Warhammer: Empire Reboot

“Your insight is keen, Lord Seal Holder. I do have another request, but it does not conflict with my gratitude.”

She pushed the spirit bone crystal toward Lawson.

"This is Usvi's way of repaying the kindness of the Seal Bearer in taking you in. Regardless of whether you agree to the next request, this technology is yours. One thing at a time, please accept it, Seal Bearer."

“Speak,” Lawson said.

"Usvi's Bone Soul Realm suffered severe chaotic contamination during the seventeen-day siege."

She began to describe the current predicament of Usvi Ark and the reproductive problems it was facing.

"The anomaly rate is continuing to rise. The Prophet Council has issued an emergency birth ban, which will not allow any new pregnancies until the pollution is resolved. But this means that the Eldar's reproduction rate will drop to zero."

Karadon's Eye of the Prophet dimmed slightly.

Ilancia was also feeling somewhat heavy-hearted. Although she had some conflicts with Usvi Ark before, she was still saddened to hear about the great predicament Usvi Ark was facing.

After listening, Lawson seemed to be deep in thought.

"You can't purify the pollution of the Bone Soul Realm yourselves, so you came to me."

Karaden bowed to Lawson again: "You have purified the Holy Blood Angel Gene Seed Bank. I know this precedent. The materials of the spirit bones and gene seeds are completely different from the psionic architecture. I am not sure if the same method will work, but we have exhausted all our means."

"You are Usvi's last resort."

Lawson did not respond to him.

He has done the purification of genetically modified seeds.

However, repairing these fetuses is not simply a matter of removing the contamination; it also requires rebuilding the damaged foundational structure of the soul after the cleansing.

It's like repairing a house whose load-bearing walls have been eaten away by termites; you can't just kill the termites, you also have to rebuild the load-bearing walls.

He wasn't sure if he had the ability.

Lawson leaned back in his chair, and the fingertips of his right hand began to tap lightly on the table.

Karaden watched Lawson tap his fingers on the table and waited for about ten seconds.

“My Lord, I know how difficult this matter is.”

"But if adults are willing to try..."

"If you can resolve Usvi's predicament, the Usvi Ark will obey your command."

"I know that adults may not appreciate the combat capabilities of the Ark's regular forces."

Karaden made this point clear.

"But the Eldar Titans of Usvi... the Ark has sixty-three Phantom-class and twelve Ghost-class... still valuable in large-scale positional warfare, and can be deployed at any time."

She paused for a moment, then added a second chip.

"In addition, the Usvi Prophets can serve you around the clock. Although the Eldar's prophetic abilities are not omnipotent, in terms of strategic early warning, if an enemy plans to attack your territory, we can detect signs in the warp weeks or even months in advance."

Er Gou, standing behind Lawson, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Great Prophet, even you Usvi yourselves didn't foresee Vashtor's attack; the Ark was almost gnawed to the bone by demons. You're helping our boss predict the enemy? Do you think that's reliable?"

Karaden faced the question frankly: "The general is telling the truth."

"But the malfunction of Vashtor's defective key was not a premeditated military operation; it was an industrial accident. Vashtor himself did not expect the key to explode. The explosion affected Usvi because the Ark happened to be within the radiation range of that main network trunk."

"The prophet's ability to foresee is based on intention, but we cannot foresee an accident that even the parties involved do not know will happen."

Lawson raised his hand to stop Er Gou from continuing to ask questions.

"Great Prophet, you said that the Prophet Corps can detect the enemy's intentions, and I happen to have something to tell you."

"There are currently hundreds of planets on the dark side of the Empire where Imperial civilians have gone missing on a large scale."

"The total number of people involved is in the billions, and the event lasted for about two years. There are no traces of any known forces involved. My intelligence system has ruled out Chaos, the Dark Eldar, and pirates, but I can't find out who is behind it."

He looked at Karaden: "Can you find any clues?"

"I can give it a try, but I need a few pieces of information."

Karaden said: "The names and coordinates of the three planets with the highest concentration of missing persons, the main characteristics of the missing persons, and the time point of the most recent confirmed disappearance."

Er Gou pulled up a summary report from the data terminal on his waist and read out the key data.

Karaden finished processing this information in his mind, then closed his eyes.

The prophet's eye began to flash intensely behind the closed eyelids.

Milky white psionic light seeped through her thin skin, casting a cold halo on her face.

Lawson became somewhat interested.

He was originally a thorough materialist, at least before he traveled to the Warhammer universe.

But after living in this world for so many years, he has learned to accept the fact that some things simply cannot be explained by the laws of physics.

Psychic energy, the subspace, the soul, prophecy—these things that were considered superstition in his original understanding—have real effects in this universe.

One of their abilities is the precognitive power of the Eldar prophets.

Karaden's body began to tremble slightly.

The frequency of the psionic light increased, and its color changed from milky white to a cool blue with silver streaks.

After about half a cup of tea's time, Karaden opened his eyes.

"Your Excellency, the Master of the Seal."

Karaden gave the answer: "It's Fabius Bayer."

"An Imperial wanted criminal, former chief apothecary of the Sons of the Emperor Legion, and a genetic science madman who has been wandering the galaxy since his defection."

Karaden revealed all the labels associated with the name.

“I saw his mark in the causal lines of the subspace… extremely faint, deliberately obscured, but the characteristics cannot be faked. He has been active on the edge of your territory for at least two years, targeting planets that you have not yet taken over. Those missing civilians were taken away by him for genetic modification experiments.”

Suddenly, some information came to mind, and he felt a sense of sudden realization.

Fabius Bayer, it was him.

He should have thought of that sooner.

In this galaxy, there are very few powers capable of simultaneously carrying out population raids on hundreds of planets for two years without leaving a trace, while deliberately avoiding the areas already taken over by Lawson.

Bayer perfectly fits every criterion: he has a network of secret laboratories spanning the galaxy, intelligence channels accumulated during the Great Rebellion, a profound understanding of the weaknesses of the Imperial administrative system, and an insatiable, morbid need for experimental materials.

In Bayer's eyes, billions of civilians in the empire were simply raw materials in a petri dish.

But this person is far more dangerous than that.

Fabius Bayer's expertise in genetic science ranks among the top in the entire galaxy.

Only two names can be ranked alongside him: the Emperor himself, and the great sage Belisarius Caul.

The Emperor created the Primarchs and Space Marines, and Caul improved upon the design of the Primarch Space Marines.

Bayer did something that neither of them had ever done before.

He cloned the original.

This is not a theoretical possibility, but a successful case that has been implemented in practice.

He cloned the perfect Horus, a genetically identical Primarch replica with the same physical body as the original, possessing Primarch-level physical strength and combat instincts.

Although it lacked the soul bestowed by the Emperor, the clone was ultimately just an empty shell, which was later destroyed by Abaddon himself.

But the mere fact that it "creates a Primarch-level body" already exceeds the capabilities of all the scientists currently existing in the Empire.

He also cloned Fugen.

Moreover, this clone was more successful than Horus's. Fugen's clone not only possessed the original's physical body, but also retained the original Fugen's personality traits before his fall: nobility, arrogance, and an instinctive aversion to Slaanesh's corruption.

Bayer later used this clone as a bargaining chip and sold it to the figurine king, Tarasin.

He even cloned Feralus Manus, the Iron Hand Primarch, purely so that Blessed Genn, who had already fallen into the Demon Primarch form, could repeatedly experience the thrill of killing his brother.

This level of genetic science capability, if used for good, could reshape the Empire's Space Marine production system.

But if he gets it...

"Can you pinpoint his location?" Lawson asked.

Karaden shook his head slightly, then nodded slightly.

"A cunning rabbit has three burrows."

She said, “I saw at least four different nodes in the causal line… He had more than one laboratory, some of which were fixed and some were moving. He dispersed his movements among multiple avatars and substitutes, and each node had deliberately created psionic interference, making it extremely difficult for the prophet to track him.”

“But I can lock in one of them.”

“There’s one more thing.” Karadon’s prophetic eye flashed again.

“While tracing Bayer’s causal path, I saw another tangled thread.”

"Bail stole something from Nurgle. I can't see exactly what it is, but its projection in the warp is extremely strong... The putrid stench of Nurgle shrouds Bayer's movements like a poisonous fog."

Lawson frowned.

Nurgle lost his artifact, and Mortarion frantically searched for it throughout the galaxy.

He had already obtained this intelligence and even sent people to follow him, preparing to intercept him when the opportunity arose.

The person who stole the Nurgle artifact was actually Bayer.

Karaden added, "I saw Deathguard warships patrolling near the Rhea sector. Mortarion himself hasn't appeared, but his advance party is already searching for Bayer's trail."

Lawson stood up.

Bayer possesses the Nurgle artifact.

Mortarian is hunting down Bayer.

Bayer's laboratory is located in the Rhea region.

The three clues converge in the same direction.

Bayer's value is immeasurable; whether he lives or dies is unimportant, but the knowledge in his mind is very important to Lawson.

Lawson readily agreed, "Let's go, let's go to the Ark first, I want to see what's going on in the Bone Soul Realm."

……