bookbashuk Page 632
Page 632
He said.
Beneath the steel, at the intersection of cables and solder, the will of rebirth is rapidly operating. The truth beneath remains silent, like the Medusa Lord. Numbers pour down like a waterfall, right and wrong intertwine, the program races ahead, and radio waves spread like wildfire.
"For the Emperor!!!"
That was nothing short of a miracle.
No, that is a miracle.
The Eldar crew watched as the massive, cumbersome Imperial ship, resembling a colossal elephant, abruptly turned in an unimaginable speed, almost as if it were flashing by; the warship completed its turn in an instant—
This is something even the gods would find difficult to achieve.
Then, the beast turned around and charged straight at them!
"..."
A dazzling light shone on Hades' metallic face as he stared at the battlefield. The shattered remains of Eldar warships were hurled into the void by the shockwaves, swirling like bullets and piercing into other ships.
Some fragments struck Imperial ships, their heavy armor blocking their path; others pierced their owners, instantly revealing the wounded Eldar ships.
"Bad taste."
Hades commented that the Imperial fleet resembled a giant elephant among ants, rampaging through the Eldar's fleet.
The first round of torpedoes was just a decoy, or perhaps the Lord of Man simply wanted to make the war more visually appealing. Next to the human ships that had abandoned torpedoes and light spears, the torpedoes that had just been fired exploded one after another, adding a magnificent red and orange glow to this one-sided massacre.
Yes, the Lord of Mankind chose to directly use adamantite to ram the horn... ram it.
That's so disgusting.
Hades thought that if it were him, he might fight a conventional game, meaning the most efficient and least energy-consuming one.
But perhaps this would help the Lord of Man's psychic powers recover, and Hades chose to respect the Emperor's fighting style—perhaps the Lord of Man had been imprisoned on the Golden Throne for too long, and the Emperor desperately needed some ways to de-stress.
Eldar warships, one or two sizes smaller than Imperial warships, were sliced in two by the blade-like ram. Faced with absolute speed and defense, Eldar bones seemed like some kind of fragile and easily broken material. This reminded Hades of bird bones. In order to fly, birds evolved hollow bones, which made them vulnerable.
Before the battleships that were roughly the same size as the Imperial warships, the Imperial knights plunged their spears into the enemy's vitals, and flames instantly rose up along the contact surface between the two ships, successfully setting the Eldar warship ablaze as well!
Hades seemed to hear the mournful cries of the Eldar amidst the golden flames.
"Warships are not perfect; violent impacts can also damage them, Lord of Mankind."
Hades reminded them to continue reporting the coordinates of the next Eldar fleet's retreat.
+Living metal. +
The Emperor also reminded Hades that the new batch of ships had been equipped with living metal, which meant that the ships had self-repairing capabilities and could recover quickly from external scratches and collisions without involving the complex internal structure.
"..."
Hades was speechless. He had deployed the living metal in case of more urgent situations, not to allow the Lord of Man to recklessly smash the enemy with his ships—but, well, he was being conservative.
Hades seems to understand engineers who see users develop amazing uses for their products.
"You continue."
Hades managed to utter these few words and decided not to provoke this old madman who had lost his mind while squatting on the toilet.
He raised his hand, and behind the battlefield, garbled characters suddenly flashed on the command console and screens of the distant cargo fleet, after which the fleet began to automatically split up—
Then, several larger pieces of Eldar warship wreckage swept past at extremely high speed from the split fleet.
Hades lowered his hand and handed command back to the trembling captain on board. He had accidentally frightened the star talkers and stargazers on the cargo fleet unconscious; he hoped they were alright.
The massacre in the distance was also drawing to a close, with the wreckage of the Slaanesh warships scattered across various skies, leaving only a few dozen surviving escort ships and small boats—
Because of their small size, they were overlooked in the recent slaughter. Now, the weasels are patiently and tirelessly crushing them with battleships until they let out a miserable cry in the dark starry sky, burst out in a small flash of light, and die completely.
Hades focused his gaze and saw numerous small streaks spewing from the broken ends of the warship—ah, those were Eldar.
Hades suddenly understood why the Emperor was called the Fifth Evil God by other races.
"...The Eldar's fleet is enormous,"
Hades said quietly,
"I hope you'll do it next time—"
I will.
A cheerful voice said decisively that Hades believed the statement to be a lie, so he continued, only to be interrupted again.
"real--"
I will.
"..."
Yay, it's gone!
Chapter 677 Stop arguing, stop arguing
I think I'm not too late.
The Pale Lord sighed, his gaze passing over the holographic projection floating on the long table. On either side of the long table, closest to the Primarch, were Macado and Kirkland, respectively.
The other seats were for the planetary lords of the Ultimate Sector, these poor souls who had been urgently summoned by the Primarch. As these mortals trembled, the door was opened.
Hades stepped in, looking travel-worn.
"On the contrary, the timing is perfect,"
Hades casually waved his hand, and the map floating on the long table instantly changed, with countless dark purple marks appearing on the star map, which was the approximate area where the Eldar navy was hiding.
"The Eldar navy attacking the Calissis sector is now cut off from the forces in the Scalus sector behind them—sea control is in the hands of the Imperium."
I think my respected father is here too?
Mortarian spoke calmly, his voice barely audible, which Hades interpreted as a sophisticated form of veiled sarcasm.
Hades glanced at Makado, then nodded and mumbled something indistinctly.
“I think he projected a portion of his power here.”
[Can the Eldar navy immediately perform a short-range teleport? Or are there other network portals here?]
Now that you're out here, don't even think about going back alive.
Motari thought quietly, his thin hand pressing on the documents on the table.
“I can confirm that there are three network entrances in this star system, but I have already destroyed them in advance.”
Hades said,
"As for the first question... I think the Lord of Humanity will not let them leave so easily."
Mortarian sneered. Of course the Emperor would do that; his aversion to aliens was deeply ingrained in Mortarian's genes.
Then the emperor must have been someone who hated aliens.
The Primarch could not imagine that the Emperor, such an arrogant egoist, could live in harmony with the Xenomorphs. In fact, he was not even capable of living in harmony with his own offspring.
Then there is no objection.
The Primarch said sarcastically.
[Attack! Let the war rage on until we set foot on the territory belonging to our youngest queen—honorable lords, I think you can leave in peace. I never repeat myself.]
If you do not wish to fall into the hell forged by chaos, then do as I ask... Meeting adjourned.
Hades turned his head and watched as the mortal lords practically tumbled and crawled out of the meeting room. Macado, who had been resting with his eyes closed, also nodded and left.
Kirkland quickly followed Macado, and gave Hades a deep bow as they passed by.
"I think the human defenders here aren't very obedient?"
Hades asked, and Mortarian laughed.
They only want to preserve their small piece of territory... or perhaps gain some small benefit for themselves...
Once these trembling people return home, they will not be as docile as they appeared. They will secretly negotiate with their family members like rats until they reach an agreement that can protect their own interests.
To outwardly comply while inwardly disagreeing...this is very common.
Death has closed its eyes, and it naturally has ways to deal with things, but it doesn't want to waste its energy on these trivial matters now—as long as these lords in the rear don't allow corruption to spread in their territories, everything is fine.
"You should try to motivate them... but since you've already intimidated them."
Hades produced a necklace; on a scarlet background, the skull representing the Inquisition stared blankly at the Primarch.
“I sent a small squad of the Inquisition ahead of time, along with the Hades ships. They are the sons of Corax. If you trust me, we can have them come.”
All we need to do is keep an eye on the lords of this sector.
“Or this task can be entrusted to the children of the forest,” Hades said. “Whatever you prefer.”
[Let the Inquisition come; the First Legion has other uses.]
Mortarion spoke slowly, saying that after learning some things from Luther, the Primarch was prepared for the Children of the Forest to become unruly. Moreover, the Dark Angels who used torture were not suitable for guarding the rear, and the high pressure they exerted would backfire.
Mortarian gave the Dark Angels other tasks; in the upcoming battles, the First Legion would be assigned to a war zone adjacent to that of Macado.
Let them fight it out themselves. Mortarian believed that the infighting between the First Legion and Makado would save him a lot of energy.
He only needs to move them far away from the center of the battlefield.
"Can,"
Hades casually said this, then crushed the necklace in his hand. Crimson metal fragments drifted between his fingers, the message conveyed.
"What are your plans for the next move?"
Hades pulled up a chair that looked like it was meant for the Primarch and sat down at the long table.
"Although the Empire currently controls the seas... I don't think it will last long. The Eldar have a considerable number of warships, and the Slaanesh have at least a few Arks of Eldar in their hands."
"It will be a tough battle, and the fleet of the Lord of Mankind will not have much of an advantage."
Hades said it with certainty.
【Then let us do it.】
Motalian said, reaching out to zoom in on the star map, and planets bathed in a nauseating purple appeared before their eyes.
But before the naval battle fully commences, I hope we can push the front lines back to the Third District.
The Primarch reached out and drew a circle around the exit of the network, "The Valley of Laughter."
These contaminated planets are drawing in the Slaanesh energy seeping from the web, and the veil is thinning... This is very detrimental to our military operations.
Not all armies possess the strong resistance to chaos like the Hounds of the Underworld or the Death Guard. Anti-chaos armies are too expensive to build, and most armies are still ordinary troops transferred from various parts of the Empire.
Mortarian reached out and gathered the seven planets on the front lines together, gazing at them thoughtfully.
The Slaanesh armies are not as adept at defense as the Empire; they drag a planet into a muddy frenzy so that their masters can draw strength from it, making it easy for them to reclaim it.
"Are you planning to launch multiple projects simultaneously?"
Hades' sudden question startled Mortarion. The Primarch looked up and gazed at Hades.
Why not?
Motalian said,
[You, me, and Makado are all here...]
Hades coughed twice.
"Um... I might... it's unlikely I'll be there."
Mortarian's eyes widened suddenly. Hades was about to speak when another familiar figure appeared at the doorway.
Golden flames ignited, and the familiar armor was edged with gold by the flames. He still looked the same, except that his burning face looked even more ferocious.
【Galo, it's been a long time.】
Mortarian spoke slowly and deliberately, watching the warrior, burning with golden flames, approach him. Every glance from him burned Mortarian's eyes, a constant reminder of his own incompetence ten thousand years ago.
"Yo! Gara!!!"
Hades turned around in surprise to greet her and wanted to pull Gara to sit down and chat some more, but Gara refused him.
Long time no see.
Gara bowed to the two, then stepped forward and stood in front of Hades. He looked at the Primarch, and Mortarion looked down at him.