Chapter 587: Conversation

The Necrons did indeed defeat the C'tan that enslaved them, but that relied on a sudden initial outbreak, ambushes, and conspiracies. In the middle stages, it relied on the massive technological constructs taught to them by the C'tan, as well as their familiarity with the C'tan. In the later stages, it relied on using the imprisoned C'tan shards as weapons after defeating them, combined with their rebirth protocols—which were no longer life—to wear them down until all the C'tan were shattered, sealed, and suppressed.

This battle was by no means easy. As someone who experienced it firsthand, Imotekh the Stormlord knew very well that their ability to defeat the C'tan was the result of many factors combined—luck, coincidence, and even the help of some mysterious power.

The Necron high command had secretly discussed this. Although there was no clear evidence, they suspected that the power of the Warp had participated in the war against the C'tan and had helped the Necrons on multiple levels. That power existed in the dark, occurred naturally, and was traceless. Only by piecing together information like a puzzle could the Necron high command discover the extremely subtle clues.

Therefore, Imotekh the Stormlord knew very, very, very clearly how terrifying the C'tan were!

They were the embodiment of material rules, the agents of cosmic laws!

And now, this humanoid life form gave Imotekh the Stormlord that same feeling. It was a power that completely transcended the limits of life in the material world. If there were no psychic influence from the Warp, only a C'tan could achieve this in this world!

As for psychic power... as the ancient enemy of the Old Ones, how could the Necrons not distinguish whether it was psychic power?

At this moment, Imotekh the Stormlord was completely stunned. Its simulated intelligence had been stimulated to the extreme, and its body was frantically trying to move. Whether it was picking up a weapon to resist or doing something else, it absolutely could not sit and wait for death!

But its active metal body couldn't even move an inch. Some special power that it couldn't understand—and was not the power of the Warp—shrouded it, deterred it, making not only its metal body unable to move, but even its simulated intelligence slow and sluggish...

What kind of joke is this! It wasn't a mortal body of flesh and blood, so why would even its metal body and simulated intelligence be affected!?

Wu Pifu soared into the clouds and slashed at Imotekh the Stormlord with his blade. Imotekh the Stormlord remained standing still, its figure as immovable as a mountain, its spirit calm and waveless, letting Wu Pifu attack without any defense.

Seeing this, Wu Pifu also marveled. He slashed out, the blade passing almost right over the top of Imotekh the Stormlord’s head. With one slash, the air was severed, and a V-shaped hole in the clouds appeared behind Imotekh the Stormlord, stretching for thousands of miles. Not only did the people on the planet see this clearly, but even all the warships fighting in outer space could see it clearly.

This Forge World itself was covered by thick clouds, and the industrial waste combined with the planet’s own environment meant those thick clouds never dissipated. But at this moment, the clouds over half the planet were slashed open, revealing a huge belt of light.

After the slash, Wu Pifu didn't attack again. He stood in front of Imotekh the Stormlord and looked down at it, saying, "Worthy of the title of King, just this temperament of disregarding life and death is remarkable... So now, can we talk?"

Imotekh the Stormlord: "?"

Just as the man and the robot stared at each other, the upward thrust on Imotekh the Stormlord finally ran out, and it began to fall straight to the ground. Wu Pifu followed closely and landed as well.

With a loud bang, Imotekh the Stormlord crashed into the ground. Wu Pifu grabbed its head and pulled it out again, then said for the second time, "So now, can we talk?"

Imotekh the Stormlord: "?"

The two stared at each other again. Wu Pifu waited for a dozen seconds, then sighed and said, "As expected, a fierce temperament. I heard that you Necrons have rebirth protocols and can be resurrected even after death. So I will just..."

"Wait a minute!"

Imotekh the Stormlord shuddered and immediately said, "You came to talk to me??"

Wu Pifu was surprised instead. "I heard that you Necrons are very arrogant, viewing non-Necrons as trash, so you can't communicate at all unless you fight and beat you into submission, only then will you speak human words, or rather... if I came to talk to you, would you talk to me?"

Imotekh the Stormlord really couldn't refute this.

To put it bluntly, the Necrons, who simulated the intelligence of the Necrontyr period, actually paused and stagnated the moment they were transformed. This is a race that is both arrogant and inferior and sensitive. If it were really as Wu Pifu said, then the decision it would make would only be to blast Wu Pifu into ashes; it would be impossible to have any conversation with him.

Wu Pifu asked, "So what is the situation now? Do I need to kill this body of yours, and then kill you a few more times after you are reborn?"

"No, no!"

Imotekh the Stormlord immediately shouted, "I can talk too, I can live in peace, absolutely!"

For some reason, even with its simulated intelligence, Imotekh the Stormlord knew that if it were killed, it would be impossible to be reborn. The existence in front of it, suspected to be a humanoid C'tan, possessed this ability to distort physical laws.

Wu Pifu looked at Imotekh the Stormlord in confusion for a long time. His super-brain emotion perception could not work on the Necrons; they were suspected to be non-living, but true robots.

Despite this, Wu Pifu let go of Imotekh the Stormlord and said, "I want the matter-folding jump technology..."

"Fine, fine, fine."

Imotekh the Stormlord immediately said, "I will immediately dispatch a technical adjutant to send this technology to you. Is there anything else you need besides this?"

Wu Pifu looked at Imotekh the Stormlord in full confusion. "Are you lying to me? Let me release you, and then you hide and play dead?"

Imotekh the Stormlord opened its mouth to refute, but for a moment, it was quite speechless.

It wasn't lying; it really intended to give the matter-folding jump technology. This thing didn't have much value to other races because it was technology adapted to the Necron metal body. Other biological races would crush themselves into meat paste if they used it, and it was just technology anyway, so giving it away was fine.

But it really did intend to hide. Not playing dead, just purely wanting to hide...

Wu Pifu understood. "So just giving the technology isn't enough."

Imotekh the Stormlord was silent for a long time. "Then how about giving you the physical object directly? A spaceship modified for humanoid life to pilot, equipped with matter-folding jump functions, or if you have any other requirements, just bring them up."

Wu Pifu was speechless. He said seriously, "I came to talk, to trade with you, not to rob you. You need to be clear about this."

Imotekh the Stormlord remained silent.

Wu Pifu shook his head. "Then let's talk about something practical... Do you want a soul?"

Imotekh the Stormlord remained silent.

Wu Pifu had a headache. Although he could be sure that Imotekh the Stormlord really intended to give him a spaceship capable of matter-based faster-than-light travel, he couldn't guarantee that the Necrons wouldn't do something to the ship. After all, his emotion perception couldn't work on these mechanical bodies, and he genuinely wanted to make this trade with the Necrons, as he needed more help for his upcoming battles.

Wu Pifu took out the Whispering Skull. He intended to contact the owner of the Death Playground, the existence that had made a soul contract with him.

As Wu Pifu activated the contract in his soul, a low voice that made one think of the essence of death sounded: "Ha, benefactor, you finally decided to contact me."

"What?"

Wu Pifu asked with a confused expression.

The voice of Death said: "Thanks to you, I have obtained a massive amount of high-quality souls. Because this was not obtained through the Death Playground, it is equivalent to mine, it is mine..."

The voice of Death seemed to be at a loss for words. Wu Pifu thought for a moment and said, "Your side job?"

"Yes! My side job!"

The voice of Death said with satisfaction: "So I have advanced, and the Death Playground has also advanced, and it has advanced twice in a row! This has greatly enhanced my self-preservation ability and greatly increased my freedom. So now it is time for me to fulfill the contract. What information do you want to know?"

Wu Pifu pointed at Imotekh the Stormlord and said, "How can it regain its soul?"

As the words fell, two gray beams of light shot out from the eye sockets of the Whispering Skull and shone on Imotekh the Stormlord. Imotekh the Stormlord wanted to dodge, but after looking at Wu Pifu, it endured the unease and stood in place.

The beams shone for a moment, and the voice of Death pondered: "It’s difficult. The souls of this race have all been devoured. What they are now is just an intelligent simulation of their original souls. But as time passes, their intelligent simulation will gradually become chaotic. This is not a simple programming error, but without the anchoring of a soul, the simulated emotions and intellect will gradually collapse..."

Imotekh the Stormlord’s heart moved. Its attitude, which was originally just to stall and then hide, changed.

This was indeed the biggest problem facing the Necrons. They seem to have achieved mechanical immortality, but in fact, they are gradually dying out over time, and there are no descendants, no continuation, an absolutely inevitable extinction.

This is also why the Necrons almost all fell into endless slumber after the War in Heaven.

Wu Pifu asked, "Is there no way?"

The voice of Death laughed: "I might not have been able to before, but now that I have advanced twice, in essence, I have occupied at least one-hundred-thousandth of the magnitude of the essence of death, so I can solve it. But I need souls—massive, vast, ownerless, pure souls that have had their consciousness, memory, and intellect erased!"

"With these souls, I can reverse space-time causality and reshape their original souls according to their imprints!"

Wu Pifu looked at Imotekh the Stormlord, and Imotekh the Stormlord looked at Wu Pifu. Then, the two said the same word in unison.

"The Warp!"