The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

The fate of the chapter was decided with the conclusion of the first half of the meeting, while the second half was to discuss the next plan for Mars.

The warriors who had previously encountered Pavonis on the Battle Moon had a negative impression of Mars. Now that they needed to go to Mars for help, they were naturally wary of Mars.

The news brought by Li Ang made them even more cautious.

"Are there experiments on Mars that might involve xenos and the Dark Mechanicus?"

Kurland confirmed.

"Yes, in the worst case scenario we have a direct exchange of fire with Mars."

Kurland finally understood why Udo had insisted he take the Phalanx to Mars for help. While the Imperial Commander certainly didn't have the same inside knowledge as the Inquisition, his keen sense as a High Lord must have allowed him to detect something unusual on Mars.

Kurland was torn between the Imperial Commander's request, the Inquisition's cooperation, and the problems on Mars itself. He looked at Leon and asked, "What's your suggestion?"

"My suggestion is to follow what Udo said and fly the Phalanx directly over Mars as a deterrent. We need to land on Mars to negotiate, but we must also be prepared for a conflict to break out."

Leon pulled up a diagram showing a rough comparison of the Phalanx's and Mars's orbital defenses: "We need to buy time before initiating contact with Mars. If all goes well, we will disregard our cooperation with the Inquisition and return directly to the Phalanx."

"What if there's something unusual happening on Mars?"

"Then we've already effectively reached a cooperation agreement with the Inquisition. All we need to do then is use the Phalanx to break through Mars' orbital defenses and buy time. Once Maxim's reinforcements arrive, we can break through the Martian blockade and return to the Phalanx."

This wasn't a choice the honest sons of Dorne could make, but those who trusted Leon more were inclined to follow Leon's plan. This buggy logic led them to make a decision they would never normally make.

“That’s what we’re doing.”

The Phalanx sprang into action under Kurland's command. Armidale went to select suitable Soul Drinkers, while the other Chapter Masters began to prepare for landing on the Phalanx. Leon returned to the forge with the Dreadnought.

"I don't like your decision."

Dawn said suddenly, "Though they are the most appropriate options under the circumstances."

"I think it's not about not liking the decision, but about not liking the empire that requires us to make this decision."

Leon replied, shifting the concepts easily: "But such a decision is necessary. After the illusion of the Great Crusade ended, we faced a fragmented empire. No one could represent its whole. Everyone represented a part, fighting each other within this bloated corpse."

"Those who wish to dedicate themselves to the Empire—they may not even know until their death which part of the Empire they belong to. We exist in such an Empire. It is no longer like the Great Crusade, where everyone can believe that we can devote all our energy to a common goal without hesitation. Therefore, we need to make such a choice."

"...You have good eloquence, but you can't convince me."

Unlike the Imperial Fists who had been in contact with Leon since Maxim, Dorn was concerned about the idea of ​​a Yellow Springs Eighth Sage having ambitions for Mars. Unaware of Leon's accumulated strength, he worried that such a choice would ultimately lead the High Wall into an abyss of no return.

But the choice was not in the hands of the Fist of the Empire. Leon's actions were at least better than going to Mars without any preparation.

"I will use my actions to prove that I will not let you regret doing this to me."

Leon opened the door to the foundry area, and the secret weapon that the Inquisitor had not seen before appeared in front of him and Dorn again.

It was a silver-white steel giant, its streamlined armor gleaming with a cold sheen in the sun, the V-shaped antenna on its head stood proudly like a crown, and the cameras in its eyes flashed with a cold blue light.

This mecha is not finished, but the cold aura it exudes is enough to make anyone who sees it feel palpitations.

"Let's go ahead and do it. I believe it will be our last trump card on Mars."

PS1: If you have forgotten Augustus, you can go back and read Chapter 76 "The Beginning of Everything"

PS2: Little secrets can nourish people or eat people.

In the Dark Angel novel, a sage who was once responsible for training Dark Angels' technical sergeants learned a little secret of the Dark Angels. He privately contacted the technical sergeant who was once his apprentice, hoping to make a fortune from this little secret.

The final outcome is of course the classic DA ending.

It is worth mentioning that the technical sergeant concealed this matter from his teammates because he knew that his comrades would rush in and kill the sage after knowing this, which would make things worse.

So he hid the matter from his brother, pretending to be friendly and gaining his trust, and finally executed the Sage himself. After all this was done, he confessed the matter to his brother, but his teammates thought that the Tech Sergeant had his own little secret and felt that he was no longer trustworthy, so they banished him to the cold palace.

Chapter 167: Forging General Kubik.

The Phalanx departed from the orbits of Terra and Venus, passing Terra and lingering for several days before approaching Mars.

The Battle Moon, which still hadn't launched an attack, gave Leon time to maneuver. Only after Leon confirmed through the World Soul that Maxim's reinforcements would arrive on time did the Phalanx rendezvous with Admiral Lanson's only two remaining battleships.

"I was so stupid, really. I only knew that after destroying the Ork Battle Moon, I would hold a victory parade on Terra, but I didn't know the Orks also had a Battle Moon. I worked hard to preserve my strength, but in the end, I lost the entire fleet because I couldn't maneuver in the atmosphere. The wreckage of the Solar Fleet can still be found on Terra..."

Everyone around him avoided this supreme admiral of the navy who was on the verge of collapse.

Realizing that no one wanted to listen to him anymore, the admiral who had returned to Terra in high spirits after the Battle of Covenant Port sighed deeply and connected the communication with the Phalanx.

"This is the Solar Fleet. I am Admiral Lanson. By order of Imperial Commander Udo, I will cooperate with the Imperial Fists to enter the orbit of Mars."

Leon looked at the haggard admiral. This reckless admiral's actions in Covenant Harbor were not human, but his current state was in line with Leon's wishes.

At Leon's request, Kurland sent representatives including Leon to visit the Sun Fleet.

The admiral who once threatened to annihilate the Imperial Fists along with the Battle Moon as a "necessary sacrifice" respectfully welcomed the visit of the Startup Group and promised to cooperate with all actions of the Phalanx.

"Everything?"

Li Ang asked meaningfully.

Lan Song was stunned. He instinctively sensed some conspiracy. However, his current disadvantage forced him to bite the bullet and reply, "As long as it benefits the empire, I will certainly do my best to cooperate."

"That's good. If that ever happens, I hope you'll make the kind of decisions that a truly smart person would."

After giving Lan Song his advice, Leon returned to the Phalanx, and the fleet began pressing toward Mars' orbit. Once within the orbital defenses' maximum range, the Phalanx's radar array fed back information, prompting the Thinker on board to issue a shrill alarm.

"There are already Martian defense arrays targeting us."

The bird divination captain of the Shanzhen has reported back.

The electronic demons summoned to aid the Soul Drinkers during the rebellion had not yet been completely eliminated from the Phalanx's systems, so they would not have a fundamental impact on the Phalanx, but the behemoth's speed was indeed much slower. If a firefight broke out, it would not be able to intercept all attacks from the Martian defense array.

Li Ang didn't care much about this: "They are just bluffing. Keep moving forward."

This is indeed the case.

More and more arrays were aimed at the Phalanx, but Mars didn't even give a decent warning. Not knowing the situation of the Phalanx, they were worried about this ancient warship which was only slightly smaller than the moon.

When the Phalanx was close enough that more than half of the defense arrays were aiming at it at the same time, Mars finally established communication with the Phalanx amidst slight static interference.

"This is the Martian Forge Council. In the name of the God of Machines, we extend a binary blessing to the Imperial Fists. Our sensor arrays have confirmed your arrival and verified your identification codes. But we still need to confirm your purpose."

Kurland stepped forward. "Not only the Imperial Fists, but all our brothers of the Last Wall have gathered in orbit around Mars. We have come here to seek the aid and wisdom of the Forge General."

"We cannot believe your actions match your words."

"Our presence here in person is proof of our sincerity."

There was silence on the other end of the line. After a while, another voice came through.

"I am Kubik, the Martian Forge General. Your request has been accepted. Following Mars' guidance, we will hold this meeting in the Temple of the God of All Machines."

Isaga breathed a sigh of relief: "At least we don't have to be targeted by half of the defense array anymore."

"At least it's only half of the defense array."

Li Ang corrected.

The orbital defenses, not fully operational, made him realize that the Ork blockade of the entire Solar Segmentum had also affected the Oilers. Mars, lacking external resources, was also suffering from a severe shortage of energy and resources.

Although these oil men still maintain their dignity, their orbital defenses are already weak inside.

Even the current Phalanx should be able to stand a chance against Mars' defenses.

Instead of going through the spaceport, the Phalanx's transport carried Kurland and his Honor Company aboard for Mars, accompanied by Leon. The Martians had some complaints about the one hundred Space Marines, but this was barely acceptable.

The soldiers were allowed to carry weapons, but those including Li Ang still had to undergo inspection.

While Mars was distracted by the Imperial Fists, Inquisition agents began infiltrating Mars. As the priest in charge of security checks approached the Imperial Fists team arriving on the surface, Leon spotted a familiar face among the Martians.

Urquidex was also among the inspection team.

The priest, who had met Leon once on the battle moon, tried his best to control his expression, but Leon could still see his nervousness from his optical eyes that could not fully focus due to muscle twitching.

He checked whether Li Ang was carrying any prohibited items, but at the same time he secretly connected a string of communication codes into Li Ang's body.

Leon followed the code and accessed the corresponding communication channel. Urquidex's anxious voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Why are you here just now? Time is running out!"

"What time?"

Li Ang asked back.

"Of course it's Mars' plan for the Ork teleportation device! God of All Machines, I already know what they're going to do! My latest project is 'The Impact of Ork Teleportation Technology on Biological Matter'. Do you know what that means? They want to take Mars away from Terra directly through Ork teleportation technology!"

"You said time is running out. Is it almost done?"

"No, we've hit a technical bottleneck. We're having trouble finding a replacement to power the Orcs' teleportation devices. Director Augustus, who's in charge of this project, advocates using subspace technology to solve the problem, but the more mainstream idea is to capture enough Orc Fermented Bean Curd and use those beasts as batteries for teleporting to Mars."

The entire inspection process was complete, and Urquidex, with no reason to continue contacting Leon, had to leave. He didn't dare to engage in long-distance communication here, which might reveal his dissatisfaction. He could only remind him as much as possible at the last moment:

"Don't let Mars join you in attacking Battle Moon! If they capture enough prisoners on Battle Moon, Terra will face a true catastrophe!"

Leon didn't respond to Urquidex's reminder. Urquidex glanced at him anxiously before disappearing into the crowd.

"What's wrong? You seem a little strange."

Kurland asked from the side.

"Nothing, let's continue as planned. We need to go to the Temple of the Myriad Gods to meet with the Casting General."

The road leading to the Temple of the God of All Machines was grand and straight. Along the way, one could see various mechanical slaves busily working, their bodies mostly fused with the machines, leaving only a few human features.

Unlike mortals who would bow and kneel before a Space Marine, these dedicated to the Om Messiah showed no respect for the Astartes.

As Leon passed by, they would stare at the passing Space Marines with their flashing red mechanical eyes, as if assessing the intentions of these outsiders.

These gazes made Kurland very uncomfortable: "I felt a threat from their gazes that far exceeded their own physical presence."

"That's normal. The priests and sages are observing us through the bodies of these slaves. The Casting General we want to visit must be among them."

Li Ang answered: "He will adjust his subsequent negotiation strategy based on the current evaluation results."

"Can they do such a thing?"

"Don't underestimate them. What's inside their mechanized heads is far beyond what most people can imagine."

The road began to narrow, and the mechanical spires on both sides became increasingly dense. The Skitarii lined up on both sides of the road pushed the oppressive atmosphere to a climax.

Finally, after passing through an archway made up of huge gears, the outline of the Temple of the God of All Machines appeared before them.

The temple towered majestically, like a mountain of metal and gears. As the sacred site of the God of All Machines, symbolizing the center of Om Messiah's power, its imposing presence was enough to draw even non-believers in the God of All Machines to pay homage.

Leon was not intimidated by this momentum. He just glanced at the temple with contempt.

"It's time to go in. But don't be nervous, Kubik himself won't be waiting for us inside."

They entered the temple, and the Honor Company was left in the hall. Leon wanted to stay, but a servitor came forward to guide him.

"Identification confirmed: Biological Sage Leon, identity verified. Forging General Kubik invites you to attend this meeting. Please follow the instructions. The guidance of the God of All Things will intersect with you during this meeting."

Li Ang narrowed his eyes, realizing that General Zhuzai had other plans for him.

He didn't refuse the Casting General's invitation and went to the reception room in the temple with Kurland. No one was waiting there, but when their entry was detected, a light blue projection automatically turned on, and Kubik, sitting on the throne, was presented to Leon and Kurland.

His throne was a massive construct, covered in data ports, logic boards, anchor points for servoskulls, and other more arcane devices. At its base lay a pile of polished skulls, a decoration that was clearly too conspicuous.

It seems that Kubik did not win the position of Casting General by talking.

Kubik, who could sit on this throne, was certainly a large man. Standing a full ten meters tall, he had transformed himself into a metallic behemoth—but among all the forging generals of the past, his size was still relatively small.

As the master of Mars, Kubik spoke first.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Brother Kurland. If you had not returned to Terra in time, it would have fallen."

"Greetings, Forge General of Mars."

Kurland, not forgetting his courtesy, bowed. After the necessary greetings, he got straight to the point: "But the Battle Moon won't stop its attack just because we've arrived. We must act immediately."

"That's certainly reasonable, but what's your plan?"

"As soon as we receive the necessary support, we will launch an assault on the Battle Moon. Fury is our most powerful weapon, and we will unleash the Emperor's fury upon these xenos, crushing these foul greenskins who dare to hang high upon the Throne World!"

Kurland's words were powerful, but the Casting General remained unmoved. His mind had long been replaced by cold, self-serving logic, unaffected by the emotions of others.

"I can only commend your confidence, Chapter Master, though this may seem like a desperate gamble."

"We are not a mob, we are the Emperor's Hammer!"

Kurland suddenly stood up, clenching his fists so hard that he even made a dent on the conference table. "The orcs' demise is not a hypothesis, but an inevitability! We will use their blood to wash away their blasphemy against the Empire! Even if the price is shedding our last drop of blood, we will not hesitate!"

"I insist on caution."

Kubik responded.