Chapter Summaries

Su Ming and Efferal discovered that the Necrons were assembling a warship around a pyramid, where Efferal sensed their target beneath it. They infiltrated the pyramid and found the Tomb King anxiously awaiting progress on the C'tan's seal as its curse spread across the Crown World.

• Su Ming warned Efferal to conserve her psychic power in case they faced a shard of the C'tan.
• Su Ming and Efferal emerged into a vast underground city where Necrons and Crypt Technicians were assembling a warship around a pyramid.
• Efferal sensed their target beneath the pyramid, and Su Ming led them toward its entrance under Cloak's invisibility.
• Su Ming and Efferal slipped past the pyramid's guards and entered the underground palace.
• The Tomb King awaited news about the C'tan's seal, while its spreading curse threatened to erase all matter on the Crown World.

Deathstroke and Efferal infiltrated a Necron pyramid and attacked a Pharaoh and his elite guards while searching for a C’tan shard. After Deathstroke decapitated the Pharaoh and defeated the guards, he asked Efferal to question the head because he could not communicate with it.

• Deathstroke and Efferal followed a Necron technician down a slab elevator and learned that the dynasty might be suffering from the Soul Loss Curse.
• They reached a smaller pyramid guarded by an Imperial Guard force and entered its throne hall, where a crowned Necron Pharaoh waited.
• Efferal attacked the Triarch Praetorians with psychic lightning to draw their attention while Deathstroke approached the Pharaoh unseen.
• Deathstroke severed the Pharaoh’s head, then he and Efferal destroyed the remaining elite guards.
• Deathstroke questioned the Pharaoh about the C’tan shard, but the language barrier forced him to ask Efferal to handle the interrogation.

Su Ming and Efferal learned that a C'tan fragment remained imprisoned beneath the Necron throne and descended to confront it. They found the fragment battering its Blackstone containment barrier as the chamber shook around them.

• Efferal questioned the Pharaoh's head, destroyed it, and learned that the C'tan fragment was still alive beneath the Grand Cemetery.
• Efferal told Su Ming the Necrons planned to drag the fragment into a Warp Rift because Blackstone could no longer hold it.
• Su Ming and Efferal found the hidden elevator beneath the throne and descended toward the prison.
• Su Ming and Efferal saw a towering being of light strike the spherical energy barrier while green lightning coiled around it.

Su Ming brought Deadpool to help deal with a C'tan shard trapped in a rotating sphere that powered the Great Tomb. Deadpool prepared to enter the sphere and distract the shard while Su Ming and Efferal supported him from outside.

• Su Ming explained how the Necrons' sphere trapped the C'tan shard and converted its attacks into power for the Great Tomb.
• Deadpool appeared beside Su Ming and Efferal, then described visiting a filthy dimension after a native invited him telepathically.
• Su Ming told Deadpool to help fight the shard and explained that he would enter the sphere using his Teleportation Belt while Su Ming and Efferal coordinated outside.
• Deadpool objected to the dangerous job and demanded more money, but Su Ming reminded him of his debts and handed him a hundred-dollar bill.
• Su Ming explained that the shard was tiny, unintelligent, and unable to understand speech, and Deadpool compared it to Electro and said he knew what to do.

Su Ming and Wade confronted the C'tan shard sealed inside a sphere while the nun investigated nearby Necron equipment. Wade’s face and antics made the shard vomit, but after he teleported into the sphere, the shard evaporated him, leaving his uniform behind.

• Wade pretended to address a livestream before approaching the sphere containing the C'tan shard.
• The nun realized Su Ming was not a Primarch, and Su Ming jokingly claimed he was the Emperor before sending her to inspect the Necron devices.
• Wade sang and danced at the C'tan shard, then removed his mask and made both the shard and the nun vomit.
• Su Ming led the nun away to guard the elevator while Wade finished his performance and teleported into the sphere.
• Wade swam through the energy surrounding the C'tan shard until it waved a hand and evaporated him, leaving his uniform to sink.

Su Ming and Efferal watched the C'tan fragment absorb the energy it had expelled, while Su Ming explained Wade's plan to attack it from within. The C'tan had swallowed Wade along with the energy, giving the Mercenaries a chance to exploit its weak internal defenses.

• The C'tan vaporized Wade, and Su Ming told Efferal that Wade could survive the destruction of his body.
• Su Ming abandoned the Blackstone console and explained that the C'tan fragment had formed a body from energy while trapped in its sphere.
• The C'tan descended into the pool of white energy and rapidly absorbed it to replenish its lost power.
• Efferal realized Wade had entered the cage to be swallowed along with the energy, and Su Ming explained how an attack from inside could bypass the C'tan's outward defenses.

Su Ming and Efferal entered the C'tan’s cage and fought it with Wade’s help from inside its body. As Cloak devoured the C'tan’s energy and Wade’s control weakened, Su Ming summoned Godslayer and began cutting the creature apart.

• Wade disrupted the C'tan’s thoughts and movements, prompting Su Ming and Efferal to prepare an attack.
• Su Ming cut a hole in the cage and slipped inside while Efferal sealed the opening with psychic power.
• Wade held the C'tan still as Su Ming repeatedly severed its heads, which Cloak devoured.
• The C'tan shrank as Cloak ate its energy, while Wade regenerated outside it and Efferal struggled to keep the cage sealed.
• Su Ming ordered Cloak to block the opening from inside, then drew Godslayer and began chopping off the C'tan’s arms and attacking it with both swords.

Su Ming, Wade, and Efferal recovered from their battle with the C'tan Shard and began looting Necron technology from the Grand Cemetery. Su Ming suspected Tzeentch had altered the Necrons’ programming, and he left Efferal wondering what would happen if they abandoned the world.

• Su Ming explained that Cloak had eaten the C'tan Shard and that they needed to gather Necron technological data before escaping.
• Su Ming revived the injured Efferal with second-generation Miracle Serum, and she recovered by eating the food he provided.
• Wade speculated that the Laughing God had sent Efferal to the planet for a reason beyond fighting the Ravager, while Su Ming and Wade dismantled Blackstone for its data.
• Su Ming reasoned that the C'tan known as The Trickster, now Tzeentch, had altered the Necrons’ thought programs.
• Su Ming said he wanted to loot the Grand Cemetery rather than seek another C'tan Shard, and he asked Efferal whether she had heard of the Human Extinction Order.

Su Ming decided to destroy the infested Death World after learning it held a C'tan Shard, and the Space Wolves and Dark Angels agreed to support the Exterminatus. He planned to travel with the nun to meet the Emperor, stopping at both Chapters’ strongholds along the way.

• Su Ming chose to use a Planet Bomb rather than expend his own energy to destroy the planet, and he sent the Blackstone pyramid through a portal to the Spectre Universe.
• Gunnar and Orpheus reported the C'tan Shard to their leaders, who approved the Exterminatus and agreed to share responsibility for it.
• Orpheus and Gunnar said they would claim the Death World had destroyed itself, and each invited Su Ming to visit his Chapter’s fortress.
• Su Ming accepted both invitations and said he and the nun would travel to Holy Terra to meet the Emperor by way of Fenris, Cadia, and The Monolith.
• Wade prepared to leave, but Su Ming gave him money and asked him to come along and carry the Black Diamond; Wade produced it from his crotch.

Su Ming explained to Efferal that humanity needed hope and the chance to surpass the Emperor, easing her doubts about her faith. He planned to take her from the Relay Station and bring it to the Spectre Universe, while intending to discuss his ideas with the Emperor.

• Su Ming offered to move the Relay Station for Efferal, who reflected on how she had begun enjoying life without falling into the Abyss.
• Deathstroke named Efferal’s new feeling hope, and Su Ming argued that the Emperor’s rule had blocked humanity’s ability to advance beyond him.
• Efferal admitted she had questioned why the Emperor had not foreseen Horus’s betrayal, and Su Ming suggested he may have hoped to be surpassed by humanity.
• Su Ming told Efferal he did not intend to replace the Emperor and planned instead to discuss his principles with him in exchange for taking her.
• Su Ming told Efferal to pack and take Wade to the Inquisition ship while he moved the Relay Station to the Spectre Universe.

Su Ming destroyed the Planet Bomb, then traveled with Efferal, Wade, and the others to the Dark Angels' Fortress Monolith to negotiate for knowledge and technology. After securing a deal and rejoining the Space Wolves fleet, he set course for Fenris while considering seafood farming in the Spectre Universe.

• Su Ming hurled the Planet Bomb into a devastated planet, and the two spheres vanished in a flash of white light.
• Su Ming left Brainiac 21 and his fleet guarding the connection between universes, then boarded the stolen Inquisition warship with Efferal and Wade.
• Efferal navigated the ship through the Warp to the Dark Angels' Fortress Monolith, where Su Ming negotiated with their leaders and gained knowledge and technology.
• Wade befriended the Space Wolves by drinking with them, and he showed Su Ming the wolf pelt he had received.
• Su Ming ordered the ship to depart with the Space Wolves toward Fenris and discussed farming seafood in the Spectre Universe.

Su Ming traded for Fenrisian sea monsters, frost crystals, and a Land Raider before bringing his companions to Terra aboard a stolen Inquisition ship. After reaching the heavily fortified Solar System, he planned to infiltrate the Imperial Palace by tunneling toward the Golden Throne’s underground palace.

• Su Ming traded Skywalker Winery alcohol and a Vanaheim Flying Boat for Fenrisian specialties, including sea monsters, white crystals, and a Land Raider.
• Su Ming and Wade traveled with the Battle Sister aboard a stolen Inquisition warship, using their knowledge of the Inquisitor’s credentials to pass the Space Marines’ inspection.
• The ship emerged from the Warp at the edge of the Solar System, where Su Ming saw Terra’s formidable defenses and Phalanx guarding the planet.
• Su Ming dismissed the idea of entering through the Imperial Palace’s gates and proposed an ancient siege by tunnel.
• The Battle Sister revealed that a vast underground palace beneath the Golden Throne still housed Tech-Priests maintaining its connection to the Warp Webway nodes.

Su Ming, Wade, and Efferal traveled through Terra’s crowded hive city toward the Black Hive, where Su Ming intended to meet the Emperor and propose changes to the Imperium’s rule. They searched for a way into the palace’s lower levels, and Su Ming believed the Emperor was waiting for him.

• Su Ming described Terra’s immense population and the Imperium’s dependence on human labor after banning AI.
• Su Ming reflected that the Imperium’s harsh laws and reliance on the Emperor could not sustain humanity, and planned to propose governing by law and virtue.
• Wade complained about Terra’s foul air and crush of people as Efferal cleared a path through the crowds.
• Su Ming asked Wade to find a sewer entrance, and Wade pointed out a guarded ventilation plant near the Black Hive.
• Su Ming decided the group would approach the plant and make an opening, while Efferal warned that entering would leave them no way back.
• Su Ming told Efferal he believed the Emperor was waiting for him because no one had tried to stop them.

Su Ming, Deadpool, and the sister traveled through the Golden Underground Palace to reach the Throne Room, where Su Ming sent Deadpool up first to draw the Custodes' fire. Deadpool was shot down and hid behind what he mistook for a pillar, only to discover he was leaning against a giant in blue Power Armour as its flaming sword descended.

• Su Ming used the sister's status to clear the crowd, then led her and Deadpool through the ventilation ducts into the Golden Underground Palace.
• The group followed the power conduits toward the Throne Room, and Su Ming killed a red-robed technician while the sister suspected the Emperor knew they were there.
• Su Ming offered Deadpool extra money to draw the Custodes' fire, then opened a passage into the Throne Room and threw him through it.
• The Custodes shot Deadpool out of the air, and he crawled behind a blue-and-gold structure to recover and inspect its decorations.
• Deadpool realized the supposed pillar was a giant in blue Power Armour, who raised a flaming golden sword and struck at him.

Su Ming, Wade, and Efferal met Roboute Guilliman in the Imperial Palace and accepted the Emperor’s invitation to enter the Webway for an audience. Efferal’s psychic ritual transported the three away, while Guilliman stayed behind to guard their bodies.

• Guilliman attacked Wade, but Su Ming intercepted his Golden Flame Greatsword with the Nightfall Greatsword.
• Su Ming persuaded Guilliman to dismiss the Custodes and discuss their purpose, offering to show humanity a clear path in exchange for the Emperor’s gift.
• Guilliman revealed that the Emperor had ordered him to test the visitors and invite them into the Webway for an audience.
• Efferal admitted she knew an ancient psychic method to reach the Webway node and suspected she had been manipulated into learning it.
• Su Ming, Wade, and Efferal joined hands, and Efferal sent them away in a pillar of blue light as Guilliman stopped the Custodes from intervening.

Su Ming, Deadpool, and Efferal entered the Webway and crossed a battlefield where humans fought endless daemons. After Efferal was drawn into a vision of the Emperor, they reached the center of the human position and encountered the Emperor’s radiant projection.

• Su Ming, Deadpool, and Efferal arrived at a fiercely defended Webway node amid a battle between humans and daemons.
• Su Ming warned Deadpool that the boundary between reality and illusion was unstable, then pulled Efferal away from the sky after she became entranced by it.
• Deadpool exposed his face to Efferal, shocking her back to her senses as she described seeing a cold sun and visions of humanity’s history and the Emperor’s deeds.
• Su Ming recognized the cold sun as the Emperor’s projection in the Warp and led the group toward the center of the position.
• A radiant Emperor appeared, taking a different form in each person’s eyes.

Su Ming confronted the Emperor in the Webway and negotiated over a grain of dust, challenging the Emperor’s treatment of humanity’s tools. The Emperor agreed to trade, but Su Ming argued that banning artificial intelligence after the Great Betrayal was a double standard.

• Su Ming met the Emperor in the Webway, endured his immense psychic pressure, and questioned how much of their surroundings was real.
• The Emperor said Guilliman was a tool and offered Su Ming the grain of dust in exchange for a contribution to humanity.
• Su Ming rejected the idea of a grant and proposed a fair trade, then asked why the Emperor had eliminated only one kind of tool after the Great Betrayal.
• Su Ming listed the many kinds of tools that had rebelled, including Space Marines, psykers, Machine Spirits, and ordinary humans, and challenged the Emperor’s ban on artificial intelligence.

Deathstroke challenged the Emperor’s plan to discard imperfect humanity and argued that humanity’s flaws were the source of its potential. After Wade’s grotesque face made the battlefield vomit, the Emperor asked Deathstroke for a solution.

• The Emperor admitted that he had eliminated AI and planned to discard other imperfect creations, while claiming humanity existed to serve him.
• Deathstroke argued that humanity existed beyond the Emperor’s universe and that limiting his vision to one universe would lead humanity to extinction.
• Deathstroke questioned whether the Emperor’s Custodes could truly be perfect, and Wade displayed his face across the sky at Deathstroke’s signal.
• Deathstroke warned that abandoning imperfect humans meant undermining the foundation of the Emperor’s own power.
• The Emperor watched the battlefield react to Wade’s face, then asked Deathstroke to tell him his solution.

Su Ming explained how the Laughing God’s intervention and new cosmic threats had helped persuade the Emperor to hear his proposal. He offered to combine psychic power with technology and trade pure-blooded humans for Space Marines, leaving the Emperor considering the deal.

• The Laughing God used Efferal to project a grotesque psychic image that drew the attention of daemons and humans, while Deadpool wiped out the Custodes and daemons.
• The Emperor weighed the unfamiliar threats, the Laughing God’s influence, and the possibility of a new future for humanity, then agreed to hear Su Ming’s proposal.
• Su Ming suggested creating psychic artificial intelligence by combining technology and psychic power from different universes.
• Su Ming offered to trade one pure-blooded human for each Space Marine and promised to compensate him tenfold for any impure human.

Su Ming and the Emperor negotiated a trade for human warriors and Psionics, then agreed on a plan to free the Emperor and humanity from the Webway crisis by moving Terra. Su Ming accepted the title of Emperor and promised to help the Emperor ascend, while Efferal prepared to identify the enemies who had wronged her.

• Su Ming rejected an exchange of civilians and asked the Emperor for pure-blooded human warriors or Psionics instead.
• The Emperor proposed selling Su Ming his title and altering the Gene-Seeds so Space Marines and other forces would transfer their loyalty to him.
• Su Ming and the Emperor agreed to sign a contract and move the habitable remains of Terra away from the Black Hive and Webway exit.
• The Emperor approved the plan, and Su Ming offered to introduce him to Dimensional Demon Gods so he could learn about ascension.
• Su Ming summoned Efferal and told her the Emperor would help avenge her sisters, then asked her to describe her enemies.