The transport craft had only just entered the Steel Vengeance when the notification that the mission was complete appeared before Daqi.
【You have successfully completed the mission, assisting Castellan Creed in successfully evacuating the last troops from the surface of Cadia】
【Mission rewards obtained: 800 EXP, 800 points, Reputation +40, Power Weapon: Ruyi Staff *1】
A staff appeared in the warehouse, its two ends bound with hoops of golden metal and its middle section made of black iron. Its design was exactly the same as the one used by the Monkey King.
Daqi checked the weapon’s description. It was also of green quality.
【Item: Ruyi Staff (Fine). The weapon used by the Destined One, an imitation of the Ruyi Jingu Bang. It is a powerful power weapon capable of easily smashing enemy helmets and power armor.
Blessing Affix “Size As You Will”: Can freely change size according to its master’s will. Maximum length: 6 meters. Minimum length: 0.5 meters.
Evaluation: “Hah, demon! Taste my staff!”】
Daqi equipped the Ruyi Staff as his secondary weapon. The next second, it appeared on the back of his armor, secured by a mag-lock.
Daqi reached back and took the Ruyi Staff in his hand. It had quite a satisfying weight to it.
After he tried activating it, bright arcs of force-field energy surfaced along the staff. When he swung it, it carried an immense sense of power.
“You fiends and demons dare cause chaos? Taste my staff!”
Daqi played at being the Great Sage for a while, then put the weapon away in satisfaction.
Creed’s attention had been on this nameless warrior the entire time.
Seeing the other party produce a staff-shaped power weapon as if by magic right under his nose, shock once again surfaced deep in his eyes.
Just what was this fellow’s background? Why could he always pull out such bizarre pieces of equipment?
Could it be that this fellow, like the Necrons, had mastered dimensional space?
He had just been about to walk over and ask all the questions in his heart when Daqi went hopping off toward the depths of the Steel Vengeance.
The exclamation mark above Creed’s head had disappeared, meaning there were no more missions to accept.
But through the Ark Mechanicus’s mini-map, Daqi saw new golden question marks, so he decided to go take a look.
As an Ark Mechanicus, the Steel Vengeance was larger than a city, with multiple production workshops and factories inside.
Between different zones, rail trains and transport vehicles were needed to move goods and personnel.
If it were an ordinary person, they would surely be baffled by the complex corridors and unable to find the right path.
But Daqi had a mini-map, which could plot a route to find people.
He soon found his first target: a Sister with a golden question mark over her head.
The moment they met, he opened her information panel.
【Celestine, Living Saint, Avatar of Faith, the Emperor’s Emissary in the Mortal Realm】
“Honored nameless warrior…”
Seeing Daqi hop his way up to her, Celestine bowed to him and wished to ask about his origins.
But before she could ask, she was interrupted.
“Skip, skip. What’s the mission?”
“Ah!” A look of confusion appeared on Celestine’s face. “Nameless warrior, what are you saying…”
“Skip, skip. I want the mission, not story dialogue,” Daqi repeated.
“Can you help us escort Cawl to Macragge?”
Celestine felt that perhaps he simply did not wish to chat, so she voiced her request.
【Mission: Assist Living Saint Celestine in escorting Cawl to the Ultramarines’ homeworld—Macragge】
【The galaxy has been torn open by the Great Rift. The mysterious cargo in Cawl’s hands is the only hope for saving mankind and saving the Imperium. Please assist Celestine in delivering Cawl to Macragge】
【Mission rewards: 1500 EXP, 1500 points, Reputation +120, Iron Halo *1】
“I will help you escort Cawl to Macragge.”
After accepting the mission, Daqi hopped away to find the next NPC with a golden question mark over their head.
The second was a woman wearing an Inquisitor’s attire, with a mechanical ocular implant.
Daqi opened her information panel.
【Katarinya Greyfax, Puritan Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, Psyker】
“Just what are you?” Greyfax demanded when she saw Daqi hopping up to her.
As an Inquisitor devoted to purging all heretics and traitors in the galaxy, she maintained a high degree of vigilance toward any anomaly.
Even Celestine, hailed as the Emperor’s Living Saint, had never truly earned her trust.
Daqi, who had no Chapter identity and could resurrect without limit, had been placed even higher on her watch list.
“Skip, skip. What’s the mission?” Daqi kept crouching down and standing back up, occasionally punching the air.
“What do you intend to do?” Greyfax narrowed her eyes. She very much wanted to order someone to seize this nameless warrior and interrogate him properly.
But when she thought of how he had once faced the Chaos horde alone, solely to buy time for the other Imperial forces to withdraw, she felt that arresting him would be excessive.
Judging purely from his actions, he showed no inclination toward heresy.
“Skip, skip. What’s the mission?”
After that, no matter what Greyfax said, Daqi only repeated the same words.
He truly did not want to waste too much time on dialogue.
Scrutinizing details was a hobby for Warhammer scholars, not for him.
The game Warhammer Universe was still pretty good. Unlike certain games, it did not force players to watch the story.
After this exchange repeated several times, Greyfax yielded.
“Very well. If you insist on finding something to do, then you can help me keep an eye on Celestine.”
“I do not trust this Living Saint. This universe is too dark and too malicious. I suspect she is merely a poison pill wrapped in honey by the evil gods.”
“When the ignorant subjects of the Imperium have finished tasting the sweetness on the outside, what follows will be irreversible tragedy and suffering.”
【Mission: Monitor Living Saint Celestine.
To an Inquisitor, any miracle is unworthy of trust and very likely to be a lie of the Chaos Gods. Greyfax hopes you can monitor Living Saint Celestine and find any abnormal behavior on her part.
Mission rewards: 800 EXP, 800 points, Reputation +60, Jump Pack *1】
“I will help you.”
Daqi hopped away, leaving only Greyfax watching his departing back.
“Where in the world did this fellow come from? Why are his actions and behavior so strange?”
……
An Imperial fleet composed of battered warships and weary souls escaped the pursuit of the Chaos fleet and sailed toward the edge of the star system.
No one cheered for their survival. Their hearts were filled only with uncertainty for the future, and grief and remembrance for the dead.
Cadia had once been home to eight hundred and fifty million souls. Now, only a little over four million living beings had managed to flee the planet’s surface.
Because they could not conduct warp travel, every ship’s conventional propulsion engines had been pushed to their limits, allowing the warships greater speed as they fled the Chaos slaughter.
“No matter what lies ahead, crush them.”
Tor Garadon, Third Captain of the Imperial Fists, roared loudly.
He ordered the Phalanx to fire with all its might, shattering every enemy along their path and carving out a road of blood and fire for the Imperial vessels behind them.
After a narrow escape from death and boarding the transport ships, they still were not one hundred percent safe.
Under the strain of high-load operation, the plasma drive of the agricultural transport Pride of Saint Serephos malfunctioned, gradually falling behind the other Imperial ships.
“Abandon them.” Garadon issued the order without hesitation, commanding all ships to give up the rescue.
Even though the Pride of Saint Serephos carried hundreds of thousands of Imperial subjects.
“This is a shameful act. We must never abandon any survivor.”
The captains of the Emperor’s Wrath and Victor’s Ward were contemptuous of Garadon’s pragmatism.
They defied the Imperial Fists’ orders and went to rescue the Pride of Saint Serephos.
This choice was certainly noble, but it was foolish through and through.
With the support of the warp, the Chaos fleet’s firepower far surpassed that of the Imperial fleet.
While the Emperor’s Wrath and Victor’s Ward were rescuing the Cadian soldiers and refugees aboard the Pride of Saint Serephos, the Chaos fleet arrived.
A violent barrage instantly destroyed the Emperor’s Wrath, causing more than two hundred thousand Imperial subjects to lose their lives.
Victor’s Ward suffered a fierce blow. Its captain died, and the remaining officers fell into panic.
Cawl’s Steel Vengeance sent a transmission, demanding that the ship immediately draw close to the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet, where they might still secure a slim chance of survival.
However, in his panic, its executive officer completely disregarded Cawl’s communication and analysis, ordering the warship to make an emergency jump into the warp.
This act caused one hundred and fifty thousand Imperial subjects to become a feast for the daemons of Slaanesh.
“A foolish decision. That action is no different from suicide.”
Seeing Victor’s Ward force its way into the warp, Cawl’s few remaining traces of humanity made him furious, but they were soon suppressed again by absolute rationality.
“Continue advancing. Do not concern yourselves with any more ships that lose power.”
The Archmagos had only just issued the order when he heard a commotion from outside the bridge.
Through the vision links of his Skitarii subordinates, he saw that nameless warrior attempting to enter the bridge.
“What is he here for?”
Confusion surfaced in Cawl’s core logic module, but when he recalled the other party’s various previous actions, he still gave the order to let him in.
Daqi barreled around the bridge, drawing no small number of complaints, and finally followed the mini-map to stand before Cawl.