On Stormlord Imotekh's flagship, the *Inescapable Conquest*, which had once been destroyed by Grand Marshal Helbrecht of the Black Templars and later rebuilt by Imotekh's Tech-priests,
Imotekh's consciousness was reviving, and living metal was gradually reconstructing his body.
As an Phaeron, Imotekh would naturally not die easily. His resurrection protocols were also more advanced than most Phaerons, allowing his body to rapidly reconstruct.
In the blink of an eye, Imotekh's body had largely recovered, and his logic-brain had been fully reconstructed, making his thoughts swift, precise, and logical once more.
Imotekh didn't feel much anger about his defeat.
Too many unexpected and illogical situations had occurred.
Imotekh was not actually skilled in combat, and this had been the case since the Necron era; he even suffered from a chronic leg condition that severely hampered his fighting ability.
He relied more on gathering information and logical analysis to predict his opponent's actions, induce their attacks, and manipulate their movements to defeat them.
This led to a problem: when facing an unfamiliar enemy for whom he hadn't gathered enough information, an illogical enemy, or a situation where the battle developed in a completely unreasonable way, Imotekh often found himself unable to cope.
One of the main reasons Imotekh was satisfied with his mechanical body was that, relying on the living metal's self-healing ability, he could almost infinitely contend with enemies, continuously gathering information in the process and ultimately using it to defeat them.
But the enemy encountered this time...
A series of data flashed quickly before Imotekh's eyes, finally confirming that the tall, purple-gold figure was the Primarch Fulgrim, as the Imperium of Man called him.
However, in the Imperium of Man's records, this Primarch had clearly betrayed them to the Void Gods of the Immaterium. Why would he reappear among the Imperium of Man's forces?
Imotekh repeatedly watched the footage from that moment, observing every move of 'Fulgrim,' and comparing it to the footage he had previously collected of Guilliman, Sanguinius, and the mysterious hooded Primarch, finally noticing some differences.
"Some kind of cloning technology? In terms of biotechnology, the Imperium of Man does indeed have some accomplishments."
Imotekh had to admit this. He had also studied the Imperium of Man's biotechnology out of a need to understand his enemy. How to put it? The more Imotekh looked, the more he felt that their genetic technology was simply a form of alchemy, a kind of feudal superstition, capable of achieving completely unreasonable effects.
This was still within Imotekh's logical comprehension.
What truly bewildered Imotekh was that inexplicable teleportation technology.
Imotekh didn't know much about spatiotemporal and Warp technology. He could only confirm that it was definitely not teleportation through the Warp, nor was it similar to the Necron's Pocket Dimension teleportation. Imotekh was completely clueless about the technology involved, unable to grasp any of its principles.
Even after Imotekh transmitted these images to the Tech-priests serving him, they couldn't provide any valuable information.
Imotekh had a strange feeling.
He felt like a primitive man who had just learned to make stone tools, trying to understand the working principle of a microchip.
Did the Imperium of Man really possess this level of technology?
A sense of alarm rose in Imotekh's heart.
In his logical assessment, the danger posed by the Imperium of Man had increased by a level.
Imotekh looked at the directive that the Silent King had just sent in the name of the Three Saints Council.
The Silent King, in the name of the Three Saints Council, ordered Imotekh to subjugate Anrakyr.
This caused Imotekh's pale green eyes to flicker a few times.
He had not openly opposed the Three Saints Council, and in fact, Imotekh did not intend to do so.
He only intended to target the Silent King and the two Saints he had selected, not the Three Saints Council system itself, and to strictly adhere to Necron war etiquette.
This was certainly not because Imotekh was honest, but because Imotekh understood that his strength was insufficient to defeat the Silent King in an unrestricted war.
Only by confining the Silent King within the framework of war etiquette and engaging in a noble's war game with the Stormlord would the Stormlord have a certain chance of winning.
More importantly, doing so would help the Stormlord gain a political advantage and win over other Phaerons.
All of the Stormlord's military actions were essentially designed to support his political agenda.
"Twenty-two Phaerons openly declared support for Anrakyr?"
The Stormlord was slightly surprised, not expecting Anrakyr to gather the support of over twenty Phaerons so quickly, more than even those supporting the Stormlord.
This was not a small force within the Necron ranks, and these Phaerons had all previously been loyal to the Silent King or his allies.
How did Anrakyr manage to do it? It couldn't be that the Silent King simply pushed these Phaerons towards Anrakyr, could it?
Even the Nihilakh Dynasty, which always remained neutral and only served wealth, had sided with Anrakyr.
Even with Trazyn, Anrakyr's wealth couldn't possibly surpass the Silent King's, could it?
It couldn't be that the Silent King had withheld the Nihilakh Dynasty's final payment, could it?
Imotekh quickly realized the risk.
Anrakyr was different from the Silent King.
The Silent King was politically riddled with flaws. Whether it was the crime of biotransference or his forced elevation of Phaerons from his subordinate dynasties to members of the Three Saints Council upon his return, these actions were politically fatal. Even the most loyal Phaerons to the Silent King could not refute Imotekh's accusations against him.
But Anrakyr was different. This Traveler was, politically speaking, a perfect individual. He had abandoned his world, given up his status as an Overlord, and traversed the stars, dedicating himself over long periods to protecting the property and dignity of Necron dynasties. Many dynasties had benefited from Anrakyr's benevolence.
For most dynasties, accepting Anrakyr as the new Necron ruler was not unacceptable.
Therefore, if Anrakyr successfully defeated the Silent King, Imotekh's political maneuvers would be useless. He could only hope for victory in a direct war, which would be too slim a chance.
Conversely, if the Silent King independently defeated Anrakyr and suppressed Anrakyr's rebellion, many wavering Phaerons would likely fully side with the Silent King, and those Phaerons who were initially eager would retreat due to their fear of the Silent King.
The only way to break the stalemate was for Imotekh to help the Silent King suppress Anrakyr.
In this way, the credit would belong to Imotekh, and Imotekh would be the one to suppress Anrakyr, allowing Imotekh to increase his political capital.
"Is this your asking price, Silent King?!"
Imotekh felt a surge of irritation.
Logically speaking, obeying the Silent King's order to subjugate Anrakyr was Imotekh's best choice.
But Imotekh always had a feeling of being manipulated and controlled by the Silent King.
That shameless tyrant was only so cunning in political struggles, suppression, and control of his own kind.
The map of the Nephilim Sector appeared before Imotekh's eyes, with the Volian-Vash System marked.
Just one glance and Imotekh understood why the Silent King wanted him to subjugate Anrakyr.
The location was too clever, positioned right between the Silent King's and the Imperium of Man's spheres of influence.
Anrakyr holding a subjugation campaign here was like holding a feast at the entrance of a beast's lair.
If there wasn't a trap, Imotekh wouldn't believe it. But Anrakyr was using himself as bait?
Did that so-called Saint Doraemon consider him a pawn?
No, impossible.
Besides Anrakyr, the only ones who could act as Saint Doraemon's spokesmen among the Necrons were the Silent King and the Stormlord.
The Silent King, needless to say, had already explicitly rejected Saint Doraemon.
The Stormlord was not interested in what souls were; he only cared about the order he wanted to create and was unwilling to join anyone else's order.
Saint Doraemon only had Anrakyr; he couldn't possibly abandon him. But letting Anrakyr be so close to the Silent King was too high a risk.
Unless... unless he had calculated that the Silent King would not act.
"Ah! The target from the very beginning was me! He calculated that the Silent King would send me…"
The Stormlord was a person skilled at commanding battles through logical calculations.
But at this moment, his proud logic was being used against him by the enemy's two commanders.
This made the Stormlord feel like he was just a chess piece being repeatedly moved around by them, jumping back and forth on the chessboard.
Was there no place where he could act freely? Was there no place where he could be a chess player?
The Stormlord stared intently at the map of the Nephilim Sector, repeatedly searching for a place where he could make a difference.
His gaze moved back and forth between his occupied territory and the Volian-Vash System, repeatedly for several times.
Finally, on the twenty-second time, the Stormlord's gaze stopped.
He gently pointed his newly repaired finger at his current location on the star map.
That was a small portion of the area outside the Nephilim Sector, occupying about one-eighth of the ring that encircled the Nephilim Sector.
And inward from this ring, entering the Nephilim Sector, was the golden Warp storm summoned by the Imperium of Man.
The Stormlord's finger lightly traced the annular storm. The reason he chose to occupy this position was that the adjacent Warp storm area was where the storm was thinnest.
That area was relatively less affected by the Warp, making it a relatively easier entry point into the Nephilim Sector.
The Stormlord's finger continued to slide, crossing the entire Nephilim Sector, pointing towards the Volian-Vash System.
Between the Stormlord's position and the Volian-Vash System, the Stormlord drew a straight line.
This straight line passed directly through the core of the Nephilim Sector.
In that location, there existed a star system.
"The Sindu System, is there something here?" The Stormlord's logic-brain operated rapidly. He didn't believe this was a coincidence; it must have some deeper meaning.
His gaze shifted slightly, finally linking to the communication with the Three Saints Council.
"I am willing to subjugate Anrakyr for you."
Looking at the Silent King in the communication, Imotekh stared at him and said:
"But you cannot ask me to circumnavigate the entire Pariah Nexus to reach the Volian-Vash System. That is too difficult; my forces would be depleted during the march."
"I demand that you cooperate with me to break through a passage between our territories, and then I will borrow your territory to cross the entire sector to reach the Volian-Vash System."