"I see."
I watch as the hologram of the Emperor flickers in front of me. After the conquest of Barbarus, I decide to give him the report directly, and I see him surprised by it.
"... You know who they are, Theodore?"
"Yes. They are the cancers that grow in the Warp, tempting others to worship them as Gods."
"Good. You know their true nature then. You are right. They are cancers that are hard to get rid of. However, our Great Crusade will be the scalpel that gets rid of them."
"By banning religion."
"Yes."
"You know that will not work, right? Human nature will always believe in superstition. Sooner or later, there will be hidden sects and cults that worship made-up Gods because that is the foundation of our nature. We seek answers, and many of us will seek them from power they don't understand."
"And what do you want me to do, my son?"
I blink for a second when I see his expression. I can see a hint of desperation in his eyes. It is as if he has already exhausted everything in search of an answer. This is the first time I've seen him like this.
"I've searched for a way to lead humanity without believing in them, my son. I search for an answer in the highest peak and the lowest pit for a way for humanity to be free. However, there is nothing. This is the only path with the highest chance of success."
"Have you attempted to create more blanks? We are the opposite of the Warp and a perfect counter to them."
"Do you think I haven't thought of that? I have, but the result is not good. Out of 10 million test subjects, only 0.5% survive and have the Blank Gene. If we turn the entire population into Blank Gene, there will be no more humans to conquer the galaxy, and even then, the chance of their descendants having the same blank gene is close to zero."
I think I can change that. If I use my powers to connect their souls into mine, I can siphon the faith away from the Chaos. However, I decide not to tell him that for now and say.
"Then what do you want to do when one of my sisters encounters them? I know for a fact that one of them has a strong connection to the Warp. Even from here, I can see her psychic power as she sails through the Warp, and I can feel one of the Four Cancers try really hard to keep her location from my sight."
"What?!"
The Emperor suddenly shouts, and I feel a slight tremor in the Warp. Holy hell. He is angry, and his anger is so powerful that the Warp shudders a little. I can feel his psychic presence in the Warp getting stronger. Not only that, golden light spread through the Warp as the Emperor searched for one of my sisters. I guide him through the Warp, coating his psychic power with my unique power.
Instead of breaking the protection of Tzeentch, it allows him to sneakily enter the barrier by opening a small hole for the Emperor to pinpoint the location of Magnus.
I watch his expression change from burning anger into cold fury. I see him wave his hand, and suddenly a bright golden light washes over the Warp. It condensed and wrapped around Magnus' pod. I can hear anger and frustration echoing from the Realm of Chaos.
That is music to my ears.
I look at the Emperor in awe because this is the first time I've seen him go all out. What I just saw cannot be described in words. His power is deep and ancient. It is powerful, yet controlled. He perfected psychic power from years of training and meditation. If that power is unleashed, it can cause a lot of chaos.
As expected of the strongest psker humanity has ever produced. There is a reason the Chaos Gods fear him and want to make him the Dark King. They cannot allow someone as strong as him to prevent them from accessing Realspace.
The Four Chaos Gods are not all-powerful, and they will make sure no one is able to contend with them. I've read that they are omnipotent beings, so powerful that, in the end, nothing can fight them back in my previous life.
That is bullshit.
Take Tzeentch, for example. He is known as the all-knowing, and if he wants to win the Great Game, he will win immediately. However, many people forget that Tzeentch is also the God of Lies and Schemes. He lies just like he breathes. The God of Lies wants people to think that he is all-knowing, so they feel helpless fighting him. When they feel helpless, they are more easily corrupted.
They are not Omnipotent or Omniscient. They are hard to kill, or maybe even impossible, with ordinary means, but they are not omnipotent, or the Galaxy would have been ruled by them a long time ago. They would have prevented the Emperor from even being born, as they would have known about his power.
"Thank you for notifying me about this problem, my son."
"No problem. Hearing the scream is music to my ear."
"Indeed. For your great deeds, I shall grant you the right to take over the planet Barbarus as the Void Stalkers' fortress world. In fact, I shall designate your legion as the High Command of the Segmentum Tempestus region and grant Barbarus the status of Segmentum Fleet Base."
That is huge. Being granted the position of High Command at a Segmentum Fleet Base allows my Legion to hold the highest military authority in this Segmentum. Not only that, but with this, I can assign people to key civilian positions to gain full control over the region.
And then I can prevent the Mechanicus from entering this Segmentum.
"You cannot ban the Mechanicus, Theodore."
Tch. He noticed that, huh?
"Fine. However, they cannot set foot on Barbarus. They can enter the system, but never the planet itself. Lastly, I don't want them forcing their way to obtain the technology we create. Those are ours, and we will not let them steal them. However, we are more than willing to let them learn from us as long as they leave the Mechanicus and completely join the Eternitus Realm."
"That is acceptable."
"While we are here, I also want to report something we built. We are constructing something called the Communication Array. It allows communication across the galaxy without relying on the Warp, where messages can be interrupted by Warp Storms or other Warp-related things."
"Oh? Tell me more."
Seeing his interest, I happily explain how the megastructure works and how it enables instant communication across the galaxy. I also tell him that they don't need to megastructure for every system and only need a relay to strengthen the signal between systems. When I am done, I can see him smile and say.
"I want one in the Sol System. However, I don't want the entire structure. I want the relay instead of the megastructure. I also want you to allow the Mechanicus to handle this machine."
Before I can say something, he raises his hand and continues.
"I know you don't want them touching your technology, my son. However, we need to offer them a carrot. They are a populace that worships machines and needs re-education, but they still hold vital positions in the Imperium. We cannot afford a civil war just yet; we are not ready. The Great Crusade is ongoing, and your sisters have yet to be found. We need them to feel as though they still hold influence in the Imperium. Giving them this chance to feel acknowledged will be vital for the growth of the Imperium."
"And that is why you want a relay instead of the whole megastructure. It isn't that big of technology for them to steal."
"That's right. With the relay in the Sol System, we can use the megastructure in the Barbarus System to communicate across the Expedition Fleets. Not only that, but the Mechanicus will also back down from your legion for a moment because of this."
I think for a second and nod.
"Very well. I shall let the Red Rats handle the relay and even allow them to scan the machine to reverse engineer it. As long as they do not break the machine, I will allow them to handle the relay."
"Perfect. Now, let's talk about your legion's next orders. With the emergence of the Forces of Chaos, I need your legion to oversee the cleansing in that Segmentum. I know it is a tall order, but I trust you. If you encounter even a sign of chaos cultists on the planet… kill them all."
I nod and watch as the hologram disappears. Ana walks toward me and says,
"So, shall we send someone there, Theo? For the relay, of course."
"Send a group of diplomats to Terra to send the blueprint of the relay. As much as I don't want to let the Mechanicus have their grubby hands on our technology, my father is right. We need to show that we not only know how to use sticks. We also need to show them that we have juicy carrots for them."
"I think so as well. They will learn a lot from the relay, but it is not the best that we can offer. In fact, according to our calculation, we can let some of them defect to pure science if we keep angling our technology to their faces."
"Hmmm… You are right. Ana, prepare a plan that lets them peek at some of our smaller, weaker technologies when the detachment from Mars arrives. Let's dangle more carrots for them to sniff and lure them into the joy of innovation and creativity."
And there is a perfect person to lure over to our cause. He is someone who wants to innovate, but is forbidden by the faction he chooses to follow. Belisarius Cawl will be the perfect person to lure to our side.
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