An... apparently normal Overlord, surrounded by higher-ranking lunatics who had yet to lose their minds, but knew they inevitably would.
The tragedy of the Maynarkh Dynasty was not that they had gone mad. It was that their leaders, such as their Phaeron-Xunbekel-had not yet gone mad.
In absolute lucidity, she watched her Dynasty, her subjects, her everything slide into an irreversible, hideous abyss of blood-drinking savagery.
That lucid despair was the source of the Maynarkh Dynasty's nihilistic desire to "destroy everything."
"I need to leave." Liu Zhipeng made his decision immediately. "Right now. This instant. Before they discover I'm an 'outsider.'"
He turned, ready to find a way to slip back to his repair chamber and see whether he could find a ship...
Just then.
A message.
A message bearing the highest level of authorization "pierced" straight into his core programming.
...Overlord Leo.
Liu Zhipeng's soul tightened.
...Phaeron Xunbekel summons you.
...Immediately.
...The Highest Dome.
The message was cold, brief, and unquestionable.
"..."
Liu Zhipeng froze in place.
Fuck.
How had he forgotten?
He was not an ordinary Necron Warrior. He was an Overlord.
He was one of this Dynasty's leaders.
When the Phaeron awakened, the first people she summoned would inevitably be "senior officials" like him.
"Fuck."
Liu Zhipeng cursed.
Could he refuse to go?
"Fine." Liu Zhipeng took a deep breath-with lungs that did not exist.
"I'll meet her, then."
He straightened his nonexistent collar, his perfect metal body standing ramrod straight.
"It's just meeting the boss, isn't it? I spent three years grinding away as a corporate wage slave on Earth. Why would I be scared of this?"
He strode toward the teleportation beam that connected to the Highest Dome, shimmering with ominous green light.
The Highest Dome.
That was the name of the Maynarkh Dynasty's Throne