Warhammer, I really didn't intend to form a second empire!

The brief fluctuation lasted for less than two seconds before disappearing, but the information Zhao Zheng gleaned from that crack was enough for him to make a judgment.

That wasn't a normal fluctuation in the power supply system; it was a faint pulsation produced by an energy source located in a very deep structure as it transmitted power outward. The interval between each pulse was highly stable, like a star compressed to its limit silently contracting and expanding.

Below that place, there is a very high probability that there is a fragment of a star god that is imprisoned.

Zhao Zheng felt a headache coming on. If you had told me earlier that there were Star God fragments in your tomb world, I would have started running away immediately.

Are you kidding me? With his current skill level, how could he possibly compete with the Star God?

However, if he can actually acquire this fragment of the Star God, his legion will experience a qualitative leap.

The living metal of the undead can be taken into the Qin Dynasty, while the fragments of the Star God...

Zhao Zheng had a bold idea.

There was some risk involved, but the potential rewards were simply too high. Zhao Zheng silently and quickly assessed the odds and decided to go all in.

"Order all ground troops to withdraw from the catacombs and return to the surface evacuation points. The fleet shall maintain the orbital blockade and continue to suppress the undead defenses on the surface."

He turned and walked toward the elevator shaft at the end of the corridor, his steps slow but steady.

"Let Han Xin take over overall command and maintain the current blockade until I return."

The alloy doors of the elevator shaft closed behind him, and as it descended along the vertical track toward the hangar, his fingers swiped rapidly across the tactical panel inside his arm armor, bringing up a rough structural model of the Necropolis world.

He wants to go down there personally and solve the problem as quickly as possible.

As the Stormbird slid out of the hangar of the Lishan, the ground forces on the planet's surface were retreating to their planned withdrawal points, with the Red Guards and Marauders providing alternating cover as they retreated, and the Astartes Company covering the rear.

The undead warriors did not immediately pursue after losing sustained frontal pressure, and the green patterns on the obelisk lit up again at a visible speed.

Zhao Zheng's Stormbird cut into the planet's atmosphere at an extremely low altitude, its engine's ion tail flame leaving a flickering silver-white trail below the clouds. After passing through several layers of thin high-altitude clouds, it landed on a relatively flat rock platform near the entrance to the ninth-level passage.

Before the Stormbird had even come to a complete stop, Zhao Zheng had already jumped out of the hatch.

The moment his six-meter-tall body landed, the rock beneath his feet emitted a dull cracking sound. As he descended, his spiritual energy spread outwards, condensing into an invisible cone with extremely high density over a short distance, directly piercing the dark material deep within the passage.

The moment the psionic cone made contact with the material, it emitted a dull sound similar to a low-frequency resonance. The green patterns on the dark material surface flickered for a moment, then dimmed for about half a second.

Zhao Zheng did not stop. He walked deeper into the passage, his pace neither fast nor slow, each step causing a fine crack to appear on the living metal surface beneath his feet.

As the undead warriors emerging from the hidden doors in the wall approached him, he didn't even turn his gaze; he simply condensed his psionic energy into a thin, invisible force field that enveloped his entire body.

The necromantic Gaussian ray dissipated instantly upon hitting the surface of that force field, like tiny water droplets absorbed into the air, without even causing a ripple.

Zhao Zheng passed through the ninth-level passage and entered a deeper area.

The dark-colored walls became thicker as you went down, and the obstruction to psionic energy transmission became more and more obvious. However, he no longer tried to use psionic energy to penetrate the entire structure to find the location of the Star God fragment. He only needed to follow the rhythm of that energy pulse, and he would find it naturally.

When he passed through the fourteenth level, the burial chambers on both sides of the passage were noticeably more spacious than those on the upper levels.

Each tomb chamber contained hundreds of metal coffins, the green patterns on their surfaces more intricate and elaborate than those on the warriors in the upper chambers, suggesting that these were once high-ranking members of the Fearful Death.

Zhao Zheng glanced at the coffins but didn't linger.

He continued downwards along the direction of the pulse, and as he passed through the twentieth level, the structure of the passage underwent a fundamental change.

The corridors that were originally rectangular began to have curved surfaces, and the dark material on the walls was gradually replaced by an older black stone.

The stone's surface lacks the texture of living metal; it only has a very thin layer of luster that shimmers slightly in the dim light.

Zhao Zheng stopped, placed his palm on the stone wall, and felt a continuous low-frequency vibration at his fingertips, which was completely synchronized with the frequency of the energy pulse.

He stepped on the edge of the heavy black stone door at the end of the passage, breaking it and widening the gap to a width sufficient for passage, then squeezed in sideways.

Behind the door is a huge three-dimensional space, with a giant Rubik's Cube suspended in the middle.

The Hyperdimensional Cube Cage, a massive cage where the undead seal the fragments of the Star God.

The energy of the imprisoned Star God fragments remained violent, and the living metal inner wall of the Hyperdimensional Cube cage continued to crumble, while the Netherworld Worker Absorbing Body inside constantly acted as a patcher, repairing the cage.

Above this, the Netherworld Sentinels were also controlling the Star God fragments through the force field barriers generated by their tentacles, constantly absorbing the inexhaustible energy.

Even standing here, Zhao Zhengguang could feel the violent energy emanating from this fragment of the Star God.

Just how powerful were the undead back then to shatter these Star Gods? And why did they imprison them and use them as an endless source of energy?

Zhao Zheng was unaware that the only Star God fragment he knew of was the Void Dragon fragment, which was captured alive by the Emperor and imprisoned on Mars, absorbing the faith of many of the Motorists and becoming the Martian Dragon.

Zhao Zheng's eyes were filled with ruthlessness. As long as he dealt with this Star God fragment and destroyed the control core and resurrection protocol of this tomb world, he would win this battle.

Even if they can't get their hands on the technology, just obtaining living metal is already a huge profit. Qiankun Star welcomes any high-quality minerals!

"I'll see today whether your Star God fragment is tough enough, or my stomach is tough enough!"

The psionic energy swept towards the hyperdimensional cube cage like a tsunami.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Huge Profit!

Zhao Zheng's spiritual energy condensed into a dense cone of light in front of the hyperdimensional cube cage, which collided head-on with the force field barrier on the outer layer of the cage.

The barrier emitted a violent green flash the moment it made contact, and dense cracks spread outward from the point of contact along the force field on the surface of the living metal.

The tentacles of the Netherworld Sentinel drooped down from above the cage, attempting to reinforce the structure of the force field with energy pulses, but Zhao Zheng's psionic energy, like a red-hot knife cutting into solidified grease, slowly but irresistibly tore a crack in the barrier.

The cracks expanded to both sides at a visible speed. The tentacles of the underworld sentinels were broken off at the edge of the cracks, disintegrating into fine metal powder that shimmered with tiny green light in the air.

Zhao Zheng took a step forward.

The living metal ground beneath his feet groaned under the weight of his step, and the cracks continued to extend outwards with his weight, only stopping at the edge of the cage base.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the crack, his gaze passing through the gap in the force field barrier and landing on the ball of light compressed to its limit inside the cage.

The interior of the Hyperdimensional Cube cage is vast, with the energy of the Star God fragments churning within at an extremely high density, like a raging nebula forcibly confined inside a cubic container. Its color frequently shifts between golden and silver-white, with brief bursts of pale blue flashes occasionally erupting from its edges.

In his psionic vision, the aura emanating from that energy was unlike anything he had ever encountered before. It was filled with intense malice and rage, its self-awareness was extremely fragile, and the raging energy was rampaging wildly within the cage, compressed into a prison crafted with the highest level of necromancy, awaiting eternal, slow torment.

Zhao Zheng's initial judgment was correct; this was merely a fragment of a star god stripped of all memories and consciousness, serving as the energy core of this tomb world.

Its resistance was futile, and it could only watch helplessly as the undead continuously drained its energy to power the tomb world.

Even so, its energy density is still astonishingly high, far exceeding the sum of all the green-skinned waaaagh force fields that Zhao Zheng had previously devoured.

Zhao Zheng reached his hand into the crack.

His fingertips pierced through the cracks in the force field barrier, and the instant they touched the inner wall of the hyperdimensional cube cage, a stream of scorching energy surged up his arm, impacting his psionic energy and physical cells.

Zhao Zheng gritted his teeth. He did not withdraw his hand, but let the energy flow continue to flow into his body. At the same time, he mobilized his spiritual energy to form miniature energy vortex channels in his body, breaking down the energy of that fragment into small energy streams, guiding them segment by segment to the edge of the black hole essence deep in his soul.

The true nature of black holes suddenly comes alive at this moment, like a giant beast awakened by hunger.

It sensed the presence of that energy and, unlike when it devoured the green-skinned psionic energy, it no longer spun violently deep within Zhao Zheng's soul, releasing an extremely strong suction force. It began to extend upwards along Zhao Zheng's body, directly piercing through his palm and embedding itself into the core of the Star God fragment.

A shrill scream emanated from inside the Hyperdimensional Cube cage—the sound of energy structure being forcibly torn apart. The energy of the Star God fragments, suppressed for countless epochs, began to spill outwards under Zhao Zheng's pull.

The energy released by that fragment of the Star God was extremely pure and powerful, and also very tyrannical.

If the green skin's waaaaagh force field is like a turbid, surging river, then this fragment of the Star God is like an ocean compressed to an extremely small volume, each drop carrying enough destructive power to destroy a city.

After the black hole absorbed the first wave of energy, it began to expand its volume at an exaggerated rate.

Zhao Zheng could sense that something deep within his soul was undergoing a subtle change, but he no longer had the energy to carefully discern the details of those changes.

All of his spiritual energy was maintaining the energy conduit that stretched from his palm to the core of the Star God fragment.

The tentacles of the Netherworld Sentinels also tried to cut off his psychic energy from the side during this time, but the tentacles were repelled by a strong repulsive force when they approached his psychic energy, and the tips of the tentacles disintegrated into fine metal particles on the spot.

As Zhao Zheng's psionic energy continued to be output at a high intensity, it gradually entered a state close to a vacuum. His psionic energy intensity continued to rise, and new psionic energy surged out of his body like a tide, being guided into the essence of the black hole along with the energy of the Star God fragment.

Zhao Zheng himself couldn't say how long the process lasted; it could have been a few minutes or longer.

When he sensed the extracted energy beginning to weaken, the green light inside the Hyperdimensional Cube cage had dimmed considerably.

The energy torrents that had been surging inside the cage became thin and weak, and were completely swallowed up. The few remaining fragments that had been faintly glowing at the bottom were "licked clean" by Zhao Zheng, the villain possessed by the gluttonous beast, and every corner was cleaned.

Zhao Zheng slowly withdrew his hand. The skin on his fingertips remained intact under the protection of spiritual energy, but his armor had been cracked by the high temperature and powerful force, leaving fine cracks.

He could feel that his psionic energy intensity had increased significantly, and a faintly glowing dark golden halo had appeared around the edge of the black hole's essence. This was the residual trace of the energy left after the Star God fragment was devoured.

His psionic energy continued to surge, and his strength visibly increased significantly.

Zhao Zheng clenched and unclenched his fist in front of his chest to make sure his fingers were still flexible, then turned his head and scanned the surrounding environment with his psionic energy.

The spirit sentinels that were originally surrounding the superdimensional cube cage have stopped moving after the energy core was extracted, their tentacles hanging motionless on the surface of the cage.

The green patterns on the walls were visibly fading, as these powerful technologies were now lacking sufficient energy. This tomb world, which had existed for 60 million years, was gradually collapsing from the inside out.

Zhao Zheng turned around and walked up the way he came, his steps faster than when he came down.

The changes on the ground were already clearly visible when Zhao Zheng walked out of the tomb passage entrance.

The patterns on the surfaces of those obelisks that were originally scattered across the earth have all become dull and lifeless. Some have begun to tilt, and the living metal of the base no longer repairs its cracks after losing energy support.

After losing their power supply, the ranks of undead warriors came to a standstill, sliding from their semi-standing positions into lifeless metal statues, arranged across the charred battlefield. Now they were truly unconscious.

Zhao Zheng stepped over the body of a necromancer who had just fallen. The necromancer was still in a forward-stepping posture when he fell, his face facing the ground with the metal helmet on. The edge of his shoulder armor was still faintly flashing with the last bit of light before it went out completely a few seconds later.

"Han Xin, bring down the engineering fleet. This tomb world has stopped operating. Take control of the underground facilities as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

"It's okay. I even benefited a lot. I'm still a bit 'full' now, but I'll be fine after digesting it."

Zhao Zheng felt his body constantly absorbing the energy around him, and the feeling of getting stronger every moment was truly wonderful.

Meanwhile, in the warp, a terrifying, colossal black hole began to indiscriminately devour everything around it, including psionic energy and the warp "creatures" lurking within.

They screamed madly as they tried to escape the giant black hole, but they couldn't. The distance was too close, and the suction was too strong. The powerful suction, which seemed to wash their very groin, tore them to pieces, leaving no possibility of resurrection.

Han Xin, Xiang Ji, and the others had strange expressions, but seeing Zhao Zheng's excited smile, they didn't ask anything more.

Next comes the time to take inventory and receive the spoils.

The post-battle assessment lasted for nearly three days, during which Han Xin and Kongming's teams jointly completed a complete inventory of the surface of the tomb world.

The number of Marauder armor losses was relatively manageable, less than three hundred units. The deployment of the Xuanwu heavy armor was not large to begin with, so only about twenty units were lost.

Eight hundred and sixty-seven of the Astartes' offspring perished. Under the influence of Zhao Zheng's genetic seed, it was already quite remarkable that so many offspring could be gathered in such a short time. The deaths of these eight hundred-plus people were a painful blow to Zhao Zheng.

Although he had many genetic seeds and his offspring had long since surpassed 50,000, it was only after Zhao Zheng absorbed the fragments of the Star God that this not-yet-fully-awakened tomb world was completely silenced during this war concerning the tomb world.

There was no other way; the undead had been asleep for too long. Apart from the overlords who had already awakened, most of the current undead needed enough time to restart their processes.

Sixty million years is a really long time. If it weren't for the energy supply from the Star God fragments, even living metal would never have been able to last that long.

As for his "good brothers," Zhao Zheng felt even more heartbroken, as nearly four thousand of them had died in battle!

The vast majority of them were infantry units from the Red Guards, who, having lost the cover of heavy armor, were forced to engage the undead warriors in close combat with slingshots and chainsaws.

These significant losses are almost comparable to the losses incurred by the Qin Empire during its expansion over the years.

Even a war, and one that wasn't even a complete war, demonstrates the power of technology.

But all the losses pale in comparison to the gains in this tomb world.

The most direct benefit is living metal.

The day after the undead warriors were all shut down, Han Xin's ground engineering team began a comprehensive collection of materials.

The bodies of the necromancers and destroyers that were knocked down or paralyzed were collected, packed, and crated one by one, and transported from the planet's surface to transport barges in orbit.

Some unexpected events occurred during the process. The residual energy systems of some of the undead warriors underwent a slight self-repair response during transport, and green patterns briefly appeared on the surfaces of those living metal bodies. The engineering team reported this phenomenon to Zhao Zheng immediately.

Zhao Zheng glanced at it and confirmed that it was just an unconscious residual response that would not pose a substantial threat. He then approved the continued retrieval, as these low-level fear-of-death beings were no longer worthy of having consciousness.

The total amount of living metal recovered reached an astonishing figure within two weeks, enough to keep the materials science laboratory of the Qiankun Star Central Research Institute completely immersed in a cycle of analysis, testing, and experimentation for the next few years.

Kongming estimated in the second week's statistical report that the reserves of this batch of living metal were sufficient to support at least five to six new rounds of armor and ship material upgrade programs.

The even greater discovery was the physical structure of those tomb worlds themselves.

Those obelisks and underground tombs outside the area covered by Zhao Zheng's psionic barrier also entered a recyclable state after losing their energy supply.

The engineering team marked all the detachable living metal structures and included them in the subsequent excavation plan. It is expected that the total collection of recyclable materials above the surface of the entire planet can be completed within the next four months.

The biggest problem lies in the technology sector.

When Han Xin was at the recovery site, he discovered a large number of necromantic technology devices in the core area, including the remains of artifacts made by the underworld, samples of Gauss weapons, and several well-preserved data storage units.

Unfortunately, they don't even understand the most basic principles behind most of these technological products.

While structural analysis and property testing of living metals involve at least a tangible physical object, the Qin Dynasty was completely unable to decipher the operating methods of those necromancy devices and those black metal plates with green patterns engraved on their surfaces.