The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Lana Kalubi never thought she would dream again.

She seemed to have just awakened from the throes of illness, her once fleshy body rising from the soft mattress. With a sullen expression, she draped the large, ill-fitting, and extravagant robe over her still-vigorous form, then went to her dressing table to use cosmetics to erase the subtle signs of disease that had begun to appear on her face.

As a noblewoman of the Mupekta Dynasty, she had to maintain her appearance at all times, both for the sake of her family and for her future husband.

Face was more important than life itself.

But in her heart, there was something more important than marrying or having children. Lana turned to her desk, where a high stack of books was piled up, all of them the most complex mathematical and scientific classics, as well as a projection sphere that could form virtual images.

From a young age, she had been a playful and independent girl, never bound by the cumbersome and heavy aristocratic regulations, and had always longed to become a true scientific technician, just like her cousin—instead of that desperate, vulgar, and short life, marrying a nobleman she didn't know, having children, passing on the cursed genes to the next generation, and then dying in pain, perhaps without even seeing her grandchildren before her death.

But her mother, that old woman who was nearing the end of her life, told her that this was her responsibility, and the destiny of the Deathless race from generation to generation. Only in this way could the continuation of the dynasty be guaranteed. Although the flesh would wither, the bricks and tiles of the dynasty were eternal and immortal. Whether it was the life of a noble or the life of a slave, their essence was the same, and they were all to be used to ensure that the foundation of the dynasty would always exist.

But Lana still couldn't understand whether it was a curse or hope to continue a cursed dynasty so futilely.

At least, while alive, she wanted to live for herself, not for some responsibility or obligation, even though it sounded a bit selfish.

Feeling something in her heart, she stood up and wanted to walk to her desk, but suddenly felt her knees weaken and then fell to the ground. Her heart seemed to be gripped by a large hand, and the excruciating pain threatened to stop it at any moment, causing her to let out a slightly painful groan.

But she still wanted to struggle to crawl to her desk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in the hurried footsteps, someone grabbed her hand, picked her up, and held her in their arms.

"Quick, drink this."

A crystal bottle was brought to her lips, and Lana immediately opened her mouth and sucked the light green liquid inside.

In an instant, the pain left her, and this near-death experience made her shoulders tremble, and she was covered in sweat.

"Why are you being stubborn and not taking your medicine? Is it because your uncle smashed your abacus?"

Lana nodded vigorously while crying.

Then a pair of hands wearing several rings held her face, forcing her to look up and meet their gaze.

This was a woman slightly older than Lana, with obvious asymmetry on her left and right faces, a very collapsed nose, and an appearance that could be described as ugly by Deathless standards. She also wore a gorgeous robe, but she wore a pendant composed of geometric patterns around her neck, showing her a very unique identity—a tech-scholar of the Higher Technician Academic Community.

The birth of this organization originated during the Deathless's first war of division. During the civil war, a group of tech-scholars who possessed advanced technology maintained a neutral position in the conflict, and then took the opportunity to sell weapons and war knowledge to the dynasty that offered the highest price, thereby making a fortune. As the intensity of the war increased, the strength of the community also continued to grow, and it soon became a leading comprehensive technology group in the Deathless race, integrating scientific research, production, and exploration.

At the same time, it was also one of the few organizations in the Deathless where men and women were completely equal, and there were many talented female tech-scholars inside.

But this community had now been destroyed. Before launching a war against their ancient enemies, the Deathless's Triune Council, on the pretext that no organization had the right to control the trading of key technologies and weapons, suppressed the tech-scholars. (When facing technology groups, the Silent King chose an iron fist, while the Ham King chose compromise.)

Under the Triune Council's strong suppression, the organization of the Higher Technician Academic Community was completely crushed, and its surviving members had to scatter and vowed to serve the Deathless race forever and not establish a group again in order to survive.

And the person in front of Lana was her cousin, A-Hotep. The two had played together since childhood. Shortly after the other party broke through numerous obstacles to join the Higher Technician Academic Community, the organization was forcibly disbanded, but she still insisted on her identity as a tech-scholar and became Lana's role model.

"Lana, expressing dissatisfaction is possible, and should be, but don't threaten your own physical safety."

"But."

A-Hotep sighed softly and hugged her.

"There will always be a way, but no matter what you do, you must protect yourself first, understand?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, the ground is cold, get up, let me help you clean up first."

A-Hotep took Lana's hand and stood up, then went to a small room next to her, which looked like a bathroom, but there were no washing items, only many pipes, crystal bottles, and a huge device similar to a bathtub.

The female tech-scholar selected a few crystal bottles, then poured the liquid inside into the device, then manipulated the rising panel and tapped a few complex symbols, and soon it was filled with colorful colors.

Lana took off her robe and inner clothes, walked into the device, and slowly lay down, and then many small mechanical tentacles stretched out from inside the device and clung tightly to various parts of her body.

The first thing every Deathless noble does every morning when they wake up is to perform such a ritual, carefully cleaning their bodies, looking for rough patches or hard swellings, because these signs herald the beginning of their life countdown. When the ruthless god of death hidden in the genes quietly arrives, it will never let any Deathless die quickly and peacefully.

This is the curse that has enveloped the Deathless race for countless years. Although their technology has allowed them to crush stars and conquer the vast stars, it cannot allow them to live a little longer.

Even those doctors who can use all high-authority technology can be called highly skilled if they can allow nobles suffering from genetic decay cancer to live past the age of forty.

"Well... because you didn't take your medicine last night, the disease progression is a little faster than normal, so it may take a little longer."

Although she was soaking in the liquid, it didn't affect Lana's speech. She also knew that she was being willful, so she said with a slightly shy expression:

"Thank you... Cousin."

"Don't do such stupid things again. I've already brought you a new abacus."

"I'm not angry because of this..."