Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 94 A bright future
Where did the stone man go?

"Are there still Iron Men?"

Do intelligent machines exist?

"M-M-M-M-Sir." The middle-aged man in the lead seemed very nervous, gesturing wildly but unable to speak for a long time.

Doom pressed his hand down, signaling them to speak slowly.

He understood the excitement and tension of these civilians; they had lived alone for too long and were already making a great effort to communicate in their own language.

"It's just us left!" The gaunt middle-aged man swallowed hard as he answered, then pointed into the distance: "After the ring was sealed off, the stone man led the others away!"

"Take us to see!"

Doom gestured for them to lead the way, and the group moved quickly to a messy square surrounded by buildings.

The steel structure of the plaza was destroyed, and in the hollow excavated below, wires stretched from the ground connected to a shield generator, sealing the pit.

Doom stood beside the pit and, after observing it for a while, found that the edges were rough, indicating that it was dug entirely by human labor.

The steel pit was very deep, and when Doom looked closely, he discovered that at the end of the pit was an endless starry sky.

Doom understood at this point: it must be the Stone Man who, after the ring was completely sealed off, pieced together a simple tool to dig through the ring and took the residents away in a spaceship.

"Sir, are you going to the control room?"

The man mustered his courage and asked, his slightly reddened eyes filled with the most sincere respect and expectation as he looked at Doom.

“Take us there.” Doom nodded, gesturing for him to lead the way. “We’ve come for it.”

"Please follow me, I know this place best!"

The middle-aged man led the way with his family, even telling his children about the ruler's past.

“It seems the truth is not so simple.” Harlan walked side by side with Doom, using sign language to communicate with Doom.

“The control room has the answers we need.” Doom responded in sign language as well, not lying, but not entirely trusting the residents of the ring zone: “Be careful.”

The group walked quickly, and Doom recalled the route; it was indeed the fastest way.

During the journey, Doom learned about the family through language.

Their ancestors were unwilling to leave and chose to remain in the ring, waiting for the arrival of the ruler.

"Sigh~"

After turning a corner, the sight before him made Harlan gasp.

Outside the trapezoidal, fortress-like main control center, there were signs of a fierce battle.

Destruction of war machines was everywhere, and Iron Men from different factions clashed and died embracing each other.

Their mechanical remains were still filled with murderous intent, determined to kill their opponents and protect their respective masters.

"A battle between two iron men." The middle-aged man shrank back, his voice filled with fear: "We dare not touch them, fearing that it is only a temporary blockage and that they are not completely dead."

"Terrifying." Harlan shook his head and clicked his tongue. He had indeed heard of Iron Man's power, and today he finally had a concrete impression of it.

Everyone had to be careful not to touch the iron figures and activate them.

Doom wasn't afraid; instead, he marveled at the wonder of these iron men and observed their structure.

Battle scenes were everywhere along the way, with countless iron and stone figures dying in the fighting.

There were even a large number of tall skeletons, which were the remains of ancient Jin people.

"It's the adults here."

Standing respectfully at the door, bowing and making a "please" gesture, he humbly said, "I have never been inside this place; only stone men and rulers are allowed to enter."

A hint of surprise flashed in Doom's eyes. The man in front of him was not lying; he had always kept to the rules.

The security in the control room had long been compromised, and there was no obstacle to entering; he had never actually been inside before.

"Thank you for watching over me."

Doom sighed and led Harlan inside, ready to investigate the truth of what happened back then.

The control room is particularly spacious, with a grid-like metal floor and straight geometric lines in the room and doors, giving it a high-tech feel.

The control room contained the body of the Iron Man and the mummified remains of the Golden Man, which had been weathered together. They lay against the wall, their body language conveying their astonishment.

There weren't many signs of battle, Doom concluded by observing the remaining traces.

The enemy briefly gained the upper hand after the battle began, but was quickly driven out by the guardians.

In the center is a huge circular hole. Through the transparent glass next to the hole, you can see a giant sphere placed at the bottom of the hole.

"It's truly magnificent." Harlan looked around, marveling at the miraculous creation of his ancestors: "What lies beneath must be the intelligent core."

Doom and Harlan arrived in front of the columnar control panel, the only luminous object in the control room, with flowing blue stripes of light.

Next to the center console is a stone slab with a message written on it:
"It is loyal. Only the bloodline of the Overlord can restart the intelligent core, but unfortunately, we lost all the Overlord bloodlines in the attack by the traitors."

—Stone Man Musala
The stone tablet seemed to indicate that the Ring of Nur was attacked and sealed by traitors, and all those with authority died. It also dispelled any concerns of those who came after, as the intelligent core remained loyal to humanity.

Doom and Harlan exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat incredulous.

"Come here, you need the bloodline of the Golden Man." Doom sent Harlan up so that he could activate the AI ​​core and learn the whole truth.

“No one is purer than me!” Harlan said smugly, removing his gauntlets and placing his palm on the control panel, preparing to activate the artificial intelligence.

Sensing the operator, the console ejected a syringe, pierced Harlan's right hand, and drew out a canister of red blood.

The blue holographic projection then lit up, continuously detecting Harlan's gene sequence and displaying various green instructions indicating that the detection had passed.

"Just keep an eye on it."

His smug expression: Even if Doom is powerful? I'm still the one who can activate the AI ​​core!
"Dip~dip~"

"The genes do not meet the requirements!"

The holographic projection showed the red clause: all of Harlan's gene sequences passed, but the last one, the "upgrade gene," failed.

"damn it!"

Harlan's expression changed, and Doom's expression also darkened. Activating the intelligent core seemed simple, but it was actually not easy at all.

It requires the "upgrade gene" of a perfect golden man.

The genes of the Nuer people have been severely degenerated, and the genes that "upgraded" humans to the Golden Man have disappeared from the genetic sequence over time.

Now that things have come to this, where can we find a perfect golden statue?
Without activating the intelligent core, Nur will have no way out and will be trapped on the ground to die.

"Just try it."

Harlan turned to Doom and said, with a last glimmer of hope.

He knew that Doom couldn't possibly be a golden man, and he just wanted a reason to give up.

Doom's face was grim. He walked to the control panel, placed his large hands on it, and made a final stand.

The syringe popped out of the console again and tried to prick Doom's skin several times, but failed.

"Damn it!" Even the usually composed Doom was getting a little irritated by the huge difference in his mood.

Once Doom controlled the softening of the skin, his palm was immediately pierced.

The holographic projection lit up again, and various data scrolled and displayed, showing the components in the gene sequence.

“Drip~Drip~Drip~”

The holographic image made the expressions of the master and servant even more unpleasant.

Harlan's gene sequence only had one missing item, while Doom's gene sequence had multiple non-compliance issues.

"Sigh~" Harlan's eyes lost their hope as he sat on the body of an iron man, sighing repeatedly: "What a wasted trip."

His broad shoulders collapsed completely in the face of this outcome.

The people of Nur have struggled for thousands of years, but they came too late, too late for the intelligent core to recognize them.

Harlan looked decades older; in the moment his lifelong dream shattered, he lost the goal he had fought for.

Doom walked up to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and prepared to say a few words of comfort to Harlan.

"Ding~"

A distinctive notification sound jolted them awake, and they looked toward the control panel.

The upgrade gene test did not pass, but there was another test next, and Doom passed it.

Those three detections have the prefix "hidden":

"The origin of genes - primitive humans".

"Genetic modification—does not exist."

"Genetic mutation—does not exist."

Harlan looked at the information on the console, then turned to look at Doom, scrutinizing him carefully. Several questions arose in his mind—was a five-meter-tall hunk a primitive human?
Doom himself didn't know how he, who was clearly created, became a "primitive human".

Doom was unaware that when he merged with the essence of DOOM and was born into the real universe, his bloodline and soul had been altered.

His genes were elevated by the concepts carried by his soul, and his potential even surpassed that of an emperor.

"Confirmed as a naturally evolved human individual—possesses advanced privileges of this facility!"

A mechanical, synthesized voice came from the open space. Harlan jumped off the wrecked Iron Man and excitedly tapped the Doom leg armor: "You're really something!"

Doom was a little confused, but mostly happy—Nur had finally broken free of his cage.

"It's like finding a new path after a dead end!"

(One more chapter?)

(End of this chapter)