Chapter 266: Hera Fortress

Hera Fortress, the home of the Ultramarines,

If the Angel's Bastion of the Blood Angels is like a city of angels in the desert sands, a fortress of fortitude, sanctity, and grandeur, a holy dwelling visible from orbit,

then Hera Fortress is more like a temple from ancient Rome.

This fortress, designed by Roboute Guilliman, is filled with golden domes, slender corridors, elegant balconies, mosaic floors, and winding staircases.

These designs are certainly not merely for aesthetics; every structure that seems to serve only beauty is actually the Primarch's ingenuity, capable of transforming into weapon positions, firing points, battlements, ramparts, and assault points when facing invaders.

And designs like this cover seven flattened mountain peaks, forming this fortress-monastery.

But this monastery was infiltrated silently today.

The Anywhere Door suddenly opened and closed, then vanished from its spot; the entire process took less than a second.

Zhou Yun and Sylendra Veilwalker, wearing the Blind Spot Star, appeared here, standing on an exquisite balcony.

Even the Primarch's genius mind could not imagine things that do not exist.

Roboute Guilliman would not have foreseen the existence of the Anywhere Door and the Blind Spot Star.

Of course, there is another reason.

Hera Fortress, built upon seven mountain peaks, is too vast; the current Ultramarines Chapter simply cannot fill it, making the place appear exceptionally empty.

Sylendra Veilwalker's expression twitched slightly.

That item, which Zhou Yun calls the Anywhere Door, can actually open a door to any place just by speaking a name.

At first glance, this thing is far more useful than the Webway, leaving Sylendra Veilwalker somewhat stunned.

Do humans really have such technology?!

Moreover, Sylendra Veilwalker is certain that the Anywhere Door does not pass through the Warp!

What does this mean? Sylendra Veilwalker understood with a slight thought.

Damn, my family's Webway has been gold-farmed!

Zhou Yun did not care about Sylendra Veilwalker's mood.

He knew that relying solely on his one Anywhere Door, farming the Webway for gold was still somewhat difficult.

Without the existence of items like the Size-Adjustment Lamp, the Anywhere Door simply cannot transport fleets or large quantities of cargo.

Of course, Zhou Yun could transport small fleets through the Four-Dimensional Pocket, but there is only one Four-Dimensional Pocket, and the spare pockets in the Future Department Store are more expensive than the Time Burden Cloth.

Plus, there is a limit of only ten light-years each time.

For now, humans still need the Eldar Webway.

This is also why Zhou Yun has kept Sylendra Veilwalker all along; he is waiting for Xi Gaole to appear so he can enter the Black Library and secretly steal the map of the Webway.

Zhou Yun raised his head slightly, looking up at the sky.

Beneath the stars, a hazy violet light curtain surrounded them; countless cannon fire struck it, raising waves, and the roaring sound rang out incessantly.

In the distance, traitor Titans were venting their cannon fire, but Hera Fortress, worthy of being the Ultramarines Legion's former fortress, withstood such a scale of attack.

Most Ultramarines stood on the city walls resisting the Black Legion's assault.

But overall, the Ultramarines' situation is better than when the Blood Angels faced the Black Legion back then.

Hera Fortress is better preserved; the Ultramarines have not yet lost their Void Shield power, and they can receive support from several nearby planets; furthermore, the Ultramarines possess their own mortal forces, the Cadian Auxiliaries.

Those mortals, though nominally just the PDF of various planets, are stronger than the group of noobs from Asford by countless levels.

Zhou Yun withdrew his gaze from the sky and looked at the map in his mind.

There were a total of eleven blurred locations, an extremely large number; Zhou Yun guessed that some of them might be decoy areas.

But regardless, one of them is the Guilliman Temple, the Primarch's place of slumber.

Zhou Yun only needs to investigate them one by one to find the specific location.

As he thought, he dragged Sylendra Veilwalker through Hera Fortress.

In a short while, they arrived at the nearest blurred area.

The grandest building in this area is a Roman-style temple; its magnificent circular dome resembles the setting sun hanging on the horizon, forming a series of complex structures together with the corridors, Gao Ta, and halls extending around it.

But contrary to Zhou Yun and Sylendra Veilwalker's expectations, the defense here was not strict.

Except for some Cadian Auxiliaries and mortal servants, almost no other guard forces could be seen.

If this building did not look so magnificent, the two of them would have started to suspect this place was one of the decoys.

Relying on the effect of the Blind Spot Star, the two of them entered this magnificent temple almost through the main gate.

Then, Zhou Yun immediately understood what this place was.

Layer upon layer of bookshelves formed primitive geometric structures running through the entire temple; these bookshelves stacked like a maze, filling the temple with a dizzying, unique order; books, scrolls, and data slates were placed on the shelves.

These classics emitted the ancient scent of paper and ink, mixed with the incense scent permeating the air, making one feel as if they had reached the deepest part of the maze of human history and knowledge.

Chapter servants moved between the bookshelves, but their footsteps seemed to be completely absorbed by the books around them.

This is the Ptolemy Library, one of the largest libraries in the entire Human Empire; all of the Ultramarines' records regarding history and knowledge are stored here, second only to the magnificent library on Terra, and many records here do not even exist on Terra.

Such as those regarding the Second Empire.

Zhou Yun quickly understood why there was not much protection here.

Because the people inside this building are the best protection themselves.

Several Ultramarines Librarians moved through it; however, these warriors with powerful psychic powers were merely searching for and carrying books for the one in the deepest part of the library.

Digris, the Ultramarines Librarian Master, theoretically the strongest Librarian in the Empire.

His strength is slightly superior to Morpheus, who has not yet undergone Primaris modification and has not merged with the Black Rage.

A psyker of Xiang Leina's level would probably not last a few rounds in front of Digris.

However, this Ultramarines Librarian Master is not famous for combat.

What he is truly famous for is his extremely precise prophetic ability.

In Zhou Yun's memory, Digris should have already prophesied the existence of Belisarius Cawl and his group.

Digris sifted through the intricate documents before him, trying to discern the guidance of fate within them.

A blue, round figure.

That figure would bring hope alongside a Grand Sage.

Digris hoped to find traces of that blue figure's existence in these documents.

But he sifted through many and still found not a single clue.

It was as if that figure had never existed in recorded human history.

Digris had now searched records from the thirtieth to the fortieth millennium of humanity that might be relevant.

He had even begun searching for records from the Old Night era, before the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang had appeared.

Yet even so, he still found nothing.

If the blue figure had ever appeared in human history, it must have been during the Golden Age or an even more ancient era.

Digris had also tried using his prophetic abilities to probe deeper into the existence of that blue figure.

However, before his first attempt could even begin, Digris felt a bone-chilling cold.

The Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's warning came before Digris's action; he warned Digris not to act rashly.

Digris sighed slightly; he had read many records from the Old Night era of Macragge and found no valuable information.

"My Lord."

A Chapter servant walked quickly past from outside the library, bowing respectfully to Digris:

"News from Raffis: a Grand Sage of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Belisarius Cawl, has appeared on Raffis."

"Beside him are Cadian Shock Troopers, an Inquisitor, Living Saint Celestine, and... and two Eldar."

"Grand Sage Belisarius Cawl claims he has an appointment with the Lord of Octarius and is now aboard the Blade of Glory heading for Macragge."

Digris's expression shifted slightly.

He had already instructed the Chapter servants to report any relevant news to him immediately.

"Grand Sage Belisarius Cawl."

Digris quickly manipulated his psychic power, yanking several scrolls from the bookshelf.

He spread out these scrolls and quickly found the information he needed.

The name Belisarius Cawl had appeared ten thousand years ago.

And this Grand Sage had once served his Gene-Father, Roboute Guilliman!

Digris's expression immediately grew serious; he must tell this news to Chapter Master Marneus Calgar.

This would likely determine what judgment the Chapter Master makes.

"Where is the Chapter Master now?" Digris asked.

The Chapter servant lowered his head slightly and replied: "The Chapter Master is currently praying to the Primarch in the Sanctum of Purity."

Digris nodded slightly, immediately stood up, and walked toward the Sanctum of Purity.

Standing aside, relying on the blind spot of Blind Star to remain undetected, Zhou Yun and Sylendra Veilwalker exchanged a glance.

This made things much more convenient; they only needed to follow Digris instead of searching for them one by one.

The two quickly caught up with Digris, who was walking alone toward the Sanctum of Purity.

Digris walked out of the Ptolemy Library; the cold wind of the night on the high mountains blew, sweeping across his face, slightly relieving the fatigue in his mind from his work.

Fragmented, barely perceptible scenes floated before his eyes, causing a faint glimmer to flicker in his eyes, which were filled with psychic light.

Digris's pace slowed imperceptibly for an instant.

But he quickly adjusted his state and strode toward the direction of the Sanctum of Purity.

(End of this chapter)