Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 750

Hades examined Mortarion's pieces. Damn it, Hades noticed that the eyeliner on Mortarion's pieces was gold—don't you dare put gold on a piece like that!

This is the difference between the pieces held by different players. Hades is a fan of aging and modification, and is keen on aging traces and modifying any vehicle by adding light strips.

“I don’t comment on this kind of thing, but I hope that after he finishes writing the part about the cult of the underworld, I can review it.”

Hades said he didn't want to see any more of that creepy stuff about Hades' mercy.

He didn't intend to listen to the debates of the Mechanic Church about what he really was. He just wanted to define a special individual among humans: Hades, of the Hades species, and call him Hades.

In the doctrines of the Underworld Cult, he is portrayed as someone who is practically stripped down to a tattered robe and nailed to a cross with two holes in his hands.

“You need to say these things to him in person—at least now most of my children are more willing to listen to your advice than mine.”

The emperor spoke as he pleased, but was not bothered by the meaning behind those words.

That's because I'm telling the truth—

Hades chuckled, wondering who had squandered all of his 10,000 credit points and was now owing 10,000 to 20,000.

"Your thin application is amazing, no, it even hides the color, buddy?"

Hades suddenly raised a chess piece and stared at it intently. Neos remained calm, a confident smile on his face.

"That's just my true strength."

Hades placed the chess piece far away, preparing to send Mortalian a 3D image to show him his tiny self, when suddenly he realized something was wrong.

"Wait, are you just wearing this to work all day?!"

Hades suddenly stood up and slammed his hand on the table. Except for the Mortarion piece in his hand, all the other pieces on the table flew up and spun around once.

Neos shrugged.

“Evidence, Hades,”

He said calmly, "Stand up."

"Everything must be based on evidence—if you have no evidence... then I also know a little about bribery."

Neos gently placed his hand on Hades's hand as he slammed his hand on the table.

"Here's the Mortalian for you. You can also pack up Guilliman and take him back with you. Put in a good word for me with Guilliman. What else do you want?"

Neos reached out his other hand and helped Hades grasp his other hand so that Hades could hold the Mortarion piece properly.

"..."

Hades stared at Neos speechlessly. He saw an extremely confident and dashing gaze. If it weren't for Hades, this brown-skinned, long-haired man with a hearty laugh would probably have already successfully charmed him.

The emperor's impeccably white teeth dazzled Hades.

"Do you think I can't apply it myself?"

"This incorporates psionic techniques—only I or Makado know them. Are you planning to go find Makado?"

"..."

Hades coughed, slowly sat back down, and carefully put away the Death Guard Primarch piece in his hand.

"I won't report this to Killieman."

Hades acted as if nothing had happened and returned to his cheerful demeanor.

Neos smiled too. Finally! He had finally figured out Hades' preferences. Haha, he even had the special edition of the shimmering golden Garo chess pieces, the limited edition of the half-fallen Karas, the eternal war Vox collector's edition... Let's see if he doesn't slowly knock Hades out.

There's nothing Hades can't do, and if all else fails, besides the Bone Moth Mortarion, the demigod Mortarion has a real trump card up his sleeve—a gender-swapped Mortarion chess piece.

When it comes to chess piece design, and how to make it more appealing to a specific group, no one understands it better than Neos.

The atmosphere became harmonious, and the two chatted idly for a while. In fact, Hades' bottom line was extremely flexible. As long as you used a little trick to make Hades relax, he wouldn't mind chatting for a bit.

Just as Neos was about to successfully persuade Hades to engage in a chess game that would last at least two days, Hades suddenly changed his tune and turned away from Neos's trap.

"What are your plans for the undead next, Neos?"

Neos coughed, forcing the Chaos Tzeentch army piece spinning in his hand to pause for a moment.

“I have seen your industrial plans with Finus.”

The emperor regained his former majesty, as if he hadn't been the person just moments before.

"not enough,"

Neos said calmly,

“Not nearly enough, unless the Empire accepts a war of total annihilation—in which case you can have the Mechanicus unleash those devices they have no control over, and then both sides perish.”

How do you plan to break this deadlock?

"This is something that Robert Killman should be concerned with."

"Hey Hades, open your eyes and see! Where is he the emperor of the empire? The current supreme ruler of the empire is Robert Guilliman!" Hades declared righteously.

Hades was completely unmoved by this tactic. He simply stared at Neos calmly and somewhat speechlessly, as if if Neos didn't agree, he would call Guilliman over to sign a contract of servitude for him.

Neos could only cough awkwardly again, toss aside the Tzeentch army piece in his hand, and casually conjure a necromancer piece out of thin air.

"The Empire does not need to confront the Space Necromancers at their peak."

The necromancer piece in Neos's hand spun for one minute.

"There's no need to confront the united space necromancers either."

He looked at Hades for a moment, his gaze lowered, and then Hades looked up again.

"Civil war, I know, preparations are already underway here... I think the civil war among the space necromancers will be more fragmented."

Neos shrugged.

"You already know, so why ask me?"

Hades chuckled.

"I'm afraid you'll become the riddle teller, and if you accidentally leak some information, wouldn't we be finished again?"

Neos pursed his lips and remained silent.

This time it was Hades' turn to speak.

"Besides, if necessary... I think we could incite other races to fight each other. Tyrannosaurus is an excellent choice, and the last complete outer being of the Star Gods is also not out of the question..."

"The outsider?"

Neo paused for a moment.

That was the last surviving complete Star God, who went mad by devouring his own kind and eventually exiled himself to the outer reaches of the galaxy—and recently, according to observations by the Mechanicus, it was the Outer Ones outside the galaxy who altered the trajectory of the Tyranids as they entered the galaxy.

Even the massive Tyranid swarm is extremely wary of a complete Outer Celestial.

"correct,"

Neos sat up straight.

"How have you been feeling lately, Hades?"

"Fortunately."

Hades answered truthfully that there had been no major battles in recent months, nor had he needed to consume a huge amount of energy. In addition, he would go out to bask in the sun whenever he had free time. Hades could feel that the part of the Star God within him was stabilizing.

Therefore, as long as Hades does not devour new fragments and maintains his energy intake, he can stably use the power of the Star Gods and even work at an overclock.

And as time went by, it became intertwined with the Black Domain, just like two originally incompatible liquids gradually mixing together.

Neos uttered a thoughtful sound; surprisingly, the Emperor had spoken the truth this time.

"Humans fusing with fragments of a star god—that's definitely one of the craziest things I've ever done."

Hades revealed a disdainful expression.

"Old Deng, so you weren't even sure I'd survive on Mars back then?"

"What are you saying? You're alive and well, and you've even grown so much—the acquisition of power always comes at a price. Do you think you're one of the Primarchs? That you have a pitiful and helpless father who gives you free power boosts?"

Hades was too lazy to even comment on the flaws here. He's too concerned with saving face. Well done, Neos! He's really too concerned with saving face!

If it were Mortarion, he would have already brought his scythe down on the Emperor's head.

"So you don't know my current situation either."

"For advice on this, I suggest you contact Tarasin."

Neos answered fluently, but what could he say about the Star God? Perhaps he should go to Tarasim; did Hades want him to recount how he bravely slew the dragon back then?

Hades decided to skip the topic, given that he himself was the biggest victim/beneficiary of the experiment.

That's all I can think of,"

Hades blinked. "But—I don't feel it's enough."

Neos nodded.

"It's not enough."

The emperor had an expression of absolute certainty of victory.

"Besides these... there's another idea. Hades, the Necromancers of space control most of the technology and power in the physical world, and the power that can rival it—we need to go to the warp to get it."

"chaos?"

The Emperor shrugged. Let's not count on Chaos. Perhaps there's some big movement on another timeline—keeping Khorne and Nurgle too silent.

“I mean the original.”

Neos was implying something.

"Although they have each gained their corresponding power and authority, apart from Mortarion and Sangilius, most of the remaining Primarchs are unable to fully utilize them. They still need the tempering of war, pain and bloodshed—for them, the current Imperial environment is too comfortable."

"Heroes emerge from adversity."

Hades took a deep breath.

"Where am I supposed to find an environment turbulent enough to threaten the Primarchs right now... We can't exactly attack the Necrons in space right now, or—"

"Oh,"

Hades looked at Neos, their eyes revealing a tacit understanding.

"chaos."

Hades pondered for a moment, thinking that the Emperor meant to push the Primarchs to grow stronger so that they could face the approaching undead army.

But it is clear that with Hades and the Emperor in charge of the physical world, the Chaos will not be able to emerge in the physical world, so they will have to launch a counterattack on the subspace.

However, Hades obviously cannot provide much effective help if they launch a counterattack into the warp.

not to mention……

"I'm afraid there won't be enough time."

Hades said it truthfully.

"The space undead are gathering. If the Empire really takes the initiative to send troops into the warp, I'm afraid other territories will immediately break out into war with the space undead—the Tyranids and the undead are eyeing us covetously, and the Empire's main forces must be ready at any time."

Neos spread his hands.

"That's the problem—perhaps you can try to piece together the fragments of the ancient saint, but—I don't recommend you do that, because it's basically impossible."

Before Slaanesh's destruction, the probability of the Old Saints being pieced together again was not zero, but since Slaanesh was already dead, it was highly unlikely that the Old Saints could reappear.

Hades sighed again.

"Am I supposed to fight each Primarch one-on-one? Or let them fight amongst themselves?"

A glint of wisdom shone in Neos's calm gaze.

"Individual strength has its limits. The breakthroughs I'm referring to are more about spiritual and spiritual self-transcendence—they won't achieve much in terms of combat and individual fighting, Hades."

He couldn't very well let Mortarian fake a major rebellion.

Hades thought to himself speechlessly that he had tried to talk to the Emperor again, but things had reached a dead end. He had also considered throwing the Primarchs into the Warp alone, but it was highly likely that the Primarchs would not agree.

After much deliberation, the Emperor maintained a defiant attitude, insisting that the throne wasn't his for the taking, and adopted a passive stance towards Hades's predicament. As for Neos, even if he were to seize power—

There is no perfect, pre-planned solution; for the human empire, every battle carries the risk of annihilation, and the Emperor's countermeasure is quite simple—

We'll fight whoever comes.

Finally, Hades sighed. He hadn't figured anything out, so he decided to go back to building infrastructure, trying to get the stats higher. The rest—