Emperor's Angel

The Great Rift.

Outside the Atilan's Gate route.

The Great Rift was like a massive wound, and the route was the part of that wound that had yet to split apart.

It was a thin strip, stretching across the Great Rift like a bridge.

Warp Storms raged and spun outside the bridge, while things remained relatively calm within it.

The bright half was called the Imperial Brightside, where Terra's radiance could be seen.

The dim half was called the Imperial Darkside. Even starlight was nearly swallowed up there, leaving only eternal darkness.

Only by passing through the route could one cross the Great Rift and connect the bright and dark sides.

The two routes were also known as the Imperium's throat, or its lifeline.

The Imperial Navy guarded the routes.

All ships traveling between the bright and dark sides had to queue here for inspection.

When Lin En and the others arrived, they saw a line stretching so far they couldn't see its end.

All kinds of ships—commercial, civilian, and military—had to pass through here.

Transport ships, cruisers, giant freighters, pilgrim ships, troop carriers, fuel ships, food ships... Every model imaginable was packed together in dense ranks.

The running lights on the ships joined into one expanse, like a river of stars in the night, all queuing for clearance to pass.

An Imperial Navy fortress ship blocked the entrance to the route, guns loaded and ready.

The forces of Chaos often came here to cause trouble, so the Imperial Navy's guns were genuinely ready to fire at any moment.

The Imperial Navy required the queued fleets to keep their formations neat and uniform, their ranks tight and orderly, and not to move recklessly.

The anti-aircraft gun arrays on the deck scanned in different directions, every weapon swiveling back and forth.