Chapter 240: The Contest Proposed by Ninglu

Ferrus Manus looked at the warrior named Ninglu with his silver eyes; he was slightly taller than himself.

His long black hair fluttered in the wind, his face resembled a marble sculpture, and his black eyes were deep.

Ferrus Manus habitually cast his gaze toward the black armor; the armor was pitch black, every surface was hand-forged, and the craftsmanship was exquisite.

The one who forged the armor for Ninglu was the Tech-Priest Malevolus, who also forged Horus's armor; he was the top Artisan of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

But in the eyes of Ferrus Manus, with his innate talent for metallurgy, every piece of equipment and every curve of the armor had yet to reach perfection.

He looked again at Ninglu's left hand, seeing the silver Power Fist.

"Your gauntlet, its polished steel shines with a perfect arc of light."

As he spoke, he raised his left arm, the silver metal shining with light.

"My hand is also silver; I want to know whose hand is more powerful."

Ninglu's eyes were deep; a Sequence 1 Hand of Order of the "Judge" path against iron hands suspected of being a C'tan Shard, interesting, but there are more valuable things.

Compared to curiosity, he was more interested in the ancient ruins of Medusa.

He cast his gaze into the distance, toward the mountain ranges, toward the space beneath the ice.

"I know from the report of Ahriman that Medusa has countless ruins of the 'Dark Age of Technology'."

"You, this Gorgon, often lead teams to explore underground ruins."

"Let us have a competition in exploration; we will each lead a team to excavate an ancient ruin. Whoever finds the highest total value of ancient relics wins, and the winner receives all the gains of the loser."

The Emperor frowned slightly upon hearing this.

In the countless futures he foresaw, Ninglu had defeated one or more Primarchs in many threads of fate.

What Ninglu defeated were the Primarchs who betrayed the Imperium and him.

He had also seen similar scenes with Leman Russ, but not with the same frequency as he saw with Ninglu.

He had already decided that during the celebration on Terra, he would bestow the Spear of Dionysus, which he had forged himself, as a reward for the "Wheel of Fire" to Ninglu or Russ.

The Emperor saw the powerful strength hidden within Ferrus Manus; he was the best subject for testing.

If Ninglu could defeat Manus, he would be the master of the Spear of Dionysus.

But his plan was ruined by Ninglu, who rejected the trial of force and proposed exploring ruins.

After a few seconds of silence, the Emperor spoke before Manus could.

"Ninglu, this is not a fair competition. Manus is more familiar with Medusa, and the talent for forging and technology I bestowed upon him also gives him more of an advantage."

Ferrus Manus's brain spun at high speed, taking into account his knowledge of the ruins and the Iron Fathers he had cultivated.

He also referred to the Emperor's words, and from every angle, he believed he would inevitably achieve victory.

"He is right; you cannot defeat me in ruin exploration."

Ninglu's eyes flickered; he keenly sensed the change in the Emperor's emotions in an instant.

【It is not the worry that I will lose the duel and Manus will not return to the Imperium.

Rather, it is some kind of caught-off-guard astonishment, as if I have disrupted one of his plans.

Hmm, Huang Laohan is not a lazy person, so if he sent me to fight, there must be some purpose, but it is not just for victory.

Then there is only one possibility: to test my combat power?】

Ninglu's eyes were deep; no matter what Huang Laohan's purpose was in probing his strength, it was impossible for him to use all his extraordinary abilities in front of Huang Laohan.

This further solidified his idea of competing with Manus in exploring ruins.

【Even if I lose, I will only lose things that did not belong to me in the first place; if I win, I can get all the good things from two ruins.

Besides, I may not necessarily lose; I have a "Psychic" and an "Archaeologist".】

Thinking of this, Ninglu deliberately overflowed with confidence and spoke.

"I grew up in Vostonia; I am not ignorant of technology."

"To preserve all the items during the process of exploring ruins, one needs a team."

"Among my descendants, there is no lack of those skilled in technology; I will make good use of their power."

Ferrus Manus's silver eyes stared at Ninglu, and he felt the confidence on the other party.

"Since that is the case, then as you said, we will each lead a team to explore the ruins."

The Emperor sighed slightly in his heart; the development of the situation exceeded his expectations. Ninglu and Manus had reached an agreement, and if he were to interfere further, it would appear too abnormal.

When Manus summoned the Iron Fathers, Ninglu's consciousness spread.

The ion storms and debris surrounding the planet interfered with communications, so he could only use telepathy to notify Arsena Dunn.

As Ninglu's consciousness spread and penetrated the thick clouds, he immediately felt it was much more difficult than usual.

He immediately ascended to the TailemaDisanceng mind state, adding psychic power to his intent.

His consciousness crossed the clouds, passed through the ion storms, flew over the debris, and arrived at the black warship in the void.

Arsena Dunn was in his office, sitting in front of the console, reviewing the reports sent by each Chapter on the Data Slate.

He suddenly sensed something and raised his head.

The silver-haired Psychic felt the spreading consciousness; he was very familiar with it, so he did not block it and let the Mind Pulse ring in his mind.

"You, Adams, and Gabriel, come to the ground immediately."

"Bring the exploration team!"

Ninglu had already made preparations on the way; he conducted a selection among the Honor Guard, the Fourth Legion, and the Techmarines, screening out the Order Shadows who exhibited relevant traits in exploration and technology.

After the transit ended, the Primarch Attendant conveyed the Primarch's orders to the Death Lord and the Techmarines.

One stellar hour later, Arsena and fifty-four Order Shadows boarded the heavy Transport Ship and headed toward the Planet Medusa IV.

Approaching the shipwrecks, the Primarch Attendant received a report from the captain.

"My Lord, we are about to enter the ring of Medusa IV ahead; please prepare for impact."

The silver-haired Psychic's blue eyes shone, and he reached out to press against the ship's cabin, his telekinesis spreading outward.

The heavy Transport Ship, enveloped by psychokinetic power, traveled through the wreckage.

Fifteen minutes of ship time later, Arsena discovered the first automated defense turret.

His psychokinetic power reached toward the control panel, intending to temporarily shut down the turret.

A flash of surprise crossed Arsena's eyes; he discovered the turret had already been completely shut down.

Arsena touched several more automated weapons in succession and discovered that all weapon platforms were shut down.

As a Psychokinetic Psychic Master, he sensed a familiar energy from the weapon platforms: it was psychokinetic power.

【In Ahriman's report, they did not handle the weapons; was it the Emperor?

His psychic power is astonishing; to think he could permanently shut down so many weapon platforms.

I will never be able to possess such powerful psychokinetic power; only a Primarch could possibly do so.】

The failure of the space mines and weapon platforms made the trials Arsena faced much easier; he only needed to defend against the occasionally erupting ion Storm.

Five hours of ship time later, the transport ship landed slowly.

The Primarch Attendant wiped the sweat from his forehead and, together with Adams and Gabriel, walked off the deck first.

A moment later, a roaring sound arrived.

Black exhaust gas and the deafening roar of engines came from afar, and a massive steel vehicle appeared in everyone's line of sight.

The massive steel vehicle was about three hundred meters long; it was pitch black, but a dazzling silver giant hand was engraved on the front.

The black steel vehicle began to brake from one kilometer away, emitting a harsh screeching sound.

Amidst the rumbling sound, the steel chariot stopped exactly ten meters in front of Ninglu, without the slightest deviation.

After the massive steel vehicle came to a halt, the sound of pneumatic rod transmission rang out, and hatch doors on the side lifted one by one as Medusan people walked off the vehicle.

Among them, over a dozen had cybernetics to varying degrees.

Several people had replaced their flesh-and-blood bodies with silver cybernetic eyes and silver arms.

Ninglu's gaze swept over the Medusan people, and he said to himself.

【Iron Father.】

Ninglu knew that before returning to the Imperium, Ferrus Manus had established and trained the Iron Fathers.

They could be seen as a combination of Tech-Priest and Shaman; they were responsible for the daily spiritual and technical needs of each tribe, while also exchanging the secrets kept by each tribe for generations.

Through this system, Manus allowed every tribe to produce better weapons and more powerful Machine equipment without directly ruling the various clans and tribes.

The Iron Fathers also followed Manus's will, ensuring that each tribe continued to engage in controlled combat, guaranteeing that they would not have the slightest slack after their lives improved.

【The Iron Fathers are also the source of Manus's confidence; they are all masters of machinery and have followed him to excavate countless ruins.】

After Ferrus Manus stepped down from the cockpit, he walked straight toward Ninglu.

Gabriel Santo and the other Medusan people looked in the direction the Gorgon was advancing, and they saw a giant wearing black armor.

The giant's physique was as majestic as the Gorgon's, and he was also like a demigod who had descended into the mortal world.

Manus's scrutinizing gaze swept one by one over the black-armored Warriors behind Ninglu; every Court Monk felt immense pressure from the cold light flickering in his silver eyes.

They ascended to the Thelemic First Layer, resisting the instinct to look away.

Manus's gaze lingered for a moment on the mechanical arms protruding from behind eleven of the black-armored Warriors, finally resting on Gabriel.

Gabriel felt as if a great mountain were pressing down upon him; sweat seeped from his forehead, and his temples throbbed.

He ascended to the Thelemic Second Layer he had just mastered, only then feeling the pressure diminish slightly.

A trace of surprise flashed in Manus's eyes; he withdrew his gaze and said to Ninglu.

"Your progeny are not bad."

Ninglu wore a smile and spoke.

"Of course, I have confidence in them."

After Ahriman initiated the astropathic communication, he immediately recorded the Medusan language he had mastered, as well as some of the knowledge discovered by the Fifteenth Legion, onto a Data Slate and presented it to Lord Ninglu.

The progeny Ninglu had selected had all mastered basic Medusan during the voyage.

They understood the conversation between the two Primarchs and were all invigorated.

"You are ready; begin now."

Ninglu spoke in response to Manus.

"Good."

Seeing the two Primarchs lead their teams away, the Emperor asked Alpharius.

"Who will win this contest?"

(End of this chapter)