Chapter 589: Path Selection

Actually, what Su Xing said was complex if you called it complex, and simple if you called it simple.

To say it is complex, the war against the Warp was never as simple as just shouting "Hurrah" and charging forward. This involved many very complex problems. The most direct one was how to maintain one's physical form within the Warp. This alone made it impossible for 99% of the life in the material universe to step onto the Warp battlefield.

At the same time, the Warp has a terrifying corrosive effect on all material life. Without protection, ordinary life would be twisted and polluted the moment they entered the Warp, turning into all sorts of terrifying things.

Not to mention the endless number of demons in the Warp, whose strength far exceeds their performance in the material universe, and the near-infinite power of the four Chaos Gods within their respective domains in the Warp.

This was just the horror of the Warp itself. If many different races were to jointly attack the Warp, the coordination and hostile relationships between them would be a tangled mess. No great man in this world could achieve it, because the moment they met, they would start fighting each other first.

Simply put, when Orks encounter any enemy, including other Orks, they fight first. While fighting, they think about what they want, or what they don't want; regardless, they have to fight first.

And what the Eldar love to do most is to secretly plot their self-righteous "big picture," which is actually just trying to let other races die and sacrifice themselves, all for the sake of the Eldar's big picture.

Then there are the Necrons. If Su Xing hadn't given the Stormlord the hope of souls, they would probably just destroy everything that wasn't Necron—kill, kill, kill, kill... and be done with it.

And there are the Tyranids. If it weren't for knowing their identity as the Bronze Race, and Su Xing having items from the Hero Race as proof of identity, the Tyranids would also just eat, eat, eat, eat... and be done with it.

Although humanity is much more complex than these races—for example, there are moderates within who hope for peaceful development with alien races—of course, these factions hide their identities because they are called heretics in the mainstream of humanity and are the type to be hung up and roasted if discovered. This actually has historical reasons.

During the Golden Age of humanity, most adopted a tolerant attitude toward alien civilizations, coexisting peacefully and even giving great help to many alien civilizations in the galaxy. But when the Golden Age of humanity ended, almost all alien races kicked humanity while it was down. Many human colony planets isolated by Warp storms were exterminated by alien civilizations, and even more cruel and unspeakable things happened.

After the Golden Age completely ended, humanity went through a long Dark Age until the Emperor rose on Earth, or Terra, unified Terra, unified the solar system, and began the Great Crusade against human colonies. During this period, an absolute reckoning against alien civilizations was launched, and the iron-fisted policy toward aliens began with the Emperor.

Based on this situation, trying to form a multi-racial, multi-civilization joint force to attack the Warp is simply wishful thinking, almost impossible to achieve. Even if the Emperor truly stood up from the Golden Throne, He couldn't do it, because the most likely thing He would do is kill almost every alien He saw. His attitude has always been extremely firm: extreme hostility and no compromise.

Su Xing’s arrival can be said to have changed all of this.

This joint force composed of humans, Eldar, Orks, Tyranids, and Necrons is the only one in the history of the Warhammer dream world. Not only has there never been one before, but it is basically impossible for there to be one again in the future.

"Revive the Emperor, unite all galactic races, and we will charge into the Warp and hack all four gods to death!"

This sentence Su Xing said in the conference hall spread throughout the Damocles Gulf sector in a very short time. As the Necrons joined Su Xing’s banner, the war in the entire Damocles Gulf sector immediately ceased. The Necrons withdrew from all colony planets, and the main human forces gathered in the forge world star system where Su Xing was located.

This statement naturally caused dissatisfaction among many. In their view, this violated the orders once issued by the Emperor regarding the cleansing of and zero tolerance for all aliens. This was Su Xing’s blasphemy against the Emperor.

But these people were few in number, and once they publicly expressed opposition to Su Xing’s remarks, they would quickly disappear completely. Whether the person was a Space Marine, a Sister of Battle, or an Inquisitor, they would disappear quickly, and perhaps their bone ash containing genetic remains could be found near some reactor, or their tattered clothes could be found near a promethium refinery... In short, after emergency handling by Ecclesiarchy priests, and after emergency joint discussions by many Grey Knight and Space Marine chapter masters, as well as many Inquisitors and High Inquisitors, they confirmed and unified the thinking of all human armies.

"...All aliens under the Savior’s banner are good aliens who have turned over a new leaf. They long to become human. If they make outstanding contributions to the cause of saving the Emperor, then in the future, they have a great possibility of becoming sub-humans, so they can be treated with the attitude toward sub-humans. This does not violate the Emperor’s edicts!"

In short, these extreme old-school, extreme die-hard factions in Su Xing’s view actually had a flexibility and expediency far beyond Su Xing’s imagination. It was just that previous conditions did not allow it. Because of the Warp corrupting people’s hearts, they dared not have any expedient thoughts and could only follow the rules.

"...Matter-folding transition engine, this is a unique high-level space technology of the Necrons. Currently, Necron engineers are fine-tuning and modifying it to make it suitable for non-Necron life to use. Although the power is slightly reduced, it is still a faster-than-light travel method."

Kethia was reporting the current progress of the faster-than-light engine modification to Su Xing.

This former Inquisitor, who lost an eyeball after Su Xing disappeared and began to gradually go mad, has now completely regained her sanity. She obtained a bionic eye made by the Mechanicus. The whole person does not look eerie, but rather full of a soldier’s capability, rationality, caution, and capability, and is full of enthusiasm for work, as if she were a different person from not long ago.

Su Xing nodded upon hearing this. He was still looking at the three-dimensional star sector image displayed on the table.

"...What about the report from the Strategic Department?" Su Xing asked without raising his head.

Kethia immediately said: "Unfortunately, even with the addition of Eldar Farseers and Necron engineers, they still cannot find a way to get to Terra in one step. Currently, there are three most convenient routes to choose from. The first requires passing through six material nodes, the second requires passing through seven material nodes, and the third requires passing through eleven material nodes. However, in terms of speed and distance, the third route takes the least time, while the first takes the most. Currently, the Strategic Department’s opinion is to use the third route."

Su Xing frowned and said nothing.

The matter-folding transition engine is different from the Warp engine. This is a space technology based on pure physical form, but it is not a conventional general-purpose technology; it is a special physical technology of this world.

Simply put, the Necrons’ matter-folding transition engine did not truly come from the Necrons’ own research and development, but was obtained from the teaching and instruction of the C'tan. Its core technology is based on the C'tan’s understanding and analysis of the laws of the universe. This technology cannot be used if taken to Gaia.

At the same time, the matter-folding transition engine technology also has a biggest limitation, which is that it must be deployed based on the gravitational coordinate system between stars. This is the C'tan’s cognition of the universe—a path of the universe formed by the connection of stars. If one wants to go from the current Damocles Gulf sector to the solar system where Terra is located, the folding transition engine needs to jump from one star system to another, and cannot just *whoosh* and appear next to Terra through a folding transition.

According to the star map provided by the Necrons, thousands of human officers skilled in strategy and intelligence, Eldar Farseers, and Necron engineers carefully calculated these three fastest routes. However, it is not that the fewer the nodes, the faster the speed. If the distance between nodes is too far, it may actually cause the transition speed to slow down because this will significantly increase the transition calculation load. Instead, the eleven material nodes, which seem to have more nodes but shorter distances between each node, require less time.

Su Xing fell into deep thought upon hearing this. After more than ten seconds, he asked: "If the third route is chosen, eleven material nodes, what will happen?"

Kethia said immediately without changing her expression: "We will be subjected to eleven Warp strikes!"

"That’s right."

Su Xing said affirmatively: "The Warp has already sensed my return. You may also feel that earth-shaking changes are taking place within the Warp. They are determined to have me. And based on the time chaos within the Warp, they can arrive at those locations one step ahead of us before we reach the material stages, and then set traps to wait for us. So the more nodes, the more battles we will have to face. The most critical thing is that for any node we choose, the life living in that star sector will suffer a devastating disaster..."

Kethia said immediately: "This is for the survival of humanity, this is for the sacrifice of the Savior and the Emperor! They died for a worthy cause! The top priority now is for the Savior to go to Terra at the fastest speed. In our deduction, not only will the Savior be attacked by them, but the Emperor will also..."

That’s right.

Su Xing’s plot requires the Emperor’s power to be achieved, and he believes that even if the four Chaos Gods in the Warp don't know what he wants to do, they must have similar vague intuitions.

If they cannot kill him and cannot stop him, then the most likely reaction of the four Chaos Gods is only one...

Kill the Emperor, causing the Emperor to sublimate into the Dark King before he arrives, which is the fifth Chaos God!

"...Convey the order to the Necrons to ensure that all matter-folding transition engines installed on the long-voyage warships following us are modified within ten days, and then order everyone to complete the supply and assembly of the entire army and fleet within fifteen days, and then..."

"Choose the eleven-node material route, and we will rush to Terra at the fastest speed!"