---o---
"As expected of a new AI built on the foundation of one from the Blood Ravens. It's a natural at breaking and entering."
Looking at the large pile of items his red AI-automaton had quickly unearthed for him, Zhou Ye couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
This thing was truly impressive, having found a considerable amount of useful materials. Although he could convert anything, using higher-quality materials resulted in lower energy consumption.
While he still had a decent amount of energy, he had to be frugal with it.
"I'm still short-handed. It would be great to have a group of people working together. Speaking of which, should I just create my own Space Marine Chapter? With the Imperium's chaotic inefficiency, they probably wouldn't even notice."
Zhou Ye had heard plenty about this place, the biggest cesspool he had ever encountered. As long as you didn't turn to Chaos, you could pretty much dance on the line between loyalty and treason.
The worst that could happen is that you wouldn't receive supplies from the Imperium, but he didn't really need their so-called supplies anyway. He could just make whatever he needed himself.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This is a hive world, after all. The stuff you can find here is actually pretty good. Hmm…?"
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
"Who's setting off fireworks?"
Several dull explosions echoed from the distance, making Zhou Ye pause for a moment. But he quickly realized that wasn't the sound of fireworks.
He had to thank the public security of his old country. It had once led Americans to believe that all Chinese people were fearless, as their first reaction to hearing gunfire wasn't to take cover, but to wander over and see what was happening.
While Zhou Ye was also quite reckless, he still recognized the sound.
"Sounds like a bolter."
He muttered to himself. The sound effect was very familiar from the countless times he'd heard it while playing Space Marine 2.
"Ooh, dark and gritty. Let me see who's got a fast TTK over there. Oh, are those Chaos cans?!"
As Zhou Ye moseyed over to watch the show, he spotted several iron-grey tin cans advancing slowly in a shield formation.
"Holy crap, five iron cans, and on the other side are… PDF? Or IG? Whatever, no big deal. But heheh… Iron Warriors. Gene-seeds. The gene-seeds from these traitor cans should have more energy than the ones from loyalists. Heheh…"
An avaricious expression spread across Zhou Ye's face. The gene-seed was, in essence, a product of the Warp. A traitor can, no matter which one, would surely possess a more potent quality of energy. He had already built himself a massive super-battery for storage.
It was safely tucked away in his Thousand-Person Theater, ready for him to draw upon at any time. The main reason he did this was that he was a bit afraid of ending up like Su, becoming something neither human nor ghost.
His personal energy reserves were currently full. As long as he maintained that state, he could gradually push past his limits. He couldn't get fat off a single bite, but either way, the more stored energy, the better.
And so…
Zhou Ye took out a large loudspeaker and raised it.
Frankly, everything in Warhammer was nonsensical and based on esoteric principles, with a massive gap between the upper and lower limits of power. The destruction the four Chaos Gods could cause was terrifying, but that was within the Warp.
In the material universe, their effects were far weaker. For example, when Nurgle sought revenge on the Imperium after the Plague Wars, he still needed a long series of rituals to make it happen.
Regardless, he had absolutely no fear of these traitor cans who never even took their helmets off.
"Iron Corrodes, Stone Endures!"
As Zhou Ye's voice boomed from the loudspeaker, the slowly advancing Iron Warriors froze for a split second. Then, they whipped their heads around, their furious gaze locking onto the source of the sound.
They saw a small figure in red robes and the automaton beside him. Instantly, they abandoned the firefight in front of them, turned, and began marching toward Zhou Ye.
But…
"The Imperial Fists are the light of the Imperium! They are the Imperium's most loyal and noble legion!"
"The Imperial Fists are masters of defense! Their fortifications are the strongest and most perfect defensive systems in the world!"
"The fortifications of the Iron Warriors are garbage compared to the Imperial Fists'! They have poor defenses and lack any sense of aesthetics!"
"The Imperial Fists are the honored guardians of Terra! The Iron Warriors are only fit to be cannon fodder on the front lines!"
"The Imperi—"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
After just a few taunts, Zhou Ye was surprised to see the Iron Warriors casually toss their shields aside. Completely ignoring the Kastelan Robot beside him, they charged straight at him.
"They're tilted! They're tilted! They're totally tilted!"
Seeing this, Zhou Ye nearly burst out laughing. He nonchalantly took a step back. A split-second later, a storm of bolter rounds rained down, all of them deflected by the shield on his automaton.
To be fair, while it looked like a Kastelan Robot on the outside for the sake of camouflage, Zhou Ye had so heavily modified its internals that no one would recognize them. So, even though Zhou Ye had stripped it down, this automaton's overall combat strength was significantly higher than its original Dreadnought form.
Watching the Iron Warriors charge him like a runaway freight train, Zhou Ye remained unhurried. Just as they were about to reach him, he issued a sharp command to the machine at his side.
THUD!
A heavy, oppressive sound filled the air as a gravitational field thousands of times stronger than normal slammed the charging Iron Warriors into the ground. This was a gravity generator Zhou Ye had installed, a system he called "Sovereignty."
An Astartes' physical constitution started at the level of Captain America, but unfortunately for them, not even they could withstand such pressure, even with the protection of their power armor.
Blood erupted in an instant. Even if their armor could take the strain, their mortal bodies couldn't. After all, these weren't ascended Daemon Princes, protected by all sorts of Warp-fueled metaphysics.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Five gene-seeds. A bit of a pity, though. The Iron Warriors have relatively few mutations."
Looking at the crushed traitor cans, Zhou Ye didn't hesitate. He had his automaton toss them into his Thousand-Person Theater. Then, operating the few other robots he kept inside, he had them strip off the power armor and throw the entire corpses into his energy converter.
Only after finishing this did he dust off his hands and walk toward the area ahead.
Any place that would draw an attack from the Iron Warriors had to have something good… right?
Before Zhou Ye could finish his thought, he saw a Commissar and a few soldiers cautiously emerge from cover. Upon seeing him, a look of joy washed over the Commissar's face.
"We are the 72nd Aestia Planetary Defence Force, under orders to protect an STC template. You must be the Tech-Priest sent to retrieve it."
"Uh… yes. I am."
"Please present your identification."
"Here…"
The Authority of the Herrscher of Sentience activated, reading his memories.
The Authority of the Herrscher of Reason activated, crafting the identification papers.