Successful Decapitation

"Everyone, chant the name of the Holy Machine and pray to it! It heals our damaged bodies, it will repair our shattered souls!"

The Mechanicus members inside the Golden Ram heard Pavian shouting.

Chants in the name of the Holy Machine began to echo within the warship, slowly growing in unison.

SCVs scattered all over the warship also moved into action. Without receiving any commands, they took the initiative to step forward and repair the ravaged mechanical bodies of the tech-priests and mechanics.

Meanwhile, Gao Yi's projection in the Warp also lowered its own power—the power to purify and devour Warp energy.

The Warp energy that sustained the infinite proliferation of the corrupted code slowly began to transform into the psionic crystals in Gao Yi's pocket.

Gao Yi was surprised at the harvest of psionic crystals. 50k? A full 50k?

The simultaneous harvest of psionic crystals briefly left Gao Yi's body unaccustomed to the surging power. Looking at the alloy handrail crushed to pieces by his grip, his physical strength grew this time far more than all his previous gains combined.

As the corrupted code proliferated and divided, it also copied that portion of Warp power.

A single piece of code might be tiny, but countless numbers of them combined were quite substantial!

And the corrupted code, having lost its ability to proliferate and divide, also began to be deleted.

For these tech-priests, this time felt long.

In the world of their consciousness and data, they relied on the power of the Holy Machine to fight against these corrupted codes.

Pieces of blasphemous code were deleted, and the tech-priests' self-awareness began to take the lead.

The blasphemous knowledge in their minds began to dissipate, and those indescribable images began to shatter.

Before their eyes, the real world returned once again.

Until the very last piece of corrupted code was deleted, their consciousness successfully returned to their own bodies.

Looking at the SCVs waiting right in front of them, the tech-priests knelt. Their inner conviction grew stronger; a branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus that was previously just a prototype was truly born at this moment, and the tech-priests firmly solidified their faith.

Gao Yi also discovered that these tech-priests could actually share vision, just like warped units!

However, it seemed not all of it was good news. Originally, Gao Yi's Warp projection was not strong within the endless Warp, and no Chaos Gods had discovered his presence.

Yet with the confrontation against Vashtor, this lesser Chaos God of the Warp also discovered his existence.

Gao Yi knew he was targeted by this fellow...

According to the universal conservation law of smiles in all worlds.

Smiles do not disappear; they merely transfer.

So Gao Yi smiled, and someone was going to cry.

Zesta was having a mental breakdown. He clearly sensed that the corrupted code he created had already begun to copy and proliferate, successfully hacking into the processors of these tech-priests.

But why? All the code vanished, and the power originating from Vashtor also left him.

At this moment, his mind was filled with the urge to escape from here. Without even saying a single word to Canto, he headed straight for the elevator.

Canto also seemed to realize something.

"Zesta! I curse you!"

Canto pulled out the bolter at his waist. He was not going to have a good time, so Zesta shouldn't even think about it either!

Yet before he could pull the trigger, he found that all the cybernetics Zesta had implanted in him had gone on strike.

Right now, he couldn't even manage to blink.

"I was the one who installed these powerful implants for you. Do you really think you can use what I gave you to deal with me?"

Zesta used a single laser beam to pierce straight through Canto's head; Canto had lost his value to him.

Upon seeing their Rogue Trader killed, the Sureyas Dynasty soldiers on the warship immediately drew their weapons and launched an attack on Zesta.

Yet the bullets and lasers fired were all blocked by a layer of Deflector Shield.

Moreover, every counterattack from Zesta was fatal.

Arc weapons directly roasted the victims into charred charcoal, those facing soldiers holding chainswords were melted into nothingness by melta, and the most painful were those cut in half at the waist by axes, who could only agonizingly wait for death.

In a short while, apart from Canto, not a single living person remained on the bridge.

"Such fragile flesh and blood."

Just as he intended to finish off Canto and then head off to take the pre-prepared shuttle to leave.

A bullet struck Zesta's deflector shield.

Following that, this bullet burst forth with an energy shockwave.

Under the impact of this energy, the deflector shield actually failed completely?

"My deflector shield?"

Just as the deflector shield vanished, a locking round hit his body once again, and he found that he, just like Canto earlier, was pinned in place.

Norris dropped his cloaked state and appeared before Zesta.

Looking at the corpses littering the floor, as well as the two individuals unable to move, Norris spoke into his communicator.

"Captain, mission accomplished. Canto is dead, the enemy warship has completely lost its command capability, and there is also a Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priest here. He is the one who killed Canto; they had an internal conflict, and I sensed corruption emanating from him."

Norris had already been lurking here before Zesta made his move, only choosing to act once he saw Zesta wipe out all the crew members.

Otherwise, it might have required some extra effort.

Zesta stared at Norris before him. He hadn't detected the opponent at all, and the combat suit on the enemy's body actually rippled with psionic light.

When had the Empire ever cultivated such a warrior?

Zesta was still unwilling to give up. As the effect of the locking round gradually diminished, his body began to shift slightly.

However, Norris had no intention of giving him any chances. He put away the C-20A, drew his psionic glaive, and walked over to Zesta's side.

"Don't move around. Wait for the great captain's arrival."

Then Norris severed Zesta's mechanical limbs.

Down on the lower deck, Damon's battle had ended. They had delayed the forge fiend's pace, and with more and more rangers coming to reinforce them.

Under the onslaught of a pile of melta grenades, even a demon machine as formidable as this could only harbor eternal regret on the spot.

"It's over! Canto is dead!"

"Dead?"

"Yes, and the source of the Chaos corruption was captured alive."

Ian found it unbelievable. How long had it even been? There should still be quite a few soldiers left inside the enemy warship, right?

Ian had originally thought that the boarding party Gao Yi sent out were expendable pieces. After destroying important facilities, they would be overwhelmed by the massive number of soldiers inside the opposing ship, and the battle's outcome would ultimately be decided by the warships. As a result, you're telling me those boarding parties were the force that decided the victory?

Just how many troops could you even send in there? The enemy warship had at least several thousand soldiers, and not only did they win, but they also achieved a decapitation?

At this moment, Gao Yi and his dynasty rose by several more tiers in Ian's evaluation.

He already intended to re-evaluate the Mongert Dynasty in his report.

Even if it cost a certain price, he had to win them over.

"Ian, can you help me with something?"

"You want me to help?"

"That's right. Use your identity as an Inquisitor to help me persuade the enemy's remaining warships to surrender. Their Rogue Traders have been subdued, so their fighting spirit probably won't have much left."

"The Inquisition cannot interfere in disputes between dynasties."

"This is no longer a dispute between dynasties, and I'm not asking you to do it in my name, but in the name of the Inquisition! What you need to tell them is that their Rogue Trader violated imperial law by contacting heretical knowledge! Make them give up resistance and submit to an investigation!"

"If it's like this, I can help you!"

Gao Yi knew that if he were to say it, the loyalists to the dynasty within the opposing warship might still put up a fight.

But if those words were spoken by an Inquisitor, the nature of it would be completely different.

Gao Yi did not want to wage meaningless battles anymore. Rather than chasing down and destroying the enemy warships, he preferred to capture them. Every single warship was immensely valuable—not to mention those frigates, the opposing Tyrant-class cruiser alone was enough to make his strength surge massively.

Every cruiser was an absolute fortune to a Rogue Trader dynasty.

Scarcely any dynasty could bear the cost of losing a cruiser.

Sure enough, when the communication request was sent to the enemy warships, the crew inside chose to temporarily believe it upon seeing an Inquisitor. A newly risen dynasty lacking deep heritage like Sureyas also had fewer die-hard zealots.

Only a single stubborn frigate chose to resist. Yet it could neither run nor fight, ultimately sinking into the void.

"What a pity, it was a frigate after all!"