Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 57: The Furao Data Crystal

Howard pondered for more than ten seconds, especially recalling the moment when the Arbitration Heretic died.

"My Lord, I have fully mastered the power you have bestowed upon me."

"very good."

Nimrod nodded approvingly. Howard was the first Beyonder under his command to complete the digestion of the Sequence 9 potion. He decided to prepare the "Sheriff" potion next and then asked.

"Is there anyone in your group who has discovered this talent?"

"My Lord, I've only discovered one talented person, Yasin. At the age of eleven, he took over his seriously ill father's job at the Finder family's factory, rising from foreman to factory management."

"He is not only good at organization and dispatch, but also calm in times of crisis and willing to take responsibility. He is now the commander of the first company, and when I am busy with other matters, I will hand over the leadership of the Fifth Regiment to him."

When Ningluo heard this, he spoke.

"His company followed me during the subsequent siege."

After a work cycle, in the palace of Shvednica, Nimrod said to Howard, who was promoted to "Sheriff".

"If you want to be a true 'sheriff', you must govern your own 'jurisdiction' well."

"I will hand over the Songchisandchiga Hive to you. You must find the rats lurking in the land where heresy is brewing."

Howard felt the pressure on himself. He had to promote a new system throughout the Vostronia subnest, lead the Fifth Regiment, and now find the hidden heretics in the birthplace of heresy.

"You must make good use of this time to train your men and think ahead about the strategy you will adopt in Songchisandchiga."

Nimrod sensed Howard's pressure and began to encourage his most promising subordinate.

"I entrust these tasks to you because I trust your ability. Please don't let me down."

"As you command, my lord."

Upon hearing this, Howard understood how much Nimrod valued him. His trust filled him with strength, and he responded with confidence.

"Order Yasin to stay and form the Ninth Regiment."

As soon as Howard left, Nimrod received a communication from Wojciech Bielik.

"My Lord, I would like to report to you on the progress of my research on the data crystal you gave me."

"I'm in the palace, come here immediately."

A moment later, the "Essayist" came before Nimrod, holding the data crystal, and saluted.

"My king, I have deciphered this data crystal and discovered that patterns and symbols account for 96.69% of the total text. Therefore, I have employed symbolic and contextual analysis to decipher it."

"After this period of research, I've deciphered 19 percent of the content, confirming that this data crystal explores the mysteries of utilizing etheric energy."

"I attempted further analysis, but because I lack talent in this area, progress has remained at 29.19 percent. I believe further research will not improve the research progress."

Nimrod knew that the "Educator" and the entire path were more inclined towards reality, and only had a rough understanding of mysticism. If he asked Wojciech to continue his research, it would only be a waste of time and effort.

"Give me all your research results."

After the data was transferred to Nimrod's personal datapad via the data cable, he pulled out another data crystal.

"This crystal contains some information about ether cannons. I have already deciphered 36.25% of it."

"You continue to crack it based on this."

"Once the Mechanicus has towed the Vlao battlecruiser to Sopot, I will send you to the shipyard to conduct joint research according to the agreement."

Sopot is a planet in the Vostroya star system. Although it is not a habitable planet, it is rich in minerals, especially adamantium, which is suitable for shipbuilding.

The Adeptus Mechanicus adapted to local conditions and built a shipyard in Sopot to manufacture, repair and upgrade void ships.

"You must carefully observe every detail of the shipyard. When you come back, you will be responsible for building our own shipyard."

Void ships have been necessary for interstellar navigation for quite a long time, so Nimrod naturally would not rely entirely on the Mechanicus.

If there are no suitable mining planets, we can search for them. If we have no experience in shipbuilding, we can start with assault craft. "As you command, my king, I will not let you down."

After Wojciech left, Nimrod picked up the communicator and sent a message to Malena Scala.

"Come see me at the palace."

After more than ten seconds, Malena's magnetic voice came.

"This is my first time using a communicator. It took me a while to figure it out," the shaman explained, then continued, "I'll be right there."

Three standard minutes later, the tall and plump Malena walked into the palace holding a staff. She saw dozens of staffs placed around Nimrod.

"Your staff is effective against psychic energy..."

Nimrod paused, unable to recall what term the Sicilians used.

"I think you mean this energy."

Marlena said, stretching out her fair arm, a fist-sized ball of electricity condensing in her palm.

"Yes, these ten staffs on the table are all from the Flao people. They are quite skilled in this area."

"Thank you for your reward."

After saying this, Malena flicked her hand slightly, and the electric ball disappeared. Then she walked to the long table and reached out to choose.

Nimrod nodded secretly. Just as he thought, Malena did not reject the opportunity to strengthen her strength because of her hatred for the invading aliens.

He watched the female shaman quietly as she infused spiritual energy into the staffs one by one, and carefully felt the resonance generated by the staffs to determine the one that was most suitable for her.

After all the experiments, Malena chose a staff with a ruby ​​on the top and a silver body.

"I'll take this one, thank you for giving it to me."

Marlena bowed and thanked him again.

Nimrod nodded slightly. "If I'm not mistaken, your greatest psychic abilities are predicting the future and manipulating biological energy."

He knew that psykers not only had different talents, but most of them also had different areas of expertise.

Even the Thousand Sons, who possess superhuman bodies, are divided into five major factions.

Marlena uses bio-psychic magic and is obviously good at it.

Her performance in the Cradle of the Sea and her recent discovery of the Tzeentch cultists must have been based on more than just her understanding of the flesh and blood body.

"You are indeed very discerning. I can indeed foresee some fragments of the future occasionally, but it is difficult to control."

Nimrod nodded. He knew that prophetic psychics relied more on talent and were more passive than other types of psychics.

Dreams, flickering visions, whispers of the Warp...

Malena lives on an island, and the Mother of the Sea is just a divine creature born out of worship, and has no ability to teach her the secret of foresight.

Nimrod spread out his palms. "The Frao people call psychic energy etheric energy, and their ether masters are best at foresight."

"This data crystal records their knowledge and understanding in this field, which should be of some help to you."

Marlena took the data crystal and said with a smile.

"Thank you for your gift."

After a rest period, Nimrod led the Fifth Regiment to conquer the hive cities where the eighth and ninth altars were located.

In the Songchisandchiga Palace, Nimrod listened to Howard's report of the plan, nodded in approval, and then the "sheriff" took his leave and began to govern his "jurisdiction".

Then he turned his gaze to Father Rosicky, who had asked to see him.

(End of this chapter)