I'm a magnetic field madman

"And now, they've announced their return, having left the empire ten thousand years behind. What were they doing all this time? Now they're back wanting to take control of the empire?"

“Fadix, the Empire cannot afford another great rebellion... We have always believed that the Empire can be better in our hands, haven't we?”

The man behind Talion remained silent. He was an unremarkable middle-aged man... who appeared to be indistinguishable in both height and appearance.

But precisely because of this, he seemed to be hidden in the shadows as he stood there, seemingly blending into his own shadow even though he was clearly in sight.

"Talion, just say what you have to say."

The Grand Instructor of the Assassin's Court spoke expressionlessly, while the Minister of Internal Affairs lowered his eyes and said calmly...

"We are all public servants who have devoted themselves to the empire. It is in our hands that the empire has gradually become better and more stable."

The Grand Master of the Assassins remained silent, just as he had most of the time in the High Lords Council—the Assassins were not bureaucrats, but rather the blades that oversaw the operation of the system.

"You want to kill the Primarch?" Fadix asked bluntly.

“That’s not all,” Talion said calmly.

"The Primarch's return is a blessing for the Empire, but it would be best if he stayed by the Emperor's side, like the Custodians. The Primarch should be doing what the Primarch does, not interfering with what we do."

"But the return of the Primarch will bring about innovation."

"Reform will destabilize the system!" Talion raised his voice.

"What the empire needs is stability, peace and unity, not reforms that will bring more destruction!"

“All I saw was bureaucratic corruption,” Fadix said calmly.

“That necessary sacrifice,” Talion said calmly.

"In any case, the Empire is in a turbulent time. We need a lot of stability, and if the Primarch is willing to accept our rule, that would be the best-case scenario."

"Power needs to be restrained! Apart from the Emperor, no one in the entire Empire should wield power arbitrarily! Fadix, do you understand what I mean?"

Talion's words were already an implication, suggesting that the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court had a less-than-honorable history and past concerning his "predecessors."

Vangelich, formerly the imperial dictator of the Assassin's Court.

Even though he largely cleaned up the empire that was in ruins after the War of the Beasts... in the eyes of the bureaucratic system, he was someone who should be nailed to the pillar of shame.

"Who else is with you?" Fadix asked expressionlessly, seemingly unaffected by the other party's implication and humiliation...

"The Pope of the state religion, as well as itinerant merchants, are all around us."

Talion's gaze was deep as he slowly spoke...

"Furthermore, to be on the safe side, the Mountain Array has temporarily left Terra's orbital defense system, along with those Imperial Fists—Fadix, if the Primarch is unwilling to side with us, we have enough leverage to take him down!"

"Power should be caged, and we are that cage!"

Fadix gave Talion a deep look before disappearing into the shadows. Talion paid little attention, simply pouring himself a glass of fine Quattis wine, his eyes gleaming as he watched the swirling liquid.

For him, all he needed to do was keep the Assassin's Court in check. And just as he had told the Grand Master, neither the Astragalus Army nor the Navy would approve of the Primarch's return.

Because that would mean the Astartes system would be above them, and it would mean a reduction in top-level military power, and how could they possibly accept that?

Otherwise, the Pope of the State Church wouldn't have agreed with Talion's words... Even though they call the Primarchs the Sons of God, their respect for them is absolutely not one ten-thousandth of what they show to the Emperor.

Of course, Talion didn't want to harm the Primarchs either. As he said... the best outcome would be if these Primarchs were willing to obediently become idols.

Or they could be drawn into their own political games; the cumbersome and complex system of government and civil service would be enough to tame them.

All of this is for the empire, for the emperor.

Talion thought to himself that he was undoubtedly loyal, absolutely loyal.

Just as he was contemplating everything, a terrifying roar reached his ears.

129. Eclipse-class Star Destroyer

Subspace Network

Leon wiped the unclean blood from the blade, and at this moment...

All the intruders on the Dark Angels' flagship, the Unyielding Truth, have been killed.

They were attacked, a despicable sneak attack.

The moment they entered the network, a subspace storm, personally unleashed by the evil god, swept half of the expeditionary fleet into the storm, causing them to lose contact. Even if they could return, they probably wouldn't be able to catch up with Leon's objective.

Then, an attack from within the network caused heavy losses to the Dark Angels.

Attacking them was a terrifying and eerie fleet of warships.

Just ahead of the Unyielding Truth, the net that had invaded the Eldar stretched out to the end of a group of pieced-together spaceships.

These colossal ship aggregates were formed in the subspace by the brutal fusion of malevolent shipwrecks and floating vessels under the forces of chaos.

They drift with the tides of subspace, filled with the energy of the highest heavens... and due to the pull of celestial gravity and the rampant growth of mutated flesh...

It twisted further. More like a living monster than a warship.

Later, Leon learned the name of these warships—"Ominous Ark".

These are a group of bizarre warships, yet they possess power befitting their bizarre nature—corrupted machine souls, soul-guiding pillars that attract souls from the heavens, weapons that can directly convert warp energy through warp portals.

Most importantly, the "creation" of this weapon does not depend on any conditions at all.

All you need to do is find some wrecked spaceships, whatever's inside, and send them into the Warp's Soul Forge. Before long, you'll have a powerful Omen Ark.

They don't need a massive industrial system; the creations of the warp are inherently contrary to the rules of reality.

Even though these warships cannot compare to the Glory Queen-class ships that Leon possesses, their sheer quantity is enough to compensate for quality.

With the help of the evil god, the Ark of Calamity, which ambushed the fleet of dark angels, caught Leon off guard...

Before they could even enter the network, the legion of the evil god descended along with the frantically ringing Geiger counter.

Fugan did not lie on Macragge; if Leon wanted to return to Terra, he would be greeted with a warm welcome from Chaos.

Khorne and Slaanesh joined forces to attack the Dark Angel, and Léon's power was strong enough...

He also found it difficult to repel two complete warp demon armies while taking care of his own offspring.

Leon could win, but the price would be the near annihilation of the Dark Angels and the possibility of Leon himself being trapped in the warp.

But now, Leon still stands here.

His victory was not due to anything else, but to a group of "uninvited guests".

Who exactly are you?

Leon stared at the ghostly image of the little girl projected onto the bridge...

The non-subspace power information within the invading machine spirit, which the technical spies could not detect no matter how hard they tried, murmured...

“I am the Speaker of the Eternal Kingdom, the Primarch of the First Legion, and the eldest son of the Emperor of Man. We are here to assist you.”

A faint voice followed the illusory and small figure. Leon looked towards the bridge, and at the end of the strangely shifting space, there were twenty-two massive warships, fully equipped and ready for battle.

Each warship is slightly smaller than the Glory Queen-class in size, and its construction style is completely out of step with that of Imperial warships.

They have triangular hulls, and lack excessive decorations and ornate churches...

Rather, it purely expresses the terrifying and efficient aspects of a weapon platform as a war machine.

500 heavy laser cannons and 550 turbo laser cannons, countless ion cannons, gravity generators, and—

A star-destroying main gun!

Leon had just watched helplessly as an entire fleet of Calamity Ark, along with countless demons, was instantly destroyed by a single super laser cannon shot.

For the Empire, planet-destroying weapons were not some unattainable technology.

However, the extravagance of having all twenty-two ships equipped with such weapons is something only a great expedition could accomplish!

In today's galaxy, most of the human empire's warships no longer have the capability to carry beam weapons capable of directly destroying planets... otherwise, Abaddon's planet-killer ship wouldn't have been able to operate so recklessly.

Here, there are twenty-two super star destroyers equipped with star-destroying laser weapon main cannons!

As for the shield systems of these warships, in addition to the Void Shield that Leon recognized, there were two other different shields on top of them that he couldn't identify... but he could feel the powerful magnetic field force on them.

He was not confident that his Unyielding Truth could break through the turtle shell defenses in a short time.

As for the performance of the numerous TIE interceptors that flew out from those warships, Leon ignored them... but in any case, the threat posed by these things was immense...

In any case, given the current state of the Dark Angels fleet, the enemy would probably only need a single salvo to eliminate them.

"The First Primarch, whom we, the Eternal Kingdom, serve as the God-Emperor who bestowed upon us the power of the magnetic field, and he is now residing in your world."

The girl's soft voice made Leon's face darken, and he said...

"You're not trying to say that my father is your God-Emperor, are you?"

"No," the girl sighed.

"In short, Primarch, we have no ill intentions toward you or your Empire. In fact, our Eternal Kingdom would be happy to reach some exchange agreements with you, just as we have with the Fearful Ones and the Eldar."

Leon remained silent, lost in thought. Undoubtedly, Leon had absolutely no trust in these uninvited guests.

Even though Anglon did mention these special guests to Leon...

But suspicion of others was already an ingrained trait of the First Primarch.

"Your purpose isn't to 'help' us, is it?" Leon said coldly.

“Of course, we are pursuing our God-Emperor, and at the same time, we came to this universe at his command,” the girl said softly.

“Our father abandoned us because we bored him. But at the same time, he also wanted to see something different in us…”

"We are waging a war in our universe, and we are close to victory. The entire galaxy is now ours."

And we hope that such examples will bring our fathers' attention back to us, and make them look at us with favor.

The strong sense of idol worship in those words disgusted Leon, but he also sensed a subtle threat in them.

To these uninvited guests, the human empire was not a particularly formidable enemy—having already conquered one galactic empire, they wouldn't mind coming back a second time if necessary.

For Leon, who clearly understood the power of magnetic field rotation, he could glimpse how terrifying a civilization that could integrate magnetic field rotation into society as a whole and still maintain a relatively unified and efficient system would be.

That was an adversary that this now-declining and pathetic empire should never have offended.

Even if they can defeat their opponent, what will they gain?

Their empire is indeed an extremely xenophobic regime, but it's not so mindless as to provoke enemies everywhere.

"I can't decide those things," Leon said calmly.

“You can go and see my father, or rather my brother Guilliman. I am very grateful for your help, but we have nothing to repay you with right now.”

"No reward is needed. In fact, we're here to help you," the girl said softly.

"These twenty-two Eclipse-class super star destroyers are a gift we're giving you as a token of our welcome, including their hyperspace engines. I believe you'll find this special technology very useful..."

"Why? What are you asking for? This shouldn't be of any benefit to you."

Leon wasn't pleased by the other person's magnanimity; he simply questioned them calmly...

"Because this is what Father would like to see," the girl chuckled.

“It’s not about good or evil, but my father wanted to witness change happening. Whatever the change was, he would feel very happy.”

At first glance, these words might lead one to believe that they are followers of the Lord of Change... but for Leon, he already had a guess in his heart about who the so-called "God Emperor" these people worshipped was.

That was neither good nor evil; for the Empire, it might have been more harmful than beneficial—that unfinished god that had risen anew in the warp…

But debating whether these things are true or not is pointless now; for Leon, needing these warships is enough.

It wasn't that he desperately needed military force to fight the High Overlords on Terra, but rather that he had a strong premonition.

The harm done to him has only just begun; the real crisis may have only just arrived.

"Then, they belong to you..." The girl's illusion slowly dissipated.

"What's your name?" Leon suddenly asked.

"Having become Speaker and spent so long wandering in the ocean of the Force and the magnetic field, I no longer have a definite name."

The girl, about to disappear, spoke in an ethereal voice.

"But the name my father gave me is—'Shou Niang' (首娘)."

The illusory images completely disappeared, and at the same time, the twenty-two Eclipse-class super star destroyers also deactivated all their shields and facilities.

Leon was silent for a few seconds, then said in a deep voice...