---o---
"Phew… Holy shit."
Staring down at the desolate, ochre-colored planet below, Zhou Ye was slightly dumbfounded.
"We won't be detected, right? And we didn't travel through the Warp, I hope?"
"Rest assured, we will not be detected. The inhabitants of this universe seem to possess no technology capable of countering an Imaginary Shield. A simple concealment makes us invisible to them."
"This world doesn't have Imaginary Energy, what the hell are you talking about?!"
Zhou Ye rolled his eyes at his ship's AI. It was a classic case of an information gap, but it wasn't a major problem.
"That color down there… it's a disgusting hive world. Can we go to another planet? I really don't want to go in there."
Just looking at the city below, which seemed nauseating from orbit, was enough to make Zhou Ye's stomach turn. He had absolutely no desire to set foot in it.
He was sure it contained plenty of valuable things that could help him replenish his energy. In fact, his powers had changed slightly since arriving in this universe, specifically the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void.
Its essence was the ability to freely traverse the Imaginary Space, but there was no Imaginary Space here. There was only the cesspool of the Warp, and he wanted nothing to do with that place.
Either way, Zhou Ye had no intention of entering. It was just too vile.
Of course, simple spatial jumps were still possible, but their range was limited.
"Unable to perform a jump. This location is heavily polluted."
"Sigh… it's Chaos again, isn't it? Those entities are always polluting an entire star sector at the drop of a hat."
Hearing this gave Zhou Ye a headache. Chaos pollution…
He wondered how much energy they could be converted into. The thought was actually quite intriguing. Just a moment ago, he had confirmed something: the energy that had replenished him was the Warp energy contained within the gene-seed.
He had briefly opened a tiny gateway to the Warp to test his theory, only to discover he couldn't draw power directly from it. He needed a physical object, a vessel of some kind, that could bear the Warp's power.
The gene-seed hadn't provided much, which meant that daemons—pure creatures of the Warp made manifest in reality—seemed like an excellent alternative. And frankly, whatever power daemons held in the Warp, their strength in the material universe was nothing special.
The Four Great Gods couldn't come down here themselves anyway. As long as he was careful, it shouldn't be a big problem.
Of course, if he could regain the full energy supply of the Herrscher of Finality, things would be much more comfortable. He'd even dare to hand-craft an Emperor Titan from scratch. Unfortunately, that was a pipe dream for now. He had no idea if even expending his entire reserve of Imaginary Energy would be enough to create one.
Besides, objects created purely by his Authority couldn't be maintained for long. If he had enough raw materials to build one, however, that was a different story…
But where was he supposed to get that many materials? The thought alone was enough to make his head ache.
"Whatever, let's start with the first step. I can't use the Imaginary Space, but I still have the Thousand-Person Theater. That's an independent space, perfect for storing large quantities of supplies."
Having laid out his next steps in his mind, Zhou Ye opened the Hyperion's hatch. He then took a step out, exposing himself directly to the vacuum of space.
Next, he opened a passage and tossed the Hyperion into the Thousand-Person Theater.
The Blood Ravens had probably done a smash-and-grab. His ship was free of corruption or any other strange things, but leaving it out here was still too dangerous. Compared to the monstrous entities of the 40K universe, the Hyperion was rather fragile.
"When I get the materials, I'll give her an upgrade. See if I can turn her into the Emperor's Dream."
He muttered to himself. It was just a dream for now, but he had to start somewhere. He had to find a way back, especially since this Hyperion also had the abilities of the Astral Express. Maybe, just maybe, if he gathered enough energy, he could actually punch a hole back to his own universe.
"Warhammer 40K, here I come! Let's see what you've got for me!"
With that thought, Zhou Ye plummeted from the sky without hesitation, his body streaking through the heavily polluted atmosphere. He aimed for the wasteland outside the hive city and landed moments later.
"Ugh… what in the world is this air? Even the worst smog days back on my old world were like a breath of fresh country air compared to this. Oh well…"
Staring at the wasteland filled with toxic fumes and garbage, Zhou Ye fell silent for a moment. A flash of light enveloped him, and a red robe materialized over his body. At the same time, a massive red figure appeared beside him: the AI-controlled Dreadnought he had "liberated" from the Blood Ravens.
Bringing a Dreadnought along was far too conspicuous, so before he left, he had kitbashed it, altering its appearance to resemble a Kastelan Robot. With the leftover parts, he had even fashioned himself a full Tech-Priest getup.
A false adherent of the Mechanicus blesses the machine.
A true adherent of the Mechanicus kitbashes a Dreadnought into a Kastelan Robot and uses the spare parts to whip up a cosplay outfit.
He had also backed up the original AI, stored it elsewhere, and rewritten its data to suit his needs. He even infused it with a bit of Imaginary Energy to make it incorruptible and completely loyal to him.
"Still feels pretty conspicuous, but it's a lot better than walking around in my own skin. Besides, the Blood Ravens specialize in breaking and entering; even their AIs are good at it. Let's see if there's anything good here."
Eyeing the mountains of unidentifiable junk, Zhou Ye set his plan into motion.
"Let's see what I can find in these trash heaps. I'll collect any useful materials for future projects. Creating things from nothing can't be sustained and wastes too much energy. This kind of 'I thinks, therefore I build' modification is much better."
With his preparations complete, Zhou Ye began to walk. He hadn't gone far before he noticed something.
"Junkers, and some mutants."
He spotted figures lurking in the distance, watching him. Zhou Ye just shook his head. The moment they saw his exoskeletal-like armor and red robes, they all turned and fled.
This was exactly what he wanted. Even if he ran into other people, it didn't matter. Once he was done scavenging here, he'd just leave. In a galaxy this vast, where communications were utter garbage, there was basically no chance he would ever see them again. He didn't have to worry about causing a little trouble.