Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 388 Peturabo: Your palace, I'll help you tear it down and rebuild it.

As the Second Chapter launched its attack on Hearthburg, Nimrod and Malevolus arrived aboard Stormbirds aboard the Tech-Priest's warship, Forgehammer. As they disembarked, twelve Servant Skulls in the air sang a welcoming hymn.

"Welcome Primarch Nimrod to the Forgehammer. May Ohm Messiah protect you."

"..."

Malevolus led the way, walking inward to the chanting of the servo skull.

Unlike the great sage Ryan Ramirez, Malevolus did not possess his own mechanical ark, but as the most outstanding armorsmith, he had crafted armor for several Primarchs and owned a cruiser-class warship.

Once the Primarch boarded the warship, it keenly sensed that the entire vessel was like a burning furnace.

He could hear the roar of the machines and feel the heat waves from the furnace...

Led by Malevolus, Nimrod proceeded to the private laboratory of the Tech Priest.

Upon entering the laboratory, he saw a massive, burning furnace that occupied about one-tenth of the entire laboratory area.

Python-like cables connect the steel equipment, and numerous precision instruments are piled up on the central experimental tables...

Malevolus walked to the center of the experimental table. "Lord Ninglu, let's begin."

“Okay,” Ninglu walked toward the experimental table, his eyes fixed on the top-quality gold alloy armor delivered from the Longbeard-class short-breed giant cruiser.

Malevolus's mechanical tentacles were connected to the coupling device of the experimental platform. The mechanical arm suspended above reached down, the mechanical fingers spread out, and the mechanical probes at the fingertips slid rapidly across the armor.

The Primarch's eyes flickered, his pupils shimmering with light and shadow. His hands rested on his armor, and telekinesis flowed into them like threads.

Telekinesis penetrated deep into the armor to analyze and disassemble the alloy.

"It has moderate density, high ductility, and high toughness... This part is iron."

"High electrical and thermal conductivity... it's silver."

"..."

"Extremely high density, extremely strong toughness... an unknown metal."

After three standard ship time intervals, Ninglu raised his hand, and the mechanical tentacles stopped moving. He said to the technical priest:
"There are 514 kinds of metals, of which 238 are unknown metals, which should be mineral deposits unique to the core of the Milky Way."

A flicker of surprise crossed Malevolus's eyes as he thought of the Primarch's incredible abilities, but he quickly regained his composure.

"The composition of the alloy is even more peculiar."

While the battle raged fiercely in the underground city of Rosario, Nimrod and Malevolus began their research.

Three weeks after capturing the Longbeard-class short-blooded giant cruiser, the technical sergeants and honor guards opened every compartment, but found no ancestral shrines on the ship.

Ninglu was slightly disappointed, but not in a hurry. Wotan might not be able to get one, but each clan had at least one ancestral shrine.

The Emperor and the Terran Council issued an order to conquer thirty-five star systems, with the goal of acquiring at least one Ancestral Shrine.

Ninglu and Malevoles made significant progress in their research on gold alloys.

This applies not only to the understanding of the space dwarfs' gold alloy, but also to Malevolus himself.

"My lord, our research has yielded preliminary results. We have created an alloy that can enhance the protective capabilities of the armor."

"The only thing lacking is the materials for making the alloy. Some of the unknown metals can be replaced, but there are still 159 that cannot be replaced."

Nimrod saw that Malevolus was looking at him respectfully, and that the technical priest had already been "corrupted" by him.

[The great sage Ryan Ramirez and the technical priest Malevolus are both loyal to me; of the three great talents among the oil makers, only Arkham Rand remains.]
"The Shadow of Order captured twenty-seven warships in the Void War, including a Longbeard-class short-blooded giant cruiser, on which varying amounts of ore were discovered." Besides the large quantity of ore, he had other gains as well.

While conducting his research, Ninglu examined other items and discovered that a data recording medium used by the dwarves, the Data Guardian Board, was the main ingredient for the potion "Guardian of Knowledge," Sequence 7 of the "White Tower" pathway.

Upon returning to the Shadow of Kings, he traveled to the Land of Chaos and commissioned the space monkeys to concoct the potion of the "Knowledge Keeper".

Back in the real world, Ninglu summoned Arsena and handed him the blue and white potion.

After drinking the "Knowledge Keeper" potion, Alsena skillfully meditated, gathering his scattered power.

"Thanks be to my Lord."

After sincerely thanking the Black Emperor for his gift, Alsena began to report.

“My Lord, the Star Speaker Master tells me that Magnus is expected to arrive in two days from ship standard time, and Peturabo in five days.”

"I understand." Ning Lu nodded.

Five days later, Magnus and Peturabo, each accompanied by senior commanders of their respective legions, landed in the landing zone of the Shadow of the Throne.

Primarch's attendant, representing the Primarch, waited in the landing zone. Remembering the Black Emperor's instructions, he called out to Peturabo first.

"Lord Peturabo, Lord Magnus, welcome."

Peturabo simply nodded slightly, his expression remaining somber.

Magnus walked toward Alsena with a smile on his face.

“Alsena Dunne, my children have heard that you are an excellent scholar with a large collection of books, and they are very interested.”

"My lord, you are welcome to visit my private library."

“Let’s go,” Peturabo said. “Father and the War Council have entrusted the command to Nimrod; he must already have a plan.”

Magnus detected a hint of dissatisfaction and resentment in Peturabo's calm tone.

[Does Peturabo want to be the commander of this operation?]
The number of troops from the 11th Army Corps participating in the battle was greater than the combined number of Astartes from my 4th Army Corps.

Nimrod had also achieved numerous victories in battles such as the "Wheel of Flames," the fight against the Spiral-Morse and the Mithril, and the recapture of Incaladion. The Emperor would certainly appoint Nimrod as commander.
In the Thousand Sons group, Hathor Matt followed behind the Father of Genetics, walking into the Shadow of Reigns.

He thought excitedly, "Finally, I can see my lord."
Peturab entered the palace in Nimrod and immediately frowned; the architectural style of the entire palace made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Obsidian, tilted erratically at angles that defy mechanics, supports the dome, resembling a damaged building.

Twelve metal rods extending down from the dome, along with the flags of various battle groups hanging at their bases, are arranged asymmetrically, three on the left, four on the right, and five in the center.

[Why not four sides: left, center, and right?]
Peturabo clenched his right fist. For a moment, he wanted to stride over, tear down the central flag, and hang it on the left.

He forced himself to look away and at the ground, his brow furrowing even more.

The black jade floor tiles spread asymmetrically in a Fibonacci sequence with a point spacing.

Peturab could no longer control himself and strode up to Ninglu.

“Ninglu, if your descendants are not capable of building a palace worthy of you, my Iron Warrior can help you.”

"I'll draw up a design for you, let's tear it down and rebuild it."

　PS: Three updates today, scheduled for 23:23 and 23:24.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)