Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 751 First the Ox Father, Then the Ox Son
944.M30.

"The Disordered Country," the third layer of space.

Ninglu picked up the prophecy dice. "To divine Blackrock IV, or the artifact that controls it, the Hand of Darkness or the Eye of Night?"

He has decided that this divination will be used to prepare for an attack on the new district of Colony during the grand birthday celebration.

His divination subjects revolve around Blackrock Fortress.

Blackrock Fortress was named "Val's Amulet" by the Eldar after Vaal, the god of forging.

Legend has it that it existed during the ancient races' brutal war, the "War of Heaven."

According to Ninglu's memory, the first Blackstone Fortress was originally discovered in the late thirty-first millennium.

It's not too late for him to discover it after the grand birthday celebration.

But he faces a threat: he recalls Horus attacking the Cyclops Cluster after the war in the Istavan system.

Coincidentally, the Blackstone IV, which would later be named by the Empire, was located in the Ribo system within the Cyclops Cluster.

Ninglu envisioned that even if the forces were outnumbered, the sudden appearance of Blackstone IV when the rebels launched an attack could turn the tide of the battle.

Once Blackrock Fortress is controlled in advance, it can provide support for the defense of the Cyclops Cluster and even the entire Colony New District.

Unlike Ramirez-class fortresses, which cannot be moved after deployment and can only defend important star systems, Blackrock Fortress has a certain degree of mobility.

To control the movement of Blackrock Fortress, two ancient alien artifacts are required—the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night.

After discovering six Blackrock fortresses in the Gothic Sector, the Empire was unable to comprehend the technology contained within them.

After a long period of research, the tech enthusiasts only managed to crack its energy system.

Although progress has been limited, some of its energy has been used to deploy a large number of weapon systems and defense equipment on it, turning it into a naval base.

Even with its rudimentary deployment, Blackrock Fortress was not capable of engaging in direct firepower confrontation with any enemy of the Empire.

Its defensive capabilities far surpass most of the seventeen naval bases in the Gothic Sector, with only the Sector's main naval base—Abyss Harbor—being comparable.

In the fortieth millennium, Abaddon learned of the secrets of two artifacts and Blackrock Fortress from Moriana, one of the four founders of the Inquisition and the fallen prophet of Chaos.

In the forty-first millennium, he launched the twelfth Black Crusade—the "Gothic War"—to capture Blackrock Fortress.

Ning Lu's eyes flashed as he thought of this.

"Once the new Colony district is stabilized, it will become the future Gothic sector."

"Apart from Blackrock IV in the Cyclops Cluster, the remaining five are also within my territory."

"Although it hasn't been discovered yet, you can forget about Abaddon."

Ninglu twirled the triangular pyramid in his hand. Although he knew that Blackrock Fortress was located in the Cyclops Cluster, the star field was vast, and he did not know the exact location of the Ribo system.

Not only now, but also in my memory, the Cyclops Cluster, along with over a hundred other world mineral resources such as Rascal, was the first area to be developed in the new Colony district.

Horus coveted the industrial capacity of the Cyclopes star cluster, which is why he launched a rebellion and seized the entire region.

Even with the flourishing development of the Cyclops star cluster, Blackstone 4 was not discovered before the Great Birthday celebration.

After the "Randan War", Flamini, the lord of the Sixth War Group, vigorously developed the Cyclops Cluster, but he was not fortunate enough to discover Blackrock IV.

Ninglu guessed that Blackrock Fortress had remained undiscovered because it was located in a remote and difficult-to-navigate area within the star cluster.

In fact, the star systems explored and colonized by the human empire are far fewer than the planets within the empire's territory.

Many planets have never been discovered, including the Cyclops Star Cluster.

He wanted to discover it in advance, but he still had to rely on divination using the prophecy dice.

"Let's first divine Blackrock IV. We can send Starfort's expert, Ryan Ramirez, to conduct research."

"The Dark Hand or the Eye of the Night can directly grant remote control access to Blackrock Fortress."

"Blackrock Fortress is within my territory, but Purgatory Star and Unswald are not necessarily. Let's first divine the Dark Hand."

After making his decision, Ninglu recalled the information he knew about Purgatory Star.

[On Purgatory Star dwells the Spirit Race's artifact, the Hand of Darkness.]

The Hand of Darkness is the alien artifact that controls Blackrock Fortress. ...
All that Ninglu knew about Purgatory Star was related to the Dark Hand; he knew nothing else about the planet.

After the information about Purgatory Star flashed through his mind, he silently recited it in his heart.

[Star map of the Caligum Gate leading to Purgatory Star.]

[…]
After reciting it silently eleven times, he stretched out his hand and threw the prophecy dice in his hand.

As soon as the triangular cone left my hand, it seemed to be wrapped in threads, and its rotation speed was much slower than when the divination involved unique sacrifices, which increased the cooldown time of the prophecy dice.

Ninglu frowned slightly. “'The Disordered Kingdom' can isolate the gods such as the Four Peddlers from interference, and the divination using the prophecy dice will not be affected by external forces.”

"The current situation only indicates that the level of the person being divined is equivalent to that of a higher-ranking individual."

"Purgatory Star itself may not be that special; the key is probably the Dark Hand."

The Prophecy Dice are rising at a significantly slower rate than Shadow Blade and other Shards of Rak.

"The Hand of Darkness is actually superior to the fragments of Bilak!"

The triangular prism slowly climbed, stopping just as it passed its highest point.

With a thought, Ning Lu caused the black mist to surge towards the triangular pyramid.

The stagnant triangular pyramid immediately began to churn.

It spun and rose like a windmill, its speed gradually decreasing, but it successfully reached the highest point.

The triangular cone rotated downwards and eventually slowly fell into his outstretched palm.

Ning Lu stared at the star map that stretched out like a holographic projection in front of him, a smile playing on his lips.

"Although it is in the Hazy Starfield, it is indeed not in my territory."

"I am thus, first the father of the bull, then the son of the bull, first Orius of Horus, and now the dark hand of Abaddon."

"Abaddon, I am your artifact now."

After a smile and a sigh, he twirled the dull triangular cone in his hand.

"The cost is not small. The cooldown time of the Prophecy Dice will probably be increased again, and for a considerable period of time."

Ninglu whispered as he gently lowered the triangular cone.

He took a step and arrived at the fourth level of space.

Nimrod sat on the throne, spreading his spirituality and touching the orbs of light of Flamini, the lord of the Sixth Warband, "The Winner," and William Wood, the lord of the Twelfth Warband, "The Puppet Master."

Through a subtle connection, he transmitted the known information about the Purgatory Star into the sphere of light, commanding them to perform divination.

The state of the Prophecy Dice had made him realize that obtaining the Dark Hand from Purgatory Star would not be easy.

Nimrod returned to the real world and, through a telepathic link, had John, who was also a "winner," perform a divination.

In his cramped little home filled with crystal balls, tarot cards, and pendulums, “Winner” would grab a parchment and a quill pen, scribble away, and then lean against the bedside.

The cat's obsidian eyes, which were identical to those of its symbiotic owner, began to blur.

Within the illusory vision, gray-white rivers flow across the blood-red earth.

The picture is broken.

Ninglu saw the inspiration gained by the "winners" through a spiritual connection.

He frowned slightly; the divination had yielded little information.

Moments later, Nimrod returned to the “Land of Chaos,” spreading spirituality and receiving feedback from the prayers of Flamini and William.

The "winner" spotted the blood-red scarecrow and strolled across the blood-red earth.

The "Master of Mysteries" divined that a creature in the shape of a monkey was driving away a flock of sheep.

Ninglu's eyes flashed; the blood-red scarecrow and the monkey-shaped herd guardian were the main ingredients for the potion "Shepherd," Sequence 5 of the "Hanged Man" pathway.

After a moment's thought, he issued an order to mobilize the First Battle Group, composed of "Judges" who possessed a large number of materials for capturing potion ingredients, and the Tenth Battle Group, which mainly used the "Hanged Man" route, to go to Purgatory Star.

(End of this chapter)