The fleet spearheaded by the Ark of Omen was named the Pale Fleet.
Abaddon entrusted each Ark of Omen to a trusted Chaos Warband, tasking them with executing his strategies.
These powerful Chaos forces quickly became the primary adversaries of the Indomitus Crusade.
Gursogg the Withered Lord gained control of the Ark of Omen, the Ogre, and his Warband, the Sons of Decay, launched successive attacks aboard the Ark of Omen.
He repeatedly defeated multiple Imperial expeditionary battle groups.
He also spread plagues to 77 worlds, causing the horrific deaths of countless Imperium of Man citizens.
Nurgle even bestowed a blessing upon him for this, granting him stronger vitality and resilience.
Chagraz, the Iron Warriors Warpsmith, acquired the Harbinger of Suffering.
Leading a force comprised of Dark Titan Legions, renegade Astra Militarum, and fully loyal Iron Warriors Warbands, he launched successive assaults on Imperial fortresses, star forts, and other vital military installations.
He continuously destroyed and enslaved tens of billions of Imperium of Man citizens, forcing them to labor in his dark factories, expanding his sphere of influence manifold in one fell swoop, acquiring several ancient Chaos artifacts, and unexpectedly ascending to the rank of Chaos Undivided Daemon Prince.
These two were merely examples among the many in the Pale Fleet.
After receiving Vashtorr's aid, the Chaos forces, led by the Black Legion, rapidly grew in strength.
They inflicted severe damage upon the Imperium of Man.
Wherever the shadow of an Ark of Omen fell, bloody battles erupted, leading to countless human deaths and the destruction of numerous vital factories and Hive City.
Abaddon was highly satisfied with these results; the Imperium of Man would surely be annihilated by his full assault.
However, he did not abandon his oath; he ordered all Pale Fleets to prioritize collecting the key fragments Vashtorr had spoken of.
Each Ark was equipped with a large number of enslaved Psyker, their skulls parasitized by insectoid daemon helmets. These vile devices allowed them to track the unique key fragment signals.
These key fragments varied.
Some were ancient, charred Cogitator machines, others meteorites embedded in planetary bedrock.
And some were merely pieces of old scrap metal.
This perplexed the Chaos Warbands executing the mission, but Vashtorr offered no explanation, merely adamantly demanding that every Warband that obtained a key fragment place it into the Ark's teleportation gate for transport.
He simply demanded that they continuously attack the worlds containing key fragments and execute the plan.
The crucial nexus fortress world of Kholtosha III thus fell into war.
Over 200 Astra Militarum regiments were stationed here, along with a large quantity of advanced weaponry and equipment.
The entire planet was armed to the teeth, with countless defensive turrets, shield generators, and a powerful Imperial fleet in orbit.
At the same time, a large number of Players gathered here, cooperating with Primaris Battle Groups to resist the Chaos invasion.
The main force of the invasion was Gursogg the Withered Lord, who controlled the Ogre.
He issued war orders in the name of the Plague God, intending to transform Kholtosha III into a world of pus, and simultaneously find the key fragments for the Despoiler.
As the war began, various different plagues appeared on Kholtosha III.
Many defenders fell, losing their combat effectiveness.
This was followed by a series of saturation bombardments, paralyzing ground-based anti-aircraft fire.
Subsequently, large-scale landing operations commenced.
Thousands of landing craft obscured the sky; ground defenders fired desperately, shooting down many landing craft.
However, a large number of landing craft still successfully landed, deploying various types of landing troops.
Fierce battles unfolded along the fortresses built on magnificent mountains and across the open plains.
Plague weapons blessed by Nurgle turned thousands of loyalists into bubbling slime.
Daemon-controlled armored units rampaged across the plains, engaging Imperial Knight Households and Titan Legions.
The sound of explosions had not ceased since the war began; dense Mushroom clouds continuously rose.
Under the ravages of war, the weather became imbalanced, and radioactive snowflakes fell.
The entire planet was reduced to a wasteland; some areas were scorched earth, then pulverized.
"Brothers, we need reinforcements! Lend a hand!"
"For the Guide's sake, pull me out! Hurry and send support!"
The Player who went to reinforce, Bu Dao Bing, shouted in the communication channel.
He also uploaded a video; the enormous Ark of Omen was very conspicuous.
Even from the ground, it was clearly visible, with its writhing flesh and metallic tentacles.
Occasionally, it would conduct saturation bombardments on the ground.
As evil beams of light descended, the entire plain was engulfed in warpfire.
The scorched earth turned into black tar, and daemons crawled out from within; the scene was like hell.
Warmaster: "An Ark of Omen, that thing is out. Better find a cool place to die with dignity."
Tenjiro: "Can't beat it! Retreat quickly! The Ark of Omen is too absurd; one shot blew up my fleet."
Little Alpaca: "Infuriating! Why do Chaos have megastructures and we don't??"
Dora: "Brothers, don't be afraid. Dora Workshop will always be your strong and powerful shield."
Warmaster: "Stop pretending, run! Vashtorr is coming for you."
Dora: "What is Vashtorr? Make me avoid his edge? What a joke. That's the guy we're going to fight. Please allow me to introduce our latest industrial achievement, the Sky Punishment Colossus."
"After our group's tireless research and attempts, we have finally constructed the long-awaited megastructure warship. It can absolutely contend with an Ark of Omen. Its main cannon uses antimatter and can easily destroy planets. After charging, it can even take out a star with one shot."
"New product launch! Originally, we planned to price it at 99,999,999, but after multiple surveys and all-night meetings, convincing the executives, we decided to price it at 1688-888."
Zigman: "You're f*cking robbing us! 16,000 trillion for one megastructure warship."
Tenjiro: "The report released this year said global wealth is 904.7 trillion. The price of one of your megastructures is equivalent to the wealth of 40 Earths! #!!"
Dora: "Looks like I sold it too cheap. Should have made it more expensive."
Warmaster: "..."
Zigman: "..."
Little Alpaca: "..."
Desert: "You've gone mad from hitting the calculator, haven't you?"
Dora: "Take it or leave it. This thing is just that expensive to build. What can I do? Such a huge warship, just considering gravitational collapse is troublesome enough, let alone maintaining sufficient firepower output and space."
Seeing the chat channel erupt in arguments over Dora Workshop's Sky Punishment Colossus, Bu Dao Bing meekly interjected, "Can you come support your brothers first?"
"If you don't come soon, I'm going to be blown up by the Chaos forces."
Dora: "@Bu Dao Bing, don't be afraid, brother, Dora is here to save you. And let these ignorant guys see what true Heavenly Punishment is. This wave, the advantage is mine." From the observation deck of the Ark of Omen, Gursogg the Withered Lord looked down at the ground with satisfaction.
The power of the Ark of Omen was indeed astonishing; wherever it cast its shadow, that place would be transformed by the power of Chaos into the territory of the God Nurgle.
Large numbers of plague daemons crawled out of the muddy ground, and dense swarms of flies covered the sky like dark clouds.
The Emperor's army was already in a desperate situation and would soon be annihilated.
Just then, the enslaved Psyker bound to the Ark of Omen let out piercing screams.
"What's going on?" Gursogg the Withered Lord frowned.
Several sorcerers approached, "My Lord, we have detected a strong Warp signal, suspected Imperial reinforcements."
Gursogg the Withered Lord laughed upon hearing this, his fat, rotting face twitching continuously, revealing an excited smile.
"Reinforcements?? Hahaha, there are actually reinforcements daring to come to their deaths. It seems my reputation as the Withered Lord is not yet loud enough; I need more blood and slaughter to prove my power and terror."
"Order the fleet to turn and prepare to engage these Emperor fools who don't know their place. Let them know the terror of the Plague God."
"Kill!!"
Gursogg the Withered Lord raised his fat, rotting hand and shouted.
"Slaughter the Emperor's servants, slaughter to your heart's content."
"Destroy them."
"The blessing of the Plague God will spread throughout the entire universe."
Countless Nurgle daemons and traitors also cheered, anticipating a new battle.
Reality was torn open, and the light of paradox poured into the Reality universe.
Then, a magnificent colossal ship, unimaginable to all daemons and traitors, flew out through the rift.
That ship was no less impressive than an Ark of Omen, unbelievably massive.
"How is this possible!!" Gursogg the Withered Lord's eyes widened.
When did the Imperium of Man get something like this!!
This thing was bigger than the Phalanx and the Phalanx, like a true world.
The magnificent main cannon running through the ship was large enough for a Gloriana-class battleship to fly into.
"Second Company Commander, open fire!"
After Dora entered the Reality universe, he quickly locked onto the Ark of Omen.
Before the enemy could react, he ordered to fire.
A brilliant beam of light instantly pierced the dark void, its intense glow illuminating everything.
That beam was incredibly enormous; battleships and cruisers were like lone boats in the ocean before it.
In an instant, they were completely destroyed, vaporized by the high temperature.
The beam destroyed enemies along its path, finally landing on the massive hull of the Ark of Omen.
The 'Ferryman' connected to the entire Ark let out a piercing scream.
It felt the entire ship shattering, heading towards destruction.
"No!!" Gursogg the Withered Lord screamed in panic, utterly devoid of his previous arrogance and confidence.
He turned to run, but it was too late; the beam pierced through the Ark of Omen, tearing it apart and destroying its deeply embedded core.
A terrifying explosion unleashed monstrous flames, fiercely engulfing everything in an instant.
"Hahaha, did you get a picture?" Dora asked his assistant beside him.
"Don't worry, Boss, I got it."
"Upload it immediately. Let those guys see how powerful we are."
The previously noisy world chat channel fell into a brief silence as Dora Workshop uploaded battlefield photos and videos.
Moments later, countless discussions erupted from all directions.
Warmaster: "No way, brother, are you serious?"
Desert: "My knees inexplicably took an arrow; now I really want to kneel."
Tenjiro: "Loan immediately, loan right now! @Warmaster, you write the report, I'll approve the note. Funds today, pick up the Colossus tomorrow."
Zigman: "Report! The head of the Imperial Bank is openly using his power for personal gain! Unless you approve mine too, otherwise I'm reporting this to Terra."
Little Alpaca: "+1."
A Bowl of Lobster Soup: "+1."
"+1."
"+1."
"+10086."
The entire chat channel was in an uproar.
The Players were arguing amongst themselves.
Dora: "Just now you thought it was expensive and ignored it. Now, I'm raising the price, and you can't afford it. All Sky Punishment Colossus series products are increasing by 50%."
Warmaster: "@Dora, are you robbing us?? Everyone, don't buy it. Let's see if he can still be so arrogant."
Tenjiro: "Too despicable! Everyone, don't buy it! Crush his profiteering arrogance."
Dora saw a string of messages on the public screen boycotting him, then glanced at the 999+ private messages.
He opened them; the first was from the Warmaster: "Big brother, make it cheaper, please. Produce for us first, we'll gather the money right away."
Desert: "Brother, they won't buy it, but I will."
Zigman: "Have you forgotten the days we spent together on the Imperial Glory? Sell it to me first, do you understand?"
"These guys are so cunning," Dora muttered, then spoke on the public screen.
"Robbing money is too slow. Cutting your leeks is the true way to make money. Now, even with a 50% price increase, they're selling like hotcakes. The reservation channel opens tonight at 8 PM.
Limited to one per Battle Group. Production will follow the order of purchase."
"Be quick! With current production capacity, if you're a few seconds slow, you'll have to wait until next year to get one."
"Boss, what about the remaining enemies?" the assistant came over to ask Dora, who was engrossed in the public chat.
"Do you even need to ask about something like this? Of course, we kill them all!" Dora glared at his assistant impatiently. "Are you suggesting we capture prisoners and then give each of them three silver coins to send them back to the Eye of Terror?"
"If you give the order, we can do that too," the assistant said meekly. "After all, the boss's command is everything, whether reasonable or not. This is your rule, have you forgotten?"
Dora helplessly slapped his forehead. How did he end up hiring such a contrarian?
Initially, it was because this guy questioned too much that this rule was made.
Good heavens, now he brings it up for no reason.
"Kill them all, don't leave a single one. Stop asking," Dora said.
"Okay, Boss." The assistant turned and left.
Dora continued chatting, bragging with other Players.
Suddenly, he saw a message from a Player from another Battle Group, saying that after defeating those Chaos forces, they might be able to interrogate them for Vashtorr's key fragments.
Only then did he realize this might be a hidden quest, and he hastily called his assistant back, telling him to capture a few prisoners.
"Boss, are dead prisoners okay??" the assistant asked weakly.
"Have you ever seen anyone's prisoners be dead?" Dora stared at him.
"Ours," the assistant said. "You just said to kill them all, so I relayed the order. There are no living enemies left now."
"That fast?" Dora despaired.
"Of course! We must complete the boss's orders with 100% effort and at the fastest speed. This is our workshop's motto!" The assistant clenched his fist.
Dora lay back in his chair, a look of utter desolation on his face.
There was once a hidden quest right before him, but he didn't cherish it. Only when it was lost did he feel deep regret.
There is no greater pain in this mortal world than this.
If he could, he would say, "Can I have one more chance?"