Chapter 82: Void Hunter

On the transport ship, Wojciech Berek spoke up to remind Ninglu.

"My Lord, you should name the new flagship."

"Afterward, we must notify the Imperium fleet."

Upon hearing this, Ninglu shifted his gaze from the data slate; he pondered for a moment before speaking.

"The advantage of a Relic-class warship is its firing range, so let us call it the Void Hunter."

"Like a hunter, it delivers a lethal, precise strike to enemy ships."

"Void Hunter," Wojciech repeated, then continued, "A fitting name."

Ninglu noticed a flash of hesitation in Wojciech's eyes and asked.

"You have more to say; speak freely."

Hearing this, Wojciech's gaze instantly became resolute.

"My King, I also wish to undergo Astartes transformation."

"Why?"

"After you bestowed power upon me, I realized that the world is not composed of simple 0s and 1s, as the servants of the Omnissiah claim."

Wojciech's eyes shimmered with light, his tone full of longing.

"I want to explore secrets. I have heard that becoming an Astartes grants power and a longer lifespan to seek out secrets, and it would also allow me to serve you better."

Ninglu, considering that the Astartes Legion also required Techmarines, agreed to Wojciech's request.

"Very well," he said after a moment of thought, "the task of coordinating the construction of the shipyard shall be left to Luoxiji."

"After you undergo transformation, you shall head to the Adeptus Mechanicus to complete your training as a Techmarine."

"Though their knowledge is not absolute, it is still worth learning."

"As you command, my Lord."

A smile appeared on Wojciech's face as he said gladly.

Ninglu cast his gaze out the window; the Relic-class warship was even larger than the Sawtooth, a void behemoth.

A moment later, in the docking area, he listened to Howard's briefing.

"My Lord, fourteen regiments have completed landing, and five regiments are currently in the process of landing."

"My Lord, how shall the transformation sequence be arranged?"

Ninglu, having already reviewed the data on his slate while on the transport ship, knew that the Eleventh Legion currently had twenty-three official Apothecaries and ten intern Apothecaries; he had already decided on the transformation plan.

"All Leaders and Wojciech shall be transformed first, followed by the First Platoon of each regiment in rotation, and so on."

The sooner the transformation, the better; those who would go first were naturally the Beyonder Leaders.

Howard glanced at Wojciech beside him and guessed his thoughts.

"As you command, my Lord."

After Howard left, Ninglu sent a message to the Legion's Chief Apothecary, Mikel, asking which deck they had chosen to set up their equipment.

A moment later, the Primarch met with Mikel and the other Apothecaries, whose eyes were filled with fanaticism.

"Father, we could only watch as the Luna Wolves expanded rapidly, but now it is finally our turn..."

He almost habitually blurted out "Reaper," until he corrected himself at the last moment.

"We, the Order Shadow."

"Do you require anesthesia? Although the extraction process will not be too painful, it would make you more comfortable."

As Mikel spoke, he raised his left arm.

The Apothecary's medical equipment differed from the medical kits used by other Imperial troops; it was connected to the Power Armor backpack and fixed to the left arm, forming a complete composite device.

Ninglu noticed that the liquid inside the syringe in his hand was gray.

Mikel said proudly.

"This is my specially crafted anesthetic, harvested from the Lamp Grass of the feral world Sebastian; a single drop is enough to knock down a horse."

"When I perform surgery on my brothers, I can control the duration of the temporary paralysis of their superhuman bodies by adjusting the concentration."

He looked at the god-like father before him, his tone suddenly becoming somewhat uncertain.

"I think, perhaps it could make you briefly lose the sensation of pain."

"Not necessary."

Ninglu did not like the feeling of losing control over his body, even for an instant.

"Begin."

The tech-thralls immediately went to work, removing the armor from his upper body as he lay on the specially made operating table.

"Father, we are beginning."

Seeing Ninglu nod, Mikel signaled the other Apothecaries to begin.

The Apothecaries raised their left arms and operated the specialized extractors, the needles piercing into their father's sacred body.

Ninglu felt a prickling itch on his skin, as if bitten by a mosquito.

He furrowed his brows slightly, letting his thoughts wander.

【Beyonders of Sequence 9, Sequence 8, and Sequence 7 do not pass on Beyonder characteristics through heredity.

Beyonders of Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 will naturally pass on a portion of their Beyonder characteristics.

High-sequence Beyonders can freely control whether they pass on Beyonder characteristics and how much.

This is also an important standard for sequence classification, and gene extraction also falls under the category of heredity, so I will not pass on Beyonder characteristics to my gene-sons.】

While he was pondering, Mikel spoke up.

"Father, our work is complete."

Ninglu donned his armor and said to Mikel and the other Apothecaries.

"Do your best to ensure the safety of all lives undergoing the surgery; if you discover any abnormalities in them, stop immediately!"

The subordinates who had followed him from the beginning were different from the others; he used the prestige of a Gene-Father to demand this of the apothecaries.

"As you command, Father."

Mikel and the others bowed in agreement, and Ninglu subsequently turned and left.

He arrived at the Bridge and discovered that Luoxiji had already arrived and was in the midst of handing over shipyard matters with Woyiqiehe.

Seeing Ninglu, the two immediately bowed in salute.

After a moment of contemplation, Ninglu spoke.

"The shipyard shall be built on the Vostonia satellite, Grey Moon, according to Woyiqiehe's suggestion."

"The plan is sound; Luoxiji, you shall build it according to Woyiqiehe's design."

After verifying Luoxiji's loyalty through observation, Ninglu cultivated him into a "Knower."

"My King, please rest assured; I will certainly give my all and will not let you down."

Ninglu's eyes flashed, "The Moonstone on Grey Moon—fiddling with it allows me to escape from the heavy pressure."

He spoke in language describing the function of a prayer bead bracelet, and Luoxiji understood immediately.

"My King, before I begin construction, I will find every single Moonstone on Grey Moon and present them to you."

Ninglu left the two to continue their handover and walked to the Command Throne to sit down.

【Vostonia is my base of operations; I must leave a force to garrison it.

Furthermore, I must conduct new recruit screenings, selecting from among the children.】

Ninglu recalled the scenes of meeting with every officer; the person left behind could not be a cruel man like Saisake, as that would only make a mess of the homeworld.

After pondering for a moment, he finalized his choice.

The Company Captain of the Ninth Company, Thomas, the scion who inherited his psychic talent of the mind.

Thinking of this, Ninglu sent a communication message to Thomas, and the Ninth Company Captain answered the call.

The Primarch looked at the gene-scion with unusually bright eyes and spoke.

"Thomas, are you willing to remain behind to garrison Vostonia and select children with potential?"

"Father, I am willing to stay; even if I lose the honor of following you into battle, I will do the things you need me to complete."

Thomas did not hesitate for a moment and spoke.

"Very good," Ninglu nodded with satisfaction, "You will have the opportunity to fight alongside me."

"But for now, only you are suitable for this role; I can only entrust the homeworld to you."

Upon hearing this, Thomas was as if illuminated by the sun, and he said joyfully.

"As you wish, my Father."

Ninglu spoke in detail with Thomas for five days, finalizing the standards, plans, and schemes for recruitment.

Subsequently, he received a report that the officers had already changed their paint schemes according to his requirements.

Ninglu decided to depart immediately and sent a message to Horus; a warm and enthusiastic voice came through the communicator.

"Ninglu, my brother, please come to my ship for a detailed talk."

(End of chapter)