One: Magla'droth must serve Merlin Emrys wholeheartedly for five hundred Holy Terra years (Note: calculated according to the Holy Terra calendar).
Two: During this period, if Magla'droth performs poorly, maliciously slacks off, or acts passively, then Emrys (Note: master) has the right to extend the service period, one year at a time.
Three: Based on Magla'droth' performance and completion of corresponding performance appraisals, appropriate rewards should be given, such as: reduction of service period, Star God fragments, vacation, etc. (Note: vacation time is not counted in the service period).
Four, five, six — one hundred seventy-two — three hundred eighty-nine — nine hundred ninety-one. The lengthy clauses finally ended. After reading them several times, Magla'droth became more and more confused.
But it seemed, apparently, there should be no problem.
He read it several times and only understood one sentence.
As long as he performed well and worked hard, he could not only gain 'freedom' early but also exchange his Star God fragments with Emrys.
"Okay, no problem!" Magla'droth nodded and said with satisfaction, "Let's go with this!"
"Come, sign here."
Emrys' face was full of smiles as he handed over the pen and paper.
Looking at the Void Dragon, who was eager to sign the 'contract' with Emrys, Hilda's eyes, standing nearby, showed a faint trace of pity. "Poor 'Void Dragon,'" she thought, "He fell for it just like that."
So foolish.
Now, the 'Star God,' originally depicted as an Chaos God in the Eldar library, who had almost destroyed their race, immediately plummeted in status in Hilda's heart.
It turned out that the cunning, treacherous, hateful, and evil Star God, as described by the elders, seemed to be nothing special... He was as stupid as an Ogryn!
Of course, she couldn't be bothered to say that out loud.
By the time the Void Dragon came to its senses, it would probably hate itself for signing that paper today.
"Very good, the contract is effective from this moment!"
Emrys, satisfied, put this contract, unprecedented and unlikely to be replicated in human history, signed with a Star God, into his private space.
This was a 'sacred object' he specifically made with blessed parchment and soul contract magic.
Commonly known as an employment contract.
With this contract, Magla'droth would never be able to cause trouble again!
The poor Void Dragon didn't even notice that several crucial clauses were hidden among the many terms.
As is well known, hiding a few clauses in a contract is a very normal behavior. If you don't find them yourself, who can you blame?
And one of the hidden clauses was that Emrys could, from now on, 'borrow' the power of the Star God Void Dragon, Magla'droth, without compensation or cost.
He learned this trick from the Ancient One.
This situation was a case of 'like master, like apprentice.'
"Starting today, you will regain your freedom after five hundred Holy Terra years." Emrys said, patting the Void Dragon's shoulder and speaking earnestly, "You must perform well, otherwise, according to the agreement, if you intentionally cause trouble for me, disobey, or fail to meet 'performance,' years will be added."
"Hmph, isn't it just a mere five hundred years?" Magla'droth scoffed dismissively, "By the scale of a Star God, five hundred years is but a fleeting moment in my endless life. I wouldn't intentionally cause trouble for you for such a short time!"
"Very good, you already possess the initial qualities of an excellent employee." Emrys, like a wicked capitalist, grinned and said, "You need to have this spirit. Work hard for five hundred years, and when you regain your freedom, you can do whatever you want!"
Freedom, what beautiful words!
As soon as he heard these two words, Magla'droth couldn't help but fantasize: after five hundred years, he would roam the star sea, once again becoming a powerful universe Star God, above all beings, without reason!
How wonderful!
"Now, we should discuss the weapon you mentioned that can repel the Tyranid." Emrys promptly interrupted the Void Dragon's fantasy to prevent him from noticing anything amiss.
After all, the terms he proposed in the contract, even if thrown into the Middle Ages, would be considered slave abuse.
"Actually, besides weapons, there's an even better option." To gain freedom as soon as possible, Magla'droth no longer held back and directly said, "What do you think is the Tyranid's greatest strength, or rather, its most troublesome aspect?"
Upon hearing this, Emrys fell into contemplation.
He had never carefully considered this question before. In the past, he mostly encountered genestealer, but directly facing a Tyranid fleet like this was his first time.
But this question was not difficult to answer.
Just a little careful thought would easily yield the answer. Emrys' eyes lit up.
"It's — communication and navigation?!"
"Precisely, that is the most crucial issue!"
Magla'droth nodded.
The most vexing problem with the Tyranid is not its immense numbers, nor its hunger-driven, instinctual biological nature.
If one were to analyze the biggest problem posed by the Tyranid Swarm from the perspective of a high-ranking Imperial Commander or from the angle of a localized war, then many Commanders who have faced the Tyranid would undoubtedly utter the same phrase.
That is: communication and navigation!
While the sheer numbers of the Tyranid Swarm certainly pose a great danger, what truly enables them to be unstoppable, devouring one life-sustaining world after another, is actually the Hive Mind, the collective swarm intelligence that controls the Tyranid, also known as the 'Hive Will'—a powerful, almost god-like unknown entity!
Each time a fleet controlled by the Hive Will arrives in a star system, a Warp shadow called the 'Great Devourer' materializes in the Warp, completely engulfing the vast star system!
And a star system enveloped by the Hive Will suffocates almost all activities related to the Warp!
psykers, in particular, can more deeply experience the terrifying, immense shadow that the 'Great Devourer' materializes in the Warp!
That feeling is akin to facing a god!
The even more troublesome aspect is that the 'Great Devourer's' shadow in the Warp will block astropath communications and prohibit Warp travel!
This means that worlds attacked by the Tyranid will be unable to receive reinforcements, and may not even be able to send out distress signals. This is what makes the Tyranids so troublesome!
Losing communication means isolating the various planetary fleets, effectively creating isolation. Commanders will also be unable to know the specific defensive status of each world, which could lead to missing tactical opportunities and ultimately the consumption of Hive Cities.
"What do you mean?" Emrys asked.
"I have a way to restore your army's communications within the shadow of the Hive Will, and to travel at superluminal speeds in the physical universe."
Magla'droth said with extreme pride, "As long as communication and superluminal travel are restored, the Tyranid Swarm will lose its greatest advantage!"
Emrys' trip to Perdita was very fruitful; not only did he gain a 'Star God' slave, but he also conveniently found his 'victim'.
The magic he learned in Marvel was essentially a 'loan' behavior, and each time a mage borrowed power, they had to pay a price. The greater the power of the magic completed, the greater the price paid.
This was precisely why Emrys had very little practical experience after learning magic.
But now, this problem was solved.
He found the perfect 'lending' object: the great Star God, the rule incarnation of the material universe, allowing him to freely use the power of the Void Dragon Magla'droth without paying any price!
"We should go back now." Emrys restrained himself a bit, thinking of Aeros' condition. They had no time to waste here.
"How do we go back?" Hilda glanced at the Void Dragon. "Didn't he break all our ships?"
"Simple, just build one, right?" Emrys said, then turned his gaze to Magla'droth. "Aren't you a Void Dragon? Use the existing materials to conjure up a spaceship for us."
"Where are the materials?"
Magla'droth looked around. Besides the Necrons' blackstone tomb, there was nothing.
He really wanted to say that he was a Void Dragon, not a wish-granting dragon. Even a clever cook can't make a meal without rice, let alone a spaceship?
"Look, aren't these the materials?" Emrys stomped on the ground beneath his feet and turned to look at the side. "Borrowing some things, you don't mind, do you?"
Thorzak didn't care. "Anyway, this place is useless now. Recycling it is fine."
"" Magla'droth's mouth twitched. "Do you know how much power I'll lose to build a spaceship that can travel in the universe?"
If he were in his prime, let alone a spaceship, even building a space fortress would be a matter of minutes. But the problem was—now only a few fragments remained, and every bit of power was precious!
"Fine, not building it is fine too." Emrys glanced at him, then pulled out a notebook and wrote on it.
"On a certain day, month, and year, Magla'droth was passively resistant to work, service period extended by one year—"
"...I'll build it, can't I just build it?!"
Magla'droth was a bit collapse. He just wanted to save some power, and as a result, he was labeled 'passively resistant to work' and had his service period extended?
At this moment, he already felt that those complex terms seemed a bit off.
Two days later.
With Thorzak's assistance, Magla'droth used blackstone towers and materials from the Tesseract to build a small battleship for Emrys.
The entire battleship was pitch black. Because it was coated with blackstone, it could isolate the influence of the Warp. Its shape resembled a scythe, or a flattened crescent moon.
According to Thorzak, this shape was more conducive to the battleship traveling at superluminal speeds in the material universe.
Yes, this battleship was not equipped with a 'Warp engine', nor could it perform Warp travel. Its biggest advantage was that it could isolate the Warp while flying at superluminal speeds in the physical universe!
"Great, now I look even more like a heretic—"
Emrys pinched his brow. If the Inquisition saw this thing, they would definitely drag him off to be burned!
But overall, this new moon scythe battleship, which closely resembled a Necrons vessel, was still a priceless treasure!
The battleship's engine started with a roar, going from static to light speed in almost a blink of an eye. Emrys, inside, felt no gravitational difference from the sudden acceleration.
"As expected from a Void Dragon product, it's truly a masterpiece!" Emrys was starting to like this rather heretical battleship.
After all, who could refuse a battleship that could 'skip rocks' at light speed in the universe?
Suddenly, Hilda frowned, seemingly a bit uncomfortable, her face turning pale.
Emrys, noticing her unusual state, immediately asked, "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"
"No, you—didn't you feel it?"
Hilda seemed a bit surprised, blinked her eyes, stared at him carefully for a long time, and murmured strangely, "It shouldn't be, do you really feel nothing at all?"
"What should I feel?" Emrys was confused by the question, not understanding what she was up to again.
"That's strange." Hilda seemed to have discovered a 'new continent', directly approaching him, looking him up and down, and occasionally pinching him.
"There really is no feeling—"
"—Can you stop speaking in riddles?" Emrys helplessly shook her off, half-angry and half-annoyed.
"It's the shadow in the Warp."
At this moment, Magla'droth also cast a strange gaze, as if looking at a 'rare species'.
"You should also be a psyker, right? Do you really feel nothing at all?"
It turned out that, unknowingly, the swarm's fleet had already approached this star system, and its massive shadow in the Warp made Hilda extremely uncomfortable.
But who knew, when she turned around, she found that Emrys, whose psyker level was even lower than hers, showed no reaction at all, as if nothing had happened!
This was very strange!
One must know that the shadow in the Warp of the Hive Mind, except for special 'soulless ones', also known as untouchables, even ordinary people would feel a little discomfort.
Let alone psykers, who are naturally connected to the Warp?
The reason she could remain calm was because she carried Eldar technology, which could block a part of the Hive Mind's influence, but what about Emrys?
Emrys, under the astonished gazes of everyone, felt a bit creepy and uncomfortably shrunk his neck.
He was also wondering in his heart.
It was a bit unreasonable. He was clearly also a psyker, but let alone discomfort, he didn't even feel the shadow in the Warp!
Could it be the 'Yellow Weasel' protecting him?!
After much thought, he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. Emrys shook his head.
"Forget it, this isn't important. Let's go back quickly."
He took a deep breath and looked out of the ship.
"Since the shadow in the Warp of the Hive Mind has already enveloped this star system, I'm afraid—Aeros' situation is already not optimistic."
Facts proved he was right.
When this 'broken board'-like Necrons ship sped through the real universe, like skipping a stone, and entered the star system near 'Aeros', Emrys' heart suddenly sank.
Above the entire Aeros Industrial world, a large number of fleets, visible to the naked eye, had appeared. The Tyranid bio-motherships fired plasma beams, almost illuminating the pitch-black universe as if it were daytime!
The Imperial Navy fleet, united with the Cadian Assault Army, was desperately fighting to resist, not allowing the Tyranid to completely occupy Aeros.
More importantly, hundreds of space mining platforms were suffering fierce attacks from the Tyranid. Artillery fire poured down like rain, and every minute, every second, mining platforms were falling, burning with raging fire, emitting wails as they collapsed and toppled in rolling thick smoke!
The situation was clearly not optimistic. The speed of the Tyranid fleet's attack once again made him drop his jaw!
Not three days, and certainly not five days!
But in just two days, the Tyranid Leviathan bio-fleet had completely breached the front line, and the Aeros Industrial world clearly could not withstand the massive Tyranid fleet for three days!
"Men!"
Emrys, in the family channel, looked at the Tyranid bio-fleet and roared, "Get the cannons mounted, and let's blast their mothers first!"