[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor":3,"chapter-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-68":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1511167,1962,"Chapter 68: The Telepathic Space Apes","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-68",68,"\u003Cp>In the isolated J-005 deck, the sixteen space apes were dispersed, each separated by ten meters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They stood with their arms at their sides, perfectly still, like statues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After resting, a fully reinvigorated Marlena, Wojciech, and Gul'gul took up positions flanking Nareth, curiously observing these strange creatures before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bring the scrap materials. Place them in front of them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Nareth's command, sixteen tech-workers pushed carts filled with waste and scrap to the front of the space apes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even before the workers could back away, the statue-like space apes began to move, the ancient genetic programming embedded by the Old Ones activated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their fingers and toes flexed rapidly, and in a blur of motion, they disassembled the carts and trash into scattered parts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Orange figures surged and danced through the junk. Wojciech's eyes widened, his jaw dropping involuntarily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What he saw were ape-like beings whose hands and feet moved like a Magos manipulating mechadendrites, performing a mechanical dance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Useless waste that would normally only be fit for recycling was transformed in mere seconds and reshaped into new items.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iron scraps became rings, ceramic shards turned into spheres, copper blocks morphed into metal flies…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even steel wire was stretched into coils, and tin chunks were shaped into rings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth was quietly thankful he had ordered the use of scrap; even if the results were useless, there was no loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gul'gul's eyes gleamed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Incredible! How do they do it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They seem to be acting purely on instinct,\" said Marlena thoughtfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed,\" Nareth nodded, just as his comms unit beeped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He answered, and Bukayo's voice came through:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord, I've reached the target. Discovered a hexagonal crystal mountain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth went silent for a moment at the mention of a hexagonal crystal mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he replied:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Report your progress regularly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing no further messages, he issued a new command:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Keep only that... and that one…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed at the most spiritually resonant and uniquely shaped light sculptures the apes had created.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everything else, move it to my chamber.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Servitors and porters got to work immediately, carefully transporting the items created by the Jokaero.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the communicator beeped again. Bukayo's voice came through:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Preparing to begin the climb.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth's brow furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That response seemed disconnected from his previous order; clearly, the mountain was interfering with communication signals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he debated whether to continue the experiment or descend to the surface, Marlena spoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'll go. I'll assist Commander Bukayo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright,\" Nareth agreed. With Marlena accompanying them, the Slaaneshi cultists could be handled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the items were all cleared away, Nareth approached a trash cart, pinching the handle with two fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rolled it in front of a space ape, whose work area now held a statue glowing with a soft white light, like fluorescence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its upper half resembled the umbrella shape of a jellyfish, while the lower half was like the spiraled shell of an ammonite, with two sharp horns protruding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth pointed at the materials, and at the same time, projected his mind toward the ape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the creature's swirling aura of faint instinctual fear, he found a psychic gate, and its mind was open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Use this,\" Nareth moved his finger to indicate the light sculpture, \"to create that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The space ape immediately approached the cart, using all four limbs. Moments later, it recreated the sculpture exactly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'They have emotion… and a mind… and can comprehend telepathic instruction. That alone proves they are living beings. They just don't use language, maybe only the Old Ones knew how to awaken their full intelligence.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth continued testing, using mental transmissions to instruct the apes to create 52 more light sculptures before stopping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Move all of them to my chamber.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a pause, he turned to Wojciech:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Keep providing them with scrap. Let them continue building.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But when they're not creating, do not leave anything near them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Assign rotating guards. If they try dismantling ship panels, stop them immediately.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wojciech carefully took down every order and left to carry them out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Nareth walked away, he couldn't help but feel excited, wondering what unexpected surprises the apes might bring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, on the crystal mountain, 666 meters above ground, Bukayo stood before a narrow vertical passage that now sloped upward into the mountain's interior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tunnel was several meters wide. Bukayo continued leading his team forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He noticed the walls and ground were studded with crystals, some sparse, some dense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since his ascension to \"Midnight Poet,\" his spiritual senses had sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These crystals felt different from those outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Activating his Spirit Vision, he could faintly see sparkling multicolored lights radiating from within them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of meters ahead, he suddenly stopped and crouched, studying a crystal column by his feet. This one glowed brighter under spiritual sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment's thought, Bukayo reached out with his enhanced strength and easily broke off the crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He toyed with it in his hand, found no new clues, and passed it back to a subordinate:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold onto it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Continuing forward for hundreds more meters, he noticed the frequency of the strange crystals increasing, and their spiritual resonance growing stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pressed on until suddenly. Six branching paths appeared ahead, seemingly indistinguishable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bukayo entered each one briefly, sensing for differences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later, he led his team into the third path from the left, the one where the spiritual resonance was strongest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After another few hundred meters, at the next fork, Bukayo suddenly raised his lasgun and fired down the third path from the right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A body hit the ground, an ambusher, whose fall revealed several others in fine robes, wielding curved sabers and ornamental blades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They howled in an incomprehensible tongue and immediately charged towards Bukayo and the Third Regiment\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a \"Midnight Poet,\" he was an expert in marksmanship. Bukayo's reflexes were superhuman. Every trigger pull was precise, and enemy after enemy fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, he felt it, an overwhelming swarm approaching from the depths of the tunnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His pupils shrank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tide of bizarre creatures surged forward:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some had scorpion-like bodies, with six bony projections from their spines, each ending in a stinger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others were serpent-like, heads flaring like razor-edged petals, with forked tongues like whips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They slithered with a hiss, swarming over the remaining cultists, who were instantly overwhelmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bukayo raised his weapon and fired at the petal-headed snake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It shrieked, springing sideways to dodge the shot, then lashed out with its twin tongues like whips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Retreat!\" Bukayo roared, his face darkening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the monsters could dodge his attacks, then his troops had little chance of hitting them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his right hand, he fired his lasgun again, and with his left, he pulled a fragmentation grenade from his tactical pouch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Falling backward, he threw the grenade, narrowly dodging the whip attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his enhanced physical ability, the Midnight Poet rolled back just in time to avoid a scorpion-stinger strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snake-beast exploded, torn apart, but more monsters surged forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bukayo led a fighting retreat, throwing grenades to stall the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as their grenades dwindled, casualties began to mount.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One scorpion-creature let out a piercing screech, its six bone-spikes snapped forward like ropes, aiming straight at Bukayo.\u003C\u002Fp>",1191,"2026-06-06T05:05:10.768Z",1,"novelbin.me","7ff822df1a32906dd71f7066dd61b4d232b77eb9893a33bcd77d1441ffa9b36a","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-69","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-67",698,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-cover.jpg"]