Warhammer: Don't Call Me the God of All Machines

Chapter 863 Second Cooperation with the Spirit Clan
"On another note, since the material requirements for Netway are extremely stringent, what materials did you use when you first started the Netway project that could barely meet the requirements?"

In the ancient battlefield beneath the Golden Throne, Lothie and the Emperor are gradually advancing their battle lines amidst the scattered ruins.

The Lord of Mankind, wielding the Emperor's Sword, unleashed a torrent of golden flames that swept in all directions, cleansing away the subspace contamination hidden within the intricate remnants of the Web of Destiny.

Although the Emperor himself participated in this Web War, it did not mean that the Human Sovereign would personally take up arms and fight against the endless stream of warp demons pouring into the Web.

He had a more important mission—to use his psionic powers to slow down the invasion of warp demons and thoroughly purify the ancient battlefield of the Net Path.

This is undoubtedly a meticulous task. After the defeat in the Web War, enemies from the warp took up residence here, constantly using chaotic forces to corrupt the internal structure of the artificial Web.

In other words, these networks have long been pickled in the cesspool of the warp.

If there are problems with the foundation and the hidden dangers are not eliminated in time, the human network built on the foundation will also sow the seeds of future troubles.

What materials were used back then?

"good question."

The Emperor, who was carrying out disinfection work on the internet, suddenly revealed a strange smile.

“Rosie, I remember you came from the early third millennium of human civilization, right?”

"I don't know if you've ever heard of something called 'fikeli'."

When the Emperor suddenly steered the conversation to such a distant past, Luo Xi was momentarily stunned, and then a vague sense of familiarity arose in his heart.

"I vaguely remember it; it seems to have been mentioned in a very old film or television series."

"Ficley is made by buying other people's chocolate, melting it again, and then solidifying and shaping it."

Loxi was immediately speechless; he suddenly understood what the Emperor really meant.

"So you dismantled and moved materials from other net tunnels and then piled them all up on this artificial net tunnel beneath the palace?"

The emperor nodded slightly, looking pleased, and then added.

"Of course, that's not entirely true. The materials used in those mesh channels solidify after the initial formation. Even if they are disassembled and reassembled, there will be a lot of gaps or even cracks."

"It's like dismantling a complete concrete load-bearing wall and then reassembling it; its load-bearing structure will undergo irreversible changes."

"What I need to do is, on this basis, use my psionic energy as an adhesive, along with other precious materials, to re-bond these net materials together."

"The materials we humans make can only be used for bonding, which makes the overall structure of human-made networks far inferior to the original, and makes them extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive to build."

"After all, when the ancient sages built the net, they used a method of large-scale, monolithic casting, while we can only piece the net together little by little and gradually reinforce it."

As Loxi listened to the Emperor's description, he couldn't help but think that sometimes simple and crude methods are not ineffective.

Even with the most complex engineering feats in the galaxy, such as the Web, the Emperor could use methods like "editing," "pasting," and "reinforcing" to advance the construction of the human Web.

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. Your simplistic and brutal green-skinned orc style must stop."

"Among the network technology that Kua gave me, there is some knowledge about network materials, but it is a bit difficult for us to manufacture this technology."

Loshi witnessed the psionic titan legion directly under the Emperor wreaking havoc in the network tunnels ahead.

These specially modified warlord-class titans are capable of unleashing powerful psionic attacks, making them ideal for dealing with the warp demons pouring in from outside the Webway gaps.

He casually applied buffs to these psionic titans, and the overjoyed psionic titans immediately became even more ferocious and destructive on the battlefield, as if they had taken stimulants.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Fist's Astartes and Iron Legion advanced slowly behind the Titans, sweeping away any enemies that had been overlooked.

The power of these warp demons should not be underestimated. The Chaos Four behind them spare no expense in sending their most elite minions into the artificial network to harass the Emperor.

However, faced with a human legion personally commanded by the Emperor and overseen by two Primarchs, the only fate for these warp demons was to be wiped out.

“I understand the difficulty involved. If we rely solely on human technology, it might take dozens, or even hundreds, of Terra years just to replicate the materials mentioned in the ancient technology.”

The emperor's tone became extremely resolute, leaving no room for compromise.

“This is unacceptable. I will not allow the Network Project to continue to be delayed. Moreover, thanks to the cooperation you previously established with the Eldar and the Necromancers, we are not fighting alone this time.”

"Because of my experience in the era of conflict, I have always harbored the deepest and purest malice towards all aliens."

You can never imagine the utterly despicable faces those alien races that once fawned over you now reveal when they see a human fall from a great height, covered in blood.

"They devour human flesh and blood, enslave human offspring, steal human technology, and attempt to completely exterminate this great race."

"Therefore, the empire I created adopts a completely hostile attitude towards all aliens, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and blood for blood."

"But as I said before, times have changed, and the situation has changed now." A smile appeared on the emperor's lips.

"If alien races like the Eldar and the Necromancers can contribute to the Web Repair Project and help us manufacture the Web materials mentioned by the Ancient Saints, then they are certainly friends of humanity."

"When it's necessary to be flexible with the standards and bottom line, we should be more flexible."

Loxi immediately quieted down and took a deep breath to calm herself.

Sure enough, he overestimated the Emperor's moral bottom line; this guy was a pure pragmatist.

Perhaps the Emperor is still thinking about how to painlessly discard the bridge after the Internet Road Project is completed.

“It seems I need to talk to Uslan again. We need Eldar Bone Singers. These Eldar who specialize in producing spirit bones can play an important role in creating the materials needed for the Net Path.”

The Eldar can only be described as descendants of the ancient Eldar, whose ancestors were the builders of the net tunnels used by the Ancient Saints during the War of Heaven.

Although the Eldar have lost most of their ancestral heritage, they have at least preserved some things.

"Uslan?"

The emperor seemed slightly surprised.

“This level of matter is beyond the reach of a mere Eldar prophet. I will communicate directly with their gods.”

"In fact, I already did that."

The moment the Emperor finished speaking, a series of seven-colored eggs suddenly emerged from the gap in the network called "Magnus's Fool".

Immediately afterwards, a massive warp demon suddenly started charging wildly toward the Emperor, seemingly out of control.

Its charge was incredibly fast, while the other warp demons wore expressions of admiration and worship; this creature was brave enough to charge directly at the cursed one.

Even the Blood God would admire its astonishing courage, though it wouldn't live to see the day the Blood God bestows its blessing.

However, the warp demon ignored the psionic titan's attack and flew past the Silent Sister's obstruction. It landed in front of the Emperor with a graceful dance, and then exploded from the inside.

The warp demon was completely destroyed, and from its body emerged the Laughing God Xi Gaoqi, the Eldar prophet Uslan, and the missing Primarch Mortalian.

Loshi immediately held his forehead. Couldn't this God of Laughter have come up with a more normal entrance? Why did he have to pop out of the belly of a warp demon and perform a Trojan horse before making his appearance?

Hehehehe ya ya ya~

Xi Gaoqi danced exaggeratedly, pacing back and forth across the wrecked net battlefield.

Where He walked, a large group of clown spirits, appearing out of nowhere, began to shower flowers and ribbons upon Him.

"Your Majesty, it has been a long time."

I missed you so much!

In the blink of an eye, Higoki appeared beside the Emperor and Loxi. Its sharp, ballet-shoe-like feet pounded incessantly, as if it would be scorched by a hot iron plate if it were a second too slow.

The emperor remained serious and unmoved.

But the Clown God in front of him seemed to have seen something utterly horrifying, rubbing his hands together and asking curiously.

"You weren't this cold when we were at the card table, why, why are you like this now that we've met in person?"

"Could it be that—the great, supreme, and sacred emperor was actually a socially awkward person in reality?"

"..."

For the first time, Rosie saw a look on the Emperor's face that was a mixture of embarrassment and disgust.

The emperor ignored Xi Gaoqi, this noble spirit, and turned his gaze to a slender figure following beside Xi Gaoqi.

Even the emperor's brain experienced a barely perceptible dizziness upon seeing this figure.

He tried to overlap the present situation with the stubborn and gloomy fourteenth son in his memory, who almost succumbed to the plague and despair.

Mortalian, who came to the underground network tunnel of the palace with the Laughing God, is quite different from before.

The Primarch's former Terminator armor is nowhere to be seen; in its place is a set of finely crafted spirit bone armor belonging to the Eldarin.

This armor is not the streamlined, artistic, and ornate style of traditional Eldar warriors. Instead, its lines have a sense of heaviness and angularity that belongs to the Deathguard. The only difference is that the material has been changed to spirit bones that shimmer with a cold, eerie light.

The armor is etched with strange Eldar runes, with flowing energy veins along its edges, resembling living things. In some areas, reliefs resembling new buds and flowers can even be seen, presenting a bizarre beauty with a distinctive Eldar style.

Mortalian's face was no longer as pale as before, but instead radiated a vibrant glow.

But those emerald green eyes, those eyes that once burned with anger at an unjust fate, now held only endless coldness and a kind of... naked rebellion and alienation, almost like a teenage girl facing a disliked elder.

The emperor actually stood up from the golden throne; she had thought her father would sit in that damned position for ten thousand years.

Mortalian's bloodline is half that of the goddess Elsa, and the other half that of the Emperor.

That half of her bloodline compels her to worship and revere the emperor, but the proud and stubborn Primarch rejects this instinct; she will never allow herself to have too close a relationship with this hypocritical tyrant.

Even now, Mortalian can't quite define her feelings and attitude towards the Emperor.

Hate her, perhaps. The emperor only imprisoned her for a century, letting her languish and wait to die in the Shadow Prison. For a descendant who had once betrayed her, such treatment was already generous enough.

If Mortalian were to put herself in Mortalian's shoes, she would never have been so lenient and generous towards her treacherous offspring.

Mortalian still doesn't want to forgive the Emperor. He did deceive the Primarchs, and it was he who took away her chance to defeat her alien foster father. She still holds a grudge about it.

As Mortalian lay in the endless darkness of the Shadow Prison, she reflected on her inner journey and choices.

She yearned to liberate humanity from tyrants, even if those tyrants were emperors.

Her loyalty to Horus wasn't actually that unwavering.

Aside from the fact that Horus and she did have a very good relationship, the biggest reason was that Horus was going to rebel against the Emperor, and Mortalian was there to help him out.

But sometimes, when Mortalian looks back on her past from an objective perspective, she has to admit that she was also wrong.

Compared to her brothers, she had an excessively strong competitive spirit. She felt that her abilities were not being fully utilized and were not being given enough attention.

This complex and conflicted situation is somewhat similar to Peturabo's, but not entirely the same.

For some reason, Mortalian longed to hear the Emperor plead with her to stay. She wanted to hear his urgent desire for her return, and then she would resolutely reject his delusions. Mortalian even began to fantasize about how she should refuse the Emperor in a way that would demonstrate her decisiveness.

However, the emperor still did not speak, hiding all his complex emotions.

Now it was Mortalian's turn to get restless.

“Father.” Mortalian’s voice rang out, no longer the hoarse, guttural tone that had been pierced by the gas mask, but instead exceptionally clear and bright, carrying undisguised sarcasm.

"Or perhaps, great human lord who abandoned his offspring? Does seeing me like this make your heart, which cherishes the purity of humanity, uncomfortable?"

"After all, I now have half-spirit blood flowing through my veins, which, in your human-first ideology, is already a reason for my inevitable death."

"After all, if word got out that a Primarch's bloodline was a mixture of that of a human emperor and an Eldar goddess, it would certainly lead people to speculate wildly..."

Luo Xi tightly tightened the corners of her mouth, trying her best not to let that ridiculous smile show.

The untold story of the Emperor and Elsa?

The mystery of Mortalian's origins?
Who exactly are the mothers of the progenitor genes?

If he were an uninformed bystander, he would definitely empty his pockets to savor this bombshell revelation about the emperor.

No one knew that Mortalian would come here with the Laughing God. Previously, this Primarch was almost burned to death by the Cult of Terra during their trial, and only managed to escape with the help of the Eldar.

Meanwhile, Dorn and Perturabo, who had been directing the cyber war, also rushed back.

Dorn's brow furrowed even more, and a glint of disgust and suspicion flashed in Perturabo's eyes.

They were at a loss as to what to do with Mortalian in front of them.

The emperor remained silent, and a storm seemed to be brewing deep within his golden pupils.

"Oh dear, let's not make the atmosphere so awkward!"

Laughing God Xi Gaoqi's figure slid between the Emperor and Mortalian like a ghost, his sharp fingers waving exaggeratedly, trying to dispel the invisible stiffness.

"Watching a play, watching a play! What a wonderful family drama! The reunion of father and daughter should be incredibly moving, but the script is written so... well... uniquely?"

He let out a series of unintelligible laughs, like glass wind chimes being tossed by a strong wind.

"However, Your Majesty, allow me to formally introduce you—Motalian, the former Pale Queen of Barbaros, who is now an integral and important member of our Aedalin race."

"Her arrival has injected new vitality into the Spirit Race. Her very existence is an indispensable piece in the puzzle of our Spirit Race's future, so..."

The God of Laughter abruptly stopped dancing, his blurry face, composed of colorful light and shadow, approaching the Emperor with an almost roguish cunning.

"You want to talk about Net Path materials? Sure, but only if you don't try to take advantage of our important member again, okay? She's now an Eldar, protected by the Great King of Comedy."

"An important member?" Mortalian let out a cold sneer, but did not refute the God of Laughter. She simply stared at the Emperor with her icy eyes, as if to say: Look, this is the alien you speak of, and I am now one of them. This pleases me more than being your pawn.

The storm in the emperor's golden pupils gradually subsided, transforming back into a bottomless, icy pool.

All personal emotions were forcibly suppressed, leaving only pure, extreme pragmatism.

Mortalian's hatred, Eldar's assertion of sovereignty—none of that matters.

The important thing is that he needs to get the Eldar involved in the Webpath repair project.

He spoke slowly, his voice like the scraping of cold metal, ignoring Mortalian's provocation and locking onto the God of Laughter.

"Hiccupy, the playful performance is over. The repair of the network is related to the future of humanity, and also to whether you, Ida, can continue to eke out a living in the cracks of the galaxy."

I need spirit bones, a large quantity of specially treated spirit bones, and Ida craftsmen who possess the secret art of 'Singing Bones'.

"You should know the special nature of the materials used in the Internet of Things; it's something that our human race alone simply can't handle."

"We have no time to waste."

The God of Laughter bowed exaggeratedly: "As you wish, Lord of Humanity, no one will refuse a mutually beneficial transaction."

"Before I arrived, the Bone Masters from various Ark Worlds had already received invitations. They will soon be here with their best skills and the finest service... This slightly rudimentary 'new theater' will definitely be more than worth the money!"

As the laughter of the mythical god faded, the space at the edge of the area purified by the emperor rippled like water.

One by one, slender, elegant figures, draped in ancient ceremonial robes, began to appear.

Some of them came from Usvi, some from Iyanden, and some from other distant Ark worlds. At this moment, Laughing God used the Internet to pull them over directly.

These Spirit Race Bone Singers mostly concealed their faces in the shadows of their hoods, revealing only their sharp chins and eyes that emitted a faint psionic glow.

They carried no weapons, but rather various strange, slightly pulsating crystal containers, each containing a different shape and shimmering with pure starlight—spirit bone embryos.

They drifted into the battlefield in silence, like ghosts, oblivious to the grim Imperial warriors and the still-burning remnants of Warp Demons around them.

The Bone Singers' gazes were fixed solely on the massive, foul-energy-filled gap in the network channel known as "Magnus's Folly."

“This gap in the network is too large; we cannot perfectly repair it,” an elderly Bone Singer said to Laughing God.

"What you need to do is not to use the spirit bones to repair the gaps in the network, but to work with these humans to create qualified materials."

"Even the spiritual bones of our clan cannot repair the network channel; at most, they can only be considered as patching it up and temporarily sealing it off."

Uslan stepped forward and explained to the Bone Singers present.

Loshi also summoned the Mechanicus sages, including Caul and Rand, and had them bring over the various rare materials that were ready.

In addition, some industrial-grade Ironmen brought processed Black Stone raw materials. This special material, which can suppress and amplify subspace, is one of the essential raw materials for manufacturing network materials.

Meanwhile, Lothie had already directed the Mechanicus to create a special machine capable of producing network materials, based on the ancient technology provided by Qua.

Rare raw materials such as living metal, black stone, and refined gold were fed into the machine, waiting only for the spirit bones to be in place.

Loshi was also slightly intrigued, wondering how the Eldar created spirit bones.

According to his understanding, the extremely special material called spirit bone is essentially a solidified spiritual energy, which is shaped into various forms under the control of the Bone Singer.

The Eldar race can make everything from their ark warships to their warriors' swords and shields from spirit bones.

At Uslan's signal, the Bone Singers moved.

They danced around the composite materials made from raw materials such as compounds and minerals, as if performing an ancient and sacred ritual.

Pure psionic threads flowed from the fingertips of the Idas, weaving intricate and dazzling runes, guiding the liquid spiritual bone energy slowly to other materials.

Long, drawn-out notes echoed from their throats as they manipulated their psychic powers in this special way.

Under the skillful control of the Bone Singers, the pure spiritual bones began to devour and fuse with the materials placed on the ground, just like living tissue.

Perturabo watched this scene intently, his curiosity already raging, and he felt a strong urge to learn and imitate the unique skills displayed by the Eldar.

The Emperor watched all this silently. He saw the exquisite craftsmanship of the Elven race's technology, but it was impossible to rely entirely on the Elven race.

The lifeline of network materials must never be handed over to other races, not even humanity's allies.

"This father and son are really similar in this respect..."

Seeing the Emperor and Perturabon studying intently, Loshi immediately understood that they were trying to crack the secret of spirit bone creation.

But why would you secretly learn from the Spirit Race when they are right in front of you?

Why not just learn it directly?
He came to Uslan's side and nudged the prophet with his shoulder.

"Um, I also want to learn how to make spirit bones, please teach me quickly."

Uslan felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. Creating spirit bones was a unique secret of the spirit race, their specialty. If humans learned it, they would be doomed.

"Ahem, only the Spirit Race can use their spiritual energy to condense spiritual bones."

"The Bone Chanters follow a certain path of the Spirit Race, which you humans cannot learn, can't you?"

Uslan's reasoning was indeed sound, but Losi didn't want to hear it.

“I am also human. My control over and strength of psionic energy surpasses that of the Eldar. Why can’t I learn this path?”

“Uslan, I know you want to keep some trump cards for the Eldar so that you can gain an advantageous position in future cooperation.”

"But you need to understand that now, humanity is not in charge of me, nor of the Primarchs like Guilliman who are more familiar to you."

Loxi quietly pointed at the Emperor who was secretly learning the technique, and then said in a teasing tone.

"The Emperor has returned. He has broken free from the curse of the Dark Lord, which means that a human ruler who is completely unrestrained and can act entirely according to his own will has become the one you need to confront."

Uslan's face turned ugly.

Although he had a good relationship with the emperor, an individual is an individual, and a race is a race. No matter how good the personal relationship was, it could not harm the interests of the race.

Loxi leaned close to Uslan's ear and whispered, "Don't be fooled by the fact that the Emperor is secretly learning. If he can't master it or if the results aren't satisfactory, you know what the consequences will be."

"First of all, you elite Bone Chanters, you've already come all this way and you still want to run away? Even if Laughing God wanted to take them away, it would be almost impossible."

"This is Terra, the Emperor's home turf. If the Laughing God runs away with the Bone Singers, where will the Lord of Mankind put his face?"

"The best outcome would be that all of you Bone Singers would be imprisoned in Terra and forced to work day and night like slaves to create spirit bones. The worst outcome would be that the Emperor would simply open their minds to see exactly how the Eldar create spirit bones."

“You should understand that the Emperor is absolutely capable of doing such a thing. If necessary, he wouldn’t even mind opening up the Laughing God’s brain to see what valuable things for humanity are inside.”

With Lothie fanning the flames, even the refined Eldar prophet Uslan's breathing quickened and his expression became dazed.

He knew the Emperor too well; this guy was absolutely capable of such a beastly thing, and they couldn't even imagine how utterly despicable the Emperor's bottom line was.

In contrast, Peturabo's previous anthropomorphic acts were merely clumsy imitations of the emperor as his source.

"it is good!"

Uslan gritted his teeth and agreed to Rosie's request.

"But let me make this clear beforehand: I can have the Bone Singers tell you the method, but whether it works or not is not up to us."

“Of course, we’re not that shameless.” Loshi put his arm around Uslan’s shoulder and burst into laughter.

With the combined efforts of the Bone Singers, the first piece of spirit bone material was quickly created. It seemed to have a life of its own, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Afterwards, Loxi put these spirit bone materials into the machine that used ancient holy technology.

Accompanied by a tooth-grinding noise, the machine roared and spun around. After about ten minutes, it finally spat out some material that looked about 70-80% like the mesh material.

(End of this chapter)