The wait is always long, but devout faith can dilute all loneliness.

What really bothered Bishop Senedal was that the Lord of Humanity had not spoken a word since He uttered the oracle of 'Waiting' through the mouth of the dry corpse, and as time passed, the Bishop's mood began to grow more and more anxious.

He didn't know what he had done wrong that made His Majesty the God Emperor no longer care about him, and he was even more afraid that it was he who had inadvertently done something wrong that made him lose the attention of the Lord of Mankind.

Driven by a strong sense of unease, Bishop Senedal spent almost all of his daily time in prayer to the Emperor, reciting the Emperor's Word for hours every day in front of the dry corpse with ebony claws to express his devotion and loyalty to the Lord of Mankind, and never interrupting the cleaning and maintenance of the sacred body that bears the grace of the Emperor, and the Bishop carefully wiped every grain of dust that fell on the corpse three times a day.

But for some reason, the Lord of Mankind never said a word to him again, and the Emperor became more and more silent.

In the speculation and torment of the God Emperor's thoughts, the waiting time became longer and longer, until one day, a large-scale space-time disturbance appeared within the monitoring range of the sensor, breaking the silence of this nameless galaxy.

Senedal himself had been the one who had sailed the maelstrom with the 6th Expeditionary Fleet, and he was all too familiar with this kind of spatial disturbance - it was the traces of warp engines.

The small ship that had been hidden behind the asteroid quietly floated, and a huge fleet appeared in front of the Bishop of Senedal.

In the year 024 of the 40th millennium, the 1st Expeditionary Fleet arrived in the Gothic Star Sector.

"Wait, the size of the fleet and the number of ships of the 1st Expeditionary Fleet...... Why does it seem like it's so much more than when you set off? Bishop Senedal was a little confused. He recognized the flagship of the fleet as the Valkyrie-class battleship named the Soul of Burning Steel, the flagship of the 1st Expeditionary Fleet, and he himself was present to pray for the ritual of the Blood Sacrifice Machine.

But why did the other fleets suffer heavy losses on the expedition, and the 9th Expeditionary Fleet to Baal was even wiped out, and now that the Terra Expedition is in its 24th year, why is there more and more ships in the 1st Expeditionary Fleet? Or even nearly twice as much as when you set off?

"Go, go and deliver the Ebony Claws into the hands of the One Who Promised."

Bishop Senedal burst into tears, as if he were in an illusory voice: "My Almighty Lord, I have heard your voice again......

"......" the emperor was silent.

"Your Majesty, I, I'm going to fulfill your request, I'm going..."Senedal didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly drove the small boat towards the huge 1st Expeditionary Fleet that was heading here.

At the same time, on the Valkyrie-class battleship 'Soul of Burning Steel', a number of admirals and interior officials cast awe-inspiring glances at the beautiful woman in the center, dressed in a white robe and whose eyes were covered by a strip of cloth covered with holy words.

"Sure enough, just as the Prophet had predicted, shortly after we arrived in the Gothic Zone, the Emperor's emissary searched for us."

"Lord Alexei is worthy of being a living saint chosen by the emperor, and you are indeed the spokesman of the will of the Lord of Mankind."

"I was horrified when I heard the plan spoken by the Prophet and Lord Bramilmond, but if that was the Emperor's will......

An admiral with a star on his shoulder muttered, "If it is true that the Emperor's emissary has brought the key to activate the Blackstone Fortress, then, in the name of the Lord of Mankind, the Gothic fleet will open its guns against the Taifan. ”

Alexei nodded slightly: "Then it couldn't be better." ”

The admiral who spoke was none other than Scott Ariel, the commander-in-chief of the 'Gothic Fleet' responsible for securing the Gothic Star Sector.

A well-known admiral in the Misty Star Field, Scott was an experienced veteran naval officer known for his prudence, and even though Alexei and Brammimund showed him the Emperor's miracles and forbidden army status in front of him, they did not immediately convince him to join the 1st Expeditionary Fleet, but only made him abandon his plan to open fire on the 1st Expeditionary Fleet.

"To gain General Scott's trust, you still need to activate the Blackstone Fortress." Brammimund, who was guarding the prophetess Alexei, thought to himself. Now he has put on the golden armor of the forbidden army again, escorting the emperor's saints.

Outside the porthole, the small boat carrying the Emperor's envoy was getting closer and closer.

That was a few years ago...... When the 1st Expeditionary Fleet arrived at the border of the Extreme Star Domain and was about to enter the Sun Star Field, the Prophetess suddenly received an oracle from the Lord of Mankind, and she ordered the fleet to turn around immediately, turn back halfway, and go to the Gothic Star Zone.

The Emperor's emissary is waiting there, and from the emissary's hand, they will receive a treasure called the 'Ebony Claw'.

That is the key to activating the Blackstone Fortress, which they will use to suppress the stronghold that guards Terra: the Mountain Formation.

Looking at the prophesied ship docked on the side of the Valkyrie of the Burning Steel, Admiral Scott Ariel's eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression was solemn. Others may not know much about what Blackstone Fortress is, but as the commander-in-chief of the Gothic fleet, he does.

Blackstone Fortress is a collection of 6 ancient fortresses scattered throughout the Gothic Sector.

There are different theories about its origin, with some Mechanic scholars believing that it was an ancient war weapon left behind by the Space Necrons, while others claim that the original name of the Blackstone Fortress should have been 'Vaal Amulet', based on the Elven texts, and that the Ancient Eldars built these huge starships to defend against the return of the Star God.

The specific origin of the Blackstone Fortress is no longer known, and the current human empire is unable to decipher the complex structure and complex principles within these ancient creations, let alone attempt to manipulate them.

After years of research and experimentation, the Mechanic Order finally cracked a small part of the Blackstone Fortress's energy lines, thus connecting a large number of automatic artillery and torpedo arrays and transforming them into six immovable naval bases.

Even if humans have only been able to borrow a little bit of the Blackstone Fortress's energy so far, with the strength of the Blackstone Fortress itself, these six fortresses have become one of the most important townstone forces to protect the local security of the Gothic Star Sector.

According to the prophecy of the prophetess Alexei, the treasure they are about to obtain called the 'Ebony Claw' is the key to activate the Blackstone Fortress, as long as they get it, they can truly control these 6 giant war weapons from ancient times.

"If anyone can really do that...... It's only our emperor. ”

Looking at the crowd of people who had gone to welcome Bishop Senedal on board, Admiral Scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "But even if that is the emperor's will, how can I not hesitate in the face of such a request?" ”

He shuddered at the thought of the prophetess's request.

Alexei asked him to lead the Gothic fleet and the 1st Expeditionary Fleet into the Sun Domain, drive the battleship over the Terra Palace to suppress the situation, and lock the Fist of the Empire's fortress monastery with a fully activated Blackstone Fortress: the 'Mountain Formation'.

O daring men, they intend to stage a military coup d'état to overthrow the Council of Terra...... Seize power.

(End of chapter)