[The player has completed the campaign mission "Path of the Lion". Reward issued: Webway Repair Technology.]
[Note: During the repair process, other psychic devices will be rendered unavailable, including the Astronomican.]
"Have I finally gotten my hands on it!"
Although Lion had only deployed a single Doraemon on his side to win the fight, nonetheless—the rewards weren't reduced by even a single bit.
Now the good news was that the Webway could be repaired. However, if they wanted to repair the Webway, they might need to wait for an ideal opportunity.
During the process of repairing the Webway, it might render the Astronomican temporarily unusable.
As a result, it would very likely cause humanity to lose sight of the Beacon of Terra.
[Next Campaign: The Fall of Cadia]
[This time, the Black Legion will muster all Chaos forces that can be assembled.]
[The vast majority of Chaos players will enter the field directly. Failure will result in banishment to the Warp to survive for over a year.]
[Reward for Success: The host's psychic strength will be upgraded to the Alpha-Plus level, while simultaneously acquiring their own Warp essence.]
[Acquire Chessboard Skill: Creation Revision — You can forcibly disable a specific artifact or technology.]
[Can be used once per chessboard duel. Once used, within the range of the chessboard, this technology will completely fail.]
[The relevant laws of physics will be modified, such that not even C'tan can revert them back.]
"Good, good, good!"
Looking at this skill panel, Caleb nodded in satisfaction.
Although it could only be used once per campaign, to tell the truth, using it just once was enough to turn the entire tide of battle.
For example, if the Necrons' FTL engines were directly disabled, the Necron fleet would crawl along as slowly as a turtle.
Or if the technology used to imprison the C'tan was directly banned, all the C'tan within the Necron legions would immediately awaken and pulverize those Necrons.
Of course—Caleb could also forcibly disable other things, such as the Orks' connection with Gork and Mork, or technological creations involving Blackstone.
As long as he reasoned things through based on battle conditions and disabled a key element at a critical moment, the result would be devastating.
He could even render Perpetuals or Necrons incapable of resurrecting.
Speaking of which, there were still a few days before the campaign began—during this period, Caleb needed to customize another batch of chess pieces to prepare for the upcoming Fall of Cadia.
"Mm-hmm?"
Caleb shifted his gaze onto Guilliman. At this point, amid tedious administrative affairs, Guilliman was gradually awakening his Warp essence bit by bit.
Guilliman picked up a scroll of parchment and began reviewing the financial statements of an entire sector.
On it were detailed records of the tax situations across various worlds—along with a calculated total tax amount that seemed very reasonable on the surface.
However, with just a focused glance, Guilliman realized the tax figures were completely and utterly unreasonable.
Some planets bore excessive tax burdens, while others were paying far too little.
Without him knowing when it had started, Guilliman's eyes could see the true data behind every single name listed.
Guilliman's eyes could penetrate part of the truth of the materium. He could brutally tear away disingenuous symbols and directly discern the real numbers behind them.
"These Sector Governors are truly growing bolder by the day. They even dare to deceive me..."
"This financial data reflects only 1/3 of the actual tax collected!"
"And even this 1/3 is the number given to me only after I applied pressure—before that, it was barely 1/10! They really live lavishly, don't they!"
Guilliman laid down the ordinary parchment scroll. In the past, he definitely wouldn't have been able to tell that this sector was deceiving him.
Or rather, compared to other local warlords who listened to commands but ignored imperial decrees, this Sector Governor was actually handing over quite a lot.
Some governors were even more outrageous, registering a vast number of planets within their domain as Dead Worlds. Yet one look with his Eye of Truth revealed that far from being Dead Worlds, these were clearly Agri-Worlds rated at the highest tax brackets!
Of course, present-day Guilliman wasn't particularly short on food—in fact, he even planned to convert some of those food-producing planets into industrial worlds later on.
But the point was that such deception was infuriating—it was sheer betrayal of the Imperium. These damned governors even dared to falsify tax records; they were truly tired of living.
"Lord Guilliman!"
Members of the newly selected High Council of Lords arrived to report. Currently, the High Council of Lords was packed with his own men; apart from the Adeptus Mechanicus side, almost all of them were capable assets.
The Council of High Lords raised objections regarding the values he presented. After all, rejecting and recovering tax amounts that had already been confirmed by the Imperium required a lengthy procedural process.
"Sigh..."
Seeing the High Lord of the Administratum approach, Guilliman had already guessed what the man was going to say. Nothing more than complaining that going through procedural channels was far too slow, and suggesting it would be better to suppress the matter for now and collect full payments later.
If this were in the past, Guilliman might have agreed—but now, Guilliman simply didn't have the time.
"Tell them to either pay according to the actual figures I've laid out, or I will send my own Ultramar commissioners to take over their sector!"
At these words, everyone fell silent—Planetary Governors might be tragic figures, acting as the Warhammer equivalent of village chiefs with a mountain of base-level work to handle. But at the Sector level, they were true holders of imperial power, possessing regional authority within the Imperium.
Not only could they engage in independent diplomacy, but they could also introduce their own currency and operate independent administrative systems.
Although those departments required Imperial personnel for oversight and participation, the Imperium's grip on a Sector Governor was actually extraordinarily fragile. Most of the time, as long as a sector paid its taxes in full to the Imperium, the Imperium wouldn't meddle.
An entire sector might have essentially devolved into a tax-farmed territory of the Imperium, bearing nothing more than the Aquila on its flags.
Guilliman knew very well that the prime, core planets were all controlled by these sector families. If even a fraction of these families united, they might be far more prosperous than his own Ultramar. Their only weakness, aside from being relatively scattered, was practically non-existent.
Unless Dad stopped lighting the beacon—otherwise, they could deploy a massive fleet to Terra at any minute. When that time came, forget about the Indomitus Crusade—a huge portion of humanity's fleets would likely be consumed in a brutal civil war.
If he wasn't careful, Guilliman could easily become a sinner—the culprit who incited a civil war within the Imperium of Man.
"Lord Guilliman, isn't this a bit too aggressive? Might it be somewhat improper?" Sicarius and Calgar urged caution.
Both were astonished: how could their Primarch know the true data of every location while remaining inside the Imperial Palace? Even though their Primarch had never set foot in those places, he could instinctively know the true state of a location.
From the macro financial standing of an entire world down to the actual operating status of a single shop.
As long as Guilliman took one look at a financial report or a medium related to that planet, he could deduce the world's exact circumstances.
This was far more accurate than any psyker's divination, because it was real-time, authentic, and dynamically updated over time.
The two had verified Guilliman's ability before, even bringing him a simple rock collected from a neighboring sector to inspect. Yet with just a single glance, Guilliman was able to deduce the planet's current state as well as its current tax revenue level.
Sometimes, Guilliman could even gauge the scale of a rebellion on a world just by examining spent bullet casings and firearms. He could even state the precise number of rebels, which left both the Departmento Munitorum and the Administratum utterly dumbfounded.
It couldn't be helped—the Imperium today was far too incompetent and dilapidated. Now that Guilliman possessed this ability, it truly solved countless problems for the Imperium.
"Little 13!" Malcador called out to Guilliman in a low, heavy voice.
Not many could address him as "Little 13"; nowadays, only the Emperor and Malcador were likely to use such a term.
"Uncle Malcador!"
Even amidst his overwhelming administrative duties, Guilliman still chose to take time to listen to what Malcador had to say.
After all, Malcador often conveyed the Emperor's intent—which was equivalent to direct orders from the Emperor, the supreme administrative decrees. In name, Guilliman was currently merely the Lord Regent; he was not the true Emperor.
"There's no need to be so formal, Little 13. I'm not here to deliver your father's orders; I'm here to tell you a few things!"
"Then does Uncle Malcador have something important?"
"I feel that my Warp essence is very strange... It feels as though there are tentacles, one after another, capable of directly reaching out to touch strands of truth!"
Most Primarchs cannot clearly discern their own Warp essence, much like how humans find it difficult to see their own faces without a mirror.
Guilliman was currently in this exact state. He had managed to sense his Warp essence with great effort, but as far as his vision could reach, there were only long tentacles upon long tentacles.
"That?" Malcador paused for a moment, then tapped Guilliman's forehead with a finger.
Guilliman instantly felt himself pulled into a strange space. And then he witnessed a deeply terrifying sight.
"Heavens, what is this?!"
It was a colossal network of tentacles—and at the center of the tentacles sat a brain-like organism. Guilliman felt as if this was his own head, and these tentacles had actually become his sensory organs.
"Don't you understand yet?"
"This is actually the manifestation of your Warp essence!"
"Your sister—that is, Lion—her essence is a strange forest."
"Her true form is a strange hunter within the jungle. As for the physical form of that hunter, even I cannot see it clearly."
"And you are strange tentacles, spreading across the entire galaxy!"
"Unless the area you explore is completely blocked by Blackstone signals, you can obtain all authentic information about that planet directly through these tentacles!"
"I—is that so?"
Guilliman stood with his mouth slightly agape, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Originally, Guilliman thought he was a normal child, but after witnessing this scene, he felt that he wasn't quite normal either.
Who could comfortably accept being a Warp tentacle monster? Although the benefit was gaining access to true data, this true form was simply far too weird.
"There's no need to be overly nervous!"
"What I showed you was your previous state, before you awakened!"
"As for now, that brain in the middle has undergone a slight change... although, it's a bit strange!"
Malcador's psychic power shifted once more. Immediately within the vision, the giant head at the center transformed into the graceful body of a young girl.
He saw his true entity lying stark naked in the center of all the tentacles—as if those tentacles were drawing various nutrients to feed the main body. And his body was actually lying in the midst of that overwhelming mass of tentacles, looking as though he were being violated.
"Ahhhh!"
"This is way too weird!"
"Is this really my Warp essence? Why is it so bizarre?!"
Although aesthetically it was somewhat acceptable, having a massive mass of tentacles writhing and rubbing against his Warp body was genuinely weird beyond words.
It felt like a scene straight out of a doujinshi—and this time, he was the female lead. Extremely weird, way too weird!
"Hehehe!"
Malcador said nothing further, merely offering a soft chuckle.
After all, once Guilliman gained access to the true financial situation, his subsequent strategic arrangements had indeed become far more rational. Nowadays, Guilliman even surpassed Malcador in administrative capability—after all, Malcador himself merely used these tentacles to learn the real conditions of certain planets.
"Now, you are the signal hub of the Imperium!"
"Guilliman, don't you realize it yet? The current you has already fully merged into becoming a part of the Imperium!"
"Is that so?"
Guilliman felt that this signal network was far too bloated and cumbersome. Moreover, Guilliman could perceive that a portion of these tentacles could potentially serve as breakthrough breach points for other Warp entities.
These tentacles had actually long been corrupted by other Warp entities; demons could even influence the faith of people on a planet through them.
Although these tentacles allowed him to obtain the true financial status of many planets, wasn't such a thing also opening a convenient door for the demons of the Warp?
At times, Guilliman wanted to sever these things entirely. After all, if the price of knowing the truth was demonic invasion, that was unacceptable to him.
"Uncle Malcador, can I rebuild this tentacle network?"
"I can feel so many worlds being invaded because of these tentacles. I feel like I've turned into a high-speed express highway for demons!"
"Sigh!" Malcador was also well aware of the current situation. But to resolve this problem, besides dying and resurrecting, was there any other way?
"It's not that there are no other ways!"
"Or rather, once you get married, the solution will present itself!"
"What?"
The Emperor, Malcador, and Lion all knew about the upcoming arrangement. Only poor Guilliman was still kept completely in the dark.
In truth, the Emperor's side already knew about the upcoming cooperation with the Aeldari. And as far as the Emperor was concerned, wasn't this a complete win for the Imperium?
As for whether Guilliman liked an Aeldari wife or not, that didn't matter in the slightest.