Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 749 The Mechanical Consul's Sudden Change, Operation Prometheus is About to Fail
In the fourth level of the "Disordered Kingdom," Ninglu's spirituality spread and touched "Dream Thief" Tierney, a deep and dark sphere of light.

With a thought, he inserted a series of parchment scrolls made by Thomas, the think tank director, and the "Scroll Professors," along with keys replicated by the "Mechanical Experts," into an invisible, illusory gate.

In his hiding place in the upper part of the steel fortress, Tierney saw items flying out from the illusory gate, almost covering the entire black onyx altar.

He saw the Black Emperor, seated on his throne, speaking majestically from the depths of the black mist.

“After one standard hour, Andoni will rest for five standard hours.”

"The scroll has markings on its straps, which are read and used in Dunn language."

"It is essential to obtain both the standard template data from the manufacturing center and the calculation formulas from the construction machinery."

Tierney clasped his hands together, upside down, and said, "Follow Your will."

After the black mist dissipated, Tierney praised the Black Emperor again before getting up and quickly examining the scrolls.

A moment later, he drew a ceremonial knife and unraveled the "Euclid symbol".

Tierney placed the scroll and the palm-sized key into a crystal box connected by iron chains.

After completing fifteen modifications, he pulled on the rope and easily and steadily dragged the "cable car" down three floors along the spire's passageway.

Tierney approached the twenty-nine "Fire Stealers" dressed in Yard-style hunter suits, who were ready to go.

Tierney walked to the center, and the "fire stealers" instinctively turned their gaze to the crystal boxes surrounding him.

The fire-stealers instinctively sensed that there were valuable items inside.

"Calibration time, standard time 53 minutes and 26 seconds."

"Operation 'Prometheus', activated!"

The "Dream Thief" operation was named after the fiery ideals of the Mechanical Council.

Just like in the ancient myth of Vostochnya, Prometheus stole fire.

While the "fire-stealers" calibrated the timers embedded in their eyepieces, Tierney emphasized the operational procedures of the Prometheus Project.

"Infiltrate the central control center, use the scroll to subdue the staff, use the key to open the database, use the data crystal to record the information, and finally delete the log records."

"There is enough time. Use the backup data crystal to record a backup."

Tierney looked around at everyone. "No questions asked. We'll depart in twelve minutes."

The "fire stealers" stepped forward, found their crystal boxes, and inserted the palm-sized key, two data crystals that shone without a trace of light, and the matching connectors into their waistbands.

Psionicists can directly record and identify the contents of data crystals, while others must rely on auxiliary devices to record and read them through the Thinker Array.

They then examined the straps of the five scrolls and, after confirming their placement, hung them in different positions on the black Yard suit.

……

Thirty figures silently leaped out of their hiding places and flew towards the mechanical spire that "Dream Thief" Tierney had identified from Andoni's mind.

The superb alloy plates of the alloy meshed and rotated, allowing the large black birds, concealed by the mimicry system, to weave through layers of defensive fortifications.

Tierney landed silently on the mechanical spire, while the twenty-nine "fire stealers" landed in the manufacturing center, which was connected to the mechanical spire via data fiber optic cables.

The Aurelius build machinery, but do not directly manufacture mechanical items.

They used fiber optic cables to connect the construction machinery to the Thinker array within the manufacturing center, enabling them to manufacture different types of equipment:
Explosive gun, silver power armor, solar generator...

Tierney landed at the top of the Nest Tower and, following Andoni's memory, found the massive silver machine.

It is a cylindrical hall that is 5.2 kilometers high and 2.6 kilometers in diameter.

The "Dream Thief" activated his spiritual vision and found the only person in the hall, Andoni, the mechanical consul of Orius.

He stood there, and because the distance was more than 120 meters, "The Dream Thief" couldn't be sure what Andoni was thinking at that moment.

He could only tell that Andoni was thinking by the blue color emanating from the astral body.

Time ticked by, and when the timer reached its countdown with fifteen seconds remaining, Andoni emerged from the depths of the cylindrical hall and headed towards the exit.

Tierney watched him walk toward the elevator and press the brake rune.

Just when he thought everything was going well, Andoni suddenly turned around thoughtfully and walked back.

Tierney was startled; the plan had taken an unexpected turn. Andoni, who strictly adhered to the schedule, had to change his actions at the last minute.

He glanced at it; the timer showed only one second remaining, and it was too late to change the plan.

If Andoni were to return to the construction site, he would surely discover the data download.

Operation Prometheus will fail.

The "Dream Thief" swiftly raised his right hand and aimed it at Andoni.

A dazzling array of lights.

Not long ago, he had just examined the orbs of light containing Andoni's memories and ideals, and instantly found a pale blue orb among them.

The "Dream Thief" sees Andoni's thoughts: the second ninety-threeth equation contains a new fifth ninetyth corollary...

[It turns out to be a decryption formula.]

This is precisely my task.
The "Dream Thief" clenched his fist tightly, and a pale blue ball of light shot into his brain.

Andoni paused, his mind blank. *Ding-dong!*

The elevator chimed, and Andoni snapped out of his daze, turning around and stepping into the elevator.

At the same moment, the "Dream Thief" is forced to take the place of the object being stolen, and Andoni derives the formula.

Even without Tierney's conscious thought, the brain of this seasoned "deciphering scholar" was spinning rapidly, with a dense series of numbers and symbols flashing and arranging in his mind.

[Basic arithmetic expressions are required.]
Almost instinctively, Tierney swiftly pried open the shutters, deftly vaulted into the spire, and hurried toward the construction machinery.

His gaze swept across the wall, where silver and chrome pipes crisscrossed, and then, as if pulled by something, it fell to his feet.

The silver ornaments are engraved with densely packed, complex algorithms; there are a thousand calculations per square meter.

All the secrets of the standard construction templates within the construction machinery, including their production purpose, application scope, adaptation and adjustment, and production process, are hidden within the vast blank ground, within the 40.56 million formulas.

Tierney took a deep breath and quickly entered the Terema mental state so that he could carry out the plan.

The "Fire Stealers" can obtain standard construction templates from the contemplative array in the manufacturing center, but there is no formula array for constructing machinery in the database.

This was the task the Black Emperor had given him.

"Dream Thief" Tierney bit his lip, his usually nimble hands trembling as he pulled a scanner inlaid with data crystals from his waist and aimed it at the ground on either side.

The Dream Thief's will crumbled, and following its own thoughts, its dark eyes stared straight at the ground, searching for the second ninety-three equation.

At the same moment, in Manufacturing Center No. 4, the "fire thief" silently followed the data fiber optic cable and found the main control room of the manufacturing center.

He slipped silently through the gaps in the data fiber optic cables into the control room, flying over the contemplative machines and cables.

The "fire thief" took a parchment scroll from his chest, and as he tossed it out, he whispered the same words as those on the bandage in Dunn's tongue:
"Sleep!"

A pure black light rose up, and the operators, dressed in silver work clothes, felt their eyelids grow heavy and their bodies become sluggish.

Thump thump thump…

After seeing the operators fall, the "fire thief" immediately went to the center of the control room, to the ancient contemplative machine connected by a data fiber optic cable.

He inserted the palm-sized metal key into the socket on the console of the meditation machine.

Green text rapidly appeared on the screen;

Identify highest level of privileges.

Salute to you, Consul for Machinery, Andoni.

Please issue the following instructions:
...]

The "Fire Stealer" pulls the green menu and selects the "Download Database" option.

Execute the command.

Please connect to the data interface.

The "Fire Stealer" will connect the interface to the data crystal and insert the cable into the contemplative machine.

The otherwise dark crystals are now emitting tiny points of light.

It gets a little brighter with each passing second.

At the same moment the "fire stealers" began downloading the standard template, "Dream Thief" Tierney walked through silver pipes and around chrome-plated chambers within a bright white ceramic structure.

He finally found a one-square-meter space in the center where the most essential one thousand formulas were recorded.

The seasoned "deciphering scholar" bent down and found equation number 293 among equations numbered one to one thousand.

The Dream Thief took a deep breath; the thoughts in his mind were driving him almost insane.

The seasoned "deciphering scholar" stared at a series of numbers and symbols, his brain spinning rapidly.

A string of numbers and symbols leaped up in his dark eyes, scrolling across an invisible screen, like a time-series display.

Thirty-three seconds later, the seasoned "deciphering scholar" plopped down on the ground covered with calculations.

The Dream Thief breathed a sigh of relief; he had finally accomplished Andoni's idea.

Tierney immediately felt a sharp, needle-like pain in his temples.

[The clash between will and external ideas is too painful.] After a brief sigh, he stood up, spread his wings, and flew swiftly, scanning the formulas that had not yet been recorded by the data crystal.

He flew around the aid hall.

The first thousand formulas recorded by the data crystal in the left hand are the last formula recorded by the data crystal in the right palm.

Tierney put the data crystal, which shone even brighter than the silver-white lumen overhead, back onto his waist.

The communication bead embedded in the ear transmitted the voices of twenty-nine successful operations.

Tierney strode over to the thinking machine and inserted the key.

He found the "Data Log" option in a series of green menus, and after entering it, he selectively deleted the data records uploaded by the twenty-nine manufacturing centers since the start of the operation.

　PS: The 40.56 million equations are based on the Iron Man STC found by Commissar Gaunt in the official novel "The Only First Regiment". There are 1.5 million equations within a diameter of 500 meters.

　　By the way, as mentioned before, the Iron Man STC and Hope, and other items that can be obtained after the Grand Birthday Celebration, should be obtained after the Grand Birthday Celebration.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)