Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 316 The Labyrinth of Eternal Night
An hour later, the golden shuttle took off and headed straight for Mars.

Inside the shuttle cabin, Doom saw an unexpected person: the commander of the Imperial Guard—Constantine Waldo.

Waldo, holding the Spear of Apollo and clad in golden armor adorned with eagles, sat at the tail of the shuttle. Although he did not smile, the ease in his eyes was particularly evident.

"You seem to be in a good mood?"

Doom smiled slightly and politely greeted the commander of the Imperial Guards, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

"I feel relaxed and in a good mood." Waldo's lips curled slightly, revealing a hint of a smile: "Without having to deal with officials and nobles, my ears are much quieter."

Suddenly, he sighed, and all the ease on his face vanished: "Officials are forming cliques and vying for every political resource, while nobles are forming alliances and starting to use marriage and blood ties to maintain their interests."

"In just a few decades, with the afterglow of the old night still fresh in our minds, people have forgotten the lessons, and extravagance and debauchery have gradually emerged."

“My subordinates often report that nobles send anonymous gifts in an attempt to get the Imperial Guards to accept them.”

"The officials were not idle either; they burned cartload after cartload of visiting cards in front of my mansion."

Waldo shook his head, looking tired: "It's really hard to be in a good mood when you're dealing with these trivial matters all day long."

Doom could hardly empathize with this, and simply shrugged and comforted her, saying, "These things are unavoidable after society stabilizes; they are an important part of the functioning of human society."

Before he finished speaking, his gaze swept over the emperor who was whispering with the ancient saint, only to find that the human ruler's expression remained unchanged, as if he had not heard a word.

"Our Lord has witnessed human history; He is no longer surprised by anything."

Waldo made no attempt to conceal the darkness of the empire, continuing, "I don't blame the mortals either; they are driven by fear, seizing every resource for survival for themselves and their families."

"I just feel very annoyed, and I have to deal with these ugly things."

"There's one more thing." The commander of the Imperial Guards straightened his face, sat down, and placed his right fist against his chest in a soldier's salute: "Thank you for sending the provisions."

"According to my statistics, the grain sent by Nur has saved at least 20 billion people."

“There’s no need for that,” Doum quickly waved his hand and said to him, “It’s what I should do; food isn’t anything valuable.”

“It can save lives,” Waldo said with deep emotion. “I often send the Imperial Guard to check the distribution of food to prevent this good intention from being tainted by greed.”

"Such a thing is true?" Doom's thick eyebrows relaxed, and anger rose on his face. "How dare they?"

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t dare to do.” Waldo shook his head helplessly: “Terra is shrouded in imperial glory, but under the light of our Lord, the darkness has never dissipated.”

Doom held his head, knowing full well that he had underestimated human greed.

Despite the joint oversight by Makado and Waldo, some people still dared to extend their greedy hands and attempt to embezzle the life-saving food.

His mind raced, recalling how the Nur Stars dealt with corruption, and he wanted to offer Waldo some help.

"Sirs, we are about to enter the Martian orbit."

The spacecraft's report interrupted Doom's train of thought; the Censorate reported on the flight status, stating that they had reached the Mars warning zone.

The Imperial Guard shuttle is extremely fast, and given Mars' current orbit, it is at its closest point to Terra in its twenty-six-month cycle.

As the two were talking, the shuttle had already reached the edge of Mars.

"Be careful," Waldo growled, rising to walk to the cockpit and personally taking control of the spaceship.

The Emperor raised his right hand, which was clad in armor, and used his psionic powers to make the spaceship invisible, allowing it to stealthily infiltrate Mars.

Doom naturally understood this "going home like a thief" behavior.

If the Cult of Mechanics were to learn that the Martian Labyrinth imprisons the Void Dragons, representing technology and knowledge, they would do anything, even risking the Emperor's wrath, to contact the Star Gods.

The Void Dragon has a mysterious influence on Mars, and its existence has played an indispensable role in making it the cradle of human technology and giving birth to countless advanced technologies.

Sintra leaned against the wall with one hand, closed his eyes, and chanted an ancient incantation: "Invisibility."

As the spaceship completely disappeared from reality, the Emperor's eyes lit up. He stared at the Ancient Saint, his eyes darting around, wondering what he was up to now.

Only he knew that after the Tower of Babel was destroyed by his friend, the Word of Creation, which humanity possessed, was completely lost.

The Lord of Mankind gazed upon the ancient saints as if facing a long-sealed treasure trove, waiting only to find the key to access all its treasures.

Doom smiled.

Sintra is too timid and too afraid of the Emperor. He needs to demonstrate something to prove his worth in order to avoid being silenced by the Toads afterward.

Actually, there's no need for that; you're perfectly capable of protecting it yourself.

However, he didn't stop them. How much they could get from the red toad depended entirely on the emperor's methods...

Like a golden ghost, the shuttle entered the outer reaches of Mars, passing through countless densely packed sensors.

As a mechanical home planet, Mars' defense system is so densely packed that it's outrageous.

One link after another, one layer upon another. Countless sensors are densely packed in the void, and even an object the size of an egg cannot escape the detection of the bird-divining instrument in the vast universe.

Blessed by the Emperor's spiritual energy and protected by ancient sacred incantations, the shuttle possesses exceptional stealth capabilities, gracefully avoiding sensors as it steadily approaches Mars.

This was also Doom's first time observing Mars up close. This red planet once served as a human space base, ushering in the era of great colonization.

On the Martian steel rings, numerous warships under construction or delivered are docked, these steel behemoths awaiting awakening to join the glorious expedition.

As you get closer, you can see that on its crimson body, the matrix factory, scientifically built by the Mechanicus, is constantly molten, manufacturing military equipment for the Great Expedition.

The thin atmosphere is filled with highly toxic industrial substances, factory chimneys billow thick smoke, and toxic fog and sandstorms converge to form a bone-chilling storm.

The transporter landed in a canyon, dropped off the passengers, and quickly took off to avoid being discovered by the patrolling religious guards.

The group walked in the shadows of the canyon. Waldo put on a helmet to protect himself from the poison and sandstorm, and led the way with a spear in hand.

Doom flared his nostrils slightly, took a sniff of Martian air, and remained expressionless.

The air that could poison a mortal in seconds was merely a little unpleasant to him, with no physiological effect.

The emperor withdrew the golden light and cast a spiritual energy barrier to protect himself and the ancient saints.

They evaded the intense scanning, braving the sandstorms and following the cracks in the canyon, heading towards the sealed land.

Although Mars is shrouded in poisonous gas, it also has its advantages.

The entire population resides in the Matrix City, sheltered by sand shields and air purification equipment. The wasteland is a no-man's land; absolutely no one can survive there.

Because the wilderness is a desolate place where ordinary people cannot survive, it actually reduces the risk of the group's whereabouts being exposed.

"right here."

Waldo crouched down, brushed away the red sand with his golden gauntlets, and pulled open the gate hidden beneath the rock wall.

"It's dangerous inside," the Emperor warned, before leaping down into the pit.

"Elder, please hold on tight." Doom picked up Sintra and placed her on his shoulder, then followed the Emperor into the pit.

Waldo followed closely behind, wielding the Apollo Spear and embedding it into the wall of the pit as a decelerator to prevent him from falling and getting injured from the height.

Bang~
As the gate closed, cutting off the last ray of light, the entire tunnel was plunged into darkness.

As the sound of landing echoed, golden light shone in the tunnel, the imperial radiance dispelling the darkness and illuminating the path ahead.

Doom casually tossed aside the corpse of the cyborg, spider-like creature that had been clinging to the tunnel wall and attacking him.

He shook his hands, wiping away the viscous liquid of engine oil mixed with blood, took the dimensional longsword from his waist, lit it, and surveyed his surroundings.

The four stood at a starting point, in front of them a smooth, brand-new mechanical tunnel, eight meters high and eight meters wide, stretching into the depths of darkness.

Sintra landed on her shoulder, clutching the cloak tightly in her arms, as if afraid of being left alone in this dark place.

"The Labyrinth of Eternal Night." The Emperor's tone held a hint of nostalgia. "It's been a long time since I've been here."

He walked to the smooth mechanical wall, reached out and operated the exposed panel with lightning speed, a crucial step in deciphering and alleviating the problem.

"Dip~dip~"

A holographic projection pops up from the ceiling, and green light and shadow combine to form a panoramic view of the maze, providing a route reference for those who enter.

Countless square rooms change and combine in the projection without stopping for a moment, and then combine into various elements.

“In my glorious past, I personally designed the labyrinth of eternal night.”

The Emperor continued operating the machine, his deep voice tinged with pride: "This self-repairing moving maze remains unsolved."

“And our target,” he pointed to a cell in the projection, “is the Star God Void Dragon.”

"We need to follow the route for a week to avoid getting lost and reach our final destination."

Doom nodded, looked at the room in the center of the maze, walked to the edge and knocked on the steel wall, "You said it can self-repair?"

"Yes..." The emperor had a very bad feeling.

"Do you remember the route clearly?" Doom grinned, revealing his teeth.

"remember."

"That'll be easy!"

The void shattered, and Doom drew his shield and saw, holding it in front of him. He turned to the Emperor and said, "Just point the way!"

(End of this chapter)