With the Hive Mind launching its renewed offensive, a palpable threat washed over the entire Underworld System. It was a pressure felt not just by psykers, but by every Space Marine, and even by the psychic dullard Zhou Ye.
This time, the Hive Fleet that advanced upon them had undergone a significant transformation.
Leading the charge was a massive group of hive ships, their carapaces reinforced with an exceptionally strong plating and shielded by vast amounts of psychic energy. After discovering that simple defensive evolution was ineffective, the Hive Mind had resorted to the simplest, most direct method: overwhelming brute force.
In the world of Warhammer, nothing is absolute, and overwhelming power can indeed make a brick fly.
However, their entry into the ice crystal belt this time was not as easy as before. In the roughly half a month since the last engagement, Zhou Ye's forces had made temporary reinforcements to the existing defenses. The previous battle had ended so quickly that the Tyranid swarm hadn't had time to destroy these fortifications.
So, the moment they approached the belt, they were met with a cataclysmic barrage of firepower. There were no morons charging out to their deaths this time. Facing such a fleet, they unleashed a storm of macro-cannons and lance batteries to clear a path, interspersed with miniature black holes, solar flare tempests, spatial-rending cannons, and neutron-kill beams…
Previously, they had been close to inhabited planets and had to consider the danger of stray shots. Now, there was no need for such restraint.
It is a well-known fact that the swarm feels no pain. Therefore, you must beat them repeatedly, with any and all means necessary, until they can no longer move.
In the Warp, the Great Devourer nearly ground its teeth to dust. It directed a large portion of its fleet to charge directly at the source of these weapons, the flagship Hyperion. They had figured it out: even the Emperor-class battleships were nothing compared to this one vessel.
After all, the Hyperion, like all of Zhou Ye's creations, was the type that looked standard on the outside, but God only knew how many mimicked Keys of God he had stuffed into its core. If the Hyperion were to unleash its full firepower without restraint, it might not be weaker than the Phalanx.
He was reluctant to use its full power before, but against a tendril of the Tyranids, there was no need to hold back.
At this moment, watching the ship unleash its full, bizarre, and even slightly heretical arsenal, the Blood Angels in the rear, including Dante, were completely dumbfounded.
Is that really a Gloriana-class battleship? Since when did they have these kinds of weapons?
"Omnissiah be praised! Is the Hyperion in need of tech-priests? We are willing to tighten screws within her! This is a miracle of the Omnissiah!"
The grease-monkeys not aligned with Zhou Ye's faction were ecstatically spraying sacred oils, prostrating themselves towards the Hyperion as they did so. To witness such a great creation of the Omnissiah in its full fury, they could die now and it would be worth it.
Even the highest-ranking Tech-Priest among them wanted to ask if the Hyperion was short on staff; he was willing to be a simple screw-turner, just for the chance to personally maintain this sacred vessel.
"Is this... right? Are they really from Trailblaze, and not the Dark Angels?"
Seth, his face bruised and swollen, asked with a hint of confusion. It was no secret that the Dark Angels had preserved many relics from the Dark Age of Technology. It was a privilege granted to them by the Emperor, so it wasn't a major secret.
But that was all anyone knew. The specifics were a mystery. At this moment, Seth was filled with doubt. Are they really not the Dark Angels?
"..."
No one else answered, all of them staring dumbly at the Hyperion.
Visually, they were witnessing, but not limited to: black holes, solar flares that defied the laws of physics, crimson lightning storms, and other strange phenomena.
But the effects were astonishingly good. Even the reinforced carapaces of the Tyranid bio-ships couldn't withstand the assault. Once breached, the openings were bombarded with a chaotic storm of fire. Soon, seven or eight Tyranid mother ships, having been pierced, disintegrated into dust in an instant.
As a result, it had now drawn the attention of the entire swarm. Seeing this, a drop of cold sweat trickled down the foreheads of the Blood Angels. They were genuinely worried for Lord Phanes's safety.
Aboard the Hyperion, however, Zhou Ye's brow was furrowed.
"Are you saying this is three tendrils of Hive Fleet Leviathan, and they've merged?"
Zhou Ye was a little stunned. The force that had attacked Baal in the original timeline was only one tendril, and a portion of it had even been swallowed by the Great Rift when it opened. How had three of them shown up now? No wonder he felt something was off.
"Isn't this thing supposed to be a threat to the entire galaxy? How did I run headlong into it? Good thing I was cautious. This is merely an insignificant change. Don't say it—everything is going according to plan."
Zhou Ye did not doubt Ahriman's assessment. The number of Tyranids was simply too great. Even after he had caught them off guard and annihilated their vanguard, there were still so many left. And this was after they had resorted to cannibalism for evolution due to the lack of fresh biomass.
To still have such numbers was incredible to Zhou Ye. But it wasn't a major problem. It was still within the scope of his plans.
As for the root cause? It was probably the butterfly effect he had set in motion. With the Great Rift opening ahead of schedule, many things had changed in subtle ways—subtle on a galactic scale, that is.
For specific regions, these changes were massive and terrifying. These Tyranid fleets were most likely affected by the Great Rift's formation and had decided to conduct a special merger.
Of course, there could be other reasons. Perhaps the Great Devourer had detected something when he had dealt with the Genestealers at some point. This might have intensified its craving for Primarch flesh, leading it to double down on its assault on Baal.
But all in all, it wasn't a big problem. Zhou Ye had come here aiming for a massive clusterfuck anyway. Otherwise, he would have only needed to bring half his fleet to deal with the original tendril that invaded Baal.
"..."
Hearing Zhou Ye's words, and seeing the confident smile on his face, Ahriman suddenly felt a strange sense of a trance and déjà vu. He couldn't help but rub his eyes and look again.
After confirming that the person before him was a holy Primarch of the Imperium and not some Tzeentchian trickster or a Lord of Change, Ahriman breathed a sigh of relief. But for some reason, he had a very bad feeling.
"I hope I'm overthinking this..."
Thinking about the various tasks Zhou Ye had assigned him, Ahriman had to admit that Zhou Ye's preparations were truly thorough. But the more he thought about it, the stronger that sense of Tzeentchian déjà vu became.
"Have you confirmed the locations of the important node-beasts? As the connection points between the Tyranids and the Great Devourer in the Warp, they must be massive. And we only have one chance. The Great Devourer will surely notice this problem afterwards, and this method won't be as effective a second time."
"No problem. Those Tyranid bioforms are too close."
Ahriman nodded. With the Tyranid offensive underway, the signal strength of those connection points had increased several hundredfold, making them much more obvious.
However, Ahriman still couldn't figure out what Zhou Ye was planning. Wherever the Tyranids went, a great shadow was cast upon the Warp, severely affecting all psykers.
Forget using their powers; they'd be lucky not to have their minds crack open. Even he was heavily affected, his overall power level having dropped significantly. Under these conditions, even if he located the connection points, he couldn't do anything to them in the Warp.
It wasn't just him; almost all daemons were in the same situation. Only the Four Gods themselves could act, and they would obviously not intervene so casually.
"Let them get a little closer…"
Zhou Ye was in no hurry. He looked towards the ice crystal belt. Even if they had evolved a resistance to the belt—which contained Warp energy and wasn't just simple physical cold—their combat effectiveness would still be greatly reduced.
It was like a human trekking through a freezing snowfield. Even if you weren't afraid of the cold, your progress would be severely hampered.
The swarm was in the same situation. This time, their vanguard had met a massive volley of fire the moment they emerged.
To strike while they are halfway across the river.
The wisdom of the ancestors was just as applicable here.
The Great Devourer felt as if something was caught in its throat, something it could neither swallow nor spit out. Under Zhou Ye's control, the Underworld System was finally demonstrating its true capability as the Shield of Baal, and the Tyranid swarm had just taken a huge bite it couldn't chew.
Now, it could only urge its fleets to press forward.
It needed to find out what was causing its biomass to wither and rot away completely. The Tyranid swarm did not fear death. Termagants and Hormagaunts were efficient units, as were Tyranid Warriors.
It was the death of elite and special units like node-beasts and Tyrants that was unacceptable. The biomass required to spawn them far exceeded what could be recovered from their deaths.
But Zhou Ye had instantly disposed of the corpses. This was what the Great Devourer could not accept.
Now, it planned to use its old strategy: analyze by throwing numbers at the problem. Although it might still be unable to evolve the necessary resistance, it would at least gain more information and develop countermeasures.
"Hah…"
In contrast to the calm Zhou Ye, the Custodes behind him unconsciously tightened their grips on their weapons. Zhou Ye had brought a massive fleet, and now they had the partial support of the Blood Angels. They had thought this would be a glorious return to the Great Crusade, where they would crush all enemies with absolute overwhelming force.
But what was this? They actually felt a sense of insignificance before the vast Tyranid swarm. The main Tyranid force was now ignoring the fire from the defensive fortresses, shrugging off the attacks. They simply dropped a large number of spores onto the planets and moved on. These swarms, though numerous, were of lower quality.
Seeing them charge forward, even at the cost of heavy casualties, made the Custodes even more tense.
They had thought this would be a war that didn't even require Zhou Ye's personal intervention, but now they saw how wrong they were. At this thought, a look of grim determination appeared on the faces of all the Custodes and the Honor Guard. This time, they had to keep up with their master.
"One, two, three… ten… twenty…"
Ahriman's eyes were closed as he carefully observed the connection points between the Tyranid swarm and the Warp. There was no doubt that these were the locations of the node-beasts.
Now that the main Tyranid force had broken through the ice crystal belt, these points became even more distinct.
"That's about enough…"
Zhou Ye's eyes snapped open. The Tyranid swarm was now approaching his defensive line. Although Zhou Ye did not fear close-quarters combat with them, there was no need to waste his precious warships in such a manner against the Tyranid bio-ships.
In a flash, Zhou Ye's figure appeared above the Hyperion. He took a deep breath, and a brilliant light began to emanate from his body.
'My Lord!!!'
Ashira and the others were startled, but they had no time to react.
Because, in the next moment…
"Humanity, look now to the stars!!!"
As the voice slowly faded, everyone, including Dante, stared in utter shock as a humanoid figure, far larger than even the Hyperion, slowly materialized.
As the figure appeared, a blinding, crimson-gold light flooded their vision.
To the naked eye, it was a human form, but to their senses, it was no man, but a furiously burning golden sun.
"Emperor!!!"
Everyone cried out in astonishment, especially those on the planets below. The foul atmosphere obscured their view, so all they saw was a dazzling golden light flash, and then the sky now held a second sun.
Unlike the system's natural star, the light from this sun was brilliant, yet gentle…
At this moment, all who witnessed this scene fell to their knees, kowtowing and praising the Emperor.
"Then, accept the judgment of the End!!!"
Zhou Ye said nothing more. Using the coordinates shared by Ahriman, he instantly launched dozens of attacks at specific locations, moving far faster than the speed of light.
Silence.
A soundless explosion rippled through space. In an instant, the Tyranid fleet fell into chaos, with some ships even crashing into each other.
---o---