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

“Speak out and surrender to me, and you will no longer have to suffer this pain.”

"You will lead them to become my first demon prince, conquering all directions for me."

The voice kept repeating itself, like an incessant whisper, constantly trying to invade and distort his consciousness.

Bai Qi silently swung his power sword, clearing away the new wave of demonic attacks, then took a half step back to catch his breath.

His face remained calm, his eyes showing neither anger nor fear, only an almost indifferent focus.

He did feel the pain; the demons' claws and weapons were constantly assaulting his body, and his soul was being eroded. The pain was indescribable, but Bai Qi was able to endure it.

For a Qin general, this level of erosion was nothing, just a little bit of pain.

His body had suffered many injuries, but each one was slowly healing, allowing his physical strength and spiritual energy to continuously recover, and he was not afraid of any of this.

The voice repeated itself countless times, relentlessly trying to break through Bai Qi's defenses.

It gradually changed its tone and wording, sometimes with a threat, sometimes with a promise, and sometimes with a feigned concern.

The Blood God is never aboveboard; He admires those who are "unyielding in the face of power," but that doesn't mean He himself enjoys doing so.

The evil god only cares about whether he can possess it, and never cares about the process or the way he possesses it.

Bai Qi remained silent, not uttering a single word.

His psychic energy remained firmly locked around the core of his own consciousness, without releasing any unnecessary information outwards, nor giving the voice any opportunity to take advantage.

He stood there in the dark red desert, facing the ever-surging tide of demons, continuously wielding his power sword.

After a long struggle, the voice began to change, its tone shifting from seduction and persuasion to anger.

Bai Qi could sense that the will was enraged, and each time he swung his power sword to shatter those demons, the will's enrage would increase.

But the sound never disappeared.

It would occasionally resound during breaks in Bai Qi's battles, carrying a cold, oppressive feeling, as if trying to pry open a crack in his silence.

"Your will is strong, but this is my territory. Every drop of blood you shed here will eventually be used by me."

"You will exhaust your strength and be slowly worn down by me. When that time comes, you will eventually speak up; it's just a matter of time."

"Shout it out: Blood sacrifice to the Blood God! Skull offering to the Skull Seat!"

Bai Qi's silence almost drove Him mad, yet He couldn't bear to actually kill him, and a strange balance fell into the Red Sand Domain.

His movements as he wielded the power sword did not falter because of those words. With his back to the burning demon corpses and facing a new wave of figures emerging from the cracks, he held the power sword horizontally in front of his chest.

Bai Qi stood in the yellow sand for an unknown amount of time, and he had no idea how many demons he had killed.

He was surrounded by a large pile of demon remains, which were higher than his knees. The charred ashes and the fragments of not-yet-fully-burned carapaces mixed together, forming a thick demon "carpet" on the sand.

But that wasn't enough. Demons continued to emerge from the red sand, their crimson figures traversing the dunes, trying to find his weaknesses and defensive vulnerabilities from all directions.

Yet he still wielded his power sword with such precision and stability.

The voice rang out again, this time carrying an unprecedented chill.

“Your disobedience will change nothing. You will eventually belong to me. Your head will sit on my throne, and your blood will flow into my rivers.”

The more you resist, the more I want to conquer you.

"Just say it..."

Bai Qi responded for the first time, interrupting the voice with only three words.

"You do not deserve."

At that very moment, the sky above the Red Sand Domain was instantly torn apart. A streak of dark gold streaked across the crimson sky, piercing through the strangely colored clouds at an almost vertical angle, and landed in front of Bai Qi.

Golden flames instantly swept around Bai Qi, and the crimson figures turned to ashes without making a sound.

The demons didn't even have a chance to struggle; the intense heat of the golden flames was enough to cause their bodies to begin burning and vaporizing the moment they made contact.

Zhao Zheng did not stop. He continuously released golden flames, igniting all the demonic remains piled up around the cracks, allowing the flames to spread to the edge of the cracks.

The moment it made contact with the rift, golden flames seeped inward along the edge of the rift, burning and sealing off the fissures that led to the depths of the subspace one by one.

The red sand began to melt in the high temperature, and cracks began to appear in the dark red sky, indicating that the boundary of this space was collapsing from the inside.

Standing in the Red Sand Domain, Zhao Zheng looked at the Blood God Demon Army that was constantly being burned, and a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.

A terrifying roar from the Blood God came from within, and a massive, blood-red greatsword appeared above the Red Sand Domain, but it never actually fell.

He roared angrily, but never took another step forward.

"Personally corrupting a junior, do you think that makes you special? You dare call yourself the Blood God? Utterly shameless!"

Bai Qi stood still, watching the endless stream of demons disappear in the golden flames. He, who was already seriously injured, finally got a chance to catch his breath, and his terrifying self-healing ability slowly healed his wounds.

Just as he was preparing to join his father on the battlefield, Zhao Zheng casually slashed open a crack and pushed him out. By the time Bai Qi reacted, he was already back in his vehicle.

"Marshal, you're back! Are you alright?"

Meng Ao, who was standing nearby, rushed over immediately.

"Don't worry about me, His Majesty..."

"His Majesty said we should retreat, and he himself has a way to get away."

“Those star systems have been completely destroyed by us. His Majesty has ordered us to retreat to nearby star systems for the time being to regroup.”

Bai Qi didn't really listen. He was already exhausted after being imprisoned in the spiritual realm for four hundred years, and he still wanted to force himself to use his spiritual energy to return there.

But a large hand quietly patted his shoulder from behind, the sound and movement very slight.

"You've worked hard, take a good rest."

Bai Qi could no longer hold on and collapsed.

Chapter 55 Warhammer's Shithole Theorem

When Bai Qi was sent back to the command cabin, Zhao Zheng stood in front of the porthole on the bridge of the Lishan ship, looking at the deep space starry sky outside the window that had returned to normal, and remained silent for a long time.

His fingertips rested on the edge of the windowsill, the cool metallic touch of his fingertips contrasting sharply with the intense heat and scorching atmosphere permeating the red sand domain.

He looked down at his right palm, where the residual warmth of the golden flames still lingered, forming a faint halo on his skin that dissipated completely after a moment.

Zhao Zheng couldn't do anything to the Blood God. With his current strength, it was already a miracle that he could come back alive from the Blood God. He wasn't like Emperor, the warhammer dragon, who could go toe-to-toe with an evil god with his human body.

He just hadn't expected that Khorne would personally go to such lengths to corrupt an Astartes. In his memory, it seemed that only one of his brothers had ever made Khorne go to such lengths.

Zhao Zheng stayed in Bai Qi's command cabin for a while, and only left after confirming that his injuries were indeed within the recovery range.

Bai Qi's vital signs have stabilized, his body is slowly healing itself, and his spirit and will are also recovering, but he still needs enough time to rest.

He fought continuously in the Red Sands for four hundred years!

While this is common in the subspace, in the real universe, the human spirit and soul suffer exceptionally much hardship and torment.

Bai Qi endured four hundred years inside without uttering a single word of compromise; that alone makes him a true dragon among men.

Before leaving, Zhao Zheng glanced at Bai Qi's sleeping face. His expression was calm, without the ferocity of a demonic attack or the fatigue of a long battle.

These are the true descendants of Qin: loyal, resilient, and fearless.

"Take good care of the marshal."

Zhao Zheng said something to the pharmacist offspring following behind him, then turned and walked out of the cabin, heading towards the bridge along the corridor.

He returned to the lounge, sat down at the control panel, and tapped his fingertips on the edge of the armrest.

After hesitating for a moment, he opened the communication panel and brought up the encrypted channel connecting to the Emperor Dream.

But in the end, they chose to use psychic powers to begin contacting the Emperor.

The golden psionic energy responded to his signal from the depths of the warp shortly after the connection was established.

The Emperor's psychic energy appeared at the edge of Zhao Zheng's perception, releasing a message in his usual calm manner.

"You rarely contact me first, is something wrong?"

Zhao Zheng sat up straighter at the table in the lounge, his hands folded on his knees.

He described Bai Qi's experiences in the Red Sand Domain, as well as the fanatical behavior of the aliens and the crimson flames on the altar.

"The Blood God personally intervened, just to corrupt one of my offspring. When I arrived, he had already been holding out in the Red Sand Domain for four hundred years."

The Emperor's spiritual energy fluctuated slightly upon hearing the name of the Blood God. The fluctuation was small, but Zhao Zheng still noticed it.

The matter of the warp is extremely sensitive, and the Emperor has always had a highly sensitive reaction to it.

"They certainly have more than one alien race that worships them in the real universe. If a similar situation were to occur during the Imperial Expedition, and if they were to try to pull some kind of trickery from the Empire's side, I'm afraid few members of the expeditionary fleet would be able to withstand it."

"And those weak points and cracks in the veil of reality—if Chaos really wants to obstruct the Empire, then these heretics and the cracks are the first step in their invasion."

“It is very difficult for us to defend against them.”

The emperor did not respond immediately; he was also pondering the impact of chaos at this moment.

He started the Great Crusade in such a hurry because time was running out. If the period of peace in the Warp caused by the birth of the Slaanesh ended, it would be uncertain whether humanity would ever be able to rise again.

So what are you trying to say?

“I think we should let all the legions and mortal auxiliary forces know about the existence of the warp. We don’t need to make them fully aware of it, but at least they should know that the warp is full of malice, and they should also know some protective measures.”

The emperor no longer displayed the hypocritical pretense he used to put on, although Zhao Zheng could sense from his spiritual energy that his emotions were quite complex.

“I don’t think this is a good idea. Do you think that telling people about the existence of the warp will teach them how to protect themselves?”

"In fact, the more detailed the knowledge, the easier it is to be detected by the subspace."

"The nature and operation of the subspace determine that it is a reality that is shaped by consciousness and emotion."

"It doesn't need direct contact at all. As long as the target knows about it, imagines it, and fears it, a path has already been opened over there."

“We don’t even need these. As long as we exist and there are soul beings in the real universe, the emotions they generate every moment can nourish them in the subspace.”

The emperor's voice never contained any accusation; it was merely a statement of his long-accumulated experience and judgment.

"My promotion of imperial truth and advocacy of science and reason is not merely out of respect for scientific knowledge and aversion to religious ignorance."

"Moreover, when people focus their attention on the laws and logic of the material world, they will not pay attention to those areas that transcend reality."

"Imperial Truth is not deception in essence; it is my way of shielding the Warp, a barrier to prevent people from feeding the Warp with curiosity and various strong emotions."

"As long as people stop supplying energy to the subspace, it will gradually become slow and sluggish, losing its ability to interfere with the real universe."

"After that, I can find a way to completely solve the problem of the warp, at least to make humanity no longer need to rely on warp travel, thereby completely isolating the warp."

"This is a long and patient game, not a battle that can be won in a short time."

Zhao Zheng leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the spot where the golden spiritual energy had lingered in his senses.

The Emperor's reasoning did have its theoretical logic, but if the plan had actually succeeded, he wouldn't have been depicted sitting on a golden toilet in official history.

Although all of this was due to Chaos's machinations, Zhao Zheng knew that even without the Four Gods, the Emperor's Net Dao would never have been truly put into use, as Vulcan had already explained later.

Don't even think about trying to compete with the highways built by the ancient saints; the two are simply not in the same league.

Zhao Zheng was certain that Imperial Truth would be completely ineffective. In this place where subspace existed, any blessing or even a major war from Chaos would instantly expose what Imperial Truth was trying to conceal.

Imperial Truth can at best only delay things, buying time for the current empire.

However, Zhao Zheng had to admit that the Empire's truth was truly good, denying the existence of all religions and gods, and this alone was absolutely worth promoting throughout the entire galaxy.

Regardless of its nature, these emotional aggregates should not exist in the subspace in the first place.

If one day the Warp could return to the peaceful state it was in before the War of Heaven, then the Imperial Truth would be the most perfectly correct theory.

Unfortunately, the current subspace environment is really terrible.

Zhao Zheng did not directly refute him, but instead offered his suggestion in a different way.

"What if we only let them know some basic things within a small circle within the Legion? For example, that there are demons and some indescribable, terrifying evils in the warp, which are always eyeing the real universe."

"Or, tell them how to deal with similar chaotic phenomena, and give them clear operating guidelines, instead of letting them figure it out on their own without any understanding."

The emperor did not take the suggestion, but his tone remained mild.

"Your act of rescuing your son demonstrates that the Second Legion is already quite capable of resisting such threats."

"But don't forget, not all legions are as special as the Second Legion. Do the other legions also possess the same capabilities when facing warp threats?"