Chapter 33: Buying Sunflower Seeds for a Fool

Xiang Xiang Leina noticed Zhou Yun's gaze.

It was the look one gives a fool, filled with pity, amusement, and mockery.

Xiang Xiang Leina could practically read the words in Zhou Yun's eyes: What a fine child, it's a pity he's a fool.

Before Xiang Xiang Leina could speak, Zhou Yun shifted his chair forward and spoke first.

"Do you eat sunflower seeds?" he asked Xiang Xiang Leina earnestly. "According to the customs of my hometown, once you're done teasing a fool, you generally have to buy him some sunflower seeds."

Looking at Zhou Yun's sincere expression, Xiang Xiang Leina felt a surge of anger, her face burning hot.

"I am being serious," she said, gritting her teeth. "You should try to be a little serious too."

"I am very serious. Actually, I have an idea."

Zhou Yun couldn't help but smile as he said:

"Why don't we save up some money and build a border wall on the Ashford frontier to keep all those Tyranids outside?"

"To develop tourism in the future, we could even tile the wall inch by inch."

Xiang Xiang Leina clenched her fists, her face turning bright red.

She took a deep breath and said, word by word: "I really want to blast your mouth into mincemeat with a psyker shell."

"Then you'll have to get in line," Zhou Yun chuckled.

Xiang Xiang Leina huffed, looked at Zhou Yun, and said: "I am already building that Craftworld."

"Hmm?" Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow.

"Seven or eight years ago, following a prophecy, I found the wreckage of an ancient slave ship and its blueprints."

Xiang Xiang Leina looked at Zhou Yun and said:

"The structure of a slave ship isn't complex, and it doesn't have many weapon systems; it was used by merchants in the past."

"As long as there are enough of them, even Hive World workers can build one."

"From the moment the Fangzhou Gang was founded, I have been organizing people to build this Craftworld, and it is now nearing completion."

Seemingly to prevent Zhou Yun from asking questions, Xiang Xiang Leina spoke without pausing for breath:

"That slave ship was designed to transport large populations; it can even be squeezed a bit more, enough to hold the populations of the several districts currently ruled by the Fangzhou Gang."

"I don't intend to make a long-distance voyage, only a short-range one to the Baal system. The entire journey won't take long, and the supply issue is easy to solve."

Watching Xiang Xiang Leina's earnest expression, Zhou Yun couldn't help but rub his temples in a headache.

Something was wrong—nine out of ten things were wrong.

Although it was full of holes, this plan did have some feasibility.

That is, provided one ignored the biggest problem.

"You don't intend to rely on the power engines to fly from the material universe to Baal, do you?"

Zhou Yun took his hand away from his temples and tapped the table as he asked.

"Navigator, Geller Field, and Warp engine—which one do you have?"

"No Navigator."

Xiang Xiang Leina shook her head:

"But the distance from the Hades system to Baal isn't far. This is just a short-haul voyage. Many merchant ships navigate using complex and tedious stellar triangulation."

"I have received systematic mathematical education, and many Hive World workers have a mathematical foundation. Since the Baal system is a neighboring system, we can fully calculate precise coordinates through mutual cooperation."

"As for the Geller Field... I have my own way to solve it."

Speaking of this, Xiang Xiang Leina paused:

"Do you know what a Geller Field generator draws upon to operate?"

Hearing Xiang Xiang Leina's words, Zhou Yun was stunned for a moment.

"Psykers. It draws upon the power of unconscious psykers."

Zhou Yun said in a low voice:

"Psykers can weaken the barrier between reality and the Warp, which manifests in reality as a Warp incursion into the material universe."

"But conversely, if one is in the Warp, a psyker can also create a tiny bubble of reality."

"Sitting in front of you is a psyker." Xiang Xiang Leina pointed to herself.

She said softly: "We don't have a Geller Field generator, but if my psychic power is drawn upon without interruption, we can also create a Geller Field sufficient to maintain a short-haul voyage."

Xiang Xiang Leina spoke very calmly.

But without a Geller Field generator, crudely outputting psychic power to create a Geller Field is an extremely dangerous act.

It is almost equivalent to using a psyker as a disposable item.

Even for a short-haul voyage, Xiang Xiang Leina would likely fall into madness or die outright once the journey was completed.

"Are you planning to cosplay as the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang?" Zhou Yun looked at Xiang Xiang Leina, his voice flat.

"No one can imitate the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang. What I am sacrificing is not worth mentioning compared to what He has already sacrificed."

Xiang Xiang Leina lowered her head slightly, her fingers gently stroking the Scripture tattoo on her cheek.

"..." Zhou Yun studied Xiang Xiang Leina for a while, then nodded slightly: "That is the truth."

"A good child filled with kindness." In the corner of Zhou Yun's eye, the winged figure in the white light said softly.

"Many terrible things in the galaxy start from a little bit of kindness."

Zhou Yun said to the winged figure in the white light in his heart:

"Like Magnus's psychic cannon, like Angron being struck by the Butcher's Nails to protect his companions, like the Ultramarines and Word Bearers at Calth..."

The winged figure in the white light did not refute him.

Zhou Yun withdrew his gaze from him and looked at Xiang Xiang Leina before him: "Then, what about the Warp engine?"

"Don't tell me you intend to rely on your own psychic power to tear open a gate into the Warp out of thin air."

Xiang Xiang Leina shook her head: "I don't have a Warp engine yet, but I know where there is one."

"In the deepest level of the Hive World, the Warp engine of the first colony ship that colonized Ashford in the past is still left there."

"Where did you find this out?" Zhou Yun frowned and asked.

Ashford's first colony ship, the *Ashford*, was colonized back in the Dark Age!

"The Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's revelation to me." Xiang Xiang Leina held her head high, looking confident.

Bang!!!

Zhou Yun smashed his fist onto Xiang Xiang Leina's head, producing a crisp sound.

Sounds good? If it sounds good, it's a good head!

"Ah! Why did you hit me!" Xiang Xiang Leina held her head, looking at Zhou Yun with a wronged expression.

"You didn't bring me here just to have me go to the Under-Hive to find that Warp engine that may or may not exist, did you?"

Zhou Yun's mouth twitched as he spoke. He regretted not trying harder just now to kill this illegal psyker whose brain had been ruined by religion.

"That was the plan at first..." Xiang Xiang Leina said in a low voice.

Zhou Yun raised his fist again.

"Don't hit, don't hit, don't hit!"

Xiang Xiang Leina hurriedly waved her hands:

"I didn't intend for you to go directly; I just wanted to talk to you first."

"After all, even if you went like this, you would likely not find the location of that engine."

Xiang Xiang Leina paused:

"I know a person who can confirm whether the Warp engine exists and can also confirm the location of that Warp engine."

Zhou Yun frowned: "Where is that person?"

Xiang Xiang Leina stretched out her finger and pointed to the ceiling...

"She is in the Upper Hive and is considered a mathematician."

"I hope she isn't studying Numerology."

(End of chapter)