Chapter 598: To Serve the Silent King!

Why are there so many traitors?

The Silent King's words caused the astrologer Orikan's mind to stutter.

If he and the Silent King were still alive, Orikan would have asked the Silent King: Is it the Silent King's brain that has a tumor, or is it his own?

The Silent King destroyed his entire race and erased the Master Protocol that could have united all Necrons under a single will—what right does he have to demand their loyalty?

But as Orikan looked at the spear in the Silent King's hand, wreathed in unquenchable flame, and felt the cold fury radiating from his tall, slender frame, his vocalizer rusted shut.

Was that spear never destroyed after all?

No wonder that one was so wary of the Silent King—just that spear alone.

Orikan could not speak.

Though the Silent King was not a wise ruler, he was unquestionably a powerful one; nearly every Necron facing him felt fear, as if turning into a base, inferior creature fit only to crawl at his feet, an irrational fervor and loyalty surging within them.

Orikan often suspected this was due to some residual control protocol the Silent King had preserved, a means of maintaining partial dominion over the Necrons.

Facing the Silent King's icy question, Orikan's logical mind began generating illogical thoughts—could his cover as a spy have been exposed?

Even his consciousness was suddenly seized by an impulse, urging him to kneel before the Silent King and confess all his crimes.

"But thanks to you, Master Orikan!" the Radiant Hapsatras beside the Silent King suddenly shifted tone—from condemnation to praise.

"Hm?" Orikan blinked slightly, still under the Silent King's oppressive aura, his thoughts unclear.

"Had you not provided the list of hidden traitors in advance, we would have wasted vast resources, outstanding payments, and military stipends on those traitors!" praised the Radiant Hapsatras.

"Oh!"

Orikan let out a sudden "Oh!"—it all clicked.

Not long ago, Orikan had submitted a list to the Tri-Saint Council, claiming those on it were hidden traitors who must be cut off from supplies, denied final payments, and stripped of military wages and reinforcements to prevent them from defecting with vast assets belonging to the Silent King.

But that list had actually been given to Orikan by that one—the Necron Archons and Overlords wavering under the Silent King's rule.

These Archons and Overlords had once wavered between Anlakel and the Silent King, but the Silent King's cutoff of their supplies, payments, and wages had driven them irrevocably into Anlakel's arms.

Yet the Silent King still believed Orikan had uncovered the hidden traitors in advance, sparing him a fortune in wasted assets.

Or perhaps the Silent King didn't care whether they wavered or betrayed outright.

He was an entity of extreme confidence—loyalty that was not absolute was, to him, absolute disloyalty.

"You've worked hard," said the Radiant Hapsatras, soothing Orikan.

"To serve His Majesty the Silent King is no hardship!" Orikan declared with righteous solemnity.

The faces of the Tri-Saints all showed admiration.

"Master, you are truly a loyal and devoted servant! With you at our side, the revival of the Necron Stellar Empire is within reach," praised the Radiant Hapsatras.

Orikan bowed again respectfully to the Tri-Saint Council, yet he did not forget the purpose of his visit.

The Radiant Hapsatras listened as Orikan described his predictions based on observing the celestial movements, nodding repeatedly.

"So Master Orikan's meaning is that the rogue Anlakel intends to gather all traitors in the Vorian Vash system, conspire to overthrow our dynasty and plot rebellion?" The Radiant Hapsatras's gaze flickered as he fixed Orikan with a piercing stare.

Orikan nodded in agreement, and the Tri-Saints fell into a deathly silence—as if the Silent King were communicating secretly with the other two Saints.

This was not something Orikan had calculated—his astrology was a science, not some mystical mumbo-jumbo like Eldar prophecy, the Emperor's revelations, or numerological divination, which drew inaccurate conclusions without evidence.

The principle of this science lay in observing the trajectories of the stars to predict the direction of time's flow, finding the single inevitable moment amid infinite possibilities.

But the problem was that Orikan's science was rigorous, while the universe itself was not; due to the Warp, temporal distortions occurred frequently, and Orikan often had to correct errors within the galaxy himself.

The Vorian Vash system lay on the edge of the Dead Spirit Wastes, a region long since consumed by Warp storms, its time now chaotic—Orikan could not observe such precise futures from there.

This information came from that one—but Orikan himself had doubts.

Anlakel was clearly that one's proxy among the Necrons—why betray his location, especially at such a critical moment?

If the Silent King had simply marched straight to Anlakel's gathering of the Twenty-Two Archons to denounce him,

With just that spear in his hand, Anlakel and at least some of the Archons would have died.

To perish before even launching the campaign would be a devastating blow to Anlakel's rebellion, and that one, having lost such a useful proxy, would struggle to rally another cohort of Necrons.

Did that one truly believe the Silent King would not act directly?

"Great Silent King Szalak says: Master Orikan underestimates the heroes of the galaxy," chuckled the Radiant Hapsatras, as if to say Orikan had made a mistake after all.

". uh?" Orikan blinked, not understanding what Hapsatras meant.