Chapter 142: War Council of the Black Royal Court

Shadow of Sovereignty, conference room.

The tempered glass dome and the blinds of the numerous windows slowly descended, while the runes of the shielding device lit up, power turned to maximum.

The Primarch sat high upon the Black Throne on the white marble dais, with his Primarch Attendant Arsena Dunn and flagship Captain Diana Polin seated at slightly lower positions on his sides.

The attendees of the war council included not only the Chapter Masters and Company Captains of each Chapter, but also squad Captains, and even Astartes who did not hold a Commander rank.

These Junluanzhanshi all shared one characteristic: they were all Beyonders.

Across the six Chapters, there were currently a total of three hundred and thirty-one Order Shadows who had become Beyonders.

Ninglu's overall plan for the future Beyonders of the Legion was for each Chapter to focus on a specific core pathway, equipped with an appropriate number of Beyonders.

Forming a unique tactical style required a certain number of Beyonders to be realized, while Beyonders of other pathways would exert their special abilities in various situations.

Currently, his plan was still in the first stage; he had already determined the focus for the Fourth, Seventh, and Eleventh Chapters among the six mobilized.

The core pathway of the Fourth Chapter was the "Death Pathway," and Death Lord Adams was currently a Sequence 9 "Corpse Collector."

The core pathway of the Seventh Chapter was the "Red Priest," and Reaper Lord Sanchez was currently a Sequence 9 "Hunter."

Given that the Sequence 5 of the "Red Priest" pathway was "Reaper," Ninglu bestowed upon this Chapter the name of the Legion before his return.

Although Ninglu had determined that the core pathway of the Eleventh Chapter was the "Black Emperor" pathway, he was not satisfied with the abilities of Lord Christian.

His abilities were inferior to those of Adams and Sanchez, lacking the traits that would make a Primarch's eyes light up.

Cultivating Christian into a Sequence 9 "Lawyer" was because he had practiced the Primarch's requirements and led the Eleventh Chapter to complete its transformation, but in Ninglu's heart, he hoped for more excellent offspring to appear in the future.

As for the other three Chapters, Ninglu had not yet clarified their core pathways, the reason being that the abilities of the three Lords were not outstanding enough.

But given that they had likewise completed their missions and passed the loyalty test, meeting the Beyonder threshold set by the Primarch for his offspring, they were all being cultivated as "Lawyers."

The Order Shadows sat with the Primarch as the center; after listening to the briefings from the six Lords, Ninglu spoke.

"You have all completed my tasks well and practiced the philosophy I required."

After the Primarch offered a word of encouragement, he cast his gaze toward the Reaper Lord.

"Among you, the most outstanding performance was Sanchez; your ambush plan was highly effective and quickly resolved the Exodite Eldar."

"I have decided to grant you a reward; the flagship that Mars forged for me, the Relic-class Warship Void Hunter gifted to me by the Emperor, is now bestowed upon you."

"I hope you can make good use of this warship to hunt more enemies."

Having received an extra commendation from the Gene-Father, the Reaper Lord stood up immediately and said solemnly.

"Father, I will certainly make good use of the warship you gifted me to hunt more enemies for you."

Ninglu nodded slightly and looked at the other offspring.

They all looked at Sanchez with envy; what they envied was not just the ultra-long range of the Relic-class warship, but also the fact that this warship had once been the Gene-Father's flagship.

After Sanchez sat down, the Primarch said with a smile.

"There are countless wars awaiting you in the future, and you all still have opportunities."

"Warships, weapons, armor, etc. —as long as you perform outstandingly, I will grant you rewards."

"Now, your opportunity is here; I have summoned you this time with the Spider Alliance as the target."

Hearing Ninglu's words, the Primarch Attendant raised the Control Staff in his hand, the runes of the holographic projection device flickered, and a star map appeared before everyone.

The Primarch then spoke, telling his offspring what he knew about the Spider Alliance.

"The rulers of the Spider Alliance are techno-aristocrats; their supreme leader is called the Steel Lord, and they live in towers like small mountains, ruling these planets by relying on the various technologies they possess."

"Although they revere technology, their armed forces are far inferior to the Adeptus Mechanicus; what is worth noting is that the various star systems are connected together through ancient Portals of unknown origin."

"Unlike past operations, our primary goal is not to capture the towers and control the Steel Lords and techno-aristocrats."

Ninglu would not repeat the mistakes of the "Imperial Fists" in his memory, emphasizing the strategic focus this time.

"Our target is those ancient Portals; we must control these Portals simultaneously in the first round of the attack."

"Once the techno-aristocrats discover they cannot resist our offensive, they will detonate the Portals, and the entire star system will vanish in explosions and flashes."

"Moreover, the technology of the Portals has extremely high strategic value."

"When the Warp Storm blocked navigation, the Spider Alliance was still able to maintain contact between several star systems precisely by relying on this technology."

In Ninglu's heart, the most valuable thing in the Spider Alliance was Necromunda, and the value of the Portals could be ranked second, considering the possibility that they might not be able to study and replicate them.

If they could be replicated, it would not be an exaggeration to rank the Portal technology first.

The Primarch cast his gaze toward the crowd, "Do you have the confidence to control all the Portals simultaneously and complete the strategic objective?"

The past Eleventh Legion fought each for their own, and it was difficult to coordinate even within the same company.

Although he had reshaped the Legion's culture, the time had been short after all, and cross-system, cross-Chapter coordinated operations remained a challenge.

If his offspring lacked confidence, he would wait until the Prophecy Dice finished charging to use it for Divination.

The eyes of the six Lords collided, and they read confidence in each other's eyes, speaking simultaneously.

"Father, we can complete your mission."

Ninglu looked behind them, "Szczesny, I want to hear the views of the Royal Court Members."

The Lord, who had the skull emblem of the Fourth Chapter painted on his right shoulder and served as First Captain, spoke.

"The Order Shadows are now a whole; we can complete your orders."

"I believe that when the Royal Court Members return to their respective teams, they will also convey your directive that the Portals are the primary target to every level of the Legion."

Ninglu's gaze swept across all the Royal Court Members; having Royal Court Members of different levels convey his directives to every level was precisely one of the purposes for his summoning all the Royal Court Members.

After the Primarch pondered for a moment, he decided to trust his offspring.

"Since that is the case, set off immediately after the meeting ends."

"Father," the silent Luoxiji suddenly spoke, "I have a way to interfere with the Portals; perhaps I can prevent the enemy from detonating them."

The Primarch cast his gaze toward the Master of the Forge, "What way?"

"When I was on Mars, I participated in the research and development of new Astartes armor; this project is called Terminator."

"Because this armor is relatively bulky, teleportation technology will be added to it."

Ninglu nodded slightly; he knew that after the "Ulanuo Zhanyi," the Imperium would gradually equip each Legion with Terminator armor, so the research must have already begun.

"I have a considerable degree of understanding of teleportation technology from my research."

Luoxiji, who was still a "Knower" at the time, said confidently.

"Although there may be slight technical differences between teleportation devices and the portals of the Spider Alliance, the principles should have commonalities."

"Detonating a portal will inevitably involve energy overload; I can conduct research in this area and design targeted interference devices, which will at least buy time when the enemy attempts detonation."

"Begin your research immediately after the meeting ends."

Ninglu spoke; if the research into the interference device succeeded, his strategic plan would be more secure.

The Primarch thought that if the Spider Alliance launched a counterattack, the Junluanzhanshi guarding the portals might suffer casualties.

He decided to establish special regulations for the command of the Eleventh Legion starting now.

"From this moment on, if a Commander of any rank in the Legion falls in battle, the Lieutenant shall take over."

"If the Lieutenant is not in the combat zone, or if the Lieutenant has fallen, the Royal Court Member with the highest noble rank shall assume command."

The system Ninglu established was similar to that of the "Dark Angels," yet it possessed its own unique characteristics.

Arsena immediately recorded the Primarch's order to distribute it to the other six Chapters after the meeting concluded.

Subsequently, Ninglu and the lords formulated a preliminary war plan.

After the meeting ended, he kept Arsena and Adams behind.

(End of this chapter)