He needed a hiding place that was absolutely safe, impossible to discover, somewhere even the Phaeron's "Faceless Ones" could not find.
He brought up the Dynasty's internal map and began searching.
"The energy grid? No, that's a war zone." "The noble tombs? No, the civil war will reach them any moment."
His gaze finally settled on a region of the map... the oldest, darkest region, marked "sealed."
Zero Reclamation Station. This was... the entire Dynasty's central junkyard.
A place where the remains of all the Necron Warriors damaged in battle, scrapped, or formatted over hundreds of millions of years had been dumped.
A... graveyard of metal.
"There's no better place to 'play dead' than a graveyard."
Liu Zhipeng activated his last long-distance Phase Shift.
"Xunbekel, take your time and enjoy yourself. Once your guests arrive... I'll come back."
His figure vanished from the ancient communications hub, silently disappearing into the mountains of cold metal remains.
Meanwhile, at the edge of Segmentum Tempestus.
An elegant, sharklike Aeldari vessel, dark red from prow to stern-the Blood Sail-hung quietly in the void.
On the bridge, the pirate prince Khael toyed with a Spirit Stone in his hand.
His spirit-seeing Prophet, a veiled woman, trembled with profound unease.
"Prince, it's a trap!" Her voice flickered like a candle in the wind. "I saw... endless darkness, cold murderous intent... and... lies. That letter reeks of lies!"
"Oh? Does it?" A playful smile appeared on Khael's handsome face. "Lies. I like lies. Lies often conceal the most tempting truths."
He rose and walked to the star map, where the coordinates of the Maynarkh Dynasty flashed an ominous red.
"'Khaine's tears of blood'..." he murmured. "What if it's true? Even if there's only a one-in-ten-million chance... a Necron Tomb World, newly awakened and caught in civil