Titus, once the Captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company, is now the Chapter Master of the astartes Ultramarines Legion.
Titus experienced a great deal to become the Chapter Master from a Company Captain; he went through Chaos, and also Tyranids, and he had his fair share of dealings with Ork Beastmens.
As an experienced Chapter Master, he naturally became the vanguard for this reconnaissance mission.
Fully armored, Titus slowly walked towards the Thunderhawk Gunship, while the two Space Marines who had previously cooperated with him also stood to his left and right.
Since the great Space Marine expansion began after the Warmaster's appearance, the veteran Ultramarines have started to become officers within the Ultramarines Legion.
They are responsible for leading the vast Ultramarines Legion, ensuring grassroots combat effectiveness.
Millions of Ultramarines forces are no longer what they once were; as the most common Space Marine type in the Imperium of Man, they naturally received Noah's favor.
Therefore, as time progressed and Noah's demand for ground forces increased, the number of Ultramarines Space Marines was almost equal to the sum of all other Space Marine Chapters.
Within the Imperium, the total strength of the Ultramarines had reached 9 million, such a massive Ultramarines force naturally led to all the original veteran Ultramarines becoming Sergeants in the army.
"Adjutant Gadia, immediately check the status of all our Space Marines and ensure they are ready for deployment."
If it were before Noah's appearance, a Space Marine Chapter being dispatched to a planet, and merely as a reconnaissance vanguard, would have been almost impossible.
After all, in many cases, an entire sector might only have one Space Marine Chapter, or some sectors might not even have a Space Marine Chapter stationed, only a company or similar unit.
However, all of this changed with Noah's appearance; his arrival significantly increased the strength of the Space Marine Legions.
With a large number of forces, the Space Marines naturally reverted to their previous Legion-scale operations, and even situations where several Legions United to fight emerged.
More importantly, as the enemies they faced became increasingly powerful, Space Marine Chapters also began to be used as ordinary vanguard squads.
"Check complete, all Space Marines are ready for battle.
Adjutant Titus, it is an honor to work with you again; the last time we met, you had already become a Chapter Master."
"Adjutant Gadia, it is also an honor for me to fight alongside you again; when we met again, you had also become the Chapter Master's Adjutant, how do you feel?"
As old acquaintances, they naturally conversed after entering the Thunderhawk.
"To be honest, it's subtle, the Warmaster's appearance has changed too much," Gadia stated truthfully.
"If it were in the past, I couldn't imagine myself becoming an Adjutant of a Chapter, and specifically the Chapter Master's Adjutant."
"More importantly, we are only going to scout a planet, yet a Chapter of over a thousand Space Marines has been deployed."
"The changes in the galaxy are too fast, so fast that I can barely keep up."
Noah brought too many changes to the Imperium of Man, and any large-scale change for ordinary people is an unparalleled transformation.
Not to mention changes at the Legion level like the Space Marines, an entire Chapter being dispatched as an advance reconnaissance unit has never appeared in the Space Marine's combat doctrines.
Gadia's feeling was subtle, and Titus was no different.
After all, he had now become a Chapter Master, and his becoming a Chapter Master was simply because Noah needed to undertake this expedition, so he was recalled.
Both Gadia and Titus fell silent, but the other person in their squad spoke up.
Caius, once a Space Marine in Titus's squad, has now become the Captain of the 1st Company of Titus's Chapter.
"Yes, Space Marine, the Warmaster's appearance has indeed changed much, and now he is watching us from the flagship; we represent the glory of the Ultramarines."
"Courage and Glory!" The three almost simultaneously raised their fists and heavily struck their breastplates.
Titus: "It is an honor to fight alongside you two Space Marines."
Gadia, Caius: "Us too, Chapter Master," the two said in unison.
While the three of them were conversing, all the Space Marines of Titus's Chapter had boarded the Thunderhawks, and one Thunderhawk after another was launched from the battle barge.
When the Space Marine Thunderhawks of Titus's Chapter appeared on the surface of Planet Gorgon 9, Titus discovered through the Thunderhawk Gunship's reconnaissance system that at least 600 Thunderhawk Gunships had appeared around him.
Each Thunderhawk Gunship meant three Space Marine Space Marines were present, and 600 meant at least 1,800 Space Marines centered around Titus.
Clearly, the Space Marine Chapters Noah dispatched this time were not just Titus's Chapter.
He dispatched over 5,000 Space Marines to this planet for reconnaissance operations in one go.
Chaos and the Ork Beastmens meant trouble, so Noah naturally could not be careless.
Considering that he was there to seize resources, large-scale orbital bombardments and planetary destruction were not within Noah's considerations.
Everything requires vast resources, and sending engineering ships to collect resources in the galaxy is much more cumbersome than gathering resources on a planet.
Some things can easily disappear directly in the face of attacks that can pierce planets, and these things are usually rare resources. To obtain these rare resources, Noah would not directly choose to destroy planets as before.
Thus, the Space Marines unleashed their combat power, which had been dormant for a long time; the planetary landing began.
Dense Thunderhawk Gunships were dispatched by Noah, while the massive fleet was anchored in the cosmic void around the planet, watching the scene unfold.
"Order our fleet to be vigilant, to promptly receive any distress calls from all Space Marines, and simultaneously order the 4th Sub-fleet to now enter planetary orbit, ready to provide orbital bombardment at any time."
"Although we are somewhat conserving resources now, our Space Marines are also valuable; they cannot be sacrificed arbitrarily."
Noah began to enter command mode, and the Scientist's powerful brain started to work.
Countless Space Marine Thunderhawk Gunships headed towards the planet's surface. Such a large-scale aerial deployment naturally drew the attention of the Orks on the ground.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for their planet to see a large-scale arrival of Space Marines.
Although the Imperium of Man's Ork frontier sector would occasionally dispatch its forces to strike at nearby Orks,
to eliminate some Orks that were becoming uncontrollable, even then, it was primarily the Astra Militarum that was deployed.
The Astra Militarum, combined with some armored units, could directly crush small Ork tribes into dust. The sight of such a large-scale Space Marine deployment was rare.
Even though Space Marines in the Imperium of Man are not as precious as they once were, at most, a company of 100 or up to 200 Space Marines would be deployed.
But now it was different; a large number of Thunderhawk Gunships appeared on the planet's surface, and the Orks grew excited.
"Waaagh! The big 'uns are here!"
"Lads, Boss He and I are charging!"
Seeing the large number of Space Marines performing orbital drops, the Orks showed no fear; instead, they became excited.
"Charge, charge, charge!"
"WAAAGH!"
"Everything for a greater WAAAGH."
"Adjutant Gadia, relay my orders: have all Thunderhawk Gunships open fire freely to eliminate the assembling Ork forces and prepare for landing."
"Our mission is to investigate whether there are giant Ork constructs similar to Titans on this planet and their technological development, and to send this data in detail to the Warmaster."
"Now, order all squads to push out in all directions to find the Orks' main war machines and confirm their technology level."
"If any suspected Titan-class units are found, do not engage; retreat immediately or call for orbital bombardment. We will deploy more powerful Titans to destroy these things."
How to strike at Orks?
On this point, the Imperium has always had a mature system, and with Noah's addition, this system has been significantly improved.
When Titan-class units appeared among the Orks, the Imperium of Man would originally send more powerful Imperial Titans to destroy them without mercy.
With Noah's arrival, the number of Imperial Titans greatly increased, making the Imperial Titan Legions that the Imperium could deploy even more powerful.
At the same time, orbital bombardments became more precise, also allowing Space Marines to rely on orbital bombardments from warships during combat, unlike before when they could only bomb at random.
After all, the precision of the Imperium's orbital bombardments was, frankly, somewhat unimpressive.
"The orders have been relayed to all squads. Now, all squads are advancing towards their designated target locations, Chapter Master. Let us also advance together."
Originally, Titus, as a Chapter Master, should have had his own Chapter Master's Honor Guard.
However, due to the large-scale expansion of the Imperium of Man's Space Marine Legions, many Space Marines who previously could not have become Chapter Masters now also became Chapter Masters.
Although they had become Chapter Masters, they still retained their old habits.
Titus, like his old Chapter Master, did not particularly like to bring his Honor Guard; instead, he preferred to charge with just two men.
"Brothers, it is an honor to fight alongside you again." Titus did not directly answer the question but instead heavily struck his left chest with his right hand.
"Courage and Honor!"
The two also understood Titus's meaning; they similarly struck their left chests heavily with their right hands.
"Courage and Honor!"
The three exchanged glances, smiling; it felt just like when they went to deal with the Tyranid Swarm before.
However, before the three could say anything to each other, the Thunderhawk Gunship began to shake violently.
"Chapter Master Titus, our Thunderhawk Gunship is under attack from Ork anti-aircraft weapons. Their attack is very fierce, and the Thunderhawk Gunship is about to make an emergency landing. Please be aware that the gunship is about to make an emergency landing."
"I need to perform repairs. Please protect the Thunderhawk Gunship, the three of you."
The gunship pilot's voice came through the comms, and the three, who were originally preparing to execute their mission, exchanged helpless glances.
Well, just like on that planet, something unexpected happened again.
However, they could resolve this unexpected issue; they just needed to hold out against the Ork attack until the Thunderhawk Gunship was repaired.
"No problem, Brother Si'er. You can repair the Thunderhawk Gunship as much as you need."
"The task of repelling these Orks is enough for the three of us. I promise you no Ork will disturb your work."
The Thunderhawk Gunship had to make an emergency landing and thus could not execute its mission, and Titus's Thunderhawk Gunship was not the only one facing this predicament.
As the Space Marines began to make emergency landings, the Ork orbital defense facilities, which the warships had been unable to scan from the ground, began to open fire. A massive anti-aircraft weapon system began to pour firepower into the sky.
This scene made Noah somewhat surprised.
"Impressive! The Waaagh! energy of these Orks is quite interesting; it actually shielded the fleet's scans of the planet's surface. They are truly getting more and more formidable."
"It seems you haven't been shy about conducting orbital bombardments on this planet frequently."
The Ork anti-aircraft firepower network was not scanned by the fleet immediately.
This undoubtedly surprised Noah.
Undoubtedly, the Imperium of Man's fleet frequently came here for orbital bombardments, which led these Orks to have a 'thinking' moment.
He admitted calmly to Valerios: "Yes, Warmaster, because this planet is relatively close to our newly developed sector, the Orks here have also developed relatively quickly.
To curb their growth as much as possible, we come here for a regular sweep almost every six months."
"Well done, Valerios." Noah raised his hand, and a pure Psychic Power entered the Sector Governor's body.
"As a Sector Governor, I am very satisfied that you remember these things.
This energy is your reward; it will clear some unnecessary things from your body, making you healthier."
"The Imperium needs responsible Sector Governors like you. You are excellent."
Seeing the Sector Governor perform to this extent, Noah, who was accustomed to the administrative incompetence of many in the Imperium of Man, expressed his approval.
"This is my duty, Warmaster, part of my responsibility."
"Hmm," Noah did not continue speaking with him, but instead issued his command.
"Dispatch four strike cruisers into planetary orbit to conduct orbital bombardments to support our Space Marines."
"We must quickly ascertain the technological level of the Orks on this planet so we can deploy our Legions specifically, and then move on to another world."
Noah's words were only about grand strategy, but currently, on the small-scale strategic front, Titus and his team were engaged in a massive battle with the local greenskins.
Battle cries made the greenskins rush even more excitedly toward the Thunderhawk Gunship where Titus and the others were located.
The sound of Bolter fire turned the charging greenskins into chunks of shredded flesh.
Bolter weapons, which are still in use since Noah's appearance, naturally hold a unique position; for example, after minor modifications, each Bolter round is equivalent to a small nuclear fission device.
This immense power ensures that the Bolter is still equipped by the Imperial Army even today.
Under the slaughter inflicted by Titus's team, the greenskins were almost unable to approach the Thunderhawk Gunship; whenever a greenskin charged close, it was either shattered by a Bolter round or cleaved into fragments by a Power Sword.
Titus, who has become a Chapter Master, is equipped with better gear, and being equally battle-hardened, he remained completely at ease when facing the greenskins.
During the hour or so that the Thunderhawk Gunship was being repaired, over a thousand greenskin bodies fell before the three Space Marines, yet not a single greenskin managed to get close.
These greenskins, who have not yet successfully manufactured starships, could only face a one-sided slaughter when confronting the well-equipped and highly trained Space Marines.
However, due to the nature of the greenskins, fighting did not make them retreat; they only felt 'Waaagh' and enjoyment.
As the battle continued, Titus and his comrades gradually began to run low on ammunition, as Bolter rounds are finite after all.
Although the Thunderhawk Gunship carried some supplies, this replenishment was not enough to cope with the endless tide of greenskins, so Titus had no choice but to draw his Power Sword—a Power Sword in one hand and a Power Fist in the other.
At this moment, he was like Calgar, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines Chapter, quickly charging forward, then smashing one greenskin violently away with a single Power Fist, incidentally knocking down several Ork Beastmen who were rushing forward.
The Power Fist even fired several Bolter rounds, and under such an attack, the greenskin smashed away immediately perished on the spot.
The Power Sword was not idle either; when the Power Sword was swung, no greenskin could withstand its cutting edge.
As a master-crafted Power Sword provided for the Chapter Master's use, its performance exceeded that of the Power Swords equipped by regular Space Marines.
With a single strike, several greenskins were cut in half, and the terrifying power even incinerated their entire bodies.
"As expected of the artifact the Warmaster developed specifically against greenskins; I didn't realize this Power Sword also had an incineration function!"
This terrifying power astonished Titus; generally speaking, the Power Swords of the Imperium of Man do not possess the function of incinerating a greenskin after slicing through it.
However, the batch of Power Swords Noah equipped for the Imperium of Man was entirely different; as specialized military equipment designed to deal with greenskins, they included an extreme-temperature incineration function.
Targeting the unique nature of greenskin matter, simply scoring the greenskin with these Power Swords would cause flames to burn like maggots clinging to bone.
As a combination of flesh and fungus, greenskins naturally had no chance of survival when faced with high-temperature flames, and this also severed their ability to continue propagating.
The Power Sword in Titus's hand did not only possess this single function.
It was simply that they were fighting greenskins now, so the mode specifically designed for combating greenskins was being used.
Titus was now slaughtering the greenskins, engaging in melee combat while simultaneously using his ranged weapon, and the other two Space Marines in his squad were naturally doing the same.
Such a scene was quite common on the planet at this time, as the Space Marines' ammunition was eventually depleted.
The Space Marines were consuming their ammunition, while the greenskins were consuming their lives; as more and more greenskins exposed their coordinates, standard orbital bombardment began to descend.
Swathes of greenskins were destroyed by the orbital bombardment, causing them to lose their ability for large-scale clustered combat and alleviating the combat burden on the Space Marines.
Within the hour after the Space Marines transitioned to melee combat, nearly all large-scale greenskin legions were destroyed.
Furthermore, due to Noah's thorough research into the greenskins, these greenskins also lost the ability to breed large armies again; their spores were almost completely purged.
Of course, greenskin farms still need to exist, but... such designated greenskin farms can only appear on low-value land that humans do not need to use.
Since greenskins are not picky about where they grow, good land naturally has other uses; how could it be wasted producing greenskin meat?
Under the orbital bombardment attacks, the greenskin main force had been almost entirely annihilated, and the Space Marines naturally gained the ability to continue advancing.
The Thunderhawk Gunship was also repaired within these few hours.
Titus's squad's Thunderhawk Gunship began to take off and chose to return; they would return to the battlefield and transport them away again when their Chapter Master required it.
After watching their Thunderhawk Gunship depart, Titus stretched his body.
The recent combat with the greenskins was undoubtedly the best warm-up; he felt excellent now.
"Brothers, let us advance and obtain the data required by the Warmaster as quickly as possible.
There are six other Brother squads performing the same mission as us, and as Chapter Master, I certainly don't want to be the last to acquire the data the Warmaster needs."
Vast numbers of greenskins had fallen, and the subsequent fighting would clearly be easier, allowing Titus to even joke with his Brother Marines.
"Rest assured, Chapter Master, we will naturally be the first to complete the mission; we won't let the Chapter Master lose face in front of the other Brothers."
Gardia, the second-in-command, was also considerably more relaxed at this point and chimed in with Titus's conversation.
While the two were talking, Brother Caius, the other Brother in the squad, had already pinpointed their destination.
"Brothers, I have marked the coordinates where we need to go for you. Let us depart now."
Caius was reliable, as always.
Titus and Gardia stopped talking, glanced at the coordinates, and immediately set off.
The journey was extremely smooth; after all, with the orbital bombardment as a prerequisite, large-scale greenskin forces had been eliminated, and how could small-scale greenskin forces be a match for three Space Marines?
A common greenskin would merely last a single encounter before Titus crushed its skull with his hand or a cannon shell sent it back to the Warp to meet its gods.
For the greenskins, this was simply their nightmare.
The fighting that used to make them feel 'Waaagh' and happy no longer felt 'Waaagh.'
If they couldn't even touch their opponent, where was the enjoyment?
Everything was going smoothly for the Space Marines fighting on the planet's surface. This allowed Noah to obtain the specific data on the planet's Orks within a few hours. Soon, a force of 200 million Astra Militarum troops was deployed to the surface.
Joining them in the operation were over 20,000 astartes forces, who would fight alongside them shoulder-to-shoulder.
However, aside from this, Titan forces were not dispatched. Titus and his men had confirmed that there were no Ork Titan-class units present on this planet.
Adhering to the mindset of saving resources wherever possible, Noah did not deploy Titan-class combat units.
Nevertheless, the deployment of this many Astra Militarum and Space Marine troops was sufficient for the operation.
After leaving behind some Battle Barges and strike cruisers to maintain orbital bombardment fire support on the planet, Zhou Qing took his warships and headed toward other planets.
This operation was extremely smooth. Among the 49 habitable planets across 20 star systems, Noah completed deployment on 48 of them within a short span of seven days.
Until the 49th planet—
When he reached the 49th planet, Noah originally intended to follow the previous operational standard and dispatch Space Marine troops for infiltration and reconnaissance, but a scene entirely beyond his expectation occurred.
Planet 49, the mountainous world of Olmet, began to move!!!
This was not the most critical thing; the moment the planet moved, Noah observed an extremely sickening energy emanating from the satellite orbiting near the planet.
"Investigate the satellite on the left side of the planet. Conduct a detailed scan of that area and find out exactly what is on it!"
The instant the sickening Chaos energy appeared, Noah issued the scanning command.
The titan warship executed the order. An invisible scanning wave enveloped the entire satellite, and the results came back two minutes later.
The figure of Kairos appeared on the display screen of Noah's titan warship.
Kairos was presiding over a grand Chaos ritual, preparing to manifest the power of the Warp into the material universe.
Just as Zhou Xing looked at him, Kairos, having been empowered by Tzeentch, sensed the gaze, turned his head, and looked in Noah's direction.
"You are too late, Warmaster of Mankind! My ritual has been completed!!!"
Finally, could he finally complete his revenge?
How much time had passed since the last war?
This Warmaster of Mankind had inflicted so many losses upon them, the Chaos creatures. Finally, they could fight back!
Kairos, a renowned Greater Daemon of Chaos under Tzeentch, and a top-tier combatant among the Greater Daemon of Chaos, was a prominent participant in the two wars against the Warp led by Noah.
During the first Webway War, he didn't even manage to meet Noah before being utterly annihilated by the Grey Knights.
In that war, relying on the undying nature of Chaos Daemons, he resurrected a full 17 times.
And after that war came the battle for Misty Star Field World 108—
This war was fought even more frantically than the Webway War.
Even a powerful, renowned Greater Daemon of Chaos like him had died a staggering 199 times during that conflict.
Not to mention the ordinary Greater Daemon of Chaos; none of them suffered insignificant losses.
Finally, he had gained the ability to take revenge on Noah. Not only had his god enhanced his combat strength, but his ritual had also succeeded.
Kairos could feel Noah looking at him. His two bird heads simultaneously turned toward Noah.
"I will have my revenge on you, wicked Warmaster of Mankind! You will pay the price for everything you have done!"
Kairos muttered incantations, but all Noah saw was a two-headed blue bird frantically chattering about something.
"Where did this two-headed blue bird come from? What is he chattering about?"
Compared to Kairos's hatred for Noah, Noah didn't recognize this renowned Greater Daemon of Chaos at all.
Kairos? Renowned Greater Daemon of Chaos? Noah couldn't be bothered. He was merely a Chaos psychic entity.
After glancing at the completed Chaos ritual performed by Kairos, Noah shifted his attention to the planet that had begun to move.
"Main cannon, open fire. Test the combat capabilities of that planet."
Chaos? Merely a clown putting on a show.
Such things could simply be dealt with by notifying the Grey Knights Forces; there was no need to worry about it.
Furthermore, notifying the Grey Knights didn't even require Noah to do it personally. The moment Kairos appeared, the news of the Daemons' presence here had already been relayed to the Grey Knights.
After the features and image were described, the Grey Knights dispatched a thousand-man squad to eliminate Kairos.
Compared to Kairos, the Greater Daemon of Chaos, Noah was more focused on the Ork warship.
A crimson Inferno Ray fired from the main cannon of the titan warship. Noah watched the shot, and then he witnessed a shocking sight.
The crimson beam was blocked by a green shield, a shield composed of the Orks' Waaagh energy.
Surrounding the green shield appeared obstructions formed by Warp energy. Red, green, purple, and blue—four colors manifested on the surface of the Ork planet-warship, neutralizing Noah's attack.
"Warmaster, we are unable to detect the opponent's shield energy readings.
Something is obstructing our sensors. Furthermore, the concepts of space and time around the enemy planet are being distorted. This is the Warp! The Warp has descended!"
The Warp can distort time and space.
Generally speaking, merely entering the Warp would not pose a challenge to Noah, but the situation right now was completely different.
The superposition of the material universe and Warp energy caused even Noah's warship to enter a malfunctioning state.
"Damn it!"
"It seems I underestimated those fellows in the Warp. I didn't expect them to have such a technique!"
Noah had ultimately been careless. Although the Warp had always affected him, that influence had rarely caused him any substantial damage.
Although the scale of the war in Misty Star Field World 108 was grand, World 108's massive size provided inherent resilience.
The combination of its huge mass, shields, and reality stabilizers reduced the influence of the Warp to a negligible degree.
However, the current situation was different. Noah only had a Patrol Fleet here, composed of conventional vessels like titan warship and battleship.
Although these warships were equipped with Gellar Fields and Warp generators as auxiliary aids.
Yet, facing the evil, profane rituals and direct intervention of the Four Chaos Gods, these devices were naturally insufficient.
Caught off guard, Noah had actually fallen into a trap.
He seemed to be trapped in the Warp?