Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 583 Verified
The verification was moved to the database verification room, the deepest part of the fortress, heavily guarded like the core of a fortress.

The air here was so heavy it was almost solidified, filled with the faint smell of ozone emanating from engine oil, coolant, and ancient data cores.

The heavy, fine gold door slammed shut behind them, isolating them from the outside world.

Ferrus stood on the cold metal verification platform.

Under the close supervision of Chen Xi and Ulik Tiefu, the technical soldiers of the Lakuan clan carefully operated the sophisticated gene probe equipment.

A Legion think tank member stood not far away, psionic energy shimmering at his fingertips, ready to guide a psionic nature scan if necessary.

Vilidian Iron Father stared intently at the huge holographic screen on the main control panel, monitoring every byte jump of the database comparison process. His electronic eyes flashed with the faint light of high-speed calculation, and the data flowed like a waterfall on his retina.

Gastaff, along with several trusted warriors of the Skree clan, stood guard at the narrow entrance, like a hostile metal wall.

Their electronic eyes were fixed on Felus and Chen Xi, and the power armor's servo systems emitted a deep, ready-to-pounce hum, like mechanical hounds poised to pounce at any moment.

The probe pierced the skin of Felus's neck with a faint whooshing sound.

The complex genetic sequence data instantly transformed into a torrent of green light, surging and rushing across the massive holographic screen of the main control panel. It frantically compared, overlapped, and verified against an ancient and solemn golden data template deep within the database—a genetic blueprint sealed away in the Imperial Age—protected by multiple psionic codes and physical locks.

The progress bar, as if carrying an immense burden, moved forward slowly but with extraordinary determination.

Every tiny throb tugged at the nerves of everyone present, and a silent tension filled the cold air.

Time passed in a suffocating silence, with only the low hum of the equipment and the buzzing of the power armor servos echoing in the cramped space.

When the progress bar struggled past the 90% mark, the "Patience" module in the Gastaff Ironfather processor was finally burned out by anxiety and an almost instinctive sense of crisis.

He took a sudden step forward, his power armor slamming against the steel floor with a heavy thud. His electronic eyes locked onto Chen Xi, and his voice, though forcefully suppressed, still crackled with frenzy: "Inquisitor! The verification process has taken far longer than expected! This is the biggest anomaly in itself! I warn you again, her very existence is an erosion of the Legion's very foundation of logic!"

Look at that arm! It reeks of a stench unfit for human creation! It's a malignant tumor of heresy! We must take preventative measures! Logic demands…”

“Gastrof Ironfather!” Chen Xi interrupted sharply, his voice piercing the oppressive air like an ice pick. The Inquisitor’s pressure enveloped them like a tangible force, causing the Skree warriors at the door to involuntarily tense up. “The verification process is being strictly carried out within the framework of Imperial law and chapter tradition! Your duty is to maintain order and security here, not to interfere with the sacred process of Imperial law with baseless conjecture! Step back and await the final result! This is an order!” His right hand rested seemingly casually on the grip of the explosive pistol at his waist, a subtle gesture that, in the current atmosphere, was filled with an undeniable and deadly deterrent force.

Almost the instant Chen Xi's rebuke faded, a bright red indicator light on a separate control panel in front of Vilidian Ironfather, representing the highest priority communication line within the Valan clan, began flashing wildly, at a frequency almost frantic!

Vilidian almost instinctively switched to the encrypted frequency band.

"Vilidian Ironfather! Emergency! The fortress's main energy monitoring system is malfunctioning! Radiation levels at the furnace core are escalating illogically! Detected... detected Legion-level 'Ultimate Purification' protocol being remotely activated! Energy is directed towards... the database verification room area! Energy reading... reading has exceeded the safety threshold! Enough to instantly vaporize the entire area along with the deep bedrock! Request immediate confirmation! Repeat, request immediate confirmation and execution of the highest-level evacuation! Time... is running out!" A terrified scream from a technical sergeant filled the channel, accompanied by the piercing, chilling shrill radiation alarm!

"Ultimate Purification Protocol?! Who?! Who activated it?!" Vilidian Ironfather exclaimed in shock, lunging towards the main energy monitoring screen. The reading curve representing the destructive energy surged like the frantic heartbeat of a dying beast, a crimson alarm covering the entire interface!
"The Lakuan clan has not initiated any purification protocol!" Urik Ironfather responded immediately, his voice filled with shock and anger.

“The Valan clan has none either!” Vilidian Ironfather’s gaze, like a quenched blade, instantly pierced the doorway.

All eyes, including Chen Xi's gaze which was as cold as a frozen lake, were shot at Gastaff Iron Father like deadly javelins!
A flicker of panic, as if his conspiracy had been exposed in public, flashed in his previously questioning electronic eyes. But this panic was instantly replaced by a desperate, almost martyr-like madness!

He offered no further explanation. The power armor engine roared furiously, and he charged like a battering ram out of control, recklessly towards a red physical button next to the main control panel in the verification room. The button was extremely well-hidden and marked with a conspicuous blood-dripping skull. It was the final death switch to manually overdrive the "Ultimate Purification" protocol and ignore all system locks!
"For the purity of the Legion! For the eternal victory of logic! Heretics and imposters must be thoroughly purified! In the name of steel!" he roared, his heavy, powerful fist tearing through the air with the force to shatter everything, slamming into the red button that symbolized destruction!

"Stop him!" Chen Xi's command was as cold as iron, exploding simultaneously with Urik's father's furious roar!

However, a bolt of silver-gray lightning was faster than any sound or movement!
Feralus's "Gorgon Skin" suddenly swelled, hardened, shaped, and extended in an instant, transforming into a huge, sharp, liquid metal spearhead that gleamed with a deadly cold light. It struck first, striking Gastaff's wrist joint as he threw a punch with unparalleled precision!
The goal is not to block the button, but to strike at the action itself!
"Pfft—Pfft!"

The incomparably sharp liquid metal spearhead pierced through the vulnerable wrist joint of the Gastaff Power Fist in an instant, as easily as a hot knife through butter!

The intricate hydraulic lines and nerve conduction cables were ruthlessly severed, and blue hydraulic oil and sparking cables sprayed out, tracing brief arcs in the frigid air!
"Ugh—!" Gastaf let out a strange roar that was a mixture of mechanical failure and biological pain. His punching motion came to an abrupt halt, and his entire arm hung limply like a puppet with its strings cut!

He looked at Felus with a mixture of shock and rage, his electronic eyes filled with disbelief and insane hatred.

“Your ‘logic,’ Gastaff,” Feralus’s voice, like a chilling wind blowing from the deepest part of the Medusa Icefield, carried the unparalleled majesty of a Primarch and a utter, icy despair, “has degenerated into a fig leaf for betrayal and murder! This is the most fatal pollution to the honor and meaning of the Iron Hand Legion! More abhorrent than any Xenomorph technology!”

The instant Ferrus crippled Gastaff's attack ability, the holographic screen on the main control panel burst forth with an unprecedented and incomparably pure dazzling light!
The progress bar instantly reached 100%! Felus's unique and unreplicable genetic sequence perfectly overlapped with the original map stored in the database. All the data points finally converged and condensed into a solemn, sacred symbol that represented the supreme authority of the human empire and was beyond question—the Emperor's double-headed eagle emblem!
Golden light burst forth like a tangible torrent, instantly engulfing the entire verification room and illuminating Gastaff's face, which was utterly distorted by extreme shock, despair at the exposure of his conspiracy, and the crackling electricity emanating from his wrists!

(End of this chapter)