Chapter 243: Punishment-Class Reactor

In the frozen lands of Medusa, Ferrus Manus led Gabriel Santo and the Iron Fathers deep underground.

They had already used large excavators to open the underground bunker and intrude into the wreckage of a giant manufacturing plant buried deep beneath the ice.

Manus stood before a wall, his silver hands pounding against a wall as large as the transfer deck of a Void Ship.

This wall was composed of data equipment, within which sat a chair surrounded by cables, embedded into a dilapidated alcove.

Manus turned his head to look at Santo, the son of Medusa he trusted most.

Santo met the Gorgon's silver gaze, losing his focus for several seconds before coming back to his senses.

"Gorgon, the Iron Fathers have conducted a preliminary analysis and determined that this wreckage fell from space; they are currently searching it for anything of use."

"Not enough," Manus said in a deep voice, his leaden tone echoing as his silver hands slapped the wall.

"It allows a person to connect to a database through a neural interface in the spine."

"Through this virtual thought space, ultra-high-speed data transmission and simulations can be performed."

Santo looked at the Gorgon with admiration; only he could discover the function of a mechanical creation through simple observation and tapping without any restoration.

He stared at the data equipment and cables that made up the wall and asked in confusion.

"This is a major discovery; not only can it process the massive amount of data in war, but it can also simulate battle scenarios."

"With it, can we not win the contest?"

Manus's silver eyes were profound: "There is no absolute certainty."

"If Ninglu is an existence like me, which he likely is, to ensure victory, one must find the origin of the Garuda."

His silver-coin-like eyes looked toward the Mechanical Eagles flying in from afar.

The Mechanical Eagles were cast from grey steel and brass, and the Medusans named them Garuda according to local mythology.

Ten Garuda flew to Manus's side.

They fluttered, flying around Manus while emitting shrill cries.

Manus's silver eyes swirled like liquid, "They cannot find it."

Santo had served the Gorgon for a long time and heard a trace of disappointment in his tone.

"Gorgon, I think this wall is enough for us to win the contest."

At the same moment, after Ninglu finished listening to the briefing from the Psychic Adams, he said to the Reasoning Student Arsena Dunn.

"Arsena, which location do you think has the highest value?"

The Reasoning Student did not answer immediately; he said.

"My lord, to ensure the accuracy of the reasoning, I must browse the data first."

Adams took out a Data Slate and sent the data he possessed to the Primarch, the Primarch Attendant, and the Techmarine Gabriel respectively.

After the Reasoning Student browsed all the data, he spoke.

"My lord, I believe the building referred to by the noble ghost and other ghosts is the ruin with the highest value."

"Furthermore, the ruins he spoke of should have been built by Xenos before humans arrived on Medusa."

"Based on existing data, its value cannot be determined."

Ninglu nodded slightly, approving of the Reasoning Student's logical deduction.

"We will go to that human ruin."

He then said to the Psychic: "Summon the ghost to lead the way."

The Psychic took a Spirit Crystal from his person and recited the summoning incantation in the Dunn Language.

"I summon in my name; let the spirit residing in the crystal in my palm appear and be driven by me!"

A cold, eerie wind whipped up out of nowhere, and a ghost wearing fine clothes appeared before everyone.

The noble ghost glanced timidly at the tall black giant; as a ghost, he could feel a pressure like a mountain.

The Psychic's tone was ethereal as he ordered the noble ghost.

"Lead the way to the oldest building you built."

The noble ghost walked around the surroundings for a while before identifying the direction and stepping forward.

The team followed behind the noble ghost, and after traveling more than forty kilometers, a majestic iceberg appeared in their line of sight.

Looking from afar, one could see the overall outline of the iceberg.

Unlike the icebergs of most worlds, or even the icebergs of Fenris, this iceberg appeared exceptionally strange.

The iceberg was uneven, and its shape was extremely irregular.

It was like an irregular toy kneaded at will by a mischievous child.

The noble ghost suddenly stopped and began to ramble.

"It is called the McKenna Black Snow Mountain; it is the result of the war fought by the first colonists over Steneros."

The Archaeologist Gabriel asked curiously.

"Black snow?"

The noble ghost fell into ancient memories, and only after a dozen seconds did he speak.

"The large amount of carbides or sulfides thrown into the atmosphere by high temperatures after a nuclear explosion—the product that falls after they cool is what we call black snow."

The Archaeologist and the Reasoning Student looked at each other; he gazed at the iceberg ahead and said in astonishment.

"If what you say is true, that was truly a terrifying war."

"The spirit I command does not speak falsehoods," the Psychic said.

Ninglu knew the ghost was telling the truth, but he had always felt puzzled; by any measure, the Medusa system was not suitable for human survival.

Was it worth fighting a great battle for such a system, paying such a huge price?

"Why did you fight over this system, paying such a huge price?"

The noble ghost glanced timidly and spoke.

"We discovered Xenos ruins here, and a war broke out to contend for them."

Ninglu's eyes were deep; he thought of the environment of the Medusa system, then of the fragments floating in the void, and finally of the Xenos ruins on Medusa.

He also thought of Asinos, the silver wyvern suspected to be a fragment of the Void Dragon, who was released when Ferrus Manus's gestation pod crashed into the Black Snow Mountain of Kalah.

【If Asinos is indeed a fragment of the Void Dragon, Medusa might be one of the worlds where the Necron sealed him away.】

As he pondered, the noble ghost fell into memories, and he continued to speak.

"In order to contend for the ruins, a protracted war broke out; that is how McKenna was born."

"After I discovered the Xenos ruins in the far north of Steneros, I landed here and built a base beneath the mountain to facilitate the excavation of the Xenos ruins."

As they spoke, the party arrived at the foot of the Black Snow Mountain of McKenna.

The Techmarines all felt the extreme cold of this place; they had to keep moving the mechanical arms on their backs to prevent them from freezing and affecting their operation.

The "Death God" path transcendents under the command of the Necron Lord were more adapted to it.

The party followed the noble ghost, walking along a winding path until they arrived before a metal gate.

The "Psychic" asked the noble ghost.

"How do we open the gate?"

The noble ghost walked to the gate, pondered for over ten seconds, and then spoke.

"It must be opened with a key."

The "Psychic" asked again: "Where is the key?"

"I do not know where the key is; it used to be on my attendant, but I do not know where his corpse is, or if the key is damaged."

Gabriel walked to the gate; his mechanical arm moved quickly and carefully, using a metal drill to clear away the years of ice covering the surface of the gate.

The Techmarine did not continue his actions; after his mechanical probe tapped lightly on the metal gate terminal a few times, he turned and said to the Gene-Father.

"We cannot apply force to the door; its thickness is no less than five meters, and a violent breach might activate the facility's defensive installations."

"In fact, its thickness is ten meters." The noble ghost's tone was laced with pride.

"Even if a Void Ship were to conduct an orbital bombardment on McKenna, it would survive."

"It was originally a wreck of a Void Ship; my technicians improved the Void Shield to provide protection for the entire base."

"Once the decryption fails and triggers the defensive mechanism, it will detonate the entire base."

The Techmarine's brow furrowed, and he asked.

"What powers the defensive installations?"

The ruins were established during the "Dark Age of Technology," thousands of years ago; ordinary defensive installation power arrays should have long since failed.

"Punishment-class Reactor." The term the noble ghost spoke felt unfamiliar to the Techmarine.

Ninglu, however, felt it was familiar; he pondered for a moment before he remembered.

The Punishment-class Reactor was a unique reactor used on the ships of the "Iron Hands."

Compared to the plasma reactors used by most Imperium ships, the Punishment-class Reactor could supply more powerful energy, allowing the ships of the "Iron Hands" to possess more powerful weapon arrays, and also powered the auto-recharging Void Shields.

【Perhaps this technology comes from the ancient ruins before us.

In that case, the ruins before us are of no small value.】

Ninglu thought of the explosion a Punishment-class Reactor would cause; even if he could survive, his progeny would suffer heavy casualties, so he asked.

"We cannot use a violent breach; Gabriel, can you open it?"

"Father, I need time to conduct further testing."

The "Archaeologist"'s mechanical probe slid at high frequency over the gate terminal; only after ten minutes did he speak.

"Father, I can, but I cannot determine how long it will take; I have never seen such complex and incredible things."

"The code within the gate generates sub-codes, and these sub-codes require specialized decryption."

"It reproduces like an ecosystem, always changing, reacting to my intrusion by evolving into a more complex system."

Ninglu thought of how he and Ferrus Manus had no explicit agreement on time; although neither side would use unscrupulous methods to indefinitely excavate one ruin after another, and Huang Laohan would not allow such a situation to occur.

But he trusted the "Archaeologist"'s ability, and the Punishment-class Reactor was also a discovery he wanted and one that might allow him to win the victory, so he said.

"Begin; decrypt the defensive installations as quickly as possible."

"As you wish." The "Archaeologist" said excitedly; he was also very interested in this code that formed an ecosystem.

As the "Archaeologist" led the "Knowers" to begin decrypting the code, Ninglu ordered the Fourth Regiment Order Shadow to stand guard, then said to the "Psychic."

"Bring your spirit; I still have words to ask him regarding those Xenos ruins."

He, the Primarch Attendant, and the "Psychic" left the gate area and stopped after walking one kilometer.

(End of chapter)