Immediately upon entering the Dark Zone, the fleet encountered a Warp storm, deviating from its planned course, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to morale.
One must understand that this was an unknown Dark Zone where the light of the Astronomican could not reach, and to be caught in a Warp storm and thrown off course, no one knew what would happen next.
More importantly, in this Dark Zone, where the 'God-Emperor' could not offer protection, no one could guarantee that the fleet would find its intended route.
However, the unrest lasted only a short time before Merlin suppressed it with his personal prestige.
The crew believed him, they believed Merlin.
This was because Merlin had repeatedly achieved glory through his personal performance in wars against Chaos and the alien, which was the fundamental reason.
"It's an undiscovered world." Edoras suddenly appeared from the star map projection, looking at the beautiful world not far from the fleet, particularly conspicuous in the dark space, like a pink glass bead, and couldn't help but say, "Your luck is good; you encountered it on your first voyage."
"...Encountering a Warp storm, deviating from the planned course, and being thrown into a completely unfamiliar star system—you call this 'good luck'?! " Merlin sneered, giving him an annoyed glare.
From any normal person's perspective, such a situation could never be defined as "good luck"; not cursing was already good enough!
But considering that his cheap "father" seemed to have something seriously wrong with his mind, to the point of being called insane, he couldn't be bothered to argue further.
"At least your fleet wasn't torn apart by the Warp storm, was it?" Edoras said calmly, "Every year, countless people dream of getting rich overnight in the Dark Zone, but how many return? Or are you saying—
You think a Rogue Trader just follows a star map to explore those meaningless worlds that have already been discovered?"
"As a Rogue Trader, you must get used to constantly accompanying death and accidents. It could be the next Warp voyage, or the next world, but—"
A fervent zeal seemed to surge in his irregular hexagonal android eye, and even his voice couldn't help but rise a few octaves.
"This is the greatest and most attractive part of being a Rogue Trader, isn't it? We are exploring uncharted territories for humanity, where no one has ever set foot. Everything is so fascinating; the unknown is the most exciting thing!"
It must be admitted that Edoras was an excellent orator; even Merlin felt inferior. His excited tone made even Merlin's heart surge with emotion!
"That's why I said you are very lucky!" Edoras gazed at him, slowly saying, "Every Rogue Trader should have his own 'La Strada'. That star map is my La Strada; you can follow it, but—that is only the area I have already explored. Your fleet will be very safe, but you will also lose the joy of exploring the unknown."
"But if I deviate from the course, how do I get to the place you mentioned?" Merlin took a deep breath and then asked him.
After he asked this, Edoras looked at him with a strange expression, as if he were looking at an idiot, and then, after a long silence, he said with a complex tone, "On ancient Terra, there's a saying: All La Strada lead to Rome. You don't seriously think that
you can only get 'there' by following my route, do you?"
"Then what's the point of this star map?!"
Merlin was dumbfounded. If he had known this, why would he have risked his life to find the Fernando family in Port Wander? He might as well have just plunged in headfirst!
"It's not entirely useless," Edoras said, stroking the two whiskers at the corners of his mouth. "The star map's purpose is to help you determine the direction of your route and your ultimate goal. As for whether you want to follow my route, choose a safer path, or forge a new La Strada of your own, conquering any life or resource worlds you discover along the way, these are all questions you need to consider."
"I understand what you mean."
Merlin pinched his brow, looked at the pink world in the tranquil starry sky, and took a deep breath.
"Since you put it that way, if I don't explore it, won't you mock me?"
Edoras was right about one thing.
He was a Rogue Trader; he had to have the courage and daring to explore the unknown. Otherwise, why come to the Dark Zone at all?!
"Notify Carol to prepare an exploration vessel, with Tech-Priests, to go to that pink world." Once he made a decision, Merlin didn't dither and immediately mobilized the fleet.
This was an absolutely necessary action.
Many Rogue Traders in the past, upon discovering a new world, would hastily land, only to encounter unimaginable disasters and ultimately be annihilated.
Soon, the forward exploration team reached the pink world's orbit, and under the investigation of several Tech-Priests, a danger assessment report for the world was sent back.
"This world is very strange."
This was the first thing Archmagos Carol said after reading the entire assessment report.
"How so?" Merlin was very curious about what could make a Archmagos Biologis say such a thing.
"According to the report from the Tech-Priests of the reconnaissance team, this is a star system with a binary star system."
Carol's voice was hoarse as he read, "But the strange thing is that the pink world orbiting the binary stars
is running quite stably, as if it is not affected by the gravity of the two stars."
"Can you try to explain it in terms I can understand?" Merlin raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Although we haven't delved deeply yet, I believe it is highly likely related to the 'Warp'." Carol paused for a few seconds, a heavy look in his eyes.
"Such a situation is almost impossible, unless something is helping this world counteract the enormous gravitational influence of the two stars."
In a normal universe, such a situation would be difficult to occur, or rather, almost impossible!
The immense gravity of the two stars would cause the pink world to orbit irregularly, but this is the Warhammer Universe, and there is a third category; conversely, the pink world's orbit is quite stable, but in the Tech-Priests' analysis, this is absolutely impossible.
"If it's just that, it wouldn't be enough to make you, Archmagos Biologis, so cautious, would it?" Merlin keenly noticed the solemn look in his eyes.
"You are right."
Carol frowned tightly and said in a very strange tone.
"The Tech-Priests detected life reactions on this world. It's that pink ocean. From space, it was detected to contain a lot of organic matter, and its mass is enormous!"
"So—," Merlin pondered for a moment, understanding his meaning.
"It's this pink ocean of organic matter that helps this world stabilize the gravitational influence of the binary star system? And this ocean covering the entire world is alive?!"
"Precisely."
Carol nodded seriously.
"This ocean, from a biological perspective, is alive!"