slightly from excitement.
"Master, I just want to ask one question!"
"After injecting this modification serum, will we... will we become as strong as Colonel Morin?!"
This single sentence caused everyone's gaze to focus uniformly on Master Haber.
Yes, could they become as strong as Colonel Morin?
Master Haber looked at Klaus's face filled with longing, and the twenty-nine pairs of equally burning eyes behind him. He smiled and shook his head.
"No, you cannot become as strong as him."
This answer instantly dimmed the light in the instruction unit soldiers' eyes somewhat.
But Master Haber immediately added:
"Your commander was initially injected with the undiluted, unimproved raw 'Second-Generation Sentinel Modification Potion'."
"The effects of that potion were extremely brutal, and the risks were far higher than what you will face... To put it bluntly, Colonel Morin surviving was a miracle that cannot be replicated."
"In subsequent research, based on the blood samples extracted from him and captured technical data, the Institute made extensive optimizations and improvements to the potion."
"We reduced the lethal risk upon injection, but because of this, the enhancement effects were inevitably weakened."
Master Haber pushed his glasses up and gave a relatively specific answer.
"If Colonel Morin is at 100% strength, then after you successfully undergo the modification, you will roughly... possess three to four tenths of his strength."
Three to four tenths?
This number left the ten elites from other units unsure of what to say.
They clearly didn't have an intuitive concept of Morin's strength, but just three to four tenths didn't sound... particularly exaggerated, right?
However, the instruction unit soldiers, upon hearing this answer, collectively plunged into a bizarre silence.
A few seconds later.
"Pfft..."
It was unknown who couldn't hold it back first and let out a laugh.
Then, this laughter spread rapidly among the thirty instruction unit soldiers like a contagion.
"Hahahaha..."
"Three to four tenths? My God!"
"That's enough! That's more than enough!!"
They laughed until they were bent over, some even laughing until tears came to their eyes, as if they had heard the greatest news in the world.
This sudden scene completely bewildered the ten elites. Had this bunch gone crazy?
Only three to four tenths of the strength, accompanied by a seventy percent mortality rate—what was so funny about that?
They couldn't understand.
But the instruction unit soldiers knew exactly what this meant in their hearts.
That was three to four tenths... They had seen with their own eyes how insanely overpowered their commander was!
Able to throw a grown man a dozen meters away with one hand like tossing a chick!
Able to become a literal blur when running!
Not to mention that terrifying physical coordination and reaction speed...
That was the "genuine," one hundred percent strength! And now, they all had the chance to obtain three to four tenths of that power?
This meant that every one of them could become a nerfed version of "Friedrich von Morin." They could accomplish many things on the battlefield they previously wouldn't even dare imagine!
As for that seventy percent mortality rate...
The moment they heard the news, it had already been tossed to the back of their minds.
Having the chance to become as powerful as their most admired commander, even if it was just a fraction of his power, what did risking their lives matter?
"Alright... alright, quiet!"
Klaus fought back his laughter, standing up and shouting loudly, but the corners of his mouth stretched to his ears betrayed his inner ecstasy.
When he turned back to face Master Haber again, the expression on his face had become incredibly resolute.
"Master, we have no more questions!"
He looked around at his comrades behind him, raising his voice again.
"We can't wait any longer! Please begin right now!"
"Yes! Let's start right now!"
"We can't wait!"
The instruction unit soldiers echoed in unison, the scene even becoming somewhat joyful for a moment.
The ten elites from other units, watching this group of "madmen" acting as if they were on stimulants, had their worldviews refreshed once again.
They finally understood why the instruction unit could become a legend.
It wasn't just because of their training and equipment, but because they possessed a near-fanatical conviction and an irrationally blind worship for their commander.
Infected by this atmosphere, the fear and hesitation in the hearts of the ten elites also inexplicably dissipated considerably.
Right, what was there to be afraid of?
To be able to face death alongside the legendary instruction unit, to have the chance to touch that superhuman power—even if they failed in the end, it would still be a spectacular end to their lives!
"Good."
Looking at the group of soldiers with high fighting spirit before him, Master Haber nodded with a complex expression. After all, he was the one leading this dangerous experiment, pushing these Imperial Army elites into perilous danger.
"Since everyone has no objections, then please, follow me."
Under the guidance of the researchers, the forty Imperial elites quickly arrived at the locker room and, as requested, took off their military uniforms, leaving only a pair of shorts.
Following that, they walked through a long corridor lit with bright white lights, arriving in a massive laboratory.
In the center of the laboratory, forty metal beds were neatly arranged.
Each bed was equipped with metal restraints designed to secure the limbs and body.
Seeing these restraints, everyone's heart sank a little. The heroic spirit that had just been kindled was replaced by a sliver of unease.
In silence, under the guidance of the researchers, everyone lay down on their respective metal beds.
"Clack, clack..."
The restraint straps were locked tight one by one. The cold metal pressing against their skin gave rise to a feeling of powerlessness, like meat on a chopping block.
Immediately after, several nurses pushed carts over, deftly inserting a syringe into everyone's arm.
"This is a sedative. It will relax your body and mind so you can face the modification in the best possible state."
The nurse who had guided the Guard officers spoke as she stood beside the Guard captain who had joked earlier.
And this time, her expression finally changed.
"Good luck, Captain... Thank you for your service and sacrifice to the Empire!"
"Hey, I haven't sacrificed yet~ When the experiment is over, I wonder if I might have the honor of inviting..."
Seeing the nurse's expression finally soften, the Guard officer couldn't help but joke.
However, as the pale yellow liquid was slowly injected into his veins, a strong wave of drowsiness swept over him. The Guard officer's eyelids, like everyone else's, grew increasingly heavy, and his consciousness began to blur.
Before Klaus completely lost consciousness, he saw Master Haber personally push in a cart loaded with bright red liquid.
The researchers carefully took out forty syringes filled with that eerie liquid and began injecting them.
"Bzzzt—"
After all this was done, alarms blared in the laboratory.
All the researchers, including Master Haber, evacuated the laboratory at top speed.
Immediately following, a metal door, as heavy as a bank vault door, slowly closed, completely sealing off the entire laboratory.
Outside the laboratory, a large number of heavily armed elite soldiers were already standing by.
They gripped their submachine guns tightly, muzzles aimed at the tightly shut door. If any accidents occurred during the experiment, they would act as the first line of defense, dealing with the situation at all costs.
And in the outer square of the medical center, four "Siegfried Mark I, Modified" Armored Knights had already started their engines.
Pilots from the Teutonic Knights sat in the cockpits, ready to handle the worst-case scenario at any moment.
As the serum began taking effect in their bodies, the bodies of the forty sleeping test subjects also began to undergo earth-shattering changes.
Time lost its meaning in the sealed laboratory. For the forty test subjects lying on the metal beds, it was as if they had plunged into an endless dream.
In the dream, their bodies seemed to be taken apart and reassembled.
Every bone was breaking, every inch of muscle was tearing, their internal organs felt like they were thrown into a meat grinder. The intense agony surpassed any injury they had ever suffered on the battlefield.
But immediately following that, a warm, life-filled energy emerged from the deepest parts of their bodies, repairing those damaged tissues and enhancing them in an incredible manner.
The broken bones in the dream became harder after healing; the torn muscles were filled with explosive power after restructuring.
This was a process of destruction and rebirth.
In the monitoring room outside the laboratory, Master Haber and his research team were watching the scene inside the sealed laboratory via [Eagle Eye].
Clearly, some of the test subjects injected with the modification serum had already begun to react.
They twitched constantly on the metal beds, their limbs twisting at somewhat grotesque angles, and some even began attempting to break free of the restraints.
For the majority of the test subjects, their breathing became extremely rapid, and their skin turned bright red.
Seeing the somewhat panicked expressions of the other researchers, Master Haber spoke up to reassure them:
"This is normal... it is the inevitable violent reaction when the serum modifies their bodies! Have faith in them. They are all the most elite soldiers of the Empire, and their willpower far exceeds any test subject we've had before!"
According to their previous experimental data, roughly one to two hours after the serum injection, the subjects would awaken from the severe pain, with the initial modification of their bodies essentially complete.
And this awakening phase was also the most dangerous phase.
In the last experiment, four out of the six test subjects died suddenly during this phase because they couldn't endure the drastic physical and mental changes, ultimately suffering mental breakdowns, plunging into madness, and dying as their bodily functions lost control.
Time ticked by.
The clock in the monitoring room slowly passed the one-and-a-half-hour mark.
Master Haber's eyes were fixed on the forty figures lying on the beds in the [Eagle Eye] spell.
Suddenly, the hand of one of the figures twitched.
It was exactly the commander of the instruction unit's 1st Company, Klaus Schulz.
Beneath his tightly closed eyelids, his eyeballs were moving rapidly, seemingly undergoing a fierce struggle.
A few seconds later, his eyes snapped open.
There was no confusion of someone just waking up, nor the weakness of having endured severe pain... Those eyes were filled with clarity and a sharp light, like two unsheathed swords.
Klaus just calmly kept his eyes open, staring motionless at the white ceiling, seemingly silently feeling the changes occurring within his body.
He could feel an unprecedentedly powerful force surging through his limbs.
His five senses seemed to have been elevated to an incredible degree, even allowing him to easily sense and distinguish the breathing of the thirty-nine people around him.
Is this... a portion of the power the Commander possesses?
An indescribable excitement surged in Klaus's heart.
Soon, following Klaus's awakening, the instruction unit veterans around him also opened their eyes one after another.
"Hey, Company Commander Klaus, how do you feel?" A veteran closest to him turned his head and asked softly.
"I feel... I feel incredibly good." Klaus grinned. "It just feels like my whole body was smashed thoroughly with a sledgehammer, but now it's full of strength."
"Me too!" Another chimed in. "I feel like I could punch a cow to death right now!"
"Holy crap, my tinnitus is cured?! I was concussed by a shell on the front lines before, and my left ear kept ringing. Now there's no sound at all! I can hear clearer than ever!"
"Wait, I think my eyesight has gotten better too?!"
The awakened instruction unit soldiers excitedly discussed their feelings in low voices, acting like children who had just received new toys.
In the monitoring room, seeing this scene, Master Haber and the researchers quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Excellent! The willpower of the instruction unit soldiers is truly extraordinary!"
"It seems the success rate this time will be much higher than we anticipated!"
However, the relieved expressions on their faces did not last long.
Because an inhuman roar, filled with brutality and madness, suddenly echoed from another corner of the laboratory!
"Roar!!!"
Everyone's heart skipped a beat, immediately turning their eyes to the screen showing the source of the sound.
They saw a Guard officer whose eyes had turned completely crimson the moment he woke up.
His muscles bulged in an exaggerated manner, stretching the restraint devices on his body until they creaked.
He struggled and roared madly, white spittle drooling from his mouth, looking like an enraged beast.
"Not good! Test subject 13 has lost control!"
Before Master Haber could issue any orders, two soldiers from the Alpine Corps and the Stormtrooper Battalion exhibited the same symptoms. They also plunged into madness immediately upon waking, struggling and roaring recklessly.
In an instant, the rising and falling roars in the laboratory replaced the previous calm.
What shocked Master Haber the most was that even among the instruction unit soldiers he felt most assured of and who performed most stably, several individuals successively showed similar symptoms upon waking.
Their eyes became unfocused and mad, and they began writhing wildly on the metal beds like their comrades.
"Damn it! How could this happen!" Master Haber's face turned incredibly ugly.
"Activate emergency protocols! Prepare to release sedative gas!" a researcher shouted loudly.
Simultaneously, in the laboratory, watching their comrades and colleagues struggling madly under the restraint straps, almost breaking free, Klaus's heart leapt into his throat.
Although he couldn't see the situation in the monitoring room, he knew Master Haber and the others were definitely watching.
"Master Haber!" Klaus shouted with all his might. "What do we do now?! Are there any emergency protocols?!"
Klaus's shout clearly reached the monitoring room through the pickups.
Master Haber took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He knew this was the most critical moment; any wrong decision could lead to the complete failure of the entire experiment.
He walked to the microphone and pressed the talk button.
"All test subjects who remain lucid, attention! Listen to my commands!"
"We anticipated this situation and prepared an emergency protocol."
"Beneath each of your metal beds is a key to unlock the devices! Although your limbs are restrained, the keys and the unlock mechanisms are within your reach! Please quickly release your restraints, and immediately evacuate through the laboratory's emergency exit!"
"As for those... test subjects who have fallen into madness, we will 'process' them! Please do not interfere; evacuate immediately!"
Master Haber emphasized the word "process" heavily.
Klaus instantly understood the meaning behind those words...
He turned his head, looking at a comrade struggling madly not far away.
That was a veteran who had crawled out of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood in Charleroi with him. Just a few days ago on the Balkan positions, they were sharing a captured can of Balkan-style food, dreaming about going home to marry and have children after the war ended.
And now he was supposed to watch helplessly as he was 'processed' like a wild beast?
Just then, the Guard officer who had gone mad first let out an earth-shattering roar.
"Crack—!"
Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of metal breaking, relying on that brute, uncontrolled strength, he actually snapped the restraint device on his wrist by force!
Next were his ankles, his waist...
In less than ten seconds, he jumped down from the metal bed, his crimson eyes scanning his surroundings. He emitted a low growl, like a starving wolf looking for prey.
His gaze quickly locked onto a test subject who hadn't woken up yet closest to him.
That was a soldier from the Stormtrooper Battalion, still lying quietly on the bed, completely oblivious to the approaching danger.
"Not good!" Master Haber's face changed drastically in the monitoring room. "Quick! Authorize the external security forces, prepare to force entry!"
"It's too late!"
At this critical moment, Klaus also let out a furious roar.
He didn't waste effort looking for any unlock key. Instead, he forcefully exerted his arms, his entire body's muscles tensing instantly. That newborn power erupted from his body like a volcanic eruption!
"Bang! Bang!"
With two loud bangs, the metal straps restraining his wrists were actually snapped by him!
"Master Haber! Please give us a chance!"
Klaus shouted loudly while breaking the restraints on his feet in the same manner:
"Let us try! Let us try to see if we can calm our comrades down! They are not monsters! They are just... just temporarily lost!"
In the monitoring room, Master Haber and the other researchers were all stunned.
Let them do it?
Let a group of "rookies" who had just received the enhancement, their strength skyrocketing but not yet fully adapted, deal with another group of "madmen" who had completely lost control, their strength equally skyrocketing?
This was too dangerous!
"No! Captain Klaus! Evacuate immediately! This is an order!"
Master Haber refused decisively.
In his view, these test subjects like Klaus who had successfully pulled through were the Empire's most precious assets. They could not be allowed to take this risk.
"I refuse the order!"
Klaus leaped down from the metal bed, landing steadily on the ground.
He glanced around. Those 1st Company veterans who had also successfully awakened and forcibly broken free from their restraints had the same brilliance flashing in their eyes as his.
"Master Haber, I'll say it again!"
Klaus's voice was incomparably resolute:
"Among those who have gone mad are our brothers-in-arms! Whether he is alive or dead, he is a brother-in-arms of our 1st Company! I will not abandon him to be 'processed' like trash by you!"
With that, he ignored the reaction in the monitoring room and used all his strength to roar out the command they were most familiar with.
"1st Company, fall in!"
"Here!"
Over twenty veterans, equally bare-chested and exuding powerful auras, roared in unison, their voices shaking the walls!
Klaus took a deep breath, looking at those mad figures who had broken their restraints and were about to run amok in the laboratory, and issued his first order after being "reborn."
"Target: all out-of-control personnel!"
"Mission: calm them down!"
"Yes! Company Commander!"
As everyone's words fell, Klaus let out a low growl, his legs pushing hard against the ground. Like an arrow leaving the bow, turning into a blur, he charged toward the Guard captain who was about to pounce on an innocent!
The 1st Company veterans behind him also charged forward without hesitation. Forming the three-man combat teams they were most familiar with, they tacitly flanked the out-of-control targets closest to them!