Chapter 318: The King of Explorers
"Damn that treacherous leader."
"He deceived us with his feigned submission, striking us one by one while we were embroiled in civil war..."
"Those accursed traitors! No race in the universe can rival the Necrons in sheer vileness."
Gripping the fragment hung upon the Silent King's throne in the void, the Burning One clenched its teeth in fury. Its hatred surged across time and space, potent enough to make even Szarek, were he still flesh and blood, tremble in both past and present.
"How are they not traitors? Even after their souls were devoured by the C'tan, they willingly enslaved themselves in inferior AI-driven bodies to serve those very gods?" Qin Mo sighed, glancing at the Burning One.
"Even so, the Necrons are far from innocent victims!"
The Burning One continued to curse both the Necrons and Szarek, their so-called leader.
"Szarek's war against the Old Ones wasn't solely driven by his hatred of the immortal species. He sought to consolidate his crumbling dominion by rallying his subjects against an overwhelming enemy, forcing his short-lived people to serve him as loyal thralls."
"And honestly, if a C'tan was notorious among its kind as 'The Deceiver,' how gullible must Szarek have been to fall for its schemes?"
"Perhaps he didn't despise us for devouring the souls of his kin and subjects. Perhaps he only hated that we didn't grant his soul a perfect transfer into an eternal body. Maybe, when he stepped out of the bio-transference furnace to find his people bound by protocols that ensured absolute obedience, he secretly rejoiced."
The Burning One chuckled darkly as it spoke, conjuring an image of a corrupt and vile leader to shoulder the blame for its own destruction.
Qin Mo, intending to offer a defense for Szarek, paused upon reflection. Perhaps the Burning One's accusations weren't entirely baseless.
The Necrons' transformation wasn't true mechanical ascension; it was a grotesque ritual where bodies were consumed in bio-furnaces, souls devoured by the C'tan, and skeletons of iron animated by subpar AI bearing the names of their former selves.
Szarek had once mocked the Emperor, calling him "a salted carcass dabbling in sorcery" and claiming Sanguinius would have been a better sovereign. Yet, if the Emperor had indeed struck bargains with dark gods to create the Primarchs, he was merely a reckless gambler who had suffered a catastrophic loss. Even so, he retained a sliver of hope through his surviving loyal sons.
In contrast, Szarek appeared almost innocent, stripped of everything—even his dignity.
Still, Szarek wasn't entirely unworthy as a leader. After being deceived, he sought vengeance with relentless determination, shattering nearly all the C'tan.
"These tangled fates are truly exhausting," Qin Mo sighed.
The current state of the galaxy, with its shattered reality, bore the indelible marks of the C'tan, the Necrons, and the Aeldari.
"Enough—those are relics of the past," the Burning One said solemnly, looking at Qin Mo. "Your consciousness is not that of the original Forger. You need not be bound by the grudges of old."
Qin Mo nodded in agreement and turned to leave the Webway.
The Burning One followed, closing the portal behind them with a wave of its hand.
After exiting the Webway, Qin Mo suddenly asked, "If we refine our mastery of the Webway, could humanity sever its ties to the Warp entirely?"
"That wasn't your idea, was it?" the Burning One queried.
Qin Mo shook his head.
The concept originated from the Emperor, who dreamed of using the Webway to sever humanity's connection to the Warp—a plan with potential feasibility.
The Burning One considered it for a moment before shaking its head. "Humans aren't like the Necrons, devoid of psychic talent. A mere Webway won't sever the connection entirely. The closest solution might be for humanity to live entirely within the Webway."
Qin Mo's thoughts drifted to the Webway city of Commorragh.
Built by the Dark Eldar within the Webway, it had spared them from the Fall of the Aeldari. The forces of Chaos couldn't penetrate the Webway—provided it remained unbreached.
"A thousand years ago, perhaps it would have worked. But now, the Webway is riddled with holes, and the energies of the Warp seep in," the Burning One remarked, reading Qin Mo's thoughts. "You know Commorragh isn't truly safe."
Qin Mo nodded.
Indeed, the Dark Eldar likely forbade the use of psychic powers precisely because even within the Webway, such acts risked drawing Slaanesh's gaze.
Times had changed. The once-isolated Webway now resembled a public thoroughfare, even utilized occasionally by the forces of Chaos.
If the Webway couldn't entirely sever ties to the Warp, its value was no greater than that of dimensional engines.
"Forget it," Qin Mo muttered, abandoning the thought without sharing it.
---
A week passed swiftly.
During that time, Qin Mo focused on researching personality matrices to replicate the soulless nature of the Necrons.
The Talon sector constructed void fortresses and other defenses around the Tyran Gate.
The Burning One remained in the star system where Qin Mo had battled the Nightbringer, creating and incinerating its bio-engineered kin on a desolate planet.
Everything seemed routine.
The prophecy heard by Yao'en—that the Talon sector would face a catastrophe within the year—had yet to manifest.
Yet, beyond the sector, an event was unfolding that would alter the fate of humanity.
In a star system on the far eastern edge of the galaxy, a massive warship emerged from a Warp rift.
Inquisitor Greyfax, sent by Host from Cadia to purge cult activity, received word of the vessel and immediately ordered her fleet to intercept.
From afar, Greyfax discerned the warship's colossal form—a Mechanicus Ark.
The crew identified the ship as *The King of Explorers*, and its master as Belisarius Cawl.
Upon boarding the ship and entering the bridge, Greyfax found Cawl—a towering figure operating multiple consoles with his mechanized limbs. Beside him stood Celestine, the living saint, her radiant wings unmistakable.
"You're consorting with this mutant abomination—"
Greyfax began to accuse, but the sound of the bridge doors interrupted her.
Two Aeldari entered—a female with iconic high braids and a male clad in crimson armor, likely a guard or commander.