The Karl System.
Vashtorr's fleet was stationed here.
After losing Longlin Star, Vashtorr could only find another way to locate the ancient treasure vault left by the Old Ones and continue his path to deification.
The Necrons were once the instigators of the War in Heaven and formidable adversaries of the Old Ones.
The Haunted Dead Zone created by the C'tan was specifically designed to counter the Old Ones.
At that time, the Old Ones were highly skilled in utilizing the Warp, and only the Haunted Dead Zone could suppress their Psyker.
The Old Ones' treasure vault was bound to be brimming with Psyker.
Logically speaking, it should have shone as brightly as a sun.
Just like a certain individual seated on the Golden Throne, whose immense Psyker projected a sun within the Warp.
The Old Ones' treasure vault should also have its own sun.
But Vashtorr searched the entire galaxy and couldn't find a single clue.
The only explanation was that the Old Ones' treasure vault was suppressed by some force.
Only the Haunted Dead Zone could achieve this.
Only the Haunted Dead Zone, used by the C'tan to suppress the Old Ones and win the War in Heaven, could suppress the intense Psyker fluctuations of the Old Ones' treasure vault.
Therefore, deciphering the nodes of the Haunted Dead Zone to find the Old Ones' treasure vault became Vashtorr's backup plan.
Magnificent, planet-sized constructs floated in the void of the Karl System.
Each construct was filled with decay and chaos, as the evil slaves of the Lord of the Soul Forge poured out, occupying the entire system.
The blackstone obelisk and various mechanical constructs built by the Necrons in the Karl System were twisted and corrupted by Vashtorr to support his cause.
When the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao Battle Group members, operating the Longlin Star capable of traversing Reality and the Warp, arrived in the Karl System,
the local Necrons forces had already been defeated.
The entire system's silent domain was shattered, and planets and stars were assimilated into a part of the Warp.
The Necrons who miraculously survived were also captured by Vashtorr.
Their minds were altered, and they were forced to work for his grand endeavor.
The Necrons facing Vashtorr were truly like mice against a cat, completely outmatched.
Their ancient technology had no effect on Vashtorr; instead, it only increased the power of this mechanical demigod.
"Vashtorr really has a lot of good stuff."
"I didn't expect that after snatching a Longlin Star from this guy, he still has so many big ones left."
"We should really fleece this guy hard."
"..."
The many players of the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao discussed Vashtorr, one after another,
thinking about how to fleece this mechanical demigod.
Vashtorr quickly noticed the presence of the Longlin Star.
He immediately issued an order to activate the Longlin Star, intending to completely destroy this ancient construct.
The Longlin Star had become a thorn in Vashtorr's side.
However, the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao did not engage Vashtorr's subordinates.
They turned and left, leaving only a temporary Webway leading to the Sindus System.
"Are these outsiders treating me like an idiot?"
Vashtorr looked at the glowing temporary Webway, a huge question mark appearing on his metallic head.
Seeing the fierce battle on the other side, he guessed that these outsiders wanted him to join the fight.
But he was the Lord of the Soul Forge; how could he be outmaneuvered?
However, when Vashtorr saw that the other end of the Webway was the core of the Haunted Dead Zone,
he immediately lost his composure and rushed into the battlefield via the Webway to prevent the Tyranids and Orks from destroying the core of the Haunted Dead Zone.
After losing Longlin Star, deciphering the nodes of the Haunted Dead Zone had become Vashtorr's last resort to find the Old Ones' treasure vault.
And finding the Old Ones' treasure vault was crucial for his ascension to a Chaos God.
The Sindus System, as the core of the Haunted Dead Zone, was naturally vital; if it were destroyed by the Tyranids / Tyranid and Orks, all his plans would come to naught.
If this path also failed, then he would truly be at his wit's end, and his path to deification would be cut off.
Somewhere in the Warp, a dazzling crystal labyrinth constantly expanded and contracted.
And in the deepest part of the crystal labyrinth, the Lord of Change, who observed the entire universe, resided.
He had long noticed the war in the Haunted Dead Zone and constantly monitored the movements of the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao Battle Group.
Seeing them open a temporary Webway, forcing Vashtorr with an open conspiracy to join the chaotic battle in the Sindus System, he silently gave his approval.
This was true scheming and calculation; even if the enemy knew, they had to bite the bullet and jump in.
Subsequently, the Lord of Change looked towards Fateweaver Kairos and the Daemon Primarch Magnus.
Seeing their actions, the Lord of Change's expression grew somewhat despairing.
These two great fools were trying to lead the Thousand Sons Legion, composed entirely of Psyker, along with a heap of automatons, into the Haunted Dead Zone, which isolates the Warp, to participate in the battle.
They were attempting to complete the task he had assigned them: to prevent Vashtorr from becoming a god.
The Lord of Change didn't know what these two's brains were made of to make such a foolish decision.
The Haunted Dead Zone suppresses the Warp.
Within it, the power of magic would be severely suppressed, which was extremely disadvantageous for the Tzeentchian Daemon Legions and the Thousand Sons Legion.
And they were going up against the Necrons, who had received boons from the C'tan, possessed powerful technology, and did not rely on the Warp, as well as a demigod who wielded authority over the mechanical domain.
It was obvious that these two idiots would be crushed by the Necrons and Vashtorr.
Magnus and Kairos, these two usually relied entirely on their Psyker to feign intelligence and deceive mortals.
Once they lost their Psyker, in terms of strategy alone, even mortals could probably play them like dogs.
Looking at his own disappointing subordinates, and then at those of the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao,
they were adept at swindling, calculating, and entrapping others.
They continuously tricked the Tyranids / Tyranid, the Orks, and Chaos, playing everyone like dogs.
This is what you call a disparity; this is the disparity.
The Lord of Change silently blessed the weapons and equipment of the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao members.
Although they pledged allegiance to The Cursed,
as long as they could stop Vashtorr, it was still a good thing.
The Warp did not need a new Chaos God to carve up the pie.
As for whether the absence of a new Chaos God would lead to the Imperium's dominance and the subsequent decline of the Warp, the Lord of Change was not worried at all.
Because time was always on Chaos's side.
The universe's entropy reduction was an undeniable law.
All civilizations and races would inevitably rise, prosper, and finally fall into decay and perish.
Even if the outsiders could achieve temporary victory, Chaos was immortal; as long as there were living beings, Chaos would exist and never disappear.
As long as Chaos existed, even if He were defeated, He could return one day in the future.
...
The Sindus System had become an extremely chaotic battlefield.
The The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao, not afraid of making things worse, was opening doors everywhere, welcoming various factions to join, causing the battle to continuously escalate.
Seeing the chaotic battlefield, Silent King Szarekh was completely numb.
He originally thought it was just humans, but then the Tyranids / Tyranid came, the Orks came, Chaos came, and even the T'au, who had little presence, came.
The T'au's Celestial Sphere Crusade was repelled by the Emperor Niuma Battle Group, suffering heavy losses.
The famous T'au commander, Shadowsun, was once so defeated that she doubted her own existence.
Mainly because they lost too badly.
The Emperor Niuma Battle Group hadn't even exerted its full strength, and they were already utterly defeated.
Fortunately, when they retreated to their original territories,
the Emperor Niuma Battle Group was dispatched to support more urgent battlefields.
After all, the T'au posed little threat; there were plenty of far more deadly civilizations and races in the galaxy.
The T'au Empire's disdain for the Imperium of Man was shattered in a single major battle.
Now, the entire nation was plunged into self-doubt, and the Ethereal caste, to appease the other castes, issued a war mobilization order, vowing to reclaim everything that belonged to them.
At this time, the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao opened a temporary Webway near their homeworlds.
The T'au Empire, compelled to prove itself, naturally committed its armies.
They needed a few victories to prove their superiority.
The entire Sindus System was a chaotic mess, with firing everywhere.
The Necrons's technology was far superior to other races, but facing such a chaotic battlefield, they were still overwhelmed.
The outer defenses fell one after another, countless tomb ships were destroyed,
and magnificent celestial-sized constructs disintegrated in explosions.
"To catch the bandits, first catch their king."
Desert also led his Battle Group to the Sindus System.
Unlike the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao, who only wanted to cause trouble, they were here for serious business.
That was to capture the Silent King and end this campaign.
Using various advanced technologies and skills, they broke into the tomb pyramid where Silent King Szarekh was located.
"Silent King Szarekh, you have committed an unforgivable transgression. I represent the justice of the galaxy and have come to arrest you. Surrender now."
Desert kicked away the Necrons soldiers blocking his path, stepped over the stairs, and walked before Szarekh, who was seated on his throne.
Szarekh: "..."
Where did this eccentric come from?!
Desert and the other players defeated the Silent King's guardian retinue and then jointly attacked the supreme ruler of the Necron.
However, as an ancient being who had ruled the Necron for tens of millions of years,
how could Szarekh be captured by a group of players?
Long-hidden personal guards emerged; each possessed strength and speed surpassing that of the Custodes.
In just a few minutes, they slaughtered Desert's companions.
Desert, in a state of shock, had his head cut off by the opponent's personal guard.
"Damn it!! Cheating, absolutely cheating."
Desert, forced offline, was filled with grief and furiously complained on the forum, sparking heated discussions among netizens.
"Haha, the Silent King is at least capable of contending with the Old Ones; do you really think you can take him down?"
"This guy must be showing off that he can play the game."
"When will you give me a test slot? I'm dying, I'm about to die."
"..."
The Silent King and his personal guards were extremely powerful in combat.
Even the first-tier players were utterly helpless before them.
Anyone who dared to attempt a decapitation mission went in and never came back; not a single person successfully approached the Silent King.
But the Silent King also failed to prevent the fall of the Sindus System.
No matter how strong he was, he couldn't turn the tide of the battle alone.
As the outer defenses collapsed, the Silent King was forced to order his troops to retreat and defend the core planets.
However, in a multi-racial melee, even the last line of defense seemed precarious.
When Corax and Jaghatai Khan arrived on the battlefield with the Void Dragon, the Silent King's last struggle faced the crisis of bankruptcy.
When Szarekh saw the Void Dragon enter the battlefield, he was completely shocked.
At this time, although the Void Dragon was not complete, it already possessed 50% of its body.
Since the Sotha Lighthouse incident, Alex had continuously ordered people to collect C'tan shards.
During this period, the Imperium and players fought north and south, reclaiming many Imperial territories and collecting many C'tan shards.
When the Void Dragon was awakened and unsealed, it immediately absorbed the shards collected by the Imperium, recovering 50% of its strength.
Even if it wasn't at its peak, the Void Dragon's power was not something the Necrons could contend with.
Just by descending onto the battlefield, it destroyed a Necrons mechanical city.
With a single punch, after an earth-shattering tremor, an astonishing canyon appeared.
World-ending fire erupted, and everything in its path turned to ash.
"I am back, slaves! Welcome your god and endure my wrath!"
With every gesture, the Void Dragon unleashed astonishing energy, destroying hordes of Necrons in mere breaths.
"Holy crap, this guy could totally lord it over a fantasy world now."
"Absolutely ridiculously awesome."
"I finally understand what 'power belongs to oneself' means. I want to ask the operations team, when will the C'tan class be available? I'll pay for it, even a trial card is fine."
"..."
The participating players were all astonished by the immense power unleashed by the Void Dragon; it was incredibly overwhelming.
Even for the Warhammer Universe, which possessed magic and other supernatural powers, the Void Dragon was overpowered.
It alone could destroy a low-level, system-level civilization.
Corax and Jaghatai Khan were also somewhat surprised by the Void Dragon's performance.
"How did the Saint convince such an existence to serve him?"
"You don't understand, this must be Father's great power," Jaghatai Khan said.
"Aren't we His sons? Why don't we have this ability?" Corax asked.
"Perhaps there's a difference between direct pregnancy and surrogacy," Jaghatai Khan, having wandered for ten thousand years, became even more unrestrained.
Corax's forehead showed a black line upon hearing this.
What the hell is direct pregnancy and surrogacy??
Being born and raised in a cultivation tank is surrogacy?
And, Father is male, how can a male get pregnant??
"God has no gender," Jaghatai Khan added, seeing the confusion on Corax's face.
"He is not God," Corax denied.
"If you don't think so, then so be it," Jaghatai Khan didn't argue. "What I mean by 'direct pregnancy' isn't that Father personally conceived, but that He personally brought them into this world."
A series of black lines appeared on Corax's forehead as he solemnly said to Jaghatai Khan,
"Your humor is too erratic, Jaghatai Khan. Promise me, let your body and soul be free, but not your mind."
The two Primarchs fought while rambling.
Both had awakened their Warp essence, and their combat power within the Haunted Dead Zone, though not as strong as the Void Dragon's,
was still formidable. Ordinary Necrons soldiers were helpless before them, easily being knocked down in droves.
After a bitter struggle, the two of them ascended the magnificent pyramid where Silent King Szarekh resided, confronting the supreme leader of the Necron and planning to capture him to completely resolve the Haunted Dead Zone crisis.