The Warp rift had been sealed, but the war still wasn't over.
The daemons that had already manifested in realspace by possessing corpses still existed in enormous numbers. That surprise strike had wiped out maybe one percent at most.
On top of that, the Tyranid threat still remained.
The hive had been torn out, but plenty of bugs were still roaming the ground. They still had to be purged.
And the cyclonic torpedo that had already been fired also had to be stopped.
"D-99 Virus?"
The Salamanders captain accepted the box being handed to him. It looked like a safe—except it also looked oddly flimsy, like something made on a pre–space age world.
The one delivering it explained that he'd found this D-99 virus on a certain world.
On that world, the virus could trigger an abnormal immune response in a short time—but in exchange, it "activated" cells.
That meant that for a long period, cells wouldn't necrose. They would keep proliferating rapidly, letting a body endure all kinds of transplant surgery without rejection.
Hearing that, Erytt finally understood just how absurd this was.
Of course, the other man didn't guarantee it would work on Astartes modifications.
"Which planet was it?"
"I forgot. Besides, that place got destroyed for other reasons. These samples and the vaccine are all that's left."
Erytt didn't press further.
"And this."
The other man handed over another small case. Inside were the same things he'd distributed during the earlier assault on the traitors—Earth Elixir.
It was, without exaggeration, the best healing agent they'd ever used.
As for the matter of the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor ending up dead—well, the Salamanders "didn't see anything."
If you wanted to check the recordings? Sorry. The cameras malfunctioned.
And the Deathwatch commander also stated that they hadn't been able to catch him—he'd slipped away.
In short: everyone played dumb.
"Take this for research too. I'm also giving you some related formulas, but I can't promise they'll work. Some are tied to materials that only existed in older-era environments. I don't know if those materials still exist now."
They were formulas exported from the Earth Elixir system—lists of ingredients from different historical periods. If those materials still existed in this era, reproducing Earth Elixir shouldn't be difficult.
"Last thing—give this to Cawl the Dreamer."
"The Archmagos's name is wrong."
"Don't worry about it."
The "last thing" was large. Erytt had already seen two of them in the hangar—about the size of a Land Raider.
It was definitely a tank, but not a pattern he recognized.
"This isn't a vehicle. It's an STC."
"An STC?"
"Yeah."
Kain shrugged. It looked like a tank, but in reality it was part of an STC.
Its design was more "sci-fi"—something like a hybrid between a prism tank and a magnetic tank.
As for why there were two units: they weren't a single whole. It was more like he had two STC sets—neither complete.
And after handing all this over, Kain didn't ask for anything in return.
He only said that if D-99 really performed as outrageously as promised, then next time they brought him something, it would be even better—because it would make him feel safer.
After all, if he died, the Archmagos on their end would stop receiving "good stuff" too, so they'd naturally find ways to improve his safety.
With the unloading done, he prepared to move on to his next stop.
At that moment, the quantum communications system received a message—a note from Archmagos Biologis El-Emima.
Kain had messaged the Archmagos earlier to brief him on what happened.
As for why the reply arrived an hour later, it wasn't because the Archmagos received it late.
The transmission arrived instantly. And it wasn't because the Archmagos only noticed it an hour later.
It was because sending a reply required preparation time.
The Archmagos had kept a quantum comm device Kain had given him—but it had a problem.
In simple terms: the battery had failed. When Kain handed it over, it had barely still worked. After that, it died completely and became dead weight.
Later, the Archmagos studied it himself and actually managed to power it again—but it took time, and communication was barely possible.
Even then, it degraded from video calls down to something like pager messages.
Send one message, and then to send the next one, you might need days of preparation.
Clearly it wasn't as simple as charging a battery. It involved some kind of energy conversion—something "quantum," something difficult to sustain.
This time, the message said that at Kain's next stop there was a private armory he'd left behind in the past. He could go there and pick up equipment.
The rest of it was a request: see if he could get hold of that communications tech.
If he could, the Archmagos could upgrade power armor again. Maybe they could even achieve perfect performance without having to implant the Astartes Black Carapace.
That made Kain pause.
It wasn't impossible.
Then again…
Was it possible the Archmagos had partially decoded how this comm system worked—and used it to lock onto Kain's location?
…
Clatter.
"Mm—!"
A pained sound slipped from Tessa's lips as she lost her footing and landed hard on her butt.
Nearby, a bottle of shower gel rolled across the floor.
After confirming that Mr. Golden Toilet's side had weathered the real crisis, and after finishing her discussion with the lieutenant colonel and major, she'd decided to shower and get ready for sleep.
She was almost done—drying the water from her body. Then, when she closed her eyes to "go online" and check something, she received that message.
…
He wanted to come to her world.
Just that line made her panic. Her hands went clumsy, and she slipped. The shower gel flew from her grip.
Ignoring the pain in her backside, Tessa scrambled up, hurriedly dressed, and rushed back to her terminal.
"What do I do, XO? Should I accept? Should I refuse?"
"Calm down. What does he want to do here?"
"Huh?"
"You didn't ask?"
"I—I'll ask right now."
Tessa forced a dry laugh. She'd been so flustered she forgot to ask.
Once she learned his purpose, she froze for a beat—then relayed it to the lieutenant colonel and major.
A short silence followed.
"Captain. If he isn't in a hurry, then sleep first. Invite him after you wake up."
Right now, the captain needed real rest—enough clarity and stamina to think straight.
Not just her. Richard and Andrew needed rest too.
All three of them needed to be at peak condition—fully rational—before dealing with a visitor from another world.
"Okay. He said that's fine."
"Good. Then, Captain, go rest."
"O-okay."
Tessa understood why they were insisting she sleep.
After handling the Pacific exercise crisis, she'd been awake for a full day and night. Exhaustion dulled judgment. People made stupid mistakes.
She needed a clear head to meet him.
Because he was coming to trade.
And if her mind wasn't sharp, she could easily get taken advantage of.
(End of Chapter)
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