New Crisis

The fifth day of the Chapter Master's ritual.

Night.

The crew members were still in the warehouse.

Only Lu Jin and Onaas left the warehouse, heading to the armory under the supervision of a squad of Red Corsairs Space Marines.

"Aels is one unlucky bastard."

"He probably never dreamed he'd be so heavily wounded by Xenos. If you hadn't been there, he'd be dead."

The Star-Claw Veteran leading the squad was the one who went to retrieve Lu Jin from the cruiser after Aels.

He initiated conversation with Lu Jin.

"If I could have held him back, then gone ahead first, for someone as fully augmented as me, a single Xenos would be nothing. He wouldn't have been hurt."

Lu Jin remained silent.

Seeing that Lu Jin was distant, the veteran didn't say anything further. He escorted them to the armory entrance and opened the door, gesturing for Lu Jin to enter.

A warrior stood inside the armory, wearing armor of a model Lu Jin didn't recognize. It was exceptionally heavy, and he held a Power Hammer in his hand.

"Forge Master," the veteran immediately saluted.

From the title, Lu Jin deduced the warrior's name was Amanius.

He was also the one who had transformed Huron into a cyborg.

Amanius gestured for Lu Jin to come closer, then introduced the armor before him.

"Your personalized power armor, based on the Mark VIII."

"You don't have black carapace, so I could only add power conduits to the joints, along with a set of action prediction algorithms I wrote."

"You should be able to move freely once you put it on."

After the introduction, Amanius looked at Onaas, pointed to a suit of mortal armor, and turned to leave.

Navigators were valuable specialists wherever they went, so she would also receive a suit of armor for her protection.

Lu Jin didn't see any weapons. Clearly, Amanius's intention was: use the weapons you got in the arena.

Afterward, mortal attendants entered the armory to help Lu Jin don the armor.

The Star-Claw Veteran waited for a while. "Once you're done, take the Navigator and head back first. I have some matters to attend to. Don't wander off; there are places outsiders aren't allowed."

Lu Jin nodded to the veteran.

After the Space Marines left and he was fully equipped, Lu Jin and Onaas exchanged a look.

"Aels..."

"Shh."

Lu Jin put a finger to his lips, signaling Onaas not to discuss the Lone Wolf here.

"I've scrambled Aels's brainwaves and imposed a psychic suppression, but I don't think it will hold them off for long, because the doctor in the dark green armor is also a psyker."

"I was using my psionics to watch and listen the whole time you were in the arena."

"When Huron became suspicious of your abilities, that doctor said he detected no psychic reaction from you. Perhaps because they believe supernatural events or rapid physical recovery are necessarily caused by psionics."

Lu Jin and Onaas left the armory.

Occasionally, people passed by, but in their eyes, Lu Jin and Onaas said nothing.

"Then you..."

Just as Lu Jin was about to say something, Onaas grabbed his right hand and gestured for him to go to the room next to the armory.

They walked over together and found it was a medical bay.

Through the glass on the wall lay Aels on an operating table, along with two Nurgle cultists from the "Botulism" warband, clad in dark green armor.

"I'll try to see if I can use this moment..."

Onaas slowly extended her hand to touch the glass, gradually focusing her attention.

But this was only an attempt. She didn't rashly project her psionics toward Aels, but first permeated the surrounding environment.

As soon as she did, the two individuals inside the medical bay immediately turned their heads to look down the corridor.

"I thought it was something... that Navigator. Her psionics weren't directed at Aels. Continue the ritual."

"Curiosity killed the cat. If she weren't a Navigator, I'd definitely go out there and punch her, beat her to her knees until she swore never to care about things that don't concern her again."

"Don't be so vicious."

The two inside were talking.

Lu Jin quickly took Onaas away.

"Even this level of probing could be discovered by them."

"It's also my fault for being too weak."

"Aels said he would kill all the mortals on our ship, but my third eye saw him coming over and telling us to leave together."

"I'm not even as good as a Navigator at predicting things, I'm too weak... compared to my mother."

Onaas muttered to herself, nervous and anxious.

"You're still young, and with your intelligence, you'll definitely become the most powerful Navigator in time," Lu Jin comforted her. "I really mean it. All the Navigators I know specialize in their own fields. It's already good if they can navigate properly."

Onaas looked at Lu Jin, forcing an extremely strained smile, just like when she had been hiding behind cover earlier.

Then she became anxious again.

"They are performing a ritual. Once the ritual is successful, Aels might awaken. Huron also said you must wait until he awakens and completes the transaction before making a move. This means we have to stay on this ship until we can act, and we're not even allowed to go to the ship he lent us."

"If he wakes up and speaks, what then?"

"It'll be all over, Chapter Master, we..."

Lu Jin interrupted in a deep voice, "It's fine."

"Do you have a plan?" Onaas's eyes lit up.

Lu Jin nodded, bracing himself. "Yes."

Onaas actually believed this tactic, meant to appease a child.

Next, Lu Jin wanted Onaas to go back first, but the Star-Claw Veteran who had gone to handle matters earlier walked towards them.

"Why are you only getting here now? Where were you just now?" the Veteran asked with a smile, holding his helmet. "Never mind, hurry back to the warehouse. If you had really gone somewhere you shouldn't have, the alarm would have sounded already."

Midnight.

The crew lay scattered in the warehouse. Some tried to sleep, but after closing their eyes for a short time, they would suddenly wake up screaming, saying they had nightmares.

This was inside the Maelstrom, within the Warp rift, the place with the most intense supernatural reactions and Warp influence. It truly affected the mental will of ordinary people.

Someone, not sure who, came up with an idea: they took out the portrait of Lu Jin that had been used during the Greenskins' rampage on the strike cruiser and pasted it on the wall.

People felt at ease when they gathered around the portrait and fell into a deep sleep, no longer affected.

Being used as a guardian deity by others was an interesting thing, and also something worth analyzing.

But Lu Jin really didn't have the mood to analyze anything right now.

Had Aels's ritual perhaps already been completed? Or maybe it was still ongoing and had encountered some error.

But all they could do was wait.

A moment later, the warehouse gate opened.

A Space Marine roared into the warehouse, "Are you the ones who will fight alongside us?! Where is that Fierce Angel?"

Lu Jin stood up and looked at these warriors clad in black armor, guessing they were the warband Huron had promised to lend him.

"I hope you won't drag us down," the warrior said, looking at the crew. "The Black Heart King wants you to take the transport ship to the cruiser we've lent you. Make sure that ship can move."

Lu Jin felt relieved.

No matter what, it was good that they could get to the warship first. When Aels woke up, they could just flee in the ship. As long as they could leave this place, they could go rescue people.

Under Carly's organization, the crew lined up in an orderly fashion and left for the hangar deck.

The crew lined up to board the transport.

The cruiser lent to Lu Jin was positioned on the flank of the Red Corsairs' flagship.

Lu Jin could see the Imperial Fists' insignia printed on the cruiser through the hangar's viewport—a black fist on a white background.

The Imperial Fists were a powerful and well-known Chapter among the Space Marines.

It was the early stage of the Thirteenth Black Crusade. It was estimated that Chaos and the Imperium had already begun fighting, so this ship was likely captured and then came into Huron's possession through various channels.

Lu Jin pondered, then turned to look at the various landing pads on the deck.

The crew were slowly boarding.

After a full solar hour, a transport landed on the deck.

Onaas looked around at the people who could all be taken away by this single transport, then looked at Lu Jin, a smile of relief on her face.

The cabin door slowly lowered.

Lu Jin walked towards the cabin.

"Wait a moment."

A familiar voice suddenly reached Lu Jin's ears. He turned and saw Huron.

"I only told the crew to go familiarize themselves with the cruiser's environment first. I didn't say you should go too," Huron said, looking at Onaas. "Navigator, you and the others board the ship first."

Lu Jin signaled for Onaas to board.

The navigator remained rooted to the spot. Carly hesitated for a moment before pulling Onaas aboard.

"Did you not hear what I said earlier?" Huron asked. "Don't rush. Do what you need to do after my trade is concluded."

After speaking, Huron fell into an eerie silence for a second, his eyes sharpening and an unsettling smile appearing on his face. "What are you in such a hurry for? You're not someone who doesn't understand words... you have something weighing on your mind."

"When you lent me that warband to relay your orders at the warehouse, you didn't mention that only the crew would be going to the warship," Lu Jin replied calmly. "Besides, what could I possibly do by going to the warship? Do you think I can't even wait a little while? After I've already waited for several days."

Huron nodded. "I came for you. The ritual is over. Come with me to Aels. I want him to thank you in person."

Lu Jin didn't hesitate and followed Huron, only glancing back at the transport plane.

Onaas was sensing his thoughts: If the situation changes, you guys go first. Once you leave, I'll find a way to resolve the trouble myself.

After walking a few steps, an old soldier beside Huron took out a communicator, connected it, and handed it to Huron.

Huron stopped in his tracks, smiling as he asked into the communicator, "You guys..."

His words were cut off. Then, his smile vanished, his eyes filled only with anger and dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Lu Jin scanned his surroundings.

"Fine, fine."

Huron threw the communicator back to his subordinate, his eyes fixed on Lu Jin's face.

He breathed heavily, his eyes still holding the anger and dissatisfaction from when he received the call, along with a ruthless glint born from these two negative emotions.

Then Huron spoke, "Wait for me here. If you're not here when I return, the flagship will blast that warship into void debris."