Knowledge of Psychic Power

"Always remain humble. Do not let power and knowledge go to your head."

As Qin Mo turned away to focus on his research, Vanessa suddenly said this.

Qin Mo's back trembled slightly. Then he slowly turned his head and stared into Vanessa's eyes. "What did you say?"

"Always remain humble. Do not let power and knowledge go to your head." Vanessa calmly repeated herself.

Had it been anyone else, even Grey saying something so preachy, Qin Mo would have accepted it completely. After all, the words themselves made sense.

But hearing them from a Psyker made them extremely difficult for Qin Mo to accept.

"Do you think I'm in a good mood right now?" Qin Mo pointed at his head. "It's full of disgust and hatred. I can't get along with a Psyker."

Qin Mo knew perfectly well that this hatred and revulsion toward Psychic Power was a side effect of the C'tan power within him.

Not every C'tan hated the Warp so intensely that they could not control themselves, but the differences between C'tan were greater than those between gods and men. It was hardly strange for some C'tan to despise the Warp with extreme hatred.

"You hate the Warp and Psykers? Then shouldn't you study Psychic Power even more, so you can develop weapons to counter it?" Vanessa said as she walked past each piece of equipment. "These tools are astonishing creations. The physical sciences of the material universe are like toys in your hands, but you have no talent for Psychic Power. You can't even sense the existence of the Warp. I'm different."

Hearing this, Qin Mo gave the matter serious thought. In the end, he chose to suppress his hatred and disgust. "Tell me what you know."

Vanessa immediately nodded, then began explaining everything she knew to Qin Mo.

She began with what the Warp was, then moved on to how Psykers used Psychic Power to influence reality, and how they transformed it into methods of attack or reconnaissance.

As Vanessa imparted what she knew, she treated Qin Mo completely as someone who knew nothing at all about Psychic Power. She even explained certain highly forbidden knowledge to him.

For example, the Chaos Gods within the Warp and the powers they wielded.

Qin Mo did not interrupt Vanessa's explanation. He listened quietly, filtering out what he already knew in his mind and focusing on memorizing what he did not.

The explanation lasted an entire Terran day.

Fortunately, Qin Mo was fairly intelligent. Otherwise, Vanessa would have had to break down every piece of knowledge and explain it bit by bit, which would have taken who knew how long.

"A Psyker's power does not come from themselves, but from the Warp. So if one word had to describe the process of using Psychic Power, it would be extraction."

"Have you had any inspiration?"

After finishing, Vanessa quietly watched Qin Mo, waiting for him to ask questions or mention anything he had thought of.

"Psykers themselves exist in the material universe. Before they extract Psychic Power, I can find a way to sever their connection to the Warp." Qin Mo closed his eyes as he spoke in thought, inspiration surging through him.

Qin Mo stopped listening and immediately turned around to record his inspiration on paper.

Vanessa nodded approvingly, then brought up something else. "By the way, does someone like you have to stay in the Tyran System for the rest of your life? The Imperium's warships all use Warp Engines. They have to enter the Warp. Wouldn't you go mad if you entered it?"

"Why do I have to use a Warp Engine?" Qin Mo raised his head and looked at Vanessa.

"Then what do you intend to use? The Webway? Don't make me laugh. An inertialess engine? You might be able to build one, but could you use it? It's not like your entire body is made of metal," Vanessa said.

"I have a better idea. I just need time to research and learn. In my conception, I'll use a faster and more direct method for interstellar travel."

"Oh..." Vanessa nodded thoughtfully, unable to resist asking, "Could you reveal a little... seeing as I taught you about Psychic Power?"

"No."

"I bet you haven't thought of anything at all, have you? You're just talking tough. In the end, you'll still have to use a Warp Engine."

"Yes, you're right."

"..."

Vanessa was utterly helpless. She decided not to press him further and instead gave Qin Mo a warning. "You're lucky. The rebels used a battle to help you weed out suitable trusted subordinates. Nearly all your guards passed, except Grot."

Qin Mo stopped writing on the paper and turned to look at Vanessa.

"He enjoys battle too much," Vanessa said. "You can take this as an attempt to drive a wedge between you, but I'm telling the truth."

Qin Mo fell silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "You're right."

When Vanessa wanted to further warn him of the dangers of enjoying battle too much, Qin Mo pointed toward the door. "Go back to your cell."

"Fine." Vanessa nodded, turned, and walked out of the underground cave.

The guards outside immediately fitted Vanessa with numerous Psychic Power suppression devices, layering them over her body like armor before escorting her back to her cell.

After the person who disgusted him left, Qin Mo devoted himself wholeheartedly to his research.

He worked on two things at once, researching Psychic Power interference technology while contemplating Grot's situation.

Of course, he could not rule out the possibility that Vanessa was trying to drive a wedge between them, but she was indeed right.

Grot enjoyed battle too much.

Compared with the immensely destructive Shoulder Cannon and scatter lasers capable of killing large numbers of enemies in an instant, Grot preferred the gravity hammer.

The gravity hammer was merely a backup self-defense weapon, like a dagger—of little use, but necessary to have.

Yet Grot especially enjoyed using this weapon. What he liked was not firing a shot and blasting a huge crater into a Rebel position, but using the gravity hammer to smash enemies into pulp.

If this continued unchecked, a terrifying outcome might arise: Grot could catch the attention of Khorne, one of the Four Gods.

"Guard, bring Grot back," Qin Mo called toward the door, but no one entered even after a long wait.

Qin Mo immediately sensed that something was wrong. He stepped out to inspect the situation and saw guards sprawled all over the corridor, their snores shaking the place.

Qin Mo hurried to the cell where Vanessa had been imprisoned.

There was still someone locked inside, but it was not Vanessa. It was the Rebel bishop who had fled from the battlefield earlier.

The bishop's body had swollen, yet her vital signs had somehow been eerily maintained. She was still completely alive, and her eyeballs even moved to look at Qin Mo.

Qin Mo could read confusion in her eyes. The bishop had no idea why she was here.

Vanessa must have brought the bishop here, Qin Mo thought.

In less than half an hour after leaving the underground cave, she had escaped and delivered the bishop to the cell. Her Psychic Power was clearly formidable.

But fortunately, no matter how powerful Vanessa's Psychic Power was, she was not an enemy—at least not yet.