The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Veronica's analysis made Sochoyan fall silent, but he quickly discovered a key issue.

"The divine fire is strong... what should we do? Like relighting the Shrine of Asuryan? Relighting the Shrine of Vaul?"

"That probably won't work. The Shrine of Asuryan could be relit because of your power, but Vaul's power was annihilated during the Fall. The Vaul priests' research method is to summon an Avatar of Vaul, like summoning an Avatar of Khaine, by sacrificing a sufficiently powerful believer, and use the Avatar of Vaul to control the Blessing of Vaul instead of the divine fire."

Sochoyan frowned.

"That's not good. You know, the laws of the court have already forbidden live sacrifices. If we, as the highest level, openly violate the law, then the people probably..."

"I know~ I didn't say we should do that. There's another way, which is to ask the Barasolash to help."

"The Barasolash? Oh, I remember. Is there anything special about this race?"

"When the Vaul artisans were organizing Vaul's Wrath Anvil (the second Blackstone Fortress), they accidentally discovered a secret text chamber containing a lot of ancient empire books and materials. One of them recorded that when the Artisan God was creating the powerful 'Doomstars,' he received help from the surviving servants of the Old Ones, and the image of the Barasolash was attached."

"Is that so? Then that means this race knows the structure of Vaul's Blessing very well. Hmm... That's right, with their help, we might be able to completely activate the powerful war fortress. But don't they want to exchange something for an ancient artifact?"

"Yes, the court has also collected some ancient empire legacies over the years."

"Those things..."

Sochoyan recalled, Dorale had indeed reported the situation of the 'Phoenix Treasure Vault' to him, and he had listened to a lot of things without paying much attention.

"...are very precious, right?"

"Some are just cultural relics, or things that don't have much practical significance. The main thing is to use a part of them as a meeting gift, at least to allow them to meet you. I think with your ability, you can definitely convince them!"

"Ha, Madam, you are a bit too optimistic. You haven't even contacted them yet, how do you know that the servants of the Old Ones can be persuaded? But who are you planning to send to handle this matter?"

"I plan to have Lord Eiris take charge of this matter."

"Eiris is also okay. His personality is relatively mild, and as a Phoenix Lord, his knowledge is sufficient. By the way, I plan to deal with that bastard Salpederon. He's living quite comfortably in the Screaming Vortex now. If he's allowed to grow stronger, he may threaten the rear in the future. I'm worried that they will merge with the Third Legion."

"The Screaming Vortex, that place is very dangerous. The echoes of the Great Fall still remain in it."

"Yes, so I don't plan to use Eldar's power, and the Legion is now dealing with the Tyranids."

Veronica blinked her gem-like clear eyes and raised her hand to stroke Sochoyan's cheek.

"Now that I think about it, it's really strange that I'm lying in the arms of an Imperial Astartes Chapter Master and the ruler of a Flayer Dynasty. By the way, is it really okay that you absorbed the power of the Flayer?"

Sochoyan shook his head helplessly.

"I don't know, this is the elusive fate... If it weren't for you, I might not know what I am."

"Who else can you be? You are the father of the child!"

Sochoyan didn't say anything, just hugged his wife tightly.

After accompanying Veronica to deal with government affairs for two days, Sochoyan met with Old Walker and talked about the Tyranids.

"Well, these flesh demons from outside the system are indeed very troublesome."

The old Hearthkin, while smoking expensive tobacco and rolling the ring on his hand, had a very serious expression on his wrinkled face.

"Flesh demons, a very unique name."

Sochoyan keenly perceived the hidden information in Old Walker's words.

"Have the Hearthkin ever been in contact with the Tyranids?"

"Yes, and no. Most Hearthkin only regard the Tyranids as a legend, but in the ancient clan archives, a story is recorded: when the ancient commercial alliance disintegrated, a clan chose to leave the Silver Heart homeland. They settled on the distant edge of the galaxy and developed a prosperous small country, but one day, this country suddenly disappeared. In the end, only a few dozen survivors returned to the Silver Heart, and their rock-solid minds were almost collapsed, and they could only constantly repeat the rumors of flesh demons that devoured everything."

"I see... Ah, I finally understand why, in the records of the Empire, the former Space Dwarves... Hearthkin were marked as being swallowed by the Tyranids. So it was this branch. Now their numbers are increasing, which is a threat to the entire galaxy. However, they have ways to interfere with the navigation of Imperial ships. I heard that the Hearthkin have ships that can move faster without relying on the warp."

Old Walker stroked his white beard and nodded.

"Indeed, the galactic environment is complex, and not every place is suitable for warp navigation. Therefore, in order to ensure smooth routes, various commercial alliances have developed corresponding technologies."

"The trade between the court and the Hearthkin has become increasingly prosperous in recent years. I think both sides can be regarded as a community of shared interests. Can you come forward and help me rent some warships?"

"Then, how many do you want?"

"To destroy that Tyranid construct, it takes a lot of troops and fleets, because the Tyranid fleet will definitely defend desperately. I don't know much about the fleet strength of the Hearthkin, so..."

Old Walker did not respond directly, but after taking two puffs of smoke, he called over an Ironkin wearing an apron, who was holding a device that looked like a circular steering wheel with a screen in the middle.

"Take a look."

Sochoyan looked at the thing, and saw a beam of light arc across the edge of the disc, and then a stack of list projections appeared.

The Hearthkin's armed ships are divided into four types.

The first type, armed merchant ships, are also the most commonly used ships in Hearthkin trade. The tonnage is between the Empire's frigates and light cruisers. The firepower is relatively weak, but there are sufficiently large cabins and faster speeds. They are also often used as transport ships.

The second type, resource mining ships, is a very unique type of ship. The Deep Rock clan often uses this type of ship. The size of this type of ship varies greatly, from destroyers to battleship tonnage. Their role is to collect various resources in the void, so their designs are very unique. For example, the smallest type has three drills on the head, which can directly crush asteroids, and then suck the fragments into the hull through the suction ports extending on both sides. After a series of automatic sorting, the worthless rock fragments are thrown out of the ship, and only unprocessed ore is left in the ship. The super-large mining ships are equipped with a powerful but short-range crushing gun, which directly bombards the planet frantically, blasting large pits nearly ten thousand meters deep, and then sends engineering machinery and personnel to collect. The characteristics of this type of ship are that they are strong and durable, but the weapons are basically not equipped for naval warfare, and they are semi-civilian ships. Of course, they can also be used as assault ships if they have to fight.

Obviously, the first two types are not what Sochoyan would consider.