Divining Alicia

After the war council concluded, Nimrod's consciousness returned to the Shadow of the Throne.

After leaving the rune array set up by the Astropath, he returned to his office.

Nimrod then traveled to the "Nation of Disorder" to confirm that the Dice of Prophecy were fully charged, and he decided to divine Alicia's fate.

Although he also wanted to take control of Ganadir ahead of time, the war in Ganadir wouldn't start until 869, and the star system was not yet within the Imperium's sights.

On the other hand, Nimrod considered that the Old Man in Yellow might entrust him with the war against the Squats, so it was not advisable to take action against Ganadir at this time.

He knew that the Gardinal had a relatively complete history since the "Age of Strife." Over five thousand years, they had resisted countless invasions by powerful alien enemies, and even grew stronger and fought back, having a certain influence on several neighboring star systems.

Gardinal possessed a strong industrial base, and its ruling class was a warlike and capable military aristocracy.

In Nimrod's memory, although they negotiated with the Imperium, it was merely a pretense, and there was no guarantee that war wouldn't break out.

Once war breaks out, it is difficult to preserve complete industrial facilities while controlling losses.

Nimrod knew that Gardinal not only possessed the Rhino and Predator variants of the STC, but also could mass-produce quadrupedal mechs as tall as, but larger than, the Warhound Titan.

Each walking mech was comparable to Titan from the "Flame Pattern" Legion, and their numbers overwhelmed the entire Titan Legions.

The Gardinal people also possess formidable top-tier combat strength; they have life-extending technology that surpasses that of the Imperium, and their trained Warrior are rich in combat experience.

The most powerful of the artificial Psyker can even use Psionic Energy to briefly mind control Manus.

Then came a Lord of Gardinal, whose lifespan exceeded three thousand six hundred years. This assassin, with incredibly rich combat experience, launched an assassination attempt against the Primarch. Combined with mind control, he once put Manus in a rather awkward position.

Had the Lord of Ganadir not acted recklessly, claiming to know everything about Manus and igniting his fury, the battle might have lasted even longer.

[It must be said, Lord of Gardinal is truly brave; neither the Old Man in Yellow nor Fulgrim would dare claim to know everything about Manus.]

Nimrod chuckled softly, then gathered his thoughts and returned to Gardinal himself.

He believed that only the "Iron Hands" meticulously directed by Ferrus Manus could seize all industrial facilities with minimal losses.

During the "Great Crusade," in addition to conquering the Industrial World, Manus, together with the Tech-priest, collected various technologies from the Galaxy.

He discovered a vast amount of technology from the "Dark Mechanicum Era," including forbidden technologies and equipment scattered throughout the Vaults of Mimir across the Galaxy.

Possessing advanced technology and formidable armor, the "Iron Hands" was able to swiftly defeat the Gardinal under Manus's calculations, ensuring that countless industrial facilities around the battlefield remained unaffected.

The Vaults of Mimir was also the main object of Nimrod's divination after the Great Birthday Celebration.

Although he didn't know which planets and locations they were on, a small team he sent to the "Iron Hands" would record the worlds that the 52nd Expedition Fleet had visited.

With certain information, one can perform divination. Combining the Dice of Prophecy, Nimrod believed that at least a few of them could be found.

Robert Guilliman's computational abilities during the war were inferior to "Iron Hands," and he lacked the advanced weaponry developed by Manus and provided by the Tech-priest, making it impossible for him to quickly defeat the Gardinal.

He will win after paying a heavy price.

The First Legion possessed many forbidden weapons given to them by the Old Man in Yellow, but those weapons were difficult to control, and they couldn't perform comprehensive and meticulous calculations like the "Iron Hands."

After their victory, they will leave behind vast ruins, and Gardinal's production capacity will be severely damaged.

Preserving an intact industrial facility like Manus is no easy feat.

But I know about Gardinal's situation, and I have Beyonder that can be utilized and are capable of doing so.

The operation against Gardinal should have been carried out before the Second Rangdan War, and considering post-war recovery and preparations for war with the Rangdan, it should have been conducted at least five years in advance.

After pondering the matter of Gardinal, Nimrod quickly recalled the information he knew about Alicia.

[Alicia is a verdant, civilized world, with countless barren moons, gas clouds, and asteroid belts within its galaxy.]

...]

Besides the enormous profits from its role as Warp route, the complex environment of the galaxy, which facilitates concealment, is also a major reason why pirates frequent this region.

After quickly reviewing everything Nimrod knew about Alicia, he silently recited it in his mind.

[A star map from Osiris to Alicia.]

...]

After silently reciting it eleven times, he reached out and threw the Dice of Prophecy in his hand.

After the triangular cone tumbled several times in the air, it landed in Nimrod's outstretched hand, and a scene that looked like a holographic projection appeared before his eyes.

After recording the star map, Nimrod input it into the Data Crystal.

He then returned to the real world and had "Machine" John perform a divination.

The Brainy Cat picked up a pen and paper, gripped the quill pen tightly in its paws, and began to write quickly on the parchment.

John silently repeated the sentence, writing down the information on the paper over and over again.

After reading it eleven times, John grabbed the parchment and leaned back on his wooden bed.

The machine conjured a sphere of light in its mind, its eyes turned deep black, and it quickly entered a meditative state.

The surroundings suddenly became ethereal, and there seemed to be invisible things and colorful light extending endlessly above.

The "machine" allowed itself to fall into a deep sleep in this state, its consciousness wandering in the Warp and gaining Revelation.

Everything began to blur; the "machine" was half conscious and half dazed.

In Distortion, illusory world, the "machine" saw countless slender, elegant warships sailing towards the verdant planet.

Before John became a "monster," he had vague memories of Khaine -Han Craftworld, when he often saw those warships flying by.

Now, possessing intelligence comparable to that of Astartes, he can clearly recognize that it is Aeldari warship.

At the same moment, Nimrod saw John's Dream Divination through a telepathic connection.

As expected, Alicia was once again plundered by Aeldari Corsair.

If the timing is right, this is an excellent opportunity to win the loyalty of the Alicia.

Thinking of this, Nimrod immediately went to the Third Layer Space, his Spirituality spreading towards the golden sphere of light.

He saw Howard Fender sitting at the table, examining a report on Data Slate in his hand.

Nimrod confirmed that no one was around. With a thought, he pulled Howard into the "Nation of Disorder".

As the black mist rose, Howard found himself engulfed by it. He looked up into the depths of the mist and, sure enough, saw the Black Emperor seated on his throne.

"My lord."

Nimrod nodded slightly. "How is Osiris doing?"

"The situation in all eleven star systems has stabilized; the last time the Osiris Mind-Seed was discovered was ten Sun months ago."

With a thought, Ning Nimrod used Telekinesis to send the Data Crystal to Howard.

"Set off immediately for Alicia, the perfect recruiting world for your Chapter."

"The Alicia have accumulated rich experience in ship-to-ship combat during their long struggle against pirate attacks; they will be excellent naval officers and Sailor."

"Rapid strikes combined with rail and air support are their effective way of dealing with cunning pirates. Your Chapter should recruit talent in this area and form the 'Alicia Airborne' as Auxilia to fight alongside the Chapter."

Howard caught the Data Crystal in his hand, bowed, and said, "Yes, my lord."

After Nimrod returned Howard to Osiris, his Spirituality spread, touching the shimmering blue orb.

He saw Santiago Bergkamp, lying in a white medical pod.

[I asked him to figure out how to open the Carium Gate; could he have been injured during the mission?]

Hmm, it seems that Lion originally went to great lengths to open the Carium Gate; there might be some kind of danger involved that neither Daemonology Psyker nor "Trickmaster" Santiago could handle.