Plans

Chapter 45: Plans

Six hours passed.

After struggling for a long time, Qin Xia finally managed to install a controllable backdoor into the automaton processor.

However, Qin Xia gained two things from this arduous process.

First, he gained a better understanding of the security automaton technology used by the Nuceria.

Qin Xia discovered that while the technology used by the security automatons appeared quite advanced, it hadn't been lost to time for a reason in Nuceria's slave society, which placed little importance on the popularization of technological knowledge and the cultivation of scientific research talent.

This was because its designer had canceled out many potentially expandable functions, freeing up a lot of structural space to serve its ease of use and design.

When Qin Xia opened the processor, he found that every component was marked with bilingual labels in both the Nucerian language and another Latin language.

This allowed Qin Xia to understand that the processor was a central hub integrating a vast number of functions.

Furthermore, to write anything for it, such as action logic, programs, backdoors... or anything else that required coding, one simply needed to find the area marked as the logic module in the processor's center and write down the requirements.

For example, if Qin Xia wanted to make a security automaton farm or mine, he could write job-related terms in any human race's natural language, such as "mining automaton, mining robot, mining laborer, resource extraction laborer," and the processor's built-in programs would then write the relevant functions internally.

If it were just a matter of wish-based program writing, Qin Xia wouldn't have spent six hours.

But he wanted the processor to be remotely controllable by him, capable of disguise, and able to hack into anything he needed – not just automatons, but also equipment, sentry guns, or any other damn thing.

So, most of his time was spent modifying the processor.

This was the first gain.

The second gain was Qin Xia's increasing proficiency in using his psychic power.

Without a research environment comparable to a laboratory, or any equipment, observation and modification were extremely difficult.

Qin Xia learned to use his psychic power to accomplish tasks that would normally require instruments and equipment, and he found the results to be unexpectedly good.

The experience gained in using his psychic power during this process also brought Qin Xia one step closer to his long-held goal: to no longer be limited by specific applications of psychic power, but to use it at will, just as one uses chopsticks and cups for eating and drinking.

At will.

If an ordinary psyker dared to do this, it would be akin to them thinking their head was too heavy and they wanted to get rid of it. But Qin Xia could use his psychic power in this way.

"Just one last thing."

Qin Xia put the processor into his backpack and looked towards the outside of the manor.

A large number of lights illuminated the manor.

Praetorian Guards were approaching the manor in formation.

Some combat automatons, intelligent vehicles, and other similar assets were also gathering, preparing to advance towards the manor behind the Praetorian Guard formations.

There was no doubt that the commotion at the manor had been discovered, and the nearby troops were now moving to protect the nobles.

It was also possible that something on Elon's body had emitted a signal after his death.

In any case, Qin Xia was certain that he was about to face a siege.

He was looking forward to it.

Half an hour later.

The Nucerian forces, equipped with advanced weaponry but possessing extremely backward military systems and tactics, finally managed to gather about a thousand men near the manor. After ensuring that all thousand were ready for combat, the search of the manor began.

Their military system was incredibly primitive.

They appeared to be Praetorian Guards, but only a small portion of them were true Praetorian Guards, like those with Silver Vine.

The vast majority were slaves and personal guards of the Praetorian Guard soldiers.

These rudimentary Praetorian Guards attempted to find the family members, guards, or anyone else connected to the head of the gladiatorial arena, and then provide them with protection.

Their purpose in coming here was to discover that the manor had been invaded and to protect the nobles.

But after searching for a long time, the manor was silent, and they found nothing.

The officers within the Praetorian Guard shouted orders, but no one responded, even as enemies lurking in the shadows could launch a decapitation strike at any moment.

Qin Xia did not attack them for the time being; instead, he was making the final preparations for his visit to the manor.

He picked up explosives from some of the bodies on the ground and draped the cloaking device previously used by the person in charge over his backpack.

The cloaking device couldn't conceal Qin Xia's body, so he chose to use it to cover what he valued more – the spoils in his backpack, the datapads filled with digital books, and the processor he had just modified.

With preparations complete, Qin Xia stood in the shadows of the highest floor of the manor building, looking down at the enemies searching the manor below.

They were the last objective Qin Xia intended to complete at the manor.

Since entering the gladiatorial arena, Qin Xia had considered various future plans.

What should he do after escaping the gladiatorial arena with Angron and the gladiators?

Escaping the gladiatorial arena was not just an escape from the arena itself, because he had long realized that the arena was not the most brutal hell in Nuceria, and the enemies within the arena were not the most terrifying enemies the gladiators would face.

So, Qin Xia had figured out what to do after escaping the gladiatorial arena.

Occasionally, ships could be seen passing by in the skies of Nuceria, beyond the confines of the gladiatorial arena.

Therefore, Qin Xia's first plan was to devise a detailed strategy for escaping the arena, forcibly boarding a ship, and seizing control of it.

If the ship couldn't make Warp jumps and was only used for communication between planets within the Nuceria system, then they would find a normal place to stay on one of the other planets.

If the ship could make Warp jumps, even better.

Qin Xia decided he would find a way to act as a Navigator himself, leading all the gladiators on a long journey.

The destination of the journey was Macragge—the heart of the future Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, a place that was even now well-governed and civilized.

At that time, Angron could grow up and cooperate with Guilliman, and if the surrounding regions of Nuceria were conquered in the future, then during Horus's rebellion, the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar could form some kind of mutual defense pact with Nuceria.

This was one of Qin Xia's plans for the future, titled: "Operation Macragge Relocation."

There was another plan: to fight the slavers to the death on Nuceria.

If they absolutely had to stay and fight, the gladiators and rebels... they couldn't engage in guerrilla warfare; this was due to objective environmental and material conditions.

Any act of sympathy or assistance towards the gladiators by the civilians of Nuceria would be met with extermination-level punishment from the Nuceria slavers, who didn't need civilian support at all.

Therefore, Qin Xia conceived a plan called "Decapitation."

This plan involved him, Angron, and other gladiators skilled in combat forming a small team to carry out extermination-level strikes and retaliations against the slavers on Nuceria.

Leveraging psychic power, leveraging the Primarch's astonishing individual combat prowess.

Just like now, entering a noble's estate, killing them, and then escaping under the pursuit and encirclement of numerous armies.

This was the last thing Qin Xia intended to do in the estate.

To attempt and learn how to break out of an army's encirclement after completing a "Decapitation" strike, utilizing his psychic talents and all available resources.

"Psykers are dangerous."

"Instability isn't the only reason they're viewed with hostility... even those of moderate skill among them can cause terrifying destruction, capable of doing terrible things that many soldiers combined couldn't."

The teachings of the Librarium echoed in Qin Xia's ears.

Qin Xia took a string of explosives, bound by rope, from his backpack and hung it across his chest.

Frost spread across the rooftops of the buildings.

Qin Xia's eyes were filled with a pure white light, like snow, as he looked down at the Praetorian Guard below, whose witch-detectors were beeping.

"Now I'll show you."