Arthur and the other commanders gathered in the bridge access area of the Eternal Crusader.
This space had already been expanded into a massive information processing center.
While assisting Baal with its structural frawork, the Astropaths concentrated here had fully engaged their telepathic communications, beginning to collect and filter distress signals from along the expedition route.
With the Warp shielding provided by the four of them, the Astropaths no longer had to risk their lives sifting through filth to find golden nuggets of information, nor did they have to constantly fend off Warp creatures leaping from the muck to take a bite out of them.
However, verifying the information was a monuntal task in itself. After all, once these complex ssages were baptized by the Warp, no one could truly tell whether they originated from the past, the present, or the future.
Fortunately, the Transmigrators had their own thods.
The Astropaths recorded and consolidated the data, delivering it directly to Arthur and Rases on the bridge. Once verified, various contingency plans regarding the incident locations were distributed to the respective staff mbers.
The staff completed their tasks with high efficiency before taking on new assignnts, without a single question or delay.
Romulus had proven through practice that his decision-making and judgnt were unquestionable, while Arthur knew the na and exact responsibilities of every worker by heart, ensuring the entire process ran like a well-oiled machine.
The commanders, including the Chapter Master, only needed to manage their internal troop affairs and quietly wait for the fleet to set sail.
Soldiers and generals understood each other perfectly, operating with seamless fluidity. The entire process displayed an unfamiliar yet deeply comforting sense of coordination.
"Daemons really are useful,"
Rases sighed in admiration from beside Arthur.
Without the hard work of the daemons, rely guessing the authenticity of those astropathic ssages would have been incredibly troubleso.
"Indeed."
Arthur nodded in agreent. The daemons' diligent labor greatly reduced the burden of verifying the astropathic communications. Without their assistance, this process would have been exceptionally tedious.
Rases had repeatedly elaborated on the potential advantages of exploiting the Warp.
Now that the Emperor had beco humanity's protector in the Warp, the number of psykers was growing at a remarkable rate with each passing century. Humanity could no longer ignore the existence of the Warp. Rather than finding themselves Unable to Escape it, they should delve deeper into its laws and transform it into a usable resource.
The locals lacked this capability, but he certainly had it.
Concepts like burning daemons to replace Geller field generators, or using daemon engines in place of suicide attacks, could all be put into practice. He would provide the safety asures. At worst, they could just ask the golden old man to slap a fresh coat of paint on them to match the aesthetic.
At the very least, they could no longer allow themselves to be unilaterally exploited by these daemons like in the past.
This was Rases's line of thought.
"..."
When Romulus learned of this, he nearly had Arthur sever the man's psychic connection entirely to prevent him from actually creating sothing outrageous.
Of course, after Rases fought tooth and nail to defend his ideas, the group ultimately decided to let him continue his research into the Warp.
Naturally, he wasn't so unhinged that he would impulsively initiate a psychic ascension, transforming all of humanity into immaterial beings to live in the Warp, essentially dragging everyone to jump straight into a cesspit.
The current state of the Warp was nothing short of an ultimate hell.
Had they not seen those dying and already dead daemons?
If the entities of the Warp possessed even a shred of value worthy of pity or reformation, Rases wouldn't have resorted to such exaggerated thods to fight poison with poison.
Arthur turned his head and cast a side glance at his companion.
He was looking down, currently integrating the patterns of this knowledge. Once he confird that there was no excessive Warp influence and that the patterns were correct, this identification thod would be partially rolled out among the Astropaths.
This was the massive advantage they possessed.
As Transmigrators, they were fundantally different from the organisms of this universe. They could not be perceived by the Four Gods. At the sa ti, thanks to their education, they didn't share the gatekeeping mindset of academic cliques, hoarding certain knowledge like precious treasures.
Rases would monitor these Astropaths, gather feedback on their user experience, and once he confird everything was fine, he would promote it on a limited scale before subtly spreading it throughout the entire Imperium.
Of course, the latter part was just a pipe dream. In a place like the Imperium, where academic elitism was rampant, where every psychic institution was completely independent, where teachers guarded against students and students guarded against teachers, and where a systematic psychic education model had never once appeared, Rases felt he should thank the heavens if he could just successfully roll it out within the expedition fleet without its original intent being twisted.
"Romulus, are you ready?"
Nearly twenty minutes had passed without any staff mbers approaching them. Arthur looked out the window.
The expedition fleet was currently lingering near a star. The logistical vessels, much wider and bulkier compared to the Imperium's warships, were towing massive plasma extractors around the star, harvesting the escaping plasma clouds.
After processing, these plasma clouds would be compressed into plasma batteries and fed as fuel into the reactor cores of the Imperial warships.
"Wait a little longer. The Slevin Necromunda has been confird safe, but the Knight World of Gavin has not yet responded."
Romulus, who had been sitting upright on the command throne the entire ti, replied, "Be patient. There are still forty-six hours until the final deadline."
This data ca from a simple Warp system transmission calculation formula. Because the Warp was incredibly chaotic, the fluctuations were quite large. This threshold was calculated by Rases after beating it out of the daemons.
The most critical decision for the short-term voyage right now was choosing between Gavin and Slevin. Reaching Slevin would be faster, and it was not embroiled in war. However, the planet of Gavin remained completely silent, leaving them oblivious to what had occurred there.
Since the expedition fleet's vessels ca from various Imperial factions, their configurations and equipnt varied wildly. The most typical differences lay in their Geller fields and Warp engine models.
So ships, for instance, were equipped with Beil-Khaen pattern fields. They could achieve much faster speeds during Warp travel, but as the duration in the Warp increased, these fields would experience a "flickering" phenonon. When that happened, they had to drop out of the Warp imdiately.
As the fleet's commander, he had to juggle all these factors as much as possible to prevent any ships from falling behind. This was exactly why route planning was of paramount importance.
"Mhm."
Arthur nodded, turning his gaze back out the window.
Other logistical ships were currently extracting gas from a gas giant to produce prothium. Massive amounts of raw materials were swallowed into the bellies of those vast beasts of steel. Shortly after, they would churn out the fuel needed for a starship's internal circulation, along with massive quantities of byproducts suitable for crew rations, which were then delivered to the warships.
This scene—incredibly spectacular up close, yet resembling a colony of ants moving their ho from afar—was sothing one could never tire of watching. Only when the Imperium displayed their transcendent technology could Arthur faintly catch a glimpse of the advancent truly befitting an interstellar empire.
"..."
The knight simply gazed quietly ahead.
Until the scent of familiar incense approached.
"My Lord, our Astropaths have received a new psychic transmission."
A stream of information composed of abstract imagery crossed the chaotic Empyrean. The eyes of the new Master of Astropaths were brimming with the light of psychic energy as he did his utmost to observe the images.
Ever since the expedition fleet entered Pierred, the turbulent waves of the Warp seed to have been completely walled off.
He was able to easily avoid the wicked creations spying on him, accurately and completely translating every single piece of data.
"Knight World Gavin requests support. A heretical cult infection has broken out. The central regi, the Gavin Dynasty, has fallen. Resistance forces are currently concentrated in the Principality of Leinster."
After Rases completed the verification, Arthur, confirming there were no errors, swiftly relayed the ssage to Romulus.
"You see, patience has its virtues."
Romulus smiled. The final puzzle piece of the expedition fleet's convoluted travel route had fallen into place. After heading to Bushilin to complete their reinforcents, the fleet's very first stop would be a direct strike on Gavin.
"Notify everyone. It is ti for us to set sail."
Almost simultaneously, the commanders who had been resting their eyes opened them, gazing up at the high platform with a burning, radiant light in their eyes.
—
"It is ti for us to leave,"
Karna said softly. His voice was gentle yet firm, as if he were speaking to the companions beside him, and also to himself.
The march of war had never hesitated simply because soone stopped to rest, and the will of the Four Gods would not shake reality in the slightest just because of their restraint.
Karna looked toward the red earth in the distance. The backpack behind him flared with a faint, luminous glow, lifting him into the air before he gracefully touched down on the ground.
He crouched down, scooping up a handful of soil with both hands. His fingertips gently rubbed against the coarse granules. The land here was heartbreakingly barren. Salinization had stripped it of life, and the parched, cracked patterns left behind by the complete lack of moisture looked like the silent sighs of the earth itself.
"Rember what it looks like now."
Karna looked up, an optimistic smile surfacing on his face.
Behind him were the progeny of The Angel who had descended alongside him.
"Because you won't be seeing it like this in the future."
His gaze was filled with hope as he stared at this desolation, seeing so distant possibility.
Dante arrived at Karna's side.
"She will beco better, right?"
he asked, a faint trace of expectation hidden in his tone.
Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward the sky of Baal. It was a scarlet canopy, echoing the crimson sand beneath their feet. The entire world was dyed in the colors of blood and fire.
"Yes, she will beco better. She will possess the crystal clarity of the morning, the brilliant light of noon, and the vibrant crimson of the setting sun. Her colors will no longer be monotonous, and neither will her people."
The wind blew past, sweeping up fine sand and dust that struck their faces, yet no one flinched. They knew that a ager handful of dirt was insignificant—it could not halt the reality of a war-torn galaxy, nor could it shake the cold indifference of the Four Gods. But this handful of earth carried the heavy weight of their defiance.
"...We should leave."
Karna sighed once more.
Babysitting a bunch of kids was tiring, but it was also quite fun. Especially when they were exceptionally obedient, a profound sense of responsibility would always fill Karna's heart.
However, a brief mont of relaxation did not an he could afford to wallow in it.
Karna knew full well that Baal was just one of the countless human worlds in the galaxy. Even if they rebuilt Baal to perfection, it wouldn't change the fact that ninety-nine percent of the people in the galaxy were still struggling in pure agony.
The wars in the galaxy would never end, and humanity's only possible response was more war. As for the Transmigrators, the only thing they could do right now was bring them victory.
Karna rubbed the soil between his fingers before carefully placing it into a crystal pendant.
Of course, the transformation of a single handful of soil didn't an much on its own.
But this handful of earth, carried closely on one's person, could be imbued with an imnse amount of aning.
The progeny of The Angel who were about to leave with the expedition fleet followed his example. They each collected a handful of dirt and placed it inside the crystal pendants that Karna had guided them in carving.
Let us rember Baal's past as we march toward a brighter future.
As for the rest—
Karna looked back.
They would need to discover it for themselves.
—
"Either bring purification or be reduced to ashes. We shall hold fast to our resolve for death, carving out a land of purity for all of humanity."
Two Gloriana Class Battleships sailed side by side, the distance between them precise down to the milliter. The faint glow of their void shield generators wove together into an invisible barrier between the hulls.
Around them, various escort ships and transport vessels trailed behind like loyal hounds. Heavy warships sailed at the vanguard, enveloping an inconspicuous cruiser within their ranks. The entire formation looked like a slowly raised spear, its tip pointed straight toward the distant star sector.
That was the breeding ground of rebellion, the nest of heresy, and the bleeding wound of the Imperium.
Every inch of the fleet's steel trembled with the roaring surge of the engines, silently swearing an oath to the victory that was soon to co.
Then, a rift tore open at the Mandeville Point, and the majestic fleet vanished in the blink of an eye.
The void remained speechless; there was only the imminent arrival of the approaching storm.
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