Chapter 264: Who Is Westgole? Never Heard of Him!

"Boss, you're not the Death of Mankind at all—you're the Lord of All Transformations!"

Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker, said with exaggerated flair.

"Then I think you're the Dark Prince of the Spirit Folk," Zhou Yun glanced at Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker.

The jester instantly flinched, stepping back quickly and making a Spirit Folk gesture of protection toward Zhou Yun.

"I don't want to be the Unicorn!" Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker, said: "I respect them, but let me do it? No thanks!"

The Unicorn is a unique role among Spirit Folk jesters, tasked in their performances with portraying the Dark Prince himself,

and thus they gain great power—but their souls are marked by the Dark Prince, and after death, no matter what, they cannot escape his bloodied maw. Unless Westgole's trickery succeeds in tricking their souls back—though that is exceedingly difficult.

Precisely because of this, the Spirit Folk both fear and revere the Unicorns.

Here, Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker, chuckled: "Boss, why don't I just pledge myself to you? Let's forget about Westgole."

"You're the Death of Mankind—when I die, you'll pull my soul out, right?"

"I don't have that ability," Zhou Yun shook his head.

Though the Emperor had forcibly granted him partial authority over the Domain of Corrosive Destruction, he still hadn't discovered any capacity to retrieve souls.

And he didn't believe Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker, truly meant loyalty to him.

Even a One-Eyed Red Ogryn wouldn't trust a jester's word, would they?

"And what if Westgole stops coming for you after you betray Him?"

Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker's expression stiffened slightly, then she asked: "What if he really doesn't come?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yun smiled and shook out his pocket: "Then you'll have to come in and contemplate."

Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker immediately made a face worse than death.

"Enough. Use your jester's skills and take me to the Thinker Array on this ship," Zhou Yun said to her.

Jesters are one of the galaxy's most infamous thief groups, ranked alongside the Adeptus Mechanicus, Tarasyn, and Blood Ravens.

That's why Zhou Yun brought Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker along—how else would he find anything in such a massive ship?

Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker sneered, wanting to complain about Zhou Yun's exploitation of free labor,

but remembering the Heartlock Holy Beetle inside her, she swallowed her complaints.

"Necrons are damn awful—wait, they're already dead."

Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker mentally cursed the Necrons' nonexistent mothers.

She'd noticed the Heartlock Holy Beetle only cared about disrespect toward Zhou Yun, not toward Necrons.

If she couldn't curse the Death of Mankind, couldn't she curse you Necrons? Blame the Necrons for creating these nanomachines!

As she mentally cursed the Necrons, Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker guided Zhou Yun's path.

With Blindspot Star in tow, Zhou Yun moved silently beside her through the vast warship.

In no time, Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker used her jester's instincts to slip beside the command deck of the Strike Cruiser.

The Strike Cruiser named Gloryblade reeked of tension.

A hemispherical dome enclosed the entire command chamber, projecting starfield data via holograms into the air.

Warriors and crew darted through it, shouting and bellowing as they dodged attacks from the Black Legion fleet; a faint, pervasive odor hung among them.

It was the stench of sweat, recycled oxygen, machine oil, and power armor metal.

Everyone strained to respond to the starfield assaults, the void shields flickering violet as they resisted the traitor fleet's strikes.

Yet amid this chaos, Zhou Yun and Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker slipped in silently.

They weren't invisible—but everyone around them acted as if they didn't see them at all, as if Zhou Yun and Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker stepped precisely into every visual blind spot.

Zhou Yun originally acquired the Blindspot Star hoping to let Saint Guilliman move freely without the gods noticing him.

But after testing it, Saint Guilliman confirmed the Blindspot Star couldn't achieve that.

Though it placed Saint Guilliman in visual blind spots, it couldn't make him truly unnoticeable—the gods still saw him.

To move freely, he'd need at least a Stone Hat.

But the price…

Zhou Yun glanced at the Stone Hat's price and felt a pang in his chest.

He'd still have to follow Saint Guilliman's plan: drag Guilliman into it, and feed his fourth-dimensional pocket with the entire Otrama's resources.

"Boss, there's someone in front of every Thinker—what do we do?" Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker whispered.

Zhou Yun didn't answer. Instead, he calmed his mind and slowly sank his awareness into the iron-hulled warship.

This was his first encounter with such a powerful machine-spirit—raw, primal impulses and roars born of steel and iron.

He also sensed the Strike Cruiser's captain was linked to the machine-spirit through the Command Throne.

But Zhou Yun could forge a deeper connection with the machine-spirit without any machinery.

He slowly extended his awareness into it, avoiding detection by the captain.

Then—

Zhou Yun subdued and mastered the warship's vast machine-spirit.

He silently issued his command—

A thunderous roar erupted throughout the entire ship; every soul aboard heard the machine-spirit's bellow.

The captain seated on the Command Throne let out a cry of rage—his will crushed by the machine-spirit, he collapsed into brief unconsciousness.

Simultaneously, the ship's void shields blazed like stars; lance weapons and macro-cannons unleashed torrents of fire, overwhelming the surrounding Chaos vessels in an instant.

"The machine-spirit is roaring!"

The ship's Mechanicus priests quickly assessed the situation, attempting to sense the machine-spirit's emotion—but its only response was fury and resistance.

Sparks suddenly erupted from the command consoles before the Thinkers, startling the crew into retreating several steps.

Zhou Yun swiftly stepped forward and placed his hand on a Thinker during the brief chaos.

He again used the power he'd gained from the Domain of Malice to swiftly seize control of the Thinker's machine-spirit.

The machine-spirit cooperated fully, transmitting all its data directly into Zhou Yun's mind.

Having retrieved what he needed, Zhou Yun and Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker withdrew using the Blindspot Star's effect.

To prevent exposure, Zhou Yun also used the Strike Cruiser's machine-spirit to implant a psychological suggestion into the captain's mind.

Moments later, the captain, recovering from the machine-spirit's roar, clutched his head and shook it dazedly.

He'd only felt dizzy.

"Captain, what happened?" a crewman asked.

"I… don't know," the captain muttered, confused. "The machine-spirit suddenly roared."

"Maybe Gloryblade has a grudge against one of the nearby traitor ships?"

At least, that's what the machine-spirit had conveyed.

Zhou Yun and Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker calmly exited the command deck and found a quiet corridor with little traffic.

He calmed his mind and began studying the information he'd just taken from the Thinker.

It included a full star map of the Macragge system, marking every planet's spaceport.

But that wasn't his focus. What Zhou Yun truly wanted was—

Found it!

A flash of delight lit Zhou Yun's eyes.

The complete map of Macragge appeared in his mind, including the Hera Fortress atop Crown Peak.

The homeworld of the Ultramarines had unremarkable natural conditions—most of its surface dominated by towering mountain ranges, forcing most residents to live in limited lowland areas.

But Space Marines had no such restrictions: atop the towering peak known as Crown Peak stood the Ultramarines' Fortress-Monastery.

Zhou Yun studied the map's details of the Hera Fortress.

The Ultramarines maintained their Fortress-Monastery far better than the Blood Angels.

This fortress, built during the Great Crusade for the Thirteenth Legion, still retained most of its original functionality.

Meanwhile, the Blood Angels' Angel's Keep was mostly buried under sand, leaving only its core intact.

Remember: as a Chapter bound by the Codex Astartes, the Ultramarines officially numbered only a thousand Astartes—yet the Hera Fortress during the Great Crusade had served hundreds of thousands.

"Still intact after all this time? What are they planning? Ultramarines are all ambitious bastards."

Zhou Yun muttered under his breath.

The entire Hera Fortress was vast as a city, but Zhou Yun quickly located several positions that might be Guilliman's Sanctums.

These locations were blurred—likely critical areas.

But it didn't matter. If he couldn't pinpoint them on the map, he'd go in person.

Thinking this, Zhou Yun pulled out a Gate of Anywhere from his fourth-dimensional pocket.

Beside him, Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker leaned in curiously.

She'd seen a Gate of Anywhere once before, knowing it could teleport—but only short distances.

She didn't believe it could teleport across planets or star systems.

If such a thing existed, why even need the Webway?

Then, Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker watched as Zhou Yun slowly spoke to the gate:

"Macragge. Hera Fortress."

He gently pushed open the door—and Roman-style architecture appeared beyond.

Shilandelie, the Curtain Walker's expression stiffened slightly.

(End of Chapter)