Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 907, 08.906: "Only this is unacceptable, Captain."

“Fifty-five profit points, two boxes. One is what my chief technical priest wanted before, and the other, let her choose as well.” Horatio asked, looking at Father Pascal’s only remaining native eye. The priest nodded affirmatively.

Horatio turned and gestured to Latti.

"This esteemed priest..."

“He is a sage,” Lati corrected. “His name is Pascal Hanuman, from the Mars-Pioneer Twelfth Fleet.” She smiled, thus formally introducing Horatio to this servant of the Om Messiah.

“Oh, well, I’ve never been quite clear about the rank system in your Mechanical Guild. It doesn’t have the clear rank insignia that our navy does. Anyway, back to the point, Sage Pascal has agreed to my request. We can exchange fifty-five profit points for two boxes.”

Lati turned around and scanned the tightly sealed steel boxes around her with her optical sensors. After careful consideration, her gaze settled on a completely black box without any markings.

“Interesting, you’re a Xenarite?” Lati asked with a wicked grin.

“I devoutly follow the teachings of Om Messiah. Your accusations are unfounded. Please restrain your words and actions.”

As for that box of goods, it was intended for a group of traveling merchants. But you are lucky, because they haven't paid a deposit yet; they plan to pay upon delivery, so strictly speaking, I still have the right to dispose of it.”

"Huh?" Yoyo and Horatio both widened their eyes at the same time.

"Wait, this box that's been reserved isn't reserved by the traveling merchants?" Horatio realized that the situation was somewhat different from what he had expected.

“No. But who it is, I can’t tell you, that’s a confidential contract,” Pascal said coldly. “And the orders from the wandering merchants aren’t worth me giving up a more valuable research result for.”

“Then, we’ll take this one,” Lati said. She then easily hacked into the control chain of a heavy machine servant, manipulating the massive machine and using its hands, modified into hydraulic clamps, to move the black box over.

"What is this? An STC template that could be useful for my career?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Captain. The kind of thing you're talking about is hard to come by; we don't have it here."

"But this might be of some use to you." Lati deftly cracked the external combination lock on the box using her scorpion-tail-like prosthetic limb that extended from behind her.

With a slight hiss of depressurization, the container's hatch opened rapidly.

In the center of the box was a sphere emitting a faint glow.

The sphere has a black base at its bottom, from which a set of rotationally symmetrical cage-like structures extend, enclosing the sphere and making it look somewhat like a crystal ball toy.

However, the ever-changing purple light emanating from inside the "crystal ball" clearly indicates that this object is no ordinary thing.

"This is... something from the Dark Eldar?" Horatio looked at its elegant yet deadly form and immediately thought of the Xenomorphs he had just fought.

"The alien's dark matter optical force field generator. It allows vehicles to enter a long-term 'stealth' state when stationary, or to become temporarily invisible while moving. It is generally mounted on a small number of 'Raptor' fighters or magnetic levitation light spear vehicles, and is a component used exclusively by the Dark Eldar ambush forces."

But it's rare to find something so well-preserved. Most technical priests lack the engineering skills to completely disassemble such a fragile object.

Lati glanced meaningfully at the Sage Pascal, "So, you really have the ability to get this completely intact."

The sage Pascal seemed oblivious, remaining motionless like a statue, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Then, what use do we have for this?" Horatio asked Latti.

“I can try to disassemble this component and reverse engineer it. If I’m lucky, I might be able to assemble a version that’s compatible with Imperial vehicles.”

"Are you sure? This is our only sample. I don't know how confident you are. If it really doesn't work out, we can find another one." Horatio was a little uneasy. Reverse engineering Eldar technology is no less difficult than deciphering a divine book; its difficulty transcends dimensions. Whether it's materials science, engineering, or even the psionic level, this race's technology is completely different from human technology.

"Foufou~ You're really being overly cautious, Captain. Let's give it a try, who knows?" Facing Horatio's skepticism, Lati smiled charmingly, then yawned somewhat listlessly. "Who do you think spearheaded the development of the 'Bayonet' class assault ship's Shadow Field?"

Horatio suddenly realized.

"However, at that time we only found the shipborne shadow field generator array from the captured Dark Eldar raid ship, and we had not yet obtained the vehicle-specific model."

Although the principle is completely different from that of shipborne arrays, they are similar in terms of effectiveness and energy characteristics.

Based on my vast database, even with just one sample, I can try my best, or... create an Imperial-style replica. In most cases, that is, the 'monkey version' that the Alien satirizes.

Hey, hey, hey, why are you taking it upon yourself to view things from the Eldar perspective and mocking humans?

Horatio rolled his eyes at Latti speechlessly.

Then he wondered, what would the wandering merchant want the Dark Eldar's dark matter force field generator for? Was it for assassination? Or was it a collectible?
"That's settled then. Fifty-five profit points, deal. Sage Pascal, do you have any objections?" Horatio stopped making pointless guesses and looked at Sage Pascal to confirm.

"No objection. I have already selected the data package I need."

Lati, leaning on her mechanical axe, approached the Sage Pascal.

"Are you sure? What you're about to explore is dangerous. So dangerous that... it can destroy you, destroy your 'true self,' and then replace you, become you."

“No abnormalities found,” Pascal said sullenly, his originally astigmatic eyes briefly focusing once more. “This is the only way to explore the path of Om Messiah.”

“Ha,” Lati sneered. “Data sent. You’d better watch yourself, Sage Pascal. I can’t understand why you’re so fixated on this, just as you can’t understand me.”

The Sage Pascal did not answer Latti.

The transaction was complete. Leaning on his Mech Axe, he turned and walked away. His heavy mech servants carried the remaining crates and followed the mysterious servant of Om Messiah, eventually disappearing into the thick fog of steam rising from the ground pipes.

“What an odd priest. Well, it would be strange if the servant of Om Messiah wasn’t odd.”

Then Horatio sighed deeply, "Latti, you've already cost me more than half of my profit points right off the bat. That was public property donated to the Gothic Fleet by the Von Valancius dynasty. You'd better really mean what you say, that this thing you want is 'for a brighter future for humanity.' Also, can you actually reverse engineer a few experimental versions of this dark matter optical force field generator and install them on our vehicles?"

"I swear~ I swear~" After getting the item, Lati was visibly more relaxed and said lazily in a flippant tone.

This made Horatio worry again whether she was reliable this time, and how much of her intention was public and how much was private.

"By the way, before I send what you're so insistent on onto the ship, I need to personally inspect it. For the safe navigation of the 'Swift Skyhawk'."

"no!"

Lati suddenly and decisively refused.

She had never so resolutely refuted Horatio's orders before. At most, she would first see if there was room for negotiation or offer a price for exchange, but most of the time she would still comply with Horatio's wishes.

But this time, the situation was different. She refused too decisively, and her sudden burst of excitement revealed how much she valued the object.

“Only this? No, Captain.” Lati’s charming smile returned, even with a hint of fawning. But Horatio could sense that she had simply changed her communication style and would never make any real concessions. Once again, she refused in a gentle but exceptionally cold tone.

(End of this chapter)