The Longlin Star, its size reduced after the bombardment, was forcibly vanished from the void under Vashtorr's control, leaving only a field of debris floating in mid-air.
As even Vashtorr fled the scene, the space that had roared for so long finally welcomed a long-overdue silence.
Among the remnants of the Imperial Fleet in the void, the survivors—one in a hundred—sat slumped on the ground in total relaxation, marveling at how such an exaggerated survival rate could be achieved in such a chaotic battle under Sith's leadership.
If only ninety-nine out of a hundred needed to die to secure a victory in a war of this scale, and if other battlefields could be the same, humanity might even dare to counter-attack the Warp!
A massive number of flight Servitors and servo-skulls flew out of the ships without hesitation, beginning comprehensive emergency repairs on the damaged warships.
While the Imperial warships were being covered in dense spots of welding light, on the other side of the fleet, that behemoth was further devouring any usable wreckage under Sith's command.
Simultaneously, under the gaze of Lion El'Jonson and the others, the ark, having absorbed more wreckage, actually stopped expanding its already ugly and bloated body, instead undergoing a visible 'writhing'...
The ark began to condense!
The circular hull now seemed to have become a giant space egg.
The giant egg slowly glided through the ocean of debris, greedily absorbing all the 'nutrients' around it into its own body.
Subsequently, the giant egg continued to shrink. Not only were the Necrons that had 'grown' on the hull's surface further devoured along with their weapons, but even those crowded and bizarre broken hulls began to slowly 'melt' toward the center of the egg.
Meanwhile, at the core of the ark, invisible to Lion El'Jonson and the others...
Sith watched the constantly changing bridge and the dense projections showing images from outside the ark. He could only wonder what orac, who had received his wish for the ship to be 'a bit more Imperial,' would ultimately turn it into.
Although the current hull was massive and terrifying, capable of delivering a powerful visual impact to the enemy, such a bloated size was not only an easy target for the enemy but also left its defenses feeling fragile everywhere once spread thin.
With the same power output for a void shield, the defensive strength provided to a single warship versus an entire planet was naturally worlds apart.
Transforming the bloated body into a condensed, concentrated ultimate warship was clearly more combat-effective than retaining the slow, bloated ark form.
However, as the transformation progressed, the idle Sith noticed a scene through one of the projections.
It was a massive amount of corpses from those who died in battle, being spat out directly by orac.
Now, as the surrounding wreckage grew scarcer, the number of corpses surrounding the 'giant egg' actually increased.
Though there were many Chaos traitors among them, the vast majority were loyalists who had fallen in battle.
And they were all loyalists who had launched death-defying charges against the enemy with supreme courage.
Even now, through nothing more than a projection, Sith could feel the despair and fear of the cold universe from the souls that had not yet departed these fallen warriors.
"Wait."
Sith suddenly spoke. The ship, which had been continuously condensing, abruptly paused, and a servo-skull flew over from the side.
"Is something wrong?"
orac's voice came from the servo-skull. After a brief analysis of Sith's expression and gaze, without waiting for an answer, it proactively enlarged the projection Sith was looking at.
In the projection, the remains of the fallen had already spread out like an ocean. orac looked at them seriously and then spoke:
"These materials are of low quality. Absorbing them would require wasting energy for conversion, and the resulting materials would be very scarce. Therefore, I chose the more efficient option of ignoring them."
orac was also very rational, but unlike the rationality of the Adeptus Mechanicus which lacked humanity, orac paused for a moment and then turned back to Sith, adding quite seriously:
"Of course, if my Lord cannot bear to see them slide into the endless void, I can also integrate them into the hull, allowing them to..."
"...continue their crusade across the galaxy."
Sith couldn't help but glance at orac, even raising his eyes slightly. This fellow actually had quite a bit of humanity!
orac immediately analyzed the meaning behind Sith's expression. The servo-skull actually flew in a circle up and down as if cheering. Then, without waiting for Sith's reply, it proactively moved toward the mass of fallen corpses.
Meanwhile, Sith did not remain idle. He drew upon some divine power and sat back onto the mechanical throne with great solemnity.
As the interfaces connected, Sith once again felt as if he had become the ship itself.
Simultaneously, as the dense remains of the loyalists were absorbed by orac, the souls whose bodies integrated into the warship began to appear one after another in the ship's data abyss. Then, in this similarly endless abyss, Sith, radiating divine power, shone upon them like a warm sun.
Then, as if already knowing the task Sith had assigned them, a massive number of souls received the guidance of divine power. These heroic spirits of the fallen began to completely merge into the warship that was about to take shape.
orac also felt a power completely different from cold machinery beginning to appear within his body.
It was the protection of heroic spirits, a sacred power that could dispel evil sorcery and curses, bringing infinite peace to the ship's crew.
orac didn't know where this power came from, nor did he know what it meant.
But among the Imperial remnants in the distance, some high-ranking Ecclesiarchy Priests could clearly feel the changes inside the 'giant egg'.
Several elderly priests, dressed in sacred robes and covered in blood scabs, stepped forward in shock, clutching their Chainswords.
They looked at each other, confirming that their sensations were not mistaken.
"How can this..."
"...be sanctified?!"
Living Saints were humans who had received sanctification. Previously, such manifestations would only appear on living beings; it was the first time they had seen a warship become sanctified.
What was this?
A holy ship?!
While the old Ecclesiarchy Priests were stunned, inside the giant egg, Sith also felt the changes in the warship.
As a massive number of heroic souls integrated, the entire warship even began to glow when viewed from a spiritual perspective.
This light could not only provide spiritual protection and warmth to allies but also suppress the curses and anomalies of most demons.
Even the navigation beacon that came with the Ark of Omen began to have a faint sense of the Astronomican as the ship was continuously sanctified.
Combined with the God-Emperor's divine power Sith had invested, the Navigators on the other side even watched with their own eyes as a weakened, mobile version of the Astronomican slowly appeared in the Warp.
So, following the Ecclesiarchy Priests, the Navigators also stared at each other, speechless.
Until the distant giant egg completely melted away and even the 'eggshell' was devoured by orac, a super warship—far exceeding a common battleship and even slightly larger than a gloriana-class battleship—slowly revealed its true form.
In the Warp, this was a mobile Astronomican.
To the spiritual eye, this was a holy ship radiating light and heat.
And in the eyes of the living, everyone suddenly froze in place. Lion El'Jonson, unable to contain himself, straightened his right arm and pointed directly at it:
"This, this, this..."
"How did the Emperor's 'Imperator Somnium' get brought out here?!"
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