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

"Then you must at least give me a channel to communicate with the Final Wall, so that I can dispel their doubts about my withdrawal."

Kubik was silent for a moment, thinking. "Your request has been deemed reasonable, and you will be provided with a communication channel under Martian surveillance. Be careful with your words, Sage Leon."

"Of course I will."

The Casting General nodded silently and turned off the projection in the reception room. The room suddenly fell silent. The Rust Seekers who had surrounded Leon had retreated at some point, leaving only a single mechanical servant to guide Leon.

"Sage Li Ang, please follow me."

He spoke in an inorganic voice, marking the place where Leon was about to go.

——Lava City.

PS: The location of the Temple of the God of All Machines is number 11, and the Hand of God Airport is 24. I will mark the places where the story takes place on this map so that everyone can have an idea.

Chapter 169: Shadow of Vashtor.

Since he knew that Mars had ulterior motives before going there, Leon would naturally leave a secret code.

But this code was not left for Kurland.

Knowing that any of his communications would be analyzed hundreds or thousands of times on Mars, Leon only told Kurland in the communication that he would stay on Mars for the time being.

Knowing that Leon was detained by Mars, Kurland certainly didn't believe it, but he couldn't get more information from Leon and couldn't decide what to do next.

He could only deliberately slow down the pace of organizing the army and isolate the Martian army.

But he couldn't wait too long. If there was no news, he would have to give up on Leon and fulfill his mission as Terra's Royal Guard.

Everything that had happened so far was within Mars's expectations. They expected the High Wall coalition to finally set sail in three days at the latest, putting everything back on track as they had hoped.

But the Phalanx isn't just about the Final Wall.

"Malik, report the situation."

"There's no situation, they just keep repeating the same worthless actions."

Malik's voice was filled with annoyance: "These slaves have become so numb that I wonder if fear will take root in their hearts."

"Perhaps, but this makes my disguise easier."

Ockham attached a specially made mechanical arm to himself, making him look like a modified, oversized slave. He wasn't worried about exposing his identity.

There are tens of thousands of slaves in Lava City, and an expressionless face is his best disguise.

It would be difficult for slave laborers to get close to the core of the project, but Leon had already made arrangements. As the sage who would begin construction in Lava City, he had the right to require Mars to use slave laborers to transport materials for him.

When Occam brought a basket of parts to the forge where Leon was, he successfully obtained the chip from Felynx's claws.

He accessed the data from the chip, and the knowledge contained in it was enough for him to disguise himself as a low-level priest, and it also pointed out his next target.

That was another testing ground in Lava City led by the Great Sage Augustus.

Leon didn't know why Kubik arranged him here, but the hostile looks and spontaneous surveillance of the surrounding Maxim sages made him understand the intention of the Casting General.

He could only rely on external forces to perform his little movements.

Lava City is a small city built on an active volcano. It uses geothermal energy to supply the energy needs of the equipment in the city.

During the Great Crusade, this place was just an insignificant corner of Mars. What made it special was that during the Horus Heresy, when the Fabricator-General, who had defected to the Warmaster, was stirring up trouble, a high-ranking sage from the Magma City named Collier Jersey openly questioned the Fabricator-General.

The Fabricator-General denied the Emperor's identity as the incarnation of the God of Machines and demanded that they abandon their service to the Emperor. However, Collier Jersey declared that she had never believed in the existence of the God of Machines and that she was merely an engineer fulfilling her ambition to revive humanity.

Such words attracted an attack from the traitors. Even with the Imperial Fists' aid, the loyalists in Lava City had no hope of victory. Collier Jersey ultimately chose to detonate the entire Lava City, burying everything there in the river of history.

This place was not supposed to be reactivated, but with Mars also lacking energy, it was quickly rebuilt and became an excellent place for large-scale experiments.

Maximus's governor Augustus is now the governor of the city.

Leon confirmed from the Casting General that what Urkidex said was true, and the main part of the orc teleportation device experiment was in this city.

Li Ang had no intention of really handing over the production line, but this reason could create a good environment for Alpha to operate.

Knowing that the experiments here mainly rely on geothermal energy, Occam quickly formulated a plan: he asked Efron to destroy the geothermal energy supply pipeline, and asked Malik to ambush the priest on the road he had to take to inspect.

A low-ranking priest who was ordered to troubleshoot the problem due to insufficient experimental energy hurried over, but before he could discover the problem, the bats swallowed him up in the shadows.

"Malik, what's going on?"

Ockham asked.

"Everything went smoothly. I have already taken down a low-level priest who was inspecting the energy pipeline. Unless you reveal your identity, I can guarantee that no one will be aware of this problem."

"Perfect."

Their plan proceeded. Koda, a Thousand Sons sorcerer of the Bright Feather School, excelled at using psychic powers to manipulate the flesh, while Malik was a master at peeling off human skin. They disguised Ockham as this low-ranking priest, much like they had done when he disguised himself as the planetary governor of Covenant Harbor. Now it was time for Ockham to unleash his talents.

With the humility and caution typical of low-ranking priests on his face, he entered the core area of ​​the experimental site.

Several guarding priests glanced at him, seeing he was a low-ranking priest in charge of the energy pipeline, and did not intervene. Ockham bowed slightly, showing due respect, and then walked straight to the Great Sage Augustus, who had previously ordered him to repair it.

"Respected Great Sage,"

Occam's voice was just the right amount of tiredness. "I've completed the inspection of the energy supply pipeline and repaired the fault."

"Answer. What is the cause of the malfunction?"

Augustus asked without looking up.

A valve in the geothermal pipeline had aged, causing unstable energy transmission. I've replaced the valve and recalibrated the energy output. The energy supply has now returned to normal, and the test can continue.

Augustus suddenly raised his head, his eyes sweeping sharply across Ockham. Ockham could see a hint of human suspicion in his cold, electronic eyes.

"Check your implants. I need to read the fault data."

Occam smoothly handed over his mechanical implant, which contained the repair data Leon had forged in the chip. He was confident that his disguise was technically flawless, but Koda suddenly reminded him:

"There are unusual psychic fluctuations. He is using psychic power to check your implants for signs of tampering."

"Psychic power?"

Occam replied in his mind: "Is he a psyker?"

"No, it's more like I used something. Don't show any weakness, I will help you to fight against this inspection."

Occam understood why the Inquisition's agents were so completely defeated in their infiltration attempts. Fortunately, he had the assistance of a professional Thousand Sons sorcerer, and Augustus did not see any problems with the implant.

The relieved sage waved his hand, signaling Occam to leave.

"Remember, if you have any further problems, report to me immediately."

Occam bowed slightly, the first stage had been successfully completed.

Even if the noise of the large-scale experiment could be concealed from the outside, it could not be concealed from the people inside the test site. Even if he was just a low-level priest who could not enter the core area, he could still see the piles of orcs transported in every day.

The situation contrasted with Urquidex's statement convinced Ockham that this was the key to the Mars experiment, but if he wanted to know the current progress of the experiment, he needed a higher status.

"Replacing a sage will definitely be discovered, but we can't pretend to be a high-ranking priest either. With the level of knowledge we possess, it's only a matter of time before we're exposed."

Efron points out the key.

"So we must take advantage of the chaos to ensure our success."

Ockham replied.

“Where are the opportunities?”

"Of course it needs to be created, but I don't think we need to do it ourselves."

Alpha's keenness allowed Occam to notice the unusual atmosphere in the experimental site, and he was able to identify several agents of the Inquisition among the "staff".

Ockham was certain that Augustus had seen through the dart as well as he had. The other party might have been hoping to play the long game and catch a bigger fish, and all he had to do was steal the bait while Augustus thought he was fishing.

The Inquisition agents, racing against time, had no patience and began their operation after only two days.

The agents who had found the "weak spot" used the Inquisition's specialized equipment to pave a way in. Walking in the front, they were unaware that there was someone tailing them.

Occam, disguised as a high-ranking priest, had been waiting here for a long time. He followed the agent into the core area where only sages were qualified to enter.

He surveyed the core area, frowning at the piles of dead orcs. He approached the bodies and examined them, finding that they looked more like they had been killed in a large-scale massacre than in an experiment.

What kind of experiment would kill these orcs in one blow without even trying?

Occam felt something was wrong, and Coda reminded him at the right time.

"The power of the High Heaven is rising here."

"It seems these orcs are just a cover."

Occam continued to follow the Inquisition agents, who went deeper past the Orks and soon discovered traces of rituals that summoned Warp beings at a deeper level.

The Inquisition, which often called out demons for fun, immediately realized that Mars' research on the orc teleportation device had touched upon a taboo that only they were "qualified" to touch.

"We must go out immediately and report the situation here to the Inquisitor!"

They wanted to evacuate, but ran into another group led by a priest.

"We were discovered by the oil man?"

This doubt did not need to be verified; the tension of discovering Chaos's traces had already made them subconsciously pull the trigger.

The two groups of people quickly engaged in a fight, and only Alpha, who was outside the field, saw it clearly.

"Vanus Assassin?"

As the Legiones Astartes who had taken on related tasks before the emergence of the Assassin's Court, Ockham was quite familiar with these rivals. The Vanus Assassins were experts in data and search within the Assassin's Court, and could generally be considered hackers providing support from the rear.

Now that they are here, the priests who travel with them...

The skin and flesh of the "priests" began to twist rapidly, and they switched from disguise to an appearance more suitable for combat, while also revealing their true identity - Callidus.

"Assassin? Why is there an assassin here?!"

The Inquisitorial agents, who also recognized the identity, fell into a brief panic.

They realized that the Assassin's Court might have the same goal, but the two departments that were already at war in this fragmented empire would not shake hands and make peace just because they had the same goal.

The Assassins' Court and the Inquisition were dragging each other down in the ongoing exchange of fire, and the movements of both sides soon attracted the priests and crusaders stationed there.

The true master of Mars stormed in, overwhelming both the Assassins and the Inquisition with firepower far superior to theirs. The Inquisition agents, already at a disadvantage against the assassins, were quickly wiped out, while most of the assassins, thanks to their exceptional skills, escaped.

It was normal that the talented people recruited by the Inquisition from all over the Empire could not defeat the well-trained assassins, but Occam saw something unusual.

"These Skitarii... their bullets seem to be deliberately avoiding the Assassin's Court."

Assassins can pose a deadly threat to supernatural powers, but in the final analysis, they are just the peak of mortals.

While it was unlikely that they would be completely wiped out during their infiltration and assassination mission, it was equally unlikely that they would escape unscathed from the hands of the Skitarii, assisted by the priests. The fact that these assassins had successfully escaped this failed operation meant that there must be someone with ulterior motives behind it.

But who gave the order?

Is it the Forging General, or the Great Sage Augustus who led the experiment?

Deeper contradictions were brewing in this conflict, and Occam, sensing a conspiracy, decided to stay out of the spotlight for the time being.

"It's time to retreat. We need to meet Leon himself."

"He is still under surveillance. If we contact him rashly, we will be exposed."

Malik disagreed.

"That has to happen. We have to let him know that Mars isn't the only one with plans on this planet."

-

"The Inquisitorial agents have been confirmed to have been completely wiped out."

The forger reported: "The Assassin's Court members have basically escaped successfully."

"very good."

Augustus responded simply as he stood on the upper floor of the laboratory, overlooking the core experimental area below.

The orc teleporter was there, a crude device once covered in orcish scribbles, but now it had changed. The orc graffiti had gradually twisted into indescribable symbols, and a disturbing purple energy was writhing within the device.

Its energy pipelines breathe like living things, and occasionally a sticky black liquid seeps out of them.

This device was no longer a simple Ork teleporter, but a carrier of Chaos power. Under the erosion of the Warp's energy day and night, it was about to become a complete Daemon Engine.

The corners of Augustus' mouth rose slightly, revealing an imperceptible smile.

"The orcs' devices are difficult to sublimate, but they will eventually succumb to the might of the God of All Machines."

He turned around and asked the forger behind him, "How many more days will it take to complete the final preparations?"

"We estimate it will take half a month. By then, it will become the carrier of Vashtor, the God of All Things, and lead our Lord to the world."