Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 97 The Sole Survivor

"I don't know."

Sofia's rational voice was filled with doubt. She searched the records of Nur's glorious period in the data center but found no similar astronomical phenomena.

She sensed her master's repressed anger through the consciousness formed by data—this didn't even require analysis; it could be confirmed simply from his expression.

Logically speaking, she cannot connect a phenomenon a thousand light-years away with Nur in the present.
The hatred was so real that Sofia delved into Nur's records, searching for clues about his dormant period.

She only saw the traces of erasure, and some strange commands originating from her master.

Doom personally ordered the erasure of the traces of Chaos, making it difficult even for digital life forms to uncover the secrets sealed by leather and books.

Subspace?
These keywords were hard for Sofia to understand; weren't those human shipping routes?
In the realm of data simulation, she let out a powerless sigh—the disconnect from the times had lasted far too long.

Doom pointed to the cursed mark, then looked up at Sophia and asked, "How far away are you from us?"

“Compared to the previous star map, that…fantasy region is a thousand light-years away from us!” Sophia was very sensitive to data; she carefully chose her words and gave her answer very quickly.

"So far?" Doom frowned, somewhat disappointed with the answer.

The distance is too far, the situation in the Nur constellation is currently unknown, and the military force at hand is too small.

"No way!" Harlan let out a long breath, ran his hand across his chest, and suppressed his anger deep inside.

"My lord. All systems of the Nur Ring are online. Should I send out intelligent machines to assist the Nur Main Star?"

As Doom was observing the warp rift, Sophia cautiously inquired, hoping to receive instructions.

"No need!" Doom remained silent for a moment, his thoughts racing, weighing the options rapidly, before finally shaking his head in refusal.

The current civilization of Nur has entered a period of stability, and the introduction of machinery would instead disrupt the mindset of the civilized warriors.

Doom always knew that chaos was his true enemy, and that intelligent machines were too unstable.

Faced with the chaos that corrupts everything, even cold, inanimate objects can be contaminated. Whether soulless machines can resist corruption remains to be seen.

He had a plan in mind: to reclaim the Nur Star System and then analyze the current situation to determine how to develop it in the future.

"Can you teleport us to a planet?"

“Yes,” Sophia replied affirmatively, then summoned the teleporter.

With a burst of light, the two disappeared from the bridge and reappeared in the royal palace guarding the main domain.

On the main avenue in front of the royal palace, many people gathered, craning their necks to watch the changing of the Nur Ring.

"I knew you could do it!"

Fran's eyes were still red with emotion. When he saw Doom teleport back, he couldn't hold back any longer and rushed over to hug his brother.

Unfortunately, the height difference was too great, and he was at a loss when he opened his arms.

Doom knelt down on one knee, opened his arms and embraced Flano, his voice low and gentle: "Without Father and Mother, and with your support, I couldn't have done all this!"

Sofia appeared, as if she could appear anywhere, and gently lifted her skirt: "Greetings."

Flano knew who she was and blocked Nur's artificial intelligence.

He had fantasized about countless ways to meet her, to vent his anger, and to accuse her of the crimes she had committed.

When he actually faced her, Flano smiled with relief, nodded, and said, "Hello."

Doom left his brother's embrace and turned to Harlan, saying, "Go and call the Navigator over, and bring a thousand Night Watchers with him."

Harlan strode away to find the Navigator family and assemble the troops Doom needed.

Doum took his brother's hand and sat down in the palace square, recounting the changes in the Nur Ring and the choices made by its inhabitants.

Flano listened intently, nodding and pondering as he gradually learned about the previously unknown history.

"I never expected that a traitor would be the culprit behind all of this."

“Yes, sir,” Sophia said through gritted teeth, “traitors are often more hateful than enemies!”

Flano is drawn to a digital life, vivid in its hatred and clarity, and marvels at the wisdom of his ancestors.

Not long after, Harlan arrived with a girl.

"The patriarch of the Navigator family said that she is the best."

Under Doom's questioning gaze, Harlan shrugged helplessly and handed the girl to him: "The old man's health is failing, and she is the most talented in the family."

Doom looked at the somewhat timid, fair-skinned girl, her head lowered and her white hair obscuring her face, so his expression was not visible. Her hands were fidgeting in front of her lower abdomen, showing great unease.

"What's your name?"

He was slightly dissatisfied with the people from the Navigator family who came; he needed a stable person, someone who could be less capable, but who had to be stable.

“M-Sir. My name is Franshka.” The girl’s voice was soft, gentle, and pleasant to hear, but it lacked courage.

After thinking for a moment, Doom opened his mouth and gestured to Harlan: "Take her with you. Her safety is your responsibility."

Doom decided to take her along. This trip wouldn't take them too far; they'd just wander around the surrounding star systems, and wouldn't even require warp travel.

The practical benefit of having a navigator is to provide an extra layer of insurance.

Just as his father gave himself a chance, Doom was willing to give others a chance as well.

A thousand-strong night guard assembled at the end of the palace walkway, lined up neatly, ready for battle.

"Safe travels."

The teleportation light flashed, and Flano once again reminded his brother, offering his concern even though he knew of his power.

"You too, take care of yourself!"

Both sides understand that a journey through deep space is not a matter of days or months, but a long journey that spans years.

Doom reappeared on the bridge, in a spacious hall that could easily accommodate thousands of people.

"Wow!"

A soft, sweet praise reached his ears, and Doom smiled slightly. He still heard Franshika's low voice.

The Night Watchers were equally amazed and moved; they had never seen Nur from space like this before.

"So beautiful." Shadow Master Erica also arrived. She was wearing stealth armor and squatting on the ground, tears dripping onto the ground.

"Let's take a lap around the galaxy first."

Doom ordered Sophia that there were seven planets in the Nuer system, all of which had undergone biome modification and should show signs of human activity.

"Follow your will."

Sofia raised her hand, activating the bridge's internal systems, and simultaneously started the steering engine, leaving the dock.

Inside the spacious bridge, holographic projections composed of light and shadow display the ship's attitude and scanning range in real time.

Doom lay in a chair, with a holographic projection in the center of the bridge, the Void Lone Ranger scanning the entire galaxy.

Taking advantage of this break, he pulled up the spaceship's data and focused on studying the various functions of the Void Solo and understanding the division of its decks.

He even saw that a 100,000-strong iron army was stored in the warship inventory.

From the day they were manufactured, they slept in the warship, fortunately escaping infection by the silicon-based virus.

After Harlan finished assigning the Night Guards, he sat down in a chair. With just a call from the bridge, they could provide whatever was needed.

The chair could also fly against gravity, and he followed behind the navigator, standing by the porthole to admire the beautiful starry sky.

"My lord, no humans have been found in the Nur star system."

Sofia, serving Doom, immediately told him the scan results and pulled up some ancient traces: "Viral bomb remnants have been found in multiple worlds."

"In the entire galaxy, only Nur survived under the protection of the dimensional shield."

As Sofia said this, a sense of "fortunateness" emerged from her digital sentiment, suggesting that perhaps blocking Nur back then wasn't entirely a mistake.

"The nearest galaxy is 'Ma'en'?" Doom recalled that the library records showed that Ma'en was the closest galaxy to Nur, only three light-years away.

"Yes."

Sophia retrieved Marn's location and its past intelligence.

"To Marne." Without hesitation, Doom immediately ordered Sophia to turn the ship around and head towards the nearest star system.

"Sir, shall we use faster-than-light travel?" Sophia asked.

Doom pondered for a moment, glanced at the navigator lost in the void through the porthole, and prepared to use faster-than-light travel.

Voidwalker can utilize the properties of Nur Crystal to create a single passage, achieving a travel speed of ten times the speed of light in the real universe.

Although it's not fast, it's safer.

"Yes! Faster-than-light travel!"

"All personnel prepare for faster-than-light travel."

The Void Lone Ranger's three-layered plasma engine started up, with twenty giant nozzles—seven on top, seven on the bottom, and nine in the middle—spraying out azure plasma, making it look like a giant comet with a long tail.

The four sides of the Nuer Crystal formed a dimensional passage. The ship disappeared into the sky above Nuer the moment it came into contact with the brakes and entered a state of faster-than-light travel.

(End of this chapter)