bookbashuk Page 544
Page 544
Hades had also wondered what the emperors were doing in that era.
However, given the Emperor's character—he didn't initially want to establish an empire, and only after being persuaded by Macardo did he agree to take on the responsibility of saving humanity—the Emperor may not have risen to prominence back then.
However, after that, the Emperor established the Cult of Mars and signed the Treaty of Olympia and the Scarlet Accord with the Cult of Mechanics in order to prevent the tragedy of the Iron Rebellion from happening again.
The Empire takes the matter of Iron Man very seriously.
In reality, some powerful sages would hide "highly autonomous thinkers" and collect "machine souls without subspace projection".
There is still a gray area in this regard, with ambiguous statements.
It was precisely because of this that Hades secretly created "Nirvana" back then.
"Nirvana" is an algorithm created through logical operations, using the power of the Void Dragon as a guide, the personality of the twenty-one sacrificed sages, and the soulless woman as its foundation. It is capable of self-iteration and self-updating.
To ensure the algorithm doesn't go out of control, Hades also stipulated that after a certain period of time, the personality of the loyal sage would be uploaded to the system to ensure that the system is stable and loyal to Phaeus during this period.
Ten thousand years later, this system is still running stably, but its scale and computing power are obviously incomparable to what they were before. It was formed by the personalities of tens of thousands of sages and is responsible for the daily traffic management of Faos, as well as assisting in industrial manufacturing and ship navigation.
But that was all; the sages dared not extend their access further toward Nirvana.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the shadow of the Iron Man rebellion still looms over everyone.
"...The Lord of Humanity knows about Nirvana?"
Hades said thoughtfully, "Judging from the appearance of the Imperial Guards, the Emperor must have already tacitly approved the legitimacy of Nirvana."
The Imperial Guards nodded.
"On this journey to Terra, my Lord hopes that you will bring the Nirvana system with you."
Kirkland, standing behind Hades, added in real time,
"The relocation of the Nirvana System requires your approval, Hades, otherwise it would no longer be in Phaeus."
"He wants to introduce AI?"
The Imperial Guards remained silent, tacitly agreeing to Hades's question.
Hades frowned. Small-scale incidents could be handled with AI, but if it involved the entire empire... the consequences of a mistake would be far too severe.
The Iron Man rebellion back then was probably not influenced by the warp; it was entirely an internal problem stemming from Iron Man himself.
"You can bring it."
But even Hades himself cannot guarantee Nirvana's "loyalty"... How does the Emperor intend to solve this problem?
Hades said,
"But how does he want to use it?"
Where will it be used?
William's unrestrained laughter echoed through the fiery hall of the Ministry of the Interior.
The burning of the Ministry of the Interior was just the first signal; fighting broke out outside as well.
Let this central planet fall.
Yay, it's gone!
Chapter 606 Vincent William Van Gogh
In fact, Faos still has quite a few good things.
However... there are some extreme cases.
In the quiet office, Hades stared thoughtfully at the list in his hand.
Without pursuing a peaceful end to the war, and with the premise of ensuring the survival of the personnel, these sages devised a variety of extermination plans, and there was bound to be one that would suit the battlefield.
【Tidal Chaos】(Extremely short deployment time): Detonates a massive number of vortex bombs near a star, guiding the subspace tides to collide with the star, and then releasing enormous energy in all directions of the galaxy, causing unpredictable subspace chaos, with a chance of causing chaos in the local subspace and reality.
【The Day of Eternal Silence】(Medium Deployment Time): Three one-time-use giant ships covered with black stone obelisk plus versions surround the planet, and the deaths of a thousand soulless beings trigger the entire planet to fall into a complete soulless field.
【Planet Thrower】(Extremely long deployment time): By exploding stars, pulling planets, and using various other methods, the gravitational field of a galaxy is altered, and a celestial body within the gravitational field is "thrown" out as a weapon to crash into the target battlefield.
……
Hades' assessment was that the extermination order was somewhat heretical. Apart from the costly [Eternal Silence Day], which could be used, Hades couldn't think of any other applications for it at the moment.
In addition, Faos's technological advantages are mainly reflected in the improvement of its logistics system and the application of the Nirvana system.
Hades thought for a moment, then looked at the screen next to his desk. The cable that followed was buried in the floor, leading to the [Nirvana Main System] on the lower level of Class A.
On Phaeus, Hades rarely witnessed the extension of the Emperor's consciousness. He tried to communicate with the Imperial Guard, but the riddle-makers were evasive and vague.
He only said to tell Hades to return to Terra quickly.
The ruler of mankind ultimately hopes that the oxen and horses will get to work as soon as possible—this is Hades's idea.
But could something have happened to the Emperor?
To date, apart from the Imperial Guard that has been watching over Nirvana for thousands of years, Hades has not received any messages from the Emperor.
Hades did not believe that the Emperor was unaware of his return.
He has been indirect contact with Mortarian several times.
Even if the Emperor cannot directly make a psionic call to Hades, he can still transmit information by possessing people around Hades through dream transmission.
But... there's just no news.
It's also possible that the emperor felt there was nothing to say, just like it was ten thousand years ago.
He was already quite inhuman ten thousand years ago.
Hades pondered for a while, but ultimately couldn't come to a conclusion and had to give up.
We still need to go to Terra as soon as possible.
Hades put down Faos's documents and picked up the reply from Andrei, the company commander of the Third Company of the Devourers.
Thanks to the Ultramarines' outstanding political skills, the Third Company of World Devourers stationed in the Ultramarines did not need Hades's intervention; they immediately expressed their allegiance.
Hades looked at the letter, where loyalty and the pros and cons were neatly written.
But Hades frowned and looked again and again, and between the rows and columns, it was filled with the meaning of "give the brothers a hand".
The response was quite efficient—perhaps because the World Eaters disliked holding meetings.
It's quite refreshing.
This reminded Hades of Angron. He wondered where the straightforward Lord of the Red Sands had gone, and whether he might be above Baal.
Thinking about it this way, once he returns to Terra, he'll have to go and find the Primarchs one by one—after all, the more capable one is, the more work one should do.
Hades was mentally calculating the strength of his current army.
If you do the math, he has most of the Ultramarines' fleet, a third of the World Eaters' fleet, and the entire fleet of Faos... Plus, the Imperial Guard has now openly pledged allegiance to him, and the Imperial Fist stationed on Terra is highly unlikely to go to war with Hades's forces...
Furthermore, he was also blessed with a reputation as one of the two state religions, a "god" in the Underworld, and under his command, Buz was once one of the most outstanding figures in the empire—even if those in the leadership did not recognize Hades, they had to recognize Buz Bella from a thousand years ago.
...With all these factors combined, Hades is enough to give the men of Terra a run for their money.
There will certainly be localized wars, but there will be no large-scale conflict.
Even the greatest crisis might not come from Terra; Hades needs to be wary of Mars, the warp, or something else...
...There's nothing more to say. Hades is determined to succeed in this trip to Terra!
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Terra
He laughed.
The Ministry of the Interior was already engulfed in flames, which ignited the last taut nerve of the high lords. Although there was no Star Speaker to give the order, the psionic forces gathered on Terra launched an attack on the Cathedral of the Underworld.
The High Lords never reach a consensus on how to deal with Hades.
With some deliberate provocation and some schemes... they deliberately started to fall into internal strife.
As for the Star Speakers... the old host died in the power struggle, and the newly appointed host advocates a life-or-death battle with Hades, but his power is not yet fully established, and it seems that he will be dragged down by the pro-descendant faction.
The Astral Army, the Imperial Navy, and other military authorities have indeed gathered their troops on Terra, but it's merely a gathering. The Empire's inefficient administration has left them like a swarm of headless flies, and the current situation remains unclear.
No one knows if it was Hades, when he came, or why he came.
The merchant fleet, a bunch of opportunists, decisively used the excuse of the incident to withdraw directly from the Solar Starfield. They stationed themselves in a star sector near the Solar Starfield without saying a word.
And the state religion...
The God Emperor's Church, on the contrary, was deeply worried and even secretly maneuvered to support numerous miscellaneous forces in an attempt to suppress the Underworld Church—at least in Terra, the two churches were not as harmonious as they appeared on the surface.
After all, there are only so many people, and one cannot simultaneously fall completely into two rivers of faith.
Meanwhile, the Underworld Cult, which was the focus of attention from all forces, kept its church doors tightly shut, summoned its army, and awaited the arrival of Hades.
The Star Torch Palace was tightly controlled by the Imperial Guards, and the Lord of Humanity knew that the Star Torch Palace could not afford any problems.
But that's all. This planet is filthy and corrupt, and the soil beneath his feet even has the blood of alien races flowing in it. The Lord of Mankind is not omniscient or omnipotent; this is one of the things he learned while serving the Emperor.
Since the Lord of mankind cannot decide the fate of mankind, then let him decide.
William walked deep into the palace. Terra Dungeon was like a huge labyrinth, an abandoned nest. There was little light here, and everything was hidden in a hot and restless gloom.
He simply walked freely, each step as if he had rehearsed it a million times.
In the unsettling darkness, at the corners, junctions, and crevices of those massive walls, hateful and angry gazes licked at William again and again, but William only smiled and shook his head.
These self-important imperial guards still suffered some hardship.
Beneath William's feet, fragments of the demon army scattered on the ashes, mostly feathers and scales, with even Eldar-style armor and broken weapons among them.
There was no other way; since he was going to burn everything, he needed to give these golden warriors something to do.
A cold glint flashed across the Dark Eldar's armor, and on the throne, on the hem of the king's robe, Dark Eldar proverbs were intricately woven into patterns and scales.
The emperor slowly stood up and raised his scepter.
He continued on his way, and he even became unusually excited—unable to contain himself, he was thrilled, after all, this was the first time he had faced his former superior directly.
After He took this form, and after Macardo declared Him to be the Emperor, He faced the Emperor directly for the first time.
They should have a talk.
It's time for all of this to change.
The name possesses a unique charm. The emperor tacitly approved of His offense, or perhaps the lord of mankind was powerless to stop it—or perhaps the emperor thought it was merely the good intentions of the former ruler.
In any case, with the use of similar names, He will successfully divert a portion of the power flowing to the Emperor.
Perhaps the emperor thought this was merely a well-intentioned act to delay his ascension to godhood.
Makado laughed. Was it really so? Had the Marksman ever thought the same thing? Or did he simply crave more power… to [reset] everything?
Did the Lord of Mankind truly see Him? Did He truly see this traitor? Did He truly see this... emperor who would ultimately send them all to the guillotine?
William walked briskly, hearing the Imperial Fist roar under the Eldar sword, the screams of the Fire Lieutenant, and the low laughter of the Tzeentch emerging from the rifts deep within the Web.
The emperor might be very sad—because none of this was for him, nor was it directed at the ruler of mankind.
It was for [it], that tool, that which could not be driven by psychic energy, that which was even gradually becoming uncontrollable by the Star Gods.
Hades.
O Lord of mankind, why are you so fortunate to have its support?
If you share similar ideals, and both are working for humanity...
So... He also acted for the sake of humanity... Why not entrust it to Him?
Just like ten thousand years ago, when an emperor casually glanced at Him and entrusted the child of midnight to Him.
Or... you dare not do this to Hades?
A faint light appeared, and William heard the hum of instruments. Huge pipes hung down from the sky of this underground world, and steps rose one by one, forming a road to heaven.
Fragments of stars are scattered on the crimson carpet, like a path stained with the blood of heroes. The gold shines as if it were burning. His exquisite and tall toys stand on either side, adorning His authority and power.
It's so bright, it's really too bright.
William raised his head, his neck tilted back at an incredible angle, and there sat the being—at the very top.
He was there, waiting for him.