While the puppets were dispatched to conduct a carpet-style search of the entire base, Duanmu Huai, having nothing better to do, began to look around at the surroundings.
Judging from the structure here, this seemed to be a very ancient Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold. At the very least, many of its constructions and decorations indicated that it most likely originated from the very earliest period of the Human Empire. However… this also meant that something unknown might be hidden inside.
Alright, that was all nonsense—almost every Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold looked like this damn way.
In fact, in the game, the faction players disliked the most was the Adeptus Mechanicus. They believed that if the Mechanicus's religious flavor were not so heavy, perhaps the technological development of the Human Empire could have risen by several more levels, instead of ultimately ending up like that.
The reason was actually quite simple.
Although the Adeptus Mechanicus appeared on the surface to be a scientific research organization, at its core it was still a religious organization. They fanatically worshipped the Omnissiah, believing that knowledge was a manifestation of divinity, and that all beings or relics possessing knowledge were sacred because of that knowledge—the more knowledge an existence possessed, the more worthy it was of worship.
At first glance, this didn't seem like much of a problem, but once you factored in the religious nature of the Adeptus Mechanicus, it became extremely painful.
The key line was this: knowledge was a manifestation of divinity; the more knowledge one possessed, the more one would be worshipped.
Under such a doctrine, the Adeptus Mechanicus had no concept of knowledge exchange or sharing whatsoever. Of course, if it was useless or common knowledge, that was one thing, but truly high-end, cutting-edge things were all hoarded and hidden. Because, according to Mechanicus doctrine, if I obtained this cutting-edge knowledge, I would become closer to the Omnissiah. If I shared it, others would gain the same amount of knowledge and also become just as close to the Omnissiah.
Therefore, many good things of the Adeptus Mechanicus were hidden away and never told to anyone. However, as everyone knew, once knowledge was not disseminated, shared, or exchanged, then… it was basically equivalent to reinventing the wheel behind closed doors, producing whatever results it happened to produce.
And once that secretive forge world or Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold was destroyed, it meant that the entire body of research results and knowledge system was completely lost and scrapped.
From this, it was clear that religion harmed people…
Of course, the Human Empire was already finished, so there was no real meaning in settling accounts with the Adeptus Mechanicus now. But for players, any place related to the Adeptus Mechanicus would always make them excited—after all, there might be some kind of black-tech holy relic buried inside.
As for Duanmu Huai, he honestly wished there was a Tome of the Omnissiah inside. If that were the case, he would be sprinting straight into a moderately prosperous life. Unfortunately, the possibility was very low. After all, even in the game, no player had ever excavated an STC of the Tome of the Omnissiah. Still, thinking about it didn't hurt… after all, everyone had the right to daydream, even Inquisitors, hahaha…
"Hm?"
Just as Duanmu Huai was fantasizing about obtaining the Tome of the Omnissiah and sweeping across the entire galaxy, a report from the puppets immediately snapped him back to reality.
According to the puppets' feedback, inside this base—there was nothing?
No threats, and no traps?
Could it really be an empty shell that had been abandoned long ago?
"Let's go inside and take a look."
Duanmu Huai tightened his grip on the warhammer and strode forward.
Just as the puppets' reconnaissance had indicated, the interior of the base was a complete mess. Traces of battle could be seen everywhere. Clearly, this place had once suffered combat and an assault, and most things had already been destroyed. However, the condition of these corpses seemed somewhat problematic.
"Hmm… really strange."
Duanmu Huai crouched down and examined the corpse of an oilhead at his feet. Like most oilheads, this one had modified its body beyond recognition, covered in metal prosthetics, looking more like an alien mechanical insect than a human. If the Inquisition's standard for determining a pure human hadn't been the skull, these things would probably have long been treated as xenos.
Forget that.
From the corpses, the way these oilheads had died was very strange. They had simply collapsed onto the ground, without even having picked up their weapons. That meant that rather than encountering an attack, it was more like they had encountered a sudden catastrophe—something irresistible that instantly swept through the entire stronghold, causing these oilheads to drop dead on the spot without any preparation.
A Warp storm? But if it were a Warp storm, wouldn't the entire stronghold have exploded on the spot?
Or some kind of virus? That didn't seem possible either. After all, this research facility was right at the foot of the mountain. If a virus had leaked out, the outside would have long since become a land of death.
Forget it—he would find out by going deeper. Oilheads had all kinds of bizarre ways of courting death; Duanmu Huai couldn't guess what they had done.
And indeed, that was the case.
"What the hell did these oilheads do…"
Looking at the scene before him, Duanmu Huai was dumbfounded. He was now in a massive room at the deepest part of the stronghold. Inside this room was a huge structure that looked like the kind of giant water tank used in oceanariums. This tank had long since burst apart. Judging from the instruments blown away around it and the oilhead corpses scattered nearby, this should have been the primary crime scene.
However… how could a water tank explode?
"Hm?"
At that moment, Duanmu Huai suddenly felt a gaze coming from the void. He immediately turned his head toward where the gaze originated. There was nothing there, but in the next moment, accompanied by a shrill "Eek!", the figure of a blonde girl quietly appeared, trembling as she curled into a ball and stared uneasily at Duanmu Huai.
Seeing this, Olgis tilted her head curiously.
"A ghost?"
"Probably."
Duanmu Huai nodded. After all, the other party was floating in midair and her body was semi-transparent. Since she wasn't human, she was most likely a ghost. At that moment, the blonde girl stared at the rose knot on Duanmu Huai's chest. After hesitating for a moment, she then spoke softly.
"May I ask… are you perhaps an Inquisitor, sir?"
"Oh?"
Hearing the blonde girl's question, a sharp light flashed in Duanmu Huai's eyes.
"Who are you?"
Duanmu Huai stared at the ghostly girl and asked. Although she was a bit afraid, seeing that Duanmu Huai didn't seem malicious, she slowly began to speak.
"I am… Test Subject No. 28912…"
"Test subject?"
Hearing this introduction, Duanmu Huai frowned.
"Sorry, but could you tell me exactly what happened here, from beginning to end?"
"Ah, okay…"
The ghost girl nodded, then began to tell her story. What surprised Duanmu Huai was that this girl was actually an Imperial citizen—yes, from the Human Empire—and was also a psyker. However, her psychic ability was not very strong. After she was discovered to possess psychic powers, she was brought to this base. At the time, the girl didn't know what those oilheads were doing, only that they seemed to be conducting experiments, and she herself was a test subject.
Then she died.
Yes—experiment failure, then death.
Perfectly normal.
However, for some reason—either because of the experiment or because of her own psychic abilities—she did not completely die. Her soul was bound to this space. She herself didn't know why, and could only remain here, observing the oilheads' experiments. Only then did she gradually discover what these people were actually doing.
"They… seem to have found a special kind of STC. This device could fuse Warp psychic energy with biological organisms, thereby producing perfect psychic lifeforms… Although most of what they said I didn't really understand, they seemed to want to… recreate another Emperor…"
"Heh."
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai's expression didn't change as he let out a chuckle.
Worthy of oilheads—completely within expectations. They really dared to think of anything.
Of course, it wasn't strange for oilheads to have such ideas. Judging from the time period the girl described, she should have lived during the mid-to-late period of the Empire when the Emperor was sitting on the Golden Throne. At that time, many factions were indeed researching this issue. In fact, even within the Inquisition, there were similar divisions.
For example, within the Inquisition, there were two factions—one dedicated to reviving the Emperor, and another that wanted to find a brand-new body and let the Emperor's soul possess it and reincarnate, then govern the Empire anew.
Of course, the former was very difficult, and the latter had also been opposed by many Inquisitors at the time.
After all, you said possession meant possession, you said reincarnation meant reincarnation—but how could you guarantee that the being possessing the body was actually the Emperor, and not some other demon or monster? The Human Empire had only one Emperor. If something went wrong, who would we even turn to for a solution?
So it wasn't strange that similar factions existed within the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Moreover, according to records from the Imperial Truth, the Emperor… seemed to have been artificially created in the first place?
Then the experiments kept failing.
"So what happened in the end?"
"Hm…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, the ghost girl frowned and thought back for a moment.
"Those people said… it seemed to be a problem of body size—it couldn't withstand too much Warp energy. So they found a very large whale…"
"Oh…"
Now Duanmu Huai understood where that water tank had come from.
"And then?"
"…During the experiment, it seemed an explosion occurred, and then… everyone died."
Standard Adeptus Mechanicus operations—no surprise at all.
As for that STC… it was probably finished as well.
"So what do you plan to do now?"
"I don't know…"
Facing Duanmu Huai's question, the ghost girl shook her head blankly. After that incident, she had been sleeping here all this time. If not for Duanmu Huai's arrival, she probably wouldn't have woken up at all.
"Truly worthy of being Master."
Whether Olgis's words were praise or sarcasm… Duanmu Huai didn't even bother to care.
"By the way, why did you suddenly appear?"
"Eh? Um…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, the ghost girl froze for a moment, then lowered her head, her face faintly red.
"After being gazed at by you, Inquisitor sir… looking into your eyes made my heart race. I felt a very strange sensation…"
"Hm…?"
Looking into my eyes? Heart racing?
Could it be…
Thinking this, Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment, then silently extended his hand.
"…Inquisitor sir, why are you taking out a rope?"
"I'm asking—are you interested in becoming my familiar?"
"…Eh???"
(The chapter ends)