Warhammer 40: From the League of Humans to Warhammer

Page 19

He was fixated on that gene-editing device and wouldn't let go of it.

Since Zhou Qing had taken over his identity, he decided to let him be.

Using his status as an inquisitor, Zhou Qing successfully passed through the access control between the middle and upper nests; the PDFs dared not intercept an inquisitor.

As Zhou Qing passed through the massive gate at the junction of the Middle Nest and the Upper Nest, the PDF soldiers guarding him immediately straightened their backs. He was wearing the scarlet robe he had stripped from the True Inquisitor, the double-headed eagle badge on his chest gleaming coldly in the dim light.

"Your Honor!" the guard captain saluted hastily, his voice distorted with nervousness, "Should we prepare a vehicle for you?"

Zhou Qing merely nodded slightly, using his psionic energy to mimic the cold tone characteristic of an inquisitor: "No need. The Emperor's will requires me to walk."

These words were like an inviolable law; all the guards immediately retreated to the sides, not even daring to look up.

The air in the upper nest was much fresher than in the lower nest, but a certain musty smell still lingered. Gothic buildings soared into the clouds on both sides of the wide streets, each spire adorned with a sacred statue.

The sight of the upper nest is indeed beautiful, but such a sight is bought with the blood and tears of the people in the lower and middle nests.

This wasn't the first time Zhou Qing had seen that scene, but every time he saw it, he would shake his head.

This human empire, this civilization, is too abnormal; he really doesn't understand it.

Even the Grand Marshal, who is in charge of the entire Human Federation, only consumes about 10 times the amount of an ordinary citizen.

Born into a normal interstellar civilization, Zhou Qing found it difficult to comprehend the distorted political ecology of the human empire.

His destination was the governor's mansion. But after walking just three blocks, a squad of soldiers in silver-gray armor blocked his way.

"Your Honor," the leading soldier removed his helmet, revealing a mechanically modified face, "the High Sage of the Cult of Mechanics requests an audience with you."

Zhou Qing narrowed his eyes. This wasn't part of the plan. But refusing the Mechanicus's invitation might arouse more suspicion. He nodded slightly: "Lead the way."

The soldiers led him through several hidden passages until they arrived at a hemispherical building. The door was covered with binary prayers, and the air was filled with a strange smell of incense mixed with engine oil.

In the center of the hall, a humanoid creature surrounded by mechanical tentacles floated in the energy field. As Zhou Qing stepped in, all six mechanical eyes turned to him simultaneously.

"Judge Keynes." The synthesized voice had an eerie rhythm. "I heard you went down to the nest. I wonder how things are going there now?"

Chapter 25: Recruiting the Great Sages of Mechanicus

"There's no problem. Under normal circumstances, it will take the Greenskins a long time to break through the Empire's defenses."

While answering the questions from the other side, Zhou Qing was secretly keeping an eye on the great sage of the Mechanic Church opposite him.

However, when he was kidnapping people, he didn't kidnap this great sage of the Mechanicus.

After all, according to Zhou Qing's thinking at the time, wasn't the Mechanic Church just a religious sect? There was also a state religion over there.

Why bother binding the Mechanical Church? They might as well just take the State Church with them.

It was Zhou Qing's idea at the time, so among all the high-ranking officials of the Empire, this great sage of the Mechanicus escaped a calamity. However, he has now brought death upon himself by summoning Zhou Qing to his presence.

"Why is the Great Sage now paying attention to the Greenskins?" After answering the other person's question, Zhou Qing turned to ask him a question.

This was not just asking a question. Zhou Qing also took a few quick steps forward, preparing to see what exactly this mechanical, neither-human-nor-ghost thing in front of him was.

Zhou Qing had naturally scanned him with a soul scanner before they met.

He was certain that the guy in front of him was human, but his cybernetic body was so ugly, and there was so little flesh and blood on his body.

To put it bluntly, even if you call this guy a mechanical ascension, his mechanical ascension wasn't complete. After all, he still had so much flesh and blood in his body; he hadn't transferred his soul into the machine.

If you say he didn't ascend mechanically, then you can't say that.

After all, this guy really dressed himself up in a complete mess, looking like a monster.

This behavior naturally aroused Zhou Qing's curiosity, and he took the opportunity to quietly approach the Great Sage of the Mechanic Church in front of him.

It has been a year since Zhou Qing was placed on this planet. During this year, he has not been idle. Although he has not figured out why this interstellar civilization known as the Human Empire is providing support so slowly, it is also good news.

This showed him a faster route.

That would be to simply replace all the powerful figures on the planet, just like the judge in the case, and then bring the planet under their control.

This is a bizarre human empire.

If they are so slow in mobilizing their troops when facing war, then it will probably take a long time for the other side's Ministry of the Interior to find out that I have replaced the governor of this planet.

Or rather, given their absurd efficiency, even if Zhou Qing were to serve as the planet's governor here for 1000 years, they probably still wouldn't be able to tell.

That's Zhou Qing's current thought, so he's approaching this great sage of the Mechanic Church out of curiosity.

On the one hand, they also planned to figure him out and then create someone similar to him to replace him.

As Zhou Qing stepped forward, the hem of his robe swept across the metal floor inlaid with binary script. His psionic tendrils extended silently, piercing the Great Sage's cyborg body like invisible probes.

"The Greenskins are the Emperor's enemies, and researching alien technology is the duty of the Mechanicus." The Great Sage's synthesized voice was accompanied by an electronic hum.

A mere second later, all his reactions vanished as psychic energy began to invade his brain. At the same time, the quantum computer intelligence in Zhou Qing's hands also began to invade the entire machine of the Great Sage of the Mechanic Church.

The great sage initially wanted to resist, but within seconds he lost all resistance.

After dealing with the Great Sage of the Mechanicus, Zhou Qing took out a storage file of an intelligent AI from his pocket and injected it into the Great Sage's head.

Substitution complete—

The dignified Great Sage of the Mechanical Cult has now become Zhou Qing's subordinate.

Zhou Qing, still dressed as a judge, walked out of the Great Sage's territory.

Alright, next we'll go find the planetary governor and ask him why the Imperial reinforcements haven't arrived yet.

If the Empire's reinforcements don't arrive in the short term, then he will replace this planetary governor.

Although his lifespan is almost infinite, a full 10 years, he has plenty of time to wait for technological advancements.

However, Zhou Qing was unwilling to waste his time; he had already waited a year.

In just one year, the people he had trained were already quite capable. If he replaced the planetary governor, his administrative staff could take over the entire planet.

Wouldn't it be faster to acquire a ready-made planet than to develop it bit by bit?

Zhou Qing stood before the gilded bronze gate of the Governor's Mansion, his judge's robes fluttering in the cold wind.

The surface of this Gothic building is inlaid with countless statues of saints, but with his psychic vision, he can see the walls riddled with surveillance cameras and automated turrets.

"Your Honor," the governor's guard captain knelt on one knee, his power armor creaking under the strain, "His Excellency the Governor is presiding over a military meeting, I'm afraid..."

"Are you showing contempt for the Inquisition? Or do you think the Inquisition has no right to interrupt a planetary governor who is in the middle of a meeting?"

"Or do you think the planetary governor is doing something blasphemous that makes him afraid to see me?"

Living on this planet for a year made Zhou Qing realize something.

That is to flatter people, especially when it comes to faith. By using the authority of the court to flatter them, anyone will back down.

“No, Your Excellency is absolutely not that kind of person. Your Honor, please come in—” The captain of the guards at the Governor’s residence immediately stepped back.

"Lead the way." Zhou Qing's voice was like an ice blade scraping against metal.

After passing through three encrypted gates, Zhou Qing was led into a circular council chamber. Planetary Governor Caswall was roaring at the officials below him, as well as the planet's generals.

"When will the Ministry of Military Affairs' support arrive? We've been waiting for a year already. Why is it that apart from a few Krieg Death Legions, no other Astragalus troops have come to our aid?"

If this drags on any longer, the entire galaxy will be flooded with greens!

Faced with the planetary governor's roar that completely disregarded aristocratic etiquette, the planetary general was forced to step forward and answer his boss's questions.

"Four months ago, we received a reply from the Ministry of Military Affairs, which told us that they did not have any more troops to send to our star system, and that the chaos invasion in the Cartier Sector was becoming more severe."

"If it weren't for our representatives there arguing on our behalf, and if it weren't for the fact that our families have some connections in those areas, and if we hadn't used some Skyhawk coins and a huge amount of resources, our Krieg Death Legion here would probably have been transferred away."

How could the planetary governor not know all that the planetary general had said?

He just wanted to vent his anger and anxiety.

The Greenskins have grown to the point where they can no longer sustain themselves. Before long, these Greenskins will engulf the entire planet like an ocean.

After flooding the planet, these green-skinned creatures will break free of the planet, then travel into space and eventually take over the entire star system.

He knew all of this, he knew everything.

He just didn't want to give up; this was the world his family had protected for generations.

Their family swore an oath to protect this imperial world when they first arrived on this planet, and now this world is about to be lost from his hands...

The planetary governor could no longer hold on. He knelt on the ground without any regard for his image and prayed before the emperor's statue.

"Great God-Emperor, can you please protect your people? Your people are being invaded by wild beasts."

Chapter 26 The Plan to Steal the Sky and Change the Sun

Zhou Qing, standing outside, heard the planetary governor's voice, and his heart calmed down, because the other party had explained to him that reinforcements from the human empire were nowhere in sight.

Their army was affected by another war.

Zhou Qing did not continue forward, but turned and left.

The news was almost complete by now, and the rulers of this planet of human empires were approaching the end of their lives.

In the interstellar age, any act of kindness will only bring unnecessary trouble.

For Zhou Qing at this moment, if he wanted to recreate the glory of the Human Federation and build a force that could help him research how to split the universe, then he could not be soft-hearted.

Moreover, without Zhou Qing's intervention, this planet would have been doomed; the Greenskins' attack could have destroyed the entire planet.

It was Zhou Qing's clearing of the surrounding greens and the attraction of a large number of greens that gave the human empire such a chance to breathe; they had lived much longer than expected.

Zhou Qing turned and left, and the guards who had watched him enter the governor's palace quickly opened the door. They had no idea what this judge from the court had come for.

But these things are none of their business, and they don't need to know what the judge is there for; all they have to do is serve the judge.

Zhou Qing left the governor's palace. Instead of continuing on foot, he opened a passage into the subspace and slowly walked into it. The next second, he appeared in his underground city.

Zhou Qing stepped out of the subspace, but as he left, he sensed something was amiss.

Immediately afterwards, a bolt of lightning struck from his hand, piercing into the subspace and shattering a Tzeentch archdeacon into dust.

"Pathetic inferior creature, do you really think you can get out through my warp tunnel?"

The demons in the warp were just a minor incident; Zhou Qing didn't take them seriously. After all, he could easily crush such weak demons, let alone make them a threat.

He quickly returned to his laboratory, and then, based on the genes and genetic data he had collected during this period, he began to reassemble a batch of governors and high-ranking officials from the entire imperial planet using genetic recombination technology.

At the same time, he also took out a large number of assassin-type combat robots from his void backpack. These were combat robots he brought from the Federation, not ones he made himself. Their combat power should not be underestimated.