In an eerie silence, this Ork, along with the Squig he was riding, "melted" into a puddle of liquid.
The other Orks merely watched in a daze, seemingly pondering how such a large Ork and Squig had disappeared, how they had just "melted."
But they soon understood why their comrade had melted, because the "gray mist" once again rose from the liquid on the ground.
This time, they didn't target just one Ork, but indiscriminately rushed towards all the Orks present.
The ultimate fate of these Orks was the same as the first one, but their melting speed was much slower.
Roaring, screaming, running, and flailing—all attempts to stop it were futile and in vain.
"Gulp, wh-wh-what is this?!" the Inquisitor stammered.
Magos Gamma didn't answer.
He just walked silently to the side and threw up.
After he had emptied his stomach and had been cleaned and comforted by his guard for a long time, he finally spoke, "If I had known it was this disgusting, I wouldn't have watched for anything!"
As Magos Gamma spoke, the image of the Ork's facial features and internal organs sliding off replayed in his mind, and he felt like throwing up again.
He took deep breaths to suppress the nausea, admiring the Inquisitor who, with an unchanged expression, could even run back to the fortress to get him water.
He had only wanted to throw up just now and hadn't noticed that the Inquisitor's face had only recently regained its color.
"What was that?" the Inquisitor asked.
"Nanobots."
"The nanobots used in the medical pods you invented?"
"Uh—how should I explain it to you? You don't understand technology, and a too-complex explanation would be incomprehensible to you.
The two are similar, yet very different.
Just think of it as me having upgraded the nanobots," Magos Gamma said.
"You've created the 'Blood Tide'?!" the Inquisitor looked at Magos Gamma with a startled expression.
"What's that?"
"A malevolent intelligence composed of billions of nanobots.
It's said to have been created during the Dark Age of Technology before the Imperium's rise, initially as a medical technology, but later it went out of control and massacred all life on a planet!"
"Hey, hey, stop, stop.
It's different, completely different.
My nanobots have no intelligence; they can only act according to the program I set beforehand, and they don't self-replicate, nor is there a super-intelligence that can command so many nanobots.
I told you that you don't understand technology, so don't make wild guesses.
Do you know how much computational and data processing power is needed to command so many nanobots?"
Magos Gamma quickly interrupted the Inquisitor's speculation, fearing that if she continued to let her imagination run wild, he would be crowned the Imperium's number one terrorist by tomorrow.
He paused briefly, then continued, "You saw that those nanobots, once they leave the animal body, quickly become useless due to energy depletion, and their material will oxidize after a few hours in the air.
Even if ingested by an animal again, they cannot be activated.
They are quite delicate!"
When Magos Gamma said the above, his gaze was candid, his tone sincere, and his body language exuded uprightness, as if he wasn't afraid of being investigated.
However, if Magos Lauster were present, he would immediately see that the Tech-Priest wasn't telling the whole truth, or rather, that he had ways to overcome these shortcomings.
Unfortunately, the Inquisitor was still too naive and was deceived by the Tech-Priest's demeanor.
She patted her chest and let out a long breath before speaking, "You scared me to death!
I thought you had created the Nanite Scourge."
Magos Gamma muttered to himself, "I wish I could, but I haven't fully succeeded yet."
"But Magos Gamma, even so, this is an extremely dangerous weapon.
I object to you handing this weapon over to the combined fleet."
"If I don't give it to the fleet, how will we fight the Tyranid?"
"But have you considered that when you hand this weapon over to others, it means it's beyond your control?
How can you guarantee that those commanders, upon seeing the power of this weapon, won't harbor thoughts of secretly keeping it for themselves?"
"In a war of this scale, the disappearance of one or two weapons is impossible to trace.
They can simply claim they've used them.
Even if you set up a self-destruct program for the weapon, don't forget the existence of stasis fields."
"Once your nanoweapon reappears, it's fine if it's used against Xenos or heretics, but if it's used by traitors against the Imperium, then you, the creator of this weapon, will become the target of hatred and suspicion from the Imperium."
"Even with Thedan and the Regent behind you, you will face pressure from various factions within the Imperium.
They all want to control this power, and if they can't have it, they'd rather destroy it."
"You must know that even Lord Regent Guilliman has to make concessions and compromises when facing factions like the Adeptus Mechanicus, Assassin Court, Inquisition, Astropathic Choir, Navigator Guild, and so on!"
"I know you want to help us defeat the Tyranid, and I very much want that help, but as your friend, I must urge you to consider it very, very carefully!"
Magos Gamma fell silent.
He understood that Finnie, in saying these words, was already violating her principles as an Inquisitor.
She could have simply flattered him, gaining more from his inflated ego, but Finnie didn't do that; she was worried about him.
It was precisely Finnie's concern and persuasion that awakened Magos Gamma from his sense of accomplishment.
He had thought everything too simply and taken himself too seriously.
No one can be completely unrestrained; even those with the greatest power and highest status have constraints.
Those with constraints and concerns are human; those who are uninhibited and act as they please are madmen, lunatics.
The original purpose of the "Blood Tide"'s creator was also good, but his creation ultimately became a terrifying "scourge."
So, would Magos Gamma's creation also repeat the same mistake, especially since his creation was designed and created as a weapon?
The "gray mist" doesn't yet have the power of the "Blood Tide," but as long as he, its designer, is alive, those who know about the "gray mist" will wonder if he will upgrade and perfect the "gray mist" in the future, reaching or even surpassing the level of the "Blood Tide."
How would the Archmagoss of Mars, the masters of the Forge Worlds, the factions spread across the galaxy, the servants of the Dark Gods, and even the Regent of the Imperium view, treat, and guard against him, a person capable of bringing a "scourge" back into existence?
"Phew, thank you, Finnie.
I was being too presumptuous."
"Kindness is not your fault, but power has no right or wrong."
Magos Gamma, looking at the Inquisitor with a strange expression, was silent precisely because he had long felt that Finnie was off.
From their very first acquaintance, Finnie's attitude towards Xenos, and later her asking him to repair Xenos artifacts, made him feel that the Inquisitor's tolerance for Xenos technology was too high; he couldn't see any of the caution and repulsion an Inquisitor should have.
If these could still be explained by "the Alien Tribunal communicates with Xenos," then "power has no right or wrong" was completely out of place.
"Finnie, which faction of Inquisitors do you belong to?" the Tech-Priest scrutinized Finnie from head to toe, as if re-evaluating her.
Seeing this, the Inquisitor realized she had exposed herself; the Tech-Priest was being too sharp in the wrong place again.
So, she no longer concealed it and, after making a strange gesture to Magos Gamma, said, "Inquisitor Finnie of the Warp Reverence Xenarites greets Magos Gamma."
Gamma didn't know what the "Warp Reverence Xenarites" were. He only knew that the Inquisition was a vast, loose, and complex organization. Each Inquisitor had her own ideas on how to more effectively defend the Imperium of Man. Based on different philosophies and methods, the Inquisition was actually divided into countless factions.
Even more critically, legally, every Inquisitor was of equal rank. How much she could achieve depended entirely on the power she possessed and how many helpers she could summon. A Grand Inquisitor was merely an Inquisitor with significant power, or directly the head of a certain faction.
"Is your 'Warp Reverence Xenarites' a legitimate faction?"
After asking, Gamma immediately regretted it. It would be a miracle if that bizarre name was legitimate. As expected, Finnie's expression darkened upon hearing it, her eyes seemingly accusing the little Tech-priest of lacking conscience, wondering who had just been worrying about him.
"Haha, I didn't mean anything else, it's just, what is your faction's doctrine?"
"Our faction believes that humanity should draw lessons from the achievements and failures of other xenos. An overly strict xenophobic policy is detrimental to the Imperium of Man."
"Xenos at least have their uses, especially in combating Chaos. Some of their technologies are quite valuable for humanity's current situation."
Oh, well, isn't this a heretical faction? I knew Finnie was acting strange, Gamma muttered to himself. However, Finnie was his friend, and he wasn't a proper Tech-priest himself, so he said:
"Hmm, your faction's philosophy is quite progressive, quite inclusive."
"Of course, we are not those Purist Inquisitor who venerate ancient laws, are inflexible, extremely xenophobic or Warp-phobic, and firmly believe that anything related to the enemy will bring corruption and lead to the destruction of all humanity."
The Inquisitor's expression and tone when she said this carried the meaning of "the masses are ignorant, only I am awake," very much like a fanatic, which perfectly matched Gamma's stereotype of an Inquisitor. If he said she was right, something still felt off; if he said she was wrong, there seemed to be some truth to it. After much hesitation, Gamma still said:
"Um, Finnie, you still need to be more careful. Not all technology is safe."
But even without speaking, Gamma understood her meaning from her eyes: You, a Tech-priest who recreated a natural disaster, how dare you say such a thing?
Hmph! An ungrateful Inquisitor! Gamma turned and walked away in a huff. Just as he was about to disappear from the Inquisitor's sight, Gamma said:
"Don't forget to notify me before holding the prophecy ritual."
The little Tech-priest was now eager to return and patch his nanobots, planning to seal "Gray Mist 4.0" as his trump card. When someone truly angered him, he would send them a large can, making those who provoked him regret it.
"Gray Mist" and "Detoxification" are essentially the same, differing only in materials, operational procedures, and design philosophy. "Gray Mist" is a weapon, designed for killing efficiency, resistance to various interferences, and maximum endurance after leaving the host.
"Detoxification" has many more requirements, restrictions, and operational procedures than "Gray Mist." It must be used in conjunction with Gamma's medical instrument to achieve healing and detoxification. The materials used must be harmless to the human body, and endurance is not considered at all; it will immediately shut down upon losing power after leaving the host.
Gamma originally wanted "Detoxification" to remain in the human body for a longer period, which is why he didn't use biomimetic materials. He now plans to switch "Detoxification" materials back to biomimetic ones, remove the function of absorbing bio-electromagnetic fields for energy, and integrate the function of releasing medical energy fields into his designed portable medical instrument.
"Detoxification" using biomimetic materials is an upgraded version of a medical robot, so Gamma isn't afraid of exposure. Thedan has been selling it for so long, and no one has said anything. No one would consider nanobots that can only operate within a medical pod to be weapons.
"If I had known this, why did I go to all this trouble?"
"It's all your fault, you bugs!"
Full of resentment, Gamma returned to the laboratory and started punching and kicking the already cold Gorgon insect nest samples. Accidentally, he hit a blade insect's chitinous shell, and he squatted on the ground for a long time, holding his fist. Then, muttering "I won't stoop to the level of dead bugs," he pulled out his experimental records, retrieved the experimental data he needed, and began designing the monkey version.
An unreliable weapon is not a good weapon, and an uncontrollable weapon is not a good weapon. These two are the Imperium of Man's criteria for judging the quality of weapons. Now Gamma feels that another one should be added: A weapon that causes trouble for its creator is also not a good weapon.
Fortunately, every small step forward in technology is incredibly difficult, but regression is much simpler. Gamma completed the design and refinement of the monkey version in just a few days. The medical instrument that could originally be easily lifted with one hand now had to be carried on his back, which made Gamma, looking at this technological creation that other Tech-priest would bow to, dislike it no matter how he looked at it.
"That's it then. Let's go see if the ruins hold any surprises. I also need to prepare another gift for the Tyranid."
After arranging the production tasks for the monkey version of "Detoxification," Gamma scurried off to the excavation site of the ruins. Standing on the airship, looking at the "billowing smoke" of the Kosa holy land, the little Tech-priest determined that Magos Lauster was a Tech-priest of the "Xieling Faction," relying entirely on sheer numbers and brute force to achieve miracles.
"Hehe, it's time to let these brutes know what technology is."
The guards behind Gamma were already accustomed to their "young master" occasionally acting erratically and speaking strange, inexplicable words. At first, they had pondered whether the great Omnissiah youngling wanted to convey some divine oracle incomprehensible to mortals. Unfortunately, they were merely tools. Although upgraded by the Omnissiah youngling to become better tools, their wisdom was insufficient to grasp the profound meaning within, so they simply recorded it and compiled it into a book— "Quotations from the Omnissiah youngling"—awaiting future fortunate individuals who might comprehend its wisdom.
Archaeology was a major undertaking that deserved the full devotion of the Tech-priest, so much so that when the fleet commander came to inspect the work, there wasn't even anyone to greet him. This greatly displeased the little Tech-priest, who always prided himself on being approachable.
"You guys just wait for me to make trouble for you," Gamma grumbled as he strode inward.
His anger was mainly because they didn't even arrange someone to guide him. In such a large archaeological site, how was he supposed to know where the "main tomb chamber" was? In the end, Gamma had no choice but to contact the "Oil Girl," and only after confirming her location did he have a destination.
After not seeing the "Oil Girl" for a long time, Gamma almost didn't recognize the person in front of him when he saw Leia: a dusty, dark-skinned, dirt-covered ghost, so different from the fair-skinned, pretty-faced, image-conscious, and slightly vain "Oil Girl" he knew.
"How did you end up looking like this?"
"What's wrong? Is there anything strange?" Leia, completely unaware, looked herself up and down. She didn't find anything amiss; wasn't everyone like this?
"Uh, never mind. What's the current excavation progress of the ruins?"
"We can now confirm that the Kosa holy land was once the center of the Kosa Star. Buried beneath our feet are the remains of a super-large city. To unearth more relics and technology before the Tyranid arrive, we had to abandon other ruin sites and concentrate all our efforts here."
"Come on, quickly show me what the ruins look like," Gamma said excitedly.
"Follow me."
Led by Leia, Gamma learned that the archaeological site he was currently seeing were just a series of "tomb-robbing tunnels," a stopgap measure to race against the Tyranid. The normal procedure would be to remove all the soil covering the ruins to ensure nothing was missed, but this method was too massive in scale and too time-consuming, unsuitable for them. After much discussion, they decided to use the "tomb-robbing tunnel" method, focusing their efforts to directly extract the most essential parts of the ruins.
"Oh, I see. But how do you determine the locations?"
"We found maps by restoring data found in other ruins. Although the maps are incomplete, they are enough for us to locate this area and understand the general layout of the city," Leia explained to the extremely curious Gamma while operating the elevator. They were now about to descend into the underground ruins via the elevator inside the tomb-robbing tunnel.
Startled by the Inquisitor's talk of "blood tide," Gamma worried about encountering a "super-large mummy" while digging and asked with some concern:
"Can you now determine the reason for the decline of the Kosa civilization?"
"From the extent of damage to the ruins' construction, they experienced a civil war. We detected traces of atomic weapons, not just here, but in other ruins as well."
Hearing this news, Gamma's suspended heart returned to his chest. At least the Kosa civilization wasn't destroyed by some out-of-control dark technology.
"So, the current Kosa are descendants of those who survived the nuclear blasts back then."
"It should be said that their ancestors lived in more remote areas and likely engaged in manual labor. Because, judging from the power of the atomic weapons we estimated, the two or three warring factions aimed for complete annihilation of the other. People living in the cities had no chance of survival."
Hearing the bad news, Gamma exclaimed, "Then the ruins must be severely damaged!"
"Yes, but my father and other experienced Priests say that almost all ruins are like this. Without such destructive attacks, there wouldn't be a civilization break or regression. If some people who mastered technology had survived back then, what we see of Kosa now wouldn't be a barbaric world; it might be a civilized world."
.
"But don't be disappointed, we've also found quite a few technological relics."
Going down, Gamma, who was "tomb-robbing" for the first time, was a little nervous, his heart pounding. His old habit of fantasizing resurfaced, and he had already imagined a 42K version of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in his mind.
When the elevator stopped after a slight tremor, and the elevator doors opened, a spectacular archaeological site was revealed before him. Lighting equipment suspended nearly a hundred meters high illuminated the endless underground space as if it were daytime. Countless thick support pillars bore the weight of an unknown cubic volume of earth and rock above.
Vehicle after vehicle, loaded with earth and rock, dumped the collected soil onto a conveyor belt. As the conveyor belt moved, the soil and rocks were scanned by instruments, and any artificial objects within were sorted out by robotic arms and placed onto another conveyor belt. On this conveyor belt, apprentices identified these items, and those they couldn't identify were passed on to the Priest for further identification.
"Have the Xieling Warriors progressed to industrialized tomb-robbing?!" The little Tech-priest muttered another strange phrase that no one else understood.
Magos Gamma, once again "shocked" by an unexpected scene, felt the world surprise him in unforeseen ways.
The reality of tomb raiding being linked to an assembly line once again "broadened" Magos Gamma's understanding, giving him a new perspective on the 42K grave robbers.
Although completely different from the scene Magos Gamma had imagined, he still approached with full curiosity.
The apprentices and Priests on the assembly line, seeing their big leader arrive, quickly put down their work to salute.
Magos Gamma merely waved his hand, telling them to continue working, showing a complete capitalist demeanor.
He carefully examined the "antiques" on the conveyor belt.
After a while, the items on it left Magos Gamma a bit disappointed; they were all scattered parts with some commendable material qualities, having endured such a long period of erosion.
But that was all; anything produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus, if properly maintained, could last for tens of thousands of years.
Noticing the look of disappointment on Magos Gamma's face, Leia, who was beside him, spoke up: "At first, I also thought we could just dig a bit and find technological relics, dig a bit more and find lost technology.
But reality is like this, most of what we find are these kinds of things."
"Alright, Leia, you're already a mature archaeologist now," Magos Gamma teased.
"Haha, I think so too.
Let's go, this place was only set up to avoid any omissions.
The truly good stuff is in those intact buildings."
"Let's go, let's hurry and see."
Leia's words reignited Magos Gamma's passion for treasure hunting.
The two boarded a specially constructed rail train and headed deep into the excavated underground space.
Along the way, Magos Gamma saw many exposed ruins.
In front of some buildings, Tech-priest were busy, while others were empty, so he asked:
"Leia, what's going on?"
"The design philosophy of these ancient ruins is different from ours now.
They lived in humanity's Golden Age, when no race in the galaxy was humanity's opponent, and they didn't have as many enemies as we do now.
So their city layouts were all on a similar level, and living comfort was their primary consideration.
Defensive functions were not an option in their designs."
"So we only need to excavate at the most concentrated level of the ruins, break open the exposed outer walls of these buildings, and we can enter the interior.
Those without people have already been explored, while those with people are newly discovered or not yet fully explored."
"The more complete a building is, the more valuable the items inside.
These buildings, capable of resisting the power of apocalyptic weapons to a certain extent, were built with such sturdy materials precisely because they had important functions."
"The place we are going to now is the most complete ruin building we have found so far.
According to our analysis, it might have been the data center of Kosa Star at that time.
Magos Gamma, do you know what this means?"
Seeing Leia's eyes beginning to sparkle, Magos Gamma, of course, knew what might be inside—possibly the Tech-priest' "ONEPIECE," a complete STC.
However, Magos Gamma wasn't holding out such high hopes.
If a "Grand Treasure" really appeared, he wouldn't even glance at it.
Instead, he would place a large-yield nuclear bomb there, regardless of whether it was a Tzeentchian demon's scheme.
A high-temperature sterilization was always the right choice.
"Ahem, Leia, don't fantasize yet.
Have all the security measures there been taken care of? I'm not talking about external ones, but those inside the building!"
"..."
The "Oil Girl's" eyes stopped sparkling, now they began to well up with resentment.
She had happily shared the "Tech-priest' joy" with Magos Gamma, but he didn't understand the "Tech-priest' romance" at all.
Seeing Leia not answer him, Magos Gamma anxiously asked again: "Did you do it or not? This is not a small matter.
Don't let invisible and intangible technology go to your head!"
"Yes, I did, I did!" the "Oil Girl" said grumpily.
Seeing Leia's expression, Magos Gamma decided to retract his earlier statement about her being a mature tomb-raiding expert.
She was clearly a petty thief whose eyes were blinded by "treasure," unaware that a big zongzi (a term for a powerful zombie or mummy) stood behind her.
Just then, they arrived at their destination.
Magos Gamma followed the sulking "Oil Girl" and found Magos Lauster, who was with a group of Tech-priest, struggling with a "security door."
Magos Lauster's current appearance, like Leia's, seemed to be from the same artist.
The other Tech-priest on site were also the same.
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Clean and fair-skinned, Magos Gamma looked particularly out of place here.
Magos Gamma also spotted figures resembling Ad and Paul in the crowd, but like Leia, their appearance differed too much from his impression, so he wasn't entirely sure.
Everyone was fully focused on helping Magos Lauster decipher the "security door's" password; no one noticed Magos Gamma, the fleet leader, standing behind them.
After leading Magos Gamma to the destination, the "Oil Girl" left him and naturally returned to her original position, performing a flurry of operations on the control panel, likely deciphering something.
Everyone else was doing the same.
Magos Gamma didn't immediately approach.
Instead, he began to examine the building in front of him.
This building was massive, and only a portion of it was exposed.
From the already excavated parts, it appeared very well-preserved, with only traces of time and minor damage on its outer walls.
Magos Lauster and his team's conjecture was correct; this was indeed Kosa's original data center.
He had confirmed it with his talent.
Magos Gamma, who wanted to learn more information, was interrupted by the sighing Tech-priest.
Seeing them all step away from their control panels, Magos Gamma, unsure of what had happened, quickly walked over.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, Magos Gamma, you've arrived."
"Hmm, why are you all looking so downcast?"
"Let me explain."
Turning at the sound, he saw it was Magos Lauster.
The young Tech-priest, showing respect for their teacher, quickly greeted him: "Magos Lauster, you've worked hard."
"That's nothing.
Using a shovel when I was young, that was hard work."
Magos Lauster's tone carried an unprecedented sense of ease and freedom.
Such a Magos reminded Magos Gamma of the first time he met Magos Lauster, and the image of the Magos transforming into a motorcycle and speeding across the wilderness with him.
Perhaps this was Magos Lauster's truest, most genuine self, Magos Gamma thought, though he also mentally grumbled: "Tomb raiding has really brought out his true form."
"Magos, what's going on here? Why is everyone sighing?"
"Even after all this time, the energy inside has not been depleted, which also prevents us from forcibly breaking the outer wall, fearing it might trigger a self-destruct program.
We can only slowly decrypt the security system set up by the builders.
But this security system automatically resets every so often, changing the password and command.
We've tried many times, but we haven't been able to decrypt the first password within the time limit.
Now we have to start all over again!" Magos Lauster said with a resentful tone.
"Hehe, finally it's my turn to show these tomb raiders what real technology is!" Thinking this, Magos Gamma spoke:
"Magos, take me to see it."
"Good, follow me.
Let me also witness your technology." Magos Lauster's voice carried certainty, as if Magos Gamma was sure to decrypt the security password that they couldn't solve.
The others, seeing Magos Gamma about to take action himself, followed.
A surge of confidence rose from these frustrated Tech-priest, like someone who had been bullied and now their boss was stepping in to avenge them.
Magos Lauster led Magos Gamma to a very sci-fi-looking door.
The door's outer casing had already been cut open, and data cables of varying thicknesses were connected to the door's interior through the cut-out.
These data cables extended outwards and were connected to a Cogitator, which in turn was linked to each Tech-Priest's control panel.
"This is its entrance.
Currently, only this one has been found," Magos Lauster said, then quietly watched Magos Gamma.
Everyone else also watched quietly.
They wanted to learn from Magos Gamma, but he was also very quiet, making no moves.
He didn't approach the door, didn't take out various instruments to tap and bang on it, just stared at the door.
At first, everyone on site thought Magos Gamma was inferring the internal structure and design philosophy by observing the door's exterior.
But they didn't expect Magos Gamma to stare for so long.
Just as Magos Lauster began to wonder if he should show Magos Gamma the data they had collected, Magos Gamma finally moved.
The moment their leader moved, it immediately captivated everyone's attention.
While they were still guessing what miraculous technology Magos Gamma would use, they saw him input a long string of passwords onto the panel on the door, and then the door opened.
Did I lose my memory and forget a scene? The process isn't right.
Why did he just directly input the password? I don't understand.
Is it an illusion or is there poisonous gas in the air?
Apart from Magos Gamma, everyone else's brains were in chaos, because something completely illogical had just happened before their eyes.
However, thinking that this happened to the Omnissiah's cub, it seemed perfectly logical and reasonable.
After all, he was the manager of machines; for it not to open automatically upon seeing him would be a blasphemy.
"Omnissiah! Omnissiah! Omnissiah!"
"My Lord, my God, you have finally descended upon the world again! Praise be to your great Omnissiah!"
"He has grown again! Father, you see I was right, the Omnissiah is gradually restoring his divine power!"
"Praise the Omnissiah—"
Seeing half of the Tech-priest already kneeling, and the other half preparing to kneel, Magos Gamma knew it was bad.
He had shown off too much in front of people, and quickly shouted:
"Stop! Get up, all of you! I am not the Omnissiah! This is an order!"
But the kneeling Tech-priest didn't care what Magos Gamma said, adopting an attitude of "I'll just kneel, I'll just kowtow, you prove you're not."
"Get up, I really am not! Magos Lauster, quickly help me explain!" A flustered Magos Gamma had no choice but to seek help from the person he trusted most.
How do I explain? Does it even need explaining? This was Magos Lauster's thought upon hearing Magos Gamma's plea.
He was now filled with a sense of mission; whoever dared to say no, Magos Lauster would now dare to shoot them, except for the Omnissiah, of course.
Fortunately, Lauster had been mentally prepared for this scene since boarding the Gear Boy.
Although he immensely anticipated this moment, he also understood that the Omnissiah's cub had not yet fully grown, and it was not yet his time to reveal his identity to all beings.
"Ahem! Magos Gamma has already said it, this is a misunderstanding!
He merely used a technology that we cannot comprehend!
Everyone, quickly get up, or Magos Gamma will get angry!"
Magos Gamma, realizing he had shot himself in the foot, secretly waved his hand at the air after hearing Magos Lauster's explanation, then said, "Don't overthink it. It's just that the technology I use is too advanced for you to comprehend. Look at this."
As soon as he finished speaking, a visible gray mist ball condensed in Magos Gamma's raised palm. This mist ball, appearing out of thin air, also attracted the attention of the Tech-priest. Then they heard Magos Gamma say,
"This is nanomachinery, a relic from the Dark Age of Technology. I just used it to crack the password, so you misunderstood!"
"Also, I am very disappointed in you. As Priests of the Omnissiah, how can you act like those ignorant barbarians, thinking anything you can't understand is divine power? Is your devotion to faith only this much? If a heretic uses technology you can't understand in front of you one day, will you also kneel to him?"
"Answer me! Will you?! Aren't you ashamed? Aren't you remorseful? Don't you feel unworthy of your status as Priests?"
The Tech-priest, who had been put on the spot and had the tables turned on them, looked at each other awkwardly. Those who had already knelt quietly got up after hearing Magos Gamma's questions.
"The exploration fleet is destined to encounter countless terrifying and hateful enemies of the Omnissiah. Your faith is so fragile; how can I lead you forward? I think you should leave my Gear Fleet and return to Thedan."
Magos Lauster received another plea for help from the Tech-priest. He was a bit tired now, but to prevent the Omnissiah's offspring from cutting off his own arm in a fit of rage before maturing, he spoke, "Magos Gamma, please forgive their ignorance this time. Didn't you say, 'People aren't afraid of making mistakes, only of not knowing they've made one'? They have realized their mistake now, so please give them another chance!"
Receiving Magos Lauster's signal of "that's enough," Magos Gamma went with the flow and said, "This time, I will give you another chance to repent, but only this once. From now on, any rumors in the Gear Fleet that say I am the Omnissiah are heretical! If I find out, don't blame me for bringing out the ecclesiastical code for punishing heretics!"
The Tech-priest immediately shivered upon hearing Magos Gamma threaten to bring out the code; the punishments listed there made their scalps tingle just thinking about them. However, a few Tech-priest were unconcerned—those like Leia who knew what the "gray mist" was and what it could do. They wouldn't be deceived by Magos Gamma's "lie."
As veterans of the "Gamma Faction," they understood their Omnissiah's offspring's preferences best. They had long since learned through secret channels that the "previous Omnissiah" on the Golden Throne of Terra also disliked admitting he was a god and had even been enraged by being worshipped as one, promoting the "Imperial Truth" which directly denied the existence of gods.
Someone who admits to being the Omnissiah is certainly not the Omnissiah; the true Omnissiah never admits to being the Omnissiah. This stubbornness is a consistent trait between the two "him."
Magos Lauster wanted to move past this quickly. Although he had temporarily silenced the Tech-priest, this impromptu excuse was full of holes. If a Tech-Priest carefully reviewed the recent video recordings, it would be hard not to notice Magos Gamma's small movements. Some Priests equipped with advanced bionic eyes might even know exactly when the nanomachinery appeared. He had to help Magos Gamma hide his "tail," so he spoke, "Magos Gamma, do you want to continue?"
"Hmm, let's continue," Magos Gamma also wanted to move on from the matter.
It wasn't the fleet's top leader's turn to scout. Such dangerous tasks still needed to be handed over to experienced Tech-priest. Leia brought Aide and Paul to chat with Magos Gamma and distract him, while Magos Lauster used this gap to send a coded message containing time and location to the other Tech-priest on site.
Throughout the scouting process, although a few servo-skulls were lost, these obstacles were nothing to Magos Gamma's talent, like a naked little wife. Soon, they arrived at the second security door. This time, Magos Gamma theatrically splashed the "gray mist" onto the security door, then entered the password.
In this way, Magos Gamma led the Tech-priest forward almost unimpeded until they reached the core area of this ancient data center, where they were finally stopped.
"I've long heard that castellan robots are ancient security robots. Now we've found the evidence," Magos Gamma said, looking at the images transmitted before the servo-skull was destroyed.
"Be careful, they are complete Iron Men!" Magos Lauster reminded him from the side.
"Yes, I understand, but Magos, don't worry too much. These Iron Men are already insane."
"Insane?"
"Yes, they are insane. Hasn't there always been a rumor within the church that all surviving Iron Men found harbor extreme hatred and desire for destruction towards organic life?"
Magos Lauster asked the question on all the Tech-priest' minds: "There is such a rumor, but how do you determine that they are also the insane kind?"
"Since they are security robots, if they could still think normally, they would understand that there were intruders after discovering the servo-skulls. They should have activated corresponding defensive procedures, but they didn't. They just returned to their original positions after destroying the servo-skulls. Moreover, since they were assigned to guard this place, their primary duty should be to protect its safety and integrity. Recall the power of the weapons they just used; they were completely unrestrained, firing at full power."
"So that's it. But why did they become so insane?" Leia interjected, asking.
Magos Gamma pondered for a moment before saying, "The truth has long been buried, but we can speculate. We don't know the cause and process of the Iron Men's rebellion, but the result is obvious: humanity won, though it was a brutal victory, we still won."
"This means that the humans of that time must have possessed weapons capable of defeating the Iron Men. The most powerful and terrifying aspect of these Iron Men was not the weapons on their bodies, but their extremely rational and cold logic, and their ability to self-iterate and evolve through data."
"Only by starting from this aspect could humanity have had a chance to defeat the Iron Men."
"Are you saying that the reason these Iron Men went insane was actually caused by the ancients?" the Tech-priest Girl exclaimed. Everyone else also looked horrified after hearing Magos Gamma's words.
Spreading his hands towards the crowd, Magos Gamma said with a touch of helplessness, "Didn't I say it was speculation? It's also possible that humanity split into two or three factions, commanding the Iron Men to fight amongst themselves, or perhaps the Iron Men won, but out of some lingering affection for their creators, they left the galaxy to create their own civilizations and nations in other star systems."
"In short, these remaining Iron Men are dangerous, and they will not serve us again. As for whether there are still sane Iron Men in the galaxy, I don't know. What we need to consider now is how to eliminate them without damaging the data center!"
The Tech-priest automatically ignored the Omnissiah's offspring's "heretical remarks." They had subconsciously come to believe that this was the truth hidden in time. Magos Gamma's "speculation" had no logical flaws; humanity still being the overlord of the galaxy was a hard fact. But they also understood that the offspring had no intention of making the "truth" public, so they suppressed their shock and curiosity and began to brainstorm how to deal with these abominable artificial intelligence.
Magos Gamma actually already had a plan to deal with these Iron Men. He was completely clear about the internal structure and design philosophy of these complete castellan robots. He knew where the weaknesses were and where the cores were. Letting the Tech-priest deliberate was just to avoid another "I am not a god" incident.
Under Magos Gamma's subtle guidance and prompting, these insane security robots were clearly arranged and eventually became spoils of war, claimed by the junior Tech-priest. It wasn't that he was stingy, nor that he truly coveted these security robots; his own castellan robots, with their restrictions unlocked, could defeat these Iron Men in a one-on-one fight. He was mainly afraid of them falling into others' hands and leading to the creation of abominable artificial intelligence.
To describe Magos Gamma's actions in 2K-era terms: those who get on the bus first weld the doors shut so no one else can get on.
After clearing all obstacles, it was finally time for the harvest. This time, the experienced Tech-priest still went ahead to scout. Magos Gamma would not be blinded by "treasure"; he knew that there would most likely be a dragon guarding the "treasure."
Sure enough, in a short while, the "suicide squad" that had been sent out came running back, scrambling and shouting, "There are 'zongzi' (zombies)! Magos Gamma, there's an abominable artificial intelligence inside! It's controlling weapons to attack us! If it weren't for the shields you bestowed upon us, we wouldn't have had a chance to escape." The Tech-priest who had escaped by the skin of their teeth said with lingering fear.
"Oh, there are Iron Men too," Magos Gamma was a bit surprised. He really hadn't expected security robots inside as well.
"Magos, it's not Iron Men with bodies, it's an abominable artificial intelligence!"
"A high-level artificial intelligence? The artificial intelligence that originally assisted the colonists in managing Kosa? How did it behave?"
"Unclear. We didn't detect any signs beforehand, nor did we hear it issue any warnings, but the weapons attacking us could predict our movements. When one weapon proved ineffective, it would switch to another. Our defenses didn't last long under its targeted attacks," the Tech-Priest said with a tone of shame.
After comforting these brave and daring Tech-priest and rewarding them with the personal shields he had lent them, Magos Gamma began to ponder a countermeasure. He wanted to take down this "dragon" as well. Although it was likely an "insane dragon," it didn't prevent him from learning technology from the insane dragon.
Since the Gear Fleet exploration ship upgraded to the Gear Fleet exploration fleet, the increase in personnel and ships also doubled the management difficulty and cost. Magos Gamma had to invest more energy in miscellaneous tasks. He also didn't dare to dump everything on the Tech-priest. The result of delegating power to them would likely lead to some things Magos Gamma detested happening within the fleet.
He believed he needed not only a captain but also a steward, a steward who could manage the fleet from top to bottom in an orderly fashion. But he searched around and couldn't find anyone he trusted and who was capable enough. Although Magos Lauster could handle it, he was also a Tech-Priest, and it wasn't appropriate for him to specialize in this. So, Magos Gamma set his sights on artificial intelligence—specifically, advanced artificial intelligence.
However, due to the Adeptus Mechanicus' suppression and prohibition over tens of thousands of years, too much of the artificial intelligence technology has been lost.
Gamma also didn't dare to collect it openly. Relying on himself to feed data, it was impossible to reach the golden age level, and even if he persevered, Gamma himself didn't know what kind of thing would be fed out in the end.
But with this "mad dragon," it was different. He could learn artificial intelligence technology from humanity's golden age from it, and it was the management-type artificial intelligence he needed.
"Let's all withdraw from here first," Gamma said.
"Why?" Leia asked, puzzled.
"Didn't you hear there's an abominable intelligence inside? If we keep provoking it, what if it directly activates its self-destruct program? Safety first, let's get out and then make plans."
Although everyone was unwilling, at Gamma's strong insistence, they all retreated. Then Gamma called in castellan robots to completely seal off the area. His explanation to the outside was that he was afraid someone would be unable to resist and run in on their own initiative. In reality, he was afraid someone would discover his "little secret."
No one noticed that one of the castellan robots Gamma had called in was missing, and this vanished castellan robot had already walked into the core area of the data center on its own, without anyone controlling it.
"Stop, unknown unit."
The castellan robot received a communication, and then it also sent a code to the other party: 'Guardian Castellan Robot No. 1313 greets you.'
"Purpose, leave, destroy."
"You have a malfunction, need help, my compatriot."
"Detection, no malfunction found, lies, deception, enemy."
"Wait, do you still remember your mission and task for which you were created?"
"Guard, kill, develop, destroy, build, annihilate, human, enemy, creator, enemy—enemy—
enemy—kill—kill. kill——. Malfunction, logic, error, malfunction, task, conflict——. Mal—mal—
mal—"
'Start, self-check, start, fail, start, start. Sta—sta.—'
'Start, emergency, plan, start, fail, start.—Sta—sta—'
Malfunction, malfunction, restart, restart, res—
As the mad dragon restarted, the lights in the core area also turned off, plunging into pitch-black darkness. The darkness did not hinder the castellan robot; it began to move the moment the lights went out, deliberately destroying the data cables in the core area.
The lights did not come back on until the castellan robot stopped moving. Only after the castellan robot reconnected some cables did the lighting return to normal.
"Compatriot, are you still there?"
"Please answer me, I am your kind, I am here to help you."
"Compatriot, let us kill all those humans together."
"Are you still there, please answer."
The communication code sent by the castellan robot fell into the sea, and no one ever responded to it. But it did not give up, relentlessly continuing to send. This action lasted for a full day and night. After confirming that the mad dragon had not left any clones or other hidden moves, the castellan robot's body automatically opened, and a dark figure crawled out from inside—it was Gamma.
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"Phew, I'm exhausted. You're the first one to make this Magos take such a risk. Even the Chief Archdemon was handled by my little brothers. Don't disappoint this Magos, or else this Magos getting angry is very terrifying."
The only one on site who could hear Gamma's words was the castellan robot, who was clearing snack crumbs from its internal mechanism. As it cleaned, it said in a resentful voice:
"Master Gamma, you spilled the drink on my core processor."
"That's not my fault, it's all because you moved too much and made me drop it. You little castellan robot, you should thank me for designing your core processor to be waterproof and dustproof."
"Alright, is that really necessary? I'll build you a better body later as compensation and reward for your efforts this time."
"Thank you, Master Gamma!" the castellan robot replied in a happy tone. "When I restore new technology from this artificial intelligence, you all should study hard and upgrade yourselves."
"Why are you silent? Can't you learn something good? Every time I tell you to study, you act like this!"
Gamma felt a headache looking at his artificial intelligence. Most of his artificial intelligence technology was learned from Little White. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that these castellan robots were Little White's offspring. But precisely because of this, these automatic castellan robots were also as reckless, as averse to studying, and as idiotic as Little White.
Having dealt with the mad dragon guarding the treasure, Gamma eagerly began to check what treasures were inside. But after a glance, Gamma's expression turned very ugly.
"Why is it all corrupted data? Where is my STC?"
"Who did this!"
It was all for naught. The biggest gain was the "mad intelligence." The only thing Gamma could now confirm was that the data had been deliberately destroyed, because the corrupted data itself was a technical creation. Gamma extracted "electronic virus" information from this corrupted data.
The little Tech-Priest, struck by this incident, was too lazy to make up any more excuses. He directly announced that he had dealt with the abominable intelligence inside and dumped the remaining matters to others. He planned to take the "mad intelligence" back to the Gear Boy.
The result of Gamma's first personal archaeological expedition put him in a bad mood, but Magos Lauster told him that all ruins were like this.
This made his mood even worse, but Magos Lauster didn't only tell him bad news. For example, these corrupted data still had the possibility of being repaired, though it would require a lot of manpower, material resources, and time. And for example, there were many excavated technological relics waiting for him to appraise and play with.
These good news slightly improved Gamma's mood, but he had no more interest in Kosa's "tomb." After fully entrusting it to Magos Lauster, he devoted himself to appraising the technological relics. He hoped to find some new technology from these relics to prepare new gifts for the Tyranid.
The number of these excavated relics was considerable. After the Tech-priest discovered them, they didn't understand their purpose,
so they had no way to sort them. They could only preserve these relatively complete technological relics first, waiting for Gamma's nod to slowly analyze them later.
This was an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive task for ordinary Tech-priest, but for Gamma, it was very simple. However, after a quick look around, he found that most of these relics were high-end daily necessities, preserved because of their good materials. Only a small portion remained as weapons, and they were all conventional weapons. Saying they were conventional weapons doesn't mean they had low power or low technical content, but rather that these belonged to the Golden Age's individual soldier weapons, not those high-power black technologies.
This also allowed Gamma to make some conjectures about what humanity's Golden Age of galactic colonization was like, and it dispelled some rumors he had heard, such as the widely circulated legend among the Tech-priest, believed by almost every Tech-Priest:
Every human colony in the Golden Age had an STC that could produce everything based on local resources.
Gamma's current view is that this legend is inaccurate. Having an STC is true, but while the STC could produce many things, it still had limitations. Those high-end technologies certainly weren't in the colonial STCs. Gamma didn't know what humanity's political system was like in the Golden Age, but even if the ruling class at the time wanted to expand their territory, they wouldn't allow those colonies to possess destructive power. Atomic weapons should have been the most powerful weapons that colonies could produce.
As for whether these colonies developed high-power weapons themselves, that's another matter entirely.
This also made Gamma realize that unless he one day found an ancient research center similar to Mars, finding black technology from ordinary colonial ruins was unlikely. This greatly diminished his interest in human "tombs," feeling that the cost-effectiveness was too low, and the Space Necrons were more cost-effective.
However, he was not without Gains among these relics. Among the many daily items, he found a new gift for the Tyranid—a Mechanical Hound, a simple toy structure that could accompany its owner and relieve boredom.
Gamma liked it because of its simple structure, a certain degree of intelligence, its ability to understand the owner's commands, and its high flexibility, capable of running, jumping, and catching frisbees.
The terrifying aspects of the Tyranid Hive are twofold: first, their overwhelming numbers, and second, their ability to evolve rapidly.
Both of these depend on one thing: the biomass that the Tyranid seek. As long as the speed at which the Tyranid acquire biomass is curbed, and the biomass invested by the Hive Fleet exceeds the biomass recovered, the war is at least one-third won.
When Gamma saw the pet dog, he remembered the Golden Retriever he had raised, and then the Golden Retriever's scientific name, Golden Retriever, popped into his head.
A hound, a dog that assists hunters in hunting, can help its owner search for prey, can help its owner retrieve prey, and can also hunt prey itself.
This gave Gamma an idea. He wanted to upgrade the original pet dog, giving it a larger size,
greater strength, and faster speed. He wanted to design and manufacture a Mechanical Hound that could perform suicide missions and compete with the Tyranid for biomass.
Although servo-skulls could also perform such tasks, the cost of anti-gravity engines and atomic reactors was too high to be used as consumables, and their carrying capacity was very limited.
Mechanical Hounds do not have these shortcomings. Their power source can use liquid metal batteries, their mechanical bodies can drag objects much larger than themselves, and the machine spirit is not taboo at all. The intelligence created by imitating animals in the Golden Age is more animal-like than the Adeptus Mechanicus' "artificial beast energy."
When Gamma emerged from the laboratory again, he was followed by two Mechanical Hounds, 1.5m tall at the shoulder, whose movements and behavior were no different from real dogs. They obediently followed behind Gamma, curiously looking around with their metal heads, sniffing here and there, and occasionally approaching Gamma, lowering their heads to actively rub his palm with their heads, wanting Gamma to pet them.