Chapter 110 - Stand

Orders from the Warmaster quickly spread throughout the entire Imperium of Man.

The Imperial Army, mobilized within the limits of supply, began to advance continuously towards the newly opened sectors.

For the resource-rich planet, and also to resolve the Ork problem for the next few years, the Imperium of Man spared no effort in mobilizing a large number of troops.

The combined numbers of the Astra Militarum exceeded a hundred billion, with various warships ranging from capital ships to auxiliary vessels, totaling over 200,000 Imperial warships of all types setting sail.

It was fortunate that the Imperium of Man at this time possessed the ability to travel through both the stargate network and the Webway network.

Otherwise, how could ordinary Imperial Navy warships, without Gellar Fields, travel to the fringe sectors?

The Imperium of Man, this war machine, was activated at this moment.

Since Ork technology was not superior to the Imperial Navy's warships, this allowed the Imperium of Man to commit its older warships to the battlefield as well.

And all these forces were merely the first wave of troops; more forces were being drawn out from various battlefields by Guilliman, ready to be deployed into the fray.

The Imperium of Man had indeed consumed vast resources after Noah's appearance.

However, this behemoth, with millions of worlds, when its ruler decided to unleash its war potential, meant an unparalleled scale.

It was enough to overwhelm any challenger with its sheer size!

Several Rogue Trader Dynasties received orders from Guilliman; they dispatched large numbers of warships from their respective dynasties to provide ample supplies for the entire expeditionary force.

And all of this was merely the situation on the third day after Noah issued his orders.

All Might.

Three days had passed, and the fighting here continued; vast numbers of Orks were being slaughtered by the Custodes, Space Marines, and Astra Militarum.

Although each batch of Orks that died would increase the combat power of the remaining Orks, it was now difficult for ordinary Astra Militarum Soldiers to conduct effective slaughter against them.

But even so, the necessary slaughter was still happening.

These three days were the best time for the Orks, but they failed to seize these three precious days.

And today, three days later, Noah gained command of all Imperial support forces.

Numerous unit designations appeared on his command interface; one army group after another, one cluster after another, were preparing, awaiting his orders.

Although all of this was only visible on the command panel, Noah could discern the massive legions represented by each designation.

"Attack! All for the manifest destiny of humanity! Let these green xenos know what they are truly doing!"

Such a massive army naturally did not require Noah to give detailed commands; all he needed was to issue such a directive.

The higher the-ranking commander, the larger the battlefield, the smaller the commands they needed to issue.

As Noah's command spread throughout the army via the quantum command network, the war machine of the Imperium of Man let out a deafening roar.

The first to arrive were the Deathwatch special forces. Clad in black power armor and armed with weapons specifically designed for xenos, they infiltrated behind the Ork lines like shadows.

Each squad was equipped with Noah's latest developed WAAAGH! Field Disruptor, and wherever they went, the collective consciousness of the Orks disintegrated like a severed spiderweb.

Immediately after, the iron tide of the Astra Militarum began its advance.

Unlike previous tactics, this time they employed the "anvil and hammer" tactic.

Leman Russ Tanks formed a mobile defensive line, steadily advancing, while Hellhound Flamethrower Tanks in the rear poured purifying flames onto both flanks.

The temperature of the flames, after Noah's improvements, could reach a terrifying 9600°C, a temperature sufficient to deactivate the Orks and eliminate any possibility of them regrowing from the ground.

In the sky, Valkyrie transport aircraft formations, like migrating birds, air-dropped waves of Stormtrooper squads equipped with Meltaguns.

Stormtrooper squads, heavily equipped with power armor, became akin to small astartes.

They were the most reliable assault force within the Astra Militarum; in the absence of astartes, Stormtroopers were the best assault troops.

Most awe-inspiring was the entrance of each Titan Legion.

Dozens of Warbringer Titans and several warlord-class titans formed an assault array; their seismic steps caused the earth to groan.

When an emperor-class titan stepped onto the battlefield, its shadow alone was enough to strike fear into the most insane Orks.

The Titans' weapons no longer aimed for indiscriminate killing but for precise strikes on the Orks' energy nodes, dismantling their WAAAGH! fields.

In orbit, the Naval Fleet demonstrated new tactics.

Lunar-class cruisers no longer conducted orbital bombardments but instead deployed tens of thousands of drones. These drones carried special nano-disintegrating agents, covering the battlefield like a swarm, systematically decomposing Ork spores, cutting off their reproductive capability at the root.

In the void, a large number of Imperial Navy fleets engaged in large-scale combat with the Ork fleets, and massive amounts of Ork space hulks were reduced to scrap in the void, ensuring the complete ineffectiveness of Ork attacks.

The Imperium of Man's fleets were not just Noah's powerful Patrol Fleets; their originally vast naval vessels played their best role at this moment.

Under the Warmaster's command, the four sub-sectors surrounding the pioneering sector also fell into the flames of war. Over 80 star systems were consumed by flames, burning the galaxy in the naval battles between the two sides.

Noah stood on the command bridge, observing the entire battle through holographic projections.

As the Warmaster, he didn't need to give too many detailed commands; he only needed to see where troops were needed and dispatch them, where support was required and send forces there.

In this battle, the Imperium of Man leveraged its advantage of scale; vast armies were continuously transported from the rear, allowing Noah to think little. He only needed to issue a simple command for a full-scale offensive.

Years of operation and development reached their peak at this moment. The Imperium of Man had simply been constantly facing top-tier powers, which led to a perpetual shortage of troops.

After all, the production speed of the latest model warships could not keep up with the current demands of the Imperium of Man.

However, when facing its old adversaries again, the Imperium of Man found itself completely dominant.

The vast Empire possessed enough veteran legions; the sheer size of those old fleets was sufficient to destroy any previous enemy.

This battle not only brought Noah immense satisfaction but also made the Chaos Gods in the Warp clearly realize the terrifying extent to which the Imperium of Man had developed.

This was a realm even more formidable than during The Emperor's Great Crusade.

I stand before you, do I resemble my former self in any way?

Because the Imperium of Man once again mobilized a massive army, the four Chaos Gods of the Warp gathered together again, realizing that their plans seemed to have encountered some problems.

Khorne angrily reached out, grabbed a Lord of Change standing next to Tzeentch, and violently crushed him.

"Tzeentch!"

"I demand an explanation! Didn't you say your plan wouldn't have any issues? What is this mess now? Is this still part of your plan!"

The enraged Blood God caused the retainers following him to become even more frantic; they attempted to start a fight with the Lord of Change.

"Why are you panicking? Everything is within the plan!" Tzeentch waved his hand, resurrecting the Lord of Change that Khorne had crushed, and spoke irritably toward Khorne.

"Everything is within the plan. There is no need to rush. Everything is under my control."

Although the current situation had clearly exceeded Tzeentch's expectations, as one of the hardest talkers in the entire galaxy, he wouldn't give up now.

"Everything is within the plan!" Tzeentch repeated, unsure if he was trying to convince others or himself.

"Plan?"

"Of the things happening now, which one is within your plan, Tzeentch?"

Slaanesh also appeared in Tzeentch's domain right after Tzeentch finished speaking, and her face was full of mockery.

These four beings were fundamentally hostile toward each other. If Noah hadn't been so overwhelmingly powerful that they couldn't cope, they never would have United.

Even though they were currently forced to Unite against that terrifying Scientist because of Noah, they wouldn't hesitate for a moment to set traps for each other whenever possible.

"I said everything is within the plan, everything is within the plan! Understand?"

Tzeentch didn't want to offer any explanation because he couldn't, so he could only choose to repeat himself.

Snap—

Following the crisp sound of a whip, the Lord of Change that Tzeentch had resurrected was instantly struck down again, turning into a mass of energy.

"You! Slaanesh, don't go too far! I'm not someone easily bullied!"

What could Tzeentch do when his subordinate was shattered by another Chaos God yet again?

Besides shouting a few empty threats, he could only wave out another burst of energy and resurrect him.

The newly resurrected Lord of Change showed a look of lingering fear. Being consecutively attacked by two Chaos Gods—how terrifying was that?

The next second, a dark green beam of light enveloped him, and the recently resurrected Lord of Change was once again completely corroded away.

Endless decay and stench appeared within Tzeentch's divine domain.

Without a doubt, Nurgle had arrived.

"I think I need an explanation, Tzeentch!" The attack arrived before the person.

Tzeentch did not reply to him; he just glanced helplessly at his Lord of Change, who had been turned into energy yet again.

There was nothing he could do; after all, it was his Greater Daemon.

He couldn't just watch him be killed by the other Chaos Gods, so Tzeentch had no choice but to act again and resurrect the Lord of Change.

"Talk is talk, but if you lay hands on him again, I won't be polite!"

Three times! This was the third time! Tzeentch couldn't stand having his Lord of Change killed and resurrected again. As the saying goes, good things come in threes.

After three times, there could be no more!

But the moment Tzeentch uttered that threat, the humiliation arrived: a wave of Psychic Power filled with savagery and combat struck, instantly reducing the newly reformed Lord of Change back into energy.

"WAAAGH, Tzeentch, you lied to us!"

"You didn't say the Imperium of Man was this crazy! That Noah is about to burn down all the planets around us."

"But our lads haven't gotten any fun! Those dishonorable gits won't fight in melee at all; they rely entirely on ranged attacks!"

"My lads were all killed before they even saw the enemy! This isn't what we wanted! You must give us an explanation!"

Gork and Mork appeared before Tzeentch, and the fate of that Lord of Change was, naturally, self-evident.

For a moment, Tzeentch was furious. He wanted to roar at the figures in front of him and tell them to scram, but just as his gaze swept over them—

Tzeentch closed his mouth again.

Him, fighting five opponents alone?

Are you kidding? How could he fight that?

It was hard enough for him to fight Khorne one-on-one, let alone taking on five at once.

Fighting was impossible; he could only continue to endure.

The helpless Tzeentch had no choice but to wave out a burst of energy again, resurrecting his Lord of Change once more.

"I'm resurrected again?" Although Tzeentch's Lords of Change had experienced countless transformations.

They were practically accustomed to change, but being killed repeatedly by Chaos Gods in quick succession was a kind of change he definitely didn't want.

Yet, for some unknown reason, although resurrected by Tzeentch, the Lord of Change felt that he was still going to die.

Guided by this strange thought, he clasped his hands over his head and squatted down, preparing to die one more time.

Sure enough, no surprise occurred. Just as he clasped his head and squatted down, a Black Sun carrying searing heat and icy radiance struck.

The Tzeentch Greater Daemon who had already squatted down vanished completely without a trace under this attack. Now, even if Tzeentch personally tried to resurrect him, he could not be brought back.

The attack from The Emperor was not like those of the other Chaos Gods; The Emperor truly had the ability to instantly kill a Lord of Change.

Although the other Chaos Gods certainly could as well, they were merely giving Tzeentch some face.

But The Emperor would never give him face.

Watching his Lord of Change be utterly annihilated at that moment, Tzeentch finally snapped!

"Aaaahhh!"

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

"What exactly do you want? Couldn't you all just come over at once? And why do you insist on attacking my Lord of Change? He is innocent!"

Having his Lord of Change killed repeatedly, and then having The Emperor directly erase the Lord of Change completely, denying any chance of resurrection—Tzeentch could no longer bear it.

The Emperor, who had just arrived, watched Tzeentch's shouting with great interest, leaning calmly against a large pillar in the palace as he spoke.

"Don't you love change? Didn't my recent actions bring you change? Since there was change, why haven't you thanked me yet?"

"Come on."

"Say thank you!"

In an instant, the normally blue Tzeentch turned red, even more vivid than Khorne. He was truly beside himself with rage.

"You people!"

"You have truly gone too far!"

"Do you really think I'm easy to bully!?"

Tzeentch was enraged. For once, he shouted at all the Chaos Gods like this, and even shouted at Big E.

He was utterly resolute, showing no sign of cowardice or fear.

In an instant, before the other Chaos Gods could react, The Emperor's face immediately darkened.

What is the meaning of this?

Why is it that when he came over and killed this Lord of Change Tzeentch, this guy couldn't handle it? Isn't he trying to stir up trouble for him?

When others made a move, why didn't he shout?

Why is it only when he makes a move that this guy yells and screams at him? Is he looking down on him?

The Emperor, who had originally come looking for trouble, instantly seized the opportunity and lashed out at Tzeentch.

A golden psychic slap fiercely struck Tzeentch's bird head, knocking him so hard his head was twisted sideways.

"You dare rebel!"

"Am I the only one in the entire Warp who kills your Lord of Change?

Why are you shouting at me so loudly!"

"Why are you shouting so loudly!?"

The other Chaos Gods only killed the Lord of Change, and they didn't completely erase his essence.

But The Emperor was different; not only did he completely kill the Lord of Change, but he also landed a massive slap across Tzeentch's face.

Deep humiliation arose in Tzeentch's heart; he felt utterly disgraced.

Tzeentch's blue feathers stood on end with fury, and his entire Divine Domain began to violently twist.

Projections of countless parallel timelines flashed around him, with Tzeentch in each timeline displaying a different form of extreme rage.

"How dare you—" Tzeentch's voice overlapped into millions of echoes, but The Emperor merely raised his hand indifferently and delivered another psychic slap to Tzeentch's other cheek.

"If I want to hit you, I hit you. Do I need to pick a date?" The Emperor's golden armor shone with suffocating brilliance. "Or perhaps you think I'm easier to bully than these other useless fools?"

The expressions of the other Chaos Gods who were called out varied. Khorne laughed maniacally while raising his Blood Axe, Slaanesh licked his lips flirtatiously, and Nurgle let out a gurgling chuckle. Clearly, they were all happy to see Tzeentch suffer a setback.

"Enough!" Tzeentch shrieked, spreading his ten thousand wings, and the energy throughout the Warp began to fluctuate extremely unstablely. "I will let you witness the true—"

Before he could finish speaking, The Emperor had already punched Tzeentch in the face. This punch contained the Faith Power accumulated by humanity over ten thousand years, shattering Tzeentch's Triple Crown.

"The true what?" The Emperor grabbed Tzeentch's beak. "The true joke?"

The Emperor had come looking for trouble because Noah's plan had already led to a massive confrontation with the Warp Daemons, and vast resources of the Imperium of Man were being poured into this battle, which The Emperor considered highly unprofitable. This greatly displeased The Emperor.

These resources were clearly meant for building quasar-class battleships, and The Emperor currently had an immense fondness for these large, high-proximity battleships.

These Chaos Gods of the Warp actually dared to prevent the Imperium from building more of these battleships!

Without a doubt, their actions were dancing on The Emperor's landmine.

The Emperor decided to give these Chaos Gods of the Warp a small lesson, letting them know the magnitude of the mistake they had committed.

Facing the enraged Emperor, Tzeentch had little ability to resist; he was being battered and molded by The Emperor.

Although the emergence of humanity made The Emperor less composed than before, it also made his fighting capability significantly stronger.

Poor Tzeentch was utterly powerless against this kind of fight; he was tossed around like a ragdoll.

The storms in the Warp grew more violent. Fortunately, the Imperium of Man had already moved away from relying on Warp Travel, so this did not cause much impact on the Imperium.

Meanwhile, in the Real Universe, Noah was still commanding the Overall Operation. Large numbers of fleets were sacrificed in the battles against the Orks, but the Ork losses were also significant.

Relying on the advanced reconnaissance systems of the battleships, he could see massive Ork forces continuously arriving, but the number of Orks around this New Sector was also disappearing at an astonishing rate.

It's not as if an Ork simply emerges from the ground as a powerful Ork Warrior; they also require energy nourishment and the accumulation of time.

The quality of the Orks in the surrounding Star Sectors was currently dropping drastically after this war. However, what still gave Noah a headache were the guys on All Might.

The massive Ork army here was growing increasingly powerful; they were now strong enough to fight one-on-one against a Space Marine.

Although the Custodes could still easily slaughter these Orks, Noah's brow furrowed because of this development.

If the fighting continued, it was possible that these Orks could eventually contend with the Custodes.

"No, this cannot continue. We must stop these guys, or they might really manage to draw out a powerful Ork Leader in the Real Universe."

While observing the current battle situation, Noah planned in his mind how to eliminate or isolate the continuous stream of Ork forces rushing into this Star Sector.

The function of a powerful Warboss is not just its own formidable fighting strength, but more importantly, its unparalleled command authority over other Orks.

Once we encounter such a thing, it will be a huge headache. If a powerful Warboss emerges here and cannot be killed immediately, the surrounding Orks will undoubtedly launch an even greater Ork Waaagh!

The Imperium of Man would have to further expand the current scale of the war, and the resource consumption for the entire Imperium would be an incalculable number. Noah did not want to invest so many resources into the conflict.

To put it bluntly, war is essentially a business.

Since war has been chosen, there must be benefits. If there are no benefits, what is the meaning of fighting this war?

Now, ordinary Orks can contend with Space Marines, and the stronger Orks are even capable of exchanging blows with the Custodes.

The Ork Bosses among these powerful Orks are even more terrifying, requiring two Custodes to team up to easily kill them. The fighting cannot continue like this.

"Order all our Custodes and Space Marine troops to immediately begin retreating from All Might, and prepare to use Virus Bombs to incinerate the planet.

Purify this planet with high temperatures to prevent the generation of more Orks!"

Truthfully, Noah did not want to use the Virus Bomb, as it drastically reduces the available oxygen on the entire planet.

This would create troublesome obstacles for later resource extraction on the planet, but the increasing strength of the Orks forced Noah to choose this path.

Ensuring that no new Orks can be generated on this planet while mobilizing more fleets to block additional Orks from entering the nearby Star Sector is all Noah can do right now.

"Understood!" Prefect Wakatou accepted the order!

This former Custodes commander of a thousand men is now leading over 100,000 Custodes in slaughtering Orks on this planet.

War truly is humanity's best teacher; even the Custodes have made considerable progress in the face of such a large-scale conflict.

Under the command of Vakatou, the Custodes began a slow retreat. Although large numbers of Greenskin boys still charged forward recklessly, attempting to continue their great WAAAGH with the Custodes.

However, since Noah was already prepared to use the Virus Bomb, he naturally didn't hesitate to use Orbital Bombardment. A large number of warships began deploying their Orbital Bombardment, neutralizing the Greenskins' offensive.

After the 100,000 Custodes massacred a large number of Greenskins and cleared a landing zone, they successfully boarded the Custodes-modified Thunderhawk Gunships that had come to receive them and left the planet's surface.

The massacre carried out by the Custodes before their departure only made the Greenskins stronger.

"WAAAGH!"

"By Gork and Mork, those Golden Shrimps ran away! We are the biggest and the strongest!"

The Greenskins did not view the Custodes' departure as a strategic retreat; to them, the Custodes' actions were tantamount to fleeing. If the Custodes fled, didn't that prove they were sufficiently 'Waaagh,' even more WAAAGH than the Custodes?

The boys were excited; they had defeated those Big Golden Shrimps, and victory was theirs.

On All Might, the Greenskins held a grand celebration. They had won this great WAAAGH, causing their WAAAGH Field to swell even more.

The land on the surface that had not yet been cleansed by the Imperial Army once again produced more Greenskin boys on a massive scale, and Noah witnessed this entire scene.

"This is truly terrifying. If a civilization like this had been encountered during the early days of the Federation, it would certainly have been a difficult opponent for the Federation."

Even though the Federation had already ascended, Noah still spoke with a lingering sense of dread.

If humanity had encountered disgusting creatures like the Greenskins on their path to expansion and the peak of the starry sea, the Federation's rise would never have been so smooth, even with the assistance of the Fourth Scourge.

These guys are truly unreasonable. Ordinary civilizations that suffer heavy losses after a major war need time to recover and recuperate.

But what about these terrifying Greenskins?

They simply don't understand the concept of recovery.

As the war ended, their losses were actually increasing frantically at an incomprehensible speed.

The mushrooms in the ground were growing faster.

Moreover, in this short amount of time, the land that had originally been cleansed by the Imperial Army was constantly being encroached upon.

In just the time it took for the Custodes to retreat back to their warships, approximately one-tenth of the planet, which had already been half-cleansed, was once again covered by these Green Land Legions.

This is a terrifying civilization.

If they were allowed to appear on any human planet without being controlled, they could easily overthrow a world's army and government in just a few days.

It must be said that the Chaos Gods had indeed chosen a massive headache for Noah. He wanted this planet, but the Greenskins on it were powerful enough.

Without using weapons capable of destroying entire stars and planets, he was forced to engage in ground warfare.

"Use the Virus Bomb!

Be quick! We must stop their proliferation. Every additional one of them makes the Greenskin Boss on this planet increasingly powerful!"

"Virus Bomb deployed." The bridge sent a confirmation signal.

"Release!"

One of the Imperium of Man's destructive weapons: the Virus Bomb.

The core killing mechanism of the Virus Bomb:

The Phage-life Virus released by the bomb is extremely contagious, capable of spreading globally within minutes, and can even penetrate Power Armor and ventilation systems.

It rapidly breaks down all organic matter, turning organisms like plants and animals into sludge, while simultaneously releasing large amounts of flammable gases, primarily methane.

These gases subsequently self-ignite or are ignited by Incendiary Devices, triggering a global firestorm.

Burning the planet's surface down to bare rock, it also depletes the atmosphere of oxygen, completely destroying the planetary ecosystem.

The terrifying high temperatures deliver another devastating blow to the Greenskins' Spore Carpet, while the Greenskins on the surface will also be completely killed by the Virus Bomb's effect.

The planet's ecosystem will suffer a devastating blow at this point, ensuring that no Greenskins could possibly survive.

Of course, this was only theoretical. Noah knew very well that facing an utterly unreasonable species like the Greenskins, the Virus Bomb could not wipe them all out in one go; there would definitely be some powerful Greenskins who survived.

And this moment was critical for the Imperial Army's operation: they would deploy a large number of Titans to handle the situation.

The Titans and the Custodes would fight side by side to eliminate the last surviving Greenskins on the planet, preventing them from escaping and launching a historical WAAAGH.

Due to the massive consumption of resources, the Imperium of Man truly could not afford another massive WAAAGH.

A dark green aura enveloped the entire planet. Soon, as the warship's Viewing Anchor System activated, a global fire began to burn fiercely.

To increase the scope and power of this fire, Zhou Xing even dropped large amounts of Solid Oxygen onto the surface below.

These high-purity Solid Oxygen payloads, dropped by the warships onto the planetary surface, would rapidly decompose into flammable gases, making the combustion even more intense.

The Greenskins, who were cheering, celebrating, and preparing to feast on mushrooms and drink Mushroom Beer, were hit by an attack they had never imagined.

Terrifying flames consumed the entire planet, and this great fire burned for a full seven days.

When the flames finally subsided, All Might had become a scorched wasteland, and the once vibrant Greenskin Spore Carpet had completely vanished.

If they were only dealing with ordinary races and organisms, Noah dared to guarantee that there would be absolutely no living things left on the planet, and the oxygen would be so thin that biological survival would be impossible.

But these were Greenskins.

After the flames disappeared, Zhou Qing did not immediately send out troops; instead, he commanded the Research Vessels.

"Scan this planet and its biological signals, confirm the location of the Greenskins, and prepare to deploy the Titan Legion for targeted strikes."

"Before deploying the Titan Legion, use Orbital Bombardment to inflict more losses on the enemy."

"We must ensure that all Greenskins on this planet are utterly annihilated, and we must also ensure that not a single Greenskin escapes right under our noses. If a Greenskin leaves, it will be an unacceptable loss for us."

Large numbers of Research Vessels carried out the orders. They began approaching the planet's surface and conducted detailed inspections, while the warships' Orbital Bombardment was also ready to launch as soon as the Research Vessels detected targets.

The Titan Legion also entered the final preparation stage, ready to be deployed for ground combat at any moment.

These Greenskins must die! This war has progressed to a point where it can finally be brought to an end.

Noah thought this to himself, but Tzeentch, who was being beaten severely by The Emperor in the Warp, did not agree.

While The Emperor was beating Tzeentch, the other three Chaos Gods quickly intervened to assist Tzeentch.

The Emperor, held back by the Four Chaos Gods, did not realize that Kairos, whom Noah had eliminated once before, had resurrected at that very moment.

The page of the tome of all-knowing was still with Kairos, and Kairos's objective was very clear: immediately after his resurrection, he left the Warp and arrived in the star system where Noah was located.

Causing trouble for the Imperium of Man was the immediate priority for the Chaos Gods. It was certainly not enough to merely have Noah mobilize so many troops to fight the Greenskins here.

The planet All Might possessed vast resources, enough to completely offset the Imperium of Man's expenditure in this war.

Considering the future, the Chaos Gods needed a much larger war to counter the continuous offensives launched against them by the Imperium of Man.

The sheer quantity and quality of the forces mobilized by humanity had already shocked the Chaos Gods, and they could no longer allow humanity to develop stably.

At this moment, they could still sit high above the Immaterium and not fear humanity's counterattacks, but Noah's existence made them feel genuine pressure.

No one could guarantee whether Noah might research even more powerful weapons to deal with the Chaos Gods in the Immaterium.

For this reason, the Chaos Gods were willing to do anything that could trip up humanity; they were willing to pay the price and strive, as long as they could slow down humanity's development.

Relying on a page from the tome of all-knowing, Kairos concealed himself within the Real Universe, hiding quietly in the Void to avoid detection by Noah. Indeed, Noah had not noticed him at this time.

"Titan Legion, sortie and eliminate the remaining Greenskins!"

"We must ensure that Greenskin is utterly destroyed, leaving no possibility of survival. The entire planet must undergo absolute cleansing!"

Noah issued his orders, and the Titan Legion chose to comply. A large number of emperor-class titans began to be deployed onto the planet's surface.

If these Titans had been Titans belonging to the Adeptus Mechanicus, achieving this step would have been wishful thinking.

But these emperor-class titans were researched and manufactured by Noah. Unlike the Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus, these Titans did not emit massive radiation that irradiated everyone.

The massive titan war machines walked upon the earth, accompanied by continuous squads of Custodes Kill Teams.

The Custodes Kill Teams followed the emperor-class titans in Company units, responsible for clearing out the Greenskins here. Faced with such terrifying military firepower, the Greenskins were practically powerless to resist.

As a result of the cleansing of the entire planet's Greenskins, the remaining Greenskins had become unimaginably powerful; they were even strong enough to defeat the Custodes.

It was just that the Custodes lacked martial ethics.

No matter how powerful their individual physical strength was, they could never be a match for a mighty emperor-class titan.

The Titan only needed to gently extend its hand, lightly patting the Greenskin's head, to instantly rip open their skull... From Noah's perspective, large numbers of Greenskin life signs were continuously disappearing. As the Custodes advanced, the number of Greenskins dwindled until only one light source remained.

Of course, the sheer power of this last remaining Greenskin exceeded everyone's expectations. He had now almost become the avatar of Gork and Mork in the Material Universe.

Just as the Custodes' Volcano Cannon opened fire, this Greenskin used his Waaagh! Field to block it with a raised shield.

Vakatou was the commander responsible for dealing with this final Greenskin.

As the commander of these 100,000 Custodes, he naturally had to handle this final enemy.

Witnessing the emperor-class titan's attack being blocked by the Greenskin gave Vakatou a bad feeling, and he immediately contacted Noah.

"Warmaster, these Greenskins have mutated to an incomprehensible degree now! Just moments ago, he even blocked the Titan's attack with a single hand!"

Even though the Custodes were all highly experienced, this was the first time they had witnessed something like this. Vakatou's tone was urgent.

Noah's gaze suddenly sharpened.

He pulled up the real-time combat footage and saw the Greenskin Warlord raising an Energy Shield with one hand, forcefully blocking the emperor-class titan's Melta Cannon Bombardment.

What was more frightening was that the Greenskin's arm was visibly evolving a metallic sheen, similar to Titan Armor.

"Good heavens, these strange creatures are truly unreasonable. Immediately lead your squad to withdraw from there. Do not continue fighting that Greenskin. I will mobilize more troops to support you. Leave the emperor-class titans behind to continue suppressing the enemy."

Noah was astonished by the current strength of the Greenskin's combat power, and he immediately ordered Vakatou to withdraw.

The individual combat power of the Custodes could no longer play an effective role at this point. To resolve these Greenskins, he had to mobilize more powerful troop types, such as... the cyber rex battle construct.

The Greenskin had become extremely powerful. To prevent him from becoming even more terrifying, Noah found it necessary to mobilize forces that the Greenskin could not resist to eliminate the enemy.

"Understood, we are withdrawing now!"

The Custodes withdrew, leaving only two emperor-class titans on the battlefield, which continued attacking the sole remaining Greenskin Warlord to suppress him and prevent him from escaping. At this moment, Kairos, who had been waiting in the Void, also began to move.

His objective appeared at this time: he only needed to take this Greenskin Warlord away and send him to the outside world, which would trigger an unprecedented Green Tide.

Relying on the abilities granted by the Lord of Change, Kairos was confident he could take the Greenskin Warlord away and have him launch a larger-scale attack against the Imperium of Man.

Kairos moved quietly, and at the same time, Noah dispatched the most powerful combat weapon at his disposal: the cyber rex battle construct.

Even the Small Constructs of the cyber rex battle construct are around 1,300 meters tall, and Noah certainly wouldn't send only a small one to end the fighting in this area.

A cyber rex battle construct standing 2,876 meters tall was dispatched by him.

A Small Warship headed toward the surface of the planet All Might, then landed heavily on the ground.

The massive warship underwent deformation after landing, and immediately afterward, a gigantic Combat Mech appeared on the planet's surface. The Greenskin Warboss, currently being suppressed and attacked by the emperor-class titans, let out an excited roar.

"Wot a sight! Such a huge shrimp, I wanna fight dat one!"

The Greenskin Warlord, who had gathered the energy from the deaths of numerous Greenskins in this Star Sector, showed no fear upon seeing the cyber rex battle construct, only endless excitement.

In his excitement, his body grew even larger. His original 26-meter-tall body expanded once again at this moment.

His height continued to swell until it reached 39 meters before stopping its growth.

At this point, the Greenskin Warboss's height was comparable to that of a Warlord-class Titan.

The Ork Beastmen are just such a completely unreasonable race.

The cyber rex battle construct took a step, and the earth trembled with it.

A giant combat mech several kilometers high began to move, and the power it generated was imaginable; it was practically a mountain range in motion.

With the cyber rex battle construct firing at full power, it could easily flatten a huge city, blowing it to smithereens.

At this moment, this massive giant battle construct turned its target towards the mighty Greenskin Warboss.

Facing such an enormous war machine, even this Greenskin Warlord felt a profound sense of battle intent.

This thing is quiet, great, and exhilarating! If I could pilot it, it would be heaven!

He was the Warboss of the Snakebite Clan, the only Warboss on this planet. He was the pride of the Orks, and the faith of countless Orks rested upon him.

And now he had a resounding name.

Beast!

This was the name he had just received, a name bestowed by Gork and Mork, and it was this name that made him feel extremely Waaagh!

From childhood, he had grown up listening to stories about a Greenskin Warlord named Beast.

On their planet, there was a very ancient Gretchin who would always tell the stories of Beast to newly born Orks.

Now his name differed from Beast by only one character.

And Beast was Beast, he was Savage Beast.

This meant he had surpassed Beast, and he would become the truly most powerful Greenskin Warboss, leading the Orks to launch a massive Waaagh!

"I reckon I can build a mech this big someday; this mech is truly Waaagh!"

Savage Beast thought to himself. If he ever had the chance, he would definitely build a battle construct as massive as the cyber rex battle construct to boost his combat power in his conquests.

The cyber rex battle construct was truly the biggest and most Waaagh thing he had ever seen on the entire battlefield, but for now, he needed to consider how to survive in front of such a terrifying creation.

Although he had thought so much and even received a name for himself.

In reality, not much time had passed, only about a second. At this moment, the cyber rex battle construct was truly activated.

A dazzling, brilliant ray shot out from the main cannon of the cyber rex battle construct. It was a killing blow from the start, intended to completely erase this Greenskin Warlord from this world.

The thick red ray came directly towards the Warlord.

"Waaagh!"

"If I can be hit by such a Waaagh ray, it's worth dying for!"

There was no fear in Savage Beast's heart; only excitement for the cyber rex battle construct's combat power. The entire Ork was excited to the extreme. Just as he excitedly prepared to meet the cyber rex battle construct's attack, a blue black hole appeared beneath his feet.

No one knew why the black hole was blue, but it appeared nonetheless. Tzeentch, from within the Warp, using Kairos as a medium who had already arrived, personally pulled this Greenskin Warlord away.

The thick ray fiercely struck the surface, penetrating nearly half the planet. If the cyber rex battle construct hadn't pulled back a little force at the last moment, this planet would have been completely pierced through by this attack.

"Is he dead?" Vacatus asked curiously.

Such a terrifying attack had surpassed ordinary emperor-class titans, which were the most powerful combat weapons of the Imperium of Man.

Even the Adeptus Custodes held fear for these terrifying war machines.

These God-Machines were not something a single soldier could contend with.

The only things that could counter these giant war machines, besides other cyber rex battle constructs, were Orbital Bombardments.

"No," Noah's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Those Chaos Gods in the Warp have made their move. We are about to face a massive war; trouble is brewing!"

With one of the Chaos Gods making a move, Noah was powerless to stop it.

After all, his current abilities still had a huge gap compared to the Chaos Gods.

Even though he could kill ordinary Greater Daemons as easily as killing a chick, this was a Chaos God acting personally.

Only the Emperor could stop them.

"That fellow human on Terra did not succeed in stopping those four guys. Now this Greenskin Warlord has been snatched away, and Chaos has achieved at least half of its objective."

As a Custodian, Vakatou also realized the gravity of the situation at this moment.

"Warmaster, what should we do now? Should we immediately gather forces and launch an all-out war against the Orks?"

Since the Orks were going to fight, why shouldn't they take the initiative and launch a large-scale offensive against them in advance, to prevent that terrifying Greenskin Warlord from gathering a large number of Ork forces?

Noah shook his head.

"It's useless. You should be familiar with these Orks. Even if we launch an all-out war against them, what then? They are like weeds, impossible to completely eradicate. Can we issue Exterminatus on most planets in the galaxy?"

"It's pointless. We cannot bear such enormous resource expenditure. For us, this resource expenditure is unacceptable."

Noah rejected the suggestion made by Vacatus.

But Vacatus was not content to end it there; he once again put forward another suggestion.

"Then, Warmaster,

Can we locate his position and send out a kill team to carry out a decapitation strike? If the Orks' leader is killed, they will collapse without a fight."

Based on previous experience fighting Orks, Vacatus once again proposed an idea.

However, after this idea was proposed, Noah shook his head again.

"Don't even think about it; this method won't work.

Now that the Chaos Gods have interfered in this matter, we cannot pinpoint the location of that Greenskin Warlord unless he initiates a massive Waaagh!

Otherwise, we have no way to deal with him."

Even deploying the cyber rex battle construct didn't directly eliminate this Greenskin Warlord, which left Noah with no good way to deal with this terrifying Ork.

He could only say that in the previous battle, he had done his utmost.

Even the cyber rex battle construct was deployed immediately.

Since even such a giant battle construct couldn't eliminate the opponent immediately, then even using Orbital Bombardment from a titan ship would be meaningless, especially since Tzeentch, the Lord of Change, one of the Chaos Gods, had already intervened.

"We'll discuss the Greenskin Warlord later.

The immediate priority is to mine this planet and provide enough resources to build our moon of war.

Other matters can wait."

Since there was no immediate way to deal with the opponent, Noah decided not to bother with him for now and instead focus on handling the immediate gains.

The battle ultimately ended in a victory for the Imperium of Man, but could this victory truly be called a victory?

Tactically speaking, the Imperium of Man dealt a heavy blow to the Greenskin Worlds; hundreds of thousands of elite Greenskin armies across those worlds were completely eliminated in this war.

This means the Greenskins have been directly crippled for a generation; it would be absolutely impossible for them to develop such large-scale armies again without four or five years.

But what is the point of this?

Although he didn't want to admit it, Noah had to acknowledge the fact that even if the Greenskins paid such a huge price, what did it matter?

Greenskins from other planets can reach these few planets more easily.

Once Greenskins from other planets arrive on these worlds, the Greenskins on these planets will quickly recover their strength.

It is even possible that because the elite forces of these hundreds of worlds have been depleted, Greenskins from other worlds will be able to unify these Greenskin Worlds more quickly.

This war was meaningless to the Imperium of Man; fighting a war of attrition against the Greenskins is undoubtedly the most foolish course of action.

But if you call it a failure, it wasn't a complete failure either.

The total resource consumption for all aspects of this war amounted to roughly thirty Eternal Coins worth of value, but the Imperium of Man's profit reached a staggering 300 Eternal Coins.

Although these 300 Eternal Coins cannot all be put into immediate use.

However, with this planet in hand, the Imperium of Man is fully capable of completely mining it within the next year.

Do not doubt the Adeptus Mechanicus at this time. Under Noah's guidance, the Adeptus Mechanicus has unleashed capabilities they never imagined, with large amounts of Black Technology emerging endlessly.

They are fully capable of completing the mining of this planet within a year and continuously transporting resources to the Planetary-Class Shipyard constructing the moon of war.

Therefore, overall, the Imperium of Man gained an advantage tactically in this war, but strategically, the Imperium of Man was almost utterly defeated.

But it doesn't matter, at least they won in part, didn't they?

The human army began to continue clearing the surrounding Greenskins and prepared to end this conflict. Meanwhile, Noah had begun reconsidering whether to dispatch Astra Militarum forces to the worlds that had been purged to prevent the Greenskins from reoccupying these planets.

Of course, dispatching so many troops for garrison duty would undoubtedly be a huge expense, so he needed to have a good discussion about this issue with Guilliman first.

Just as the Imperium of Man was busy with its own affairs, the Greenskin Warlord Fierce Beast, who had been taken away by Kairos, looked discontentedly at the Lord of Change who had carried him off.

"Waaagh! What are you? How dare you carry the Great Fierce Beast!"

The Great Greenskin, Fierce Beast, who gathered the essence and power of Greenskins from over a thousand worlds, now looked very displeased at the Lord of Change beside him.

As for the specific reason?

Naturally, it was because Kairos had tightly gripped him with his two bird talons, making the Great Fierce Beast feel somewhat humiliated.

"My name is Kairos, and I am the most loyal servant of the Lord of Change."

While clutching Fierce Beast with his two bird talons, Kairos introduced himself to the other party.

"WAAAGH! Your aura looks very WAAAGH! Fight me!"

As the biggest and most cunning Greenskin, Fierce Beast now desperately wanted to fight Kairos.

He could feel Kairos's aura; this strange Two-Headed Bird possessed immense power.

He bore the blessings of his so-called Lord of Change.

A being like this was qualified to be Fierce Beast's opponent. He had just been bullied by the human using the cyber rex battle construct, and now he intended to regain his dignity from Kairos.

"Are you crazy? You brainless idiot! I saved you! Is this how you treat your savior?"

Kairos couldn't believe that the Fierce Beast he rescued was such a creature.

He was ready to attack him, his savior, right from the start. What kind of creature does that?

"I reckon you must be good for a fight!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Even if you saved me, you still gotta fight me, or else nothing is negotiable!"

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to! You just want me to go fight that very WAAAGH human, don't you!"

"I'll fight that human sooner or later, but I reckon you're pretty Waaagh too, so fight me first, or everything is off the table."

There it was, the Greenskins' unique brand of Indirect Loyalty.

Although Greenskins frequently wage war against humans, especially the human Space Marines, whom they consider very Waaagh.

The Boys and the Bosses love nothing more than brawling with those Big Metal Cans.

Influenced by this, although Greenskins constantly fight humans, they will also fiercely attack the enemies of humanity.

A being that makes even those big human Big Fellas feel very WAAAGH must surely be extraordinarily WAAAGH!

For a moment, Kairos wished he could just throw out the Greenskin Warlord he had rescued.

What Great Fierce Beast, what greatest Greenskin Warlord? This was purely a hooligan.

Not only was he ungrateful for being saved, but he was trying to repay kindness with malice and wanted to fight him first.

If it weren't for the explicit command from the Lord of Change, Kairos would move against this Greenskin Warlord right now. Did he really think that just because Kairos couldn't beat Noah, he couldn't beat a mere Greenskin?

But who was he?

He was Kairos, the Lord of Change. He was the most loyal servant of the Lord of Change, and he absolutely could not disobey the Lord of Change's command.

Fighting an ordinary Greenskin Fierce Beast here was not a sign of wisdom.

"Save your strength. I will send you to another star system, where you can rebuild your Greenskin Tribe. Then you can go find those humans and have a good Waaagh again!"

"Now shut your mouth, or I'll dump you right here, and you figure out how to get out yourself."

To make this Greenskin settle down a bit, Kairos even resorted to threats.

It must be said that this tactic was effective. An ordinary Greenskin wouldn't think this much.

But Fierce Beast was the most cunning and most WAAAGH Greenskin Warlord.

"You succeeded. I won't fight you now, but after you take me where I need to go, I'll give you a good beating!"

He thought about it, but not too much, and continued to openly threaten Kairos verbally.

...For my god's plan, for my god's plan, I cannot kill this guy yet, I cannot kill this guy yet.

Kairos comforted himself in his heart and tried to make his emotions more stable.

As the most brutal and cunning Greenskin Warlord, this guy dared to speak to him so boldly, clearly relying on the fact that he was irreplaceable and would never be abandoned.

Although for the Greenskin Warlord, if he could get out alive, he could start an even bigger Waaagh, this didn't mean that Kairos, who came to help him, was a good guy.

Humans at least fought him head-on, but these Chaos would only play dirty tricks from behind.

The two then fell silent. Kairos opened the rift to the reality dimension and, with a dark expression, threw the Fierce Beast out.

He was truly fed up with this Greenskin Warlord; he was simply an ungrateful scoundrel!

Kairos's throw was definitely imbued with some resentment. The Fierce Beast was almost unable to stand steadily after being thrown like that.

Who would have thought that a 30-meter-tall Ork warlord would almost lose his footing? But he eventually stabilized himself.

The Chaos Gods had found him an excellent base, a paradise world independent of the Imperium of Man's control.

This world was one of the few in the galaxy that had not been invaded by Orks. It had abundant nutrients, allowing the Fierce Beast to reproduce his own offspring.

Although there were clearly no other Ork tribes for him to command here, this was never a problem for an Ork.

If there were no 'boyz', then he could just grow them himself, couldn't he?

The Fierce Beast used his immense strength to grab one of his fingers and snap it off with a harsh bend. A long finger was broken off.

His finger was as thick as someone else's arm.

Plant a finger today, harvest a batch of 'boyz' tomorrow.

The Fierce Beast diligently dug into the ground, safely placed his finger, and then reburied it.

Alright, everything is done. Just wait until next month, and a large batch of 'boyz' will sprout from the ground.

Then, using these 'boyz' to continue planting, soon, he, the Fierce Beast, would have his own enormous Ork tribe.

Once he had created his own tribal Orks, he could use them to conquer more Orks on other worlds.

At that time, he would also recreate a War Moon like the one that Beast had cared for, and he would even build that very Waaagh-like human weapon he had seen before on the War Moon.

What was that thing called again?

Those big shrimps who called themselves humans seemed to call them cyber rex battle constructs... It doesn't matter, it won't be long before the great Fierce Beast also builds cyber rex battle constructs and then goes to fight those big human shrimps properly.

After planting one of his fingers, the Fierce Beast felt it wasn't enough.

Just one finger, how many 'boyz' could that grow? If he was going to plant, he should plant more.

"I fink I can grow more 'boyz'." The Beast pondered, then raised his hand and brought down his cleaver, savagely chopping off one of his own hands.

"Waaagh! Planting this hand will be enough. As soon as the first batch of 'boyz' grows, I'll be able to recover."

What's one finger for?

If he was going to plant, he'd plant an entire hand!

While the Fierce Beast was enjoying his happy farming life here, the Imperium of Man, apart from large-scale resource extraction, saw Noah and Guilliman contemplating whether to raise taxes.

The tithe... this tax rate was approximately 10%. Originally, the Imperium of Man did not collect taxes this way; they had various levels, but with the appearance of Noah, this tax rate was unified.

Every world ruled by the Imperium of Man was required to submit 10% of its annual output to the Imperium of Man's Terra Administrative Department.

The Department of the Interior would first distribute the tithes based on their respective New Zones and New Territories, prioritizing their allocation to the necessary military units to maintain the Imperium of Man's enormous military expenditures.

Any remaining storable resources would first be stored by the local New Zone and New Territory governments, with only a small amount of extremely rare resources being immediately transported to Terra.

Terra has dimensional warehouses, which are capable of high-volume storage.

The operating principle of this thing is very simple: by distorting and folding space, a space that originally could only store one cubic meter, after being folded once, can store two cubic meters; folded three times, it becomes four cubic meters, and so on.

However, maintaining the folded state requires a large amount of energy, so Terra will not fold space indefinitely; only valuable materials will be stored.

With the end of the war with the Orks and the current dire financial state of the Imperium of Man, Noah had to discuss with Guilliman. The two needed to make some small adjustments to the tax rate.

A 10% tithe was feasible when the Imperium of Man was rapidly developing on a large scale.

Such a tax rate would allow local planetary governments to rapidly develop their planets.

At the same time, the Imperium of Man could maintain its own operations, but as the current situation became increasingly complex.

There were threats from the Eldar and Starfish race on the galactic rim, threats from the Dark Eldar within the Imperium, plus the Greenskin Warlord who had just escaped.

It is foreseeable that the future Imperium will face an unprecedented super-large-scale war, and humanity must be prepared for it.

Humans might need to fight the Orks, deal with the Chaos invasion, and even contend with the combined fleets of those damned Eldar and Starfish race.

Material reserves are extremely important for humans at this time.

"I think we might need to increase taxes by 5% on the current basis!" Noah said, after deliberation, stating his proposed tax increase.

"15% is a rather terrifying tax rate, so we can reduce some tax rules for low-grade goods. We can abolish taxes on things like food and low-end industrial products."

"Taxes will mainly focus on the consumption of luxury goods and the use of high-tech products. What do you think?"

A 15% tax rate is quite formidable, so after proposing the tax increase, Noah then offered another suggestion.

Humans would primarily collect taxes on luxury goods and high-tech items, while taxes on basic necessities would be abolished.

This is a very standard Terran Dominion mindset, as the Federation does not lack basic necessities like food.

By only taxing high-end items, the revenue obtained would be entirely sufficient to support the operation of the entire civilization.

"No, absolutely not. The current Imperium is not yet wealthy enough to completely exempt basic resources from taxation."

The proposal to increase taxes was feasible in Guilliman's view. After all, the former Imperium had four completely different tax standards, and when taxes were collected at the maximum rate, it was far beyond what a simple tithe could describe.

Now, the Imperium only uniformly collects a 10% tax rate on every world, which is already low enough. Increasing taxes is reasonable, and Guilliman had no objections.

However, the tax on basic resources must still continue to be collected.

"The Imperium still has some difficulty allocating basic resources. Furthermore, while the stargate network and the Webway network are useful, both networks require a large amount of energy to maintain."

"After the local New Area Governments collect the tax on these basic resources, they can store this revenue and use it when the Imperium is in urgent need, to maintain stability in the various local Imperial New Areas."

Guilliman explained the purpose of the basic resource tax to Noah in detail.

However, Noah clearly did not think this was an adequate explanation. Although he was preparing to start increasing taxes on the Imperium, he needed to compensate the citizens of the Imperium in some way.

The citizens of the Imperium were clearly suffering enough, and an additional 5% tax rate would certainly be a heavy burden for them. Therefore, Noah wanted to compensate Imperial citizens regarding basic resources.

"I think a 10% tax rate is too high. We must reduce the tax rate on basic resources by at least 4% or 2%."

"If we are taking 5% of everything else they produce from the citizens, we must at least ensure that their basic living necessities are adequately supplied."

"My suggestion is to lower their cost of living but increase the cost of consuming luxury goods. This should be beneficial for us."

...Guilliman fell silent. He was deep in thought, considering whether the proposal put forward by Zhou Xin had feasibility.

After two seconds of contemplation, Guilliman nodded.

"Good!"

"In that case, let's proceed as you suggested!"

Both men tacitly avoided suggesting the use of commercial means to acquire more resources.

It wasn't that commercial methods were ineffective, nor was it that they were unaware that controlling the price of basic resources and allowing the Sector Government to control the right to sell them would yield greater profits.

It was simply the old saying: wealth corrupts the heart.

Basic necessities are the sole guarantee for the survival of Imperial citizens. As the Imperium of Man becomes increasingly standardized, the warmth of humanity has begun to emerge within this hellscape.

The Imperial Sector Governments and Planetary Governments can control a portion of the right to sell resources, and they can even control the pricing of resources, but everything must serve the purpose of stabilizing prices.

The orders from Guilliman and Noah were for them to stabilize prices on the local planets and ensure the living rights of the local Imperial citizens.

The original intention was to protect the local Imperial citizens, but once the two of them needed profit and needed to make money, the Planetary Governments below might misinterpret their intentions.

In order to curry favor with the imperial regent and the Imperial Warmaster, there might be a situation where the New Area Governments and Planetary Governments massively tax ordinary people.

Then the lives of Imperial citizens would revert to the previous state where they could only consume corpse starch.

This was unacceptable. Both Guilliman and Noah understood clearly that people were the source of all productivity, and with the vast population the Imperium possessed, continued systematic development was the best path.

Reverting to the old ways would only cause the Imperium to once again become a constantly decaying corpse.

The Imperium of Man, which had already begun to show vitality, absolutely could not be allowed to turn back into a corpse.

During their discussion, a new round of tax increases was finalized.

This would be the first tax increase for humanity in the few years following Noah's arrival and the establishment of the complete tithe collection system.

Noah's powerful mind immediately calculated the benefits this wave of tax increases would bring to all of humanity.

The 5% high-end tax could bring the Imperium of Man an income of at least 3,000 eternity coins.

After all, this was only a large-scale tax collection at the high end, while simultaneously reducing some low-end taxes, making 3,000 eternity coins a very reasonable figure.

With this supplementary funding, the Imperium of Man would achieve faster development and would also be more confident in facing potential future wars.

In preparation for potential wars, Guilliman and Noah spared no effort. They could not gamble on whether a war would happen in the future; they could only prepare based on the assumption that it would.

As the Imperial Warmaster and the imperial regent jointly issued the directive, the vast administrative system of the Imperium of Man quickly sprang into action. Meanwhile, in the Warp, the Emperor had also discovered everything the Chaos Gods of the Warp had done.

The Emperor could not imagine how outrageous it was that Tzeentch had succeeded even while he personally kept watch over the Chaos Gods of the Warp.

When The Emperor finally discovered that the Greenskin Fierce Beast had been rescued, he was enraged.

But how could a single Emperor of Man contend against the combined forces of the Four Chaos Gods of the Warp and Gork and Mork?

The threat Noah posed to the Chaos Gods of the Warp made them unite, a rare occurrence.

This was a true life-or-death threat. The Warp had still not recovered from the damage sustained during the World 108 war.

Although humanity's losses were by no means small, the damage to the Warp was certainly enough to make the Chaos Gods feel a deep ache.

Noah's World 108 was currently recovering and looked set to fully restore itself in just a few years. But what about the damage to the Warp? This was accumulated over tens of thousands of years; how could it possibly recover in just a few millennia?

The Chaos Gods of the Warp were gathered together, a rare sight. They absolutely would not allow Noah to continue attacking the Warp, and for this, they were willing to join forces even with the entities they despised the most.

The Four Chaos Gods plus Gork and Mork—six Chaos Gods stood together. Even someone as mighty as The Emperor truly had no choice but to temporarily retreat.

However, as he left, The Emperor looked furious. He couldn't defeat the six of them combined, but he vowed to make them pay dearly.

The Emperor departed in a rage, but the six Chaos Gods of the Warp remaining felt no joy.

The Emperor's departure did not signify their victory; quite the opposite.

This meant that the Demon Noah was about to launch a larger scale bombing campaign against the Warp.

"It's fine, everything is according to plan, it's fine..." Tzeentch repeated the phrase, unsure if he was comforting others or himself.

As long as the Greenskin Fierce Beast could start another Waaagh!, everything would be alright.

The Imperium of Man is a nation plagued by misfortune.

Although the Imperium of Man had successfully defeated various races within The Galaxy / Milky Way at this time, the Aeldari had been completely driven out of The Galaxy / Milky Way by them, and the Necrons had reached a cooperative peace agreement with them.

The Necrons' primary focus was on fighting the Tyranid Swarm, and they had no time to concern themselves with humans in The Galaxy / Milky Way.

More importantly, the trade in souls had indeed made relations between the Necrons and humans very good.

Except for Imotekh the Stormlord... the Silent King could decide to abandon appeasement and cede The Galaxy / Milky Way to humanity; all they sought were souls. For the continued prosperity of the Infinite Empire, the Silent King did not care about this.

However, another faction of the Necrons, Imotekh the Stormlord, had extremely strong objections to this.

The importance of souls to the Necrons was self-evident, but that was only true for those Necron Dynasty who were relatively complete and obeyed the Triarch Council under the Silent King's command.

And Imotekh the Stormlord was not among them.

The Sautekh Dynasty is one of the most powerful dynasties among the Necron dynasties. It is composed of over 80 tomb worlds, with its crown world, Mandragora, located on the eastern edge of The Galaxy / Milky Way.

Mandragora boasts magnificent Necron constructions, military forces deployed within these structures, and an astonishing amount of treasures guarded by these armies.

Before the bio-transference technology transformed the Necrontyr into Necrons, the Sautekh Dynasty already ranked third in strength among all Necron dynasties.

And now, in the Indomitus Crusade era, from when Noah appeared in the Imperium of Man until the present, most of the Sautekh Dynasty's core tomb worlds survived the Great Sleep.

However, this dynasty had one rather unfortunate difference compared to others.

The nobles of the Sautekh Dynasty discovered that their Phaeron had fallen into eternal slumber during the Great Sleep.

Mandragora fell into chaos due to a power vacuum immediately after the dynasty awoke.

The nobles under the Phaeron engaged in infighting to seize control. One noble, coveting the Phaeron's throne, awakened the renowned Imotekh the Stormlord, attempting to use his formidable military power to claim the great position.

Unfortunately, Imotekh was no ordinary person. In the eyes of this Overlord, these short-sighted nobles were merely vying for personal gain, while he pursued his long-held ambition of leading the Necron to conquer The Galaxy / Milky Way once more.

Therefore, after this noble reawakened the Overlord, he swiftly seized control of the Sautekh Dynasty with decisive action in a short period.

He successfully crowned himself the Phaeron of Sautekh, and people called him the Stormlord. This is the origin of the Stormlord, and from this origin, it can be seen that his long-held ambition is to make the Necron Empire conquer the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way again.

Szarekh knew the vastness of The Galaxy / Milky Way; he knew the outside world was equally rich.

Therefore, the Necrons did not need to be confined to The Galaxy / Milky Way.

Ceding The Galaxy / Milky Way and fostering good relations with humanity was entirely feasible.

As long as enough souls could be obtained, they could establish a vast Necron Dynasty on the periphery of The Galaxy / Milky Way.

The universe is large enough; there is no need to conflict with humans at this time.

However, this Necron Stormlord clearly did not think so. His long-held ambition was to lead the Necrons to reconquer the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way.

As for the barbaric lands beyond The Galaxy / Milky Way?

This Stormlord had no interest whatsoever.

Under the leadership of the Stormlord, the chaotic Sautekh quickly rose again.

To fulfill his long-held ambition, Sautekh declared war on all Necron dynasties that stood in the way of his great cause.

Although Sautekh would show more respect and reverence to stubborn brethren, when those dynasties that refused to submit were defeated, a brutal assimilation and absorption by Sautekh awaited them.

Within just a few centuries of being awakened, hundreds of worlds had been conquered by the Stormlord.

The Sautekh Dynasty's constant expansion made their territory exceptionally vast. By the time Noah became the Imperial Warmaster and unified the Imperium of Man, the Sautekh Dynasty had over 900 tomb worlds combined!

Constant plunder also created a vast and powerful Necron legion.

The dynasty's armory was filled with astonishingly powerful war machines, and an endless array of Necron troop types also appeared throughout the entire dynastic legion.

No faction within the Imperium of Man knew the true military strength and power of this Necron Dynasty.

Even Noah could not send his spies to investigate the power of this Necron Dynasty.

Necron technology was simply not something the Imperium of Man at this time could even attempt to imitate.

Under the leadership of the Stormlord, the Sautekh Dynasty had become the most formidable threat in the eastern new territories of the Imperium of Man.

Most importantly, the Sautekh Dynasty was one of the few dynasties whose relationship with the Imperium of Man was lukewarm.

Most Necron Dynasty had maintained a considerable degree of peace, or rather harmony, with the Imperium of Man.

However, the Sautekh Dynasty had very few thoughts on this matter.

They merely maintained a lukewarm stance, trading with Noah for soul seeds and refined souls, but nothing further.

The Sautekh Necron Dynasty had no intention of peace with humanity. The Stormlord wanted more than just souls; he wanted The Galaxy / Milky Way.

He was not the Silent King, and he would not make a decision to abandon The Galaxy / Milky Way; otherwise, the Sautekh Dynasty would not be one of the most powerful Necron dynasties within The Galaxy / Milky Way.

As the trade of soul seeds and refined souls continued, the Sautekh Dynasty had now accumulated a sufficient number of soul seeds and souls. At this point, the Stormlord began to harbor his own ulterior motives.

A Necron fleet attacked a world in the Imperium of Man's fringe sector, burning it to ashes, and in response to the Silent King's inquiry, Sautekh provided an answer.

"This was never what I wanted; I never intended for Sautekh's armies to launch an attack."

"We once together claimed The Galaxy / Milky Way that belonged only to the Necron, but you betrayed me and everyone."

"You stole the power of the C'tan and lied to the dynasties loyal to you."

"The Necron have only one chance for revival. If you cannot seize it, then let me complete it."

"But let the war begin, from the eastern new territories of The Galaxy / Milky Way to the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way. Let the stellar sea boil, let the Stellaris fall. Even if it costs me my last body, I will see the Necron great again."

"If I cannot save him from your failure, Silent King."

"Then let The Galaxy / Milky Way burn! I am not you; I will never abandon The Galaxy / Milky Way!"

"The Galaxy / Milky Way will forever belong only to the great Necron Empire, and those humans are merely insects in our home. I will crush them with my own hands."

The Necrons' attack has arrived...

"What? The Necrons actually attacked our frontier sector's colony world? How is that possible!"

Three days after the Necron attack, Guilliman finally received news of the assault from the frontier sector. The new government of the Imperium of Man's border regions had finally figured out who had attacked them.

"Why did it take until now for this intelligence to be delivered? Couldn't you have been faster? Three days, three whole days! That planet must have already fallen. What good is this information now?"

For the first time in a long while, Guilliman was furious.

This outburst of anger was somewhat unreasonable. At this point, the Imperium of Man's Departmento Munitorum and Department of the Interior had reached an extremely efficient level.

In the past, it would have taken at least a decade or more for such intelligence to reach Guilliman's desk.

But now?

Now, such important intelligence could be delivered to the regent's desk in just three days. How is that not efficient?

"My apologies, regent. It's mainly because this matter involves such a significant event that the new sector government had to conduct multiple verifications before confirming it."

"This was also your instruction: to be extremely cautious with information regarding the Necrons. We truly didn't expect the Necrons to attack the Imperium."

A Monk from the Imperial Departmento Munitorum bowed his head before Guilliman, but he still answered the regent's question.

"Understood. I know the specifics. You may return now. I will relay this message to the Warmaster."

Guilliman maintained his dignity, signaling for the Departmento Munitorum Monk to leave.

The Departmento Munitorum Monk respectfully saluted and slowly departed.

After the Departmento Munitorum Monk left, Guilliman rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

It truly was one wave after another... The Imperium of Man had finally found a turning point, transforming from a colossal corpse into a vibrant, thriving entity.

But the enemies the Imperium of Man was continuously encountering now were a bit too much... First, the Aeldari engaged in battle with the Imperium of Man, severely damaging the Misty Star Field World 108 of the Imperium of Man, and then it fought with the Tyranid Swarm.

These two were relatively manageable; the Aeldari were driven out of the galaxy, and the Tyranid Swarm was intercepted by the Necrons.

In fact, thanks to the Necrons, the Imperium of Man even made a small fortune and maintained good relations with most Necron Dynasties.

These were all benefits brought by Noah.

Although a Starfish appeared later, it was a vast and powerful interstellar civilization that forced the Imperium of Man to respond with all its might.

But the distance between the two sides was, after all, a factor.

For some unknown reason, the Starfish side never engaged in large-scale conflicts with humanity, only a mutual standoff.

The war with the Starfish had not truly erupted into full-scale conflict, remaining within an acceptable range for the Imperium of Man.

But what exactly happened this year?

First, there was a fight with the Orks in the frontier sector, where a tremendously powerful Ork Warboss, Fierce Beast, appeared.

This Warboss Fierce Beast, even under the Warmaster's attack, with cyber rex battle constructs deployed, was forcefully taken away by the Chaos Gods.

The Imperium of Man thus faced a huge problem that needed to be dealt with.

And just a few days after the Ork matter concluded, the Necrons came calling again.

The Necrons attacked a human colony world. Did this mean that war between humanity and the Necrons was about to break out?

If so, without the Necrons to counter the Tyranid Swarm on the frontier, how many resources and how much sacrifice would the Imperium of Man have to pay to face the Tyranids' assault?

A vast shadow loomed over Guilliman's head.

Guilliman felt his head was about to split.

Waking up, not only had the Imperium declined.

At least with the Warmaster, the Imperium had grown stronger.

The Imperium of Man was visibly growing stronger and better, yet now things were happening again.

It seemed the situation had suddenly become dire on all sides once more, and the regent was truly struggling to cope.

After sending the information to Noah, Guilliman slowly left his office.

He walked step by step towards the direction of the Warmaster's quarters; he was going to find his father, to tell him of his hardships, to vent the bitterness in his heart.

His heart was weary and exhausted.

When the sky falls, the tallest must hold it up. At this moment, he was not the tallest; it was better to leave things to Noah to handle.

"Hm."

"I understand the situation. I will first contact the Necrons to get more information, and then we'll discuss it."

Like Guilliman, Noah immediately had many negative associations upon receiving such news, but he was not swayed by them. Instead, he prepared to first clarify the situation's developments.

"Oberon," Noah immediately connected with the Necron Dynasty Phaeron who had been in contact with his side.

This former Phaeron of a small Necron Dynasty had now successfully made his dynasty more prosperous, transforming it into a medium-sized dynasty.

If the trade of souls continued, it would become a large Necron Dynasty within a millennium at most.

Therefore, when he received Noah's communication, the smile on his face was uncontrollable.

"Greetings, great Warmaster. Is there anything you need me to do? I will surely serve you."

Oberon smiled, expressing his respect and willingness to work for Noah.

"There is indeed one matter that only you can handle. Can you tell me, what does it mean that your Necrons attacked one of our planets in Segmentum Obscurus and completely destroyed one of our colony worlds?"

The other party's reaction had already told Noah that Oberon, who was before him, probably knew nothing about the destruction of that colony world.

After all, Oberon was such a lively character.

Noah's words were like a heavy hammer, striking Oberon's head, making him dizzy.

"You? What did you just say?"

"Did you just say something attacked a colony world under your command?"

Oberon's tone was genuinely astonished, with no pretense.

He couldn't believe that a Necron fleet would attack a human colony world. Had they gone mad?

Did they no longer want souls??

"Yes, would I fool you about such a major matter? My reason for coming to you is simple: go ask Shadow Hand Mephrit."

"Have him tell me which Necron attacked us."

"Most of your Necrons have friendly relations with us humans. I do not wish for a full-scale war to break out between our two civilizations, so I contacted you first. I hope you won't disappoint me."

Oberon's highly humanized mechanical face showed solemnity: "Understood. Please rest assured, I will clarify this matter for you immediately and will absolutely give you a satisfactory explanation. If he doesn't let you fight, then I will fight for you."

Oberon thumped his chest, making his own guarantee. He was now a medium-sized dynasty, so he had the confidence to say such words.

He believed that no major dynasty would do such a foolish thing; it must be some small, provincial dynasty acting this way.

Oberon was well aware of how dire the repercussions of this matter would be, so he immediately contacted Shadow Hand Mephrit without even hanging up his ongoing communication with Noah.

Oberon intended to question Mephrit in front of Noah, to provide an explanation to the Human Warmaster.

The soul trade with humanity must continue, not only to repay Noah for his favors, but also because his entire dynasty's chance at revival lay within it.

Whether the Solantek Necron Dynasty could regain its former glory depended on whether the soul trade could continue and whether they could maintain good relations with humanity.

If it could, then their dynasty would become a powerful force within the Necron Empire.

But if it could not, then his entire dynasty would be destroyed instantly under Noah's wrath.

Don't forget, his dynasty was right next to Misty Star Field World 108.

If he made even a slightly unfavorable move, or if Noah decided to kill him, his entire dynasty would suffer a thunderous strike.

Soon, the communication with Shadow Hand Mephrit was connected.

After saluting, Oberon immediately said, "Respected Lord, I am here on behalf of Warmaster Noah of the Imperium of Man to ask you something."

"Within our Necron Empire, someone, like an idiot, attacked a frontier colony of the Imperium of Man and completely destroyed that planet."

"Regarding this matter, I have no intelligence whatsoever. I wonder if you, Lord, have any information regarding this?"

Theoretically, a Phaeron of Oberon's rank, even if he was the Phaeron of a medium-sized dynasty, would not be qualified to speak with Shadow Hand Mephrit.

But who made his identity special?

Not only was he Noah's envoy, but his father also had a good relationship with Mesofit, which granted him this qualification.

Upon hearing this, Shadow Hand Mephrit's expression visibly grew angry.

His anger visibly deepened, and Noah took in this scene completely.

From this, it could now be confirmed that this was likely not the act of the majority of Necrons, but rather the behavior of individual dynasties.

For some reason, Noah was now somewhat relieved.

Although the Imperium of Man was vast enough, and he was a Scientist of the Terran Dominion, theoretically he should have been incredibly arrogant and immediately counterattacked the Necrons.

But he knew his own situation.

The Necrons were an existence used to counter the Tyranid Swarm on the outskirts of the galaxy.

Their existence provided a good development environment for humanity.

At the same time, if the Starfish fully launched a war, humanity might still have to rely on the Necrons' military forces to fight. Therefore, Noah did not want to fall out with the Necrons.

Just the Orks, plus the Starfish, were already enough for him to handle. Adding the Necrons would mean adding another Tyranid Swarm. Noah wasn't that crazy yet.

"Hello, Warmaster Noah."

Mephrit saw Noah on another communicator through his own communicator.

"Regarding this matter, I believe I will give you a reasonable explanation. Please trust me."

Noah nodded slightly: "I await your explanation, Lord Mephrit. But please understand, the Imperium of Man needs to ensure its border security."

The Necrons' reaction was good news for Noah; he was willing to give them some patience.

A few minutes later—

"My apologies, Warmaster, I have investigated who committed such an act against the Imperium of Man."

"According to the information currently obtained by the Triarch Council, the dynasty that committed such an act against the Imperium of Man is the Sotak Dynasty."

"Their Phaeron is not the Phaeron we had during the Great Sleep. Their current Phaeron has become a former God of War."

"I will send a representative from the Triarch Council to question him about this matter and have him give you a satisfactory answer. Please wait for me for a while."

"To compensate for your losses, I will have our transport ships deliver the raw materials for a world engine as compensation."

"Of course, these compensations cannot fully cover the losses incurred by humanity in this incident; this is merely a partial compensation."

"If you have any other requirements, you can also state them to me. As long as it is within my power, I will mostly agree to your requests."

Mephrit at this time was unaware that the Sotak Dynasty had become a Necron Dynasty intent on seizing the entire galaxy, and he even held great dissatisfaction with the Necrons' Triarch Council, the three rulers of this final era.

Considering that it was, after all, a major dynasty, not an existence that could be discarded by the Necrons, and they had also made significant contributions in the War in Heaven, Mesofit still intended to protect it.

Noah remained silent about this... Honestly, he was not satisfied with such a result, but rationality told him that this outcome was already the best possible.

The power of the Necrons was obvious to all; they were not something humanity could contend with at present. They had almost reached the pinnacle of the material universe.

If the Terran Dominion from before its Ascension had come to this galaxy to fight the Necrons, the odds of victory would have been four to six.

After Ascension, there was, of course, a qualitative difference, but Noah could not make the Imperium of Man Ascend right now.

Seeing Noah's silence, Mephrit once again increased his compensation.

"How about this, Warmaster, I will add resources for another world engine as our compensation."

"Please believe me, our Necron Empire absolutely recognizes and values our friendship with you. I will give you a reasonable explanation and reply."

"Please trust me."

As a politician, Mephrit thought that the compensation he offered was insufficient.

Perhaps that frontier human colony was a crucial one, it was not certain.

If it were the Imperium of Man's situation before, Mephrit would not have thought this way.

He would certainly have thought that humanity was trying to extort them, but after Noah's appearance, things were different.

The Imperium of Man's immense investment and strong development efforts into some special planets were rarely seen even by the Necrons. Perhaps the colonial world they destroyed was one such planet.

Therefore, Mesofit once again increased his stakes; he wanted to show the Necron side's sincerity to prevent Zhou Xing from developing ill will towards the Necrons.

Seeing the resources increase once more, with two world engines' worth of resources basically amounting to the resources of a moon of war, Noah finally spoke.

"Then please proceed with handling it. I hope you can give me a more satisfactory answer, as that planet and the people on it are very important to us humans."

Emotionally, he didn't want to compromise and wanted to go to war, but rationality told him he had to compromise. Receiving so much compensation was already very good, and for the Necrons, a higher civilization, to once again increase their stakes was a very sincere act.

Continuing to escalate would bring disaster, not fortune, to humanity.