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

Chapter 867 Victor's Plot
"Holy crap, Ryan!"

"You also have the ability to predict the future? I thought only Saint Gilles and Coz among the brothers could accurately foresee the future, but I didn't expect you to have this ability hidden."

"I've never seen such a sudden natural disaster in the online world before. How did you know it would happen, and even pinpoint the exact time?"

In the misty jungle of Leon, Lemanrus was like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, excitedly shouting and yelling.

Chagatai looked at the wolf king with slight disdain, but could only tolerate his exaggerated performance.

He knew that Ruth was actually a cunning and civilized man at heart, but this guy had disguised himself as a barbaric man for so long that sometimes he himself had forgotten what he was really like.

Ryan's face was somber, his brows furrowed into hills, completely ignoring Ruth's pointless rant.

"Quiet down, this cataclysmic event has only just begun."

"I need to expend a lot of effort to maintain the Misty Forest. If the Separation affects us, it could have very serious consequences."

The wolf king immediately calmed down and muttered in a low voice.

Chagatai Khan nudged his brother with his shoulder armor, then stroked his beard, calmly watching the escalating catastrophe of separation.

The Chogoris people have a deep understanding of natural disasters.

In their understanding, this natural force must have profound internal laws, and if one can understand its essence, one can control or avoid disasters.

This unique philosophical concept led Chogoris to give birth to the special system of psionicists known as the Storm Prophets.

From the moment it appeared in the network, the separation spread and expanded at an incredible speed.

It caused the network barrier to crack, revealing long, narrow fissures, and the foul subspace energy surging into them further amplified the power of the separation.

Comoros' urban structure was built on a network of roads, and now that even the roads are starting to crack, the impact on Comoros is unimaginable.

The entire city of Comoros seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, which then kneaded it roughly.

The foundations of the net-like tunnels supporting the Comoros' high walls groaned in a sickening groan.

The seemingly indestructible ancient city is twisted and deformed under incomprehensible spatial stress, like plastic being scorched by high temperatures.

The enormous crack, like a black lightning bolt, instantly crawled across the once smooth, mirror-like surface of the wall, which was inlaid with reliefs of tormented souls.

Gravel, broken giant beams, and even entire sections of the outer wall armor crumbled away with a deafening metallic tearing sound.

The violent vortex of psionic energy emerging from the network channel was ignited by the separation phenomenon, transforming into a colorful yet deadly torrent of energy.

These "hurricanes" are no longer gaseous flows, but rather materialized destructive rays and psionic shockwaves.

They crashed against the high walls with a deafening roar.

The defensive spikes, energy turrets, and observation posts on the high walls were easily torn apart and melted into molten metal droplets that splattered everywhere in the storm, like paper toys.

Ryan's Misty Forest was also affected to a considerable extent, but compared to the immovable high walls and buildings, his Misty Forest was like the fragile leaves and branches under a storm, using its own flexibility to dissipate and transfer most of the destructive force.

The lion's face was somewhat pale. In order to maintain this jungle territory, he had to draw upon a huge amount of spiritual energy, which even gave the Primarch the illusion of being drained dry.

The catastrophe began here, and then, like a moving hurricane, gradually spread towards the unimaginably vast city of Comoros.

This terrible disaster is practically the sum of earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes as we understand them, and when they are mixed together, they unleash an even greater destructive force.

Several hours later, the natural disaster of the annihilation gradually receded, and Ryan finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the emptiness in his body somewhat better.

"call--"

The Lion King, unusually flustered, was panting heavily, but finally had time to answer Ruth's question.

"I cannot make prophecies, and in this godforsaken place like Comoros, the defensive systems left behind by the Ancient Empire can greatly interfere with the accuracy of prophecies."

“Those ancient spirits are the ancestors of prophecy. If they blindly believe in their own prophecies here, they may be misled by the anti-prophecy defense system.”

A clear look appeared in Ruth's eyes.

Ryan complained, but continued to explain.

On the contrary, Chagatai, who had been listening quietly without saying a word, suddenly brightened up, as if he had figured out the key point.

"Have you found an inside man? A traitor? A spy?"

Although the Chogoris man spoke with doubt, his tone was filled with deep certainty.

Ryan gave his Chagatai brothers an approving smile; Chagatai was far wiser than Ruth.

"Indeed, during a previous clash with the Dark Eldar, my legion unexpectedly captured the governor of a small conspiracy group."

"Astubal Victor, that's the name of that dark Eldar bastard, and his ruthless scheme is a third-rate, ragtag scheme."

In the mind of the Lion of Caliban, the face of the ruthless conspirator he had captured flashed before his eyes—the Eldar who appeared unremarkable but whose heart burned with ambition.

The wolf king suddenly gasped, then looked at his brother with disbelief.

"You caught a consul? Alive?"

A bitter pang of jealousy welled up in Ruth's heart; he truly hadn't expected Ryan to possess such abilities.

In this century of war, they have hunted down countless members of the Dark Eldar.

The gladiator champions of the Witchcraft Cult, Mandela who could merge with the shadows, Nightmare, the killing machine cruelly trained by the Dark Eldar, or the bio-weapons meticulously crafted by the Bloodbringers, all fell to the Primarch.

Even the Primarch had to admit that the Eldar professional soldiers were in no way inferior to the human Space Marines, and some powerful individuals were even far superior to ordinary Astartes.

However, compared to the Primarch, these are still just insignificant grunts.

Lemanrus, the consul of the conspiracy, never managed to capture one alive.

Even if they realize they are about to be defeated in an encounter, these guys will simply commit suicide and then have their men take their bodies back to Comoros.

At first, Ruth and the other Primarchs couldn't understand why the Conspiracy Council's Archon would commit suicide immediately after realizing the danger. They were simply following their habitual thinking, moving on to the decapitation target after seeing the other party commit suicide and abandoning the body.

It wasn't until later, after they had extracted enough information from the prisoners of war, that the Primarch realized that the reason these conspirators dared to do this was because the vast majority of them had purchased expensive resurrection service agreements from the Bloodwalkers' Guild.

As long as a relatively intact corpse is brought before the Bloodwalkers, these masters of flesh and blood can use their unpredictable skills to resurrect the dead and snatch food from the Slaanesh's mouth.

After they learned of this secret, the conspirators simply learned their lesson and stayed behind, resolutely refusing to show themselves and remotely commanding the battlefield through their subordinates.

Ryan's lips twitched slightly before he answered.

"I caught it, but I didn't catch it."

“This Victor deliberately led his own conspiracy group into battle, and then I ‘accidentally’ caught him.”

The Lion King had an incredibly proud heart. In his view, no one could deny the fruits of his labor, but if they weren't, he didn't want them at all.

Any attempt to fabricate or deceive is a desecration of his glory.

Ryan's answer revealed a knowing look to both Lemanrus and Chagatai.

Was he captured intentionally? Or was he captured by humans?

This extremely risky operation, though insane, is not entirely unimaginable, especially for the Dark Eldar, a race driven by madness.

"Intentional?" Ruth scoffed, then launched into a blatant mockery. "This pointy-eared bastard has some nerve. Isn't Victor afraid you'll just crush him and feed him to the dogs?"

Upon hearing Rus's words, Chagatai Khan's lips twitched, followed by a forced smile.

Feed the dog?

Lemanrus angrily punched Chagatai on the back. He was a wolf, not a dog!

"But he was right; I did not kill him."

Ryan's voice was deep, carrying a hint of approval for his opponent's ingenious scheme, but also a hint of displeasure at being used.

“We have been blocked outside the core area of ​​Comoros for a long time, and we cannot stay here forever.”

"He knew we needed intelligence, we needed to understand the situation inside Comoros, and he knew we wouldn't easily kill a governor who might have access to Comoros's core secrets."

“More importantly… he guessed our purpose.”

Chagatai stroked his beard, his eyes sharp as an eagle's: "He guessed that we weren't after this dark city permanently?"

"Yes."

Ryan nodded, his gaze passing through the gradually calming energy turbulence at the edge of the jungle domain, and looking towards the Comoros core area in the distance, which had become even more dilapidated and chaotic due to the separation.

“Victor believes that the reason why we short-lived humans have to venture deep into the core of the network and embark on such a long expedition is either to plunder the treasures and technologies accumulated by the Comoros over thousands of years, or to find something that is specific to humanity and extremely important.”

It could be a lost relic, or ancient technology left over from the dark ages.

He concluded that we had neither the will nor the ability to rule this quagmire of countless conspiracies and perverts for long, and that in the end, we would have no choice but to hand Comoros back to the Dark Eldar.

"So he came to you?" Chagatai pressed.

“He offered me a… special deal,” Ryan said cautiously.

"He provided detailed intelligence about the Comoros: including the locations of key facilities, the deployment maps of the Dark Eldar, and even helped us to assassinate those powerful conspiracies."

In exchange, he demanded that once we entered the Comoros, we wield the sword against those powerful conspiracies, eradicating these rival families who had entrenched themselves there for generations.

"Using someone else to do your dirty work? What a clever scheme!" Rus grinned, revealing his gleaming white canines, his killing intent palpable.

"He wants to use us as a sharp blade to kill all his rivals who are in his way, and then he can sit in the highest position himself. That's very much like the Dark Eldar."

“It perfectly matches the character and style of the Dark Eldar,” Ryan confirmed. “The risks are enormous, but the rewards are also enormous. If he succeeds, he will go from being a governor of a third-rate conspiratorial group to becoming the overlord of the entire Comoros—or at least the overlord he imagines himself to be.”

"Do you really believe him?" Chagatai's question went straight to the point. "Do you really understand the ruler of this ruthless conspiracy? What is his past like?"

“These are all crucial factors, Ryan. Our opponent is an incredibly ancient and powerful race. We cannot afford to be careless.”

Ryan was silent for a moment, then thought for two seconds.

"It cannot be completely trusted. The promises of the Dark Eldar are more unpredictable than the storms of Abyss. Only a fool would believe the promises of an alien like the Archon, who takes despicable shamelessness as a virtue."

But I believe in his ambition and interests; his hatred and murderous intent towards other conspiracies are genuine; his thirst for power is real; and the intelligence regarding the Disaster of Separation... is merely a stepping stone for him to demonstrate his sincerity and capability.

"Did he tell you about the Cataclysmic Disaster?" Ruth suddenly realized. No wonder Ryan had been so persistent in seizing this opportunity. "Exactly."

A hint of apprehension about Victor's intelligence capabilities flashed in Ryan's eyes. This guy was indeed a talent, but unfortunately, he was a talent of the Dark Eldar.

"Asdubal Victor, this seemingly unremarkable conspirator, possesses a trait extremely rare among the Dark Eldar—he is a scholar, or at least a researcher obsessed with the history of the Comoros."

"Scholar?" Ruth felt the word was incredibly awkward when paired with the Dark Eldar.

Ryan nodded in agreement.

"In order to gain my trust, Victor revealed some of his past to me."

"This guy came from an extremely lowly background. From the moment he was born, he was a slave at the bottom of the Comoros City."

“Slaves like him, even if they are from the Dark Eldar, will only have one fate—to be dragged onto the sacrificial altar, have their throats slit like livestock, and be sacrificed to the gods.”

"But just as he was about to be sacrificed with his throat slit, Slaanesh was born, and the first cry of the Prince of Pleasure stole the souls of those who would carry out the sacrifice—"

The more unrestrained, corrupt, and wicked a soul is, the more easily it is targeted by Slaanesh. He was merely a young, lowly slave; where would he find such fine virtues from the dark race?

"He spent unimaginable effort and cost, struggling at the bottom of the Comoros while collecting, organizing, and deciphering a large number of fragments left behind in the Comoros by the Ancient Ling Empire, including data from some ancient instruments that recorded the operating rules of the network and were forgotten here."

Even Lemanrus became more serious upon hearing about Victor's deeds.

The wolf king lived in the harsh Fenris, a world of death where humans, like Victor, struggled to survive every day.

In Russ's eyes, the truly powerful tribes were not those with many hunters who could capture large amounts of food; on the contrary, the truly powerful ones were those who were passionate about protecting knowledge and supporting shamans.

They understand the power of knowledge, which is why they keep a group of shamans in a godforsaken place like Fenris, who have little survival skills and may die of old age or illness tomorrow.

A tribe that values ​​knowledge, as long as it survives, will one day climb to the top of the tribal pyramid.

Victor, a dark Eldar born into slavery, began collecting this ancient knowledge as soon as he rose to power. His vision and breadth of mind were far beyond what those rulers, who were simply keen on intrigue, fighting and plotting against each other, could match.

This guy is a menace; we must deal with him once we enter the core area of ​​the Comoros.

Rus and Chagatai exchanged a glance, both having the same thought.

Ryan continued, "Through cross-referencing and long-term observation of these ancient messages, he became convinced that Comoros was not randomly struck by the cataclysmic event of separation."

While this disaster is extreme and incredibly destructive, it... may exhibit some degree of periodicity and regularity.

"Regularity?" Chagatai became interested, and he was eager to explore the patterns of this natural phenomenon.

“Yes,” Ryan affirmed.
“Victor believes that the separation is related to the imbalance in the energy cycle of Comoros, a massive creation that parasitizes the nodes of the ancient sacred network.”

"When a city excessively draws energy from the network, or when an external subspace storm impacts the network structure to a certain critical point, it will cause the local network structure to collapse, or segregation, just like a taut string breaking."

By analyzing historical disaster intervals, destructive ranges, and peak energy activity in the Comoros at the time, combined with observations of the pulsations at the nodes of the ancient Sacred Remnant Network, he developed a model that, while not perfect, was sufficient for early warning.

"So, he predicted this separation?" Ruth pressed.

"He predicted a high-probability window of opportunity."

"He told me that, according to his model, there is a very high probability of large-scale segregation in the near future, especially near the high walls of the core area."

Because that's the crucial point where the energy of the ancient network nodes converges and overflows, and also the place where the Comoros defense system puts the most pressure on the network.

"He couldn't be precise to the second, which is far beyond the limits of what intelligent beings can do, but he gave a general timeframe and strongly advised us to stay away from the core of the high walls during this period and find relatively 'flexible' rather than 'rigid' environments to hide in—like my jungle domain."

Ryan recalled Victor's composure in the face of death, and how even when facing the human Primarch, he dared to look the lion in the eye and continue to fight for his terms.

This Dark Eldar's grasp of knowledge and understanding of the city of Comoros may surpass that of all their kin.

"He bet that I would believe him, bet that I would use this information."

"And we did indeed witness the calamity of the Separation. Now, the Separation has severely damaged the core defenses of other conspiracy groups, torn apart their territories, and unleashed demons..."

Comoros fell into an unusual state of weakness and confusion, which was exactly the situation Victor wanted, and the moment he needed us to begin wielding our swords.

A brief silence fell over the jungle as several Primarchs awaited their opportunity.

The lingering power of the storm still howled in the distance, and the dust from the collapse of the high walls in the core area of ​​Comoros had not yet settled. The roars of demons and the screams of the Dark Eldar could be faintly heard.

“Then Ryan, I have one more question.”

Chagatai Khan broke the silence, a cold smile curving his lips.

"Is it time to use this knife to cut down those that Victor wants to cut down, or should we also cut down this cunning mastermind?"

Ryan responded to Chagatai with a cold look, and Chogoris's warhawk burst into laughter, realizing he had asked a stupid question.

How could an alien, especially a creature like the Dark Eldar, possibly become an ally?

Both sides are simply using each other.

Victor hoped that humanity could cut down all those massive conspiracy groups that were like towering trees, so that there would be room and sunlight for him, the seedling, to grow strong.

Their only goal was to use this opportunity to enter the core area of ​​Comoros and find that damned "Heart of Plague".

Since both sides have ulterior motives, let's see who has the better tactics.

"Proceed according to plan. We must first enter the Comoros. As for Victor... he is still useful for now, but we must keep a close eye on him."

“We only know that the Heart of the Plague is in Comoros, but finding it in this unimaginably vast network city is a huge problem. Victor can help us.”

"Once Victor finds the Heart of the Plague, he loses his usefulness and it's time for him to die."

The three Primarchs looked at each other, then broke into excited smiles.

Victor, the leader of this conspiracy, underestimated humanity's ambition. They wanted the Heart of Plague, and they wanted the Comoros too.

Regardless of whether they can manage this city, even wiping out all the Dark Eldar here and leaving the Comoros idle would be a good option.

The Cataclysm destroyed the integrity of the high walls in the core area, and Ryan could sense that the original counterforce field against psionic energy had begun to weaken, revealing a vulnerability in this seemingly impregnable defense.

And once a vulnerability appears, Ryan will not miss the opportunity.

The lion once again unleashed its misty jungle, making the forest before them even denser and stretching ever forward.

The three Primarchs split up and led the way, moving rapidly into the unknown dense forest.

When the surrounding mist and jungle branches thinned out, Ryan knew they had crossed that damned wall and reached the heart of the Comoros.

This is a mysterious area that they have been unable to penetrate for a century.

As expected, the cataclysmic event caused enormous damage to the normal operation of Comoros City. Stones and metals kept falling from numerous spires, and occasionally, an unlucky black bean sprout would fall to the ground and turn into a puddle of minced meat with a splat.

Dark Eldar airships, anti-gravity motorcycles, and fighter jets hovering in the sky swayed precariously in the storm, with black lightning constantly striking down, turning these vehicles into piles of smoking scrap metal.

"This godforsaken place has two suns."

Ryan squinted, gazing at the shining star in the sky above the core region of the Comoros.

Unlike planets in the real universe that revolve around stars, in Comoros, a giant node city in the network, the star revolves around Comoros itself.

They were fixed in their orbits by the unpredictable and ancient methods of the Dark Eldar, casting pitiful light upon this world filled with sin and darkness.

The Primarchs were well aware that it was impossible for stars to be born within the Web.

The only answer is that these black bean sprouts stole two suns from the real universe, and probably deliberately plundered them from galaxies that have given birth to life.

As long as they can create suffering, pain, and despair, these Dark Eldar will never skimp on their time and energy.

However, what is more dangerous than natural disasters are the warp demons that have come to Comoros with warp energy.

These greedy warp creatures are never satisfied; they thirstily covet any living life and soul.

They could sense the existence of the net, but they could not cross the barrier left by the Creator to catch the incredibly delicious spirit race.

But now, with the arrival of the Cataclysm, the end of the Dark Eldar has come.

An unimaginable number of warp demons poured in, flashing through the Comoros's massive spires and transportation systems, wantonly plundering the souls of the dark Eldar civilians on the ground.

Even though the commoners of Black Bean Sprouts possess considerable strength and killing skills, they are no match for the far more vicious and ruthless warp demons. They can only scream as they are devoured alive.

The use of psionic energy is strictly prohibited in Comoros, as it would attract the covetous eyes of the Dark Prince, and these warp demons are walking psionic beacons.

Countless Dark Spirits felt utterly powerless, as if their souls had been sucked clean by some greedy being, like sucking jelly.

Of course, their feeling was not an illusion; Slaanesh was indeed increasing the draining force. When some of the Dark Eldar heard a lewd whisper behind their ears, their souls fell into the hands of Slaanesh.

What awaits them is torture and abuse even more perverse than that in the Comoros.

The conspiracies that had previously been stationed at the high walls summoned other conspiracies, as well as the Witch Spirit Cult and the Blood Spirit Association.

They are the only ones still capable of resisting, and they have already organized a group of elite Eldar warriors to launch a counterattack against the warp demons that have rushed into the core area of ​​Comoros.

The sorcerers of the Witch Spirit Cult flickered wildly, their enormous blades easily slicing through the bodies of the warp demons, shredding them to dust.

These powerful warriors, battling it out in the arena, were even toying with warp demons. Their speed and agility far surpassed their opponents, though they were inferior in many other aspects.

However, warp demons are arriving in droves to join this gluttonous feast.

In particular, some hideous and twisted Slaanesh demons, exuding a powerful allure, also smelled the sweet scent. When they entered the battlefield, even the most valiant and skilled sorcerers felt a chill run down their spines.

Slaanesh demons are the most deadly enemies of the Dark Eldar. Even if they are extremely powerful, they would be considered to be performing exceptionally well if they could only use half of their abilities when facing Slaanesh's minions.

However, in order to defend their last safe haven, the Dark Eldar also displayed a fierce determination to fight to the death.

They even released powerful warriors of various races imprisoned in the arena, allowing these beings, who were not entirely subdued by the Slaanesh demons, to continue creating even more chaos.

Those truly high-ranking and powerful figures had already moved to sufficiently safe places, cautiously avoiding the scrutiny of Slaanesh's gaze.

These things were of no concern to Ryan and his men; they were following Chagatai Khan's perception of the Heart of Plague and launching a rapid assault in a certain direction.

Anything that stood in their way, whether elite warriors of the Dark Eldar or blind warp demons, was reduced to mincemeat before the Primarchs and the Bladeblasts of Astartes.

Comoros, which has flourished for countless years, has met its destroyer today.

(End of this chapter)