The Kalidra Battle Group was piercing into the silent stars of the Nephilim Sector.
The Kalidra Battle Group was the vanguard of the Indomitus Crusade's First Fleet, with armaments almost comparable to the sum of several battle groups.
They advanced through the ravaged sectors of the Imperium's sacred territories, liberating world after world, engaging in brutal, bloody battles with countless enemies.
But their true objective had always been the Nephilim Sector.
After the Great Rift opened, the entire Warp was filled with Star Speaker distress signals, and the Nephilim System initially was no different.
However, as time passed, while the cries for help in other systems intensified, the Nephilim System gradually fell into silence.
Within the Nephilim Sector, there were no agonizing wails, no terrified pleas for aid, no whispers of the Warp's vile impurities, only a deathly silence.
This situation caught the attention of Lord Regent Guilliman, who dispatched Admiral Maren to lead the Kalidra Battle Group into the Nephilim Sector to investigate the specific circumstances.
But Maren's forces encountered a series of strange occurrences immediately after entering the Nephilim Sector.
First, the Librarians on board began to experience problems.
These Librarians would periodically become sluggish, fearful, and sometimes suffer epileptic fits, like fish out of water.
Many mortal Librarians, Star Speakers, and Navigators lost control due to this phenomenon and had to be executed or restrained.
The psyker Librarians were relatively better off; according to them, they could no longer perceive the existence of the Warp.
Some claimed the Warp had dried up, becoming a completely stagnant pool, while others claimed the Warp's tides still raged, but in this sector, there seemed to be some kind of dome blocking the floods of the Empyrean.
Even the most skilled psyker Librarians in prophecy could only see their future plunged into a cold silence.
Subsequently, the ships' Gellar Fields and Warp travel began to experience problems.
During Warp travel, the Gellar Fields of some ships suddenly disintegrated without any warning.
Even stranger, those ships that lost the protection of their Gellar Fields were not invaded by any daemons.
Some believed this was a miracle, a blessing from the Emperor and Saint Doraemon, and even within the Adeptus Ministorum, many proclaimed it to be so.
However, members of the Saint Doraemon Church and the Battle Sisters privately informed Admiral Maren that this was by no means a miracle, but a complete abnormality.
The Warp Engine itself also began to experience problems thereafter, and Warp travel became increasingly difficult and arduous.
Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus claimed they were like gliding over a drying lake; the efficiency of the Warp Engine was becoming slower and slower, and even the presence of Saint Doraemon's holy knight statues could not curb this trend.
Many superstitious captains, terrified Librarians, and uneasy Astra Militarum advised Maren not to proceed further.
But Maren was unwilling to return empty-handed; he at least hoped to understand some more specific circumstances.
The Machine Priests, with twenty-two mechanical arms, all agreed to this, as they too were filled with curiosity about the current situation.
Ultimately, it was a Machine Priest who made a discovery: he detected a strange energy signature on a planet not far from the battle group, determining that it held the key to the anomaly in the Nephilim Sector.
A joint force consisting of the Astra Militarum, Ultramarines, Battle Sisters, and Black Templars landed on this planet.
In the Imperium's star charts, this planet was marked as an agricultural world with billions of inhabitants.
However, as the Imperial forces landed on the planet, they immediately sensed something was wrong.
It was too quiet, too empty.
On the leveled continents, unharvested crops swayed in the wind, but no one was there to harvest them; buildings in the settlements were all empty, residents' dining tables still held moldy, cold food, machinery in agricultural processing plants still rumbled, fertilizer guilds continuously released toxic fertilizers into the atmosphere, and some un-deactivated farm machines continued to operate, driving towards the horizon on the absolutely flat land.
There was not a single person on the entire planet, as if everyone had stopped what they were doing at the exact same moment, and then disappeared at the exact same moment.
Soon, strange conditions also began to appear among the Imperial forces; many Astra Militarum began to become abnormally fatigued, becoming extremely weak, collapsing to the ground unable to move, and eventually ceasing all activity and speech, completely stagnating in place.
The situation among the Librarians was even more severe; they wailed, claiming they were suffocating, then descended into madness, and finally committed suicide.
Even the Ultramarines were affected to some extent, becoming utterly exhausted.
Approximately half of the Machine Priests in the Adeptus Mechanicus also did not escape the influence, similarly beginning to experience fatigue and weakness; this portion of the priests were those who believed in the Omnissiah more than original power, and in the Omnissiah more than Saint Doraemon.
Only the devout and fervent believers in Saint Doraemon among the Machine Cult members, the Battle Sisters, and the Black Templars remained unaffected.
It was as if their fervent faith in the Emperor and Saint Doraemon protected them.
Soon they discovered the source of all these problems: on that agricultural planet, a spire made of Blackstone stood.
Upon seeing the substance called Blackstone, the Machine Priests quickly made a judgment, determining that it was this Necron construct that was isolating the Warp and affecting their plans.
What happened next proved their conjecture: the Necron suddenly emerged from a Pocket Dimension and launched a shameful sneak attack on the Imperial forces.
Their objective was strange; the ordinary Astra Militarum did not seem to attract their attention, and their goal did not seem to be to kill the Imperial army.
They concentrated their fire, surrounding the Battle Sisters, Machine Priests, and Black Templars who were unaffected by the Blackstone, seemingly wanting to capture them.
Fortunately, the Necron's attack was not well-prepared, and at a critical moment, a Black Templars warrior suddenly declared that he had received enlightenment from the Emperor and became the Emperor's Champion.
That Champion, wielding a Black Sword and clad in black armor, enveloped in light like a scorching sun, repelled the Necron forces at the cost of his own sacrifice, covering the main force's retreat.
On Admiral Maren's flagship, the Heavy Fist, Maren was holding his war council.
"My warriors are still full of faith, the Emperor's will is undoubtedly protecting us, and the Emperor's wrath awaits our unleashing!"
"I will never forgive these shameful xenos, I will never retreat, I swear in the name of the Emperor and Sigismund!"
Marshal Kurtz of the Black Templars said in an uncompromising tone.
"The real problem is that it's becoming increasingly difficult for us to conduct Warp travel; only one out of ten Warp journeys succeeds. At this rate, we'll have to rely on sub-light engines."
The speaker was Shield-Captain Zelanthius of the Custodian Guard.
Since the lifting of restrictions, the Custodian Guard had joined various battle groups, engaging in intergalactic warfare.
They were less affected by the anti-Warp field released by the Blackstone, but unlike the Battle Sisters and Black Templars, they did not seem to be protected by faith, but rather seemed inherently more adapted to a sparse Warp environment.
"This is a trap," General Oberon of the Astra Militarum said, banging on the table. "Admiral Maren, the further we go, the deeper we sink into the mire, eventually losing even the chance to retreat."
Oberon's Astra Militarum had suffered the most severe damage, and his own face was full of fatigue and pain, naturally giving rise to thoughts of retreat.
Marshal Kurtz of the Black Templars insisted on not withdrawing from the Nephilim Sector, the Custodian Guard Shield-Captain was full of hesitation, and the Astra Militarum insisted on an immediate retreat.
They all understood that Warp travel was becoming increasingly difficult; if they retreated now, it would be very hard to re-enter, and conversely, if they didn't retreat, it would also be very difficult to leave.
Admiral Maren, however, shook his head; his face was not as tense as the others'.
He still had a trump card.
"Before heading to the Nephilim Sector, His Royal Highness the Regent entrusted us with something."
"That is a creation of Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, said to be for the study of Saint Doraemon the God—"
"Saint Doraemon is not a god," Battle Sister Superior Yeshuni said with a smile to Admiral Maren.
Admiral Maren was a devout follower of the Adeptus Ministorum, but not averse to the Saint Doraemon faith, even leaning towards the Adeptus Ministorum's Doraemon God faction of a decade or so ago.
That faction claimed that both the Emperor and Saint Doraemon were true gods—then they were declared heretics by the Battle Sisters.
The Saint Reyna personally led a team to refute them, but Battle Sisters were never good with words, so they chose to use powerful extermination orders as their argument; the scorching golden flames burned for twenty-two days on the Doraemon God faction's homeworld, leaving not even a trace.
A bead of sweat trickled down Admiral Maren's forehead; he too was affected by the surrounding anti-Warp field, his mind a bit unclear, and he had accidentally said the wrong thing.
"It is said to be a product of studying Saint Doraemon's wisdom, having just undergone experimentation and not yet officially put into use," Admiral Maren corrected himself in time.
If he didn't correct himself, that Battle Sister would probably refute him with a boltgun.
"Are you saying that product can solve our current predicament?" Shield-Captain Zelanthius said with a subtle tone.
As a Custodian Guard, he had tilled fields beneath the Imperial Palace and naturally would not underestimate Saint Doraemon's power, but he doubted whether humans could truly comprehend the wisdom of Saint Doraemon's creations.
Even the extraordinary wisdom of the Custodian Guard was completely baffled when studying Saint Doraemon's tools, not understanding their principles at all.
"I even suspect that Archmagos Belisarius Cawl's invention was prepared for this very moment."
"The great Lord Regent must have anticipated the situation within the Nephilim Sector long ago."
Maren's tone became devout and fervent.
"I'm more inclined to believe it's Saint Doraemon's will," Battle Sister Superior Yeshuni said, blinking.
Maren also nodded in agreement; there had been some rumors in the battle group recently that Saint Doraemon had awakened...
Maren looked at the representative of the Machine Priests, inquiring with his gaze whether he had completed the preparations.
The Archmagos' creation was quite complex, and the Mechanicus Priests in the battlegroup couldn't understand its principles at all. They could only follow the operating instructions written by Archmagos Cawl step by step, which took a considerable amount of time to complete the preparations.
The Mechanicus Priests nodded, indicating that everything was ready and only needed Maren's command to activate the device.
"Gentlemen, come witness a magnificent creation," Maren said with a smile to the members of the War Council.
Curiosity also appeared on everyone's faces as they followed Maren to the very front of the bridge.
Vast portholes encircled the bridge by at least two hundred degrees, with stars faintly twinkling in the void. Between the stars, eight somewhat uniquely shaped vessels hovered before Maren's flagship.
The eight ships floated in the void in a rectangular formation, each with a different design. The four ships at the corners resembled four right angles, while the four ships above, below, left, and right resembled four long strips.
The eight vessels hovered in the void, looking like a broken doorframe.
And in the center of the bridge, beneath the giant porthole, there was a pinkish-red door panel. The doorframe of the panel had been removed, its whereabouts unknown, and numerous cables extended from around the panel, plugged into a series of massive machines nearby.
"Why was the anywhere door dismantled like this?! Isn't this truly blasphemy?" General Oberon of the Astra Militarum said with some trepidation.
He recognized what the pinkish-red wooden door was—it was the anywhere door, one of Saint Doraemon's most iconic tools.
"This was done by High Fabricator Belisarius Dora Cawl, so it's not blasphemy," Battle Sister Ye Shuni emphasized the words "doraemon" as she spoke.
Oberon immediately fell silent.
Maren smiled slightly. The Mechanicus Priests who were debugging the machines made way for him, signaling that he could activate the machine.
Maren stepped forward and reached out his hand towards the doorknob of the pinkish-red wooden door—
Illuminor Szeras, like a spider at the center of a giant web, hid deep within hundreds of Pocket Dimensions, observing everything in the galaxy through quantum entanglement channels, with the aid of the death marks hidden throughout the Nephilim Sector.
Zellars prided himself as the treasure of Necron wisdom, the greatest intellect of the entire race. To put an intellect like his in danger was naturally unforgivable.
This was not Illuminor Szeras' arrogance; it was a fact.
He was the creator of biotransference technology. The C'tan provided the idea and original concept for this technology, but the C'tan's technology was ultimately based on their power to distort the material universe. It was Zellars who personally brought this technology into reality, transforming billions of Necrons into metallic bodies.
Some would accuse Zellars of this as an unforgivable crime, but in Zellars' view, this was clearly a necessary path for evolution.
Aren't metallic bodies more efficient than flesh and blood? Aren't they more powerful than flesh and blood?
As for the so-called soul, is there any need to retain such illogical things?
But in Zellars' view, biotransference was not yet perfect, and the metallic body was not the limit of everything.
In Zellars' eyes, the next step in evolution was the energy state, which meant transforming himself into a form like the C'tan.
However, Zellars' previous research had always failed. Fortunately, his new patron provided him with ample testing grounds and new ideas.
The Silent King wanted Zellars to research how to reverse biotransference and be responsible for managing the anti-Empyrean matrix.
And he tried to convince Zellars that studying flesh, soul, and the Empyrean would help him find the path to godhood.
It must be admitted that the Silent King's views had some merit.
Zellars made some astonishing discoveries.
The species called humans, despite having souls and a strong link to the Empyrean, had some individuals who were unaffected by the anti-Empyrean matrix.
Moreover, some of these individuals even showed Empyrean reactions within the anti-Empyrean matrix.
This greatly aroused the Illuminator's curiosity, but his impromptu capture operation failed, and the Illuminator was unable to obtain suitable live experimental subjects.
But this didn't matter. The Illuminator quietly mobilized the anti-Empyrean engine, gradually blocking the Warp access for this group of humans.
The Illuminator knew that the lower beings in this galaxy, apart from the Necrons, could not escape the shackles of the Empyrean. Once they left the Warp, they would even find it difficult to perform effective faster-than-light travel.
The anti-Empyrean matrix was precisely the shackles that would trap them to their deaths—
"Oh?"
Through the quantum entanglement messages transmitted by the death marks, the Illuminator discovered something amiss.
Eight smaller vessels, forming a giant, slender rectangle in the void, and these vessels had unique shapes, as if framing a doorway in the void.
Was this some kind of performance art?
Zellars scratched his metallic head, somewhat puzzled. Then, through the information transmitted back by the death marks, the Illuminator discovered that these vessels actually each had a piece of a cut-off doorframe, and these doorframes precisely corresponded to the position of the vessels.
And around the doorframes, a large amount of complex machinery and cables were entwined.
Zellars' mechanical brain operated rapidly, beginning to analyze the function of these machines, but the more he analyzed, the heavier Zellars' mood became. If he hadn't already discarded the function of sweating, he would be drenched in sweat by now—
Click—
A crisp sound of a door opening suddenly rang out. This sound was transmitted from the vacuum, as if space itself had been opened.
In an instant, within the rectangle framed by the eight vessels, the starry sky rotated, the void shifted, and in the blink of an eye, another star system ten light-years away was reflected.
Then, under Zellars' bewildered gaze, the human vessels passed through that doorframe and were instantly teleported ten light-years away.
Subsequently, the humans performed several similar operations in quick succession, and in the blink of an eye, they slipped out of the Nephilim Sector, out of Illuminor Szeras' sight.
"Is this logical?"
Zellars asked and answered himself loudly:
"Is this logical???"
"Cawl, you really are a genius!"
Alexander looked at the report in his hand and said with a smile to Cawl.
Although his tone feigned shock, the Primarchs and Belisarius Cawl himself could vaguely perceive that Alexander was not actually surprised; Alexander had expected this long ago.
Cawl had successfully improved the anywhere door, and it was even more perfect than Alexander had anticipated before his slumber.
Alexander had originally thought that Cawl would at most expand the anywhere door into a fixed star-gate.
He hadn't expected that Cawl would disassemble the components of the anywhere door and, through a series of machines, remotely link them, creating an anywhere star-gate that could move with the fleet and be deployed anywhere, anytime.
According to Cawl's plan, within approximately five to ten years, every Indomitus Crusade battlegroup would be equipped with at least one set of anywhere star-gate devices, ensuring that the Imperium's main fleets could conduct faster-than-light travel without passing through the Warp.
This was not Cawl's only achievement in these past few decades. Cawl had also successfully mass-produced Belisarius Metal, manufacturing over three thousand sets of power armor with this material as armor over the decades. The Blood Angels, Ultramarines, and Alexander's doraemon Chapter each received a thousand sets, with the remainder sufficient for the Lion's Exorcist squad.
Cawl was exhilarated by Alexander's praise and even more excited to see Alexander awake.
His extremely ugly, extremely weak, and extremely tired body trembled slightly, and his sole remaining eye even had a few tears hanging from it.
"Alright, Cawl, don't be so emotional." Alexander couldn't help but shake his head: "I promised that I would wake up, and look, haven't I done it?"
"Let's discuss the Nephilim Sector, or rather, the Pariah Nexus, now."
Cawl bowed respectfully and took a small step back, not allowing himself to stand alongside the three half-Primarchs and Alexander.
"As Alexander predicted, the Necrons have indeed deployed some kind of anti-Warp matrix in the Nephilim Sector."
"..I must admit, this is a very valuable technology."
"Is it possible to improve this technology to weaken the Warp to a certain extent, but without affecting normal human activity?"
"Or, since faith can help people operate under the Pariah Nexus, why not simply strengthen the Adeptus Ministorum and the Saint Doraemon Church, and then expand the Pariah Nexus to the entire galaxy? Combined with Cawl's improved anywhere door, we can completely isolate the Warp."
Guilliman's mind was very quick, and he immediately realized the value of the Pariah Nexus, and roughly designed a method for its utilization.
Using faith to ensure normal human activity, then using the Pariah Nexus to completely isolate the Warp, and then with the anywhere star-gate, humanity could completely realize the Emperor's grand ambition from ten thousand years ago.
"Is there a possibility of an alliance between us and the Necrons?" Guilliman asked softly, his gaze turning to Sanguinius and Alexander.
"This is a trap," Alexander replied almost the instant Guilliman's gaze fell on him.
"..A trap?" Guilliman nodded slightly. While considering the value of the Pariah Nexus, he also perceived the potential risks: "The Necrons... or those in the Warp?"
"It's the Lord of Change's," Alexander said softly.
"Targeting you?" Guilliman quickly made a judgment: "Should we still venture into the Nephilim Sector?"
"Of course."
Alexander smiled faintly. He turned his head to look at Fulgrim, or rather, at the entity that coveted Fulgrim and constantly watched him.
"Because Tzeentch doesn't know that my plan has already changed. I have no interest in isolating the Warp, and you should not waste your energy on this matter. The Blackstone Fortress is worthless."
"There is only one thing I want to obtain in the Pariah Nexus. To obtain this thing, my ally can no longer waver."
"If you make up your mind to stand with me at the critical moment, I promise you will no longer have to worry about your great position collapsing."
"But if you continue to waver, unable to make up your mind, I assure you I have a way to dig that old crone sword out from under the Blood God's heel."
Fulgrim was momentarily stunned, not understanding why Alexander was saying these things to him, but for some unknown reason, he inexplicably opened his mouth and said, "So, what do you want?"
"I want Malicious Art," Alexander said, word by word.
At the same time, in the Warp, deep within Slaanesh's six-ring bedchamber, Slaanesh let out a cheer.