Chapter 235

Forge World Hephaestus, a major arsenal near Baal, has long been responsible for producing void ships and various weapons for Baal and the entire Scarlet Scars sector.

Not long ago, this place was occupied by the Tyranid swarm, but Dante didn't have time to implement the Exterminatus.

This place therefore preserved many unfinished machines, and Sanguinius, leading the Blood Angels and a large number of mortals, was recovering those that could still be utilized in this ruin.

The sound of chainswords whistling resounded incessantly, and Seth, leading the Flesh Tearers, formed the first line of defense, clearing the Tyranid swarm hidden among the steel ruins.

"My lord, the 16th Shipyard of Hephaestus has been recovered, and the remains of the former Forge Master of Hephaestus have been found within it."

In addition to Seth and the Flesh Tearers responsible for opening the front line, the Crimson Blades Chapter, who had mistakenly thought their gene-father was Guilliman, also joined the operation.

Influenced by the Ultramarines, the Crimson Blades Chapter was more rational than other Blood Angel Chapters, skilled in management, analysis, and clerical work.

Sanguinius chose them to be responsible for the resource recovery affairs of the entire Forge World.

"The Forge Master protected most of the important machinery and a precious STC; we can almost immediately restart the 16th Shipyard."

Goron's tone carried a little excitement; Sanguinius could understand his excitement.

An intact STC, or Standard Template Construct, was extremely precious.

Every STC was an ancient creation of the Dark Age of Technology, storing a complex set of automated production programs, an essential tool for ancient humans when pioneering the stars.

When humans of the Dark Age of Technology arrived on a new planet, they only needed to provide local materials to the STC, and the STC could produce specific or all technological creations that humans needed.

It was just that as time passed, most STCs became damaged or missing, only able to produce one or two specific technological creations.

But even so, it was precious; after all, most creations of the Dark Age of Technology had been lost in the 41st millennium of humanity.

Sanguinius, accompanied by Goron, entered the 16th Shipyard.

The remains of the Forge Master of this world, over two meters tall and having undergone complex mechanical modifications, were being collected.

The titles of the persons in charge of different Forge Worlds were all different: Forge Director, Forge General, Forge Master... all were different, but their duties were equivalent to the Planetary Governor of an Imperial world, and even greater in power and autonomy.

This was mainly because most Forge Worlds only nominally owed allegiance to Mars, and their interior often had a complete operating system of their own.

The Hephaestus Forge Master was clearly killed in battle to protect the important machinery and STC of the 16th Shipyard; his body, which had undergone massive mechanical modifications, was torn to pieces by the swarm.

The members of the Adeptus Mechanicus might not be good knowledge explorers, but they were indeed good knowledge protectors.

Without their dedication, more of the technology lost by humanity would be lost.

Sanguinius knelt on one knee beside the broken remains of that Forge Master, lowering his head gently:

"The true Machine God is about to be born, and the primordial power will resound through the galaxy."

"May your spirit return to His domain, may you enjoy eternal power there."

With that, Sanguinius stood up and came to the STC deep in the 16th Shipyard with Goron, the Chapter Master of the Crimson Blades.

The exterior of this STC was a sphere wrapped in clean white ceramic, the surface of the sphere covered with chrome alloy pipes, intertwined like a metal ball of yarn.

At first glance, this sphere was out of place with the shipyard full of dark steel, as if it were a creation from a different worldview.

However, members of the Adeptus Mechanicus had covered the surface of this STC with sacred wax seals symbolizing the Machine God and binary prayers written on parchment, and many incense burners releasing incense were hung nearby...

Sanguinius knew that these things indeed had an effect, but since discovering that the location of the Vile Arts was being occupied by Zhou Yun, he began to feel that offering Taiyaki to the STC might be more useful.

While thinking, Sanguinius placed his hand on the surface of this STC, trying to sense the machine spirit inside the STC.

Corrupted by Zhou Yun, he theoretically should also possess the abilities of the domain he occupied.

It was just that Zhou Yun himself was only unconsciously occupying three positions in the Warp, one of which was stuffed into him by the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang.

He himself hadn't truly realized his own Warp essence, making Sanguinius only able to mobilize a little power from the Vile Arts domain.

Currently, this domain of Vile Arts had been divided to a certain extent, cut into three layers, and the one Zhou Yun occupied was closer to the primordial power in the mouth of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Awakening and activating the machine spirit, operating and driving all machines.

Sanguinius tried slightly, feeling the complex and chaotic emotions inside the STC.

If Zhou Yun himself were here, the machine spirit of this STC could probably be activated to the level of an Abominable Intelligence, possessing a certain degree of wisdom.

Sanguinius sighed slightly, just wanting to withdraw his arm, but felt a burst of joyful and excited emotions from the machine spirit inside the STC.

Praise, praise, praise.

The singing resounded in the machine spirit, not just this STC,

The machine spirits of the entire shipyard, and even the entire Forge World, were excitedly singing, praising, and rejoicing.

The assembly line began to operate on its own without anyone controlling it, the originally damaged machines began to repair themselves inexplicably, the factories without power began to roar, and dazzling fire burst out in the smelting furnace.

All machines rang together, and twenty-two praises resounded through the entire planet!

All machines rang together, and twenty-two roars smelted for the primordial power!

All machines rejoiced together, and twenty-two roars celebrated the return of my Lord!

"It's done." A smile curled at the corner of Sanguinius's mouth.

He could feel, feel that the dark and deep part of his Warp essence, the part called the Dark Angel in Baal's faith, the part that was the source of the Blood Angels' Black Rage, was being eroded by a stream of metallic blue light.

As this erosion occurred, the blue figure connected to Sanguinius's Warp essence in the Warp also became increasingly clear.

A roar came from the Warp, and the three layers of domains were gradually occupied by this blue figure.

Sanguinius could feel that His power was awakening bit by bit, and along with it, Sanguinius, who had been corrupted by Him, gradually touched the power of the three layers of domains.

He could also better sense the existence of the machine spirit, could draw power from death, and seemed to have become able to eat quite a bit.

This kind of change was probably more obvious on Zhou Yun's side.

As early as in Ashford, Sanguinius vaguely noticed,

Those items sold by Zhou Yun, at least those involving the Warp, didn't disappear into thin air, but merged into Zhou Yun's reflection in the Warp, stimulating Zhou Yun to constantly awaken his Warp essence and become a part of Zhou Yun's power.

Letting Zhou Yun devour the Dark Angel could deepen His corruption of Sanguinius, helping Sanguinius get rid of the dark and deep part of his essence.

But more importantly, the Dark Angel was also a part of Sanguinius, and Sanguinius had already been corrupted by Zhou Yun; His devouring of the Dark Angel could more gently stimulate Zhou Yun to awaken his Warp essence without getting out of control.

Sanguinius rubbed his temples slightly.

He really couldn't say what Zhou Yun's Warp essence was; it was born inexplicably, and the domain he occupied also strangely included three layers; once it got out of control, the danger brought would probably be no less than unfolding another Great Rift.

He could only guess that Zhou Yun was actually similar to himself.

His Warp essence was born in the future, conversely affecting his past self.

"Will Zhou Yun become the Machine God, the King of Darkness, and the Eternal Dragon in some moment in the future?"

"But if so, his birth should have already pierced through time, existing simultaneously from the past, present, and future..."

"... Or did he, through some method, precisely trap himself at the last moment before ascending to godhood? Similar to the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang..."

Sanguinius pondered for a moment, still having no clue.

But no matter what, with the further awakening of the Warp essence, Zhou Yun should also have mastered the power of the domain of erosion and destruction at a deeper level.

Can go drag Guilliman into the water.

Zhou Yun woke up from the sand, covering his head slightly; although he had gone through a dizziness, Zhou Yun felt his mind become clearer, and many things that were once separated by fog now seemed to be within reach.

He could see his reflection in the Warp, and that Doraemon body became increasingly clear.

"Lord Zhou Yun?" Mephiston, who was on the side, noticed Zhou Yun waking up and hurriedly approached.

"I'm fine." Zhou Yun reached out to refuse Mephiston, covering his head slightly, feeling the instincts and knowledge surging from the depths of his soul.

His Warp essence had awakened further; he could feel that he actually occupied three domains.

Erosion and Destruction, Greed and Dissolution, and Vile Arts; the three domains also gave Zhou Yun new powers.

Zhou Yun glanced at Mephiston; he could now feel the movement of every component of Mephiston's power armor, could feel the flow direction of the mechanical power inside the power armor, and the existence of the machine spirit.

With just one thought, Zhou Yun could control this set of power armor... Not just the power armor, Zhou Yun could control any machine that relied on power to run, and amplify its efficacy.

This was the power given to Zhou Yun by the Vile Arts.

Erosion and Destruction, which was the power cut to Zhou Yun by the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Grim Reaper aspect.

The current Zhou Yun could directly draw power from death, just like Angron could draw power in war; as long as there were people dying nearby, Zhou Yun could continuously repair his body and was very difficult to be truly killed.

In addition, people who died beside Zhou Yun would be drawn a little power by Zhou Yun; if they were killed by Zhou Yun himself, he could draw more power.

Moreover, things killed by Zhou Yun would also be corrupted to a certain extent... This would be very useful against demons.

Finally, the ability given to Zhou Yun by Greed and Dissolution.

He could originally eat a whole fire scorpion, now he could eat three or four at once.

After organizing his thoughts, Zhou Yun slowly stood up from the desert, turned his head, and looked at the place where the Elytra Fortress was originally located.

Mephiston had completed all the work before Zhou Yun woke up.

His powerful psychic power almost directly overturned the entire Elytra Fortress, and the entire alien city was buried in the desert, hanging under the sunset of Baal.

Zhou Yun saw from afar that the statue in the center of the Elytra Fortress was inserted obliquely into the yellow sand.

That statue depicted the scene of the two angels of darkness and gold fighting each other.

And now, with the destruction of the entire Elytra Fortress, the statue of the Dark Angel shattered, crushed under the Golden Angel, seemingly indicating that the Golden Angel had achieved the final victory in this dispute...

"Let's go back." Zhou Yun withdrew his gaze from the ruins and remains of the Elytra Fortress and said to Mephiston.

(End of chapter)