The True Winner

In the fourth Sun month of 852, on the bottom floor of the Forge-Ship, Arsena Dunn, dressed in pure white armor, entered the Ancestor Shrine.

Nimrod was aware of Arsena's arrival the moment he stepped into the Ancestor Shrine.

He turned his head and saw that Arsena's armor was covered in runes.

The black runes on the chest and abdomen are the same as those on the Grimnyr Magos.

His arms are adorned with Aeldari Fire Dragon Rune, while the runes on his legs are derived from Xenos Rune such as the Flao.

As Nimrod saw Arsena approach, he asked, "Are you satisfied with the armor forged for you by the Lord of the Forge?"

"My lord, I am very satisfied."

"This armor combines Rangdan's personal energy shield, the Squats' Shield-Weave technology, and Leijin Alloy, providing protection similar to Power Armor without hindering movement."

"That's because I don't have the same special needs as Malena."

His left hand hovered above the black energy stone at his waist. "Through experimentation, I've found that activating the Warp Circuit increases the power of my Psionic Energy spells by twelve percent."

"After activating the Aeldari Fire Dragon Rune on both arms, the power of fire-based spells will increase by another fifteen percent."

Nimrod nodded. The "White Tower" Pathway, before advancing to Sequence 6 "Scholar," didn't have any special requirements.

Only after being promoted to "Scholar" will special needs arise based on the ability to learn, analyze, and master knowledge.

Arsena's current special needs all stem from Psionic Energy, especially the Fire Dragon Rune.

Nimrod could see that the fire dragons engraved on Arsena's arms were incredibly lifelike, with powerful energy hidden within their crimson color, clearly indicating that the Psionic Energy materials and techniques used were top-notch.

Although there are many Psionic Energy artisans in the Legion, only two have this level of skill.

Santiago comes from the Bergkamp House, a lineage of Psionic Energy artisans, but he has just assumed the position of Lord of the 5th Legion and is busy repairing the Caluhm Gate space station, so he obviously won't be here.

That leaves only Gell, a tech-based Psyker from the Kasai family, who forges Force Sword.

"Engraved for you by Gell Quastá?"

"My lord, you are right; it is indeed him."

"The research on the Jormungandr Star Monolith has yielded some new progress, and Gell has been ordered to come and report."

"I will see him in person later," Nimrod, looking at the Primarch's Primarch's Attendants holding the Data Slate. "But the Imperium has reached an agreement with the League of Votann."

"After lengthy negotiations, the Imperium representatives and the League of Votann reached an agreement," Arsena said with a gleam in his eyes and a broad smile.

"The League of Votann is willing to join the Imperium and contribute its manufactured weapons and equipment to the Imperium. It is worth noting that the representative of the Ministry of the Administratum has specified a minimum production capacity of only 1.5%."

"Although the League of Votann's production capacity of 1.5 percent is comparable to most of the Imperium's Industrial World, the minimum share we subsequently reached was 4 percent."

Nimrod nodded slightly. The strength of the League of Votann had indeed secured them very favorable conditions.

As he pondered, the Primarch's Attendants continued to report, "The League of Votann has assembled an Iron Oath, numbering twenty thousand Hearthkyn."

"The Squats, having just experienced a major battle, are recovering very quickly."

"Aside from the warships that need time to be built, their numbers should have recovered to at least half." Nimrod was not surprised by this at all.

"The dead Squats will return to Votann, and their memories will become data, forging the future Hearthkyn."

"Their bodies will become materials, thrown into the furnace, and forged into new Hearthkyn using Clone Tapestry Technology."

"All the Squats know they were born from the Forge, they fully accept the process, and consider returning to Votann an honor."

Nimrod sighed, "For any Hearthkyn, the greatest punishment is being banished and losing the right to return to Votann."

"I see. No wonder the League of Votann was so confident and took a tough stance against the Imperium representatives," Arsena remarked.

"While Mars did not obtain Standard Template Construct during the negotiations, it did gain the right to visit and learn from its experience."

"The League of Votann has granted them access to some of the factories; how much they gain depends on the abilities of the Tech-Priest."

The conditions agreed upon by the Imperium and Mars were roughly the same as he remembered.

In a normal war, the Imperium gains nominal obedience and a small amount of production capacity, while Mars gains some technology.

"Iron Warriors" acquired the technology to manufacture stable Plasma Gun, and "Thousand Sons" obtained several runes that gathered Warp energy from me, as well as knowledge of the history of Squats.

The real Winner is me. The Squats possess conventional technology, most of which I obtained from Votann. The League of Votann, with over twenty star systems, boasts four percent of the production capacity, comparable to most Forge World. I also have trading priority and preferential treatment, a single star, and at least fifty thousand Iron Oath.

As Nimrod pondered, his Primarch's Attendants reminded him:

"My lord, the Legion is about to depart. You previously designated the Ramillies-class Star Fortress as a future trading location with the League of Votann. Should we arrange for the Shadow of Order to be stationed there?"

After a moment's thought, Nimrod instructed, "Order the First Chapter to select an adjutant to remain in command."

A moment later, Gell entered the Ancestor Shrine and stood before the Primarch.

"Father, we have made initial progress in our research on the second stone chamber. We Analysis a portion of its contents, specifically the method for creating an anti- Psionic Energy field."

"We then discovered a large matrix in the area below the stone chamber's control; when activated, it forms a force field covering a vast area."

"We couldn't be sure whether activation would lead to uncontrollable consequences, so we didn't act rashly."

"Do not activate the control runes." Nimrod knew that activating the anti- Psionic Energy field within the Jormungandr Star Monolith would not trigger the same consequences as the Pariah Nexus.

After the "Great Rift" unfolded, the interstellar travel of the Cybelax subspace storm was not affected.

The anti- Psionic Energy field is designed for replicating ships; once activated, it could trigger a chain reaction, prematurely activating the Necrons artifact.

While Nimrod was pondering, Gell continued his report.

"To create an anti- Psionic Energy field, a substance called Blackstone is needed."

"Within the Jormungandr Star Monolith, there is a portion of stored Blackstone. Our first finished product has already been transported to the Shadow of the Throne."

"Because the technology is not yet mature, this device is the size of a tank, requires at least one Terra-hour to activate, and its effective range is only one kilometer centered on it."

Although the anti- Psionic Energy field generated by the Jormungandr Star Monolith cannot eliminate Warp Storm, the energy field created by its technology can isolate Warp to a certain extent, making it remarkably effective against Psyker and Devil.

"I understand," the "Baron of Corruption" stared at Gell, "You have mastered the power I bestowed upon you?"

"Father, I think so. After I absorbed a large number of Necrons runes into my mind, I always feel a melting sensation within my body."

"I think I'm a true 'Savant' now."

Gell, promoted to Sequence 8 "Archaeologist," left three days later to return to the Jormungandr Star Monolith to continue his archaeological work on ancient artifacts from the Necrons tens of millions of years ago.

The fleet of "Shadow of Order" set sail, departing from the League of Votann.

Among the black warships, fourteen heavy, dark gray warships stood out conspicuously.

The smallest of these warships were the same length as Imperium cruisers, but with a much thicker hull.

Twenty thousand elite Hearthkyn, fifty thousand Ironkin, and one hundred and thirty thousand miners and craftsmen left the center of the Galaxy for the first time.