Chapter 286: The Golden Flame of the Burner

The Andresian flicked its tail, striking the runes on the disc-shaped war machine.

The psykers, suffering from electrical stimulation, released psychic lightning that converged together; streaks of lightning like giant dragons rushed toward the Honor Guard amidst explosive crackling sounds.

Arsena Dunn raised his staff high, and a Niandongli Huzhun rose, enveloping the Honor Guard.

Boom—!

The psychic lightning slammed into the Niandong Huzhun, and the entire underground city shook from the energy impact.

The rebounding psychic lightning crackled, and over a dozen unlucky Andresian guards were struck by the electric serpents.

In an instant, the psychic lightning tore their bodies to shreds.

The silver-haired psyker who blocked the attack swayed, his face turning pale.

Just as he was struggling to maintain it, Ninglu spoke: "No need to force yourself!"

Blinding flames rose from Ninglu's golden wings, and he took to the air.

His wings flapped, and a Liyan Fire Wall rose in front of the Honor Guard.

The psychic lightning, like countless small snakes, was ruthlessly devoured the moment it hit the fire wall.

Ninglu naturally would not defend passively; in terms of defensive power, his golden wings were inferior to the silver hands of Ferrus Manus.

The true power of the Burner was scorching flame, and he had already mastered the power of the C'tan Shard.

Ninglu flapped his wings once and arrived at the center of the enemy army in an instant.

The golden wings flapped thirty-three times in a blink, and golden flames rained down.

The golden flames descended from the sky, and the Andresians standing in the middle of the disc-shaped tanks were burned to ashes one by one.

A sea of flames engulfed the Andresian guards.

The blinding light and the body-incinerating flames became the last memory before their death.

Arsena and the members of the Honor Guard watched in a daze as, in less than a minute, the Andresians were burned to death by the flames.

The King of Andres watched in astonishment as a golden-winged figure rose from the enemy army and released a destructive Liyan Rongliu.

His elite army was slaughtered in an instant.

Before he could even react, he was burned to ashes by the flames released by the golden figure.

The King of Andres turned to flee in a panic, but just two steps later, a flame arrow pierced the back of his head.

After the battle for Stifuniji was decided, Ninglu ordered Thomas to lead the Librarians to handle matters related to the psykers enslaved by the Andresians.

Ninglu returned to the Shadow of Sovereignty to hear the report.

The Primarch looked at Lucas and said, "I want to hear your briefing first."

"Father," Lucas said, "the th Legion has rescued nearly two million humans enslaved by the Andresians."

"The Techmarines have followed your requirements and specifically developed picking gloves for the mushrooms on Stifuniji III."

"The picking gloves use composite materials, capable of completing the harvest without damaging the palms or destroying the mushrooms."

Ninglu said to the Primarch Attendant: "The th Legion is small in number; they will continue to carry out missions of striking pirates and clearing space hulks."

"Dispatch a company from the Eleventh Legion to coordinate with them, focusing on absorbing their experience in clearing space hulks."

The reason Ninglu dispatched a company was because they needed to be dispersed to various fronts.

Although the th Legion was small in number by the standards of an Astartes Legion, in reality, they were still equivalent to nearly twenty Codex Chapters.

The th Legion could still span multiple fronts across several Sectors to deal with numerous threats.

Ninglu looked at Alex and Shikodelan again and said, "Your turn."

"Father," Shikodelan said, "the Twilight Strikers are adept at launching attacks at the moment of light shifts..."

"Their use of Storm Shields and defensive tactics..."

"But the Twilight Strikers are also somewhat rigid due to their rituals and combat methods..."

Alex then said: "The heavy infantry of the Twilight Strikers is quite excellent; they meticulously maintain their weapons and are resilient in battle..."

Ninglu nodded slightly: "You two squads, continue to fight alongside the 'Twilight Strikers'."

He said to the Primarch Attendant again: "The 'Twilight Strikers' are suitable for frontal battlefield combat."

The fleet of the Eleventh Legion then set off, returning to Vostonia.

On the way back, the Chief Librarian reported to Ninglu.

"My Lord, the Librarians have discovered five hundred and twenty-nine stable adult psykers among those rescued."

"After testing with the Imperium's 'Grading' system, it was found that two hundred and ninety-three of them are psykers of Aier'ota grade or higher."

The Aier'ota, Theta, and Eta grades are intermediate psychic talents; they are aware of the existence of psychic power and control it through personal effort.

They are considered true psykers and, once discovered by the Astra Telepathica, will be taken to the Scholastica Psykana for training.

"The Librarians also discovered one hundred and ninety-four underage psykers, ninety-two of whom possess Zeta-grade psychic talent or higher."

Zeta and Epsilon grades belong to high-level psychic talent and are the standard for the 'Order Shadow' Librarians.

"Among them, two youths possess Delta psychic talent."

"An eleven-year-old boy named Ramusai possesses Alpha-level psychic talent."

Ninglu was slightly startled upon hearing this; the Imperial medical community considers Gamma-grade psykers to be the limit of the human project.

Delta and Gamma-grade psykers are usually born only once in every billion people, and they will exhibit extreme psychic abilities.

For untrained psykers of this level, the brain cannot process such a level of psychic energy; death and possession are already common occurrences.

Beta and Alpha-grade psykers, who exceed the cognitive limits of the Imperial medical community, are mostly in an unstable mental state when discovered.

"Ramusai should have quite a good will, right?" Ninglu tapped his fingers on the table and asked.

"My Lord is wise, that is indeed the case." Thomas looked at the Primarch.

"I saw in his mind that he was used as a test subject by the Andresians to test his psychic limits; they had cut off his legs..."

"Fortunately, his Biochemical Psionic healed his body."

"Even though he has suffered much torment, he has not lost control of his mind; the dam he built restrains his power."

The Chief Librarian said with a smile: "He is a natural Order Shadow."

"He observes the actions of the Xenos with forbearance and has conceived a plan that exceeds the mental level of an adult."

"In that case, you must cultivate him with care." Ninglu noted down the name of Ramusai.

"As you command, my lord," the Chief Librarian said earnestly; his only apprentice, Nicholas, possesses Beta-level psychic talent and has already begun to show his brilliance.

He looked forward to seeing how a new apprentice with even higher talent would perform in the future.

Ninglu asked again: "How is your research into the Andresian method of creating psykers coming along?"

The "Mystery Pryer" spoke up: "Father, I have analyzed the culture medium produced by the Andresians and have determined the types of materials, such as Duocai Mugu, as well as their ratios."

"I also discovered that the psykers created after being soaked in the liquid are mostly psykers in the Biochemical field."

"Research records show that the success rate is less than one in one hundred thousand."

Thomas added: "When they suffer electric shocks, they instinctively release lightning; this is also the reason why the Andresians manufacture corresponding war machines."

Ninglu pondered for a moment before issuing an order.

"Record the relevant knowledge, but cease the production of psykers."

Ninglu decided to keep the Andresian technology for creating psykers as a reserve, to be used as a reference when researching Primaris after obtaining the Primordial Mother Copy.

Duocai Mugu is a Potion Material for the "Trickster Master," and it is somewhat wasteful to use it to create psykers.

The artificial success rate is too low, the resources consumed are enormous, and the average quality is not high enough.

【If Huang Laohan knew I was creating psykers, he would also be displeased.

Hmm... the cost of artificial creation is too high, but what about "natural creation"?】

Thinking of Huang Laohan, Ninglu recalled the Great Birthday, when the galaxy was isolated by Warp Storms, and the number of mutants and psykers surged.

【Perhaps, by then, I can research psychic Divination devices to select psykers with top-tier talent.】

The fleet returned to Vostonia, and as soon as Ninglu returned to the palace, a Primarch Attendant reported to him.

"My lord, Sage Wojciech Belik reports that he has already selected a Forge World."

"Sage?" Ninglu raised an eyebrow and asked with interest.

"After Wojciech announced the discovery of the battle tank on Nova Polia, it caused a huge stir within the Mechanicus."

"The Sages, through a small amount of public data, believe this is the greatest discovery since the start of the Great Crusade and is a blessing from the Omnissiah."

"Wojciech has thus gained widespread recognition and has begun to be honored as a Sage."

Ninglu nodded; as he expected, excavating the STC would bring Wojciech great prestige.

He had leaped from a Tech-Priest to a Sage, praised by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"Let him in," Ninglu said.

A moment later, Wojciech, wearing deep red robes with the "Order Shadow" emblem painted on the edges, walked into the palace.

"Wojciech..." Ninglu said with a smile: "Sage."

He deliberately emphasized the word "Sage."

"My lord," Wojciech was as respectful as ever, "my achievements all stem from your bestowal."

"Not just me, my lord; you are now also viewed by the followers of the Omnissiah as one favored by the Machine God."

"I have been negotiating with many Forge Worlds regarding the Belik..." Wojciech's voice trembled slightly when he mentioned his surname.

"When licensing the Belik Battle Tank, the negotiations received enthusiastic responses, and the conditions they proposed exceeded expectations."

"The Forge World Griffin IV hopes to obtain the production license for the Fengbao Xingyu and is willing to enter into an alliance with you."

"They are willing to dispatch the 'War Griffin' Titan Legion to accompany the Legion in battle."

"They are also willing to provide construction of Knight Mechs for the Vickstrix Family."

Ninglu nodded with satisfaction; the conditions proposed by Griffin IV were indeed generous.

The conditions offered by Griffin IV were almost comparable to the quote for the Battle Moon; the STC license for the battle tank was undoubtedly less valuable than the one-of-a-kind Battle Moon.

After Wojciech listed the conditions of more than a dozen Forge Worlds, he said: "The Forge World Huangquan Ba Hao in the Segmentum Pacificus offers the most generous conditions."

(End of chapter)