The Bizarre Adventures of Cloud Hammer

"Nothing, I was just thinking about how to get you back upstairs, but I'm afraid it's not possible right now. There's no way up here."

Apu told Allen about the current situation and asked:

"Can you contact your mentor? Otherwise you might have to follow us for a while."

"I'm fine." Alan said. With this injury, it would be worse to stab him than to go back the same way. Besides, staying here would be just right for him to observe these mysterious people.

"That's good. Now put on your protective suit."

Everyone put on a spare protective suit for Alan. Although it was a little big, it was better than dying suddenly at the bottom of the nest.

"Are you going to some abandoned reactor now?" Alan asked, looking at everyone's attire.

"No, but it's not bad."

"...Can you give me another can?"

One can of food was not enough to fill Alan's stomach. Since he couldn't leave anyway, he might as well eat first.

----

"Alan, he lost contact?"

Inquisitor Credien, who was in his tower-top residence, learned of Alan's disappearance from his servants.

Credian knew that Allen was clearing out heretics in the Lower Nest and the Bottom Nest, and he also reminded Allen not to focus on these trivial matters.

But as a mentor, Credien knew exactly what kind of person Allen was. He was passionate, full of justice, brave and kind... just like he used to be.

Knowing that Allen would not sit idly by, Credien planned to send a team of combat nuns to follow Allen, but he did not expect Allen to be so reckless as to enter the bottom nest.

"Do we need to send someone to look for it?" asked the servant.

Credien shook his head. "No need. My disciple will not die so easily. He is destined to devote his life to the Emperor."

After saying that, Credien turned his attention back to the various documents on the table. These were the clues he had been investigating recently about a heretical organization in the upper echelons. Various signs indicated that this heretical organization was likely a chaos cult, and many noble members had been implicated in it.

During the twenty years of rapid development of Aitis, heresy and chaos also began to breed in this world. In order to prevent another world from being devastated, Credion must strangle these heretics before they grow stronger.

But even the Inquisitor cannot easily define a noble as a heretic; he needs sufficient evidence.

Among these documents, there was a name circled by Credien.

Purple Heart, this is one of the few clues that Credien found during this period. Even though he has taken many measures, his investigation has yielded little results due to the obstruction of some upper-level dignitaries.

"Pack up and let's go see Lord Diaz." Credien was ready to explain the matter to the planetary governor. He wanted to see if the planetary governor was on his side.

As an Inquisitor of the Anti-Heretic Order with a rich resume, Credien has many radical and even heretical methods to conduct investigations. However, if the planetary governor is involved with heretics, then his actions will be very dangerous. Many Inquisitors have died at the hands of heretics.

As Credion was preparing to leave, the planetary governor Diaz accepted the invitation of a great nobleman and was heading to a manor to attend a banquet.

As he entered the estate, Diaz happened to notice its name.

Purple Heart.

Chapter 16 Pervasive

A high-power cutting gun was slowly cutting open a building structure on the bottom floor of the hive. Alan had seen such scenes many times today. After going down to this floor, these people could dig out something from strange places every time they stopped.

From the relics of the dark technological age to the unknown alien creations, Alan's emotions went from shock to numbness. He didn't understand how these people knew that the relics were in this ghost place, nor did he know what these people were digging for. Just the things they dug out during this period, as long as they reported to the Mechanicus, they would have no worries about food and drink for the rest of their lives.

Alan was wondering if these guys were members of the Mechanicus, but he immediately denied this guess. Compared to the members of the Mechanicus, these people didn't speak in a mechanical tone, and their behavior was too humane.

But it was not without gain. When they went down to this floor, they encountered many mutant creatures. During the battle, Alan noticed the combat knives used by Apu and others, which were definitely not the models used by mortals.

Alan had seen the combat swords given by the Astartes Brothers from his mentor. The monomolecular combat swords used by those powerful warriors could be used as daggers in the hands of mortals. The combat swords used by the group of people in front of him were the same as the Astartes' combat swords in appearance except for the difference in size.

Was it a coincidence? Or were these guys the servants of some Astartes Chapter? But Alan hadn't heard of any Astartes Chapter coming to Aitis, and it was impossible for a chapter servant to leave an Astartes warship without permission.

Alan vaguely felt that he was about to come into contact with the truth, and for some reason, every time he looked at these people, he would have an inexplicable sense of incongruity, and today these feelings of incongruity were further aggravated.

But these people's food was truly delicious. Not only were there all sorts of canned meats, but there were also delicious canned fish and canned fruit. After finishing their canned meals, they even had a bottle of drink. Alan didn't recognize any of these foods. When he asked where they came from, he got the idea: it was from a paradise world in the Solar Region. Which paradise world had such abundant produce? Once he found out the name, Alan would let his mentor take a vacation if he had the chance.

"Ah Wei, are you done?"

"Why are you rushing me? You really treat me like a coolie, don't you? Why don't you come and do it?"

"Tie Yong is more professional than us in this field. What if one of us doesn't cut it right and damages it?"

It took them more than a day to cross most of the bottom layer and find the way to the bottom of the nest. Most of the things they were looking for were buried in various ruins, rocks, and building mezzanines, so they needed to use cutting guns or explosives to dig. Other people could help when digging the outer layer, but when it came to the inner layer, precise operations were required. It happened that only Wei, who was known as Tie Yong, had this skill.

If others cut a little deeper, and the things they bought inside turned out to be unexploded bombs or unstable energy cores, then everyone would be doomed. If they were even more unlucky, the entire nest might be blown to pieces.

"Let's have something good, otherwise we'll really have to go to the bottom of the nest and play battle royale with the bugs."

Everyone has dug out a lot of things on this floor, but they are all large artifacts that they know they can't take away after digging out a corner. They can only place a teleportation beacon for Gloria to take away herself.

"We've opened the blind box several times, it's time to get the guaranteed payout."

The outer structure was cut, and there was a hollow area inside the structure. Wei turned on the flashlight and flipped in. He saw a cubic object half the size of a person placed on an instrument that looked scrapped.

"Come and see what's in here?" Wei took out the cube. There were many things in Warhammer 40k that Wei didn't recognize, so he asked others to identify them.

"what?"

Apu, Ou Ge and Luo Chen couldn't tell what it was, so they decided to dig it out first.

This is a mechanical cube made of unknown materials. The energy flows flashing on it from time to time indicate that the object is still working. Everyone can't tell what it is for a while, so Gloria needs to appear here.

"Gloria, can you figure out what this is?" Apu contacted Gloria.

"I don't know. I only know what's in your memories, but I can scan it and see what it does. Please wait a moment."

A few minutes later, Gloria shared the scan results with everyone:

"This is a storage device with a small time distortion generator built into it, also known as a stasis field. It's very old."

"Static field?"

Apu and the other two showed surprised expressions. What could be placed in a storage device of this size?

Ou Ge: "Awei, can you open this thing?"

Ah Wei: "It seems to work. I'll give it a try. Can Gloria send me the device structure?"

Tie Yong's genes gave Ah Wei a great talent for mechanical creation. After Gloria sent him the device structure, Ah Wei figured out how to open it by himself. (He was not mistaken for Tie Shou. Tie Yong was also good at machines, but in a different way than Tie Shou.)

Under Awei's operation, the middle part of the cube device was opened, and Awei pulled out a module made of an unknown chip from it. Seeing this, Apu and others on the side began to breathe rapidly.

"Gloria, scan!"

"Don't worry, I'm checking it out. The result is just as you expected. It's an STC, and it's in pretty good condition."

"Wuhu~!"

Everyone cheered together. It was like getting a human rights card in a game with a probability that was incredibly low, and it would always hold its value.

STC - Standard Construction Template, a complex analytical processing program and high-tech artificial intelligence created by humans in the Dark Age of Technology. It is said that they contain all the technological knowledge of humans at that time. Whenever a human colony ship arrives at a planet, STC can help humans establish a colony at a high speed.

After the Dark Age of Technology, these systems became increasingly rare and even disappeared completely, resulting in the loss of many scientific technologies. By the time of Warhammer 40, an STC was extremely valuable to the Imperium of Man. Many technologies of the Imperium of Man were obtained through archaeological excavations using STCs (even fragments). Technologies such as the Land series of vehicles and the Leman Russ tank were obtained from STCs.

The form of STC is not fixed, ranging from huge machines to small data chips, and those found may not be complete. Many STCs have their data damaged during long events, and some have even become fragments.

The Adeptus Mechanicus (or the Adeptus Mechanicus in 40k) is obsessed with finding STCs. Whenever news of an STC breaks, the Adeptus Mechanicus fleets swarm in like wolves seeking blood. Those who find an STC are rewarded handsomely. For example, two Astra Militarum soldiers found an STC for a combat dagger superior to the Imperials' original, and were rewarded a planet each. (At this time, no STCs have been found.)

But the prerequisite is that the people of the Forge World you encounter are of good character, because many factions have emerged within the Adeptus Mechanicus due to academic disputes. Each Forge World may be a different faction, and their styles of doing things are also very different. Some Forge Worlds may directly eliminate those who find the STC and get the STC for free without paying any price.

Alan was startled by the sudden cheers from the crowd. He moved closer and saw the module in Wei's hand. Even though he had never seen it before, his intuition told him that it was a valuable item, otherwise these guys wouldn't be so happy.

"Is this an STC?" Alan guessed. He had also heard of this precious human technological creation.

"You have a good eye. This is an STC." Luo Chen was not worried that Alan would tell others about this later. Anyway, they would have run away by then.

"STC...are you going to hand it over to the Adeptus Mechanicus?"

Alan looked at the STC. As long as the technology inside was valuable enough, it would not be impossible for everyone here to get a planet.

Brother Ou: "Why give it to those technocrats? Are we going to let them hide the technology?"

Anyone who knows the Mechanicus will have no good feelings towards these skinny guys. As one of the two-headed eagles of the Empire, the Mechanicus is on par with the Human Empire, and the fact that the entire Human Empire has become so rotten in the past ten thousand years is also closely related to the Mechanicus.

In order to maintain their status, the Mechanicus' favorite thing to do is to monopolize scientific and technological knowledge. Whenever they find an advanced technology or invention, they will hide it privately. Unless it is absolutely necessary, they will not release it to benefit mankind, even if it rots in their hands. Moreover, these guys are so feudal and superstitious that they do not look like a scientific and technological organization at all. Although there are open and progressive Forge Worlds, their status in the entire Mechanicus is not as good as those closed and conservative factions. In the 40K period, if they wanted to make progress, they might even be labeled as technological heretics.

Perhaps one day everyone will be able to find a truly innovative and progressive technical priest, and behind him there is an equally enlightened forging world, then everyone may hand over the STC they have found.

"Techno-barons..." Allen also felt that this name was quite appropriate. Many institutions and departments in the empire disliked the Mechanicus, but not many people really dared to say so to the Mechanicus' face.

Without the help of the power armor, Wei was unable to analyze the STC on the spot, so he put the STC back into the protection device, and then installed a transmission beacon and asked Gloria to send the STC back to the spacecraft. After Gloria finished the analysis, she would naturally know what technology was contained in the STC.

"Since we've found this STC, we don't need to go any further."

The various mutated insects encountered along the way made Eryu very sick. Although these mutated insects were not very strong, if he beat them, they would eventually run into the insect nest.

Before the discussion, everyone asked Gloria that part of the reason they came down was to find some things to replenish the energy of the spacecraft. If Gloria needed it, they would have to go down no matter what, as this was related to when they could leave this ghost universe.

Gloria told everyone to just do what they wanted. Even if they took everything here, it would be a drop in the bucket. She did not force them to meet any targets.

Seeing everyone suddenly turn around to pack up their things, Allen asked in surprise:

"Aren't you going to continue going down?"

"We can't go down. Even if we want to, we can't take you with us." Apu pointed at Allen's body. The amount of radiation at the bottom of the nest would be something that even an Astartes (without armor) would have to consider, not to mention Allen, a wounded soldier. If he didn't take the maximum dose of anti-radiation medicine, he probably wouldn't be able to hold on for long.

"Now it's your turn to take us around upstairs." Xianyu also came over and said.

Allen, the trainee judge, must have a safe way to the upper level of the upper nest, so everyone doesn't have to spend any more effort. Once they reach the lower nest, they will immediately run away, and Allen will have no way to catch them.

"I can take you up there."

Alan had no objection. After all, these guys saved his life. Although their behavior was a bit strange, they didn't seem like heretics.

As for the many suspicious points about these people, we can just investigate them carefully after we get back.

----

"Sir...Sir Diaz?"

"Um...what's wrong?"

Diaz was awakened from his distraction by his assistant. The documents on his desk had not been touched for a while.

"This is the sixth time you've been distracted today, Master Diaz," the assistant reminded.

"Really? That might be because I'm too tired."

Tired? Actually, not really. Yesterday's aristocratic banquet was a rare occasion for Diaz, who hadn't engaged in any political socializing. It was simply a pure entertainment banquet. The delicious food, fine wine, and graceful women at the banquet gave Diaz such a wonderful experience that he was reluctant to leave.

The assistant told Diaz some of what happened yesterday:

"Inquisitor Credien came to see you yesterday. He hopes to make an appointment with you to discuss something."

"Inquisitor Credien? Got it. Help me contact him and arrange a time."

Credien is an inquisitor with considerable experience in the Order of the Heretic. He may be promoted to Grand Inquisitor in a dozen years or so. He possesses considerable power and connections, so Diaz attaches great importance to his relationship with Credien.

"I'll contact them right away."

"You go out first, I want to rest alone."

Diaz asked his assistant to leave the study. He took out a pink and purple card with exquisite patterns engraved on it from the drawer. It also exuded an intoxicating fragrance. This was given to him by the nobleman who invited him when Diaz left yesterday. As long as Diaz wanted, he could go to the manor to enjoy it at any time.

Go, go——

Diaz came to his senses again. He had walked to the door of the study without knowing when, and put one hand on the door handle.

"What's wrong with me?" Diaz took two steps back. He really wanted to rest for a while, but he must not indulge in that kind of decadent pleasure. He could not degenerate like those nobles. His ideals were still waiting for him to realize.

"Diaz, oh Diaz, you can't be so depraved."

Shaking his head, Diaz unconsciously put the card back into the drawer. He knelt in front of the statue of the emperor in the study and began to pray.

After finishing his prayer, Diaz was about to continue working when his assistant knocked on the door and said:

"I have an important matter to report, Master Diaz."

"Come in, what's going on?"

The assistant walked into the study and handed the report he had just received to Diaz:

"A frigate formation from the Imperial Navy has sent a communication. They have just completed their mission to eliminate pirates and are now on their way back. They want to enter the starport for rest and resupply."

Chapter 17 Echo

"How long until we can leave the Warp?"