Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 748 "The Dream Thief": My Lord will guide you to realize your ideals.

Aurelius, the Iron Fortress.

The third standard month of 941.

Inside the silver spire at the top, Ninglu stood by the window, his hands behind his back.

[As expected, obtaining standard template construction machinery isn't so easy.]
Over a period of more than two months, Nimrod used diplomatic opportunities to "corrupt" two of the thirteen consuls, while "Pleasure Witch" Maria Kournikova also controlled one consul.

After learning about the situation in Orius, he discovered that the consuls had clearly defined areas of responsibility, with the mechanical consul, Andoni, overseeing the construction machinery for standard building templates.

However, Andoni rarely appears in public, and it is difficult to subdue him without forceful means.

His eyes flashed, and he thought to himself.

[It's time for "Dream Thief" Tierney to make his move.]
After a standard hour, Tierney spread the wings of the Yard-type Hunter Suit, and hundreds of top-quality gold alloy armor plates spun around.

His ability to mimic color changes allowed him to rise silently amidst the layered fortresses.

Tierney followed the runes inside his tactical goggles, slowly rising and approaching his target.

The Black Emperor decreed that Maria Kournikova, a guest of honor of Orieus, confirmed the whereabouts of the rarely seen mechanical consul, Andoni, who would be resting at the fourth of the five mansions for five hours at a time.

Over the past two months, Tierney has become familiar with most of the steel fortress.

Overall, it is somewhat similar to the Naryammar Nest in the far north of Vostochny, with icy cold pervading every corner.

Unlike the coldness of its homeland, the steel fortress is constructed of countless bunkers and defensive towers with high walls.

Only technical priests and the renowned technical sergeants of the Astartes Legion could build such a military fortress.

While Tierney was pondering, he had already climbed more than 500 meters and arrived at the upper area of ​​the steel fortress.

His gaze swept over an area marked with a yellow fluorescent band, surrounding a weapon that resembled an automatic cannon for petrifying lizards.

[The Aurelius are to replace their deployed weapons.]
Tierney had traveled to many worlds, but even in Terra and Volstoria, he had never seen a steel fortress like Aurelius.

Every day, a certain area of ​​this fortress will have its weapons repositioned.

With its world-class casting capacity, Aurelius has no difficulty producing weapons.

However, replacing the weapon systems of a large fortress is a huge system engineering project, involving many aspects such as energy allocation and the impact on the defense system.

The Aurelius's steel fortresses, however, were like assembled models, capable of flexible adaptation and adjustment.

[No wonder my lord granted me their complete set of construction templates.]
As Tierney pondered, the rune rapidly shrank to within a thousand, revealing a nest-like defensive spire rooted in layered bedrock, coming into his view.

The "Dream Thief" twirled its light body and carefully floated down onto the spire.

The sensors in the Yard Hunter suit constantly capture various readings of the surrounding steel: temperature, shape...

The meditating array drives the armor's mimicry system, producing the same readings.

Tierney quietly climbed up to the top of the spire.

He reduced the distance between himself and his target to within 100 meters.

Tierney stopped ten meters outside the porthole, where the Dream Thief could already see a faint glow.

He leaned forward slightly to get a fuller view of the porthole.

The "Dream Thief's" eyes flashed, and images of spheres appeared in his mind, each emitting dense scanning light in layers.

The Orius people possess advanced technological capabilities; Andoni is a high-ranking member, and the surveillance sensors in his room might detect me.

Sneaking into the room is too risky.
As the "Dream Thief" pondered, he cast his gaze toward the shimmering orb of light.

The valuable item captured by "Excellence Observation" looks like a metal key.

[The key to enable the standard template.]

It was brought from Terra and adopts an ancient, commemorative form.
After locking onto a target, the "Dream Thief" activated its spiritual vision, focusing on the body wearing it. Suddenly, bursts of light erupted in the "Dream Thief's" eyes: in a gray dreamscape, an exploding furnace claimed the lives of four technicians and dozens of workers; in an orange memory, young Anthony sat before a holographic screen, looking up at it…

The "Dream Thief" quickly surveys Andoni's entire world, which is full of learning, labor, machinery, and technology.

[purely!

Like fully mechanized Martian monks.
Among the many orbs of light, the "Dream Thief" saw a radiant red orb, which was Andoni's ideal:

Make full use of construction machinery to manufacture mechanical products and create a better future for mankind.

"[My Lord will guide you to achieve your ideals.]" Tierney whispered silently.

The "Dream Thief" then set his sights on another target.

Inside a shimmering silver ball of light was a huge silver sphere.

It was surrounded by giant, python-like cables.

[Construction machinery using standard templates.]
The "Dream Thief" stands tall and firmly on the surface of the tower.

Tierney gently raised his hands, and after becoming the "Dream Thief," his "stealing" range increased to 120 meters.

The scope of "stealing" has also expanded from tangible objects to non-material realms such as memories, dreams, and ideals.

"The Dream Thief" Tierney has tried it; he can even steal the idea his target is about to put into practice, causing it to freeze briefly.

However, he cannot retain the ideas he "stole," and he must act accordingly on behalf of the object he stole.

The "Dream Thief" clenched his fists tightly at the same time, and the silver ball of light flew to his right hand and then entered his spirit body.

He learned the location of the construction machinery and identified the rune codes layer by layer.

A silver key, the size of an ordinary person's palm, appeared on his left palm.

Tierney pulled a palm-sized, mandala-shaped key from his waist with his right hand.

The Rosicky Key bestowed by the Black Emperor.

The key to the name is Rosicky Cech, the master of the "Shadow of Order" forge.

Tierney glued the two keys together, with the Rosicky key encasing the silver key.

After waiting eleven seconds, Tierney spread his arms and put the Rosicky Key back on his waist.

The "Dream Thief" stared at Andoni, and with a flick of his wrist, the silver key returned to Andoni's waist without a sound.

The "Dream Thief" silently slid away from the spire.

He swiftly returned to the middle level of the steel fortress, entered the altar of his hideout, held up the Rosicky Key with both hands, and recited a prayer.

"Black Emperor of the Shadow of Order..." As the prayer was recited for the second time, black mist rose and an invisible, illusory gate opened.

A whirlwind suddenly appeared on the altar, and the Rosicky Key, shaped like a mandala flower, flew into the illusory gate.

In the fourth level of the "Disordered Kingdom," Ninglu sat high on his throne, turning the key in his hand.

The Rosicky Key is a key-making technology that he commissioned the Forge Master to travel to a world that would otherwise be named Orpheus and discover.

In his memory, this key was originally called the Orphic Key, a unique key held by the "Orphic Archon".

Orpheus Key's Thinker Engine can analyze unknown situations and provide solutions for users.

Now that we have collected the key rune data of Mechanical Consul Andoni, we can replicate it and pass the verification.

Nimrod then returned to the real world and handed the Orpheus Key to a "mechanical expert" to have him replicate the key.

(End of this chapter)