Cawl suddenly remembered an extremely suitable candidate for the research team—but wasn't sure if Rhodes could persuade her.
"Oh? Who is it?" Rhodes asked, curious. Was there anyone in the universe whose scientific ability could rival these four?
"Lord Rhodes, long ago, the human Imperium captured some Necrons.
In a secret prison of the Xenos Inquisition, there is a female Necron Chronomancer, who is also a Tomb Technician," Cawl replied.
She was the highest-ranking Necron prisoner ever captured. She'd been caught long ago and placed in a stasis field.
"A female Necron tomb technician!" Rhodes mused. He seemed to recall her—her name was AsanethAyu. According to information, she was the chief Chronomancer and tomb technician of the Necron Valdrekh Dynasty.
She was rescued by Cawl's Primarch during the late psychic awakening and held on his ship.
In the early Spider War timeline, Cawl tried to persuade her to help crack a time-tech device.
She already had a poor attitude towards humanity, and as luck would have it, Cawl mentioned the Collector Trazyn and claimed to be friends with him, even saying they'd helped each other at the Battle of Cadia. That was the wrong thing to say.
Trazyn's name was infamous in the Necron dynasties—an absolute scoundrel.
As a result, she refused Cawl's request and later betrayed him badly during the Spider War.
In terms of research ability, she was top-tier, especially in the field of time. No Necron tomb technician was to be underestimated.
With her, cracking the minor dynasty's tech would be no problem—but the key was persuading her.
"Her name is AsanethAyu, Lord Rhodes. If you sign a transfer order, the Inquisition will send her over," Cawl said.
"Getting her here isn't a problem. So, Cawl, you've had your eye on her for a while! Should I play matchmaker?" Rhodes teased.
He had already helped Cawl regain his flesh and optimal state, but after a year, Cawl had again covered himself with machinery, becoming a heavy cyborg.
Oil-heads truly loved metal life—and in the 40K fandom, many joked about Cawl's ambiguous relationship with this tomb technician.
"Please, Lord Rhodes, don't joke! I no longer have that function, and we're not even the same species.
I only value her research ability and her expertise in time science," Cawl replied, rolling his eyes.
He only recommended her for her research skills—he had no interest in Xenos!
"Hahaha! All right. But how do you plan to persuade her?
Necrons are not friendly toward humans; in fact, they're extremely hostile," Rhodes pointed out.
Getting her transferred was easy for Rhodes—but how to persuade her to help?
"Lord Rhodes, I leave that to you. I'm just the idea man; you solve the problems.
If she helps us, research will proceed much faster.
We might even obtain the complete living metal formula. In battle, Necron scarabs can devour any material and convert it into living metal—an advanced technology indeed," Cawl said.
Primitive living metal might be related to stellar cores, but the improved version could convert any material. That was the true treasure. Cawl believed Rhodes could persuade her—he was, after all, very good at dealing with women.
"All right. Wait here; I'll be right back," Rhodes said, teleporting to Holy Terra.
He found Roboute Guilliman and briefly explained the situation.
"Signing a transfer is no problem—but are you sure you can handle the Necron?" Guilliman asked.
"Don't worry, I have a 100% chance," Rhodes replied.
If it had been right after he transmigrated, he would have had nothing to tempt a Necron. But now—He could offer what Necrons wanted most.
The cosmic phantom beasts had devoured C'tan shards, and all Necron souls had been devoured by the Star Gods. Restoring souls for Necrons wasn't too difficult for Rhodes.
Of course, he could only restore a few—too many would be problematic. But for Necrons, it was a killer offer.
"Rest assured, Guilliman, I can definitely handle this Necron tech-priestess and make sure she can't betray us," Rhodes said.
"All right. But Rhodes, don't get up to anything inappropriate. Necrons aren't like Eldar—don't get any special ideas about the tomb technician," Guilliman teased.
"Come on! Don't say that. I like pretty girls, but Necrons are definitely not my type," Rhodes retorted.
Even if Necrons restored their flesh, they still didn't look human. To human aesthetics, the Necrons were far from beautiful. As for metal skeleton women—no way, not interested.
"All right, I'll sign the order. If you can't persuade her, she'll be re-imprisoned.
She's held in the Solar Sector, but it would take months to transfer her. Please be patient," Guilliman nodded.
"No need—just give me the coordinates. I can teleport through space myself," Rhodes replied.
With Tartarus at his side, distance was meaningless.
Guilliman nodded, signed the order, and had two primarchs stamp it.
With the location of the Xenos Inquisition's planet, Rhodes summoned Tartarus and teleported to the Necron tech-priestess's prison.
The Inquisition's defenses were tight. When Rhodes suddenly appeared, a large force immediately aimed their guns at him—even though he wore primarch armor, there was no slack.
"Identify yourself!" a Deathwatch Space Marine demanded.
"Relax, I'm Rhodes, the new Imperial Primarch. I'm here to collect an important item. Where is your cargo?" Rhodes produced his credentials and the transfer order.
The Inquisition quickly confirmed his identity.
"Great Primarch, please wait. We'll bring the cargo at once," the Inquisition guard said.
Half an hour later, a giant iron coffin, three and a half meters tall, was placed before Rhodes.
"Lord Rhodes, here's your cargo.
Inside is a small stasis field. Remove it to awaken the Xenos inside.
But this Xenos is formidable, able to manipulate time—a dangerous being. Be careful," the Inquisitor warned.
"Don't worry—a mere Necron can't make waves before me. Thank you, return to your post," Rhodes said, waving.
Tartarus opened a golden portal, and together they returned to the secret base.
Bringing back the Necron tech-priestess had taken less than an hour—teleportation truly was a cheat. Tartarus' power was absurd.
…
Back at the lab, Yapool and Balt gaped at Tartarus.
"You—you're an Absolutian?"
"And a high-level Absolutian!" Yapool exclaimed.
"Good eye. I look forward to working with you," Tartarus replied.
"Amazing—a high-level Absolutian as a colleague," Yapool marveled.
Others might not know, but Yapool did—Absolutians were a terrifying race, on par with the Land of Light!