Chapter 421 The Eightfold Way

"The Way of the Om Messiah has made mankind hesitate and lack the means to learn. Only by embracing the ether and chaos can we know the technologies that the primitive Martians could hardly even dream of."

——A dark sage of the Eightfold Path.

......

Fu Qinghai came to the so-called "interrogation room".

This room was hidden deep inside the many pipes and forges of the Zheras Space Station. The road was winding and narrow, and it was surrounded by ancient heat wells and vents. Fu Qinghai led the soldiers through it and found that the chiseled symbol of eight arrows in a circle could be seen everywhere on the walls and in the pipes.

Chaos Octagon.

Fu Qinghai frowned.

The four gods of chaos each have their own symbol, but the Chaos Eight-pointed Star is usually used to represent the belief in "Chaos without Division".

The Word Bearers, the Iron Warriors, and the Dark Mechanicus all believe in Undivided Chaos, that is, they do not believe in a specific evil god, but believe in chaos as a whole in a broad sense.

Just approached that room.

Then a "hehehe" laugh was heard from inside:

"You can't do anything to me, Bat, stop these useless attempts. I am also a master of interrogation. Countless technical priests have confessed everything to me. Your methods are meaningless to me, and they only make me happy."

Fu Qinghai walked into the cabin and took a look.

It was a gloomy and messy room, with light coming from the panels installed on the ceiling. The walls were decorated with star maps, data tables and drawing boards, and many scientific research instruments, all of which Fu Qinghai recognized. However, there was a three-foot-tall black glass pendulum among them, which he did not recognize. This thing gave people a cold, greasy, creepy and strange feeling.

To his disappointment, there were no ball gags, shackles, blindfolds, whips, low-temperature candles, or even anything that looked like a toy... oh no, a torture device.

Not like an interrogation room.

More like a laboratory.

Karamanda, Satfaran and No. 56 led a group of space warriors to surround an extremely ugly black oil man. The face of this technical priest looked like a piece of rotten meat wrapped in pipes and cables, with four large and small eyeballs and three sharp teeth hanging on his face like a melted tumor, swaying and opening and closing.

All eyes were fixed on Fu Qinghai.

Three mouths "laughed" and split open:

"Haha, you're finally here, Qingshan Khan."

Fu Qinghai raised his eyebrows and looked at his three subordinates.

Number 56 shook his head slightly.

Said they never revealed any names.

"You're surprised, aren't you?"

The black oil man said with a smile.

All the mechanical modification devices on his body had been removed and scattered on the ground like broken metal parts. The dark technical priest, with one third of his body gone, was placed on a chair. Although he was imprisoned, there was no fear in his tone, as if he was not the one being captured.

"Do you know me?"

Fu Qinghai narrowed his eyes and asked back.

"I've never seen you, and I don't know you."

The black oil man pointed at the instrument and said:

"It was it that informed me of your impending arrival, a very unique Astartes Chapter Master."

"Oh, what's so special about me?"

Fu Qinghai became even more curious after hearing this.

The black oil man said meaningfully:

"An ordinary Astartes Chapter Master should have shot me to death the moment he saw me instead of having a conversation with me. Aren't you unique?"

That makes sense... Fu Qinghai thought to himself as he looked at the oil man's twisted and blasphemous appearance.

"I smell the stench of the Warp."

Number 56 whispered:

"It's inside that black device."

Both Kalamanda and Satfaran had awakened their psychic talents, and they nodded in agreement with No. 56's statement.

"I found many bodies of loyalist technical priests in the ventilation duct under this room. Their deaths were extremely tragic. They must have suffered some kind of torture before they died."

Kalamanda leaned over and whispered.

Fu Qinghai glanced at him.

I thought, "tortured" can come out of your mouth? It's rare.

"I have to remind you."

The black oil man interrupted and said:

"It's not 'many', but eight. Eight bodies of Martian bastards. This number is very strict. One more or one less will not do. Do you understand?"

"Technological heresy?"

Fu Qinghai looked at the oil man and asked.

"No, I don't like that name. It's a derogatory name given to me by the idiots on Mars and Terra. They are heretics. I'm not a heretic. I'm a vortex technician."

"Whirlpool technician?"

Fu Qinghai had heard of the Biological Sage, the Super Rationalist, and the Master of the Forge, but he had never heard of the title "Vortex Technician", which sounded very much like the Dark Mechanicus.

"That's right, Vortex Technician. The Warp, the High Heavens, the Aether Realm, the Immaterial World... Different races have different names for them, but all of these terms refer to the same thing. Yes, that new world that is difficult for science and logic to describe. It is so tempting, and the infinite knowledge and great wisdom it contains are so generous. The trickle of data and the tide of logic are slowly sent into the memory of those who are thirsty for knowledge with every power fluctuation of the Geller Field. With just a slight nod, the mysteries of the heavens are already in my hands. And all I need to pay is a trivial price."

The black oil man pointed to his face.

A disgusting mutation of flesh and blood.

"I'll reiterate, we are not 'heretics', I am a vortex technician. We have no intention of starting a rebellion, and we don't care who rules the galaxy. We just want to study the warp in peace, but Mars and Terra won't allow it, so we were forced to take up arms to defend our homeland, that's all."

The black oil guy said seriously.

A Tech-Priest specializing in the study of the Warp.

They call themselves "Vortex Technicians".

So that's it. Fu Qinghai understood.

Seeing that he wanted to talk so much, Fu Qinghai couldn't help but want to chat with him, so he took the initiative to ask:

"So why do you know my name?"

"Because of that thing, I call it 'divination device'."

The black oil man pointed at the device on the table.

Fu Qinghai looked at the strange device.

From the appearance, the so-called "divination device" is a round instrument with an iron pendulum in the middle, covered with black glass, equipped with various seemingly meaningless mechanical devices inside, and the outside is carved with distorted runes.

"The pendulum of the divination instrument is extremely sensitive to the energy of the Warp and will swing with the ripples of the Warp. Through a ritual, it can predict the future direction. This ritual requires the sacrifice of eight lives, accompanied by strict regulations and eight guided participants, who splash blood on the instrument and pray to the gods... If all goes well, at the climax of the ritual, the divination instrument allows the user to ask eight questions, which will be answered one by one as the pendulum moves."

The black oil guy talked freely.

You need to make sacrifices, and you still say you are not a heretic?

Fu Qinghai felt that you were indeed evil and a heretic.

There is a simple way to judge whether a machine is a demon engine or a destruction engine - see whether it eats people. If this machine needs to eat people (either body or soul) to operate, it must be a demon engine.

In a narrow sense, a demon engine refers to a machine that is bound to a Chaos Demon, just like an enchanted warrior. In a broad sense, a demon engine, or a destruction engine, refers to all "man-eating machines". According to this definition, in a sense, the Astronomican, the Golden Throne, and the Black Glaze are also a kind of destruction engine.

As a side note: The world's first demon engine is said to have been invented by the Emperor's trumpet.

"I asked eight questions, exploring unknown mysteries, asking about my future, and asking if there is still hope for the Zhelas Space Station. The divination instrument told me that a chapter leader named Qingshan Khan will come here... hehe."

The black oil guy smiled but said nothing.

Hearing what he said, Karamanda and Satfaran became a little nervous. They immediately pointed their weapons at the device, waiting for the Khan's order to completely destroy it.

"If I were you, I wouldn't do that."

The black oil man said calmly:

"That would be unwise, unless you wish to open a rift to the Warp at Zheras Station."

"Did it anticipate this?"

After resolving the doubts, Fu Qinghai drew out his plasma pistol, pointed it at the oil man's head, and asked.

"Of course, of course..."

The black oil man laughed and said:

"Once you have resolved your doubts and are sure that I am no longer useful, you will kill me immediately. Completely, without leaving any trace. The divination instruments have told me all this, and I have already expected this."

The black oil man pointed at the table and said:

"That is my humble work. I dare not claim that it is comprehensive. You can take a look at it in your spare time to kill some time. I have a feeling that we will meet again, Qingshan Khan. You are an interesting person, hehe... That's all. I have finished speaking. You can shoot now."

Fu Qinghai turned his head and looked.

There was a thick leather book on the table.

The cover reads: "Rituals and Psalms".

The following line of small words reads: Author: Protes.

"Proteus?"

Fu Qinghai asked.

"Yes, my name."

The black oil man nodded in acknowledgment.

It sounds a little familiar.

Fu Qinghai nodded and pulled the trigger.

A blue beam flashed, and the ugly, deformed head of the black oil man disappeared in the plasma beam. Without Fu Qinghai's order, Sartre Fran quickly took out the hot melt weapon and quickly burned the body along with the rotten clothes and metal parts.

Just as he said himself.

Reduced to ashes, leaving no trace.

"Search this place thoroughly and take away everything of value, including that heretical device."

Fu Qinghai pointed at the divination device and said.

"Yes, Khan."

The men started to move.

Fu Qinghai picked up the book on the table, but did not look at it. Instead, he put it into the white briefcase.

…

Zheras Space Station, Forge Core.

As the battle progressed to this point, the Space Marines that had spread out in all directions from the breakthrough point, after clearing out the surrounding areas, gradually gathered towards one place.

"Boom boom boom… crackle!"

Bombs flew everywhere and arcs of electricity crisscrossed.

"Damn it... Retreat! Retreat!"

The Bloodthirster Tech Sergeant cursed.

Another wave of attack was repelled.

The intelligent robot soldiers have powerful firepower, excellent defense, and are fearless. They are not as fragile as the Skitarii Vanguard and Skitarii Hunter that will break into pieces with a single hit. The Bloodthirsty Ones' attack was frustrated again, and they had to retreat to the entrance of the passage to rest.

"We need heavy fire support!"

A battle brother gritted his teeth and said,

"Wait for the plasma or heavy bombs to arrive."

"Listen to me, brothers."

The technical sergeant said,

"According to my observations and analysis, although the bipedal intelligent robot has strong firepower, its body turning ability is limited. We are more flexible than them, and we can kill them after getting close. In this way, we will have another wave of firepower cover, and then Mandel, Edwin, Victor and I will rush in front of them..."

The words have not been finished yet.

The technical sergeant suddenly saw a group of Space Marines wearing black-gold power armor and holding strange weapons moving silently into the passage diagonally below him.

"Why are they so quiet?"

The technical sergeant thought secretly.

After a closer look, the breathing valve of the helmet is not in the shape of a bird's beak, so it is not the MK6 Raven Power Armor designed for Raven Guard and stealth operations. But why is their power armor so quiet, with almost no extra noise?

As the person in charge of equipment in the regiment, the technical sergeant is particularly sensitive to these details - as we all know, power armor is very noisy, the sound of the servo motor running, the sound of the two nozzles discharging waste heat and exhaust gas, and the sound of the armor plates occasionally colliding. In short, in most cases, it is difficult for Space Marines to move quickly and cover their tracks.

But they are so quiet.

"How strange…"

The Tech Sergeant muttered.

The two groups of Space Marines saw each other, but did not communicate much because the communication channel had been hijacked by the oil men. And they did not seem to plan to communicate too much. Standing on the top of the building, the technical sergeant saw that the group of black-gold Space Marines simply made a few hand gestures, and then rushed towards the intelligent robot soldiers.

So? Too reckless!

"Be careful..."

The words just came out of my mouth.

All I heard was a burst of intensive gunfire.

Then there was a loud bang.

The team of Space Marines disappeared into the passage.

They wouldn't die so soon, would they?

The Tech Sergeant thought.

That's too cowardly.

"Come with me and take a look."

The Tech Sergeant said.

The bloodthirsty warriors stood up and left the corner, coming to the passage where they had just fought, but were horrified to find that the Space Marines in black and gold armor had long disappeared, and only broken parts were left in the passage. The intelligent mechas that had just been venting their firepower had turned into a few piles of smoking ruins.

"How on earth did they do it, King?"

A battle brother said in surprise.

"Their weapons."

The Tech Sergeant frowned and whispered.

"What kind of weapon is that, Ayew?"

Someone next to him asked.

"I have no idea."

The Tech Sergeant shook his head and said,

"I have never seen such a weapon."

One looks like some kind of bolt gun, but why is the gun so long and why is the barrel so big?

One looks like a grenade launcher, but what are those row of black, round bombs?

As various battle groups gathered in this area, the powerful combat capability of the Iron Pagoda Battle Group undoubtedly and inevitably caused surprise and even astonishment from other battle groups.

They use a special bolter.

Compared with the short and powerful traditional grenade launchers, the grenade launchers used by the Iron Pagoda Regiment have longer gun bodies, larger and thicker barrels, and three bulges around the barrel. When shooting, they are often accompanied by a strange sound, similar to a scream breaking through the air.

It was clearly the caliber of an ordinary explosive bomb.

The power is comparable to that of a heavy bomb.

They used a strange kind of rifle grenade.

A melon-sized bomb, coupled with a simple hydraulic slide ejection device, can unleash astonishing power. Each bomb can create a mushroom cloud, and they have equipped each team with weapons of this level!

That's right, not the regiment level, not the company level, but the squad level heavy firepower, is it so extravagant?

The standard weapons of the Iron Pagoda Regiment are the pulse bolter and the Fat Man launcher. The former has extremely strong penetration, longer range and stable trajectory. Although the latter has a short range, it is extremely powerful - the key is the low cost, which highlights the cheapness. Cheap means large energy and fullness, and cheap means firepower coverage.

In the Fallout Universe, atomic energy technology is commonplace. A widower who stays at home can make a small nuclear bomb with his own hands. On the eve of the outbreak of nuclear war, almost every household in the country of Magnesium had a car with a small controlled nuclear fusion reactor as its engine. Others build village-to-village connectivity, which means access to electricity, water, roads and the Internet, while in the Fallout Universe, it means access to nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy has entered millions of households.

One word to describe the Fat Man Launcher.

It's a "cheap explosion".

The Astartes Chapter also has specialized heavy firepower squads, called "Destroyer" squads, which usually use plasma cannons and melta guns as company-level heavy firepower.

However, both weapons have some shortcomings. The plasma cannon has a long cooling time, and the melta gun has a short range. Moreover, both are directed energy weapons and cannot be ejected or rebounded. In winding and complex pipes and passages, they are not as flexible as the Fat Man launcher.

It should be noted that heavy bolters are not the standard weapon configuration of the Destroyer Squad, because the recoil of heavy bolters is too large and can only be used by Terminators.

...…

The Flesh Tearers and the Iron Pagoda joined forces to break through the last defense circle of an orbital station.

"call..."

Nasir Amit breathed softly.

The Flesh Tearers' Chapter Master was wearing an Indomitable Terminator and a pair of Chain Fists - a combination of a Chainsword and a Power Fist. There was no blood on the teeth, only stains of black oil from the cybernetic mechas he had killed.

Nasir turned his head to look at Qiao Shida, and looked up and down at the Cyan Mountain Heavy Power Armor on him. He had never seen this type of Terminator before, so he asked,

"Is this a set of finely crafted tactical dreadnought armor?"

"I guess so."

Qiao Shida nodded:

"This is a Terminator made by our Chapter Master himself. He is a certified forging master from Mars."

There was pride in his tone.

It's rare to see a Forge Master serving as Chapter Master of a White Scars Regiment... Nasir Amit thought.

Generally speaking, a technical sergeant cannot become a senior officer, let alone a chapter master, or even a company commander, because the brothers in the chapter are not sure whether he is more inclined to the Adeptus Mechanicus or the Adeptus Astartes - except for the Iron Hands and Iron Warriors, the technical sergeants of these two legions have a high status, but their forge masters have another name -

Iron Father and Warsmith.

"What is this doing?"

Nasir Amit suddenly saw an Iron Pagoda warrior checking his pulse bolter - the name of this weapon was also just known. He patted the barrel, complained in annoyance, raised his hand to take out a square box from the gun case, then twisted and unscrewed the barrel, and stuffed the square box and the thick barrel into the weapon bag on his waist.

"The battery is running low."

Qiao Shida glanced and explained casually.

The structure of the pulse bolter is very complicated. In addition to the drum magazine, a battery is also required as the energy source for the electromagnetic coil, which is the square box.

The great power of electromagnetic weapons comes at a price. The rail rifle developed by the Earth Clan of the Tau Empire uses up one pack of power after three shots, and a battery must be replaced every three shots. The pulse bolter is not much better, usually one battery is used up after one drum magazine is fired. Shilan took this into consideration at the beginning of the design, so a modular design was adopted. By simply removing the battery and the electromagnetic coil barrel, the pulse bolter will become an ordinary bolter and can still fire normally.

"Very interesting..."

Nasir Amit commented indifferently.

But what he was thinking was: By the grace of Sanguinius, why don't our Blood Angels' technical sergeants have this ability?

The Blood Angels' technical sergeants had developed a special type of bolter, the Blood Fragment Bolter, which used a bolt-shaped internal warhead and had a strong armor-breaking ability. It was used exclusively by the Blood Angels and their successors, and of course the Flesh Tearers also had it. But everything is afraid of comparison, and compared with the new bolter rifle, the new bolter didn't seem to be so... good.

The Iron Pagoda Regiment has other weapons besides firearms.

Their power armor is also weird.

Nasir Amit saw with his own eyes that an Iron Pagoda warrior was hit from the side by a large-caliber assault gun. The Flesh Tearers captain thought that the warrior should be dead, but he did not expect that the other party's power backpack was only broken and damaged, exposing the precise mechanical structure, servo motor and small nuclear fusion reactor inside, and the person was still intact without any harm.

At that time, Nasir Amit thought:

The power backpack is damaged, even if the person is not injured, he can only withdraw from the battle. Eighty percent of the combat power of the Space Marines comes from the power armor. The power provided by the electronic muscle fibers and the self-reinforced muscles is about nine to one. Without the power backpack to provide energy to drive the electronic muscle fiber bundles and servo motors, it is difficult for the Space Marines to move unless they take off the power armor.

Nasir Amit thought he had experienced the Great Expedition and the Great Rebellion, and was well-informed and experienced in many battles. But soon, a scene that he would never forget appeared:

No technical sergeant came to repair it. The precision mechanical parts in the Space Marine's power backpack began to repair themselves. The charred and broken parts that were still emitting sparks and arcs the previous second seemed to come alive the next second. The metal began to "liquefy" and began to wriggle on its own, soon forming a new mechanical structure... Then, the Space Marine patted his butt and stood up.

Just keep fighting as if nothing happened.

Emperor, what kind of miracle is this?

Nasir Amit was stunned.

If the technical priest saw it.

Shouldn't they shout "The God of All Machines Appears"?

Qiao Shida also knew that the living metal of the Necrons was more shocking than the pulse bolter and the Fat Man launcher, but in the face of Nasir Amit's constant questioning.

He could only explain it this way:

"Our Chapter Master is the Forge Master..."

Fuck you.

Nasir Amit thought.

You have said this ten thousand times.

Do you think I've never seen a forge master?

Forge masters are rare, but in the Legion era, there were still four or five of them in an Iron Hands Legion. They were all the most beloved descendants of Fenus Manus, but I've never seen them develop such a strong power armor.

It can restore blood and heal itself.

The MK4 extreme power armor and most of the power armor are ceramic-steel-plastic-steel composite armor, while the MK8 anti-insurgency power armor is a ceramic-steel-plastic-steel-titanium alloy triple composite armor. Nasir did not notice this detail.

…

The battle is still fierce.

Since Qiao Shida is unwilling to say more.

Nasir had no way of getting to the bottom of the matter.

The two chapters continued to fight side by side.

Until they came to a fork in the road.

Nasir said:

"I think we should go left, Captain Joestar."

Joe Star said:

"We're going to go right, Chapter Master Amit."

It was originally just a simple disagreement in the road, and each party should have gone their own way. However, thinking back on the entire journey, Qiao Shida's politeness always carried a sense of distance and respect.

Nasir Amit suddenly narrowed his eyes:

"Captain Qiao Shida, I feel like you seem... unwilling to fight with the Flesh Tearers?"

Although Old Joe is reckless and brave, he is not a fool.

He replied calmly:

"No, Chapter Master Amit."

What I was thinking was:

Any Space Marine who has lived through the Legion era knows about your little tricks as Blood Angels.

Black Rage is a genetic disease that only appeared after the death of Sanguinius. Because there were not enough gene seeds of the Blood Angels after the war, there was no way to make up the number of people in the parent group, and there was no way to expand the daughter group, so the genes of the father were cloned, and this genetic disease was created.

Most people don't know Black Rage exists.

But bloodthirst, many legions have heard of it.

On the battlefields that the Blood Angels had been to, mummies that had been drained of blood often appeared inexplicably, both from the enemy and friendly forces. Qiao Shida felt that the Flesh Tearers had not yet developed an attack, but because the Zheras Space Station was a forging world, the oilers were all machines without flesh and blood, which had not yet stimulated the Flesh Tearers, so the blood thirst had not yet occurred.

But I don't want to fight alongside them.

"All right."

at last.

Nasir gave Qiao Shida a deep look.

Then lead the team out from the left passage.

…

Space Marines from five different chapters surrounded the core forge city of the Zhelas Space Station. The Space Marines advanced rapidly all the way, but finally encountered stubborn resistance here. The intelligent control corps of the Zhelas Space Station sent out their two most powerful intelligent control robots.

Death-type intelligent control robot.

Fortress star-shaped intelligent control robot.

In the battle of the space wreck, Fu Qinghai once encountered the Domitar-type intelligent robot, which was an intelligent robot developed based on the Fortress-type intelligent robot. Six intelligent robots forced a company of Extreme Warriors to flee in panic.

Now they not only encountered the basic model of the Domitar-type intelligent robot, the Fort Star-type intelligent robot, but also encountered the Death-type intelligent robot, which was larger than the Domitar and Fort Star-type!

The two types of intelligent robots thwarted the offensive of the Space Marines. Faced with these robots that were more than ten meters tall, each regiment had to dispatch their ancient relics -

Fearless mecha!

At this time, each regiment finally discovered that they had something that the Iron Pagoda Regiment did not have.

The Iron Pagoda Regiment has no dreadnoughts.

Fu Qinghai didn't feel any shame.

The Iron Pagoda Chapter does not have iron coffins, but so far there has not been a Space Marine who needs to be sent to a Dreadnought due to serious injuries. This is a medical achievement.

Technology from other Chapters not observed before.

Desperate virus.

......

　One chapter counts as two chapters

(End of this chapter)