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

Chapter 915 Negotiation Moment
When Narek sent the Fire Clan commander's coordinates to Ryan, the Caliban Lion immediately abandoned the minions in front of him and charged toward the target with an unstoppable ferocity.

Clone Ryan wants to prove that even though he is not the original, his bravery and dominance on the battlefield are in no way inferior to the original.

The lion's speed was so fast that even the sensors of the Tau Automaton Bees could hardly detect it, let alone the reaction speed of the Fire Warriors.

Before the dozen or so elite Fire Clan warriors protecting Shova could even react, their sturdy protective combat suits were torn apart by Ryan like rags, and blood, flesh, and internal organs splattered all over the ground.

Ryan's power armor was stained with the blood of the Tau warriors, and the ferocious aura emanating from his body made the aliens within range feel a bone-chilling cold.

Even Kuren Shova, who had followed the Sage of the Sea and dealt with all sorts of enemies, felt like a weed adrift in a storm, ready to be torn to shreds at any moment.

He had thought that the Astartes who had just shot him was incredibly strong, but he never expected that it would be nothing compared to this true giant.

The guards around him were dying at an unbelievable rate, their deaths extremely gruesome, like the minced flesh left after being held in the mouth of some indescribable beast and then brutally torn and ravaged at its feet.

Just as Shova reached for his pulse blaster, his weapon was shredded to pieces in the next instant.

Ryan held his sword in his right hand, his tall figure swaying in the dimly lit cabin environment, appearing before me as if by teleportation.

"You are... the Primarch?"

The fear in Shova's heart suddenly subsided. He had heard that those Astartes were not the most terrifying warriors among humans. Above them were great beings known as the Primarchs.

But only now has he had the chance to see a Primarch in person.

Huo's pride made him refuse to show weakness even at the cost of his life. He threw the broken explosive gun on the ground and then pulled out a long, slender blade from his body.

For the Fire Clan warriors, their unique physiological structure gives them a far greater advantage in ranged combat than in melee combat, so they rarely choose to engage in close-quarters combat with their enemies.

But at this moment, Shova decided to show the human Primarch before him the courage of the Tau.

"For the sake of the highest good!" the Fire Clan commander shouted.

The next moment, Shova's head and his weapon were sliced ​​in two.

Ryan's figure seemed not to have moved at all. The Fire Clan Commander's head rolled to the ground, and his body lurched forward a few steps due to the original momentum before abruptly stopping and falling to the ground.

Shova's eyes were wide open, almost as if they were about to pop out of their sunken sockets.

He tried desperately to catch Ryan's movements, but for the Tau, it was simply impossible.

His mind began to race, flashing back to scenes of hunting with his people on their home planet.

However, all of this came to an end with the arrival of a group of human demons who descended from the sky. These demons are still slaughtering their own people, and he remains powerless to fight back.

Shova hates this dark and pathetic universe; his race was a mistake from the very beginning.

"If there is an afterlife, I don't want to be born here again..."

This Fire Clan commander, who had survived since the Shadow Crusade era, finally died on the dark and damp deck of the Cult's hive ship.

The lion of Caliban didn't understand what the alien commander in front of him was saying, because he didn't care about such things at all.

Too many aliens have expressed similar resentment and bitterness after being destroyed by the Dark Angels; it would be a waste of his energy to care about them.

The only thing that left him with a slight impression was that this alien commander actually dared to pick up his weapon and swing it at him in the end.

Ryan's insight was so sharp that he was already dissecting the physical structure of these Tau aliens while killing them.

With each enemy killed, Ryan gained a deeper understanding of the Tau.

Their muscle strength, power generation characteristics, fatal weaknesses, fighting habits...

The Tau people hold no secrets for Ryan. He has discovered that these bipedal aliens, who walk upright like humans, have unique dynamic vision that makes their melee reactions extremely poor, far less accurate and spontaneous than when shooting at long range.

"Useless courage, nothing more." Ryan offered this weak assessment, only considering the courage Cullen Shova displayed at the end.

With the Fire Clan commander dead, Ryan's sword became even more unstoppable, and the remains of Tau warriors and intelligent bees paved a bloody path behind him.

The Deathwatch warriors followed closely behind, efficiently clearing out the remaining resistance and consolidating their captured passage.

The air in the cabins of the naval ship was filled with a pungent smell of ozone, blood, and burning metal, and the alarms had long been drowned out by the noise of battle.

The lion's killing instinct is not satisfied by slaughter; on the contrary, it becomes even stronger.

He was born a blade forged by the emperor, and only when the blood of humanity's enemies flowed on his blade could Ryan feel the meaning of his existence.

The lion's keen animal instincts detected a powerful and unsettling psychic energy fluctuation permeating the surrounding environment.

Some of these psionic fluctuations came from the tenacious resistance of the cult psionicists, while others came from powerful spells released by the human psionic intelligence and the Grey Knights.

"Most of those cult members possess psychic powers, ranking among the top even among the psychic enemies I've encountered."

“And enemies who wield psionic powers are often more troublesome than we imagine.”

After finishing off the battlefield, Ryan immediately led his Deathwatch unit toward the direction of the unusually intense psionic fluctuations.

Psychic energy, as the most common yet most unusual force in the universe, is like a universal patch that can appear wherever needed.

Even powerful Primarchs, or even Primarchs, cannot always guarantee victory against enemies who are physically weak but possess overwhelming psionic power.

If you underestimate your opponent and become careless, you are very likely to end up losing your job unexpectedly.

Ryan always anticipated his enemy's moves with the utmost care and caution. If he could kill his opponent with 100% of his strength, he would definitely use 200%.

The lion followed the ripples and turned toward a wider, seemingly giant corridor leading to the core area of ​​the nest ship.

As soon as he stepped into the corridor entrance, the scene before him stirred even his war-weary mind.

The war that broke out here was very different from what he had just experienced; at least there were far fewer people active on the battlefield.

Clones Magnus hovered several meters above the ground, his crimson armor gleaming in the dim light as if it were burning.

Unlike Ryan, he didn't lead from the front; instead, he acted like a conductor immersed in a grand musical composition, fighting remotely.

Magnus's single eye gleamed with a deep, psychic light, and his hands gracefully and precisely traced complex trajectories in the air.

Countless invisible threads of psionic energy spread from his fingertips, spanning dozens of meters, and precisely wrapped around the cult psionic guards who were trying to rush over.

Enemies entangled in the threads often show no obvious wounds on their bodies, but they will freeze instantly, the light or sparks of psychic energy in their eyes will suddenly go out, and then they will collapse to the ground as if all their support has been drained.

Their souls have been directly extracted or crushed into pieces; they are truly dead beyond any possibility.

Even more horrifying is that Magnus captures and condenses this dissipated soul energy, transforming it into a ghostly blue magical flame or an invisible mental blast, using the life essence of his enemies as cannonballs to annihilate their companions.

Magnus's killing efficiency was far more efficient and cleaner than Ryan's; at least the battlefield wouldn't be littered with broken flesh and splattered blood. All the enemies seemed to be asleep, no longer making a sound.

Beside Magnus, the prophet Uslan was equally formidable, displaying the powerful strength of the Eldar prophet from the Ark.

He stood still, occasionally tapping the ground lightly with his ancient staff, and invisible ripples of psionic energy spread out from him.

The enemies swept by the ripples did not die immediately, but were instantly plunged into an indescribable state of extreme fear and delirious hallucinations.

Some of them would let out shrill screams, indiscriminately unleash their firepower in all directions, and even point their guns at their comrades.
Some, however, seemed to have witnessed the most terrifying sight in the world, frantically scratching their faces and bodies until they were bloody and their spirits completely collapsed.

Uslan's methods were more like a precise and highly contagious spiritual plague, silently undermining the enemy's will and order along the entire front.

Several members of the Deathwatch Psionic Intelligence Unit, including Chapter Leader Zoe, closely surrounded the two Psionic Masters.

They coordinated Magnus and Uslan's psionic spells seamlessly, some using psionic energy to reinforce the passageway structure to prevent collapse during the battle, while others wove anti-psionic barriers to interfere with and shield against potential psionic counterattacks from the enemy.

Others unleashed psionic lightning, precisely targeting and eliminating those enemies who had managed to escape the main psionic storm and were now in disarray.

Zoe and the other members of the Deathwatch psionic intelligence corps not only did a good job of providing support, but they also seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eagerly imitate and learn the unique skills displayed by the two powerful psionicists.

In the vast galaxy, there has never been a shortage of powerful psionicists.

However, the vast majority of these powerful psychics rely on their own talent to control their power in a way that miraculously achieves results through sheer force.

It's like a psionicist who is born at the Alpha+ level. Even if he doesn't know any skills, as long as he can mobilize a little bit of his power, he can crush those psionicists who have worked hard for many years and finally mastered a lot of psionic spells.

Systematic teaching of psychics has always been a challenge.

Loshi once used the Space Wolf Rune Priest system and the White Scar Storm Prophet system in Macragge to create a relatively mature standard template.

However, given Rosie's level of psychic abilities at the time, coupled with the limited access he had to the psychics he could reach, this template only worked at a lower level.

While Uslan and Clone Magnus are far less powerful than top-tier psionicists like Loshi and Makado, they are still among the best in the galaxy.

The Deathwatchers operate in the desolate Ghoul Cluster, where the resources they can obtain are pitifully scarce compared to Terra.

"I see, so psionic energy can have so many uses..."

Zoe trembled with excitement, but dared not interfere with the spellcasting of the two psionic masters.

They were watching two geniuses solve problems live. Although their talents were far inferior, they could still learn a little something from them.

Magnus had seen everything, and he quite liked this little Deathwatch guy.

Perhaps after this war ends, he will be able to pass on the psionic spells and magic system belonging to the "Thousand Sons" that he has recorded in his mind to Zoe.

This can be considered his small contribution. Qianzi did become a traitor, but the knowledge he possessed, at least the knowledge that was not corrupted by chaos, was not wrong.

"Magnus, Uslan."

Ryan's voice broke the subtle silence unique to psionic spellcasting. He strode over, the alien blood still dripping from his black armor.

"It seems your progress is just as fast, but the battle on my side is already over."

Magnus tilted his head slightly, glancing at Ryan with his single eye, a smile playing on his lips—a smile that was a mixture of arrogance and understanding.

“Ah, Ryan, your efficiency is always so reliable, but our method is more efficient and cleaner.”

As Magnus spoke, he casually reached to his side and behind him, and the head of a cult assassin who was attempting to launch a surprise attack from the shadows instantly and silently exploded like a watermelon.

He held in his hand a specially treated sorcerous dagger crafted from the bones of the untouchable. There was no doubt that if this dagger were to pierce Magnus's body, it would cause serious injury.

Magnus snorted coldly, and then the corpse of the cult assassin seemed to be swallowed by an invisible black hole, constantly compressing and shrinking until it disappeared.

The prophet Uslan maintained the aloof demeanor characteristic of the Adarin race, nodding slightly.

"The Tantric sect is already at its end. This organization, which roams the galaxy and plots its own arrogant schemes, will be completely wiped out today."

As if to confirm Uslan’s words, the psionic resistance coming from the depths of the hive ship suddenly intensified, and a desperate and frenzied psionic roar could even be faintly heard.

But just as the human assault force was about to advance, a forced psionic signal, transmitted in human High Gothic language, swept across the battlefield like an invisible tide, clearly entering the minds of every soldier:

“Humans! Robert Guilliman! And your Primarchs, we know your true purpose.”

The psionic communication between Sage Yu Hai and Slau Da continued, their voices remaining calm, yet unable to completely conceal the urgency and madness born from their desperate situation. "The technology for artificial immortals you so desire—its core data records, original genetic templates, and living samples—are now under our control!"

"Cease all attacks immediately, or we will immediately activate the final protocol to completely destroy all relevant data and ensure that all samples self-destruct instantly."

You will gain nothing, and Guilliman's foster mother, Tarasha Euton, will forever lose her only hope of continuing her life because of your recklessness and greed!

"If you want it, you must negotiate! Guarantee that we, along with our designated core members and assets, can leave this place safely. This is the only condition for you to get what you need!"

This information was like a static bomb, instantly halting the Empire's unstoppable offensive.

A brief silence fell over the communication channel, broken only by Guilliman's increasingly heavy and suppressed breathing.

The name of Ms. Yotton had always been Guilliman's most sensitive nerve, and at this moment, that nerve was precisely touched by Tantric Buddhism.

Two seconds later, the silence was broken.

Guilliman's tone remained calm, but deep down there was a hint of cold anger and a necessary caution.

"All combat units shall suspend large-scale assault operations and hold the areas currently under their control."

Repeat: Pause the attack and switch to a defensive posture.

Upon hearing Guilliman's order, Ryan frowned, his deep eyes sweeping across the end of the corridor. Although displeased, he chose to obey.

The faint light flowing on the prophetic staffs of Magnus and Uslan also paused slightly, and the other Primarchs responded that they had received the signal. The overall offensive stopped abruptly, awaiting Guilliman's decision.

“Reply to them.”

Finally, the Imperial Regent's cold and restrained voice rang out again, each word seemingly carrying immense weight.

"We agreed to negotiate and let them designate the location."

A moment later, the esoteric sect replied, requesting that the representatives of both sides meet on a relatively flat, open ice field on the coastline outside the nest ship.

Clearly, what the esoteric sect wants to do is drive humans away from their nest ships as much as possible, or at least gain some safe distance.

“An obvious trap,” Ryan scoffed. “It will make all our efforts go to waste.”

"It was that Hydra who alerted the Cult Alien; I'm 70% sure," Clone Alpharis said over the communication channel.

“But we must go.” Guilliman’s voice was resolute and unwavering. “For Ms. Euton, any risk is worth taking.”

“Loken, you and the Grey Knight will come with me.”

Saint Gilles and Ryan, you are responsible for perimeter security. If anything changes, launch an immediate attack without waiting for orders.

Magnus, Uslan, be ready to provide psionic support at any time.

"As for you," Guilliman turned his attention to the twins, "you seem particularly interested in the original Omega?"

Alpharis answered Guilliman's question in a deep, resonant voice.

"I just feel that the kind of cunning and viciousness that can so accurately hit your weak point is something that a group of aliens living in constant fear would not have thought of."

Their way of thinking is different from that of humans, and they cannot fully understand humans.

This looks more like the work of someone who likes to scheme in the shadows. We just want to confirm if it's him, and also to say hello to the real person.

Guilliman paused for a moment: "Do as you please. I won't restrict you on these details, but you must remember one thing: you must ensure the security of the technology I need."

“You can contact Omega. I can confirm that Alphareth is dead, and the remaining Hydra is still stubbornly standing against humanity.”

“Of course, Your Excellency.” Clone Omega replied with a light laugh.

Soon, a delegation led by Guilliman himself left the cult's nest ship and landed on the designated coastal ice field aboard a Thunderhawk gunboat.

The Imperial Regent's face remained calm and composed, with Gavial Locken leading a squad of elite Grey Knights close behind, their silver armor gleaming coldly in the dim sunlight of Casa Octavius ​​III.

Clone Alpharis and Omega were like two shadowy figures, quietly blending into the flanks of the team. Their presence was deliberately minimized, and they were completely integrated with the Grey Knights.

At the same time, representatives of the esoteric sect emerged from an exit of the nest ship that was not yet completely sealed off.

Sage Yu Hai and Slao Da walked at the front. The crystal light on the former's forehead was steady yet restrained, while the latter maintained the final demeanor of an Eldar noble, but the tension in his eyes was hard to hide.

Behind them followed several trusted Tau warriors carrying heavy, sealed crates. These crates had clearly been specially treated and contained information about artificial immortality technology.

The two sides stopped fifty meters apart in the center of the ice field. The biting sea wind whipped up countless tiny ice shards, which slapped against the transparent energy shield on the surface of the power armor.

Guilliman stared at the alien before him, at a distance close enough to easily kill it, but he couldn't do that.

“Guilliman.”

Sage Yu Hai spoke first in fluent High Gothic.

“You can see our sincerity; this is what you want.” He gestured to the sealed box behind him.

"Now, show your sincerity and immediately have your fleet clear a safe passage. Once we have confirmed our safe departure, the decryption keys and other data will be handed over immediately."

Guilliman's gaze swept over the boxes, suppressing the urge to immediately take them back.

"The technology will remain. You two can board your own warships and leave this planet."

"It's just the two of us?!"

Slau Da couldn't help but exclaim, then retorted, "That's impossible, we esoteric clergy..."

"I will take the Tau Clan with me when I leave!" Yu Hai insisted.

"You can choose to stay and be buried here with your nest ships and your ambitions."

"Don't pretend to be righteous in front of me. I've figured out how your cult operates. All you want is to survive."

"As for the lives of others, you don't care at all. And those treasures you cherish, you can make up for them as long as you have enough patience, can't you?"

Guilliman interrupted him; the Primarch's chilling aura was almost unbearable for these high-ranking members of the Secret Order.

They also knew very well that Guilliman was telling the truth.

"I don't have the time or patience to haggle with you. Make your choice."

"To live, or to die with the technology."

"Oh, by the way, your lies aren't perfect either. Your immortal agents John and Damon have chosen to return to humanity, and I can obtain some of the technology I need from them."

Sage Yu Hai stared intently at Guilliman. He hadn't expected Guilliman to be so tough, and that their tactical intimidation had been exposed.

John…Damon…damn it!

He should have imprisoned those two humans sooner, instead of being tricked by them now.

The crystal on Sage Yu Hai's forehead flickered violently a few times. Finally, he suddenly gritted his teeth, a fierce light appeared in his eyes, and he uttered a single word with great difficulty.

"……it is good."

The moment Guilliman heard the cult leaders agree, even he subconsciously lowered his guard.

In that fleeting moment, a cult sage standing to the side and behind the Sage of the Sea, with a bird-like head and belonging to a rare race, suddenly unleashed a frenzied burst of psionic energy from his eyes.

"For Tantric Buddhism, for the future of the universe!"

He shrieked, frantically draining his psionic energy, drawing power from the warp to condense a devastating psionic lightning bolt, which he aimed directly at Guilliman's location.

Loken and the Grey Knights reacted swiftly, instantly stacking multiple psionic barriers to protect the Regent.

However, Guilliman's reflexes were faster than his opponent's. He coldly observed the suddenly abruptly attacked esoteric sage and had already prepared a response.

A glint of blue light appeared in his eyes, and Guilliman touched his lips slightly before uttering a single word.

"negative."

It was just a word used to describe it lightly.

The raging psionic lightning, which contained the full power of a powerful psionicist, stopped less than a meter away from Guilliman, as if it had hit an invisible wall, and then quickly disappeared.

Moreover, Guilliman's power of denial even spread in the opposite direction along with the psionic lightning, directly entering the opponent's body.

The bird-headed sage suffered a terrifying backlash of psionic energy the next moment.

His body convulsed violently, and pure psionic flames shot out from his eyes, mouth, ears, and even the roots of his feathers.

He didn't even have time to scream before he collapsed to the ground in extreme agony, his body reduced to a charred, smoky corpse.

The sudden rise and death of this esoteric Buddhist sage were incredibly fast, so fast that many esoteric Buddhists didn't even have time to fully react.

It wasn't until several seconds later that a member of the cult, a Tau warrior, screamed in horror.

Sage Yukai and Slau Da were terrified by this scene, not because of their companion's death, but because Guilliman's completely illogical ability was beyond their comprehension.

What the hell is going on? Wasn't Guilliman supposed to be a Primarch with weak psionic abilities?

This... this... he killed a powerful psychic with just one sentence. Which idiot said Guilliman was weak in psychic abilities?
They immediately realized that their supposedly reliable information channels had serious flaws.

"Take down this idiot's accomplices!"

Slau Da shouted orders to the guards around him, targeting the cult members who had just been watching with shifty eyes and who supported the Bird-Headed Sage.

The next moment, a brief but bloody infighting broke out within the esoteric delegation.

Faced with life and death, Yu Hai and Slough Da did not hesitate to purge the last unstable factors within the organization, using the blood of their colleagues to once again prove their "sincerity" and "control" to Guilliman.

Guilliman simply smiled dismissively at this behavior of the Tantric sect.

One plays the good cop, the other the bad cop – a classic but outdated negotiation tactic.

Was the suddenly appearing cult alien really planning the assassination himself?

That may not be the case.

If he succeeds in the assassination, then Yu Hai and Slau Da will immediately follow up, take him into custody, and increase their leverage.

If he fails, they can immediately distance themselves from the situation, clean up all the relevant personnel, and leave no evidence to prove anything.

In any case, they won't lose out no matter which outcome they choose.

Guilliman had no desire to continue playing mind games with these damned aliens; all he wanted now was to acquire the technology and then settle accounts with the Cult later.

(End of this chapter)