[{"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-71":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},1511170,1962,"Chapter 71: Psychic Link","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-71",71,"\u003Cp>As the ship departed from the orbit of the Crystal Mirage, Nareth arrived at Deck J-005 to inspect the latest creations of the space apes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were no surprises this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he wasn't disappointed. Vostroya had no shortage of industrial scrap, and with enough volume, miracles would eventually emerge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said to Wojciech beside him:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Continue supplying them with scrap.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Additionally, draft a preliminary blueprint for a shipyard during our voyage. Use the Cult Mechanicum Sopot Shipyard as your reference for the initial design.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he turned to Bukayo and sent a mental pulse to the \"Midnight Poet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bukayo's body stiffened slightly as images and data on a creature called the Umbral Specters flooded his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with them, Nareth's command:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Go to the vicinity of the warp engine and bring me at least one umbral specter.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alive if possible. If dead, the corpse must be intact.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bukayo nodded subtly. He wasn't surprised; his lord was always interested in strange creatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And creatures like the Umbral Specters, which could manipulate and control shadows, were exactly the kind to pique Nareth's curiosity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after, Bukayo watched as Nareth walked toward Malina and spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's head to Chamber A-001.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bukayo returned to his own quarters on the upper deck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a Regiment Commander, he had a spacious suite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The outer room was smaller, equipped with only a desk, a cogitator, and a dozen data slates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The inner chamber was larger, furnished with a bed, a wardrobe, and other essentials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He removed his custom-fitted battle armor and changed into a black robe with a hood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked over to a weapon rack, picked up a black military backpack, and opened it to inspect the contents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To please Nareth, Bukayo often went on hunts and carried a full set of equipment and tools.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After verifying everything, he slung the backpack over his shoulder and left his quarters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near the warp engine, Bukayo quickly located a ventilation shaft.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his pack, he pulled a short pry bar, then took three steps and leapt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Midnight Poet's left arm swung, hook, pull, pry, and the grille came loose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Landing softly, he jumped up into the duct, replacing the grate behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now immersed in darkness, the Midnight Poet felt a surge of vitality. His psychic sensitivity sharpened, and his vision improved drastically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moving in a crouch through the passage, his eyes scanned the surroundings. From the data he'd received, he knew umbral specters were eight centimeters in size, light-averse, and hid within shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roughly 30 meters in, he stopped. Around the corner, a mushroom-shaped creature dangled upside down from the ceiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his backpack, he retrieved a small silver box with twelve compartments and continued forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His psychic senses tingled. His eyes darkened as he stared at the two hooks, four blades, and tooth-like appendages creeping toward him from the shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Midnight Poet recognized this as the umbral specter's ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfazed, he neither dodged nor attacked. Instead, he began reciting a hypnotic poem:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, the threat of horror, the hope of crimson cries!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One thing at least is certain—that this Life flies;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One thing is certain, and the rest is Lies;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Flower that once has bloomed forever dies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The encroaching attacks gradually ceased. The umbral specter clinging to the ceiling swayed before dropping down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Midnight Poet swiftly stepped forward, extending the silver box to catch the falling mushroom-like creature at waist height.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time he captured his third umbral specter, Bukayo felt a faint tremor in the metal passage, and the warp engine had activated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.......\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, in chamber A-001, Nareth used Warp Insight to scan the area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sensed the emotional currents around Marlena beginning to stabilize and turned his attention to a data slate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While handling official duties, a part of his mind remained attuned to Marlena's psychic tides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During her rest periods, they would dine, chat, or meditate together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Days passed aboard the ship until the eleventh day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth sensed a sudden storm within the once-calm psychic waves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately set the data slate aside and noticed Marlena's trembling body, her forehead glistening with sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Realizing she was in trouble, he used telepathy, sending a thought pulse:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When you sense my presence, open your mind to me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His consciousness then extended toward Malina. Her mental gateway took the form of a wooden door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mental presence formed a giant hand and knocked—knock, knock, knock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door cracked open, and Nareth's consciousness seeped inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment their minds touched, both of their bodies shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth's years of training had elevated his mastery of psychic arts beyond even the greatest Fra'al mind-masters recorded in the data crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, he hid all his true secrets: the \"Kingdom of Disorder,\" his potion sequences, his primarch identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marlena only saw minor fragments, Nareth's appreciation for her, and faint ripples in his ever-calm demeanor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet even that brief glimpse gave her a new understanding of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Nareth, the encounter was even more revealing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Marlena's mind, he was not some distant godlike figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was complex—godlike in power, but someone she yearned to understand and speak with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snapping out of their shared trance, both focused on the looming warp threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth saw Marlena's psychic ocean being assaulted by countless creatures—rodent-toothed kraken slapping the sea surface with tentacles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One glance, and he recognized them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warp predators, not daemons, but ancient, vicious hunters of the Immaterium, formless entities that fed on life energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When hunting, they took shape based on their prey's fears and perceptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malina's impression of dangerous creatures was \"rodent-toothed kraken,\" and thus the predators assumed this form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth summoned a heavy halberd with a thought and stepped to the ocean's edge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With one strike, his halberd pierced a predator like a balloon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It vanished instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other predators sensed a being whose life energy dwarfed Marlena's, like the sun beside a candle, and charged madly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Leave them to me. Focus on navigation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth swept his halberd again, and multiple beasts were erased from existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest, faced with an apex hunter, scattered in terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth then exited Marlena's mind and returned to his tasks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest of the warp voyage passed smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pride of Vostroya and Vistula returned to realspace without further incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You've worked hard,\" Nareth said with a smile. \"Go rest.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marlena looked at the towering man before her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her eyes, Nareth now felt less like a distant god and more… familiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay.\" She smiled warmly, sensing his concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth exited chamber A-001 and went to find Bukayo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord, I caught thirty-five umbral specters.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well done.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth praised him, then carried the specters back to his quarters to begin brewing the \"Briber\" potion.\u003C\u002Fp>",1121,"2026-06-06T05:05:10.768Z",1,"novelbin.me","2d08680b8db30cbc931b68f97aacc49d78ff3f2cd0ead83a2433df165b436479","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-72","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-70",698,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-cover.jpg"]