Chapter 353: Entering the Eye of Terror |
The dignified Lord of Palu had taken the initiative to ask his subordinates if there was anything he needed to do himself.
It was absurd, but it had happened, and for good reason.
Because of a severe lack of respect for biodiversity, the Paru Boyz were cut from the same cloth.
Loyal, disciplined, and fierce in battle, they possessed strong subjective initiative while strictly monitoring their own behavior.
The Paru Boyz tasked with combat missions never shirked from battle, never violated military discipline, and followed orders to the letter. Even if a few troublemakers emerged, they would be swiftly dealt with by Ailong and sent back to the mushroom factory to be melted down and remade.
The Paru Boyz and Gretchins tasked with research were full of enthusiasm, hardworking, and possessed a strict sense of secrecy, making them even more worry-free than the average Paru Boyz.
The management-level Paru Boyz responsible for planning generally possessed the genes of ancient orks and Malcador. The higher their rank, the more gene fragments from these two sources they possessed, making them increasingly rational, pragmatic, and loyal.
In short, after using genetic engineering to craft perfect genetic templates for every industry, the Palu Empire had effectively become a self-driving car.
Lino suspected that if he found a chair and sat on it forever without managing anything—just like that yellow weasel—the Palu Empire would still run smoothly.
This made Lino, who was born to toil like a workhorse, a bit unaccustomed to the leisure.
That was why he had asked his previous question.
Was there anything that had to be done by him?
Palcador pondered for a moment before saying, "Boss, based on our current plans, there are two matters that would be best for you to personally participate in."
"Which two?"
"The first is to investigate the situation outside the galaxy in the end times, to find a large star system with abundant resources and no Tyranids."
Lino nodded, understanding Palcador's meaning.
There was no Webway outside the galaxy, and navigation through the Warp wasn't fast enough. Exploring extragalactic star systems would simply take too much time.
However, as a True Ork God, he could ignore the barriers of time and space and forcefully descend upon a certain Ork outside the galaxy.
This speed of exploration was much faster than any scout ship.
The cost, however, was astronomical. It might require tens of millions of tons of Monocrystal just to complete a single survey.
"And the second?"
"The second matter is to investigate the Eye of Terror." Palcador tapped open several documents on his Dataslate and handed them to Lino, continuing, "As of now, the Palu Empire's understanding of the Eye of Terror across the three sub-universes is extremely limited. On one hand, the electromagnetic environment and psionic energy signals within the Eye of Terror are incredibly chaotic, which severely impacts the Flash Clan's exploration efforts. On the other hand, the power dynamics inside the Eye of Terror are overly complex. With primarchs and chaos members whose strength rivals a primarch constantly emerging, it is incredibly difficult for the Bloodhand Clan to conduct on-site investigations.
"Boss, considering we might launch a full-scale assault on the Eye of Terror within five years, I fink it's necessary for us to figure out the situation there in advance."
"The Eye of Terror..." Lino nodded slightly. "Your suggestion is good. Conquering the Eye of Terror comes first, and exploring extragalactic star systems comes later. I will first go to the Eye of Terror in the end times to see the situation. During this time, I leave the affairs of the Palu Empire in your hands."
"Yes, Boss."
Lino returned to the weirdboy hut, pulled out a chair, sat down, and opened his system interface to conduct a targeted search for Orks that met his criteria.
The end times, the normal timeline, inside the Eye of Terror, and Orks uncorrupted by chaos.
These four criteria were strictly necessary. Only after meeting them would he consider secondary conditions like troop strength and fleet size.
[Searching for simulation targets that meet the criteria.]
[Search completed.]
[Search results: 1,302.]
He inhaled sharply.
In the vast Eye of Terror, there were only a little over a thousand Orks who hadn't been corrupted by chaos?
It seemed the harshness of that place might far exceed his imagination.
Lino added a further search condition: "From the search results, filter out the Orks that have complete bodies, are uninjured, and can move freely."
[Search completed.]
[Search results: 12.]
???
What was going on?
The number had dropped so drastically.
Lino pulled up the twelve results and checked them one by one.
[Search Result 1:]
[Name: Greyhammer.]
[Description: Warlord Boss Greyhammer. Accidentally entered the Eye of Terror after encountering a warp storm and became separated from his fleet. Currently scraping by on a death world that exists simultaneously in the physical universe and The Warp.]
[Search Result 2:]
[Name: Laserspear.]
[Description: Warlord Boss Laserspear. Unfortunately landed on a rubbish thing planet. After eliminating the rubbish things pursuing him, Boss Laserspear only has five subordinates left. The group is currently searching for a place to take shelter.]
[Search Results 3 to 7:]
[Names: The Tech Boy, Boom Boy, and Mad Dok serving under Boss Laserspear.]
[...]
It was either a death world or a rubbish thing world.
The Eye of Terror lived up to its rumors; it was a paradise for rubbish things.
Lino opened his personal inventory, rummaged around for a bit, and took out a unique canister of Palu spores.
Ordinary Palu spores were emerald green, with an outermost layer composed of a chitinous membrane that filtered out toxic gases. Another function of this membrane was to lock in moisture and absorb nutrients.
The spores in this canister were vastly different. Their outermost layer was a pre-treated shell of Biological Armor.
As the spore grew and developed, the Biological Armor would evolve and expand in tandem, providing it with all-around protection.
The Palu Psychic Field would emerge within ten minutes of the spore landing, blocking chaos corruption from the outside.
Spores with such tenacious vitality were naturally expensive to produce. A single one was worth a thousand regular Palu spores.
They also had a very easy-to-remember name: "Rubbish Thing Nemesis Spores," specifically designed for explosive troop generation on rubbish thing worlds.
Lino took stock of his inventory and felt it wasn't quite enough.
He took a trip to the Palu Academy and brought away a massive batch of Rubbish Thing Nemesis Spores to replenish his stock.
Fully prepared, he selected the "Laserspear" option and started the simulation.
The scene shifted. Bizarre red rocks appeared before his eyes, and further away floated strange black mountains that looked like five fingers hanging down from the sky.
Lino looked left and right. Laserspear's boyz were sickly, looking incredibly weak and lethargic.
After thinking back carefully, Lino understood.
This planet's atmosphere was toxic, containing a parasite that could latch onto blood vessels and continuously drain the host's blood to grow stronger.
Boss Laserspear had a stronger constitution and hadn't been infected by the parasites yet. However, his boyz were relatively frail in comparison and had all fallen victim to them.
Lino thought for a moment, took a bottle of potion out of his inventory, used a gene extractor to obtain a sample of the parasite, and dropped it into the bottle.
He shook the bottle vigorously. The gene sample rapidly reacted chemically with the potion's primary components, and the liquid's color shifted from transparent to pale green.
With a pop, Lino removed the cork, dragged a Tech Boy over, forced his mouth open, and poured half the bottle down his throat.
The Tech Boy's complexion improved at a visible rate.
"Holy crap, Boss, what kind of medicine is this? It's so cool!" the Tech Boy exclaimed gleefully.
Seeing the potion was effective, Lino followed the same method to quickly synthesize more of it and distributed it among the boyz.
In no time at all, the boyz had shaken off their gloom and were bursting with energy.
"Listen up, all of ya," Lino said, taking out the canisters filled with Rubbish Thing Nemesis Spores and shoving them into the boyz' arms. "These are the rubbish thing nemeses granted to me by our True Ork God, Brother Li. Scatter 'em on the ground, quick. Don't dawdle."
The boyz scattered with their canisters, tossing the spores out in the direction of the wind.
Although the Rubbish Thing Nemesis Spores had thicker outer shells, they were still spores, after all.
A single handful could scoop up about two or three thousand of them. Each one weighed no more than a strand of hair, allowing them to float incredibly far on the breeze.
Gradually, a dark green "mist" spread across the desolate wilderness, adding a touch of verdant life to the crimson earth.
A muffled, thunderous roar echoed from the sky as a gust of fierce wind swept past.
Lino looked up but saw no gathering storm clouds, nor was there any noticeable rise in the air's humidity. Where was this muffled sound coming from?
With the spores fully sown, Lino ordered the boyz to spray "Super Growth Serum" along the wind's path. Another muffled rumble echoed from the sky.
This time, Lino was mentally prepared. The moment the sound appeared, he pinpointed its source.
He watched as the five "black fingers" in the sky magnified and elongated, crashing down like a giant spreading its massive hand to grasp the earth.
"What is that thing?"
The "palm" rapidly expanded on his retinas, and Lino felt an intense, oppressive pressure.
When those five "fingers" finally pierced through the lowest layer of clouds and revealed their true forms to him, a "Holy shit" slipped from his lips.
A massive number of Imperium of Man ships had been twisted together like dough, forming sky-piercing pillars over ten kilometers in diameter that were plunging from the heavens.
Watching the five towering behemoths about to smash into the ground, Lino braced himself for the impact.
His vision grew hazy and illusory, and those five towering giants faded and vanished entirely.
Lino sensed the dimensional shift and the intensity of The Warp's energy, understanding what had happened.
The five towering structures had been transferred into The Warp. This was a characteristic of the Eye of Terror at work.
One second you were in the physical universe, and the next you were forcefully dragged into The Warp—chaotic, ever-changing, and overflowing with uncertainty.
No wonder the Eye of Terror had become a forbidden zone for the Imperium of Man.
Lino steadied his mind and urged the boyz to hurry up with their work.
A few minutes later, the first batch of landed spores sprouted plump fruiting bodies. Their emerald green caps were encased in light brown Biological Armor. The Palu Psychic Field slowly unfurled, radiating an overwhelming sense of security.
A few more minutes passed, and the outline of a Paru Boy's body began to form within the Biological Armor.
The mushroom, having grown over two meters tall, burst apart inside the Biological Armor with the wet tearing sound of an overripe watermelon splitting open. A brand new Paru Boy was born within the shell of the Biological Armor.
"Blood Raven Boyz, reporting to the Boss!" The Blood Raven Boy raised his hand in a salute, standing perfectly straight.
"Flash Boy, ready for action!" a Flash Boy shouted from inside the amniotic chamber of his Biological Armor.
"Steel Brave Boy, Tech Boy, Scholar Boy, Expedition Boy, Painboy... reporting to the Boss!"
Good! Very spirited!
The Paru Boyz stood in neat rows, with new members constantly rushing over to join the formation.
In less than half an hour, over 30,000 Paru Boyz had gathered at the scene, covering every conceivable role.
When it came to leading troops in battle, Lino privately admitted he wasn't as professional as the yellow weasel.
He had prepared a special boy specifically for this operation, having planted the spore and watered it with his own hands.
Now, that spore had matured into a person, perfectly fulfilling its duty.
"Let me introduce you. This is the commander-in-chief of this operation, Neos."
Lino pushed the Emperor Boy, who looked strikingly similar to the yellow weasel, to the front of the stage.
Golden Power Armor, sharp sword-like eyebrows, a cold expression, and indifferent eyes... if one ignored his pale green skin, he was the spitting image of the yellow weasel!
The Emperor Boy's Genetic Purity was roughly 30% of the genuine yellow weasel's.
Lino had removed superfluous traits such as immortality, The Emperor's psionic talent, and his love and obsession for humanity. He retained only The Emperor's military mindset and ability to lead troops.
To a large extent, this was a youth-edition commander-type Emperor. His individual combat strength was only about one-third of the authentic Emperor, slightly stronger than Ailong.
Handing over command, Lino retrieved ample weapons and equipment from his personal inventory to supply the Emperor Boy. He then ordered a Painboy to inject Gene Glands into Laserspear's subordinates, transforming them into Paru Boyz.
After a flurry of activity, the snowballing Eye of Terror exploration team had taken shape. Lino dispatched the Emperor Boy to lead the crowd in exploring the planet and gathering environmental data. Meanwhile, he initiated a new simulation to develop a second exploration team in another corner of the Eye of Terror.
Repeating this cycle three times, three exploration teams led by an Emperor Boy were deployed into the field.
Lino concluded the simulation and returned to his weirdboy hut.
As he refreshed his search results to wait for new simulation targets to appear, he reviewed the Emperor Boy's save file reports.
Half an hour later, new unfortunate souls appeared.
Two Clan Leaders had been swept into the Eye of Terror by a warp storm.
Lino possessed them and developed them into exploration teams.
Later that same day, the total number of exploration teams reached twelve.
At this time, the exploration results of Emperor Boy No. 1 appeared in the save file reports.
[Name: Emperor Boy No. 1.]
[Report:]
[After Emperor Boy expanded his force to 350,000 Paru Boyz, he led an expedition along the planet's meridian toward the polar regions. During the exploration, they utilized scrap materials to construct aircraft, build outposts, and pave landing pads.]
[About an hour ago, the local rubbish things discovered the exploration team, and the two sides engaged in combat.]
[The enemy forces produced a Great Unclean One calling himself Dicalemus Filartoga, who challenged the Emperor Boy to a duel in the name of vengeance.]
[The duel is currently underway. Please monitor the status of Emperor Boy No. 1 closely to prevent his accidental death.]
The Great Unclean One's name was long, yet Lino felt a sense of familiarity.
After a brief moment of recollection, he recognized this servant of Nurgle.
Back during the raid on Luganath, Lino had briefly crossed blows with this Great Unclean One.
Since it was an "old friend," he had to go pay a visit no matter what. He might even be able to pry the exact location of the Loving Father's garden out of the demon's mouth.
