The More the Silent King Opposed Something, the More the Necrons Supported It

Legions with Primarchs and legions without Primarchs are not the same species at all.

The importance of the Primarch goes without saying; it is equivalent to the master control switch for the entire legion, ensuring the purity of the Gene-Seed and enabling the mass production of troops.

The role of the Astartes dictates that they will always appear on the most dangerous battlefields, and war inevitably leads to death.

Although Apothecary can replenish troops by recycling Gene-Seed, the battlefield is constantly changing, and the recycling rate of Gene-Seed is actually not high. Without a stable source of seeds, it is easy for the expansion of troops to not keep up with the consumption.

Among all the Imperial units, the Space Marine are definitely the most cost-effective. Even though their stats aren't the best, they're still quite good at bullying ordinary enemy units, and they can even spawn elite units, or even Space Marine at the mini-boss level.

This is where the true value of the Primarch lies; it is the core of the entire legion, the ovipositor of the broodstock, while frontline combat is merely a secondary function.

The Gloriana-class Battleship, which also serve as the face of a legion, are a standard for measuring the size of a legion; having them or not makes all the difference in combat modes.

Like their predecessors, the Gloriana-class Battleship are designed to deliver decisive blows. Each Gloriana-class Battleship is a mobile city and the Empire's most powerful firepower platform.

With their super-powerful firepower and massive capacity, each Gloriana-class Battleship can carry a huge number of carrier-based aircraft, with firepower density comparable to a fleet. There are even some ruthless groups, such as the Death Guard, who managed to tow a cruiser beneath their own Endurance.

Even though the Abyss-class Battleship later built by the Empire had firepower comparable to the Gloriana Class, they still could not become the Legion Flagship, simply because those steel behemoths had become a symbol of the Legion's tradition and even culture.

Due to the different styles of the legions, the specific attributes of each Gloriana-class Battleship are also different. For example, White Scars's Blade Storm has the fastest speed in the Empire and can even race against Aeldari Corsair ships.

The Imperial Fists, which excels in positional assault and defensive operations, has Eternal Crusade that is significantly heavier than other Legion Flagship, with armor thickness exceeding the standard by nearly one-third, making it a true "Iron Turtle."

This is just the physical difference that arises from the Legion's style. In the Legion Commander thousands of years of use, countless humans have been born, aged, sick and died in these steel behemoths. These steel behemoths have given birth to powerful Machine Spirit. It can be said that every Gloriana-class Battleship is alive.

However, the degree of activation varies. Other Legion Space Marine might suffer if they displease the ship girl's Machine Spirit, but if they are placed on the Abomination Exemplar, it's not just bad luck; the Machine Spirit will actually show up and beat you up.

To give the Abomination a higher level of automation, Mordred implanted the central control core, located in the ruins of Serenity Hive City, into her own ship, which is now the Icarus.

While Mord was running away from his corpse after self-destructing, the Abomination should have been in the Chaos Realm, but the ship itself ran out and went on a rampage in the Warp, consuming Daemon snacks for a full ten thousand years. It had become fully activated and turned into a veritable Daemon Engine.

So when Mordred returned, in order to allow the newly reorganized Atlas to accumulate initial resources, he handed over the Legion Flagship to Goff and had him send people out to transport goods in our own flagship.

This is something that can't be helped. After all, unlike other legions, Atlas's flagship is positioned as an operational hub and research laboratory, with firepower platforms only serving as a secondary function.

In addition, Mordred expanded the Abomination's dimensional pockets, so despite its 26-kilometer length and slenderness compared to other Legion Flagship, the Abomination's internal space is five times larger than it appears.

So for decades, Mordred always sent his flagship out to run errands, and usually only used the Lunar-class Cruiser named New Higurashi for transportation. After all, his flagship ate Daemon like candy, so he had to make the most of it. But he never expected that it would be stolen.

"Goff, I need an explanation! My ship is so big, with so many people on board, and you managed to let thieves steal it without anyone noticing? Are you kidding me? Even a dog on a leash would bark a couple of times!"

Looking at his father's unfriendly expression, Goff knew he had indeed failed in his duty, but the problem was he was truly innocent! It wasn't that they hadn't tried, but rather that things had happened too suddenly, and even now he didn't understand how they had lost it.

"Father, actually leashing the dog is useless; the Dog-men handler on duty has also disappeared."

"What? They even steal dogs? Which dog is missing?"

"Reporting to Father, it's Bane. According to the duty roster, the Dog-men on duty at the naval port at the time were from the Warsong Clan. They were stolen along with their ship. This is the missing persons list."

Goff handed Mordred a Dataslate that clearly listed the missing persons in the theft. Bane's idiotic portrait was first on the list, followed by his good-for-nothing son Gawain, and then the entire Fourth Company was gone.

"I still can't understand it. It's one thing for them to steal the boat, but why would Dog-men on duty? You at least know who stole them, right?"

"Father, I know that. Please check the surveillance footage!"

As Goff activated the holographic projection, a surveillance video appeared in front of Mordred. Judging from the angle, it was filmed at the Serenity Starport entrance and exit station.

In the scene, a dense array of ships are passing through the port in an orderly manner under the command of the central control center, but this is not the focus. The focus is on the military port located in the corner of the scene.

Mordred didn't ask why the naval port footage wasn't used; Goff wouldn't make such a basic mistake. As time passed, the Abomination appeared in the naval port.

Time passed slowly, and through the supply transfer list handed to him by Goff, Mordred learned that the Abomination was loading and unloading a batch of Fenrisian Titan, as well as Stormraven and Mastodon being transported to Baal —mostly heavily armored units.

These heavily armored units will not be moved quickly, as they also need to be loaded and unloaded with spare parts, various maintenance modules, and even maintenance technicians.

The Fourth Company, where Gawain was located, was responsible for being Atlas's cogs, which is why they were transported along with this batch of equipment.

Just as the Abomination, fully loaded with crew and cargo, was leaving the starport, a sudden change occurred. Like a frame-drop attack, the Abomination vanished completely, and the recording timestamp was lost for a full four seconds.

To allow his father to observe more closely, Goff accessed other surveillance footage and eventually extracted an image from the remnants in the brain of a discarded Servitor.

In this scene, the once perfectly normal Serenity Starport is suddenly struck by a dark green celestial body that appears in its airspace. In a very short time, it disables all the observation equipment in the naval port. Countless emerald lightning bolts streak across the void, firmly locking onto the hull of the Abomination and dragging it away.

"Father, this construct is undoubtedly the work of the Necron, and based on the files of the Serenity Riot Squad in recent years, we have identified the suspect as Zalasus, the Silver Skulls Chapter, and Trazyn, the Adeptus Mechanicus Sage accompanying the Crimson Angels Chapter."

What's puzzling is that the two Necron disguised as members of the Adeptus Mechanicus had been lingering in the Serenity for a long time, their activities mainly confined to the Fourth Commercial Street, and they had been holed up in the Hotel Transylvania.

This list is their consumption catalog.

To be honest, Mordred is really confused now. Although Atlas had come into contact with Necron a long time ago, it was by digging up graves, and he had only been dealing with low-end tombs.

But that Necrons construct was clearly not some low-end thing. Only the Emperor or mages could produce something like that; a poor Necron Overlord simply didn't have the qualifications.

Even Mordred didn't know what this construct was, since he had never seen such a high-end thing before.

The menu was even stranger, including a list of services for drinking with customers, and the two customers had paid for all the expenses on more than one occasion. More abstractly, according to staff, these two customers were extremely generous and loved to show off.

Putting aside whether Necron even have the ability to taste alcohol, this drinking service is utterly absurd. What's the difference between this and eunuchs going to brothels?

But more abstractly, these two Necron infiltrated the Serenity space neither caused trouble nor committed any evil; they simply spent their days holed up in the commercial district, indulging in feasting and drinking.

"Are they crazy? They've been coming to my house, eating and drinking like mad for years, all with the goal of stealing my ship and even running off with my Dog-men henchman. What are they after?"

"Perhaps they're after our ship's rarity; after all, the Abomination is alive."

"And what about the Dog-men?"

"Perhaps he likes the food made by Dog-men?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. It's one thing to steal my ship with such a large force, but the purpose can't be that simple. Quickly check what else we've lost."

Goff also found it strange and quickly sent people to continue the investigation. Sure enough, in addition to the ships and the Dog-men duty at the starport, a large amount of supplies were also missing from the cargo warehouse.

"That's more like it. I knew something like this couldn't be that simple. Why are you making that face? Let me see the form."

But upon receiving the list of goods, Mordred couldn't help but display the same strange expression as Goff: "Three standard units of Chaos Energy Crystal, Chagoris specialty milk, Barbarus pie beer, 876 tons of Ant Cow Canned One, 17,000 tons of Reika Coffee, 1,314 bottles of Amasec craft beer—and even 114,514 tons of Magnus Fruit used as raw materials for biochemical agents. It's all food!"

"I don't know, Father, our food warehouses are all empty."

Not only Goff couldn't understand it, but Mordred couldn't either. Because the missing goods were too abstract and hard to associate with Necron who stood at the pinnacle of physics and technology, Mordred couldn't even imagine that this was the target of these Necron thieves.

But none of that matters. What matters is that as Mordred gathers information, he discovers a crucial piece of information. "Chaos Energy Crystal. Their primary objective is Chaos Energy Crystal. During their stay in Serenity, they emptied the black market of all Fel Energy remnants."

The other items were just incidental; the only thing the Necron couldn't produce was Chaos Energy Crystal, and the Abomination happened to have a Chaos Energy Furnace.

"Then Father, why did they steal the Chaos Energy Crystal? It couldn't be—"

Their eyes met, and Mordred nodded at Goff, who seemed lost in thought. "That's right, just as you think. For the Necron, what they need isn't Fel Energy to combat Chaos corruption, but its side effects."

"That explains everything, but there's still one thing I don't understand: what's the point of these two idiots swapping names? Do they think people won't recognize them just because they exchange names?"

Mordred had never seen a thief so brazen in his life. Even when the Atlas picked up unwanted items, they did it secretly. This was blatant robbery.

"Every country has its laws, and every profession has its rules. This Necron is incredibly rude; it's an insult to me."

"Father, shall we go and search for the whereabouts of the Abomination?"

Mordred shook his head, indicating that it would be useless for them to go; this was beyond their ability to handle. Despite the two foolish thieves' abstract behavior, they were genuine Necron Overlord, even a basic Primarch couldn't defeat them.

"Moreover, that Necrons construct is very likely the World Engine, something the Battle Moon can't compare to. Since they've also abducted the Dog-men, it means their motives are impure. Our people should be safe."

"So we're just giving up looking?"

"Why not search? We should search, we should pursue, we should follow the traces of Fel Energy left by the Abomination, but we should pursue slowly."

Pursue them slowly and methodically, ideally letting them experience initial success first.

"Once they taste the benefits, they'll understand why I haven't allowed Fel Energy to spread widely throughout the Empire."

They are not Atlas, nor are they my offspring. All of this comes at a price. I hope they can hold out for as long as possible.

"But my only worry right now is Gawain. You know, Gawain is too honest. That kid has a heart of gold."

Goff nodded. As a veteran of the legion, one of the original members who survived the Unification Wars with the Emperor, Gawain did not have the same strength as his other brothers. He was also quite dull and always liked to tinker with machines.

"Father, rest assured. Whoever dares to bully Atlas, I will make them pay the price."

"No, you might not have understood what I meant. What I meant was that Gawain had better tone it down. Azariah's ambiguous relationship with the Daemon has already embarrassed me enough. If Gawain causes any more trouble, I'm afraid I'll ruin my reputation."

Meanwhile, in the Death World of Tama, far away in the T'au Star Sector, a World Engine suddenly appeared in its celestial orbit.

Upon closer inspection, one can discover that a ship is embedded in the outer shell of this World Engine, and this ship is none other than Atlas's Abomination Exemplar.

On the bridge, four extravagantly Necron Overlord raised their glasses, which contained a liquor made from high-purity Chaos Energy Crystal. On the table were dishes freshly prepared by Dog-men chef. They sat on Mordred's sofa, with Rick Cigarettes dangling from their mouths. Even the blanket that Thomas had given Mordred was draped over their bodies by that bastard Trazyn.

"Hahaha! You all truly have a good capacity for alcohol, worthy of being heroes of the Necron! I, Gawain, am extremely fortunate to have met four heroes. Actually, I've long been a member of the Necron. Look how much we look alike!"

Gawain, whom Mordred called an honest man and who possessed a Gawain of gold, was not bullied. Instead, he sat in Mordred's seat and entertained the four Necron.

In terms of etiquette, Gawain was impeccable, the complete opposite of the extremely crude Atlas. Even if he were the Son of the Emperor, there would be no fault in him.

As for Gawain saying they look alike, they do look somewhat alike. After all, the Fourth Company is made up of Techmarine. Although they are supposed to be Iron Warriors, their style is more like Iron Hands, with the highest level of mechanization in the entire legion.

"Although I am Atlas, I don't protect my own. Serenity's cooking is mediocre and not presentable. It just so happens that Bane and his crew used to hang out with the Iron Warriors. They should try this stir-fried oat noodles with millet, the authentic Olympia recipe."

"Hahaha, how wonderful, how wonderful! Now you understand, old general, I told you I would definitely not let you lose money this time. These human things are just great."

I don't know who it was, but we brought such a good deal to him, and not only did he not appreciate it, he even called us crazy. Don't you think so, Zalasus?"

When his name was called, Zalasus nodded frantically. His already not-so-bright brain had become even wiser after absorbing too much Fel Energy. His Living Metal perfectly mimicked the wise expression of his left eye standing guard and his right eye on watch, one eye big and one eye small.

"That's right! The path to salvation for us Necron lies within it."

Ever since I discovered the wondrous uses of Fel Energy, I knew that we, the Necron, would surely be revived, and we would no longer have to be those lifeless, empty Necron.

Look at the wonderful soul within me, and these rich and colorful eyes capable of discovering any beauty in the world. This is not a false signal simulated by a logic array; this is a genuine feeling.

And Zalasus, the Unnamable, is none other than Kiya of extraordinary wisdom! Hahaha----"

After taking a sip of the Fel Energy elixir, Zalasus was incredibly high as the Fel Energy, rich in life force and soul essence, evaporated, and she grabbed Gawain and started dancing.

Gawain didn't hold back at all, clinging to Zalasus and dancing back and forth, even performing a pas de deux.

As the initiator of the entire theft plan, Trazyn, although a powerful ruler and the wealthiest ruler of the Nihilakh Dynasty, could not produce a weapon as powerful as the World Engine, which was extremely rare even during the War in Heaven.

So he approached his good friend Orikan, wanting him to help him secure sponsorship, and this bigwig was none other than General Zahndrekh.

As for why Trazyn didn't seek sponsorship himself, isn't that obvious? Although Trazyn prides himself on being a protector of civilization and a collector of all things in the world, he is still self-aware and knows that his reputation is not good.

The reason for choosing Zahndrekh was that this crowned general was easier to talk to. He hadn't even stolen anything from him yet. If it had been any other Necrons general, he would have been cleaved in two before he could even open his mouth.

Looking at the smug Trazyn and Zalasus in front of him, Orikan felt quite ashamed, especially since there was a group of Atlas who had inexplicably gathered at the table.

Orikan didn't know why, even though these Atlas were human, these strange creatures didn't treat them as enemies. Instead, they stared at them with a chilling gaze, and some even drooled.

"That's enough. If you hadn't knelt down and begged me right away, I absolutely wouldn't have helped you."

"But you still chose to help me."

"That's because you begged me! (Very loudly)"

All of this was observed by the old general. As a highly renowned Necron general, the Biotransference had a strange influence on Zahndrekh's thinking; he still believed himself to be a general with flesh and blood.

Even after he awoke from his slumber, he still regarded the Orks and the Aeldari army as his rebellious kin, and the Tyranid as a swarm of the Beast released by the enemy. He couldn't even distinguish what humans were, thinking they were just a small, Necron.

After all, according to the old general's observation, the average human lifespan is less than 30 years. If someone lives even shorter than Necron, then they must be Necron.

The fact that he could sponsor the universally hated Trazyn, the eccentric Orikan, and the neurotic Zahndrekh of Zalasus meant he wasn't exactly a normal Necrons. As for whether he was truly suffering from dementia, perhaps only he himself knew the answer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I will not keep this glory to myself. Cheers to a brighter tomorrow!"

"Cheers!"

After downing a cup of Fel Energy Essence, all the high-ranking Necrons present felt an indescribable pleasure, as if their brains were starting to grow.

Taking this opportunity, Trazyn asked a question he had always wanted to, "General, why did you initially refuse, but then agree to my request for help?"

Upon hearing this, Zahndrekh sighed rather humanely, glanced at Orikan, and said, "When Orikan found me, I initially refused, but at that time I was on the phone with the Silent King."

Originally, I, an old man, didn't want to get involved in your affairs, but then the Silent King said it was just a childish game, a foolish act that could never be accomplished.

"I admit there was an element of gambling involved, but history has proven the Silent King's incompetence. Whatever the Silent King opposes, we Necron must support."

"Oh, this----"