Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 513 Peturabo's Faith

"Given that the weapon I need is still just a concept, I hope to get experts in this field to join me."

"On your ship, there is a Time Sage, Zulin-4."

Ninglu stated directly that in the past he would have had concerns and would have considered seeking others to join, wondering if it would displease Peturabo.

But now, they have established a close relationship.

Zulin-4 will also prove that he surpasses Peturabo in the realm of time.

In Nimrod's memory, the Sage of Time discovered a flaw in Peturabo's design.

Although not a decisive mistake, it was enough to cause the deaths of a large number of Iron Warriors.

He wanted to avoid any mistakes as much as possible; he didn't want the shadow of order to pay a bloody price for it.

“I’m not entirely sure if this person even exists,” Peturabo frowned. “I need time to confirm.”

A moment later, the person, whose entire body was wrapped in a red robe, came before the two Primarchs.

He raised his hooded head and opened his metal arms as he bowed.

"Sage of the Time, Zulin-4, pays homage to the Iron Lord and His Majesty the King."

“You’re skilled in matters of time?” Peturabo looked at the sage on his ship with scrutiny.

"Yes, sir, I must admit that, because only a few people in this era understand the power of time."

“I’ve heard that people in the ‘Dark Ages’ used time-based weapons, and that they were later avoided.”

"Unfortunately, my field is not currently understood or respected by my peers."

After his reflections, the Sage of Time made no attempt to conceal his confidence in his field.

"They lack the insight I have when it comes to these most obscure secrets. Few people can understand time like I do; it is the true engine of the universe."

"Of course, you and Lord Ninglu are capable of understanding any profound mysteries."

Perturabo immediately picked up on Zulin-4's pointed remark and said in a cold voice.

"You claim to be dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, yet you talk incessantly about the soul; everything you do is inherently contradictory."

"I don't want to know how the machine feels today, because everything it tells you is just your imagination."

“The Emperor himself welcomed us into the Empire,” Zulin argued. “Omnisaya granted permission for our religion while forbidding all others, for He saw the truth in us.”

Peturabo said coldly, “My father is not the messenger of your god of all machines, regardless of what you believe or what he allows you to think.”

"His tolerance of your sect is merely a temporary measure. Your power is too great to be easily subdued, and he also desires your industry to serve the expedition."

Peturabo said dismissively, "I am not interested in any certainty other than your 'application of facts and reason'."

“I am deeply saddened that someone like you cannot comprehend the true meaning of the Om Messiah, for you are far more insightful than the wise.”

Peturab remarked sarcastically, "If you want to bring Primarchs into your cathedrals, why not try Fellus or Vorkan?"

"I think they will ignore your invitation as well."

Zullin-4 did not answer immediately; the Mechanicus had been working to spread the glory of the Om Messiah to the Primarch.

Nimrod, Fernus Manus, Peturabo, and Vokhan all exhibited extraordinary qualities in different ways, with Fernus having embraced the concept of flesh and blood and deeply integrated with it.

Mars shared its treasure trove of knowledge with Phenus, granting him access to all the sacred building templates.

The exploration fleet, working alongside the "Iron Hand," builds new forging worlds and unearths sacred templates second only to Lord Nimrod, favored by Om Messiah.

The sage who led Phenus gained great prestige and was valued by Om Messiah, and became a great sage.

Zulin-4 looked at Lord Ninglu, who had remained silent, and spoke with a fervent tremor in his synthesized voice.

“Lord Nimrod, you who are favored by Om Messiah, you will surely see the holy radiance of Om Messiah.”

Ninglu listened to their conversation, pondering how to completely subdue Peturabo.

Through previous efforts, he has established a close relationship with Peturabo.

He was convinced that he was one of Peturabo's two friends.

Helping Peturabo turn his artistic ideals into reality would be more intimate to him than to Magnus.

But for Ninglu, that was not enough.

After all, in a sense, loyalty is not absolutely equivalent to absolute disloyalty.

At least for now, he wouldn't give Perturabo any potions. But getting the faith-averse Perturabo to be completely loyal to him would be no easy task.

Examining the dialogue between Peturabo and Zulin-4, Ninglu concluded:
Perturabo's adoptive father, Damex, was right; he did indeed have faith—faith in reasoning, science, and art.

His belief in reason was not due to his emotional detachment or cold-heartedness, nor was it a willingness to pursue order at all costs.

Peturabo's fear of what others cannot see stems from a genuine desire to pursue order at all costs.

[Faith, reasoning, science, and art.]

The pursuit of order.
A flash of inspiration struck Ning Lu, and he already had the basic outline of a plan.

As he was pondering this, he keenly noticed the unusual emotions in the synthesized sound of the Zulin-4 sound array.

He smiled slightly and steered the conversation back to the purpose of today's event.

“Sage, let us set aside our differences. I now need a weapon to deal with the potential threat.”

"Arsène."

Primarch's servant immediately responded to Nimrod's call, connecting the data panel to a Thinker in the command room and projecting an image reconstructed by the Primarch using Superman's memories.

"The Hruds, they were found between the ventilation entrances on the deck of the Voidship, thriving in the darkness."

"Their skin can release a variety of toxins and generate a distorting field that can confuse Astartes' vision."

"Their biggest problem is that the entropy field generated in their bodies causes the surrounding environment to age, and even the Astartes will age rapidly."

Peturabo's trident members exchanged glances; if anyone else had said this, they would have dismissed it as nonsense.

However, Ninglu's words could not be ignored by them.

Peturabo's icy blue eyes were deep. After thinking for a dozen seconds, he spoke up and offered his ideas.

"A sufficiently powerful stasis device can counteract the entropy field generated by the alien."

“That’s right,” Nimrod affirmed Peturabo’s idea, as he wanted Peturabo to design a weapon to deal with the Hruds in advance.

Once you obtain Sloth, the only materials you need for the "Chaos Mentor" potion are the enslaver and Hrud.

Once the "Battle of Randan" is over and the legion has had time to recover, he will launch the "Sak Trada Abyss" campaign ahead of schedule.

Nimrod needs Peturabo to first create a prototype weapon so that the Forge Master and others can make targeted improvements based on the battlefield situation.

He thought of the mistake that Peturabo had made, which was corrected by Zulin-4.

"In the form of a bomb, it can counter the distorting force fields of several Hruds."

"But as the number of Hruds increases, the distortion effect they create also intensifies dramatically."

“I overlooked this,” Peturab lamented his oversight, looking at the Sage of Time.

"So, you call him here."

Ninglu nodded. "That's right. Only you can complete this device, but you'll need someone to help you."

Vokhan's forging skills were unmatched, and Finus possessed the most profound knowledge and secrets.

Peturabo's technical skills were no less than either of the two, but he possessed a more brilliant creative talent.

He can always design weapons specifically tailored to the needs of the battlefield.

"The Sage of Time will assist you in completing this device."

As Zulin-4 raised its metal appendages, he exclaimed excitedly.

"It would be an honor for us to unlock the secrets of timeline weapons or design time locators to minimize time distortion during warp travel."

"I look forward to receiving models of the stasis field weapon and the ideal city."

Peturabo's icy blue eyes sparkled as he thought of his ideal city.

"You'll see."

Almost simultaneously, as soon as he finished speaking, his built-in communicator beeped, Ninglu's communication bead buzzed, and the communicators of his Primarch's servants and others all emitted notification sounds.

Perturabo walked to the holographic tactical table and slammed his large hand on it.

"The aliens have launched a full-scale invasion."

(End of this chapter)