The patrols of the Custodes doubled again that day, now consisting of 4 Custodes paired with 4 Sisters of Silence, a combination that made the Lord's movements even more difficult.
Even if these Harlequins were the elite and cream of the Harlequin troupe, facing such a terrifying lineup, it was hard for them to gain any advantage.
But would the Aeldari just give up like that?
Of course not; they had already successfully predicted that they would fail, so they could not allow such a failure to occur; they had to change this future.
The Aeldari must not disappear.
Although the number of Custodes had increased significantly, the Harlequins came up with a new method: they used a small number of Harlequins to act on the planet, attracting the attention of the Custodes and Sisters of Silence squads, drawing them away to create opportunities for the other Harlequin troupes.
Relying on the Webway left by the Old Ones, these Aeldari schemes were successful; the Custodes' desire to engage in a proper fight gave these Harlequins an opportunity.
They successfully installed their Warp devices in 107 of the 108 Worlds.
Although the Harlequins suffered considerable losses, in the continuous engagements, almost none of the 40 players from each of the 107 Worlds remained.
Initially, the Custodes still thought about capturing them alive, but later, the Custodes and Sisters of Silence directly teamed up to kill them, no longer caring about live capture; killing them was enough.
However, because they held back at first, they successfully achieved their goal, with a total of 312 remaining Harlequins!
These 312 individuals collectively arrived at the last world of the Segmentum Tempestus 108 Worlds.
They were preparing to achieve success in one fell swoop with their numerical advantage, but at this time, Trajan was already overwhelmed by the situation in the Segmentum Tempestus Worlds.
Although the Custodes had eliminated many Aeldari Harlequins, the enemy seemed to have already achieved their objective.
Under this assumption, Trajan was forced to come outside Noah's laboratory to request a meeting with Noah.
"Creator, Commander of the Custodes Trajan is requesting a meeting outside the laboratory?"
Noah, who was conducting experiments on how to strengthen the Custodes and make them even more powerful, received a report from his intelligent subordinate.
"Trajan? Why is he, a Commander of the Custodes, not focusing on security issues and cracking down on the Ecclesiarchy, but coming to find me?"
Noah was somewhat confused as to why Trajan would come to him, but he could ask directly, so he said.
"Adjutant Alexander, let him in."
The heavy alloy door of the laboratory slid open silently, and Commander of the Custodes Trajan strode in.
His iconic golden Custodes armor gleamed under the soft light of the laboratory, but his steps carried a clear heaviness.
His majestic face could not hide his solemnity and sense of defeat.
He walked in front of Noah, struck his right fist heavily against his breastplate, emitting a dull yet loyal thud, and then knelt on one knee.
"Warmaster!" His voice was still resonant but carried a hint of seeking punishment.
"Trajan... I have failed your trust!"
Noah put down the datapad in his hand, turned around, and looked at him curiously: "Rise and speak, Trajan. What happened? What made you, a Commander of the Custodes, personally come to seek punishment?"
Noah was quite interested in Trajan's personal plea for punishment; what could possibly make a Commander of the Custodes come to him?
"Warmaster, it's about the Segmentum Obscurus 108 Worlds."
Trajan did not stand up to answer Noah's question but remained kneeling on the ground.
"Recently, Aeldari Harlequin forces launched large-scale, organized infiltration attacks against my World 108.
Although we fought hard to intercept, kill, and capture a large number of Harlequins, based on the latest intelligence analysis and battlefield feedback, we judge that the enemy has very likely succeeded in installing an unknown, highly threatening Aeldari device in 107 of those Worlds."
"The reason we obtained this intelligence is that the Harlequins on the other 107 Worlds have almost all withdrawn, leaving only a large number of Harlequins appearing on the last world, and their numbers exceed the usual.
"To find out what the enemy's purpose truly is, we gathered over 300,000 Grey Knights and used psionics to predict.
It was predicted that if the Aeldari succeeded, the Segmentum Obscurus 108 Worlds would suffer an unprecedented blow."
At this point, Trajan's tone became even heavier.
"The enemy employed extremely cunning tactics, using small forces to feign attacks to draw our main force, while their main force used Aeldari Webway and other technologies for infiltration.
We... we failed to completely stop them. Currently, only the last world has not been confirmed to have a device installed."
"This time, our Custodes, Sisters of Silence, and Grey Knights Forces cooperated in combat, severely damaging the enemy, but failed to completely thwart their strategic intent.
This is my dereliction of duty; please punish me, Warmaster!"
Trajan lowered his head again.
He had originally intended to resolve this matter independently with the strength of the Custodes, to prove the value of the Custodes to the Warmaster, but he did not expect the Aeldari's actions to be so treacherous and difficult to guard against.
Now, only the last planet of the Segmentum Obscurus 108 Worlds has not been completely infiltrated by the Aeldari.
Although this also caused the number of Custodes and Sisters of Silence forces to gather on this planet, rapidly increasing the defensive strength on the last planet, Trajan dared not gamble.
No one could be sure whether, even with such a large army, they could intercept the actions of these Harlequins.
At the same time, no one could be sure whether the other 107 Worlds had truly been completely infiltrated.
What if it was a feint to draw them away?
These 108 Worlds of the Segmentum Tempestus were created by Noah, and Trajan dared not let these 108 Worlds be lost just like that, so he chose to come and tell Noah about this matter.
Noah listened quietly, his face not showing the anger Trajan had expected, only his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Are the Aeldari you speak of those foolish xenos we once encountered on Macragge?"
"Yes, the xenos that appeared this time are those long-ears you encountered on Macragge."
Trajan still knelt on the ground as he replied to Noah.
"Good! Good! Good!"
"These damned inferior races, I didn't have time to deal with them last time, and I didn't expect them to dare to come knocking on my door?"
Noah felt like he was about to laugh out of anger; he was truly speechless, what kind of chaotic xenos dared to offend humanity now, right?
He first released a gentle psionics, lifting Trajan from the ground, allowing him to stand straight again before he spoke.
"Since they've come, let them be, but the enemy's purpose must be clarified. You just said you caught some alive; send them to me, and I will make them obediently say what needs to be said."
Noah felt it was necessary to first figure out what the other party intended to do, after all, psionics predictions still had some significance here.
But just as he had relied on psionics to search the brains of Krieg soldiers and obtain their memories when he first arrived in this universe, now he wanted to directly search the memories of those Aeldari.
"Yes!"
"I will go and bring those who are alive immediately!"
Trajan immediately went to carry out the order; he would simply do as Noah instructed, after all, that's what the Emperor said.
However, before leaving, he glanced at the Custodes volunteer who was cooperating with Noah in his laboratory.
He could feel that this Custodes volunteer's combat power had increased significantly, becoming much stronger than an ordinary Custodes.
This indicated that Noah's research had already begun to make progress, and he wondered if the Custodes, having performed so poorly, truly deserved this enhancement.