Seven standard Earth days passed in the blink of an eye under the operation of the Empire's highly efficient war machine.
Meanwhile, at the end of a remote spiral arm in the Triangulum Galaxy, an originally vibrant terrestrial planet had now been reduced to an exhibition hall of grotesque biological art, or rather, a living hell constructed from pain and distortion.
This planet was once called the Emerald Star by its indigenous inhabitants.
But now, any association with emerald was a cruel irony.
The surface of the planet was covered with a constantly pulsating meat blanket emitting a faint phosphorescence, as if the planet had contracted an incurable ulcer.
The mountain ranges that originally soared into the clouds were forcibly twisted into spiral, hollow giant skeletal structures, their interiors echoing with an endless mournful wail like wind passing through holes.
The oceans were no longer azure, but had turned into a viscous amber serum like biological lymphatic fluid. Floating within were countless ocean dwellers modified to be translucent, drifting slowly like jellyfish; they retained vague humanoid outlines but had lost all light of intelligence, leaving only the instinct to float and filter-feed.
On the vast plains, forests still existed, but they were composed of countless elongated, lignified treefolk whose branches resembled arms struggling in agony. On their canopies bloomed flowers that constantly opened and closed, revealing fine teeth and emitting rustling whispers.
The former city ruins had now become a labyrinth of bizarre buildings fusing flesh and metal. These buildings slowly squirmed and deformed as if alive. What traveled on the streets were no longer vehicles, but various multi-legged, armored, or mollusk-like writhing modified creatures, carrying out some incomprehensible duty to maintain this twisted ecology.
The ecological landscape of the entire planet exuded an eerie and discordant atmosphere that blasphemed the norms of life.
Every modification was full of the Qu's signature grotesque aesthetic of forcibly fusing the organic with the inorganic, and intelligence with beasts.
To the Qu, this was not destruction, but sublimation—a great engineering project to guide lesser lifeforms toward a more perfect and harmonious state that they approved of.
At this moment, outside the planet's polluted atmosphere, in the void of low orbit, over a dozen Qu were gathered together.
Their appearances were largely similar, all possessing four moth-like wings and long fleshy tails. Their compound eyes flickered with a cold, dark light, like artists admiring their own masterpieces, quietly looking down at the perfect world they had hand-sculpted, which was filled with agonizing groans.
They communicated with each other through complex bioelectric signals, conveying their satisfaction with this new pasture and their imagination of future modification blueprints.
Suspended not far behind them was a distinct biological ship.
It was much smaller than those six-kilometer-long worm ships, roughly only one kilometer in length, but its exterior was more refined and streamlined, unlike the ruggedness of the worms.
The hull displayed a peculiar texture that combined a dark silver metallic luster with the softness of organic matter. The surface was covered with more complex and gorgeous biological patterns, and several pairs of smaller, translucent membranous wings like those of a dragonfly gently swayed on both sides of the hull to adjust its posture.
This was clearly a command or transport vessel specifically for Qu individuals to ride and pilot. Its interior was presumably also filled with a comfortable environment made of living tissue that met their aesthetics.
Suddenly, one of the Qu seemed to sense some anomaly. Its long tail swayed gently, and its compound eyes turned toward the deep starry sky. An indescribable subtle static, seemingly originating from spacetime itself, made it feel a trace of discomfort.
But before it could transmit this sliver of doubt to its companions through the biological signal network—Buzz!!
An indescribable hum that did not travel through any medium, but acted directly upon the fabric of reality and the deepest consciousness of all sentient beings, suddenly rang out.
This hum was like a tremor piercing through all dimensions, produced when a universal law was forcibly plucked.
Immediately after, a light appeared.
A light that could not be described by any known color, dazzling to the extreme yet seemingly containing ultimate nothingness, instantly swept across the entire star system like a rising tide, at a nearly conceptual speed that transcended all physical rules and the speed of light.
This light swept across the twisted surface of the planet Aetherland, swept across the viscous amber oceans, swept across the spiral bone mountains and agonizing forests, and also swept across the dozen or so Qu in low orbit who were appreciating their artwork, as well as the exquisite biological ship behind them.
Bizarrely, this light did not bring any physical effects of heat, shockwaves, or energy radiation.
It seemed to be merely a piece of information, a judgment from a higher dimension.
And in an infinitesimally small instant before the light arrived...
A paradoxical moment that absolutely violated the law of causality from a physics perspective, known as an omen or a pre-echo—those dozen or so Qu, along with their ship, had their very existence begin the process of disappearing, just like pencil marks erased from a canvas.
It was not an explosion, not decomposition, not vaporization.
It was a more fundamental, common-sense-defying total evaporation.
Their forms first became blurry, as if losing their anchor to the real world; their colors faded, and their details dissipated.
Then, the matter, energy, and even the deeper informational structures that made up their bodies silently collapsed and dispersed like a sandcastle in the tide, returning to the most basic particulate state. Even these particles seemed as if they had never formed the existence known as Qu.
They did not even have the time to generate a trace of shock, fear, or doubt. Before this causality-defying light truly arrived, they had already been thoroughly and cleanly erased from the physical universe.
Until their death, or rather, until their nothingness, they did not know what had happened.
They did not know who had used what kind of power to end their existence in this completely incomprehensible manner.
This dazzling and bizarre light, which wantonly trampled on the physical rules in the material universe, was precisely the specialized neutrino pulse wave targeting the Qu genetic sequence, jointly released by the neutrino pulse arrays of nearly a hundred concatenated Human Empire Imperator-class flagships.
The release mechanism of this pulse wave involved the near-miraculous technological domain touched upon by the Forerunner civilization at its absolute peak.
Initiated at superluminal speed, it would continuously self-optimize and break through limitations during its propagation, ultimately reaching a nearly infinite speed of transmission.
And this energy release equally and precisely covered all space within the array's effective range, completing the purification of all intelligent life carrying the target genetic sequence through a method that transcended conventional means of destruction...
If one could observe from a perspective that transcended the speed of light and looked down upon the entire Triangulum Galaxy, they would be able to see an even more magnificent and heart-palpitating scene.
In that vast spiral arm sector at the edge of the galaxy, spanning four thousand light-years, an invisible yet transcendentally perceivable purification wave swept past silently, like a cold current of absolute zero sweeping over a boiling water surface.
This wave did not destroy planets or extinguish stars; its targets were extremely precise and extremely cruel. Wherever the wave reached, all individual Qu organisms—whether hidden in deep nebulas, lurking on barren planets, or sailing through the cold void, regardless of their form, size, or strength—evaporated and returned to nothingness simultaneously in the exact same instant, as if executing a pre-programmed deletion command.
Within the four-thousand-light-year range, all the marked crimson light spots on the Imperial fleet's tactical star map successively dimmed and disappeared completely.
One pulse, one judgment, one regional extinction targeting an entire race.
With its extremely cold efficiency, the Human Empire declared to the Triangulum Galaxy, and even to this universe, the ultimate price to be paid for angering and blaspheming humanity.
And this was merely the resounding prelude to a revenge and purge on a much larger scale.
The main forces of the Qu civilization would inevitably be thoroughly enraged by this slap in the face that echoed across the sea of stars.
After all, this light of purification was like dropping a boulder into a quiet pond, and the ripples it caused were spreading to every corner of the Triangulum Galaxy at an unprecedented speed.
For the Qu civilization entrenched here, it was an incomprehensible and terrifying tsunami sweeping through their soul network.
Within the four-thousand-light-year star sector covered by the pulse wave, all Qu individual signals connected to the main network abruptly stopped and fell into dead silence in the exact same instant.
This large-scale, regional, collective extinction of their kin, completely unexplainable by their existing scientific theories, immediately triggered the Qu civilization's highest level of alarm.
Confusion, anger, and a terror of unknown threats originating from life instincts grew madly in the collective consciousness of the Qu.
They could not understand what power had caused all this, but their arrogant nature of modifying and purifying other civilizations led them to view this as the most naked provocation and declaration of war.
Almost without any hesitation, all untouched Qu main fleets within the Triangulum Galaxy poured out like an alarmed swarm of bees from the nebulas they hid in and the star systems they occupied. Carrying the fury to destroy everything, they launched a full-scale assault toward that four-thousand-light-year star sector that had just been purified and was filled with mysteries of death.
They vowed to seek out the audacious provocateur and reshape them in the most agonizing way, turning them into eternal specimens to warn future generations.
Meanwhile, inside the magnificent bridge of the Dark Angels' flagship Invincible Truth, where Lion presided.
The atmosphere remained solemn and grim.
The massive holographic star map projected from the central console was updating data in real-time from various reconnaissance ships and long-range detection arrays.
On the star map, the massive clusters of red light spots representing the main forces of the Qu civilization surged like bursting floods from multiple directions toward the defense lines meticulously constructed by the four Primarchs and their legions.
Their sheer numbers almost dyed nearly half the star map red.
"They are here." Lion's voice was as steady as a mountain, devoid of any fluctuations.
His gaze swept across the rapidly approaching enemy swarm on the star map. "Based on trajectory calculations, it is estimated that within three standard hours, the Qu vanguard forces will make contact with our outermost reconnaissance outposts and warning defense lines."
He looked around at the holographic images of his three brothers beside him—the silence of Mortarion,
the grimness of Perturabo,
and the gloominess of Curze.
"Remember the established strategy. The initial contact should primarily be evenly matched, and can even appear slightly disadvantaged. Make sure to convince them that we are a tough bone to chew, but not an unchewable one.
What we need is to firmly attract their main forces here and catch them all in one fell swoop, rather than scaring them away."
"Understood," Perturabo replied concisely.
"Agreed," Mortarion responded heavily.
"Heh."
Curze still let out a barely audible chuckle, his pupils flashing with crimson light, as if he had already seen the wonderful sight of the prey falling into the trap.
With the deployment set, the images of the three Primarchs subsequently dissipated, each returning to their command posts, preparing to meet the incoming storm.
Not long after, in a star system located in the core area of the defense line, personally overseen by Lion.
This star system originally had three rocky planets and an asteroid belt. Now, it had undergone massive militarized modification by the Dark Angels' engineering troops in an extremely short period of time.
The planet surfaces were covered with automated turrets, missile silos, and energy shield generators. The asteroids were hollowed out and transformed into hidden firepower platforms and hangars. The entire star system had already been turned into a massive, spike-covered steel fortress.
Under Lion's direct command, a task force fleet composed of a hundred various ships was currently holding the outer orbits of the star system in a tight formation.
Although these hundred ships were all the backbone of the Imperial Navy, including strike cruisers, heavy cruisers, and even over a dozen Imperator-class battleships, purely from the perspective of numbers and formation, they indeed appeared somewhat thin and weak compared to the Qu vanguard fleet slowly dropping out of superluminal state and appearing at the edge of the star system in the distance.
The main body of the Qu vanguard fleet was still biological ships, but their specifications far exceeded the worm warships Curze had encountered.
They came in various shapes: some were like deep-sea arthropods with hideous carapaces magnified countless times, some looked like space jellyfish covered in spikes and cysts, and still others had exteriors resembling twisted, constantly pulsating conglomerations of internal organs.
The most massive among them exceeded a hundred kilometers in length, like living planets cruising in the sea of stars; the shadows they cast seemed capable of swallowing stars.
The surfaces of these biological giant ships were covered with thick biological armor shining with a greasy luster. Countless cysts, gun muzzles, and sensory organs wriggled on their bodies, exuding a nauseating aura of life and a crushing pressure of destruction.
There was no warning whatsoever, nor was any communication needed.
During the interval of completing their formation deployment, the Qu vanguard fleet took the initiative to attack.
Thousands of gun muzzles resembling giant biological ovaries violently opened on the surfaces of those behemoths. The next moment, countless clusters of biological plasma emitting a dark green or muddy purple light, with diameters rivaling small cities, shot toward Lion's fleet like a dense meteor shower, trailing corrosive energy wakes.
Wherever these plasma clusters passed, space twisted, emitting devastating energy fluctuations. Their power was enough to easily melt through continental shelves and even thoroughly turn a planet's surface into a magma hell.
Judging solely from the might of this first volley, Lion's fleet seemed as if it would be completely submerged by this tide of death in the very next second.
However, facing this terrifying volley capable of destroying numerous planets, the Imperial fleet under Lion's command displayed extraordinary discipline and tactical proficiency.
They did not choose to clash head-on, nor did they immediately launch a devastating counterattack.
The fleet's formation rapidly shifted. Energy shields deflected and depleted the impacts of the plasma clusters at maximum efficiency, while the ships themselves executed exquisite evasive maneuvers.
Occasionally, a few ships had their shields overloaded, and their armor was grazed by plasma, leaving scorching molten craters and emitting billowing thick smoke. Though they appeared severely damaged, they had actually cleverly avoided vital areas and still maintained combat capability.
They likewise fired back with hard-light arrays, plasma cannons, and plasma torpedoes. The firepower seemed ferocious, but it visibly failed to penetrate the thick biological armor of those giant biological ships, only leaving some charred marks and shattered carapaces on them, as if falling into a deadlocked, bitter struggle.
This scene, falling into the eyes of the Qu main force observers in the distance, undoubtedly confirmed their judgment: this enemy indeed possessed impressive technology and combat power, and also had the technology to purge targeted enemies over four thousand light-years, but that was highly likely a one-time consumable weapon.
Now, this enemy was fighting back and forth with their vanguard forces. Clearly, the scales of victory were tilting in their favor.
This evenly matched performance lasted for about several standard hours.
It was not until Lion confirmed through the tactical network that the majority of the Qu main fleet had entered the predetermined encirclement area, and the sharpness of the vanguard forces had been significantly worn down by this deadlocked battle, that his armor-covered finger tapped the armrest of the command throne.
"The act should end now," he muttered softly to himself, then raised his head, his gaze burning like a torch. "Entire fleet, lift firepower restrictions. Target: enemy vanguard fleet. Saturation strike, execute immediately."
The instant the order was given, the aura of the entire fleet changed completely.
The shields that were previously struggling to hold up instantly stabilized and strengthened by several magnitudes, emitting an even more dazzling light.
The gun muzzles of all ships—whether macro-cannons, lances, or missile silos—adjusted their firing parameters at the same time and locked onto their respective targets.
The next moment, a true torrent of destruction erupted.
Tens of thousands of scorching lances, like the judgment of gods, tore through the void and precisely pierced those massive biological ships.
Giant needle-shaped tungsten steel rounds fired by electromagnetic macro-cannons and accelerated to sub-light speeds smashed fiercely into the biological armor of the Qu ships like the hammers of the Grim Reaper, triggering disastrous internal chain explosions.
Antimatter torpedoes dense as a swarm of bees trailed dark blue wakes as they drilled into the wounds of the enemy ships, releasing matter-collapsing effects that annihilated everything.
Furthermore, pitch-black beams fired from the main guns of several battleships at the core of the fleet, utilizing the principles of dark matter disintegration, erased the Qu ships in their path along with the surrounding space altogether.
And this was merely a single all-out volley.
The Qu vanguard fleet that was menacing and seemingly holding the advantage just moments ago rapidly melted, disintegrated, and exploded like ice and snow under the sun beneath this suddenly erupting, devastating firepower far beyond their comprehension.
Sickly green biological plasma mixed with ship wreckage formed a brief, brilliant nebula of death in the vacuum.
The battle was declared over within minutes.
Lion's direct fleet completely annihilated the invading Qu vanguard forces with infinitesimal losses... so small they could be almost ignored entirely.
Almost at the same time, encrypted communications from Mortarion, Perturabo, and Curze also came in succession. Their contents were concise and consistent: "Vanguard purged."
"Defense line intact, enemy annihilation complete."
"Prey in the net."
In the first clash, the Empire dealt the Qu civilization a heavy blow with perfect disguise and absolute power.
Now, the trap was set, and the bait had taken effect.
Next, what they would have to face was the full-scale, frenzied counterattack from the Qu civilization after witnessing the complete annihilation of their vanguard...
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