Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 167 Gifts Presented to the Imperial Guards

Sofia stepped forward, the shimmering light creating ripples, and she lifted her skirt to bow to Macado.

The digital life form didn't say much, but politely bowed and slowly withdrew.

“She has prepared a gift for you that is completely unexpected.” Doom waved to the Doom Slayer, signaling the Progenitor Platform to bring up the gift.

“I am very much looking forward to it.” Macado stared at the large box on the anti-gravity platform, his fingertips lightly tapping the edge of his teacup. “Having lived for thousands of years, I have never received a gift from an omnic.”

Ra opened the key safe, and a mechanical construct with a spherical head and thousands of flexible tentacles slowly floated up under the force of anti-gravity.

"What is this?" Macado looked at Sofia, slightly puzzled about the function of these machines.

“A work robot.” Sophia stepped forward, a description of the machine’s functions appearing in her palm: “A personal gift from me to you.”

The work robot is a machine that Sophia added to the gift list without permission after learning that Doom had given the Empire a gift.

It lacks advanced intelligence, only equipped with basic logic modules, and specializes in processing massive amounts of repetitive tasks.

With a thousand flexible tentacles, it can operate a thousand quill pens at the same time, making it extremely efficient.

"Excellent! Ms. Sophia is very thoughtful." Macado's eyes lit up after reading it. The gift from the android was not expensive, but it was practical.

As the empire expanded, the Ministry of the Interior continued to grow, but it still couldn't keep up with the expansion of the territory.

The large amount of repetitive and tedious work has made the Imperial Ministry of the Interior overloaded with skills, which in turn has delayed the processing of priority documents.

“There are ten machines in total, and their processing power is equivalent to that of a million clerks.” After introducing the machines’ functions, Sofia said to Macado, “As for how to prevent them from making mistakes, you have more methods than I do.”

Although the machine was simple, Sofia had made it herself, so there would be no physical errors; she was implying something.

At the control center of the Ring of Nur, outside the body of the Central Law, Doom arranged for psionicists to set up a psionic shield.

With the vast amount of data accumulated over many years of serving Doom, Sofia had already deduced the existence of chaos from the slightest clues.

Subspace entities from the Sea of ​​Souls possess the ability to corrupt low-intelligence machines; precautions must be taken.

Work robots are powerful, but if they are corrupted by chaos, the losses will be even greater.

“I will use them well.” Macado’s eyes gleamed; he understood Sofia’s signal. “Protect them properly.”

“This is Terra.” Macado’s fingertip traced the surface of the stone table, illuminating mysterious magical runes and causing ripples of psionic energy to spread silently. “With the Emperor’s magic array present, they don’t even have the right to covet it.”

"I will personally set up magic arrays in the places where they work to further protect the purity of the machines."

“Thank you for your gift, Ms. Sophia.” Imperial Chancellor Macardo, with a solemn expression, bowed to the digital life form to express his heartfelt gratitude.

Sofia slowly shook her head without saying anything, and then stepped back to stand quietly beside Doom.

“She has a deep love for humanity,” Doom said to Makado, savoring his tea. “She can’t bear to see human suffering.”

Sofia is a gentle woman at heart; this is not an emotional construct, but rather an evolution of data.

Ever since her visit to the Empire of Man, she has frequently mentioned the bloated nature of the Empire's administrative structure to Doom.

His words were full of disdain, but deep in his soul lay pity.

“A kind lady, to whom I express my heartfelt gratitude.” A genuine emotion appeared on Macardo’s aged face.

His seemingly cloudy and dim old eyes were now wise and clear, and he could naturally feel the kindness from the digital life.

“Elder, we should go.” With this matter settled, Doom stood up from the stone bench. “There are still some things to give to the Emperor.”

He pointed to the backyard entrance, where there was a key safe on the anti-gravity plate, and said to Macardo, "Please inform Constantine Waldo."

"Oh?" Makado's voice was surprised, slightly taken aback. "Is there anything else for him?"

“Yes,” Doom readily admitted.

Makado nodded with satisfaction. Doom hadn't spent much time with Waldo, but he still remembered the emperor's loyal servant.

This shows that this Primarch has the human Empire in mind.

He closed his eyes to contact Waldo, and two seconds later opened them to say, "Let's go together. He's with the Emperor."

“Alright.” Doom would naturally not refuse to travel with the elder, as meeting the Emperor was also on his itinerary.

The group headed deeper into the palace, and with Makado joining them, there were far fewer checkpoints along the way.

During the journey, Doom spoke with the elder and learned a great deal about the current state of the empire.

The progress of the Empire's conquest, the customs and cultures of various worlds, and the return of the Primarchs of the Second, Third, and Tenth Legions.

Of the three brothers, the Second Legion Primarch returned first, followed by the Tenth Legion Primarch, with the Third Legion following closely behind.

The Second Legion embarked on an expedition, joining forces with Horus to launch a joint attack.

Horus highly praised the newly returned lost brother's command abilities, deeming him worthy of the title "war commander".

The remaining two brothers prepared their legions in Terra, and after preparations were complete, they embarked on the Great Expedition.

As they talked, they arrived at the Emperor's office, no longer the private cottage from last time.

High atop a palace, the wind grew increasingly biting as the altitude increased. The imperial guards stood like statues, their golden armor covered in snow, their cloaks motionless in the biting wind, seemingly one with the cold.

Everyone was a transcendent being, facing the wind and snow without any hindrance, which only added to the desolate scenery.

Since Harlan followed Doum to Terra to "recognize relatives," he said to Makado at a dinner party, "Terra is not as good as Nur."

This sentence stuck with Makado.

His eagle scepter landed on Harlan's head, giving the impolite boy a good whack.

However, Makado did not verbally refute what Harlan said, but instead put it into practice.

He devoted a great deal of time and energy, spared no effort in using resources, and made every effort to improve Terra's environment.

The initial results are now visible; the falling snow has returned to its white color, no longer the filthy black and gray.

Inside the main hall, golden pillars are carved with reliefs, colorful glazed tiles form windows, a bright red carpet leads to the throne, and two rows of golden-armored guards stand guard.

Wherever the emperor resides, the place is either resplendent in gold and jade or understated and profound.

The emperor himself sat on the throne, the golden light illuminating the hall, making it shimmer and sparkle.

Doom stared at the excessively ostentatious golden light emanating from the hall, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

However, he respected the emperor's unique aesthetic sense.

Before he entered the main hall, a noblewoman dressed as a traveling merchant left, and the hall was empty.

Waldo, clad in magnificent golden armor, stood to the right of the throne, upholding the emperor's majesty.

“Doom Norwick,” Waldo said in a loud voice to the audience, “Welcome back from the Stars.”

It was Waldo who spoke, but everyone knew it was the Emperor who was speaking, and an external mouthpiece was used to convey his greetings.

Doom was unfazed; he was used to the Emperor's feigned mystery.

Its essence is a severe social anxiety. Over a long period of time, the emperor's communication skills did not improve, but instead continued to deteriorate.

When alone in private, the emperor always spoke with some hesitation; he was a "silent type."

Makado nodded to Doom and walked toward the throne, standing to the Emperor's left.

“I also brought gifts.” Doom waved his hand and said to the Doom Soldier behind him, “Bring them up.”

He did not use mind link, but communicated with language, not wanting to reveal too much about the Legion's capabilities.

When cooperating with the complex political system of the Human Empire, it is essential to keep your cards close to your chest; revealing everything would be foolish.

Ten key-locked safes were neatly arranged in front of Doom, and he opened them himself.

“A gift for the Imperial Guard.” Doom bent down and picked up a shield generator from the box. “It can protect them from harm.”

He picked up the shield generator inlaid with Nur crystals and gestured to Waldo.

Small and exquisite, it is very beautiful.

"The dimensional shield projected by the Nur Crystal is more advanced than the Void Shield, and few material weapons can penetrate it."

Sofia took a step forward, making no attempt to conceal anything; those present were aware of the existence of Chaos.

She proudly introduced it to the Lord of Humanity: "The Dimensional Shield can even defend against demonic weapons."

After Sofia finished speaking, there was a slight movement on the throne, and the emperor was clearly moved.

His expression was hidden beneath the golden light, but others might not have seen it, including Doom and his genetic offspring.

They could see the emperor's true appearance clearly, and the middle-aged man with brown skin showed a look of surprise on his face.

The Emperor was indeed pleasantly surprised; in the material universe, there were very few things that could withstand demonic weapons.

Radiant gold is one type; it is inert to psionic energy and can resist the contamination of chaos and demonic attacks.

Doom has now surprised him again.

Not to mention the Emperor, even Macado looked at the shield generator with delight.

Constantine Waldo, the commander of the Imperial Guard, looked at Doum.

His sharp gaze softened slightly, and he remained silent, his eyes revealing pure gratitude.

Doom nodded in response, then turned his gaze to the Emperor and said to the man on the throne:
"A total of more than 10,000 sets were given to the Imperial Guard by Nur Stars as a thank you for their contributions and efforts in implanting the Doom Soldier gene seed."

"I hope that the gift from Nur will protect the selfless and great warriors in the battles to come."

Whether it's the Doomsday Warrior or the Imperial Guard.

Both are key forces in resisting chaos, a common enemy of humanity.

(End of this chapter)