Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 675 Ning Lu's Fictitious Increase of 80,000 Deaths
Terra, the Golden Palace.

Nimrod's psionic projection crossed the void and arrived, and he immediately felt a pair of eyes staring at him.

The moment he sat down, he glanced almost imperceptibly in that direction and saw Conrad Coates, his body hunched over like a vulture.

[He seemed to have a premonition of something.]
As Ninglu pondered, he also noticed that Angron was not in the last spot on his side; he was the only Primarch who was not present.

Horus Lupecal noticed Nimrod's gaze and spoke:
“Angron is averse to using psionic energy, and I think he will be absent from the War Council for a long time.”

Ning Lu nodded, thinking to himself.

[They really do have an obvious aversion to psionic energy, even more impatient than Mortalian and Ruth.]

He rejected not only psionic power, but also the Empire.

Well, Old Man Huang probably wouldn't want him to attend the War Council and ruin the atmosphere either.
“Witchcraft is not to be trusted,” Ruth said with disgust. “I hope that one day we will no longer use this method.”

“But now you will depend on it,” Chagatai Khan’s voice was gentle yet sharp, “not only that, you will also depend on it for communication and navigation.”

"Therefore, you should recognize the role of psychic energy and make use of it."

“I will never depend on him. Wolves don’t use witchcraft,” Ruth said coldly, arms crossed, looking at Magnus with a mocking expression.

“You say that the use of psionic energy is useful, but the Thousand Sons suffered heavy casualties in the Carmen Carnegie system and lost an entire academy.”

Magnus's pupils were bloodshot as he spoke in a cold voice.

"After two years of fierce fighting, I used the power of the ether to defeat the giant war machine, which the greenskins call the Wolf King."

“That’s just a wolf king in name only. Your witchcraft won’t work on me,” Ruth said mockingly.

“Your rune priest also uses psionic energy.” Roger Dorn’s voice was as still as a rock.

"Moreover, more than a quarter of your wolf pack perished at the Wheel of Flames, and your achievements are not as high as Ninglu's."

"However, you are right about one thing: psionic energy is indeed a double-edged sword."

Dorn was outspoken, pointing out Ruth's hypocritical attitude toward psychic powers while also opposing their use.

As everyone was talking, the palace doors opened, and the Emperor, along with Macardo and the Mars Forging Director, walked in together.

After everyone bowed, the emperor looked around at them and spoke in a deep voice.

"Today, a rebellion has broken out in Cardorax Aleph. It is located at a critical node in the warp space route and must be dealt with immediately."

Upon hearing this, Ninglu recalled the situation of Cardorax Aleph.

Originally, the 3rd and 118th Battalions of the "Iron Warriors" were responsible for suppressing the rebellion, and nearly two-thirds of them were killed in action.

However, Peturabo was assigned to guard the edge of the Pacific Sector and naturally wouldn't respond.
As Ning Lu pondered, he felt Old Man Huang's probing gaze fall upon him.

"Ninglu, what battles has your legion been engaged in lately?"

[Hmm, another failed lock-on, unable to send the Spear of Dionysus back to me?] Ninglu wasn't flustered. Old Man Huang was just letting him rest in Vostonia, not confining him to his quarters.

He thought of his plan to exaggerate casualties and conceal his strength, and then he spoke up.

"My territory was invaded by the Hruds. In the fourteen-year battle against billions of aliens, 'Shadow of Order' lost 106,000 people."

Ninglu directly increased the number of people from 26,890 to 80,000.

The number he exaggerated was not an exaggeration.

In fact, he estimated that without the stasis device and the uniqueness of the "Red Priest" in the ritual, the number of casualties in clearing the entire Sak-Tradia Abyss would not be less than 100,000. After all, the "Iron Warriors" lost nearly 30,000 men when they expelled the Hrud from the Gugan system.

Nimrod wasn't worried about being discovered to have falsified the casualty figures; any deductions had to be based on information. Meanwhile, Sak Trada stayed out of everyone's sight.

Because of the interference of the "Disordered Kingdom" and the uniqueness of the "Red Priest," even the premonitions of Old Man Huang and Magnus are disrupted, preventing them from obtaining the true information.

Prophecy is not omnipotent; no one, not even God, can foresee everything.

Ryan El-Jonson and Chagatai Khan looked on in surprise. They had both fought alongside the "Shadow of Order" and found it hard to imagine that aliens could cause such heavy losses.

Robert Guilliman's gaze was heavy, and he had no doubt that the loyal Nimrod said he was saddened by the severe loss suffered by the "Shadow of Order".

Omega pondered silently. He believed that Nimrod would not lie to the Emperor in the War Council, but he doubted the authenticity of the numbers. He decided to gather relevant intelligence later.

Ruth and Mortarian were taken aback, then realized that the massive casualties were a significant blow to the psionic faction.

Horus's mind flashed through countless images of black-armored warriors lying in pools of blood, and a wave of sorrow washed over him.

At the same time, his tense nerves relaxed.

Horus realized his own thoughts and immediately felt ashamed.

Amidst the various thoughts that arose among the crowd, Ning Lu continued.

"Fortunately, with the help of Peturabo, who created the stasis device, I was able to finally win the victory."

The Emperor and the Primarchs looked at the silent Perturabo, whose icy blue eyes flashed as he deduced from the experimental results.

"The distortion effect of the Hruds increases exponentially with their numbers."

"The passage of time will cause the Astartes to age and their weapons to rust; only a static field can eliminate their distorting effects."

"But the stasis device must be activated at the center of Hrud, and it will attract a fierce attack from the aliens because it conflicts with their biofield."

Perturabo's words painted a twisted and powerful image in everyone's minds.

The Emperor surveyed the crowd, his gaze settling on Ryan.

"Since your legion has suffered heavy losses, the task of quelling the rebellion of Kadorax Aleph shall be left to the 'Dark Angel'."

“My lord, the sword of the Dark Angel will surely slay all enemies of the Empire,” Ryan replied.

The Emperor's gaze fell upon the end of the long table, where Loka stood alone.

“Loga, you have been back in the Empire for nearly fifty years. The number of ‘Word Bearers’ has exceeded 100,000, which is among the top in terms of strength among the many legions, but the achievements you have made have always been few and far between.”

"You're wasting your time building cities that worship me."

“I have warned you more than once that I am not a god,” he said in a low, cold voice.

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Lojia's face. "The Kur people need faith..."

“No,” the Emperor interrupted Loka’s long speech, “they only need the truth of the Empire.”

“You must hasten your pace and, like Horus, Nimrod, and Guilliman, submit to more worlds.”

Loka watched resentfully as his father turned his gaze to another brother, deciding to write a book explaining the necessity of faith and serving as a basis for instructing the people of the empire.

(End of this chapter)