On the other side of the spatial rift, Abaddon burst through, drenched in a cold sweat. Just moments ago, he had felt a power, a special power. It had caused Drach'nyen, hanging at his waist, to tremble with excitement. This filled Abaddon with a growing sense of unease.
So, after repelling that group of death-wish Eldar, Abaddon had immediately ordered his fleet to turn and flee.
It was then that he froze, a chill running down his spine.
He whipped his head around. The Talon of Horus, which had been on his arm, suddenly shot forward, smashing down with ferocious force.
The next moment… BOOM!!!
A violent explosion ripped through the ship's bridge. Abaddon's topknot came undone, his hair scattering. A wisp of flame licked at his Terminator armor. Seeing this, the warriors around him quickly backed away.
"The Cursed One!!!" Abaddon snarled through clenched teeth. The rift had just closed. With the Great Rift now fully open, the shockwave that created the passage was gone. Nothing could casually open such a rift again.
But thankfully, his main force was intact, except for Khorne's followers. Those zealots had charged without waiting for his command, conveniently serving as the rear guard.
"Set a course for Macragge, immediately!!!" Abaddon barked, gritting his teeth. One Primarch was already this terrifying. If another one appeared, it would be too much trouble. He planned to get there before they could act.
But just then, Abaddon noticed something strange.
Everyone was silently keeping their distance from him. The Chaos Sorcerer at his side wore a twisted expression.
Then he realized what had happened… Although he had blocked the attack, he was now tainted with the Cursed One's aura.
So now, he was a walking stink bomb. No, a stinky Abaddon.
"You just wait!!!" Abaddon growled, spitting out each word.
But before he could vent his fury, a Dark Mechanicum Magos accompanying him slowly stepped forward.
"Statement: The recent attack has interfered with the Gellar Field. It cannot be activated at this time. It is advised to wait until repairs are complete. Do not initiate a Warp jump otherwise."
"..."
Abaddon's face went black. Jumping into the Warp under these circumstances... the outcome was unthinkable. He was currently radiating the Cursed One's "blessing." In the Immaterium, that was like a lighthouse, guaranteed to attract hordes of daemonic legions. Besides, the daemons of the Warp weren't limited to the main five factions. He had no desire for his flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, to become the site of a chaotic free-for-all.
He had just torn open the Great Rift; the False Emperor was surely in a state of absolute rage. He wasn't afraid, but he didn't want a bloody, head-on conflict at this moment. He had to prevent the Primarch's revival. One was terrifying enough; another would be immense pressure, even for him.
And this aura on him now… it made him look like someone blessed by the False Emperor…
Chosen of the Five Gods Abaddon.jpg.
---o---
"Hmph. A little bit of my power should have gotten through."
Watching the few Chaos vessels explode in the void, Zhou Ye frowned.
A void shield works by shunting incoming attacks into the Warp. Because of this, some unlucky denizen of the Immaterium might have the misfortune of colliding with a vortex torpedo or a lance beam. Zhou Ye recalled a story about a Great Unclean One of Nurgle who had the bad luck of running into one and was blown straight back to his respawn timer.
But the Warp could not accept Imaginary energy. So, Zhou Ye's attack passed straight through the void shields and struck the warships. Being an expert on ship design, he had directly targeted and detonated their engines.
Of course, Zhou Ye's own Imaginary shields could block many of these attacks. Their fundamental principle was to nullify attacks. The price for this was that the Imaginary shields on his own ships were relatively fragile. They were designed primarily for stealth, not as main defenses. The true workhorse for defense was still the void shield. Firstly, there was no Imaginary Space to draw from here. Secondly, and most importantly, the properties of the two shields were different. The core of the Imaginary shield was mutual annihilation of attacks. Due to its structure, it consumed far less energy than the attacker expended. But even so, it couldn't compete with the sheer efficiency of dumping garbage into the Warp. Moreover, replenishing Imaginary energy, while much better than when he first arrived, was still not as reliable as a void shield.
Therefore, Zhou Ye had locked onto Abaddon and used the authority of the Herrscher of the Void to project a tiny amount of power across space. The attack was enough to vaporize a normal Astartes. But considering this was the chosen of the Four Gods, a man who could take a power fist to the face, Zhou Ye didn't think it would kill him. It was questionable if it would even cause any significant damage.
"This is fine too. If the Four Chaos Gods cannot be killed, then this world will inevitably have a Chaos Warmaster. The God-Emperor himself was willing to hand Drach'nyen over to him. His being alive might be more of a benefit than a loss. As for the rest…"
Here, Zhou Ye looked at the remaining enemy fleet. Then, once again, to the miserable gazes of his honor guard, he slammed head-first into a warship of the Blood God.
Immediately, Zhou Ye collided with the motley assortment of creatures inside.
He had no idea what the Blood God was planning, but since he wasn't making a move right now, Zhou Ye intended to wipe out all of these pawns. He was certain that if not for his excellent grassroots management, his current situation would be a repeat of the Battle of the Lion's Gate on Terra.
"Speaking of which, I wonder if there will be a Battle of the Lion's Gate. After the Great Rift opened, Khorne's Blood Crusade had a full eight spearheads. The one that attacked the Lion's Gate on Holy Terra was the most elite, and its eight Greater Daemons were the strongest of the lot. That bastard Khorne… he wouldn't throw that army at my face, would he?"
Although he didn't know what vile scheme Khorne was brewing, Zhou Ye had to consider the worst-case scenario. It was a necessary part of his planning. Holy Terra at that time had been in a state of vulnerability. Its main strength consisted of the Custodes; the vast majority of Astartes were not on Terra.
Zhou Ye's situation was completely different. Within his own palace stood two holy cathedrals armed with massive cannons. You could guess whether or not those cathedrals would move when necessary.
Zhou Ye was always prepared for the worst. So far, all of his plans had been completed. This wasn't Abaddon's brand of empty boasting; in terms of results, he had always fulfilled his strategic objectives, often exceeding his original plans. He continuously squeezed his worlds for the purpose of raising armies. In a fucked-up universe like this, you could never have too many soldiers. And the carrying capacity of the workhorses in this world was the highest he had ever seen—practically infinite.
Finally, with Zhou Ye no longer holding back, he single-handedly tore through the last few Chaos warships. The enemy forces at the front had already been annihilated by the several thousand marines he had deployed, supported by hundreds of thousands of well-equipped Astra Militarum soldiers.
The battle was now entering its final mopping-up phase, but this stage was making Zhou Ye increasingly uneasy.
"What is Khorne up to? Is there a flaw in my plan? That can't be right. There shouldn't be a problem. He can't possibly do nothing."
As another of Khorne's Bloodletters disintegrated under his blade, Zhou Ye's mind was racing. This plan had gone a little too smoothly, which left him feeling disoriented. Zhou Ye was used to all his plans devolving into massive, chaotic free-for-alls, only for the plan to succeed after the chaos settled. This kind of smooth sailing was, frankly, a bit boring… and nauseating.
"Perhaps this is also a form of change. It's all Tzeentch's fault. FUCK YOU, TZEENTCH!!!"
Since he couldn't find anything out of place for the moment, Zhou Ye resorted to another, very reasonable explanation: blame Tzeentch. If something feels off, it's definitely Tzeentch's fault.
"For the Emperor!!!"
"For the Emperor!!!"
At that moment, thunderous cheers erupted over the vox network. They had won another victory. They had crushed the vanguard of Abaddon's Black Legion and blunted the fangs he sought to sink deeper into the Imperium—at least, that's how they saw it. The cheering was incessant.
Zhou Ye didn't want to waste any more time. With a flicker, he reappeared beside his honor guard, whose faces were now twisted with dismay. As for ditching them to go on a solo rampage, Zhou Ye could only offer an apology, but there was nothing more to say. He had always confirmed the enemy's strength before acting, completely unlike that other guy. Though he and his 'good son' Calgar were both prone to getting into one-on-one duels and ending up in the ICU. Especially the originally written Calgar, who was basically a torso on legs with very little human flesh left, a detail that was later retconned.
"You all did well!!!" Zhou Ye could only try to comfort them a little, but…
"NO!!!"
A heart-wrenching sob exploded from the ranks. It was from the Black Templars.
"The Black Templars… right, where are they?"
Seeing the source of the message, Zhou Ye tilted his head in confusion. He remembered they were there when the charge began. After he led his guard and the Emperor's Champion on a boarding spree across several ships, those Black Templars had disappeared. Hmm, they were still on the Zar-Quaesitor. Well, in that case, they were safe.
What were they crying so miserably for? They hadn't suffered a single casualty this time.
"My Lord, we have successfully captured an enemy warship! I led one hundred battle-brothers and twenty thousand auxilia to accomplish this task," another of Zhou Ye's custom-made fused warriors reported excitedly. The four of them could have activated their Artificial Honkai Collapse to keep up with him, but Zhou Ye had forbidden it. There was no need to waste his energy on that for no reason. Besides, there were plenty of Imperial forces here; it was completely unnecessary. Even without him, this force could have handled the enemy.
Soon, when Zhou Ye found Cawl, the Archmagos was surrounded by a crowd of Black Templars, busy registering them for the Primaris surgery. The sight made the corner of Zhou Ye's mouth twitch.
The procedure did have a mortality rate, but it was highly unpredictable. As for the originally stated high death rate, that could be taken with a grain of salt. Putting aside figures like Calgar and Dante, even Lion El'Jonson's entire host of Risen Angels had undergone the process, and Zhou Ye hadn't heard of anyone dying. But for this group of Black Templars, who lacked any protagonist plot armor and were wiped out in the original timeline, Zhou Ye felt it was best not to be reckless. After all, only three of them were left alive on Macragge in the end. After being captured with Guilliman, they were supposedly all killed challenging Skarbrand to a duel.
"The Primaris surgery is very risky, especially for those of your age. But do not worry. I possess a special artifact that can sustain your lives and assist you in completing the transformation."
"In that case, honored Primarch, could you perhaps help me repair the Zar-Quaesitor?"
Cawl, tired of dealing with the weeping Black Templars, turned his attention to Zhou Ye. The engines of his Ark Mechanicus were severely damaged. Repairing them would be exceedingly difficult, so he could only rely on Zhou Ye.
"The Astronomican has been extinguished. Are you certain you can find Macragge?"
"!!!"
Cawl froze, his expression changing dramatically.
"Let's head down first. We'll need a guide. I imagine they will arrive shortly."
Zhou Ye shook his head helplessly. He wasn't opposed to these people entering his domain. After all, he would have to engage with the Imperium sooner or later. He couldn't hide in the shadows forever. Besides, Zhou Ye had other plans.
And so, the Zar-Quaesitor, under tow by the Hyperion, was slowly guided into Zhou Ye's starport.
Meanwhile, on a certain planet within the Imperium.
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!!!"
In a shadowed place, a group of figures clad in blood-stained robes chanted softly. Tears of blood trickled from many of their eyes. There was no other reason for it. They had held back for too long. For over a decade, they had not offered a single sacrifice to the Blood God.
It was all for the Blood God's great plan. Now, that plan was finally about to be completed.
PS: 4k update complete.