Warp Dream

Fu Qinghai arrived at Ogedei's personal armory once again.

However, this time he was accompanied by Ogedei.

Ogedei, seated in his wheelchair, reached out to stroke the bone-white power armor, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

The power armor possessed the cold, concise, and bulky style characteristic of high-tech military equipment, yet its details—the edges of the armor, the chest plate, and the pauldrons—featured ornate, Gothic, religious-style metal decorations. This organic fusion of two contradictory styles was the unique Gothic-punk aesthetic of Warhammer 40K.

The same style could be found on the warships, Titans, and architecture of the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40K.

Ogedei turned his head toward Fu Qinghai and said, "This is the only set of MK4 Maximus Power Armor in the entire Brotherhood. Are you ready?"

Fu Qinghai nodded firmly: "I am ready!"

"I don't need to explain its functions to you, do I?"

"I have already memorized them by heart."

This was no boast. Although he had never worn power armor before, Fu Qinghai had been trained according to the requirements of a Master of the Forge (a more senior Techmarine) by Master Kunto. Despite his relatively short period of advanced study, he had already thoroughly mastered this iconic equipment of the Space Marines.

"Very good," Ogedei said, "Follow me to the training cage."

Inside the training cage, several servitors surrounded the tall Fu Qinghai.

Before donning the suit, Fu Qinghai had meticulously polished and maintained the power armor, and he had painted the red symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars—a skull surrounded by a gear—onto the right pauldron.

This indicated his status as a Techmarine.

In reality, this symbol was not the true mark of a Techmarine; the true identifiers were the massive servo-arms extending from both sides of the power backpack. The mechanical arms clawing behind his back were the real signifiers of a Techmarine.

But unfortunately, there was no specialized Techmarine power armor on the Dagger.

So, Fu Qinghai had to make do with what he had.

After all, Ogedei had already given him the newest set of power armor on the Dagger.

As for the left pauldron, it bore the lightning bolt emblem of the White Scars Legion, specifically depicted as a red lightning bolt piercing a golden horizontal bar with red trim.

Fu Qinghai felt this emblem looked somewhat similar to the logo of Shazam from the DC Universe.

He wondered if, after putting on the power armor, he would suddenly shout "Shazam!" with one arm raised to the sky, only for a bolt of lightning to strike him down and turn him into a muscular hunk in a red spandex suit and white cape.

Fu Qinghai took off his robe, revealing his lean, powerful physique clad only in shorts.

On his chest, abdomen, and back, two iron-gray circular metal ports were embedded into his skin.

These added a touch of ferocity to his sturdy frame.

These metal ports were the interfaces generated by the Black Carapace beneath his skin, used to link with the power armor.

With the assistance of the servitors and mechanical arms, Fu Qinghai donned the full set of power armor.

Fu Qinghai lifted the helmet with both hands, slowly placed it on, and gave it a gentle twist, sealing the helmet to the neck guard.

The scene viewed through the visor changed abruptly.

Small green arrows appeared above the heads of Ogedei and the servitors in front of him.

This was the IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system at work.

Fu Qinghai shifted his focus, and the view changed again; the clear image became blurred, and Ogedei and the servitors were rendered as deep red outlines with yellow edges.

This was the thermal imaging view.

Beyond that, there were also targeting assistance systems, vehicle fire control systems, and more.

Fu Qinghai moved his arms, feeling this "second skin of a Space Marine," and nodded with satisfaction.

As expected of equipment tailor-made for Space Marines, Fu Qinghai found that once he put it on, it was as responsive as his own limbs, just as the legends claimed, requiring almost no break-in period.

Over the next few days, under the guise of sparring with his comrades to familiarize himself and build rapport, Fu Qinghai challenged the other Space Marines of the company one by one.

Having studied under Albuslang, the Brotherhood's premier master of cold-weapon combat, Fu Qinghai occasionally lost at first due to his unfamiliarity with the others' techniques and patterns. Soon, however, he began to dominate with his superior strength, remaining undefeated throughout the Dagger.

The frigate Dagger was not large, and there was no racetrack inside for the White Scars to race their bikes. However, when the frigate occasionally slowed down while passing through asteroid belts, Fu Qinghai could don his power armor, mount his jetbike, and head out for a spin, enjoying the thrill of space racing and leaning into turns on asteroids—a truly three-dimensional racing experience.

Soon, the ship's broadcast announced that everyone should return to their respective cabins and duty stations.

They were preparing to enter the Warp.

Fu Qinghai returned to his rest cabin, washed up, and sat on the edge of his bed.

He could not see anything outside the frigate.

Suddenly, he felt a tremor run through the floor, the ceiling, and the surrounding fixed facilities.

Ogedei had told him that this was a sign of the warship's core reactor outputting energy at full capacity.

It usually happened when the warship needed to fire all its weapons at once or was sailing at maximum speed.

The tremor came and went quickly, and the rest cabin soon returned to calm.

Nothing happened.

Fu Qinghai shrugged and fell asleep.

Fu Qinghai slowly woke from his slumber.

He frowned, muttered something, and rubbed his face in a daze.

Ever since he had ascended to become an Astartes, he had almost never experienced a feeling like this.

The feeling of poor sleep quality.

His head felt heavy, throbbing with a dull ache.

Fu Qinghai shook his head, stood up, and walked into the washroom.

He cupped a handful of icy cold water and splashed it onto his face.

Fu Qinghai looked up at himself in the mirror; his eyes were bloodshot, his eye bags were dark, and he had short stubble—he looked utterly exhausted.

What was going on?

Fu Qinghai was just about to examine his facial skin more closely.

Hm?

His eyelid twitched.

Just a moment ago, his peripheral vision had caught a glimpse of the corner of the mirror flickering.

Fu Qinghai reached out and pressed his hand against that corner of the mirror; the surface clearly reflected his thumb.

There was no problem.

He turned his head to look behind him.

There was nothing there either.

How strange... Fu Qinghai muttered to himself. He had the impression that something had flashed across the corner of the mirror, but he couldn't see it clearly. It was like playing a AAA game on an antique monitor with an old graphics card, carrying an indescribable, mosaic-like blur.

Fu Qinghai returned to the bedroom. Just as he reached the bedside, he suddenly heard a low call coming from outside the cabin door.

Fu Qinghai frowned and walked to the door to listen intently.

"Qinghai... hiss... Qing~hai..."

In that instant, the blurred voice flooded his eardrums, sounding both very far away and very close, as if someone were whispering directly into his ear.

Fu Qinghai instantly pulled away from the door.

For some reason, his mind failed to consider one question—

His name was "Locke" in the Underhive and on Chesilatan, and "Qingshan" after his ascension; no one here knew his real name was Fu Qinghai.

Fu Qinghai felt a bit muddled in his head, but the conditioned reflexes honed by long-term training still caused him to immediately open a box by the bedside and pull out a bolter.

He quickly racked the slide to chamber a round and aimed it at the cabin door.

Holding the gun with one hand, he pressed the cabin door release button with the other.

The cabin door slowly slid open to reveal a pristine white corridor, completely empty.

A breeze blew in from outside the cabin door, and goosebumps rose on Fu Qinghai's calves.

Cold.

Even though Fu Qinghai was currently wearing nothing but a pair of tight athletic shorts.

Yet, this sensation still surprised him.

Ever since he had ascended to become a Space Marine, he hadn't felt cold for a very long time.

It seemed to be a kind of... chill emanating from the depths of his soul.

Fu Qinghai stepped out of the cabin, his muzzle following his gaze as he searched the corridor.

To the left, a person wearing the legion's white uniform with red trim was walking slowly away from him with their back turned.

The form-fitting uniform outlined a graceful figure, with short black hair tucked behind their ears.

Fu Qinghai narrowed his eyes. There were very few female mortal crew members on the frigate Dagger, and he did not recall any crew member with such a slender and tall build.

He aimed his muzzle at the back and spoke:

"Halt, soldier."

The figure paused.

"Turn around," Fu Qinghai continued.

The uniformed figure remained unmoved.

"I am the Space Marine Qingshan. I order you to turn around, soldier!" Fu Qinghai emphasized his tone.

The crew member slowly turned, revealing a face with a mocking smile.

Seeing that face, Fu Qinghai's eyes widened in an instant.

It was an exquisite, oval-shaped Asian face, with a long, slender nose and long eyelashes... but there were no pupils in the eyes.

It was his ex-girlfriend from his past life on Earth.

The woman grinned, and as she smiled, her face began to distort, twisting as if it had been dragged around by various lasso tools in Photoshop.

"Outsider..." A low, hoarse, inhuman voice emanated from the woman's mouth, which was split all the way to her ears.

"Who are you?" Fu Qinghai gripped the hilt of his gun, forcing himself to steady his mind.

"Outsider..." The monster before him ignored Fu Qinghai's question, continuing to speak to itself:

"I am chewing on your memories; your soul does not belong here..."

Hearing this, Fu Qinghai stopped thinking and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang!"

Fu Qinghai jolted awake from his bed.

He was drenched in sweat, gasping for air.

Fu Qinghai looked around at the familiar bed and walls.

It was a dream... Before Fu Qinghai could collect his thoughts, a massive pounding on the door echoed through the room.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sound was as loud as a pile driver slamming against the door.

Before Fu Qinghai could even get up, the cabin door swung open.

Ogedei and Talal walked in, leading a blond young man with a white cloth wrapped around his forehead.

The three of them looked at the sweat-drenched Fu Qinghai on the bed, and Ogedei asked:

"Vanriel told me he detected massive psychic fluctuations coming from your cabin. What happened, Qingshan?"

Fu Qinghai looked blankly at them and said, "I just had a dream..."

"A dream? What kind of dream?" Talal asked, following up.

"I dreamt of a woman, a woman wearing a White Scars crew uniform with a very strange face. She said to me... she said..." Fu Qinghai trailed off, truly not knowing how to explain what followed.

Unlike the hazy confusion of the dream, his ability to think had returned the moment he woke up. Words like "soul does not belong here" and "outsider" clearly indicated that the monster in his dream had learned he was from Earth by reading his memories.

There were two other obvious pieces of evidence: the monster called him "Qingshan," and the face the monster had manifested was that of an ex-girlfriend from his previous life on Earth.

"...I forgot."

"Forgot?" Talal and Ogedei asked in unison.

"Yes, my head hurts so much right now, I can't remember anything." Fu Qinghai feigned pain, rubbing his temples with both hands.

The two Space Marines didn't know what to do and looked toward Vanriel, who had remained silent.

Vanriel stared at Fu Qinghai for a moment and said:

"Qingshan's body is fine. I do not detect any psychic fluctuations on him, and there is no scent of the Aether here anymore. Everything has vanished."

Ogedei and Talal exchanged glances, unsure of how to react.

Finally, Ogedei could only say to Fu Qinghai: "Rest for a while, then go see Master Kunto to have your physical condition checked."

They then left.

After the three had gone, Fu Qinghai rose from the bed and went "once again" to the mirror in the washroom.

In the mirror, aside from the damp sweat on his face, he had no eye bags, no bloodshot eyes, and no stubble. He looked clean and healthy.

Fu Qinghai braced his hands on the vanity and began to think.

The frigate was currently traveling through the Warp under the protection of a Geller Field. As an outsider who had read the official Warhammer 40K novels, he understood the truth about the Warp better than Ogedei, Talal, and the others.

The essence of the Warp was a projection of the emotions and consciousness of all sentient beings in the universe.

It was not just endless, violent energy; it contained consciousness, living beings, and even... gods.

The Aeldari had their gods, and the Orks had their gods.

Humanity... perhaps had them as well.

Until the Horus Heresy tore away the Warp's hideous veil, the Imperium of Man's understanding and utilization of the Warp remained at a relatively superficial level.

It was limited to astropathic communication and Warp Jump.

However, other races—the Aeldari, the Old Ones, the Orks, and even the humans of the Golden Age (which the Imperium officially called the Dark Age) or certain lost human colonies—possessed a much deeper understanding of the Warp.

Fu Qinghai's own interpretation of the dream was this: some powerful Warp entity had noticed him and forcibly bypassed the shielding of the Geller Field to speak with him.

That entity likely hadn't reached the level of the four Chaos Gods—that would be giving himself too much credit, as those four generally only concerned themselves with exceptional heroes or the most extreme villains among humanity.

But it couldn't be a common Warp creature either, like a warp-ghost or a psychic parasite; these mindless, low-level Warp entities generally couldn't penetrate a Geller Field.

It must have been a lord-level Warp entity.

With no further leads, Fu Qinghai decided to stop thinking about it. In any case, the frigate would be exiting the Warp soon.

In the warship's corridor, the three walked side by side.

Ogedei asked the question again: "Vanriel, are you certain Qingshan has no psychic talent?"

Vanriel nodded: "I am certain he does not."

"Then how do you explain what just happened?" Ogedei asked immediately.

Vanriel fell silent.

The blindfolded, tall, thin, yellow-haired young man seemed unsure of how to explain it to Ogedei, or perhaps he was simply organizing his words.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "Do you believe in magic and sorcery, Captain Ogedei?"

Ogedei replied bluntly, "There is no need for that, Vanriel. The White Scars have plenty of Librarians; the great Stormseer Yesugei is seen as a so-called wizard in the eyes of ignorant mortals. We Chogorians are not like some of the blind fools on Terra; we are well aware of the existence of the Path of Heaven, and we revere it."

Vanriel nodded and said slowly, "That is good. Then, Captain Ogedei, do you believe that... living beings exist within the Warp?"

"This..." Ogedei was choked for words.

If it were the Ogedei who had just joined the Great Crusade, he would have scoffed at the notion of demons or monsters existing within the Warp.

However, following the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the observations made by Qin Xia and the others on the surface of Prospero, and the astropathic fragments arriving from the Battle of Signus, many rumors had slowly begun to ferment within the ranks.

Vanriel did not wait for Ogedei to formulate a response, continuing directly:

"When I was a child, I saw vague records regarding Warp entities in the ancient texts preserved in the library of our House Vanriel. I do not know if those records were true or false... but if you are asking me for an answer, I believe that is it."

Having said this, Vanriel turned and headed back to his cabin.

He left Ogedei and Talal standing there, left to ruminate on the implications of those words.