"No, this won't do. We can't just passively defend here; we need to take the initiative…"
"Passive defense will only lead to a dead end. We can only find a glimmer of hope by taking the initiative. The timing they chose is too perfect, and the appearance of this passage is too outrageous."
Zeke stood up, no longer eating hotpot, and began to ponder.
The current situation demands proactive action, but who can take the initiative?
A Primarch?
A Primarch won't work; the other side also has Primarchs, and if a Primarch were to go, he would undoubtedly be discovered.
the Emperor?
the Emperor is even less suitable; he must stay here to suppress the other side.
Looking around, the most suitable person to handle this matter is either himself, the variable, or his parents, but he would not let his parents take such risks.
But… Zeke glanced at his almost undisguisable powerful energy fluctuations. If he were to directly pass through the barrier and appear in the galaxy on the other side, he would undoubtedly be immediately discovered by the enemy.
His existence was too dazzling, like a beacon in the darkness.
"No, if I go over like this, I'm afraid there will be problems. the Emperor, you sit tight; I'm going back to stir things up."
With that, Zeke left the Emperor's palace and returned directly to his battle moon. In just one step, he arrived at the battle moon's energy core.
Just as he could mass-produce Custodes, Zeke could naturally use his energy to create a body for himself.
He would transfer his will into it, but doing so would require sufficient energy as support.
After all, if the created body were too weak, it might not be effective enough in that universe, and if it were too strong, it would easily be discovered by the enemy. Therefore, he could only choose a compromise.
The battle moon's singularity energy core undoubtedly became his best choice. He could create an energy clone for himself by drawing from the singularity energy core.
And because the energy level would not be too high, he would not be discovered like a beacon in the darkness.
A large amount of energy began to be drawn into Zeke's hands, then infused into a phantom that had just formed a human shape before him.
As a large amount of energy was drawn away, the battle moon began to stop; its movements ceased, and it could only remain in place.
Apart from maintaining the basic operations of the battle moon, most of the massive energy was drawn out by Zeke and infused into the clone before him. Then, an existence identical to Zeke appeared.
The body was considered complete. Although this body was not enough to contend with the Chaos Gods, ordinary Primarchs would certainly not be his opponents. Even Gork on the other side could exchange a few blows with it, so it should be fine for stirring up trouble.
However, a body alone was certainly not enough. Zeke extended one of his fingers and tapped the forehead of this body.
The next second, Zeke's consciousness, which had been standing there, quickly switched into the energy clone opposite him, and the energy clone immediately opened its eyes and looked at its main body.
"Hmm, no problem. It was a success."
Then his consciousness returned to his original body.
Now that the body was complete, it was time to execute the plan. Zeke took his body and left the battle moon again, while the battle moon fell into a state of shutdown.
Too much energy had been drawn from the battle moon by Zeke this time. Its core was currently unable to power the entire battleship and needed to be refueled with matter.
But Zeke naturally didn't need to worry about these things; the navy would handle it themselves.
Although they had been fighting the Tyranid Swarm, and the battle moon was not cheap, the Imperium of Man still had the capability to provide some supplies to replenish it.
When Zeke returned to the Emperor's palace with his body, the Emperor had already finished his hotpot, and a plate of roasted meat was now set before him… "You're still eating? Don't you have anything else to do besides eat? I'm working hard, and you're just sitting here eating. Don't you feel a bit disgusted eating on a throne?"
Watching the Emperor eat and drink, and then seeing himself, who had just been like an ox or a horse and would soon have to go work like one again, Zeke felt a bit unbalanced.
A pair of chopsticks appeared in Zeke's hand, and he directly picked up all of the Emperor's roasted meat, dipped it in his favorite seasoning, and then stuffed it into his mouth.
Watching Zeke snatch his freshly roasted meat like a hungry tiger, the Emperor was not angry; instead, he chuckled and, as if by magic, pulled out several skewers of sizzling, freshly roasted alien beast meat from the side and handed them over.
"Don't rush, don't rush. I know you're working hard, so I specifically saved these for you. Try this; it's a new arrival, and the taste is incredibly good."
Zeke didn't stand on ceremony, taking them and chewing heartily, muttering indistinctly, "At least you have some conscience. Here, let me show you something good."
He pointed to the energy clone beside him, which looked exactly like him but had a much more restrained aura.
the Emperor's eyes lit up, and he carefully sensed it: "Oh ho! Not bad, Old Yaeger! This clone… the energy level is controlled just right. It's neither too weak nor so bright that it's like a lighthouse the moment it goes over. Are you planning to play a trick?"
"Exactly." Zeke quickly devoured the skewers, wiped his mouth, "Being passively beaten is not my style. Don't they want to come over? Not only can they not come over, but I'm going over instead!"
"Don't tell me how good your Imperium is; I know how abstract your Imperium is. Even if the technology of the Dark Age of Technology has advanced, in reality, your ruling techniques are still terrible."
"How could the citizens of your Imperium live good lives? With the technology of the Dark Age of Technology, but without changes in your superstructure, the people at the bottom will still suffer, and I can go over and stir up their internal strife."
The Emperor is a homebody, and his governing ability can be said to be incredibly poor. This is true for the Emperor of any galaxy.
The Emperor on the other side seems quite powerful, having even completed the Great Crusade, but his governing ability can only be described as unimpressive; he still relies on the original ruling class.
Don't expect a ruling class that survived the Dark Age to change after being unified by the Emperor.
That's impossible; the exploitation that should exist naturally still does. It's just slightly better than the exploitation before the Emperor appeared, that's all.
If one has never seen light, darkness can be endured. But if one has seen light, then darkness becomes unbearable.
When one is hungry and cold, the only demands are to eat enough and wear warm clothes.
However, this premise is that they have not been exposed to other things, just like the moon being rounder abroad, because their propaganda is good… Regardless of whether the Emperor on the other side has brought back the technology of the Dark Age of Technology, as long as their ruling class remains corrupt, their troubles will still exist.
They merely lack the ability to resist. After all, in the absence of the Chaos Gods, any resistance from ordinary planets would be immediately suppressed by the Imperial Guard. Not to mention, the other side also has Space Marines.
"You're amazing!" the Emperor gave a thumbs up, looking at Zeke, then spoke again the next second.
"But what use is that? The Chaos Gods of that galaxy are allied with The Emperor of Gold. If only you go and incite their lower ranks to revolt, it's hard to make a big impact."
"At most, a few planets will descend into chaos. Even if you could plunge all his worlds into disorder, he still has powerful forces, couldn't he suppress everything just the same?"
Although the power of ordinary people revolting is strong, and the resistance of the populace is powerful, the Imperium of Man on the other side is different. They have loyal armies and superhuman Space Marines, fully capable of suppressing the resistance of ordinary people.
Ordinary citizens armed with automatic rifles couldn't even defeat the PDF or the Imperial Guard, let alone face the slaughter of Space Marines.
the Emperor couldn't understand what Zeke was trying to achieve.
"Do you remember who opened the first passage in our galaxy?" Zeke didn't answer directly, but instead countered the Emperor with a question.
"It was Yuan Shen !" This answer was clear to almost all the gods, so the Emperor blurted it out.
"Then if he could open a passage, why couldn't I?"
"I'll stealthily infiltrate their galaxy through the passage you currently have, then open small passages within their galaxy to let our armies through, wouldn't that work?"
"First, we use ordinary Astra Militarum to make them think it's just a regular rebellion. Then, we deploy our Space Marines, Imperial Guard, and Grey knights. Once our battlefield expands enough, I believe they won't have time to interfere with us."
"Psykers are indeed powerful, and beings who become gods are indeed powerful, but becoming a god also comes with drawbacks.
That is, they cannot act freely in the real universe, nor can they fully exert their powerful combat strength, as the real universe repels them."
"They are truly powerful when fighting in the Warp. As long as I don't engage them in the Warp, I only need to fight them in the real universe of the star system."
"I'm just saying, if I don't come to the real universe to fight you, do you think your current state can contend with me?"
To make his explanation more convincing, Zeke posed this question to the Emperor, who shook his head furiously.
"Are you kidding? Fighting you in the real universe? Unless my brain is fried, no one would ever fight you!"
"Your psychic power is stronger than mine and can suppress me, and in terms of physical strength, I'm not even comparable to one of your fingers. Fighting you under these circumstances would be absolute madness!!!"
"Hmm!?"
"Exactly, I've already merged the powers of two of myself and still don't want to fight you in the real universe. And The Emperor of Gold on the other side has already achieved godhood, he would still be restricted by the real universe in the real universe."
"That is to say, the Chaos Gods no longer pose much of a threat to you. At most, they can bestow blessings and target you in the Warp, but your fleet doesn't need to go through the Warp at all!!!"
The more the Emperor spoke, the more excited he became. He now understood what Zeke meant: he would send his clone over first.
Then, he would open a passage from this side to bring fleets and troops to start a rebellion within the Imperium of Man, leading the local humans in revolt.
Initially, the Imperium might just consider it a small rebellion, only sending Astra Militarum to suppress it. Even if it became more serious, they would only send Space Marines to suppress it.
Even if this rebellion grew very large, as long as the opponent's attention was focused on them, they wouldn't immediately deploy their main forces.
By the time they realized something was wrong and brought their main forces back, Zeke might have already established himself, capable of disrupting the opponent's morale in their heartland. Then things would be much simpler for him here!
"I understand!"
"I understand what you mean! Good, good, that's what we'll do, that's what we'll do!"
the Emperor suddenly saw the light and was extremely excited. What was Zeke doing?
He was frantically eating the Emperor's barbecue, completely finishing the entire plate.
"My barbecue!!!!" The excited the Emperor saw that all his barbecue had been eaten by Zeke, and he let out a sharp shriek!!
He was very happy to have a way to deal with that galaxy and buy himself time. He firmly believed this would succeed, but seeing his barbecue gone, he was also despairing.
Zeke calmly wiped the grease from his mouth, then abruptly stood up and poked the Emperor's forehead with his finger.
"What are you yelling about? I'm about to go out and stir up trouble. Shouldn't I have a good meal before I leave? All you know is yelling, yelling, yelling. If you're so capable, you go!"
"And wasn't it the mess you made when you merged? And you didn't plug it up properly with your butt, so now I'm going over to clean up your mess, aren't I?"
"I'm telling you, why can't you be like The Emperor of Gold on the other side and successfully manage such a chaotic situation?"
"According to your theory, it will be very troublesome for you to devour the opponent later, as you are not as successful as he is. He will definitely resist to the death, so be prepared to fight him."
Zeke looked at the Emperor in front of him, speaking with a tone of disappointment, as if scolding him for not living up to expectations.
Before the comparison, The Emperor of Gold's failure seemed understandable to Zeke, as he was just a poor student and a shut-in.
But now it was different; The Emperor of Gold on the other side had succeeded, and then he looked at the Emperor on his own side.
Good heavens, if someone else could succeed, why did he fail so completely?
the Emperor, who had originally been shrieking, instantly lost several degrees of his momentum upon hearing Zeke's words. Like a primary school student, he hugged his head and cowered on his golden throne, intimidated by Zeke's scolding.
"But I didn't want to, you know? How about I merge with the one on the other side? Then wouldn't you have a formidable Emperor?" The Emperor of Gold, scolded like a son, spoke weakly.
"Don't give me that nonsense. You and I know each other; we have a relationship. Do I know that one on the other side? Do I have a relationship with him?"
"What if he doesn't want your useless memories and deletes your consciousness? Then I'd lose my companion. Don't bring that up again.
If you talk such nonsense to me again, I'll beat you, okay?!"
Zeke was unwilling to waste any more words with the Emperor, instead, he gestured for the Emperor to move his backside.
But before the Emperor moved, Zeke made the first move, devouring all the roasted meat in front of the Emperor into his own mouth.
"Malcador, mobilize the Imperial Army! As soon as I open the passage, dispatch them immediately! Try to deploy some necron fleets and our own fleets at the edges to pass through our passage as well."
"Do your best. Even one more destroyer is good, because although that Imperium on the other side seems powerful, they actually don't have enough superluminal combat capabilities. The necrons haven't allied with them."
Zeke gave The Emperor of Gold one last instruction, as he was about to act personally. His primary consciousness would, of course, remain with that clone, not in his current body.
The moment the Emperor moved his backside after he finished speaking, Zeke's clone directly entered the territory of the Golden Imperium on the other side.
The instant the passage opened, it naturally made The Emperor of Gold and the others curious about what exactly the other side had done. However, because the passage was open for such a short time, they only managed to react but didn't have time to do anything.
But the opening and closing of the passage had, after all, occurred. No one believed it was because the other side's Earth Ring had an itchy backside, so it just shifted.
Even though the Emperor's backside was sitting there to suppress all heavens, his backside could move however it pleased without the passage ever having a problem. After all, the fundamental item maintaining this passage was psychic power.
The opening and closing passage by the Emperor left The Emperor of Gold and the others somewhat perplexed.
At their level, no action could ever be meaningless. the Emperor's sudden move must have been part of some scheme.
Tzeentch gently plucked the threads of fate, attempting to calculate the opponent with the assistance of the Warp in his own galaxy, but the reality was that as soon as he plucked the threads of fate, Zeke, who had been sitting in the palace, suddenly opened his eyes.
The next second, a gaze glared at the passage beneath The Emperor of Gold's backside, and Tzeentch, who was trying to pluck the threads of fate, felt something rushing towards him.
Before it could even think, a shockwave slammed into it.
Several feathers quietly drifted down from Tzeentch's body. All of this indicated to Tzeentch that his predictions came with a price; the opponent was not an existence he could casually predict.
A few feathers fell because the opponent acted across the galaxy, and he was, after all, a Chaos Gods, so he wouldn't be beaten to the point of spitting blood.
But the falling of a few feathers belonging to the Lord of Change was already enough to explain the problem.
"There is an extremely high-ranking existence on the other side. It possesses immense power. This should be the existence on the other side that you rely on."
Although warned by Zeke, Tzeentch dared not continue to speculate on this matter.
He dared not continue to use his power to see what results this matter would lead to, but he still obtained some valid information.
This power was something he had never felt before. This was not the power of the Chaos Gods, so undoubtedly, this should be the reliance of that the Emperor on the other side.
Upon hearing this, The Emperor of Gold showed no fear. His face still held that expression of everything being under control.
"I had long anticipated that the other side, my counterpart, must have a powerful existence that he could rely on. Their relationship might even be quite good..."
"Otherwise, I know myself. I succeeded, he failed, he wouldn't resist."
"He's quite lucky. His endeavor failed, yet he still met a friend of equal standing, who even values him so much and is willing to resist us with him."
As he spoke, even with The Emperor of Gold's temperament, he couldn't help but feel a little envious of the other party.
A friend of equal standing, what a precious phrase that is?
Moreover, he could assert that this friend must have been acquired after The Emperor of Gold completed his Great Crusade and failed; otherwise, two existences of equal standing would never have allowed the Great Crusade to fail. Not even confronting the Four Chaos Gods would have been an issue.
However, the envy lasted only for a short while before disappearing.
"Although he gained a partner of equal standing, what does it matter? His endeavor failed, while mine succeeded. In this regard, I am far superior to him."
The Emperor of Gold said so, then changed the subject, speaking very seriously to the Chaos Gods behind him.
"I must make one thing clear to you all: going over is fine, but I will take over the local Imperium of Man completely. You can only attack the entities in the Warp, understand?"
"If anyone dares to do something I forbid in front of me, then don't say I didn't warn you. I believe you wouldn't want to fight me again."
Although The Emperor of Gold wanted to devour the Emperor to make himself more complete and powerful, to unify himself, this did not mean he no longer loved humanity.
Teaming up with these Chaos Gods was merely a temporary expedient.
Once he and the Emperor completed their fusion, he believed the Emperor would be sensible enough to directly merge with him, thereby suppressing these Four Chaos Gods.
The Emperor of Gold's warning carried an undeniable meaning and threat.
This caused the somewhat restless Chaos Gods to temporarily rein in their auras.
They knew well the power and obstinacy of this "ally." Before fully exploiting his value or finding a way to counteract him, there was no need to provoke him on the sensitive issue of "humans."
That single galaxy, a sufficiently vast Warp, was already enough for them to digest for a long time.
There was no need to fall out with the Emperor just for those humans who had almost no value.
Khorne let out a low, reluctant growl, signifying his assent.
Tzeentch's gaze flickered beneath his bird-headed mask, wondering what he was calculating.
Nurgle remained jovial, seemingly uninterested in slaughtering mortals.
Slaanesh let out an indifferent chuckle. To him, humans were useless. He valued the Aeldari in that galaxy much more; the Aeldari were the existences he truly valued, their quality was high enough.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty," Odin spoke at the opportune moment, his voice like a serpent's hiss, "Our goal is consistent—to break the barrier, and then we each obtain our respective benefits."
"As for those mortals... they will also be your subjects in the future, so we naturally will not interfere too much."
"Just like the previous one..."
The Emperor of Gold snorted coldly and said no more.
He refocused his gaze on the indestructible psychic barrier.
No one knew how long this psychic barrier could be maintained, but the longer the Emperor maintained it, the stronger the Emperor on the other side became.
From the current situation, it seemed that after they crossed over, he would still need to have a battle with the Emperor on the other side...
While these guys continued to spout nonsense, Zeke's clone had already entered this galaxy, traversing the void alone.
Powerful psionic energy began to conduct a detailed scan throughout the space of the entire galaxy; he needed to find a suitable location, then work with his main body to open a new passage.
Only by opening the passage and sending the Imperium's army through could he begin to act against the Imperium of Man's worlds, bringing them new ideas and inspiring them to rise up against the Imperium of Man.
As for whether the humans of this galaxy would be plunged into war and suffer massive casualties due to his plan, Zeke would not consider this.
Sometimes, to effect change, casualties are unavoidable, especially in a war between two universes. However, the sacrifices of these human citizens would not be in vain.
Their resistance would bring a better life to the humans of this galaxy, at least many times better than life under the Imperium of Man. Even if this Imperium of Man seemed quite good, an abstract civilization is still abstract.
During the Men of Iron Rebellion, the Imperium of Man had completely twisted its entire civilization; their various aristocratic and chaotic traditions had shattered the coherence of this civilization.
After a detailed scan across the galaxy, Zeke locked onto a location.
Cadia!
Cadia is a fortress world, and it has an Eye of Terror nearby. Although the Imperium in this galaxy has temporarily formed an alliance with the chaos gods, Cadia has always been a vanguard fortress in blocking Chaos.
Opening the passage there would be perfect.
Furthermore, some of the Eye of Terror's fluctuations around Cadia could even be attributed to Chaos, thereby sowing discord between the chaos gods and the Emperor.
With a target in mind, Zeke immediately sprang into action.
Traversing the void of the galaxy physically was not impossible, but the speed was simply too slow. Therefore, he opened his backpack, and a battleship appeared before him, seemingly existing both within and outside this universe and galaxy, both illusory and real.
brilliant-class battleship—
A Terran Dominion military battleship. This type of battleship benefited from extensive cyclical technology and the States's top-tier technology. This was a gift Little Gray brought him when he came over earlier. It is a genuine active-duty military battleship of the States.
The brilliant-class battleship maintained the traditional battleship design and appearance of the Terran Dominion, but what was different was that this model was significantly larger than previous battleships.
The retaliation-class battleship was merely twenty-odd kilometers in size, whereas the brilliant-class battleship, as an active-duty warship of the Terran Dominion, measured 120 kilometers.
This size was almost identical to a titan, yet in the States, this was merely a battleship.
More importantly, ordinary battleships only had limited destructive power, capable of destroying common satellites, but battleships of this caliber were different.
If he wished, a single shot could detonate an entire star, thereby destroying the entire star system.
As a conventional force, this power was already sufficient. In addition, the brilliant-class battleship also possessed an extremely terrifying capability: it was almost entirely designed for god-tier civilizations.
Most god-tier civilizations, when facing ordinary lower-tier civilizations, can control every fiber of the galaxy, easily destroying any civilization that has not reached god-tier status.
They can also use methods like dimension reduction and ascension to deal with ordinary low-tier civilizations, but these things become completely useless when facing the Terran Dominion's active-duty warships.
Dimensions, to the States, are merely the simplest of concepts, unable to have any impact on the States's people or ordinary warships.
And the destructive power wrought by States warships is not defined in the usual way; some civilizations' weapons achieve a certain level of power, and thus reach a certain standard, whereas States warships operate on the principle of: I need to achieve this level of power, so I will reach this standard.
In this context, unless you are also a god-tier civilization and have applied your own civilization's technological enhancements to that star system, then no matter what methods you employ, it will still be destroyed.
All technologies must reach this stage for you to be qualified to contend with these god-tier civilizations, because for them, every fiber of the universe is within their grasp; we can freely adjust and modify the laws we need.
If you yourself do not possess this ability, then do not casually come to the table and challenge any god-tier civilization.
Looking at the brilliant-class battleship before him, Zeke was well aware of the combat power it contained.
The next second, his body vanished from the void, appearing inside the battleship.
Considering Zeke's needs, this battleship was entirely controlled by an intelligent AI.
"Activate the battleship and head to Cadia!"
"Order received, executing order, arrived."
The battleship merely received the order, executed it, and then arrived at Zeke's desired location.
Zeke left the interior of the brilliant-class battleship, then with a wave of his hand, he re-collected the battleship.
This battleship is currently the most powerful weapon in his possession, even more so than the star-class battleship he plans to build next.
An attack that can destroy an entire star system would have the same effect on the star-class battleship he plans to build.
The area around the Eye of Terror still looked the same; this wasn't Zeke's first time visiting the Eye of Terror, and the scenery in the surrounding galaxy was almost identical.
After observing the Eye of Terror for a while, he lowered his head to look at the still intact Cadia.
Many worlds in the Imperium might be disloyal and could be subverted or rebel, but those worlds definitely did not include the fortress world of Cadia that he was looking at.
They are loyal human guardians; if unnecessary, Zeke did not want to destroy Cadia, so he merely glanced at the planet before entering the Eye of Terror alone.
Just as Zeke's phantom entered the Eye of Terror, Zeke, who was sitting in the Imperial Palace, also opened his eyes.
"All is ready, save for the last push. Malcador, hasten to gather the Imperium's army and prepare for battle!"
Zeke immediately conveyed his orders to Malcador, the Keeper of the Sigillite, as he was the most suitable tool.
Malcador, however, did not realize that Zeke could open the tunnel just by passing through it. Although he had already issued orders to mobilize troops, where could he find so many usable troops around the Imperium's Solar System?
"Report to the Emperor, our forces cannot be gathered in such a short time."
Malcador's face showed difficulty; in such a short time, even a god couldn't accomplish it!
"I understand your trouble, so I'm merely urging you to mobilize the Legions as much as possible. If I remember correctly, there should still be Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Guard around Terra; mobilize them first."
After Zeke appeared on the Mars Forge World, the Adeptus Mechanicus, as an affiliated force of the Yaeger House, naturally received the first round of modifications. At this time, the Mars Forge World was an Ideal City World.
A Forge World becomes a city; a city becomes a world.
An entire planet was transformed into one giant city. This greatly increased the production capacity and other aspects of the Mars Forge World, and consequently, the number of Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Guard also increased.
The Mars Forge World housed six Titan Legions. Each titan Legion was equipped with one Cyberus battle body, 200 emperor-class titans, 200 warlord-class titans, 600 warlord-class titans, and 2400 Warhound-class titans assigned to them.
At the same time, there were 40 transport ships manufactured by the Terran Dominion, used to transport this batch of Adeptus Mechanicus Titan Legions.
Engaging in battle with the Golden Imperium of Man naturally couldn't rely solely on warships, because for the Imperium, their world's ground forces were the most crucial main force in this war.
"Mobilize six Titan Legions from Mars, all fully deployed. Mobilize 80% of the Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, leaving only 20% of the troops behind to maintain order. As for the rest, all personnel prepare for battle! Mars is to expand its military!"
Mars doesn't need so many troops stationed there; after all, this is the Solar System of the Solar System!
What kind of place is the Solar System? The Solar System is the central region of all humanity. How many troops are needed to defend this area?
The reason why troops are stationed here is only for unforeseen needs, and now is precisely that time of unforeseen need.
"Understood!" With Zeke telling him what to do, Malcador immediately sprang into action. He was going to mobilize the Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii.
"Furthermore, draw 60% of the Solar Auxilia, and have them ready to board transport ships at any time. As long as we need them later, they will immediately enter the warships and prepare to join the war!"
As Malcador was about to leave to deliver the orders, Zeke issued a new directive.
The Solar Auxilia were the elite ground forces of humanity. They were the elite among mortals and the ground forces stationed in the Solar System.
The organization of this unit was almost abolished after the Great Crusade, but after Zeke and Old Man Huang reached a consensus, the Solar Auxilia were re-conscripted. To date, the Solar Auxilia has been restored to its proper organization.
Malcador immediately went to execute the order. When he left the Imperial Palace and conveyed this order throughout the Solar System, the armies within the Solar System quickly mobilized.
Mars, this colossal Forge Ideal City, roared deafeningly. Production lines in countless factories were adjusted, and new war machines began to be manufactured at an astonishing speed. Giant transport ships, previously berthed in shipyards, were activated, slowly awakening like slumbering behemoths.
Six massive Titan Legions began to assemble.
Majestic emperor-class titans took earth-shaking steps, heading towards the designated transport areas.
Warlord-class and warlord-class titans followed closely, like moving metal mountains.
A vast number of Warhound-class titans swarmed around them like a beehive.
Tech-priests chanted binary hymns, performing final inspections and blessings.
And amidst all this, the most striking were the Cyberus battle bodies, which had already begun to be modified into the form of warships.
As the most powerful titan unit of the Titan Legions stationed here on Mars, the Cyberus battle bodies, their bodies were a colossal 2800 meters tall, plus a volume as wide as a mountain range. All of this made people see a mountain range moving.
It wasn't a mountain moving, but a mountain range moving. Unlike a single mountain moving, the movement of the Cyberus battle bodies was like an entire range of mountains moving.
It was clearly the wrong choice to load such behemoths into transport ships. They could transform into the form of transport ships themselves and fly back into orbit.
At the same time, hundreds of millions of Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii—from well-equipped Skitarii infantry to massive combat robots—also began to orderly board transport ships shuttling between Mars and orbit.
Their bionic eyes glowed red, filled with absolute obedience to the will of the "Omnissiah," the God of All Machines.
On the various fortress worlds and garrison planets within the Solar System, the camps of the Solar Auxilia also buzzed with activity. These elite soldiers, rigorously trained and equipped with the best individual weapons of the Imperium of Man, quickly organized their gear and boarded transport ships bound for Terra's orbit.
The Solar Auxilia had not seen much combat since humanity issued the order to re-organize them, and they weren't even involved in conquering another galaxy.
At that time, the Imperium of Man deployed their unified Imperial Guard forces, while elite units like the Solar Auxilia were not mobilized; they remained responsible for defending humanity's Solar System.
But now it was different; the crisis was within the Solar System, so these elite units were once again mobilized. If the new Imperium of Man's Imperial Guard had already begun to equip power armour, then the power armour equipped by the Solar Auxilia was even more luxurious.
Every mortal soldier wore standard, uniformly configured power armour, and their weapons were all-encompassing, from bolter weapons to gauss weaponry, everything was equipped.
In orbit, a vast fleet composed of various transport ships and escort ships was rapidly assembling. Although these vessels were not as heavily armed as capital warships, their numbers were sufficient to transport a massive ground army capable of conquering several star systems.
The conquest on land was the best pressure Zeke could exert on that Golden Imperium of Man; only then would they realize that they had internal troubles, thereby reducing their attacks on Old Man Huang's rear.
On Terra, a large number of armies were gathering, and Zeke also began his actions; his main body extended a hand and gently pressed it into the void before him.
Correspondingly, Zeke's clone inside the Eye of Terror also extended a hand.
The next second, a massive amount of psychic energy began to pour out, followed by a rift tearing open between the two galaxies.
The moment he saw the rift, Zeke extended his hand, pressing with even greater force towards the opposite side, and the rift completely shattered.
The next second, an irregular passage appeared before Zeke, and he immediately used his psychic power to envelop it and expand it into a circular passage.
A new passage was completely opened between the galaxies, and the moment this passage was opened, the entities in the opposite galaxy also sensed it, but the next instant, Zeke acted, shielding everything.
Most of the gods in the opposite galaxy felt that it was just a slight illusion, and even Golden Emperor, who noticed a slight anomaly, withdrew his gaze after looking at the Eye of Terror.
His gaze swept across these Chaos Gods of the Warp.
Although it seemed that everyone was temporarily united, Golden Emperor knew full well how fragile this alliance was.
If the war with the opposite galaxy had already begun, then the Emperor would not have to worry about these four guys causing trouble behind his back, but the problem was that the Emperor on the opposite side suppressed everything with his might.
Now that the frontal battle had not yet begun, would the Chaos Gods of the Warp be able to restrain their inner desires and stand on the same front with him?
If these Chaos Gods of the Warp could truly restrain themselves, then they would not be called evil gods, but righteous gods.
Under this premise, Golden Emperor had to worry about whether any unexpected events would occur behind him.
This was also why Golden Emperor himself breathed a sigh of relief when his gaze saw anomalies appearing within the Eye of Terror.
A new god appeared on the opposite side; who knew what the situation with that god on the opposite side was?
Moreover, since his counterpart on the opposite side chose to resist resolutely, they should know that continuing to use a psychic barrier was actually just a step away from death.
If they only defended and did not attack, then victory in the war would surely fall into their hands. The opposite side should counterattack; what Golden Emperor was worried about was Zeke secretly ambushing him.
But now, it was the Eye of Terror showing anomalies, so it should not be Zeke's doing. Golden Emperor felt relieved, while the five Chaos Gods in the Warp looked at each other.
They also sensed Golden Emperor's gaze towards the Eye of Terror, and this gaze indicated that one of them must be causing trouble.
Theoretically, that was the deduction, but they knew their own affairs; all five of them were actually causing trouble. They were just looking at each other to see which fool was so clumsy as to cause such a commotion.
They scrutinized each other, and among all of them, Tzeentch was the proudest.
He looked down on everyone around him with a condescending gaze; in his opinion, anyone could have problems, but it was absolutely impossible for him to have problems!
Because if it were he who acted, he would definitely not let these people discover his actions.
The Chaos Gods speculated about each other, which gave Zeke the best opportunity.
After shielding the commotion, Zeke's psychic power once again poured out, disguising the entire passage and adding several seals.
From now on, this passage temporarily became one-way; only Zeke's side could send armies into this direction, while the other side could not let armies pass through the passage to their galaxy.
After settling all of this, Zeke stood up and looked at the huge passage before him with great satisfaction. The next second, this passage appeared in the galactic void, and its size became even larger.
While Zeke was doing all this, The Emperor sat quietly on the golden throne, looking very serene. Was this the advantage of having a tall person?
With a tall person blocking in front, he once again enjoyed the happiness of the past; he only needed to hide behind.
However, merely doing this was certainly not enough. When the passage opened in the galaxy, Zeke pointed his finger, and his golden throne also appeared beside The Emperor, then his main body sat down.
Just as mentioned before, The Emperor alone could not withstand several sets of attacks from the opposite side; he would collapse sooner or later.
But if The Emperor couldn't handle it alone, what if Zeke was added?
Then, without a doubt, it was completely different. An even more powerful psychic shield appeared in the opposite galaxy, and Golden Emperor, the Chaos Gods of the Warp, and their armies, who had been fighting for a long time, stared blankly at the psychic shield that had become even thicker.
????
What the heck, it's one thing that the psychic shield hasn't been weakened after we've been fighting for so long, but how did it get thicker?
Golden Emperor's offspring, his 20 Primarchs, looked at this scene in disbelief.
On the golden throne, Zeke's main body sat side by side with The Emperor.
Two vast, star-sea-like psychic energies were no longer merely superimposed but produced a mysterious resonance and fusion.
Like two surging rivers merging into the same vast ocean, they stirred up an even more magnificent power.
The psychic barrier, which had stood at the entrance of the Warp passage and was rippling continuously under the intense bombardment, suddenly solidified and thickened, emitting an unprecedented, almost tangible, brilliant golden light!
Its solidity seemed to instantly elevate from hard alloy to the level of neutron star matter!
"This... how is this possible?!" a Primarch in the Imperial Fleet exclaimed in shock.
The main cannons of his fleet's warships struck the new barrier, but they couldn't even stir a ripple; instead, their energy was silently absorbed and neutralized by a gentle yet irresistible force.
Khorne's great axe slammed down again, but this time, it was no longer a dull "thud" but an extremely harsh, sharp scraping sound like glass on metal!
Where the axe blade contacted the barrier, blinding sparks erupted, but not even a trace was left. In Khorne's burning pupils, an emotion called "confusion" appeared for the first time.
Tzeentch's trick runes, powerful enough to twist the logic of reality, struck the barrier and, like snowflakes falling into magma, instantly melted away without a trace, unable to even stir a ripple.
The light under Tzeentch's bird-headed mask flickered violently, filled with incomprehensible shock.
Nurgle's plague slime attempted to corrode, but it seemed to drip onto an absolutely smooth mirror surface, unable to adhere at all, sliding down the barrier and disappearing into the Warp currents.
Slaanesh's decadent music, meanwhile, was like hitting a perfectly soundproof wall, unable to penetrate in the slightest.
Golden Emperor's own face darkened completely for the first time.
He could clearly feel that on the other side of the barrier, in addition to his "failed" self, there was another... completely different, yet equally unfathomable, and in some aspects even purer, more primordial power!
"That 'companion'... he acted personally?" Golden Emperor was greatly shaken.
This power... seemed even stronger than he had anticipated!
Suddenly, at this moment, Golden Emperor understood why The Emperor on the opposite side chose to resist to the end.
If he had a friend of such an equal status, and so powerful, he too would choose to resist to the end!
However, despite his emotions, Golden Emperor was helpless against the psychic defense jointly supported by Zeke and The Emperor... What could he do? Even if he was already so powerful, he had no way to continue his assault with Zeke joining in.
His attacks struck the exquisite psychic shield jointly constructed by Zeke and The Emperor, barely causing one or two ripples.
The ripples would just form two circles and then vanish without a trace, clearly indicating that his attacks were utterly useless.
Golden Emperor was furious... He was about to merge with another version of himself to become even stronger and more perfect, but then he encountered Zeke, an enemy from beyond.
Even the Eye of Terror... The resentful Golden Emperor reached out and once again launched an attack fiercely towards the psychic shield.
However, the next moment, it was still just ripples, and everything returned to calm.
Ah ah ah ah!!!!
Facing the combined defense of Zeke and The Emperor, Golden Emperor finally couldn't help but let out a roar.
After a long period of contemplation, he chose to stay put and observe the situation of his opponents.
The things happening inside the Eye of Terror must be the doing of these chaos gods around him, so they must stay here too!
If he, Golden Emperor, couldn't deal with the psychic shield formed by the two guys opposite him, could he not deal with these chaos gods beside him?
Golden Emperor didn't say another word and immediately turned his head to look at the five chaos gods before him.
"It seems we might not be able to break through their shield, but if anyone dares to leave here, then don't blame me for being impolite!!"
Although Golden Emperor was stronger than any single Chaos Gods of the Warp, he was still only one person. If these four guys ran back into the Warp and attacked the Imperium of Man, it would be quite troublesome for him to parry.
Therefore, he chose to confine these four guys here, making them attack the shield with him.
"I'll make it clear beforehand: if anyone here is slacking off, thinking of running back, then I don't care about anyone else, I will definitely kill him first!"
Golden Emperor knew he couldn't defeat everyone, but he could use his greater power to threaten these guys.
Facing his threat, Tzeentch said, "Don't be afraid, everyone, even Neos can't kill all of us!"
"As long as we scatter, let's see what he'll do then!"
Tzeentch shouted loudly, though without much justification, trying to incite the other Chaos Gods of the Warp to retreat with him.
However, his actions betrayed him. He shouted those words first, but he himself stood firmly rooted to the spot, unmoving.
Golden Emperor had said, whoever dared to run first, he would chase and attack them first!
Tzeentch just wanted to instigate and see if any chaos gods were brain-dead enough to escape first, so he could slip away immediately.
But that didn't mean he was willing to face Golden Emperor alone, as Golden Emperor's combat power was indeed far superior to his.
However, what responded to him were the other chaos gods' gazes as if they were looking at an idiot, and Golden Emperor's icy stare that could almost freeze souls.
Khorne let out a disdainful scoff, his massive axe even making a threatening feint in front of Tzeentch, the gust of wind it created ruffled Tzeentch's feathers.
The meaning was clear.
Don't just talk, act. Why don't you run first? As long as you lead, I'll follow you. If you don't dare to lead, then shut your mouth obediently.
Nurgle was still jovial, but the decaying aura emanating from him, enough to extinguish stars, quietly locked onto Tzeentch.
Slaanesh, on the other hand, let out a delightful hum in a spectating posture, as if enjoying Tzeentch's clumsy performance.
Golden Emperor was even more direct. He took a step forward, and the brilliant golden light around him pressed down on Tzeentch like a physical entity, his voice as cold as ice.
"lord of change, it seems you want to personally verify if I have the ability to 'fix' you here completely before you all scatter?"
Under Tzeentch's bird head, the light flickered rapidly, finally turning into a dry laugh.
"Ahem... you've misunderstood. I was just... livening up the atmosphere. With such a formidable enemy before us, we naturally need to stick together, stick together!"
He awkwardly retracted his testing steps and honestly stayed put.
He even symbolically released a few harmless trick spells towards the psychic barrier, to show that he was "contributing."
Golden Emperor snorted coldly and withdrew his oppressive aura.
He knew these chaos gods could not genuinely cooperate.
But as long as he could temporarily "tie" them here with absolute power, preventing them from returning to harm his Imperium, his goal would be achieved.
As for the psychic barrier, it was nothing. They always had replenishment and could continuously launch attacks, but the guys on the other side were different. Their two-person shield looked so solid now.
But he believed that this thick psychic shield would eventually be shattered by him!
"Continue the attack!" Golden Emperor ordered again, even though he knew it might be futile.
"Don't stop! Exhaust their power!"
Thus, on the edge of this Warp, an extremely bizarre scene unfolded.
On one side, Golden Emperor, leading his perfect legion and four forcibly conscripted chaos gods, continuously unleashed what seemed like fierce but ineffective attacks against an indestructible golden "butt" shield.
Cannons roared, and Warp energy raged, but it was like waves crashing against rocks, making no progress except for creating some sound and light effects.
On the other side, on the golden throne, Zeke and The Emperor sat side by side.
Zeke, who was waiting for the legion to pass through the tunnel and then run to his clone to execute the battle plan, ordered his Custodian Guard to bring a fruit platter.
Zeke and The Emperor ate and commented on the enemy's attacks.
"Old Huang, look, Khorne's axe swing is at a tricky angle, full of power, but his brain isn't too good. He keeps swinging even though he knows he can't break it," Zeke commented.
"I think among those four guys, he's the most honest in his attacks, unlike the other three who are just putting on a show."
"And besides those four, Odin is even funnier. That guy just gave a blessing and watched the whole time."
"Hmm, Khorne is just a brute," The Emperor nodded in agreement, biting into a juicy alien berry.
"Tzeentch, that old bird, is playing his little tricks again. Look at his spells, flashy but utterly ineffective, purely to fool people."
"You'll get used to it; that's just how he is."
"Nurgle is also interesting, always peddling poison, but what's the use of his poison?
His plagues are less lethal than my fruit peels."
"Slaanesh... well, he's as ugly as ever, not as good as the Slaanesh in our galaxy, who at least transformed into something that fits human aesthetics.
But this decadent music is quite sleep-inducing as background music."
The leisurely pace of the two Emperors, contrasted sharply with the anxiety and futility on the other side of the passage. This inter-universal offense and defense seemed to have turned into a comical endurance contest.
Golden Emperor watched the two guys opposite him deliberately putting on a relaxed show, and he was so angry he almost vomited blood. His life had been smooth sailing; when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
This was even more unbearable than a crushing defeat!
While Zeke and The Emperor deliberately provoked the Golden Emperor, successfully diverting his attention from the Eye of Terror, Imperial Army forces were continuously gathering within the Eye of Terror.
Numerous legions, aided by transport ships, began passing through the tunnels between the two galaxies, appearing inside the Eye of Terror.
Thanks to some minor tricks employed by Zeke, the surrounding Warp Daemons were completely unaware of the appearance of these legions.
The number of legions was constantly increasing, with Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, Solar Auxilia, and a small number of Space Marines stationed on Terra continuously gathering.
When the first wave of legions appeared within the Eye of Terror, there were a total of 400,000 Space Marines, 160 million Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, and two Titan Legions!
This was the first wave of troops, and they would directly attack Cadia!
The Golden Emperor was not to be trifled with; one couldn't expect to cause trouble under his nose. Something had to be given to him to keep him focused.
Even though the Golden Emperor's attention was currently entirely on the psychic shield created by Zeke and The Emperor, Zeke was certain that as soon as his army appeared in the opposing galaxy and war began...
Even if the Golden Emperor initially thought it was just an accident, merely a minor rebellion that he wouldn't pay attention to, as the scale grew, he would definitely mobilize Primarch Legions to suppress it.
Rather than that, it was better to directly dispatch troops from the beginning to establish a foothold on the fortress world of Cadia, and on Cadia, attract the Golden Emperor's Primarch Legions, drawing their attention and engaging them in battle!
Fighting on Cadia had its advantages. It was a fortress world with complete facilities. They only needed to disguise themselves as Golden Human Empire forces and launch an attack from within, and this fortress world would naturally be easily eliminated.
With an already well-established fortress world as a defensive line, and then quickly adding some orbital defense facilities and weapons, it would not be so easy for the Golden Human Empire to take it. Furthermore, due to the close proximity of the Eye of Terror and Cadia...
It would be even easier for the Imperium of Man's forces to mobilize. Some ordinary troops could continuously appear within Cadia using Warp jump technology and defend this fortress.
The supply line was relatively short here, so Cadia became Zeke's first choice at this time: to first initiate the war for Cadia.
The first wave of troops was ready, and Zeke also transmitted his main consciousness to his clone in the other galaxy.
Inside the brilliant-class battleship, Zeke slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Imperial Army, which was neatly arrayed and assembled outside the battleship.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
As one of the Emperors of the Imperium of Man, Zeke didn't need to boost morale. His appearance alone would bring humanity's morale to its peak!
He himself was the best morale booster!
In an instant, all humans within the vast fleet gathered at the edge of the Eye of Terror, regardless of rank, felt a deep stirring and boiling from the depths of their souls!
The Space Marines silently struck their chests with their fists, their power armour clashing with a dull, rhythmic thunder, and fanatical battle intent erupted in their eyes.
For them, fighting for the Emperor and for humanity was the entire meaning of existence.
The red lights in the Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii's bionic eyes flared, and the chanting of binary hymns suddenly increased by several decibels, filled with absolute obedience to the will of the Omnissiah's executor.
The Solar Auxilia soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, their chests puffed out, their faces filled with a sense of glory for expanding the Imperium of Man.
Even the mighty titans, their internal Princeps felt this will, and their engines roared even more deeply, like giant beasts about to be unleashed.
"For the Emperor! For Humanity!"
It was unclear who first shouted this slogan, but the next moment, it swept through the entire fleet like a mountain tsunami! Morale instantly reached its peak!
The massive fleet began to leave the Eye of Terror, appearing on its outer perimeter. And when the Imperium of Man's fleet appeared on the outer perimeter of the Eye of Terror, the Golden Human Empire defenders on Cadia also discovered this vast fleet.
The Imperium of Man drawing various armies to fight in another galaxy was absolutely top secret; even the current Imperium of Man would not inform all Imperial Army forces of this news.
This also led to an opportunity on Cadia. When the Cadia defenders saw a fleet emerging from the Eye of Terror, they were first startled and quickly entered a state of alert.
But soon they saw that the fleet showed no signs of Warp corruption; it was entirely in the style of the Imperial Fleet, which made them breathe a sigh of relief once again.
And the Imperium of Man's legions, under Zeke's personal command, showed no hostility towards them. Instead, they acted as if it were a routine appearance, heading towards the Cadia sector.
It seemed truly as the Golden Human Empire soldiers on Cadia thought: these were Imperium of Man forces, and they had no need to worry.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly. As Zeke's fleet slowly entered Cadia's orbit, a Golden Human Empire commander finally sent a communication request.
"Emperor, a communication request from the other side has been detected. They seem to want to talk to us and ask why we are here!"
The Imperium of Man's legions, aided by top-tier AI, naturally easily calculated the opponent's intentions with the AI's massive computing power.
This situation was quickly reported to Zeke by the commander within the battleship.
"Have our AI connect to their communication and talk to them. Order all units to be ready. Tell them we are here to garrison, then have our AI falsify identities and command Cadia's defenders to gather at the landing zone as much as possible. We will grant them glory and rewards!"
"Tell them to collect their rewards at the landing zone, no need for power armour!"
Although Zeke intended to use a surprise attack to make Cadia's army powerless to resist, this was Cadia, after all, and the combat power of Cadia's army was considerable.
To ensure that the planet's facilities would not be too heavily damaged, Zeke chose to lure them out, to the landing zone.
At that time, he would drop ordinary Space Marines, and then have the battleships clear out their main force with orbital bombardment, and Cadia would naturally fall!
Although the Imperium of Man's army was about to attack Cadia's defenders, it gave the Solar Auxilia a very strange feeling.
But the next second, this thought and strange feeling disappeared.
This Cadia was different from their Cadia, and these Cadian Shock Troops were completely different from their Cadian Shock Troops. No psychological burden, kill!
Although everything developed quite well in the Golden Human Empire, they had not overcome the shadow of the Men of Iron Rebellion that had plagued humanity since the Dark Age of Technology.
While they had rediscovered some technologies from the Dark Age of Technology, they dared not touch anything related to the Iron Legion.
The Golden Emperor also forbade humans from using advanced AI.
This meant that when Zeke ordered his AI to disguise itself and respond, the Cadian forces of the Golden Human Empire did not detect anything amiss.
After only about 10 minutes of the intelligent AI's deception, the other party was successfully subdued, and the human forces on Cadia quickly lowered their guard.
This situation was, of course, reported to Zeke by his subordinate officers.
"Reporting, Emperor, we have successfully made the enemy drop their guard. Shall we proceed with our plan?"
"Execute!" There was nothing else to say; since the enemy had been deceived, it was natural to proceed with his plan.
The massive fleet moved in a precise trajectory towards Cadia's planetary orbit, and then a large number of Space Marines drop pods were released.
During this process, no Cadian soldiers detected anything wrong, after all, this was Zeke himself in action!
Although the technology of the Golden Human Empire felt somewhat impressive, how could it compare to Zeke personally overseeing the operation?
With the help of high-level AI, everything was almost perfect, and the Space Marines quickly arrived on Cadia's surface.
Squad after squad of Space Marines, using legion-era tactics as their core, began to move towards Cadia's orbital defense facilities. In Warhammer, the most important thing in a landing battle is to eliminate orbital defense facilities.
It must be said that the best-developed facilities in this galaxy were the orbital defense facilities; they possessed extremely strong combat power and were particularly effective against warships.
The process of taking over the orbital defense facilities was exceptionally smooth, as the Cadian Assault Team had already been gathered at designated locations and assembled, so there was no one to stop the Space Marines.
A few Cadian Assault Team members, however, did not follow the order to assemble and instead remained at their posts, making their final stand.
But after all, it wasn't the enemy who came for them, but "their own" Space Marines, so why would they be wary of the Space Marines?
With no guard whatsoever, the Space Marines' combat power was far superior to that of ordinary Astra Militarum.
This was true even for the Cadian Shock Troops, who were the absolute elite among the Astra Militarum.
The backstabbing Space Marines quickly annihilated these ordinary mortal armies.
One after another, teleportation fields began to be established, and some of the Solar Auxilia started appearing in batches at the locations of the teleportation fields with their help.
Due to the fact that the technologies of both sides were actually from the same origin, these Solar Auxilia quickly took control of the planet's orbital defense facilities upon their arrival.
While the Cadian Assault Team had not yet recovered, the Solar Auxilia from the Imperium of Man had already completely controlled their various key elements, and at this moment, the Cadian Assault Team was still bewildered, gathered at specific landing zones, having shed their weapons.
Thanks to the Cadian Assault Team's high military quality, even though they were gathered here, there was no disturbance; they merely watched the warships in orbit with resolute gazes.
To them, these warships were all Imperial warships.
Such a massive fleet and such a number of Space Marines appearing here brought great comfort to the Cadian Assault Team members.
Little did they know that these warships were about to fire on them.
"Have our forces secured the key positions?" To conserve his psychic power and to avoid being detected as much as possible, Zeke did not use his psychic power to shroud the entire planet; instead, he inquired verbally.
"Our forces have secured all key points, and our information scramblers have also blocked all their communication methods, ensuring that no news can get out from here."
Zeke's Custodian Commander, Levi, stood before Zeke and reported this matter to him.
"Levi, I trust your judgment. Now, do what needs to be done. Although they are human, their stance is different, so they can only be sacrificed. Collect their souls; when the two civilizations are united, they will still be able to contribute their strength to human civilization."
"Yes, Emperor!" Levi cupped his hands, then slowly withdrew. He was going to execute the order—
The Cadian Assault Team was not to be trifled with. If they relied solely on orbital bombardment, it would be difficult to ensure that all these Cadian Assault Team members would be completely annihilated.
To avoid any potential future troubles, the Solar Auxilia and Space Marines also began advancing towards the main bombardment zones.
Accompanying their advance were the Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii and the titans of the Titan Legions; they were all moving towards the confirmed bombardment locations to ensure that all Cadian Assault Team members were utterly annihilated.
Giant titan machine spirits walked on the ground, shaking the mountains, and to the Cadian Assault Team on this planet, this was undoubtedly proof of the Imperium's power. Watching the titan machine spirits in front of them getting closer, the Cadian Assault Team warriors cheered.
With the titans' support, they believed Cadia would stand strong!!!
Until... "What are they doing? Why are they concentrating energy in our direction? What are they going to do!"
It wasn't until the titan machine spirits reached the designated locations that their massive weapons began to power up, preparing to attack.
The Cadian Assault Team soldiers, whether officers, rank-and-file, or even commanders and commissars, all witnessed such a terrifying scene, but they only had time to utter these words before the orbital bombardment from the sky commenced.
Terrifying proton torpedoes and Lance arrays opened fire!
The giant titan machine spirits also fired in unison. In an instant, the entire landing zone was reduced to ruins. No one could explain what kind of battle this was; all the Cadian Assault Team members died in shock.
They didn't even realize what was happening until their souls were collected into the soul receptacles carried by Zeke and his forces, protected from the defilement of the Warp.
Why would fellow Imperial Army soldiers fire on them!?!
Why was all this happening?
Had they, the Cadians, betrayed the Imperium? How was that possible?
Cadians would never betray the Imperium!!
With this profound confusion and regret, all the main combat units of the Cadian Assault Team on their homeworld were annihilated... As for those Cadian Assault Team members who miraculously escaped death, they could only pray to survive the pursuit of the Imperial Army.
The Space Marines, Solar Auxilia, and Titan Legions would never allow them to continue living.
Death was only a matter of time.
Cadia suffered a baptism of fire; one of the Imperium of Man's most elite forces, the Cadian Shock Troops, was almost completely annihilated on their home world. At this moment, no one knew that Cadia had already changed hands.
It was not yet time to engage in full-scale war with the Golden Human Empire, so Zeke was not in a hurry to launch an immediate attack. Instead, he took a shuttle directly to the planet's surface.
Accompanying him were a large number of engineering machines, which would be responsible for constructing more orbital defense weapons on this planet to engage the Imperium of Man.
In addition, the fleet that had arrived began to orbit behind the star, using it for cover, preparing to engage the enemy.
The chaotic ripples constantly emitted by the stellar storm, coupled with the obstruction of psychic shields, successfully concealed all the Imperium of Man's forces.
Cadia stood firm; it was about to become a true flashpoint. Large quantities of zero-element armor were unloaded from the warships and began to be laid out on the planet's surface.
Don't ask how this neutron armor could be laid on the planet's surface without crushing the planet; the answer is terrifying cyclical technology.
Zeke personally directed the Empire's engineering team in this construction. After several standard Terra days, the planet's surface was entirely covered with a 20-centimeter thick layer of neutron armor!
For a planet like Cadia, laying neutron armor on its surface represented an immense mass.
If the Golden Human Empire's fleet did not possess sufficient technological prowess, they might even be pulled apart by the gravity of the neutron armor.
In addition, large numbers of Lances and orbital cannon arrays also began to be laid out on the planet's surface, with fortresses starting to appear across Cadia.
Relying on powerful engineering robots, this planet was being fully armed at a speed no one could comprehend. It was like a hedgehog, covered in sharp quills.
However, while it seemed good in general, how could there be no surprises in war?
The Cadia forces are one of the Imperium of Man's most elite units, and above these regular Cadian Shock Troops, there are even more elite units like the Kasrkin.
Kasrkin are true super soldiers, capable of taking on Space Marines, with several of them being able to take down one Space Marine.
This level of unit might not stand a chance against the combined might of Space Marines, Solar Auxilia, and Titan Legions in large-scale positional warfare and conventional battles.
However, they could still integrate into the Cadian terrain and engage in guerrilla warfare against the Imperium of Man's forces.
These elite Kasrkin forces even inflicted quite heavy losses on the Solar Auxilia in guerrilla warfare.
Therefore, on the last day that Cadia was being transformed, Zeke received a message from his subordinate forces.
"You mean you suffered heavy losses pursuing those Kasrkin on Cadia, not only failing to eliminate the enemy, but the enemy also raided your signal base station?"
The Solar Auxilia's first battle was not smooth sailing. Facing the well-trained and battle-hardened Kasrkin on Cadia, they were like a group of dolls.
"Yes, Emperor!" As he uttered these words, the Solar Lord General, who was communicating with Zeke, felt a suicidal urge. How could he have the face to report such a result to the Emperor?
"So you mean those elite Kasrkin forces broke out of your encirclement, escaping the combined Eliminate of the Titan Legions, Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, Solar Auxilia, and Space Marines?"
"And despite your tight encirclement, they not only broke out but even launched an attack on our main signal base station?"
"More importantly, these Cadia even successfully breached our signal base station and transmitted their information within it?"
Although the Lord General on the other end had a suicidal urge, Zeke still spoke these words with some shock.
Being repeated by the Emperor in such a manner, the Solar Lord General was even more ashamed. He truly didn't know how to explain how so many of their troops, even with Space Marines assisting, were ultimately breached by a group of Kasrkin.
"Alright, don't speak anymore. I need a moment of quiet," Zeke rubbed his forehead helplessly, then hung up the communication.
Well, although he had long known that the Cadia were brave and skilled in battle, almost considered the Imperium of Man's ace troops.
And among them, the Kasrkin were incredibly formidable, but he truly hadn't expected that the Kasrkin units, being ordinary humans, could achieve such a feat.
"Levi, you lead the Custodes and deal with these Kasrkin. They are warriors, so grant them a warrior's death. Kill them on the battlefield."
"Grant them a glorious death."
Although Zeke was somewhat tempted by the exceptional performance of the Kasrkin units, wanting to recruit these soldiers into his command, how could that be possible? War was imminent between the two empires, and as top elites of the Golden Human Empire, how could the Cadian Shock Troops possibly defect to his Imperium of Man?
Perhaps when the two Emperors merge into one and the Imperium of Man takes over the entire Golden Human Empire, these Cadian Shock Troops might pledge allegiance to the original Imperium of Man.
After all, they are all Imperium of Man, but it's impossible now. These Kasrkin will certainly resist until the last moment. Rather than capturing them alive, it's better to grant them a warrior's glorious death.
As Zeke's voice faded, Levi, clad in Custodes power armour, appeared behind him. He had always stood behind Zeke, hidden in the shadows.
"As you command, Emperor. I will personally go and grant them a glorious death!"
The Custodes are responsible for guarding the Emperor, so they did not join the war when these Cadian Shock Troops were being eliminated.
After all, they were just ordinary troops. With the Titan Legions, Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, Solar Auxilia, and Space Marines involved, even the Custodes couldn't believe that ordinary Kasrkin units could break through layers of encirclement.
No one thought they could succeed... Therefore, the Custodes did not participate in this war, but now it was different. They actually succeeded, and with a direct order from the Emperor himself, the Custodes had no choice but to go.
Levi departed from behind Zeke, and accompanying him were a full 4,000 Custodes under Zeke's command.
The deployment of 4,000 Custodes was enough to indicate Zeke's Pay attention to of these elite Kasrkin at this moment, and it also indicated the final fate of these elite soldiers from the Golden Human Empire on Cadia.
4,000 Emperor's Custodes, led by Custodes Commander Levi, arrived at the communication station where the Kasrkin were last located.
The area was already surrounded by the Solar Auxilia, Space Marines, and Titan Legions.
Massive Cybernetica constructs had also arrived, and the Imperium of Man's forces had set up an inescapable net.
The Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii and Solar Auxilia had completely enveloped the area, packed densely.
The fact that these Kasrkin had broken through their encirclement and even successfully sent out their intended message undoubtedly infuriated the Imperial Army responsible for the Kasrkin's annihilation.
Upon the Emperor's Custodes' arrival, all surrounding Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, Solar Auxilia, and Space Marines knelt on one knee to welcome them.
The Space Marines also knelt on the ground; normally, they would not perform such a gesture, but now it was different, as their battle results were somewhat shameful.
Under the Emperor's leadership, achieving such a battle record and even allowing the enemy to succeed and gain victory, forcing the Emperor to deploy his Emperor's Custodes, was a disgrace to the Space Marines.
Levi merely glanced at the Imperial Army kneeling on the ground, then gave a look to the Emperor's Custodes behind him.
Psionic power emanated from him, gently lifting all the kneeling Imperial Army.
"There's no need to kneel. You have done your best. By the Emperor's command, the Emperor's Custodes will take over the upcoming battle. You only need to assist!"
After all, they were an army fighting for humanity, so the Emperor's Custodes would not give them any ill looks. Since they had fought for humanity, they deserved respect.
Even though they were gently lifted by the Emperor's Custodes' psionic power, the Imperial Army who were lifted still felt somewhat at a loss, feeling only shame engulfing their bodies.
Levi could not say anything about this. He simply continued towards the command post, with the Emperor's Custodes following him.
When he arrived at the command post's main camp, the Solar Lord General and the Space Marine Chapter Master responsible for commanding this operation had already come out.
Both of them, upon seeing the Emperor's Custodes, immediately knelt on one knee and performed the Aquila Salute.
Levi could also see that they were filled with shame.
Saying anything to these two would not erase their shame, so Levi did not comfort them. Instead, he directly asked,
"What is the current situation? Where are those elite Kasrkin units?"
The Imperium of Man, after all, had undergone military reforms. Its military personnel still valued honor, but they also possessed excellent military literacy.
Upon hearing Levi's inquiry, the Space Marine Chapter Master and the Solar Lord General immediately became serious.
After the Chapter Master and the Solar Lord General exchanged glances, the Solar Lord General stepped forward and replied,
"Currently, the main personnel of the elite Kasrkin we can find are gathered inside the communication base opposite us."
"According to the Cybernetica constructs' scans, there are approximately 21,964 people inside the base."
"In addition, there are some ordinary Kasrkin units outside the communication base. Those ordinary Kasrkin soldiers have already been dispatched by Space Marines' kill teams to deal with."
"Please rest assured, this time we have made thorough preparations. For an equal number of Kasrkin units, we will dispatch an equal number of Space Marines to encircle them, along with at least 10 times their number of Solar Auxilia for support."
The Solar Lord General didn't know what else to say. He could only make such a guarantee, promising that sufficient forces had been dispatched to pursue and eliminate the scattered Kasrkin units in other locations.
"Hmm, well done. At least you have the intention to correct your mistakes." Levi nodded noncommittally, tacitly approving of their actions.
Using 10 times the number of Solar Auxilia, plus an equal number of Space Marine kill teams, to encircle ordinary Kasrkin units should theoretically be no problem, especially since the enemy's main force was basically already gathered here.
"However, when encircling, be careful of the local people of Cadia. They are also loyal Imperial citizens. Try not to let the war affect them, but they must be controlled."
"Of course, if they pose a threat to the Imperial Army, then do not hesitate to kill them. The Imperium of Man has no sacrifices too great to accept, not to mention they are not yet citizens of the Imperium of Man."
Regarding the resettlement of the local population, Levi expressed Zeke's current view.
If the local residents of Cadia had no intention of resisting the Imperium of Man, then these residents could continue their lives under the control of the Imperium of Man.
However, their lives would need to move from the surface to underground, and they would be watched by soldiers to ensure they did not engage in any rebellious behavior.
This was Zeke's benevolence, but if the people of Cadia wished to resist, then this benevolence would also be immediately withdrawn.
Zeke could grant benevolence to human citizens, and at the same time, he could also ensure that those who resisted him would die without a burial place.
"Yes! I will communicate the Emperor's will to the entire army, so that everyone executes it according to this system."
The Solar Lord General, with great foresight, chose to record this order and prepare to announce it to all forces, acting according to the Emperor's wishes.
"Alright, you can just assign someone to relay the command. Now, let's study the situation of the soldiers opposite."
"Before our arrival, did you launch any attacks? How was the enemy's resistance?"
4,000 Emperor's Custodes had arrived here. To be frank, these Emperor's Custodes could even directly break through by force. With their powerful combat capabilities, they would at most take a dozen minutes to completely annihilate the more than 20,000 Kasrkin units already assembled here.
After all, the reason these Kasrkin units had survived until now was partly due to their powerful combat capabilities, and partly due to their sufficient dispersion and familiarity with the local area.
But when they gave up this advantage and appeared inside a communication base, not planning to escape, then the fate of these soldiers was essentially sealed.
The reason Levi asked this was simply because even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.
Although he didn't believe these Kasrkin could pose any threat to the Emperor's Custodes, it wouldn't be fun if things went awry.
If even the Emperor's Custodes allowed these Kasrkin to escape, they would truly lose a great deal of face.
"So far, we have launched two rounds of attacks against the enemy, but these two offensives have not been very effective. These Kashrin Troops are relying on the powerful defensive capabilities of our communication base's zero-element armor to contend with us."
"Their weapons have been partially replaced with some of the armaments we use, their combat will is extremely strong, and their combat training surpasses that of our ordinary Solar Auxilia."
"However, what can be confirmed is that these soldiers are not equipped with heavy weapons, so the impact they can have on large units should still be limited."
"Even in a previous attack, a Space Marines kill team fell into their hands."
"If it weren't for your arrival, we would have already prepared to order our titans to open fire!"
Before the Emperor's Custodes arrived, the cyber-laced war engine had also just arrived.
Originally, if Zeke had not dispatched his Emperor's Custodes, the cyber-laced war engine, already deployed, would have opened fire and completely annihilated this area in short order.
The reason such weapons weren't used in the first two attacks was primarily to avoid expanding losses.
Normally, when you're encircling bandits, even if those bandits are very elite, even reaching the level of special forces, their threat level is still only so much.
In a normal encirclement battle, using artillery for direct saturation bombardment is basically the limit. Who would directly use intercontinental ballistic missiles against a bunch of terrorists and bandits?
And the battle here was just like that. Although the Kasrkin were powerful, they had, after all, given up their greatest advantage. The Solar Auxilia and Space Marines were...
He intended to redeem himself.
However, two consecutive attacks had already shown that the difficulty of their redemption was somewhat great. Therefore, by the third time, they were already prepared to abandon martial ethics and let the cyber-laced war engine open fire.
It wasn't that they didn't want to use ordinary emperor-class titans, but ordinary emperor-class titans simply couldn't harm the zero-element armor on the periphery of these communication bases.
In the Imperium of Man's military operational system, as things stand, the only combat units capable of destroying this zero-element armor, apart from warships in space, are these cyber-laced war engines.
"Hmm," Levi nodded again. He could still understand the Lord General's intentions.
After all, communication is a very important thing and cannot be destroyed, so the communication bases established here are entirely constructed from zero-element armor.
"You've done well. If the troops failed to take it after two frontal assaults, then ordering the cyber-laced war engine to destroy this base is certainly not an issue."
Levi praised the Lord General, expressing his satisfaction with his actions.
If the other party had continued to order the army to attack for the sake of his so-called honor, Levi might not have been so satisfied, because such an action would undoubtedly be a waste of soldiers' precious lives.
Although he received praise from the Emperor's Custodes, the Lord General clearly showed no joy. Failure was failure, and this disgrace would accompany him and his Solar Auxilia unit.
"From now on, the Emperor's Custodes will take over the battle here. You may continue to maintain your encirclement, and we will personally go and eliminate the enemy."
After understanding the situation of the Kashrin Troops on the other side, Levi did not continue to converse but prepared to act.
"Yes, we wish you triumph. We will continue to maintain the encirclement to prevent any Kashrin Troops from escaping our perimeter."
Upon hearing this, the Lord General simply offered his blessings and retreated, though his blessing was somewhat difficult to describe... What did he mean by they would continue to maintain the encirclement to prevent anyone from breaking out? Wasn't that looking down on the Emperor's Custodes?
The Lord General naturally also sensed that what he had said seemed problematic, but just as he was about to speak, Levi simply waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
The Emperor's Custodes would not be displeased by such unintentional offense. They now only wished to execute the Emperor's command, eliminate these elite troops, and grant them a glorious death.
Levi slowly walked out of the command post, then headed towards the communication base. The building area represented by the communication base was very large; this single communication base was roughly the size of 10 Beijing Bird's Nests.
At the same time, it was also over 400 meters tall. This communication base was actually the primary base; it could directly overcome obstacles within the Galaxy and communicate with any region throughout the entire Galaxy.
If this base were destroyed, it would also be a very troublesome matter for the Imperium of Man's army, as the resources spent on constructing a base of this scale are not insignificant.
The Emperor's Custodes thus stood before this colossal structure.
Although the Emperor's Custodes made no further moves, when these golden-armored Emperor's Custodes appeared before these Kashrin Troops, it was a fatal blow to the morale of these Kasrkin.
The morale of the Kashrin Troops within the communication base began to waver. They had steadfastly resisted the encirclement by the Solar Auxilia, Titan Legions, Adeptus Mechanicus, and even the Space Marines, but at this moment, they faltered.
Usarka E. Kreed, the Supreme Fortress Lord, was now the commander of these remaining Cadia forces.
He had led the Cadians in their ongoing resistance, and had even eliminated a Space Marines kill team. His achievements were substantial.
But... even as firm and resolute as he was, when he saw the Emperor's Custodes before him, his will still wavered.
The Emperor's Custodes themselves had come. So what were they? Had the other side betrayed, or were they the traitors?
Regardless of the Warhammer Universe, the Emperor's Custodes represent the will of the Emperor; they represent the Emperor's intentions. Therefore, when the Emperor's Custodes stood against Cadia, the morale of Cadia's soldiers wavered.
"Castellan, why? Aren't we fighting for the Imperium? Aren't they the traitors? Why are even the Emperor's Custodes standing against us?"
Sergeant Lukas Bastoni, the 'Living Monument of Cadia,' a legendary sergeant from the Cadian Shock Troops, also wavered now. He spoke for all the soldiers, questioning the Supreme Fortress Lord before him.
But what could Usarka E. Kreed say? He also didn't know what had happened, nor did he understand why any of this was occurring.
Although he had successfully informed the Imperium through this communication base that Cadia was under attack.
But after he sent this message, the fleet in space immediately upgraded the communication blockade, simultaneously blocking communications on his side as well.
He only managed to send the message and was unable to find out what had happened.
"Don't worry, I'll ask the Emperor's Custodes what happened. This must be a misunderstanding!" Usarka E. Kreed said, unsure if he was comforting himself or others.