"I gave you a new body. How are you still leaking lubricant?" Zhou Ye asked, speechless, as he watched Belisarius Cawl spray oil right in front of him. The shell the man was currently in was just a mech suit; his real body was the person inside. Yet, he could still spray lubricant. Zhou Ye couldn't understand it, but he was impressed.
With a snap of his fingers, the two of them vanished.
Soon, in a vast chamber, two figures, one tall and one short, stood side by side.
"You're the first person to see me like this and have no reaction."
Zhou Ye was a little surprised. He had shed his armor, changed into a comfortable T-shirt, and returned to his original height of 1.8 meters. Yet Belisarius Cawl, after seeing his true form, showed no reaction at all. The last time this happened, even his own Grey Knights had been left in a state of bewilderment. Cawl just glanced once and that was it.
"..."
Cawl couldn't be bothered to react. He knew the Emperor's own physical height wasn't that great either.
"This is what we found in the depths of the Warp. It may have come from a past more ancient than the War in Heaven, or perhaps a future restarted after the end of all things. But that is irrelevant. This is what I now possess. It is something even the Golden Fi—the Emperor, dreamed of. A Jump Drive, and the Star Rails to match."
With a flick of his finger, Zhou Ye sent a flood of data directly into Cawl's mind. Upon realizing what he was seeing, Belisarius Cawl froze, then took a deep breath.
"You did the right thing. Not making contact with the Imperium was correct. If the Navigator Houses and the families of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica knew about this, they would go mad."
It took Belisarius Cawl less than a tenth of a second to grasp the full implications of what Zhou Ye had given him. The Chaos Gods would surely do something about this. This was humanity's salvation, something far superior to the so-called Webway, and it would drive the great powers of the galaxy into a frenzy. It could even shatter the Imperium from within. The Navigator and Astropath houses would frantically try to stop it, while other factions like the Inquisition, the Departmento Munitorum, the Astartes, and the Adeptus Administratum would welcome it with open arms. The entire Imperium of Man could tear itself apart over this. It had to be fully laid out first, to create a fait accompli.
"You were right to keep this secret from the xenos. If those Eldar knew about this, they would definitely try to sabotage it. Do you have a way to lay the tracks to Macragge?"
In that instant, Cawl understood. His thoughts immediately went to the blue man, Roboute Guilliman. This man was the most powerful individual in the Imperium aside from the Emperor himself. Back when the Emperor still walked among mortals, he had granted Guilliman administrative authority second only to himself and Malcador, though Guilliman had never used it until after the Emperor was interred on the Golden Throne, unable to speak.
As long as these two Primarchs joined forces, the Imperium, which had struggled in darkness for ten thousand years, would finally welcome its complete salvation. But before that could happen, no outsiders could know, especially not those Eldar xenos. Although Belisarius Cawl had contact and cooperation with the Eldar, he still maintained the necessary precautions.
"Of course. I've already installed a Jump Drive on your Iron Soul. But that's not the main point. You can't lay Star Rails without my primary beacon. This is for your future use." Zhou Ye said with a smile. The Zar-Quaesitor was currently being repaired in his docks, so installing some strange things inside was his prerogative.
However, Zhou Ye's Jump Drive had a limitation: any rails laid by others could not deviate from the main trunk line—the network laid personally by the Hyperion and himself. These main rails were the starting point for everything. Other rails had to be connected to this primary network; one couldn't just create a local network somewhere else. So, if they wanted to continue laying rails in the 500 Worlds of Ultramar, they needed a main line connecting directly from here to there, something Cawl couldn't establish on his own.
So…
"This is a beacon and an anchor point I prepared in advance. As long as you take it to Macragge, I can use the power of the current Star Rail network to forcibly open a track linking directly to Macragge."
"Leave it to me. I will definitely deliver it to Roboute Guilliman," Belisarius Cawl said solemnly, looking at the device in Zhou Ye's hand.
But Zhou Ye just shook his head and said with a strange smile, "I suggest you use it the moment you arrive on Macragge. Otherwise, it might be a little too late."
Zhou Ye had a feeling that Macragge was going to be even more chaotic than in the original timeline. It was just a gut feeling. This time, it likely wouldn't be just Abaddon; it might turn into the Macragge Super Free-for-All.
Of course, Zhou Ye himself was completely used to such grand chaotic melees. As for Abaddon, he certainly wouldn't arrive early. His timing in the original story was just too coincidental. The Black Legion had launched their surprise attack right as Calgar, Belisarius Cawl, and Yvraine were about to come to blows over the method of resurrecting Guilliman. Even Curze had needed the help of a group of Dark Angels to force Guilliman to lower his shields just to get to Macragge. How had a Black Legion fleet managed to sneak into Macragge undetected, and even place a teleport homer in Guilliman's heavily fortified palace?
If they had arrived a little earlier, Cawl and Yvraine would never have had the chance to get close to the palace. If they had arrived a little later, the two of them would have been captured and imprisoned by the furious Calgar and the other Ultramarines (with the exception of the Chief Librarian) after hearing that they needed to kill Guilliman first before reviving him.
It almost felt as if the Black Legion was being intentionally loyal. Because of this, Zhou Ye was certain they wouldn't arrive ahead of schedule. In the world of Warhammer, all coincidences have a certain inevitability, just like how his own perfectly laid plans always devolved into strange, chaotic free-for-alls. So, Zhou Ye felt that Abaddon's "curved loyalty" was a matter of cause and effect.
But whether it would only be the Black Legion this time, Zhou Ye wasn't sure. After all, he had already prematurely detonated many of the bombs that Guilliman was originally supposed to handle. This was bound to create massive ripples. So, Zhou Ye felt it was best to just give them some resources for now. His own Star Rail network had only just begun to be laid. If the Imperium truly shattered, his domain would likely become the front line against Chaos. Thirty worlds was a lot, but it was definitely not enough to fight Chaos head-on.
"Also, rest here for a while. There's no rush for now. Wait for the Warp to calm down a bit. Right now… even the Eldar Webway isn't safe. As for the Warp, anyone who goes in dies."
After all, the five great Chaos Gods had just had a massive brawl right here. The resulting Warp storm was simply too violent. Zhou Ye certainly didn't dare to enter it, and he estimated the Eldar would also wait. The protective capabilities of the Webway had their limits.
"Mmm…" Cawl nodded, taking Zhou Ye's advice.
…
As the two were plotting, outside, with the death of the last Bloodletter…
"Celebrate! We have once again driven back Chaos and achieved a great victory!!!"
Ashira, surveying the battlefield, raised Zhou Ye's golden sword high and declared victory.
"For the Emperor!!!"
"For the Lord of Trailblaze!!!"
After an initial moment of silence, a thunderous cheer erupted across the entire battlefield. Countless mortals embraced one another, weeping with joy, sometimes even with an Astartes. For many of them, this was the first great chaotic battle they had ever experienced. The time he had blown up Tillius, Zhou Ye had been forced to do so because the situation was completely out of control, and he had too few men to eliminate the Nurgle host. But that was a long time ago, and even fewer had participated in the battle on the space hulk.
So, for this new generation of mortal soldiers and Astartes, this was their first glorious victory. They had held back the main force of Khorne's daemon legions, banishing twenty-four Greater Daemons in total. And their losses were less than a tenth of their force. During the Battle of the Lion's Gate, the Custodes alone had lost over half their number.
Great waves sift out the sand; true gold fears no fire. A true army must be baptized in blood and fire, not just in simulations. Now, they all felt as if they had been elevated. In this moment, mortals and Astartes alike were the closest of comrades, embracing and celebrating with fervent joy.
The civilians who had participated in the battle stared blankly at the scene, unable to process it for a long time.
"Praise the great Lord of Trailblaze and the Emperor! O common people, in this moment, your glory is equal to ours!"
The Imperial Creed priests and Word Bearers who had led them now began to preach to the crowd. The Word Bearers had not all joined the front lines; there were simply too few of them. Compared to the other grand companies of several thousand, their chapter had only one or two hundred. Half had charged in with the mixed Ultramarines formation, while the other half had worked with the Ultramarines on logistics and organization. After all, most of them served as priests in their respective communities and held great influence.
Although Zhou Ye disliked religion, this was Warhammer 40k. So he allowed these individuals to perform some duties that should have belonged to civil administrators, such as giving post-battle speeches.
At this moment, all the mortals knelt on the ground, hands clasped in prayer, piously listening to the teachings of the Emperor's Angels. In some hive worlds, nobles were willing to spend their entire fortunes just to get a little closer to one of the Emperor's Angels to hear their teachings. But they didn't need to do that. The Emperor's Angels were here, preaching to them.
In the crowd, a middle-aged couple in their thirties looked on with immense pride at the preaching Angel. Their status among the crowd was the highest; even the other Astra Militarum soldiers treated them with great respect. For no other reason than that this Word Bearer was their son, their pride and joy.
Born in the underhive of a hive world, they had been lucky enough to pass the screening. They had followed a group of Rogue Traders and immigrated to this world, where they lived a life they had once only dreamed of. They had devoted themselves to serving the great Lord of Trailblaze, and their devotion had finally been rewarded. One of their sons had successfully passed all the school's assessments, undergone the twenty-two surgeries, and finally become a being they had only heard of in myths and legends: an Astartes, an Angel of the Emperor.
Even many of the noble lords of their original hive world had to prostrate themselves before such a being. Their own Planetary Governor had to treat a Space Marine with the utmost respect. What surprised them even more was that, unlike the rumors that Space Marines would leave their families to fight among the stars, this one had soon returned to their community to serve as a priest. Although he would be away on missions for long periods, whenever he had free time, he would still come home for a meal and tell them the parts of his missions they were allowed to hear.
"So celebrate! Rejoice! Glory is with us all! We shall all devote ourselves to the great Lord of Trailblaze! Only in this way can we be worthy of the great 996 work system!"
"For the Lord of Trailblaze!!!"
"For the Imperium!!!"
"For the Emperor!!!"
With the cheers of the crowd, everyone who had participated felt a surge of immense glory. Now, they couldn't wait to throw themselves back into their workstations and continue the benevolent 996.
Of course, if Zhou Ye had been present, he would have been so embarrassed he'd have dug a three-bedroom apartment with his toes. Now, unless absolutely necessary, he avoided appearing before the masses.
As for the Black Templars on the other side, they were all kneeling on the ground, weeping silently. Their journey had been too hard. They had been hounded like dogs all the way from Cadia. Now, under the leadership of the great Lord of Trailblaze, they had finally found glory, banishing a Bloodthirster.
---o---