The tentacles of the swarm spread in the thin starlight of the Far Eastern Frontier.

Some of the most important planets that were first brought under the control of the Order of Truth, such as Valrhona and Orok Cole, are already organizing large-scale reconstructions and reproductions.

"However, despite the work of the Monks of the Order of Truth 007 and the help of a large number of intelligent control servants and giant battle body construction teams, the progress of the reconstruction of Valrhona and other planets is still not related to 'efficiency'."

In the general control room of the Colossus of the Ring of Destruction, Grey Wind sat on the table in front of Russell very seriously and reported to him the current situation in the Far Eastern Frontier:

"The 13 expeditionary fleets have taken away most of the important officials and technicians in the Far East, and the mechanical order of the casting world such as Musbell has emptied all the industrial production capacity and important resources of the entire planet, and drove the mechanical ark and the foundry fleet, rubbing the curvature bubble head made by the Valkyrie and running it without returning."

Russell smiled, looked up at Gray Wind's full chest shaking like jelly, and said: "The lack of managers is indeed a troublesome matter, but from another perspective, if the Far East had not been cleaned into a blank sheet of paper, the original aristocrats and bureaucrats would have defected to me with their pedantic and corrupt leadership teams...... In that case, I'll be burnt out. ”

Gray Wind nodded thoughtfully: "That's right." ”

It doesn't like to deal with the bureaucracy of the Human Empire.

"That's right." Russell suddenly remembered something, and poked Gray Wind's soft chest with an index finger: "A small man less than 1.5 meters will not have a chest as big as a grapefruit, and there is no natural sag at all, this is too fake." ”

This kind of chest can only exist in the second dimension, and the real human body is not like this.

"That's not what you said when you dozed off against me." Grey Wind looked at Russell with the eyes of a big pig's trotter.

"At that time, I couldn't see the overall proportions...... Russell was a little weak-hearted.

Gray Wind silently adjusted his height to a height that was only a head shorter than Russell, about 168 centimeters, and then jumped down from the table and stood in front of Russell and spun around: "Is this okay?" ”

"It's a lot better, it's still a little bit uncoordinated...... Can't it be a little smaller? Russell asked.

If the subordinates of the Order of Truth were to see Grey Wind following him, Russell would not dare to think about what would become of the Star Bulleter.

"Don't." Gray Wind crossed his hands on his hips, held his head high, and looked very energetic.

"Okay." Russell gave up. Since it is willing to do so, it cannot force itself to interfere with Grey Wind's will for the sake of its image.

Besides, he does like the big ones.

Gray Wind smiled in triumph with satisfaction, and continued, "Although the expeditionary fleet took many people, not all capable people left the Far East. Cast Sage of the urban planet Embra: Spangler remained with his followers in Falla, claiming to be free from Martian rule and subject to the marshal. ”

"He...... Yes, Spangler put a lot of effort into the construction of the Ideal City. Russell nodded: "It's a good thing that he is willing to join us, although the Mechanic Order is superstitious, but the academic and technical level of the technical priest is beyond doubt, and the inclusion of a small batch of oil guys can somewhat alleviate our shortage of manpower......"

"As for the shortage of resources, it can be solved soon, and Inverse Entropy just reported to me not long ago that the matter decompressor in the Quiet Black Domain will soon be completed."

Once the matter decompressor is online, he can start building with the inexhaustible raw materials in the black hole.

Looking at Russell's thoughtful serious appearance, Gray Wind couldn't help but raise his eyebrows lightly and laughed. It would be happier to plan for the future with the Marshal now than to fight a life-and-death war with Chaos and Xenomorphs.

Grey Wind prefers construction to destruction.

On Valrhona's main planet in Astoria, the reconstruction of the Hive Industrial Zone is still progressing slowly, and the scarlet swarm tentacles are also holding the Ring of Destruction to the depths of the depths.

While the rear is understaffed, there are still planets on the front line that are being reclaimed, and this embarrassing situation will continue for a long, long time.

While Russell was concentrating on integrating the Far Eastern frontiers, an expeditionary fleet completed a phase of its voyage.

The 13th Expeditionary Fleet, led by Elliud, the leader of the Blue Blood Noble Warband, sailed out of the Far East and crossed the vast sea of stars through a warp sail, and arrived at the first stop of the expedition:

"Vidal" star sector.

Located on the eastern edge of the Extreme Sector, Vidal is one of the closest Imperial Sectors to the Far Eastern Frontier.

However, distance is only a secondary reason why Commander Ellioud chose Vidal as the first base of the 13th Expeditionary Fleet, the main reason being that there are two casting worlds belonging to the Order of Mechanics in this sector:

Antax

Hypnoth

The two Foundry worlds can provide a large amount of equipment, personnel, and resources for the expeditionary fleet, and in addition to the Vidal Star Sector, which is also home to the Stronghold Monastery of the Sisters of the Martyrdom of the Church of the Martyrdom, known as the "Sanctuary 101".

At the call of the Emperor's righteousness, it is believed that the sisters of the Sisters of the Martyred Ladies will not hesitate to help the expeditionary fleet.

Entering the Vidal Star Zone, the curvature bubble created by the Valkyrie-class battleship "Dianying Heroine" gradually dissipated, and the 13th Expeditionary Fleet withdrew from the warp speed and gradually approached the core casting world of the Vidal Star Sector at sub-light speed, the star system where Antarx is located. The Star Whisperers in the fleet also began to actively try to contact the local Star Language Hall to inform the expeditionary fleet of the arrival.

Fearing chaos obstruction, the 13th Expeditionary Fleet did not use a subspace engine, but sailed at warp speed throughout the journey. This kind of early visit without passing through Mandeville always requires an early hello to avoid being mistaken for an alien or a Chaos fleet by the local system defense forces.

After all, the Valkyrie-class battleship was too conspicuous, unlike any known Imperial warship, and lacked a lot of the superstitious decorations that the Human Empire would routinely have. The state priests and technical priests in the fleet debate every day whether the Imperial Emblem should be branded on the body of the Heroine or the cogwheel skull representing the God of Machines.

- In the end, he just hung the military flag of the blue-blooded noble warband.

In the cabin of the Heroine, the leader of the Ellioud War was in his private office, thinking about the next negotiation with the Foundry World Atarx.

This includes how to convince the local Foundry Generals to support their cause, how to prevaricate the Mechanic Order's quest for the Valkyrie, and how to balance the interests of the local families in the process of building the Star Gate...... All kinds of tedious official duties that can make Russell complain, Elliud has made perfect and sufficient preparations.

As the son of Robert Killiman, domestic affairs and foreign affairs have always been the specialty of Ultramarines, and Elliud is one of them.

It's a pity that these preparations of his seem to be useless, and the chief think tank of the Blue Blood Noble Warband, "Senerio", knocks on the door of the office and brings a terrifying bad news.

"We've gotten no response to the star language we've sent, Ferry." The head of the Senerio Battle, the chief think tank, is referred to by his surname: "What I saw during my meditation was a dead silence, no sound could be heard in the sea of souls, as if it were a silent desert. ”

“…… Is Antax's subspace signal blocked? Still is? Elliud pondered.

As far as he knew, there were ancient creations from the Dark Ages of Technology that could achieve a similar subspace silence effect on an astronomical scale.

"There are some possibilities, but probably not." Senerio shook his head in denial, "The astral communication is dead silent, but I heard something while meditating devotionally...... A different kind of sound. ”

Looking at the serious expression of the chief think tanker, Elliud realized the seriousness of the problem.

Senerio was not a serious man, and his usual style was quite uninhibited, and he seemed out of place in the disciplined blue-blooded aristocratic warband. If it weren't for his solid and strong psionic attainments, there would be no one to support him as the chief think head of the warband.

Even the cynical chief think tank director put away his usual sloppy appearance and became serious, which means that the current situation has reached a very dangerous level. It must be known that even when a cultist rebellion broke out in the Trodom system, and the former warband leader of the blue-blooded nobles was assassinated by the dark spirits, he had never taken it so seriously.

"What kind of sound do you hear? Senerio? Elliud asked.

"To be precise, it's not me, it's the 'Dianying Heroine'."

Senerio said: "Many warships, including the Valkyrie, and some large equipment have heard that gentle voice from the subspace, and a certain being in the subspace is calling for the machine spirit, calling for the Heroine to come to his side and gain true freedom. ”

“！ - Let's go. Elliud immediately put on his helmet and walked out of the office with the think tank director to the cabin.

As he walked, new conditions were constantly coming to the ears of the warlord through the communication channel built into the helmet:

"Return! Tachyon sensors have detected multiple unidentified flight signals in the airspace around Foundry World Antax! Formed fleets patrol the world, but each ship looks and builds very differently from the Empire! ”

"According to Lord Igrenou, the Biosage has seen two ships of similar structure in the Flare System of the Far Eastern Frontier, and the fleet hovering around Antarx probably belongs to an ancient alien race that the Marbles call 'Space Necrons'!"

Xingyu still didn't receive any response...... The call heard by the heroine became deeper and deeper. ”

Every time a new piece of information came up, the War Leader's mood became heavier, and everything that happened near Antarx was so strange that it sent chills down his spine.

Unanswered Star Whispers, Dead Sea of Souls, Space Necromantic Fleets hovering around the Forge World, and...... The call heard by the mech.

This was the first leg of the expedition, what happened here?

Now, Elliud has a difficult choice:

For the safety of the expeditionary force, bypass the Antarx Forge World, ignore the strange situation here and go directly to the next scheduled foothold.

Or do you bite the bullet and try to figure out the source of this strange situation?

It was a difficult choice, but soon, someone made a decision for Eliud.

"An unfamiliar signal tried to access our communication channel, the patrol fleet around Antaxus stopped moving, and the space necrons discovered us!"

The "......" was silent for a moment, and Ellioud ordered the communication to be cut off, but allowed to parse the message from the space necromancer.

The encoding of messages from the Space Necrons was unheard of in the Human Empire, but strangely, the battleship spirit of the Heroine translated it into standard High Gothic in less than a millisecond after browsing the messy but beautiful and strange symbols.

This worries the technical priest in the cabin even more.

"The sender of the message called himself the people of the 'former Sotek dynasty', who claimed to have been reborn by true charism, as free men with true souls. The free space necrons will unite to overthrow the brutal 'Storm King' Imotek, so that more of his compatriots can gain freedom and soul ......"

What a mess......

Shortly after, Ellioud meets the bio-sage Igrenu and asks her for more detailed information about the space necromancer.

Without hesitation, Igerenu told the warlord everything he knew:

"Space necromancers are humanoid machines governed by data logic, and with the exception of a few high-level units, the vast majority of low-level individuals have only the lowest level of basic intelligence. The Bulletin-Master seems to have a good understanding of the ancient existence of space necromancers, and the Order of Truth has a lot of relevant materials, some of which I have borrowed at a cost. ”

"The civilization of the space necromancy is made up of a number of independent 'dynasties', with the supreme king who rules all dynasties called the 'Silent King', and the ruler of a single dynasty having the title of 'Emperor of France'."

"Storm King Imotek should be the Emperor of this Space Necro Dynasty called Sotek."

Ellioud listened carefully to the biological sage Igrenu, and after receiving this information, some doubts in his mind gradually became clear.

Under the influence of some kind of "divine grace", the low-level space necrons who were originally low intelligence and have no self-consciousness have gained a clear sense of self, and they claim to be free people with "souls", and intend to unite to overthrow the rule of the Storm King of the Sotek dynasty, so that other space necrons can also gain souls and freedom.

"But what about the call that the battleship soul of the Dianying Nujie heard? Why is there silence in the Antarx Casting World, where not a single star language can be answered? ”

Igrinu thought for a moment and tried to say, "Perhaps, the 'soul' that the so-called 'divine grace' gave to the space necromancer has some kind of similar connection with the machine soul?" ”

The older, more complex and larger the machine, the more likely it is to give birth to a machine soul, this is one of the common knowledge of the Mechanic Society, if you want to ask where the human empire has the most and densest machine souls, there is no doubt that it is a casting world.

Elliud nodded, he thought it was a possibility.

"I tried translating the name of the space necrons for the 'divine grace' that bestows their souls, and it's funny, at least in my opinion, it doesn't look like the name of some god." Igrenu went on to say:

"That being is called - Clay Artist."

(End of chapter)