Chapter 337: Fate Mocks the Ignorant |
The third ascension site outside the galaxy.
The Palu Shadow unfurled within the Warp, shielding them from external eyes.
The ecological ship outputted the power of faith at maximum capacity. Inside the vessel's amniotic tanks, the Paru Boyz chanted around the clock without rest: "Brother Li is cool, strong, and tyrannical!"
Within the Warp, in the zone covered by the Palu Shadow, the psychic projection linked to the Shaman Boy was thriving. It was estimated that within a month at most, its embryonic form would emerge.
Li Nuo sat cross-legged at the center of the ritual array, scrolling through the Dataslate in his hands. On it was intelligence regarding the second ascension site.
The lethal range of a supernova explosion spanned a full fifty light-years.
Within fifty light-years of the detonation point, X-rays and gamma rays could instantaneously unravel the genetic chains of biological life and disable nearly all equipment reliant on electromagnetic signals. The resulting secondary disasters—chief among them the massive detonations of plasma reactors—only made matters worse.
And that was not even the full might of a supernova explosion.
The second layer of destruction from a supernova came from streams of high-energy particles—nuclear radiation.
That was the shockwave expanding outward at one-tenth the speed of light, remorselessly obliterating every object within twenty-five light-years.
The recon vessel assigned to observe the scene had jumped into the Warp just before the supernova detonated, dodging the rays, radiation, and shockwave.
The rays struck with the greatest ferocity, but they also dissipated the fastest.
After just a few minutes of waiting, the rays no longer posed any threat to the scout ship.
The radiation posed no threat to the scout ship; it was the shockwave that demanded caution.
The time it took for the shockwave to dissipate ranged anywhere from an hour to several hours.
To be safe, the scout ship waited in the Warp for eight full hours before returning to realspace.
The scene before them was bizarre and surreal. Gas clouds heavy with various metals and shattered planetary fragments drifted through the void, riding the inertia created by the shockwave.
There was no sign of the Imperium of Man—not even the wreckage of their ships could be seen. This held true whether in realspace or within the Warp.
The only thing left to prove that four primarchs and over 500,000 Space Marines had ever been here was the scattering of adamantium particles mixed among the endless ocean of debris.
The scout ship deployed recovery shuttles, gathering numerous engraved adamantium plating fragments from the debris clusters where the concentration of adamantium particles was highest.
Upon identification, they were confirmed to belong to the primarch of the Space Wolves—Leman Russ.
After another period of salvaging and verification, the adamantium armor plates of Sanguinius, Lion El'Jonson, and Corvus Corax were also discovered one after another.
This showed that in the face of absolute power—a supernova explosion—as long as a primarch had not ascended to daemonhood, there was only one path left to them: death.
If this was the fate of the primarchs, then the end met by the mortal soldiers, Space Marines, and cogboys in the fleet went without saying.
"The Imperium of Man from the age of rebellion should behave themselves now. Subtracting the primarchs and Space Marine legions that already fell to chaos, and subtracting the ones that died in this supernova explosion, just how many legions are left in the entire Imperium that can still be deployed into battle with their full structures intact?"
Li Nuo counted them off on his fingers.
Iron Warriors, White Scars, Imperial Fists, Iron Hands, Ultramarines, Death Guard, Thousand Sons, Salamanders—eight legions in total.
He had to admit, the foundation of the Imperium of Man was truly deep.
Among the legions and primarchs of the age of rebellion, quite a few had turned to chaos, and quite a few had died, yet there were still eight entire legions capable of fighting as complete structural units.
They truly deserved their title as the current hegemons of the galaxy.
If that yellow weasel dared to mobilize eight legions all at once to stop him from attaining godhood, Li Nuo reckoned that even he might not be able to retreat unscathed.
Fortunately, as powerful as the Imperium was, it also made no shortage of enemies. Daemons, Chaos Orks, traitor legions, and xeno civilizations were more than enough to tie down the vast majority of their Space Marine forces.
By a conservative estimate, the number of legions dispatched to stop his next ascension attempt would not exceed three—most likely the Salamanders, the Ultramarines, and the Iron Warriors.
While maintaining the ritual array, Li Nuo discussed countermeasures with Palcador.
Five days passed in this manner before news finally came from the Imperium of Man.
The Blood Raven Boyz responsible for gathering intelligence reported that the Imperium of Man had confirmed the deaths of four primarchs. The total number of mortal soldiers and Space Marines who had perished alongside them reached over three million.
This incident sparked an uproar across the Imperium, with the Eldar facing a barrage of fierce verbal attacks and condemnation for abandoning the field and fleeing alone.
A rumor began circulating through the Imperium:
Since the Eldar had managed to use prophecy to find a window to return to the galaxy from outside it, they must have foreseen the supernova explosion long ago.
They deliberately withheld the warning from the Imperium of Man, deliberately watching as the Imperium's warriors marched to their deaths. This was a conspiracy from start to finish.
The Palu Orks had laid the trap, and the Eldar had worked in tacit coordination with them, guiding the soldiers of the Imperium of Man straight into it to throw their lives away for nothing.
In response to these claims, the yellow weasel gave no answer. The War Council and the Senatorum Imperialis on Terra likewise maintained absolute silence.
Li Nuo figured that until Mars managed to crack the Eldar's Webway technology, the Imperium of Man had no choice but to hold their noses and swallow this bitter pill.
As the saying goes: anticipate the enemy's moves.
After speculating on the Imperium's next possible steps, Li Nuo gave his orders:
"Palcador, we need to keep the Webway firmly in our own hands. I plan to blow up the vast majority of the Webway gates, keeping only the ones the Palu Empire needs to use. Then we'll wipe out the Eldar factions entrenched within the Webway one by one—especially the Black Library. Do you have any good suggestions?"
Palcador stood respectfully at the edge of the ritual array, wearing a coarse linen robe identical to Malcador's, his left hand grasping a staff.
If Li Nuo could find an opportunity to install a hair squig on him and style it into the image of an old man with thinning, balding, semi-long hair, he would truly look practically identical to Malcador.
"Boss, i fink this path will work, only there are a few points that need attention," Palcador bowed slightly and asked:
"I'd like to ask you first: what do you want to turn the humies' Imperium into in the end? Do you want to completely destroy the humie Imperium, or just deal it a heavy blow so it can't recover for a very long time to come? Furthermore, how do you plan to handle the knife-ears of the age of rebellion? Do you mean to wipe them all out, or merely destroy the Black Library and drive the knife-ears out of the Webway?"
Li Nuo considered it for a moment, then said:
"I want to sit on equal footing with the Shrimp Empire. From now on, we walk our path, and they walk theirs. As for the knife-ears—the only good knife-ear is a dead knife-ear. Slaughter all the knife-ears from the age of rebellion, leave not a single one."
Between the Palu Orks and the humies, they could at least communicate based on scientific logic, but there was simply nothing to discuss between the Palu Orks and the knife-ears. The latter had only a single track in their brains; aside from prophecy, they had nothing else.
It always came back to the same truth: if prophecies were actually useful, Slaanesh would never have been born in the first place.
"Understood, Boss. I see your goal," Palcador mused.
"I suggest we start by wiping out the knife-ears. After all, they hold Webway technology in their hands, making them the greatest threat to our position inside the Webway. Since the knife-ears didn't send a supernova warning to those four humie legions, the humie Imperium likely won't go out of its way to help the knife-ears resist our attacks. Besides, the knife-ears have an obvious weakness. If we find an opportunity to shatter the outer shell of an Infinity Circuit and expose their Craftworld to the sight of those rubbish things, the rubbish things will assist us in invading the Craftworld."
Li Nuo raised an eyebrow. While the tactic was somewhat underhanded, it was undeniably viable.
Luganath was the prime example of this.
The Eldar Seers of that Craftworld had not known what was good for them; they left their Infinity Circuit to invade the Loving Father's backyard garden. Who could have guessed that before they even reached their destination, they would fall right into the blue-feathered bird's trap? First they were schemed against by the blue bird, and then they were infected by the Loving Father's plagues. It was a thoroughly wretched sight.
From this, it was evident that as long as they timed it right and breached the Infinity Circuit, those rubbish things would become an aid on their side.
However, this strategy of leveraging the rubbish things carried drawbacks that could not be ignored.
Why were the souls of the knife-ears so much more delicious than those of the humies?
Because their emotional volatility and their affinity for Warp energy far exceeded those of the humies.
More intense emotional swings added more flavor to Warp energy, while their affinity for Warp energy made them much easier to "digest."
Once the knife-ears were devoured by the rubbish things, the power of the rubbish things would grow, and many new rubbish things transformed from the knife-ears would emerge in the future.
On a grand scale, the strategy of drawing "rubbish things" into a "Craftworld" carried a strong element of aiding the enemy.
Yet then again—
To eradicate the knife-ears, they had to destroy the Infinity Circuit, and the moment the Infinity Circuit was destroyed, it was bound to attract the rubbish things.
The appearance of those rubbish things was an almost unavoidable event.
Unless...
Li Nuo narrowed his eyes slightly, an idea forming in his mind:
"When we attack a Craftworld, we can use the Palu Shadow to shroud the Warp and block the rubbish things from prying or intervening. That way, we prevent the rubbish things from growing stronger by feeding on the souls of the knife-ears."
"You truly have great foresight, Boss," Palcador chimed in agreement. "I feel the miraculous uses of the Palu Shadow don't stop there. The Seers of the knife-ears peer into the Warp from within their Infinity Circuits, searching for images of the future to glean their prophecies. I fink we can use the Palu Shadow to shield their eyes, preventing our surprise attacks from being spied upon by the Seers. Of course, the sudden appearance of the Palu Shadow will rouse their vigilance on its own, so we'll need to find a suitable excuse to brush it off until they get used to it."
Li Nuo gave a faint nod:
"You make a solid point. I just remembered something, though. The Black Library is both a Webway space and a Craftworld. It holds relatively high authority within the Webway, meaning it won't be targeted for attack by the Universal Hall. When we assault it, we might not be able to use the Webway turrets left behind by The Old Ones."
"Boss, on that point, I actually have an idea." Palcador tapped his Dataslate, pulling up a holographic map of the Webway routes surrounding the Black Library:
"Take a look here. I noticed that the route terrain around the Black Library is similar to our Palu rear homeland—there is only a single Webway gate used for entry and exit. I fink we don't actually need to destroy the Black Library itself. We just need to destroy the Webway space right next to it, and we can completely seal off the Black Library's sole entrance and exit."
Palcador switched the display on his Dataslate, bringing up a chart detailing the teleportation capabilities of the knife-ears:
"According to the observations and statistics of the Bloodhand Clan, among the entire knife-ear race, only the High Seers and that avatar of the Goddess of Life named Elina possess teleportation abilities. The High Seers' teleportation is relatively weak, covering a range of no more than a thousand light-years. Elina's teleportation power is extremely strong, but there is a cap on the number of targets she can move. The Bloodhand Clan deduces that after completing a meditation session, Elina can transport a maximum of fifty targets at a time, and can only ferry them back and forth between the Black Library and pre-set teleportation beacons—she cannot travel to other locations."
Li Nuo already knew this intelligence.
"Palcador, are you saying that before we seal off the Black Library, we'd better sweep clean all the teleportation beacons outside it first? That's going to be really difficult. No one knows which obscure nook or cranny Elina might have hidden a beacon in. If we miss even a single one, it will lead to even more beacons popping up."
"Boss, your mind is truly meticulous." Palcador offered a word of praise before continuing:
"Clearing out the teleportation beacons really is a troublesome task. Therefore, I suggest we find an opportunity to lure Elina straight into our trap and take her out in one fell swoop. Without Elina, relying solely on their Seers and those pansies, the knife-ears won't be able to make any waves. The only thing we need to watch out for is that the knife-ear gods from other sub-universes might try to meddle."
Li Nuo glanced out the viewport at the ecological ship, then sensed the projection in the Warp once more:
"Let's do this, Palcador: hand me a detailed operational plan first. Whether this attempt at attaining godhood succeeds or fails, destroying the knife-ears is our next move."
"You got it, Boss," Palcador excused himself.
The ritual site returned to tranquility.
Li Nuo waited in peace for the Imperium of Man to come and stop his ascension.
He wondered if, after the supernova explosion incident, the yellow weasel would come up with some new trick to cause trouble.
At the same time.
Within the Obsidian Archive of the Black Library.
Elina stood before a reading stand, leafing through the Book of Fate.
Her fingers trembled slightly, as if she were looking at something she simply could not accept.
Everyone else believed she had known about the supernova explosion long ago.
But in truth, she had not known.
The last time she had checked the Book of Fate, the contents she saw were limited strictly to two sections: "return to the galaxy via a Warp storm" and "continue to stop Li Nuo from attaining godhood." She had never seen the words "supernova explosion."
She originally thought she had simply missed it, or that the Book of Fate had failed to acquire information regarding the supernova detonation.
Yet upon opening this crystalline tome once more, Elina realized she had been wrong.
The book read as follows:
"The most perfect disguise is built upon the truest ignorance.
"Fate did not inform you or the High Seer of the supernova explosion. Only in this way could the Eldar fleet guide the mon-keigh into the greenskins' trap without the slightest fear.
"Only in this way would the mon-keigh lose a massive amount of personnel and four primarchs inside the greenskins' trap.
"Elina, please trust in the revelations of fate.
"In order for a prophecy to be fulfilled, sometimes, fate must conceal certain things from you."
Elina gripped the page, her throat impossibly dry.
Fate had actually hidden the truth from her!
Her own ignorance was actually one of the conditions required to make the prophecy come true!
Elina had always believed herself to be an executor of prophecy, yet looking at it now, she was nothing more than a slave to fate!
She suddenly remembered a question Li Nuo had once asked her:
"If a prophecy commanded you to kill me, would you carry it out without hesitation?"
Without a doubt, those words described the persecution of individual lives at the hands of fate.
Elina's answer at the time had been that she would ruthlessly execute the instructions of the prophecy to ensure its fulfillment.
Yet now that fate's persecution of the individual had fallen upon her own head, as resolute and decisive as Elina had been when facing Li Nuo's questioning back then, that was exactly how terrified she felt right now!
