Chapter 219: Cawl's Adherence
Sylandri hesitated.
But in the end, she chose to agree to Cawl's request. After all, the authority to open the Webway was still in her hands.
"I will tell you the location of the Webway gate and open it for you. I will also give you the route map within. But I will only allow your main fleet to pass through once. I hope you will not play any tricks. When you have eliminated that Rogue Trader Dynasty, we will help you awaken your primarch."
Giving Cawl the Webway route was also in line with the Eldar's strategic interest of not wanting the Eye of Terror to open. Even if Cawl intentionally left some troops behind in the Webway, Sylandri was confident that with the power of the Harlequins, she could annihilate them.
"Very good. I will have one of my exploratory vessels verify the truth of what you say."
Cawl completely ignored the second half of Sylandri's sentence. If what the Emperor had foretold was true, then he wouldn't need these Eldar at all. Right now, he just wanted to know about this Webway. In Cawl's eyes, only the first half of the deal was truly beneficial to the Imperium. No matter what, he would secure the existing benefits first.
The Webway... Cawl was also very tempted by it. If he could enter it and conduct his own research, it would be a rare opportunity.
Sylandri did not know Cawl's thoughts. She thought her plan had once again succeeded. If the Mongorte Dynasty was eliminated, then the plan to awaken Guilliman could continue. And if Cawl broke the agreement, then they would abandon the plan to awaken him. And the control of the Webway made Sylandri believe that the initiative was in her own hands.
Cawl dismissed the approaching Skitarii and conducted further transactions with the Eldar.
As the location of the Webway gate and the route map were handed to Cawl, an exploration team composed of tech-priests who were absolutely loyal to him entered the opened Webway gate with Sylandri's help to verify its authenticity. One of the tech-priests in this team was a degraded version of Cawl himself, which he had created to ensure that he could completely obtain the data observed in the Webway.
In a short while, the exploration team returned to Cawl's side. After reading the data from the degraded version of himself, Cawl also confirmed the authenticity of this transaction.
"Do not forget our deal! When your fleet needs to pass through the Webway, use this."
A stone carved with special runes was thrown to Cawl. This one-time-use runestone could open the entrance to the Webway for a limited time. The huge Webway was large enough for a fleet to pass through.
After speaking, Sylandri's body began to become illusory, her holo-suit activating again. Soon, she disappeared from the detection of Cawl's threat-core.
At this moment, Cawl was struggling with whether to first go to Cadia to help the Imperial garrison and protect the Blackstone Pylons, or to awaken the Primarch first. He did not know when the Lucan the Emperor had spoken of would arrive, and the two had no way to establish communication.
However, not long after, the Stellar Pioneer appeared directly in the star system where Cawl was located. When Cawl received the communication from Lucan, he knew that the Emperor's final premonition had been verified.
Cawl boarded the Stellar Pioneer alone and came to the bridge. He saw Lucan, surrounded by the Custodes, walk up to him. When Cawl saw the Custodes, he no longer had a single shred of doubt about the previous premonition.
And Lucan also looked at the Belisarius Cawl before him. Cawl's body was much larger than he had imagined, and the degree of his mechanical modification was indeed something Lucan had never seen before. According to the aesthetics of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Cawl was definitely worthy of being the closest to the standard of the Omnissiah.
Lucan thought to himself that if he could get Cawl to join the Dynasty's various scientific research projects, the progress of his own Dynasty's research would definitely be greatly improved.
"If it isn't the great Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the greatest scientist of the Imperium now, Belisarius Cawl!"
"Compared to the title of Archmagos, I prefer you to call me a scientist, although I haven't heard that title for a long time. Unfortunately, the last person who called me that was a traitor who believed in Chaos."
"Fabius Bile? I have to say, he is insane, but his skills are indeed very impressive." After all, he was a being who could even clone a Primarch.
Cawl was also surprised that Lucan knew something that only he knew.
"I assume you are the Rogue Trader, Lucan Drex Aurelian?"
"It seems you have received the message the Emperor left for you? That's right, it's me!"
Cawl's electronic bionic eyes scanned Lucan, but he saw nothing special about him. He hadn't even undergone any physical modification, and as for psychic powers, it was out of the question. As long as Lucan did not actively release it, the surrounding psychic energy would be devoured by him.
"Cawl," a Custodian interjected, "as the mouthpiece of the Emperor, we need you to cooperate with Lord Lucan to complete his mission. Remember, this is not doing something for us, but fulfilling your duty to the Emperor."
"Honored Custodian, you do not need to remind me. I will cooperate with Lord Lucan. But how did you manage to approach my fleet without being detected by my Ironstriders?"
Even now, Cawl still couldn't figure it out.
"Want to learn? I'll teach you!"
In the jump engine chamber of the Stellar Pioneer, the voice from Cawl's vox-emitter could not suppress the excitement within.
"A jump engine... it really is this technology? It really doesn't rely on the Webway or the warp, or something like the Necrons?"
"The genuine article."
"Incredible technology... the Emperor's long-cherished wish has been fulfilled in your hands... but this transplanted technology is too crude. Do you not have any qualified tech-priests under your command?"
Lucan really didn't know what Pavian would think if he heard Cawl's words. The master of the great Cult of the Holy Machine had been turned into an unqualified person in Cawl's mouth. But Pavian had indeed not shown any outstanding talent before meeting Lucan. Only after Lucan had enhanced him did he seem to have an epiphany. But a tech-priest who had lived for a hundred years, no matter how hard he studied, could not compare to a monster like Cawl who had accumulated knowledge for ten thousand years.
"However, the Dynasty has not yet completely cracked this technology. Perhaps you can join in! You wouldn't refuse such a precious technology, would you?!"
"Of course not. I will never mind learning more knowledge!"
Then, Cawl told Lucan about the deal Sylandri had proposed.
"A Webway to Cadia? There's such a good thing? You've given me a great gift on our first meeting!"
Lucan had been thinking that it had been a long time since these Eldar had come to trouble him. Well, well, it turned out they wanted to trap him here. And now, the deal he had made to trap him had become Lucan's spoils of war. He hadn't expected such a harvest. Lucan had been thinking about how to solve the problem of the warp storms surrounding Cadia. His fleet could jump in, but the Imperial fleet he had gathered could not. He also didn't have that many jump engines to modify for them, and there wasn't enough time.
And now, with the existence of this section of the Webway, the supporting Imperial fleet could cross the warp storm without any losses. The Eldar had wanted to use the authority to open the Webway to control the Imperium, but they did not know that Lucan had already mastered a way.
"You can still open the Webway?!"
For everyone who met Lucan for the first time, they would feel that he could always bring surprises.
"I know a thing or two. Cawl, are you ready to awaken Guilliman?"
"The Armour of Fate has been forged. But if what those Eldar say is true, Lord Guilliman's body may not be something the Armour of Fate alone can solve. Can you really solve this problem?"
"If you don't believe me, do you not believe the Emperor? Don't worry, I'm confident. But you've given me the gift of the Webway, so I'll give you a gift in return!"
"A gift for me?"
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