The Chaos Gods in the Warp began their shady operations, but since the Emperor was watching over the Warp, the Chaos Gods of the Warp only dared to use a small fraction of their energy to prevent being discovered by the Emperor.
At the same time, Noah's Warp Devouring Bomb was still continuously consuming the negative energy within the Warp, and to ensure that their Chaos Demon Army would not continue to shrink...
The four Chaos Gods in the Warp also had to deal with this matter.
Because of this, only Tzeentch could strike with full force, and he sent out his renowned Greater Daemon, Kairos.
As for the other three Chaos Gods of the Warp, they were responsible for watching The Emperor and fixing the problems that kept appearing in the Warp.
In any case, the problem could not be allowed to become more severe; they had to deal with this issue as much as possible.
Kairos accepted the joint appointment from the Chaos Gods. He would command the demon army under the Chaos Gods, including the combined forces of the Chaos Gods led by 32 Greater Daemons jointly dispatched by them, to stop Noah.
Kairos, who was entrusted with this mission in a time of crisis, was somewhat caught off guard. He looked at his patron god, Tzeentch, and then looked at the joint army of Greater Daemons composed of 32 Greater Daemons assembled by the Chaos Gods.
In addition, he glanced at the intelligence provided by his patron god, concerning the massive Imperium of Man army led by Noah in the real universe.
The two million Space Marines, and even the 1,000 Custodians fighting alongside them, made Kairos's scalp tingle.
What an enormous military force this was; this army, if thrown into the Webway, would be enough to give the Chaos Daemons a hard time.
Not to mention that these troops were in the real universe, where they, the Warp Daemons, would be weakened.
"Patron God?"
"Should we reconsider this?"
"An army composed of 32 Greater Daemons will not be a match for that Chaos God, Noah."
"The 1,000 Custodians around him are enough to cut us into fine pieces."
Kairos certainly did not want to boost the enemy's morale while lowering his own, but the facts were undeniable.
Forget the two million Space Marines; the 1,000 Custodians accompanying Zhou Xing were an insurmountable obstacle for their Chaos army.
Not to mention that Noah was also surrounded by a massive number of Astra Militarum troops.
These were not the Astra Militarum of the past; the combat power of these Astra Militarum troops wearing power armor was also quite formidable.
Kairos could not believe that going after the enemy with the few people he had was any different from seeking death.
Tzeentch was obviously displeased with his subordinate's cowardice.
However, he had to admit that what Kairos said at the moment made sense.
Relying on an army like this, stopping Noah was naturally impossible, so Tzeentch bestowed a new blessing upon Kairos.
Endless power surged through Kairos; at this moment, he had far exceeded the limits of what an ordinary Greater Daemon could achieve.
But this alone was not enough; Noah's combat power in the real universe far exceeded the limits of a Greater Daemon—that guy was like a humanoid demigod.
Although Kairos had now surpassed the combat power of an ordinary Greater Daemon, he would still only be slapped to death when facing Noah.
To prevent this plan from failing again, Tzeentch bestowed one of his most beloved divine artifacts upon Kairos.
It was a page from the Book of All Knowledge, containing the terrifying divine power of the Lord of Change.
The Book of All Knowledge was Tzeentch's most cherished Chaos divine artifact.
This was the treasure Tzeentch valued most highly; a single leaf from it was no ordinary item.
Normally speaking, the Book of All Knowledge could not be damaged.
Much less have a page torn out and given to an ordinary Greater Daemon.
But Noah had truly given the Chaos Gods a headache.
To take revenge on Noah and to prevent his revenge from looking like a joke, Tzeentch couldn't worry about formalities anymore.
After the page from the Book of All Knowledge merged into Kairos's body, the blue light surrounding Kairos became even more dazzling.
His original image as a two-headed blue bird also changed; hard scales appeared on his body, and the two heads became wiser.
One head looked toward the past, and he would only speak the truth; one head looked toward the future, and he would only speak lies.
The Daemon Prince of Change, meticulously crafted by the Chaos Gods, had appeared in the world.
Furthermore, the aura of the Book of All Knowledge was enveloped by the aura of a Greater Daemon, preventing the mishap where Kairos would immediately return to the Warp upon appearing in the real universe.
If the Warp Daemons were encountered in the void, Noah's powerful warship firepower could easily destroy them.
However, if the encounter took place on a planetary surface, it would be different; facing the appearance of Warp Daemons, the warships originally parked in planetary orbit would be unable to perform orbital bombardment.
The Warp would disrupt the concepts of time and space, and the appearance of a powerful Daemon Prince of Change like Kairos would make this disruption even more intense.
Even for a powerful force like Noah's Patrol Fleet, only the wanli-class cruiser that Noah initially brought from the Terran Dominion could conduct effective strikes.
Because ordinary warships cannot strike across space, only a wanli-class cruiser or a battleship can achieve attacks that transcend space and time.
This was a specific capability unique to god-level civilizations.
At this moment, Noah only had one such warship capable of fighting the Chaos Gods.
"How do you feel now..." A faint, ethereal voice sounded in Kairos's ear, and Kairos turned both of his bird heads toward his god.
"My God, I feel wonderful!!"
Kairos felt the boundless power surging through him, along with the sensation of being enveloped and protected from rejection by the real universe.
Since serving his god, he had never felt such bliss.
"Then go now. Remember to intercept Noah's fleet, but absolutely do not engage them in space."
"The moment the Imperium of Man's army appears on a planetary surface is the best time for you to strike—a war of attrition!"
"These humans usually love wars of attrition, but now, wars of attrition are what they can least afford."
Tzeentch was the Lord of Change, after all. He was still clear about the general command logic of the Imperium of Man's army: the Imperium of Man's army liked to build strong camps and fight dull battles.
In the former Imperium of Man, because they had an unmatched size...
In the conventional sense, no civilization could truly withstand the Imperium of Man's style of attrition warfare, because no one had a stronger foundation than the Imperium of Man.
But things were different now. The Imperium of Man's resource expenditures were fully allocated, and development was proceeding rapidly. If the Imperium of Man entered a war of attrition at this time... as long as those Orks were effective enough, and Kairos slowly planned his schemes to disperse Noah's forces, then Noah would no longer be so terrifying.
He would make things difficult for Noah.
He would let Noah know that even if he was a top Scientist with a powerful brain, it was absolutely impossible for him to calculate everything.
Change, endless change, was the main theme of this galaxy.
As Kairos led the Daemon Prince of Change away, Tzeentch already felt the power on his own body beginning to strengthen daily.
This was why the Chaos Gods were difficult to deal with. For an entity like Tzeentch, the more changes that occurred in the galaxy, and the more frequent they became, the stronger he would grow.
Previously, his performance was poor mainly because Noah's existence directly shredded most changes; few people could operate outside of Noah's calculations.
Sending out a Kairos was naturally not the entirety of Tzeentch's plan.
The Chaos Demon Army was not the most important main force in this war; the greatest reliance in this war should be those Orks.
After deploying his forces, Tzeentch, uncharacteristically, sought out Gork and Mork and conveyed a message to them.
A Waaagh! A very exciting, very joyful Waaagh! was about to begin in the Orks' territory.
Of course, to avoid conflict with Gork and Mork and disrupting his plans, Tzeentch merely sent this message to inform Gork and Mork.
As the Lord of Change, he understood these entities in the Warp; he believed that when the Orks learned that humans were about to start a WAAAGH! with them, Gork and Mork would inform the Orks below to carry out this joyful WAAAGH!.
The development of events did not, in fact, exceed Tzeentch's expectations; this time, the Lord of Change demonstrated his powerful ability to manipulate destiny, with the threads of fate constantly swaying gently in his hands.
While Noah's fleet was still en route to its destination, the Ork fleet was gathering, with a large number of Orks assembling in the Sector Noah was about to head to.
However, unlike the Ork Waaaghs of the past, this time the Orks had become more organized and rhythmic.
It is unknown what the Orks had figured out; the Imperium of Man's existing detectors could only detect a portion of the Ork movements, with most of the Ork fleet movements remaining outside the Imperium of Man's detection capabilities.
The Pioneer Sector, this type of Sector is fundamentally different from a conventional Imperium of Man Sector.
Each Pioneer Sector is a Sector where the Imperium of Man expands into external territories.
Behind the Pioneer Sector are the worlds of the Imperium of Man, and in front of the Pioneer Sector are worlds filled with a large number of Orks.
Although Orks are ubiquitous throughout the galaxy, compared to the Ork worlds in front of the Pioneer Sector, the number of Orks within the Imperium of Man can be said to be relatively "scarce."
This is the front line where humanity pushes into the Ork worlds, but the Pioneer Sector has rarely been able to advance into the Ork worlds.
Humanity has always been on the defensive.
As the Imperium's foremost front line against the Orks, they always detect any unusual Ork activity at the first opportunity, and this time was no exception.
"Why have the Ork forces suddenly made irregular movements?"
"Immediately report to the Sector Governor's Mansion, let the Sector Governor's Mansion decide on this matter, and if necessary, report to the Departmento Munitorum.
We need support. These Orks are probably going to launch another Waaagh! again."
The Astra Militarum of the Imperium of Man, upon discovering the irregular movements of the Ork forces, immediately chose to report the Ork activity upwards.
When Noah led the Imperium of Man's expeditionary fleet to the Sector Governor's Mansion of this Sector, the Sector Governor of that Sector had just received such news.
"Warmaster," Valerios of the Pioneer Sector immediately stood before Noah.
"Something urgent has happened, hasn't it? Speak."
Noah, having just arrived in this Pioneer Sector, was not an arrogant person; he still needed to first understand the local situation.
The local Sector Governor clearly wanted to report something, and Noah naturally would not let him remain silent.
"Yes, Warmaster, our forward outposts have detected large-scale fleet movements by the Orks."
A large number of Ork battleships, cruisers, and warships of all sizes are heading towards the Pioneer Sector. They seem to be preparing to attack, something we have never encountered in nearly 40 years.
"Originally, these Orks mostly engaged in wars among themselves. The Imperium truly needed to intervene with its armies only when they produced an Overlord and actively expanded outwards."
"According to the data and information we collected previously, it is currently not the time for the Ork Orks to engage in coordinated combat, but Warmaster, they have already begun coordinated combat."
Valerios said with a solemn tone, "Warmaster, I have a bold conjecture. I think it might be the Chaos Forces interfering with the Ork battles here. It's possible that your expedition with the army has been exposed."
Since the Great Rift opened, Chaos is no longer a word that cannot be spoken. Everyone in the Imperium of Man knows they have a powerful enemy in the Warp.
The unknown brings more fear to humanity, but the known, on the contrary, promotes human resistance against it. With Noah's intervention, the Imperium of Man no longer blocks knowledge about Chaos but actively disseminates it to those capable of understanding the situation.
As long as education is in place, the Imperium will still be able to produce countless righteous individuals to guard against and strike at Chaos in various ways.
One must believe that the wisdom of the masses will ultimately be more comprehensive than the wisdom of a few.
This is also why this Sector Governor can now directly utter the word Chaos and even make conjectures.
"What you said is possible, after all, so far, we have not conducted a detailed investigation of those Chaos Gods in the Warp. Although I have struck at them several times, they remain tenacious."
"But no matter what, what the Imperium needs is profit, what it needs is resources, and the best profit and resources are directly opposite us."
"In any case, since these Ork fleets have already gathered, whether it is a Chaos conspiracy or not is no longer important to us. Without my intervention, can your Pioneer Sector withstand the Ork attack?"
Noah naturally knew this might be a Chaos conspiracy, but how could Tzeentch's plan be so easily deciphered?
Just as Noah said, whether it was a Chaos conspiracy was no longer important. What was important was that the Orks had already gathered.
"No," Valerios lowered his head in shame.
"I apologize, Warmaster, we cannot resist the current tidal wave of Ork fleets and the massive Ork army that has gathered."
"The total fleet here in the Pioneer Sector only amounts to 12 battleships, but the number of battleships the Orks have gathered has already exceeded 40."
"The enemy's scale has far exceeded our expectations; the Pioneer Sector will not be their match."
"You are very honest, Governor," Noah had a good impression of such an honest Governor who genuinely admitted his inadequacy.
"Valerios, from now on, you will follow me and inform me of the specific situation here in the Pioneer Sector. As for those Orks, we are here on an expedition.
Even if this war cannot plunder the profits we need, we must first deal with this batch of Orks."
Plundering enough resources was very important to Noah, but with the gathering of the Ork army, eliminating this invading batch of Orks was also very important.
The Imperium of Man possesses a vast army, but its military expenditure is already excessively high.
While a massive army can directly suppress an Ork attack, it is not cost-effective. What the Imperium lacks most now are resources.
Since Noah had come, he had to deal with the opponent first.
The joy on Valerios's face was undisguised when he heard Noah tell him to follow him.
Excited, he responded repeatedly, "Warmaster, please give your instructions. Whatever needs to be known, please entrust it to me; I will certainly execute it flawlessly."
What a great honor it was to be able to follow and serve near the Imperial Warmaster!
Even though he was currently a Sector Governor, this was still true.
There were countless Sector Governors in the Imperium of Man; who was he? Furthermore, he was merely the Sector Governor of an expansion zone.
If Noah had not arrived here, he would not even have had the qualifications to meet him, much less walk alongside him now.
"Your first instruction is to mobilize your sector's PDF troops to prepare for battle. The Imperium cannot deploy too many legions for the upcoming fight; I need you to mobilize the local sector's own fighting forces."
Rather than drawing reinforcements from other regions of the Imperium of Man, Noah preferred to use the local ground forces first.
Doesn't the transport via transport ships cost money?
Doesn't the mobilization of the Astra Militarum, the mobilization of the PDF, and the shipping of supplies cost money?
Everything costs money. The Imperium of Man is impoverished to this degree and must be meticulous in its planning.
Do not assume the PDF's combat strength is weak; the PDF in these frontier sectors are traditionally the elite among the Imperium of Man's PDF, and their fighting capability is not inferior to the Astra Militarum.
Constantly engaging the Orks means they possess extensive combat experience against them; to some extent, they are even more effective than standard Astra Militarum forces.
Valerios did as instructed, using the communication device he carried to transmit Noah's order throughout the entire sector.
He himself remained closely behind Noah, ready to receive the next instructions he would issue.
"Tell me, as Sector Governor, do you know how many PDF troops are available for combat here?
Also tell me, what is the combat strength of the Ork fleets? Have they managed to acquire any of the advanced Human weaponry equipped in your region?"
Having dealt with the Orks before, Noah knew well that they were highly unreasonable, and their technology did not follow a traditional technological path.
They entirely rely on their belief ('I reckon') to construct their technological system and combat strength. Therefore, what they possess and what they have seen are the most crucial factors.
When they observe the Imperium of Man's Titans, they can manufacture Gargants capable of rivaling the Imperium of Man's Titans.
The true strength of their Titan-level combat forces depends primarily on what materials they manage to collect.
This also depends on what they have seen, and whether their WAAAGH energy is sufficient.
Given that the armies of the Imperium of Man have begun comprehensively updating their equipment, and this frontier region has always been supplied with a large amount of advanced Imperium of Man gear, the Orks' combat strength naturally increases proportionally.
While they certainly cannot 'reckon up' the cutting-edge technology provided by Noah, they can modify captured technology and put it to use.
"As of now, we have only observed 140 smaller Gargants. Ork Gargants capable of fighting Warlord-class Titans have not yet been discovered."
After hearing Noah's questions, Valerios provided his answers; as a Sector Governor, he was competent.
The fact that he could rattle off these statistics without needing to consult records proved that he was a diligent pioneer governor.
"Very good."
"Being able to state the data without hesitation means you are a competent Sector Governor. I am very satisfied with you. Next, I will dispatch Space Marine reconnaissance units to investigate the Ork situation."
"Your mission is simple: begin mobilizing your local PDF in preparation for battle."
"Considering that the upcoming battle with the Orks may not be easy, I will allocate a batch of Astra Militarum equipment for your PDF to use."
When Noah set out, he naturally brought a large quantity of supplies. In addition to supplementing the Astra Militarum, these supplies included a large amount of reserve equipment.
Reserve equipment is meant to replace gear for Soldiers after the Astra Militarum's equipment is damaged. However, considering that the lifespan of the Imperium of Man's Soldiers is generally shorter than that of their equipment.
Therefore, some of these reserve armaments can also be put to use, specifically by equipping the PDF.
Valerios beamed with joy. He truly hadn't expected such benefits simply by staying near the Warmaster; the Warmaster was actually willing to provide a batch of Astra Militarum equipment.
"Thank you, Warmaster. On behalf of all PDF Soldiers and officers, I thank you for your generosity."
Without another word, Valerios immediately dropped to his knees, expressing his reverence for the Warmaster.
"There is no need to be so polite. They are also defenders of the Imperium. Since there is surplus equipment, it is only natural that the warriors should be equipped with it."
Noah waved his hand, and a Psychic Power emanated from him, gently raising the kneeling Sector Governor.
"Now, follow me." To facilitate command, Noah naturally needed to go to his command cruiser to oversee the overall situation.
As Noah departed with the Sector Governor, the Space Marines who had arrived with him had already begun their sortie.
Although Noah commanded a large number of Space Marines, due to their mass production, there were rarely Space Marines as incredibly powerful as Titus.
For scouting the Orks, ordinary Space Marines were only suitable as members of infiltration and assassination squads; the real mission had to be entrusted to the strongest among the Space Marines.
To ensure no accidents occurred, Noah specifically brought Titus along for this expedition.
As the former Captain of the Ultramarines' 2nd Company, he had now become a Chapter Master. He commanded a full 1,000 Space Marines. Following Noah's order, he was currently leading his battle-brothers to investigate Gorgon 9, the planet where Ork activity was most rampant.
Four strike cruisers loaded with 1,000 Space Marines, plus one battle barge, escorted this batch of Space Marines into orbit above Gorgon 9.
At this moment, Titus solemnly donned his Space Marine helmet. Although they had become standard astartes troops, the colors of the major Legions were still preserved.
For example, the astartes Soldiers led by astartes officers of the Ultramarines faction wore blue livery.
This not only preserved the traditions and customs of the various astartes Legions, but more importantly, it facilitated mobilization by the commander.
Different astartes Soldiers have different specializations, and the focus of the officers' command is also different.
"The Thunderhawk Gunship is ready. Chapter Master Titus, please proceed to the landing point."