Chapter 76 108: The Human Instrumentality Project.

The bell rang, and afternoon classes began once more.

Aside from Asuka's occasional teeth-gritting glares and Rei's clandestine observations, everything remained unchanged. If one were to nitpick the details, however, it was that the teachers had been completely replaced.

Gone was the hunched, doddering Yamada-sensei; in his place were robust agents, physically capable of taking down a middle schooler with a single punch—another arrangement Shinji had ordered Mark to handle.

It was a good thing that Asuka had achieved her desires, and Shinji always emphasized the equilibrium between responsibility and glory, so he did not object to the two girls becoming the center of attention. However, he never underestimated the capacity for human malice. A qualified Astartes leaves no loopholes.

Returning to the previous night: Shinji cared nothing for the unspoken rules of this world. Following the trail of clues, he had gone directly to the location of a SEELE member.

There was no need to describe the results of an offline encounter. After some "negotiation," he had successfully embedded a needle within SEELE's interior. Reflecting on it now, it was exactly as he had told Asuka.

Boring.

The masterminds behind the world turned out to be fragile, decrepit old men. Aside from their petty cleverness in weaving conspiracies, they were virtually useless—even their "AT Fields" couldn't compare to Gendo Ikari's.

This was the greatest difference between his home and the Dark Galaxy. In the 40K universe, a mastermind implies absolute power. Finding clues is always secondary, for you must possess the physical capacity to eliminate the threat once discovered. Often, at the end of a massive conspiracy stands a Greater Daemon or a Chaos Lord; that is when the real show begins.

'But in my home, the moment I found the old man, the play had already reached its curtain call.'

Shinji sighed. He had to admit SEELE was quite a disappointment. He had expected formidable enemies, but found only an old man in a wheelchair. The only commendable thing about them was their extreme cowardice and caution.

Information between members was kept strictly confidential. Using puppets and decoys was standard operating procedure. For instance, in the Saionji family, the son served as a Cabinet Minister of Japan; if you went looking for the Minister, you would expose yourself instantly. The true controller of the family was this ninety-year-old man who had long since retreated from public view. Who could have guessed?

From the old man's mouth, Shinji came to understand the operational style of SEELE members: everything was predicated on caution, and their goal was not unexpected.

The pursuit of eternal life?

Such a goal was a cliché. The difference was that in 40K, there were genuine ways to extend the lives of the elite, and even real opportunities for immortality. But for the rotting, worthless garbage that was SEELE, Chaos wouldn't even look twice—well, perhaps except for Nurgle.

Stupid, insane, and foolish. They weren't even as good as the Hive World nobles on the fringe planets; at least a Chaos ritual had a marginal chance of granting immortality.

What kind of immortality was their method supposed to be?

As the agent on the podium lectured from the biology textbook in a flat, wooden voice, and as the middle schoolers daydreamed, Shinji inserted a data disk into his computer. Several words immediately appeared on the screen:

"Human Instrumentality Project (Second Revised Edition)"

The highest secret of this world appeared just like that in an ordinary classroom. It was surreal. This was SEELE's script; even if it wasn't the final version, it allowed Shinji a glimpse into the truth.

He had said there was no rush. Without the need for complex intellectual battles, the script was already in his hands.

His mouse scrolled, and his eyes moved rapidly. Shinji skimmed the text, automatically filtering out the obscure religious terminology and "stream-of-consciousness" filler, distilling the most critical essence.

The plan was based on the Dead Sea Scrolls and contained dozens of sub-projects involving the origins of Adam, Lilith, the Spear of Longinus, and more. The core was to shatter the AT Fields—the walls of the human heart—to achieve the result of "all becoming one."

Indeed, SEELE hoped to perform a ritual to activate an Anti-AT Field, shattering the hearts of billions of individuals to merge them into a single, perfect lifeform that transcended the Angels.

All humanity would return to the source—the Sea of LCL. There would be no more jealousy, anger, or sadness. Without bodies, the concept of lifespan would vanish. Every soul would merge into a singularity, turning humanity into a concept, thereby achieving "eternity."

Truly... what blasphemy and stupidity.

Shinji only needed one glance to lose interest.

A group of trash thinking they are worthy of editing the concept of humanity? Attempting to gain eternity through self-annihilation?

In the 40K universe, billions of humans live in constant suffering, yet every single one of them struggles to survive. No one suggests that everyone should turn into orange juice and give up. Even the Emperor, in his tireless efforts to repel Chaos, never suggested merging the populations of planets to bolster his power.

Still, the idea was novel.

Blasphemy aside, Shinji had to admit the Human Instrumentality Project had a certain creativity to it—creativity rooted in the origins of this world.

Humans were born from the split of the Second Angel, Lilith, inheriting the Fruit of Knowledge. The price was that each individual was extremely fragile, unlike the Angels who possessed the power to level mountains. When countless individuals are dissolved into one whole, that is indeed a power surpassing the Angels. A moment's thought made him tense up.

'It's fortunate that I am the one who returned. If it were someone from the side of Chaos, the consequences would be unthinkable.'

The Human Instrumentality Project would be a massive "gift bag" to a Chaos Daemon. Especially those blue-skinned bastards with bird heads—they would likely scream with excitement.

"Wow, this plan is interesting! Merging the humans of an entire planet into one? Isn't that just a giant soul-energy pack? Do you need help? I can provide everything."

"It certainly has the stench of Tzeentch. Those bird-men might even promote this method everywhere, looking for planets to harvest like crops."

Shinji took a sharp breath. In 40K, the soul is always the most high-end concept, directly linked to the Warp. He knew without thinking that discarding the physical form and merging souls would be delicious to Chaos.

Fortunately, the Blood Ravens are loyal. However, because of this, he now had an answer: this world did indeed possess a "God" in a conceptual sense.

There was clearly a "God" above Adam and Lilith; otherwise, where did they and the Dead Sea Scrolls come from? How else could SEELE devise a ritual to open an Anti-AT Field based on those texts? Terminals like the "Spear of Longinus" and the "Tree of Life" sounded impressive, but rituals were all too common in 40K. Even the "simplest" daemonic incursion had a source.

"But I can guarantee the 'God' here is different from the Chaos Gods. It likely lacks subjective consciousness; otherwise, I would have died the moment I contacted the Negative Universe."

Shinji knew clearly that he was still developing. If "God" had consciousness, it wouldn't have let him live this long.

So, what should be done?

The light faded from Shinji's eyes as his fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk. Escapism and surrender were not in his dictionary. Only cold logic remained in his mind.

First: I have just touched the deep secrets and hold the script, but I lack specific details on the artificial S2 engines, the Spear of Longinus, and the Angel of Freedom. Second: All secrets are related to the Negative Universe. Since Adam and Lilith originate from there, the problem cannot be solved without addressing the root. Third: How does this relate to the mission entrusted to me by the Emperor?

The clues rearranged themselves in his mind. Gradually, he formed a preliminary plan.

Stopping the Human Instrumentality Project was simple: find SEELE, specifically the locations of the members of the Instrumentality Committee, and eliminate them physically.

But that wouldn't solve the fundamental problem. The source of all conflict was the Negative Universe. SEELE was merely using the Dead Sea Scrolls to usurp divine authority and modify the concept of human existence. The endpoint they pursued was merely to become entities equivalent to Adam and Lilith.

Shinji recalled the white giant in Terminal Dogma and the Negative Universe he had glimpsed through the Angel's core. His gaze grew sharp.

The Human Instrumentality Project was blasphemous and must be terminated. However, SEELE's research was already very deep; they had found the ritual to start the Anti-AT Field, a way to resonate with the Negative Universe, and even mentioned the existence of the "Guf."

This "Door of Guf" was somewhat like a Warp Rift, allowing physical contact with the Negative Universe. Of course, humans—creatures of the material universe—cannot normally observe or touch the Negative Universe; SEELE only sought resonance.

'But I am different. I am the only psyker. If resonance is triggered and the door between the material universe and the 'Warp' is opened, theoretically, I can enter. And as my psychic power grows, I may not even need a ritual as grand as the Third Impact.'

Shinji observed the script repeatedly, stepping outside the human perspective to look down from a higher dimension. If the goal was to open a rift, some of SEELE's preparations were actually beneficial to him.

'But I need more rigorous research results. More secrets.'

Ideas require theoretical support. For instance: the growth level of his psychic power; separating the wheat from the chaff; seeing which of SEELE's preparations can be used to open the Door of Guf without triggering the Third Impact or harming humanity.

Furthermore, could all of this be a plot by Tzeentch, trying to use him to open a Warp Rift?

The sheer volume of data made his non-surgically enhanced brain throb with pain. However, he didn't fall into a spiral of overthinking; he wouldn't try to solve everything in one class period.

'There is still time. What I am doing now does not conflict with my goals; I can still stop the Instrumentality Project.'

The Astartes' way of thinking was exceptionally simple: who is the enemy, how to kill the enemy, what preparations are needed, and what backup plans are required. This top-secret document simply gave him a direction to work in. Next was the step-by-step search for answers, investigation of secrets, and solving of problems.

'If I can confirm it isn't a Chaos plot, and confirm the Door of Guf can be opened without triggering an Impact, only then will subsequent ideas have meaning.'

"Shinji, Shinji, what are we eating tonight?"

A chat box suddenly popped up. There was no need to ask who was slacking off in class.

Shinji deleted the files, thought for a moment, and tapped the keyboard.

"Let's have sweet and sour ribs with orange juice."

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