Zeke and Guilliman discussed the resources currently being consumed by Changyuan.
Meanwhile, Archmagos Khor and Zeke's student, Khorasith, stared intently at the defense line below, which was the crystallization of the wisdom of the Necrons and humanity.
They really wanted to go down and scan it with their personal detectors; even an idiot could tell how brilliant the technology concentrated in that defense line was.
If they could fully understand the technology of this defense line, it would be worth dying for!
"Alright, the two of you stop looking. We are leaving Changyuan now."
The fleet, spearheaded by twenty brilliant-class battleships, slowly passed through one of Changyuan's checkpoints, Longmen Pass.
The warships slowly traveled through the dark matter shield. When Zeke's fleet arrived in the cosmic void outside Changyuan, Guilliman and the others saw the ongoing battle.
The brilliant-class battleship is the active warship of the Terran Dominion, and its detection range is naturally sufficient. Therefore, under the brilliant-class battleship's detection systems, Guilliman quickly spotted the Tyranid Swarm engaging the joint Necrons and Human fleets.
Among this Tyranid Swarm were warships shaped like Zorin protozoa and cosmic battleships shaped like the Tyranid Swarm.
The dense Tyranid Swarm could no longer be described as blotting out the sky, because they were in the cosmic void.
During the battle, the Human fleet and the Necrons fleet barely needed to aim; they only needed to fire simultaneously.
In the cosmic void, the Tyranid Swarm forces were endless, surging towards their position like a tide.
The Human fleet fired indiscriminately, and weapons such as thick Particle Lances easily pierced the bodies of these creatures.
The endless Tyranid Swarm charged the defense line of the Humans and the Necrons, but they were often collectively slaughtered by the Necrons and Human fleets halfway there.
This was not a battle; it was a massacre.
This thought occurred to Guilliman.
"You think this isn't a battle at all, but a massacre, right, Guilliman?"
Zeke, who had been standing beside Guilliman, instantly discerned what Guilliman was thinking.
"No..."
"You are overthinking it. Look closely at the situation of the battle, and then tell me whether this is a massacre or endless despair."
To prevent Guilliman from underestimating the Tyranid Swarm, Zeke waved his hand, and an even more terrifying scene appeared before Guilliman.
The Tyranid Swarm was indeed constantly being killed by the Necrons and Human fleets, but during the fighting, a large number of Tyranid engineering units appeared on the battlefield.
These consumption drones had nothing else to do; all they did was fly towards the wreckage, take a fierce bite, and completely devour what were once their comrades, now mere corpses.
Of course, the consumption drones had little combat power.
They barely even had any defense. Most of the drones were destroyed by the firepower of the Humans and the Necrons either on their way back or while consuming the wreckage.
Yet, Guilliman could still see that, despite the massive losses, a large number of drones were able to return to the Hive Ship.
After they returned to the Hive Ship, the entire organism would melt away.
Subsequently, more consumption drones would emerge from the Hive Ship to consume more resources.
Whenever resources reached a certain level, the Hive Ship would divide and produce more battleships, which would continue to charge toward the defense line of the Necrons and the Humans.
Upon seeing such a terrifying sight, Guilliman finally understood why the Humans on the Galactic Rim found it nearly impossible to deal with these creatures.
However, this scene alone was not enough to illustrate the danger of the Tyranid Swarm. Zeke once again used the brilliant-class battleship's detector to pull up another image.
It was a scene where a large number of the Tyranid Swarm broke through the Human and Necrons defense line, swarmed inside a Human warship, and completely chewed it into a derelict hull.
In addition to the direct biting attacks by the Tyranid Swarm, there were also numerous "concentrated acid" attacks.
Even more frighteningly, Guilliman saw some large, strange Tyranid Swarm units that, like battleships, could spew out blobs of "acid" from their weapon ports.
Theoretically, the warships of the Necrons and Humans were basically immune to the concept of acid, yet the acid produced by these creatures could still corrode the warships.
Furthermore, the range of these things was astonishingly far, allowing them to trade fire with the Necrons and Human warships across light-years.
Besides this acid, he also saw some missile-like entities, which were the Tyranid Swarm's Catastrophe Missiles.
The power of these missiles should not be underestimated. If an ordinary Human frigate was focused down by them, its shields could easily be broken.
If the commander failed to promptly mobilize other large battleships to assist at that moment, the frigate would completely vanish.
It would become a cloud of dust and scrap metal in space. Although most of the crew were combat Iron Men, there were still Human crew members aboard.
These Humans and Iron Men would all sacrifice themselves for humanity.
"Guilliman, do you see? These creatures don't just have a numerical advantage; their quality is also quite good."
"The numerically superior creatures you see are merely cannon fodder used to deplete our weapons, ammunition, and energy."
"The Tyranid Swarm uses this cannon fodder to continuously drain our weapon energy and firepower. This allows their true Tyranid vessels, those capable of contending with our battleships, to sneak in attacks."
"Furthermore, don't underestimate these ordinary Tyranid Swarm battleships just because they are cannon fodder. This fodder possesses considerable quality; they have been specialized, and their attack systems are extremely effective."
"If you genuinely fail to unleash firepower upon this cannon fodder Tyranid Swarm, once their numbers reach a certain threshold, they can still pose a deadly threat to our warships."
Zeke spoke while Guilliman listened, calculating silently in his mind as he watched the battlefield before him.
"Uncle Zhou, judging from the current battle, the Tyranid Swarm holds an absolute advantage. Our energy and ammunition are constantly being consumed, while they can continuously initiate new attacks by consuming their own kind."
"Although this expenditure of resources is acceptable for us, if this battle continues for too long, with their strength increasing while ours decreases, it will not be good news for humanity."
"Even if we have achieved 'reverse meter reading,' facing such endless enemies makes it difficult to sustain, even with that advantage."
"More importantly, we cannot even confirm whether the combat units these creatures are currently displaying represent their peak strength."
"Uncle Zhou, I suddenly understand why you wanted to explore the outer reaches of the galaxy. Continuing like this really won't work out."
Guilliman successfully figured out in his mind the reason why Zeke wanted to explore the outer reaches of the galaxy.
In response, Zeke smiled. It was certainly excellent that Guilliman understood his thoughts, but his understanding was still somewhat incomplete.
After all, the Black Hole-Class battleship had already been manufactured, so how could it always be the creatures doing the eating?
The Black Hole-Class battleship was the thing he created specifically to compete with the creatures for resources.
However, Zeke was not ready to show this particular thing to Guilliman yet.
He glanced at Guilliman, who now looked revitalized and full of fighting spirit, and silently deleted the image of the Black Hole-Class battleship he had originally planned to show him.
This was fine. After he took Guilliman on a tour of the outer reaches of the galaxy, even if they gained nothing, Guilliman would redouble his efforts upon returning to the Imperium.
Zeke's fleet did not continue pushing forward; instead, it stopped in place. Soon, a Necrons warship, composed of a Necrons World Engine, merged into the human fleet formation.
Although the appearance of the two fleets was completely different, their presence together felt seamless, and they spontaneously formed a battle formation.
Silent King Szarekh also arrived inside the warship where Zeke was located.
"I'm here," Szarekh said. After entering, he didn't idle; instead, he picked up a pastry that Zeke and Guilliman had left untouched on the table and took a small bite.
With the help of human scientists, these Necrons metallic constructs could now enjoy delicacies and convert them into energy for their actions.
Enjoying fine food is a pleasure for living beings, and the Necrons, having regained their souls, were naturally pursuing this pleasure as well.
"How do we plan to leave? Do we need to fight our way out? If we need to fight, I will immediately mobilize the garrison forces in the Changyuan region to launch a full-scale counterattack."
"Don't be fooled by the distance between the combat zone and Changyuan. The weapons equipped on the members can reach that far. It's just that to conserve our resources, the remaining forces usually don't unleash their full power unless the Tyranid Swarm is right at our doorstep."
Szarekh inquired about Zeke's intentions while enjoying the delicious pastries provided by his side.
"No need to rush that. Szarekh, you have traveled outside the Galaxy many times. I wonder if you have encountered any other civilizations."
The Necrons slept for 60 million years, and during that entire time, Szarekh had been wandering outside the Galaxy, searching for a way to restore the Necrons' souls.
"Yes, there are many god-level civilizations similar to ours, but they are all very far away from the Galaxy."
"The closest civilization to us is an offshoot of those long-ears from our Galaxy."
What Szarekh said caught Zeke completely off guard.
"Tell me more about this offshoot." Hearing the name 'Aeldari,' Zeke became interested.
One must know that the main constituent forces of Warhammer were the Aeldari, T'au Empire, Necrons, Orks, Imperium of Man, and the Chaos Daemons.
As of now, in the eyes of humanity, the Chaos Daemons, T'au Empire, and Aeldari were no longer considered enemies, especially since the T'au Empire had been completely destroyed by humanity.
Although the Aeldari had not been completely destroyed, they posed no threat whatsoever to humanity, and humans generally couldn't be bothered with them.
Hearing this statement from Szarekh, Zeke's interest was piqued.
"I encountered those Aeldari about 600 years ago while wandering. I can confirm they are creations of the Old Ones, and they are quite similar to the Aeldari in our part of the Galaxy."
"This new Aeldari offshoot seems to have mastered most of the Old Ones' technology, and they also possess advanced psychic technology."
"Of course, I didn't seek out those Aeldari simply because they had mastered most of the Old Ones' technology."
"After all, even the Old Ones couldn't solve the problem of the Necrons lacking souls."
"The main reason was that in the star system where the Aeldari were located, I encountered a peculiar race. Don't you humans refer to us Necrons as the Necrons?"
"In truth, we cannot be counted as undead in space. After all, we are merely metallic constructs. To use your current terminology, we should be considered mechanical life forms. What I encountered were true undead."
"They belong to an interstellar civilization that, after complete death, can rise again within their already rotting bodies."
Good grief. Upon hearing this, Zeke knew what that thing was: the genuine Space Undead.
The Galaxy is vast and full of wonders; the emergence of an undead race is understandable.
"So what was the result, Szarekh?"
"Since you encountered a civilization so skilled at manipulating souls, theoretically, your desire for souls should have been achievable."
Zeke was extremely interested. Logically, since Szarekh had encountered such a civilization, this soul-manipulating race should have been able to grant them souls.
But why did Szarekh, who had encountered these Space Undead 600 years ago, fail to retrieve souls for the Necrons?
"They are indeed highly skilled at manipulating the soul of an entity. I even struck a deal with one of their Undead Archmages to grant a soul to one of my subordinates."
"However, after that Undead Archmage granted a soul to my subordinate, my subordinate ceased to be mine. The soul he was given hijacked my subordinate's data stream and turned him into his subordinate."
"My Solar Scythe Guard instantly became the thrall of that Necromancer!!!!"
When speaking of this incident, Szarekh intensified his tone considerably, clearly looking furious.
Even without saying it, Zeke could tell that Zallak had definitely suffered a loss when dealing with that Undead race.
"I won't hide it from you: if it weren't for the sheer number of the Tyranid Swarm blocking the outer reaches of the Galaxy and engaging us, and the fact that that civilization is simply too far away, I would genuinely want to lead a massive army and wipe out their entire civilization!!!"
Alright, that confirms it.
Szarekh's final statement directly confirmed that the Space Undead race had indeed left him with very unpleasant memories.
But after angrily blurting out that sentence, Szarekh deflated like a burst balloon.
"Forget it. I was just venting. It's better not to conflict with those Space Undead.
Compared to them, every unit we lose is a unit gone, while their Legions are endless."
"They can resurrect our already dead units, and even weapons and fleets that have been completely destroyed, restoring their combat effectiveness."
The Necrons used to be metallic constructs, and because they lacked souls, every death was an unacceptable loss for the Infinite Empire.
If a unit with its complete memories truly died, the Infinite Empire would simply lose another member.
Even now that the Necrons have souls and can continue to produce more Necrons Empire members, there is still a gap compared to that Space Undead race.
Those Necromancers can even resurrect fallen robots and grant them a soul that obeys their commands in combat... Even more terrifying, these entities can perform rituals en masse, capable of reanimating even completely damaged spacecraft and deploying them into new battles.
Facing such an enemy, especially while having to deal with the Tyranid Swarm back home in the Galaxy, Szarekh did not want Zeke to take his forces and wipe them out.
In Szarekh's estimation, even if they succeeded in wiping out the opposing force, the losses would definitely not be minor.