Two Heads, Two Wills

While Rachel carried out her operation, Chen Xi and Ovilia continued exploring the Necron tomb.

The Canoptek Spider destroyed by the Flayed Ones had become Ovilia's prize, and she was quite satisfied with the haul.

But because of that, her attitude toward this operation had become somewhat aggressive, as though she wanted to gain even more.

Chen Xi, however, remained calm. He knew perfectly well that with the limited armed force they had brought, if they truly woke the skeletons in the tomb, they would all be wiped out in one go.

It was not that he was timid. They had already discovered an intact stasis chamber, within which more than fifty Necron Warriors lay dormant.

Those Necron Warriors alone were enough to pin Chen Xi, Ovilia, and the squad of Sisters of Battle Chen Xi had brought here to death.

Even if Chen Xi was a Psyker capable of taking on a hundred foes with psychic power, it would make no difference.

As a race that had once fought the Aeldari and the Old Ones, the Necrons had far too many methods for dealing with Psykers.

Not to mention that the Necron tomb they were currently in had itself been built from blackstone capable of suppressing psychic power. Chen Xi could barely use any powerful psychic abilities here.

So when Ovilia excitedly attempted to do something to the stasis chamber, Chen Xi stopped her and had two Sisters of Battle press their boltguns to her head.

"Tech-Sage, I hope you can remain calm and remember what I told you before." Chen Xi's expression was icy. He did not treat Ovilia politely, nor did he hold back simply because she was currently the only Tech-Sage he could contact and cooperate with.

Facing the two boltguns pressed against her head, Ovilia showed no sign of nervousness. She merely raised a plasma rifle with one of her mechanical arms and aimed it at Chen Xi's head as well. "Governor, you are violating our agreement. You should be assisting me in excavating this ruin!"

"No, we agreed that this trip was only for an initial survey." Chen Xi showed no reaction to being held at gunpoint. Though the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere made him somewhat nervous, the qualities of the Inquisitor whose body he possessed still kept him composed. "And you are the one tearing up the agreement by trying something reckless when you know it could awaken this tomb's defenses, Tech-Sage."

Chen Xi was not incapable of understanding Ovilia's thoughts. After all, a room full of xenos machinery and a Stasis Field that could function flawlessly for sixty million years were enormously tempting to Tech-priests.

Even if Ovilia was a Bio-Sage.

But understanding and support were two entirely different things. Chen Xi could not allow Ovilia to act recklessly and awaken the Necrons within this tomb, perhaps even plunging the entire planet into war.

Do not think that was impossible. When Tech-priests excavated tombs and dug up graves, they never considered the consequences. They cared only about whether they could obtain what they wanted.

As for the price the Imperium would pay, that had never been within the Tech-priests' scope of consideration.

After all, the two heads of the Imperial Aquila had never shared one will. During the Great Crusade Era, the Emperor had been able to subdue Mars, and the Primarchs could likewise hold the upper hand in negotiations with Mars.

But the High Lords of Terra did not possess that capability. Today's Adeptus Mechanicus was more like an independent collaborator standing on equal footing with the Imperium than a part of the Imperium's own forces.

Though the Adeptus Mechanicus had long become inseparable from the Imperium, just as the Imperial Aquila had one body and two heads, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Imperium had never been of one mind.

Thus, when the Adeptus Mechanicus acted, it never considered what losses the Imperium might suffer because of its recklessness.

That was precisely why Chen Xi had always been wary of Ovilia doing something rash, stopping her the moment she showed signs of impulsiveness.

In response to Chen Xi's accusations, Ovilia neither explained nor defended herself. She merely began charging her plasma rifle.

Seeing this, Chen Xi drew his Plasma Pistol and began charging it as well.

The Sisters of Battle Chen Xi had brought also aimed their weapons at Ovilia, looking ready to focus fire and incinerate her the moment she dared try anything.

Just as both sides had been stretched to their limits, yet neither was willing to take the first step back, a rustling sound suddenly came from the nearby passage.

With astonishing synchrony, Chen Xi and Ovilia both aimed their weapons toward the source of the sound and pulled the triggers together!

Two brilliant pale-blue plasma bolts streaked forward, illuminating the passage and allowing them to see what had made the noise.

It was a swarm of metallic beetles roughly the size of a palm. A green-glowing sphere sat on each of their backs, and the connected green lights looked like a carpet glittering with stars as it rapidly spread toward Chen Xi and the others.

"Form up! Engage!" Chen Xi gave the order swiftly. While repeatedly pulling the trigger, he also glanced at Ovilia. "We need to go, Tech-Sage!"

As she stared at the metallic beetles carpeting the passage, intense unwillingness appeared on Ovilia's face. Yet she ultimately did not persist. While controlling the weapons she carried to fire, she said to Chen Xi, "I brought melta bombs. Blow up the chamber and take whatever we can carry!"

Hearing Ovilia say this, Chen Xi gritted his teeth before finally agreeing. "Make it quick!"

He did not continue insisting, because the main reason he had proposed exploring the tomb in the first place was to salvage things from the Necron tomb that could be sold for money.

Though they already had a Canoptek Spider as a guaranteed prize, Chen Xi still hoped for greater gains.

Seeing Chen Xi agree, Ovilia hurriedly had the servitors she had brought enter the stasis chamber and plant the melta bombs.

Although using such powerful explosives, meant for destroying armored vehicles, would melt most of the items inside, they could not worry about that now.

Because in the passage, apart from the surging Scarabs, two enormous Canoptek Spiders had also revealed themselves.

Aside from their terrifying combat capabilities, the Fabricator Claw Arrays equipped on those colossal constructs could repair damaged Necron units.

As the two Canoptek Spiders advanced toward Chen Xi and the others, he noticed that the Canoptek Scarabs that had originally been destroyed on the ground were being repaired as the two giant spiders moved forward.

Not only that, their abdomens were continuously deploying newly produced Canoptek Scarabs.

This forced Chen Xi to shout at Ovilia, "Tech-Sage, we're out of time!"

Chen Xi's answer was a deafening explosion.