Chapter 104: Leyn Empire Sleep Day?

When Zhou Yun arrived at the Ark Guild’s outpost, at Rena’s office,

Rena was buried under a pile of chaotic documents, handling affairs,

many Ark Guild members, Astra Militarum officers, and Battle Sisters gathered around her,

now, whether Astra Militarum or Battle Sisters, all needed the Ark Guild’s cooperation in operations, so her workload naturally became heavy.

A Death Cult assassin in gray leather stepped silently from the shadows,

“Chosen of the God, shall I inform Lady Rena of your arrival?”

Zhou Yun waved his hand: “I can wait a while—it’s not urgent.”

The gray-leather Death Cult assassin bowed respectfully, then nodded to Dichi hidden in the shadows beside Zhou Yun, before vanishing back into darkness.

Zhou Yun pulled out a chair from his fourth-dimensional pocket and sat on the corridor outside Rena’s office.

He took the opportunity to check if there was anything he needed to exchange.

His reward from the Underhive had all been credited, plus the extra money he extorted from Viceroy Augustus Flax.

Zhou Yun’s current savings reached nine million five hundred thousand, just two million short of exchanging for the Gate of Anywhere.

But the Truth Oracle had already confirmed Zhou Yun’s future: he would obtain the Gate of Anywhere,

theoretically, even if he spent all this money, he would still eventually gather enough.

But

Zhou Yun’s goal was no longer just to exchange for the Gate of Anywhere,

he also intended, per the Truth Oracle’s judgment, to go to Baer to resurrect Saint Guilliman,

which required another item, absurdly expensive,

renting it once cost enough to buy countless Gate of Anywhere exchanges.

The good news was, Zhou Yun already had a plan to gather this sum,

he needed to ensure the Empire could resist the Tyranids to some degree,

the stronger the Empire’s resistance, the stronger the Tyranid units deployed,

and the greater Zhou Yun’s gains would be.

Of course, this was not his ultimate goal,

Zhou Yun’s ultimate aim was to force the Tyranids into hatching a Hive Tyrant to counter the Empire,

thus compelling the third party hidden in the Underworld System to reveal their hidden card.

Zhou Yun was targeting that hidden card held by the third party.

The fiercer the war, the greater Zhou Yun’s gains,

to achieve this goal, he needed certain items to gain freedom of movement on the battlefield,

first,

[Item Name: Bamboo Helicopter]

[Origin: 22nd Century Earth—Future Department Store]

[Evaluation: You still haven’t bought this?!?]

[Production Date: 271.m3]

[Function: A small flying device composed of two blades and a semi-spherical base, capable of continuous flight for over eight hours at 80 km/h, maneuvering in any direction and motion as the user thinks.]

[Value: 250,000]

One of the most famous items,

Zhou Yun had never exchanged for it, mainly because it was useless in the Underhive,

the Underhive had no sky—only chaotic, tangled pipes and buildings, leaving no room for free flight.

But in the coming war, Zhou Yun would surely retreat with the Astra Militarum to the Upper Hive and even the Top Hive,

at that point, the Bamboo Helicopter would be extremely useful,

especially against Tyranid aerial units.

Zhou Yun pinched his chin, carefully considering his current weaknesses,

though the pale, gray deathly aura—the Emperor’s blessing—had slightly enhanced his reflexes and physical strength,

he still couldn’t match the Astartes, who underwent heavy modifications and wore power armor, in defense and speed,

facing Tyranid units famed for speed or massive, heavily armored, high-damage beasts, he’d be at a disadvantage.

Zhou Yun needed items to enhance his speed and defense.

He began searching the Future Department Store,

[Item Name: Speed Winder]

[Origin: 22nd Century Earth—Future Department Store]

[Production Date: 261.m3]

[Function: A giant golden wind-up key; once inserted into the back and fully wound, it accelerates all the user’s actions.]

[Value: 1,250,000]

An item priced at 1.25 million,

its effect was simple: once inserted and wound, it accelerated all his movements,

this acceleration didn’t enhance his physical capabilities—it was more like speeding up his personal time, making all his actions incredibly fast.

As for defense,

with the extreme speed granted by the Speed Winder, Zhou Yun’s need for conventional defense decreased somewhat.

He recalled from his past life and searched the Future Department Store for the item.

[Item Name: Reflective Cloak]

[Origin: 22nd Century Earth—Future Department Store]

[Production Date: 251.m3]

[Function: A red cloak; when swung toward an attack, it deflects any form of assault, and sometimes even reflects it back.]

[Value: 2,000,000/five uses]

A 2-million-item usable only five times,

Zhou Yun’s face twitched slightly—this price was enough to make his liver ache,

but its effect justified the cost,

any attack, no matter the form, could be deflected—or even reflected—by the red cloak.

Considering he would almost certainly use this item in upcoming actions, Zhou Yun forced himself to endure the pain and exchanged for it.

The crimson cloak and the half-meter-long metal wind-up key immediately appeared in Zhou Yun’s fourth-dimensional pocket.

After completing these tasks, Zhou Yun looked up at Rena’s office,

most people had left; he rose and entered.

“What do you want?” Rena said without looking up, still handling her work.

She hadn’t noticed it was Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun noticed a stack of Emperor Tarot cards on her desk, two of them pulled out:

the Shattered Planet and the Grassland Rider—she had reached the same conclusion.

Beside the tarot cards lay a folded paper figure of Saint Guilliman.

Is it trendy to hang things related to Saint Guilliman lately?

A flicker of confusion passed through Zhou Yun’s eyes.

“Zhou Yun?” Rena looked up when the visitor didn’t speak, and found Zhou Yun standing before her desk. She set down her papers and stretched.

“Happy holiday,” Rena said to Zhou Yun.

“Holiday?” Zhou Yun blinked.

“Hehehe.” The winged figure in white light chuckled unpleasantly.

Rena, watching Zhou Yun’s expression, twitched slightly at the corner of her eye: “It’s Saint Guilliman’s Day.”

“You didn’t forget today is Saint Guilliman’s Day, did you?”

“Yes, you didn’t forget today is Saint Guilliman’s Day, did you?” the winged figure in white light mocked.

Zhou Yun’s mouth twitched slightly,

he remembered—today was Saint Guilliman’s Ascension Day,

an Empire holiday commemorating and praising Saint Guilliman’s sacrifice,

on this day, nearly everyone hung or carried simple handmade figures of Saint Guilliman.

It was one of the Empire’s grandest holidays,

!.read

No other Primarch received such treatment,

at least Zhou Yun had never heard of a “Kiman Gets Stabbed Day,” a “Khan Doesn’t Get Lost Day,” or a “Leyn World Sleep Day.”

No wonder the winged figure in white light was so sarcastic,

he saw himself as Saint Guilliman, and Zhou Yun as his friend,

forgetting today was Saint Guilliman’s Day was like forgetting a friend’s birthday—or their death anniversary?

“Soul return, soul return, Saint Guilliman’s soul returns!” Zhou Yun muttered, half-joking.

The winged figure in white light seemed enraged, trembling at a strange frequency.

“You blasphemous heretic,” Rena said half-jokingly.

She had grown somewhat accustomed to Zhou Yun’s blasphemous words.

“Did you review the tactical arrangements I discussed with General Droste?” Zhou Yun asked Leina.

It wasn’t so much that he and General Droste had deliberated together,

but rather that Zhou Yun had given General Droste a rough plan based on his memories of the Underworld System’s battlefield trends and the guidance of the winged figure in the white light,

and General Droste had then adjusted it according to the specific conditions of his Starborne troops.

“I read it,” Leina’s lips twitched slightly. “You once claimed you weren’t good at military matters—so this is what you call incompetence?”

“Still, stuffing all the unliberated prisoners from Asford onto ships and dumping them onto the death world Pertita? That’s very much your style.”

Zhou Yun had advised General Droste to dump all the prisoners from Asford onto the uninhabited death world Pertita,

where the Tyranids would see them as rich biomass, likely drawing part of the Tyranid fleet to Pertita,

thus relieving pressure on other inhabited planets.

Of course, Zhou Yun’s true aim was to make the Tyranid swarm confront the planet’s true inhabitants,

for beneath Pertita lay hidden a Necron Tomb Dynasty,

and Zhou Yun hoped they would help him fight the Tyranids.

“According to our plan, the Thirteenth District near the hive city’s suburbs will become the front line, then we’ll gradually retreat.”

“Until we withdraw to the upper and lower hive entrances of the Ninth District, where we’ll hold our ground.”

Zhou Yun told Leina:

“In other words, the lower hive can be abandoned entirely. Our goal is to preserve our fighting strength and endure as long as possible against the Tyranid onslaught.”

“I understand—all of this I—”

Leina’s voice cut off mid-sentence, stretching like a snapped violin string,

“AHHHHHHH!”

She suddenly convulsed, eyes wide open as if witnessing something utterly horrific, screaming in anguish,

her pupils reflecting a deep, writhing shadow, the shadow twisting and mutating, radiating an uncontrollable hunger.

“Leina?!” Zhou Yun’s pupils shrank sharply—Psychics are having seizures?!

He saw the winged figure in the white light also dimming, as if smothered by a veil of black shadow,

his form blurred and spasming as if disrupted,

“Shadow…” The winged figure’s voice was fragmented and unclear.

He seemed to be struggling to pierce through the thick shadow with his will,

until several seconds later his voice grew slightly clearer.

“The Tyranids have arrived. The Warp shadow has engulfed Asford.”

The 998th year of the 41st Millennium, the Ascension of Saint Guilliman

In the final days of this year, the Leviathan Hive Fleet descended upon the Underworld System.

(End of Chapter)