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

However, these are all things to be done later, and there's no rush at the moment.

Zhao Zheng turned off the data panel, shifted his gaze from the report to the boundless starry sky outside the porthole, and inexplicably had a strange feeling.

As his psychic energy unconsciously extended outward, he keenly detected a very subtle yet extremely distant, yet remarkably clear, energy signal.

This signal had nothing to do with the subspace, nor was it a signal about the human soul itself. Instead, it was exactly the same as the aura of the Star God fragment he had absorbed in the Necropolis world.

Zhao Zheng's eyebrows twitched slightly as he recorded the coordinates of the energy signal and then turned off his spiritual vision.

Is it because I ate a piece of the Star God that I developed a sense of kinship with these Star God fragments?

But Ferrus seems to have iron hands too, so why doesn't he react like that?

Could it be that I'm the special one?

He stood quietly by the porthole for a while, locking his psychic senses onto the location of that set of coordinates, confirming that the signal was not moving and there were no other changes.

A moment later, Zhao Zheng turned around and walked to the main control panel, where he brought up the star map of the area near those coordinates.

It was an exoplanet relatively far from the Qin Empire's territory. It was in a remote location with no developed star systems nearby. According to the star charts of the Empire and the Qin Empire, that area was an unexplored gray zone.

Generally, some traveling merchants and wandering warriors would go there first to scout out the value of these places, and then they would report to the Empire which places were worth attacking and which places should be ignored.

Zhao Zheng paused his finger on the planet for a moment, then spoke to the officer on duty.

"Send a reconnaissance ship to conduct a close-range scan of these coordinates. Do not land. After completing the full survey in orbit, return and report immediately."

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"Remember to equip the Ironborn unmanned ships. If any abnormal signals or signs of life are detected, do not handle them yourself, but immediately send back confirmation information."

If it turns out to be another necromantic tomb world, Zhao Zheng will accept it. But if the detection reveals otherwise, then there's no reason to give up this "resource"!

Zhao Zheng had been "hungry" for a long time.

He had finally gotten a chance to become stronger, so how could he give it up so easily?

The officer on duty relayed the instructions.

Less than half an hour later, a dark gray Ironborn unmanned reconnaissance ship detached from the orbit of Qiankun Star and headed toward the target coordinates along the predetermined route.

Zhao Zheng did not personally accompany the reconnaissance ship on its departure, nor did he urge its return progress in the following days. He simply remained patient in the rest room of the Lishan, waiting for the detection data to be transmitted back to Qiankun Star from the target direction.

On the fifth day, the Ironborn unmanned reconnaissance ship finally sent back its first complete set of active scan data, including orbital images, surface topography scans, and an analysis of the specific source location of the energy signal.

The signal source is located deep within a fissure region covered by volcanic rock near the planet's equator, and the probes show that the hollow structures beneath the surface exhibit extremely regular geometric patterns.

The surface of the rock layers at the top of those cavities has some fine vein-like patterns that glow with an extremely faint dark red light in the holographic image.

It can be confirmed that there are no signals related to space necromancy here.

In other words, this is a "wild" fragment of a star god.

After watching the video, Zhao Zheng did not hesitate for long and marked the coordinates of the planet on his personal star map, labeling it "Suspected Star God Fragment - Pending Confirmation".

He couldn't leave this matter to anyone else; the Star God fragments were too dangerous for his offspring.

Unless it's a race like the Emperor or Primarch, who are tough guys in the real universe, or a race like the Necromancers, who have reached the pinnacle of technology, a single fragment of a Celestial God could easily wipe out an entire expeditionary fleet.

If it's a sealed fragment like the Martian Dragon fragment, that's fine, but if it's a fragment that still retains some active consciousness, rashly contacting it might bring unknown risks.

Therefore, he still has to handle this matter personally.

So Zhao Zheng set off for that planet, taking only a fleet of Ironborn warships and none of the regular troops of the Imperial Dragon Legion.

Before setting off, he left a brief message for Kongming, informing him of his destination and expected itinerary, and instructing him to leave his daily affairs to Kongming before returning.

The natural environment of that planet is extremely harsh.

The atmosphere is very thin, mainly composed of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The surface temperature remains at a high of 200°C throughout the day. Volcanic fissures are scattered across the surface, and faint sulfurous steam rises everywhere, covering the surrounding ground with a layer of dark red mist.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the porthole of a Great Wall-class battleship, looking down at the crimson planet through the thick bulkhead.

His psionic energy had already penetrated deep into those underground cavities some time ago, slowly moving along the fine vein-like patterns on the surface of the top rock layers, until it reached the location of the signal source.

About two hundred kilometers below the surface, the temperature inside that cavity is extremely high, and the rock walls are covered with a layer of solidified dark red substance, completely isolating it from external energy and matter.

Zhao Zheng fell from space, but this time he used his psionic energy to control his body and did not crash into the ground, creating a deep crater.

The scorched ground beneath my feet had been dried out, and stepping on it only produced a soft, crunching sound of gravel.

His psychic senses extended along the underground passage into the void, where the dark red substance began to pulsate faintly upon contact with his psychic energy, as if something long dormant had been reawakened.

At this point, Zhao Zheng could roughly guess whose Star God fragment it was: Niadra Zasa the Burner.

The embodiment of doomsday and end among the star gods, the most cruel and tyrannical being, the personification of flames, any creature that faces Him can only meet its end and destruction.

However, it shattered quite badly, with the largest fragment being pressed onto the Silent King's throne, serving as a power bank for his endless energy.

This fragment here can't be that powerful; after all, it's just a fragment. No matter how strong it is, that's about it, and it's been sitting in this remote corner for who knows how many years.

If they were truly powerful, given the Burners' boundless hatred for the undead, they would probably have already run out and dug up the undead's graves, instead of hiding here like cowards.

Zhao Zheng walked through the passage covered with volcanic rock and arrived at the edge of the underground cavity.

The dark red substance appeared to have an extremely dense energy structure in my psychic perception, like an energy shell compressed to its limit, enveloping the fragment that had been dormant for many years inside.

The light shining through the cracks was faint but steady, and the heat created a distinct heat wave in the air, baking the rock above until it glowed slightly red.

He could sense that the energy inside that fragment was still quite abundant and highly concentrated, and it had not naturally diminished over the long passage of time.

The unique nature of the Star Gods makes them the embodiment of the laws of physics, so they never need to worry about energy depletion.

However, it seems to be maintaining a low-power self-protection state here, perhaps because it's afraid the undead will come and take it back to use as a power bank.

But it's also a good thing, it benefits me.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the dark red outer shell for a while, carefully examining the light shining through the cracks, confirming that this layer of matter did not possess any active offensive or defensive mechanisms.

It seems more like a layer of energy deposits that formed naturally over a long period of dormancy, gradually accumulating and condensing from the trace amounts of heat emitted by the fragments themselves over a geological timescale.

He stretched out his palm, his fingertips touching the outermost layer of the dark red substance.

The psychic energy slowly seeped into the material between his fingertips, like water seeping into dry sand, spreading and diffusing between the cracks.

The dark red light flickered slightly as his psionic energy reached the depths of the rift, and then the substance began to spread upwards along his knuckles.

Zhao Zheng did not withdraw his hand. He kept his palm in contact with the substance, allowing his spiritual energy to continue to extend inward and touch the core of the Star God fragment inside the substance.

The energy ball experienced a very brief fluctuation when it sensed his psychic energy approaching, as if some dormant consciousness had been disturbed, releasing an extremely high amount of heat in that instant.

The heat traveled upwards along Zhao Zheng's arm, causing the armor made of a mixture of living metal and refined gold to reach an astonishing temperature within seconds, but Zhao Zheng did not let go.

Zhao Zheng could feel a powerful golden flame burning along his spiritual energy. The inextinguishable golden flame left a large charred mark on Zhao Zheng's powerful body, but it was instantly restored by Zhao Zheng's terrifying self-healing power.

At the same time as the thermal energy erupted, his psionic energy condensed into a fine cone, piercing into the core area of ​​the fragment, and then suddenly released his own black hole nature.

The suction force traveled along the channel of the psionic cone and struck the core of the fragment. The entire process lasted only a few seconds. After the dark red light flickered violently a few times, it began to decay rapidly, and the brightness gradually decreased from dazzling to faint.

The dark red outer shell also lost its support after the fragment energy was absorbed, shattering and peeling off the rock wall, scattering into a pile of dull powder on the ground.

But the golden flames never went out, burning continuously on Zhao Zheng's body. His armor was rapidly melted, and his body was constantly carbonizing and healing.

His psychic senses locked onto the new energy network that had formed within his body after the fragment was absorbed. The newly absorbed Star God fragment energy was now slowly intertwining and merging with the fragment energy he had absorbed from the Necropolis world deep within his soul.

Its own essence seemed quite pleased with this power, and it greedily absorbed everything. It did not consider, or rather, it did not care whether Zhao Zheng could withstand this power.

He only eats, he eats whatever is offered, he accepts everything, strong or weak, good or bad, he doesn't mind, he is not picky about food.

The golden flames continued to burn until Zhao Zheng finally managed to slowly "digest" the burning fragments, at which point they gradually died down.

Looking at his now completely naked body and the golden patterns that had appeared on it, Zhao Zheng couldn't help but clench his fist.

He had a false sense of self, as if he could punch the emperor and kick the four gods.

boom!

Unable to contain the still surging power within him, Zhao Zheng suddenly threw a punch forward.

The energy of the psionic and the energy of the star god were both sent out by this punch. In front of Zhao Zheng, everything around the underground cavity was instantly cleared, and a large hole suddenly appeared above his head, with pale golden magma pouring down into it.

Before long, Zhao Zheng was buried in this huge sea of ​​lava.

……

Zhao Zheng withdrew his hand, looked down at his still-steaming fingertips, and at the brand-new armor that was somewhat unable to withstand the surge of energy within him.

His psychic senses locked onto the new energy network that had formed within his body after the fragment was absorbed. The newly absorbed Star God fragment energy was now slowly intertwining and merging with the fragment energy he had absorbed from the Necropolis world deep within his soul.

The changes brought about by that fragment of the Star God gradually became apparent over the next few days.

The most noticeable change occurred on the third day after he returned to the Lishan, when Zhao Zheng unintentionally released a trace of spiritual energy in the lounge.

The energy emanating from that wisp of psionic power carried an extremely subtle heat, creating a visible distortion in the air.

Zhao Zheng stopped, raised his right hand, and concentrated his spiritual energy in his palm, feeling the heat naturally emanating from his body.

He tried to concentrate the heat on one point, and a tiny golden flame immediately appeared at his fingertip. The surrounding air visibly distorted at the edge of the dim light, as if it were being scorched by high temperature.

Zhao Zheng glanced at his fingertips and confirmed that this was indeed a new ability related to the Star God Fragment.

He tried to gather a more concentrated ball of heat in his palm. The psionic energy enveloped the heat, forming a tight golden sphere that hovered about an inch above his palm, also emitting golden flames.

The temperature of the golden sphere continued to rise, and the surrounding air began to ripple noticeably in the heat wave, causing Zhao Zheng's vision to become slightly distorted. Then, the Lishan began to issue a high-temperature warning in the rest area.

Zhao Zheng then withdrew the heat energy, and the golden light at his fingertips dissipated, restoring the spiritual energy to its normal, gentle state.

This was a decent gain. He didn't intend to use it as a primary means of combat, nor did he really need it, but having more options and trump cards was never a bad thing.

Besides, he came here to devour the Star God fragments to become stronger, and now he's got an unexpected bonus. This trip has been incredibly profitable.

When Zhao Zheng returned to Qiankun Star, Kongming was waiting for him at the airport as usual, holding that familiar data panel in his hand.

But this time, Kongming's expression was more serious than usual.

"Your Majesty, the reconnaissance ship we sent to the western edge of the Empire has sent back a message."

"They discovered a large space relic in that gray area, which is preliminarily identified as a relic from the dark age of technology, and is remarkably well-preserved."

"The captain of the reconnaissance ship believed that it might be the wreckage of a complete space ring or interstellar dock. No signs of biological activity or obvious energy signals were found on the surface."

"At a distance of about half a light-year from that area, the reconnaissance ship's passive sensors detected some faint pulse signals."

Zhao Zheng's brow twitched slightly. He took the data panel from Kong Ming and read through the reconnaissance report from beginning to end on the way back to the Lishan from the airport.

The images sent back by the reconnaissance ship clearly showed a massive structural wreckage floating in a gray star field.

Its outline resembles a ring-shaped space station cut in half, with an extremely long diameter. Over the long years, the structure has shown slight distortion and collapse, but it still retains a recognizable outline.

At a distance of about half a light-year from that area, the passive sensor did indeed record several sets of weak pulse signals of unknown origin.

Because the signal strength was too low, the reconnaissance ship could not confirm its exact source and encoding method, only that it did not resemble the radiation characteristics of a natural celestial body, nor did it resemble the format of any known Imperial communication protocol.

After reading the report, Zhao Zheng pondered for a moment before issuing instructions.

"Let the reconnaissance ship conduct a more detailed full-band scan of the ruins and the pulse signal source while maintaining a safe distance."

"Don't rush to get closer. If there is any abnormal activity from the signal source, prioritize your own safety and send a report first."

The reconnaissance ship completed a second round of scanning over the next few days and sent back more detailed detection data.

The structure of the space remnant was more complete than it appeared in the first scan. Although the outer surface of the ring-shaped main body was damaged, most of the modules remained relatively intact.

Furthermore, the reconnaissance ship discovered some interfaces and symbols on the outer wall of the ruins that were not entirely consistent with the Imperial standard specifications, indicating that it may belong to a separate political system or technological branch.

It is highly likely that it was left behind by some forces during the dark age of technology.

As for the source of that pulse signal, after listening for a longer period of time, the captain of the reconnaissance ship added a personal speculation at the end of the report.

The signal source was not far from the ruins, and although the pulse frequency was weak, it appeared very regularly.

The captain deduced that it was likely a periodic status confirmation signal from an old-fashioned beacon device set to standby for extended periods, similar to a pre-programmed "I'm still working" broadcast.

After reading the report, Zhao Zheng placed the data board on the table and tapped his fingertips on the edge of the table a few times.

Such relics usually contain valuable artifacts. If we could drag that relic back to Qiankun Star for disassembly and analysis, we might be able to extract some valuable technical data or discover some clues related to the core of our ancestors, thus completing the technical puzzle.

Although this situation is relatively rare, based on the records of the reconnaissance ship, it is speculated that the ruins were not only very large, but also very well preserved.

Salamanders are generally the best at this kind of thing because they are very strong and each of them is a master craftsman. Their power armor and weapons are rare finds in Astartes, so they are naturally very comfortable in these cramped, wrecked spaceships.

It's not that the Imperial Dragon Legion is incapable, but Zhao Zheng's offspring really don't have much talent in this area.

The fire lizards are genuine masters of forging; without that premise, what can you possibly discover by exploring these places?

If you put an STC in front of them, they'd probably think it's just a hard piece of armor plate.

"Send orders to that reconnaissance ship to stay put and maintain surveillance, without making any further contact. Once I have arranged for the subsequent exploration team and engineering fleet, then we will go and deal with it."