I'm in Warhammer, please don't praise Doraemon

Chapter 687 Mortarian: Thirteenth Prince, let me choose an auspicious day for you.
The fighting on the front lines remained uneventful; the only change was the emergence of Mortalian's Death Guard.

Guilliman couldn't help but admire the adaptability of the Tau people; the fact that this race could rise to prominence in such a short time and carve out a territory on the edge of the galaxy already proved their worth.
Prior to this, they had already adapted to the intensity of the war deliberately controlled by Guilliman, and to fighting against the Imperial army. Together with some of the allied space dwarves, a few small groups of alien races, and the opportunistic Dark Eldar, they were able to barely hold their ground and serve as training grounds for the Imperial forces.

But the Mortarian Death Guard that entered the battlefield the day before was completely beyond their comprehension.
They couldn't understand why the combat suits suddenly sprouted fleshy tentacles and swarms of fungi, merging with the Tau people inside and turning against their own kind.

They couldn't understand why the enemy, even with most of their bodies blown off, could still continue charging.
What's particularly incomprehensible is why, after the Death Guard simply muttered a few numbers, an incurable plague inexplicably broke out in his army.
Honestly, even Guilliman couldn't understand the last one. Previously, Guilliman had only heard some knowledge about numerology from Zhou Yun, and in practical application, he also found that this thing called numerology did indeed have some uses.
Although he did not understand the principles behind it, Guilliman always maintained a certain degree of respect for numerology, and even often marveled that Mortalian was truly a saint, and that he had actually created such a profound discipline as numerology.

But in the past few days, after Mortarian boarded the Glory of Macragge, he taught Guilliman this so-called numerology.
Guilliman initially maintained a humble and learning attitude, but as Motarian continued his narration, Guilliman gradually began to lose his composure.

Is this really not just feudal superstition?

Mortalian's numerology was logically shallow, driven more by emotion than reason, and in many places, his left and right hemispheres were at odds. Guilliman's extraordinary mind could instantly spot these problems, causing him to instinctively doubt numerology.
But numerology does happen to be effective. This greatly challenged Guilliman's worldview.

Motarian also claimed that numerology is the underlying logic of this world.

Guilliman couldn't understand: was the underlying logic of this world simply chaos, irrationality, the conflict between the left and right hemispheres, and feudal superstition?

Although it's hard to understand, the Death Guard's resilience and strength are truly admirable. With them around, there's no need to worry about making mistakes in the war against the Tau, nor about the betrayal of those demons lurking nearby.
What truly made Guilliman realize that something was amiss was within the Empire.
Although the reports sent over the past few days appeared normal on the surface, Guilliman still keenly noticed slight fluctuations in the production capacity of many planets, with the fluctuations occurring at roughly the same time. Several planets experienced a sudden drop in production capacity for a period before a sharp increase, even surpassing their previous levels.
This situation alerted Guilliman, who quickly realized that subtle changes were occurring within these planets.

Are they gene stealers? Most likely, the Hive's will is operating in a discreet manner.

There are probably gene stealers lurking throughout the entire empire.

As for Zhou Yun, he seemed very calm and hadn't really started taking action yet.
The only order that person has given so far is to secretly mobilize a portion of the Deathwatch team. This is a fairly standard order, as Deathwatch members are experts against the Xenomorphs.
But upon closer examination, it seems somewhat strange. The Blood Angels are also experts in fighting the Zerg swarm, yet after issuing the summons, Zhou Yun fell silent and didn't give any further orders.

Guilliman could sense that even the gods were starting to get impatient.
"Robert." A clear, melodious voice, like a forest sprite at midnight, rang out.
A tall, alluring "woman" entered Guilliman's office. She wore a slightly loose, languid white shirt adorned with delicate, fluffy lace trim that didn't detract from the overall simplicity. Her lower body was clad in a fitted black mini-skirt, showcasing her muscular upper thighs and hips.
Her hair was draped over her white shirt, and her sharp ears were slightly exposed, giving her a playful look. Small glasses hung above her almond-shaped eyes, adding a touch of maturity to her face.

“Eveline.” A faint smile appeared on Guilliman’s lips.

But he quickly wiped the smile from his face.

Because on the steps beside him, Mortarian's gloomy eyes, hidden beneath his hood, were watching Evelynn with keen interest.

Mortalian, that moth, is like a stinking pile of dog poop stuck to Guilliman.

Lately, he's been doing absolutely nothing but staying by Guilliman's side, sitting on the steps next to Guilliman's desk.
Guilliman initially tried to get rid of Mortalian in a tactful and polite manner.

He told Motalian that his seven- or eight-meter-tall body, complete with enormous moth wings, was obstructing his work in his office.
Then, in front of Guilliman, Mortalian disassembled the enormous moth wings on his back, shrinking his body to about three meters in height.
This shocked Guilliman once again. Was this thing actually detachable? Guilliman had always thought it was some kind of distortion, but he never expected it to be detachable like the jump pack.

Motalian then said with an air of self-righteousness, "Blessed by God, wings grew from his back? Can you stop being so feudal and superstitious? Were Saint Gilles' wings also blessed by God? Can't you be a little more materialistic!"

Evelynn strode forward and gave a slight nod to Mortarian, who was sitting on the steps. Mortarian's face showed interest.
The gloomy moth actually smiled and returned Evelynn's greeting, his expression becoming increasingly subtle and eerie.

Evelyn handed a document to Guilliman, whispered a few words in his ear, and quickly left the office.
Mortalian's gaze kept shifting back and forth between Evelynn and Guilliman's faces.

“Thirteenth brother.” Mortarian smiled strangely. “I’ve always heard people say that you’re the smartest and most human-like of us brothers.”

"I didn't believe either of these points before."

"But after the Great Rebellion ended, you seized what Horus couldn't obtain even after shedding his blood, and what the Emperor couldn't protect even after risking his life, simply by being nine hours late. You also split up nine legions with just a so-called holy book. At that time, I knew that you were indeed the smartest one."

"Now I believe it too. You are not only the smartest one, but also the most human-like one."

"Who among us brothers can enjoy as much as you do now? Power, status, dignity, honor, and even women of other genders are all in your hands."

“Guilliman, Guilliman, if I had even a fraction of your cunning,” Mortarian sneered, shaking his head.

“She and I are just colleagues,” Guilliman said, his face looking somewhat grim. “The clothes she was wearing were chosen by Zhou Yun.”

“Oh! I believe you.” Mortalian nodded slightly. “However, I just did some calculations, and your birth charts are surprisingly compatible. Perhaps I could use numerology to choose an auspicious date for you two, to ensure your happy life is fulfilled.”

"Stand up!" Guilliman's voice was filled with suppressed anger, and his eyes seemed to be a storm of blue and gold raging within them.

Mortarian gasped in surprise, his body actually rising to his feet uncontrollably.
Guilliman stood up as well, pointed to the chair with his finger: "Sit down!" Guilliman's fate carried an irresistible force. Mortalian himself was surprised to stand up, walk to Guilliman's desk, and sit down behind the pile of documents.

"Since you believe that I usurped the power of the empire by relying on my so-called 'intelligence' and enjoy power, honor, status, and so-called alien women, then very well, I will let you experience these things."

"Now you handle these documents for me!"

Mortalian instinctively picked up the document, its gaze falling on the one that Evelynn had just delivered.
".?"

"The Weeping Chapter's star map malfunctioned, causing them to be accidentally teleported to a desolate star system. Then they encountered the Kraken Hive Fleet's main tentacles, which were secretly migrating?"

"This Lamenters Chapter was nearly wiped out by the Zerg swarm's onslaught, but they persevered and held off the swarm's migration until reinforcements arrived from three nearby Astral Legions and the White Archon Chapter. Whose offspring are they? So resilient!"

"So it is. Unlucky? Lucky?"

It's really hard to say whether those who weep are unlucky or lucky.

The Empire's territory has never been a contiguous expanse; between star systems lie numerous voids and undeveloped systems. If the Hive Will abandons its precious biomass and chooses to migrate its fleet through these undeveloped systems and voids, then the Imperials will find it extremely difficult to detect their presence.
However, the Weeping Ones' star map malfunctioned, causing them to accidentally teleport directly in front of the Kraken Hive fleet's migration route. They encountered the Kraken Hive fleet head-on, nearly wiping out their entire party to stop it and exposing the migration route of one of the Hive Will's Hive fleets.
The Crankon Hive Fleet is even one of the three main fleets of the Tyranid Swarm. The other two fleets, the Behemoth Fleet, were destroyed long ago and have not yet recovered, while the Leviathan Hive Fleet, though powerful, was also severely damaged in the Battle of Baal not long ago and has not fully recovered.
Although the Kraken had suffered considerable damage, it was still one of the top main fleets of the Tyranid Swarm, but now it had been unexpectedly discovered and blocked by the Weeping Ones.

At the meeting between Ryan, Saint Gilles, Fugen, and Zhou Yun, Ryan looked at the Kraken Hive fleet that had been intercepted on the star map. Even the well-informed Lion was surprised by this situation.

"Was this also part of your plan?" Ryan asked Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun's gaze shifted slightly: "Everything is going according to plan."

I was just kidding; it wasn't actually in the plan at all.

Just like the micromanagement of the Hive's will, the luck of the Lamenter is also one of the variables that Zhou Yun cannot control.

Both of these exhibit strong randomness, and when they are combined, it becomes a chaotic system—unpredictable and immeasurable.
The Kraken Hive fleet and the Weeping Ones being together was a completely unexpected situation beyond Zhou Yun's plans.

This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that Zhou Yun was able to learn the movements of one of the main forces of the Zerg Hive fleet, an advantage rarely encountered in over 20,000 dreams.

The downside is that Zhou Yun is worried that our advantage is too great, and the Hive Will might not be able to hold out. Zhou Yun is still waiting for the Hive Will to near completion of its upgrade.
But he couldn't wait too long. If he delayed any longer, the gods would grow impatient and sense something was wrong, intervening in the matter.

Zhou Yun could only hope that the insect hive's will wouldn't be as slow as the Eight-Player Micro-Management technique, and would obediently keep it on auto-mode until it completed the necessary step for its own ascension.
Only when the will of the insect hive completes the necessary step for its ascension will Zhou Yun have a chance to seize the throne of Greed Dissolution.

Recently, Zhou Yun has been praying to the Six-Armed, Four-Legged, Two-Rooted, One-Stroke God Emperor whenever he has free time, praying that the will of the insect hive will not be micromanaged.

"The target of the swarm migration is..." Ryan's gaze fell upon the star map, specifically the binary star system marked on the eastern edge of the Milky Way.
According to information brought back by former Eldar rangers and the Deathwatch squad, the Tiamat system has been completely occupied by a fleet known as the Tiamat Hive.
However, this insectoid fleet exhibited bizarre characteristics. Instead of consuming all seven planets in the system, they took over them, using their genetic sequences to modify the entire biosphere, covering all seven planets with a unique Tyranid biosphere.

The Tiamat hive fleet did not exhibit high aggression, remaining entrenched in the Tiamat system and only occasionally sending bio-fleets to nearby star systems to collect biomass. It's possible that other hive fleets also supplied biomass into the Tiamat system.

The reason they stockpiled such a large amount of biomass might be to build something that the Eldar rangers discovered on Ziafria, the largest planet in the Tiamat system.
It was a flesh-and-blood monstrous cone spanning the continent, entirely composed of chitin, flesh, pus, and a large amount of psionic brain tissue, filled with almost terrifying warp power. Just getting close to it caused Eldar rangers, who were born with extraordinary psionic abilities, to fall into epilepsy and madness, and only a few managed to escape.

The Eldar rangers described the spire in a way that Ryan found extremely blasphemous: "It was like looking directly at the Star Torch up close."

"The Any Stars allow us to directly penetrate into the Tiamat system, but all seven planets within the Tiamat system have been transformed into Tyran biospheres. The Death Watchers and the Inquisitors have even launched orbital bombardments, nuclear strikes, and extermination orders against these planets multiple times, but none of them have been able to destroy the biospheres and the Tiamat insect hive fleet."

Fu Gen, stroking his chin, analyzed:
"At the same time, once we enter, we will inevitably be attacked from both the external Zerg hive fleet and the internal Tiamat Zerg hive fleet."

"We must have a sufficiently large combat platform to support our troops and serve as our fortress."

"Can the Mountain Array meet this requirement?" Fugen asked.

But Ryan shook his head, rejecting Fugen's suggestion.

“I have a better option. There is another ship in the Empire that is more magnificent and can serve as a better fortress than the Mountain Array.”

Ryan Al Johnson clenched his fist, as if he had made up his mind, and said:
"Let the insects see the power of Caliban! I will take command of my legions again and bring the Stone Fortress into the battle."

(End of this chapter)