401: Chapter 403 The Necromancer's "Delivery"! I'm going to dismantle this ship!

When Zhang Yuan and his party left the Galatan Starfort, Mordecai Blaylock did not come to see them off.

The Captain of the Novamarines simply stood in the shadows of the dock, his massive terminator armor silent as a mountain, watching the shuttle leave port and merge into the even larger hull of the tears of vengeance.

No farewells, only the promise left behind by the clashing of metal against metal.

The countdown for the three-day deadline began from that moment.

Time flowed by in the constant light and recycled air of the flagship, losing its meaning. But for some, every second felt like roasting on a hot pan.

Flagship, command deck.

"... That iron-bones won't stand us up, right?"

Rory Swann was chewing on a laho stick—a substitute he had 'borrowed' from the Astra Militarum at the Galatan Starfort. The tobacco's taste was spicy and pungent, far inferior to the cigars he missed. He tapped his thigh irritably with his mechanical arm, the sound of metal hitting metal grating in the quiet bridge.

"Three days. Today is the last day. If that old guy dares to mess with us..."

Zhang Yuan stood before the massive holographic star map, saying nothing.

Three days ago, his experience absorbing that fragment of the 'Ancient Aeldari resonance resonator' was still clear.

[Acquired: crystal mineral + 1200!]

[Acquired: high-energy gas + 500!]

The resource numbers that instantly poured into the system were far more intense than any sensory stimulus. For Zhang Yuan, who was extremely thirsty for resources, these Ancient creations were even more exciting than the most efficient crystal mineral and high-energy gas geysers in the game.

Trazyn, that endless collector, had millions of such "little fragments" in his warehouse.

This realization made it impossible for Zhang Yuan's heart to remain steady.

Swann's communicator suddenly blared a harsh alarm, interrupting the silence of the bridge.

It wasn't a combat alert, but a highest-priority contact alert from the long-range sensor array.

Matt Horner's calm voice immediately rang out on the bridge: "All units, attention! An unknown contact signal has appeared three hundred kilometers in front of the flagship! Non-Warp jump! Non-Warp reaction!"

Swann's laho stick dropped onto the deck. He sprang up from his chair and rushed to the observation deck.

"Magnify the screen!"

On the main screen, the cold, dead void was instantly magnified.

A second ago, there was nothing there.

The next second, a ship was just hovering there silently.

Its entire body presented a dull, living metal sheen that seemed to absorb all light, shaped like a giant, unfolded Canoptek Scarab. There were no engine trails, no shield glows, no energy reactions of any kind.

It appeared out of thin air, as if it should have been there all along, as if it had been docked there since the beginning of the universe.

Swann's breathing stalled. His eyes, belonging to an engineer, were instantly filled with a fanatical light.

"'Harvester' class..." His voice was trembling, not from fear, but from the extreme excitement of seeing a miracle. "A Necron resource collection ship. It comes with phase matter decomposition beams and an atomic-level matter reorganization array..."

He turned his head, staring fixedly at Zhang Yuan, saliva almost spraying out.

"Boss! This thing isn't a transport ship... It's a flying refinery!"

Titus, who had been silent, looked even heavier in his black Deathwatch power armor under the bridge lights. He walked to the porthole, looking at the eerie Necron ship, his voice low:

"Necron technology. Inertial suppression drive, phase engine. It didn't 'fly' here; it just 'existed' there. Conventional early warning systems are meaningless; we can't defend against it."

Swann, however, didn't heed his warning at all. His mechanical arm opened and closed repeatedly with excitement, making clacking sounds.

"Who the fuck wants to defend against it? I want to go up and touch it!"

Zhang Yuan did not participate in this conversation.

In his personal communication channel, a specially encrypted message arrived. The sender was unknown, but he recognized the unique encryption method.

The message contained only four words.

"Collect. Friend."

Immediately after, a second message popped up.

"Transport ship has arrived. Webway route map and Crown World sovereignty codes—transmitting later. Receive the goods first."

Zhang Yuan raised his head and ordered the bridge's communication system: "Captain Horner, dispatch a shuttle. I, Captain Titus, and Chief Engineer Swann will go to inspect the goods."

The cargo hold of the Necron transport ship was as large as an empty cathedral.

There was no excess decoration inside, only cold, smooth, geometrically aesthetic metal walls. There was not a speck of dust in the air; it was so quiet that one could hear the faint sound of the servo-motors in one's power armor running.

In the very center of the cargo hold floated two square containers wrapped in transparent stasis fields. Around them floated a full hundred pieces of the same milky-white glowing 'psionic resonator' fragments that Zhang Yuan had seen before.

Swann's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He circled the pile of fragments, his mechanical arm reaching out and pulling back, like a cat that wanted to steal a treat but was afraid of burning its paws.

"... My god..." Swann's mechanical prosthetic eye instantly switched to the highest precision scanning mode, his voice trembling with excessive excitement. "The energy dissipation pattern of these fragments... is more stable than any psionic crystal we've ever seen! This isn't an energy source at all; this is... this is a perfect psionic 'circuit board'! Boss, with these, we can do something big!"

He rubbed his hands excitedly, his gaze then reluctantly moving to the two larger containers, his tone shifting with the greed typical of an engineer: "As for how much mineral and high-energy gas they can be exchanged for... that's secondary! It's just that this iron-bones guy is too stingy, only giving a hundred pieces! I thought I could get a whole ship!"

Zhang Yuan ignored his muttering and walked straight to the first container.

Inside the container was a fist-sized crystal emitting a faint dark green glow. It was not a Necron creation; it looked more like a meticulously carved piece of art, its surface covered with psionic runes finer than hair, constantly flowing.

Zhang Yuan's system immediately gave a prompt.

[Psionic structure detected — Aeldari · Spirit Stone (uncontaminated)]

[Contains Eldar Farseer memory fragments, can be parsed]

[Parsing estimated consumption: 300 units of high-energy gas. Estimated time: 24 hours.]

Aeldari Spirit Stone?

Zhang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He knew this thing; it was a container used by the Aeldari to carry souls after death. An uncontaminated Spirit Stone that still sealed a Farseer's memories was of immeasurable value.

He turned his gaze to the second container.

Inside was a palm-sized, pitch-black hexagonal data crystal. Typical Necron craftsmanship—cold, precise, without any superfluous ornamentation.

Swann leaned over, staring at the Spirit Stone and clicking his tongue in wonder: "This stone looks much more valuable than the one last time. Boss, what is this black crystal? An instruction manual?"

Just as Zhang Yuan was about to reach out and touch the Necron data crystal, the flagship's main control system's emergency communication connected directly to his helmet.

Matt Horner's voice came through the communication channel, carrying a trace of suppressed excitement.

"Governor, the flagship's main control system has received two highest-privilege encrypted data streams. Source... untraceable."

"Decrypt. Content." Zhang Yuan ordered.

The communication channel was silent for a full dozen seconds, as if Horner was processing the massive data.

"... It is... Webway route map. A complete data packet without any trap locks set." Horner's voice was somewhat distorted. "The other segment... is galaxy coordinates marked in Necron text and a long string of authorization codes. It should be the sovereignty information for that Crown World."

Swann was stunned: "He just sent it over like that? Ship first, then data? What is this? A new era of shopping experience? Inspect goods before payment?"

Zhang Yuan did not answer.

He reached out and took the black Necron data crystal out of the stasis field.

The crystal was cold to the touch.

He connected it to the data interface on the wrist of his power armor.

The next second, a green data stream flashed, and Trazyn's gorgeous and elegant holographic projection appeared in the empty cargo hold.

"Governor Zhang Yuan. My friend."

Trazyn's voice carried a chant-like rhythm.

"The transport ship has arrived. The Webway route map and Crown World sovereignty codes have been sent to your main control system. The data is complete, unencrypted. This is what you deserve."

His projection glanced at the one hundred Ancient fragments floating around.

"As for these 'psionic resonator' fragments... they are the 'payment' I promised to pay you. I always keep my promises."

Finally, his electronic eyes, burning with green light, landed on the container sealing the Spirit Stone.

"This Spirit Stone is a bit of a... small curiosity of mine. I have collected it for a long time, a relic of an Eldar Farseer. It contains some... memories."

"I cannot interpret it." Trazyn's projection spread his hands slightly, his tone carrying the regret and curiosity of an artist facing a masterpiece he cannot understand. "You know, my race has long abandoned the 'noise' of the soul; for us, psionics is the most gorgeous and chaotic graffiti in the universe. I can appreciate its composition, but I cannot understand its connotation."

His electronic eyes, burning with green light, seemed to pierce through the holographic projection, looking directly at Zhang Yuan with a tone as if sharing a secret.

"This Spirit Stone seals the final lament of a Farseer before falling. I want to hear that melody. My friend, as one of the few beings in this universe who can understand both 'logic' and 'emotion'... parse it for me. Tell me, what kind of scroll did you see in that ruin of souls."

As the words fell, Trazyn's projection turned into countless green light spots and dissipated into the air.

The shuttle returned to the tears of vengeance.

On the bridge, the atmosphere remained tense.

"So, the ship is given, the data is sent, and the stone has arrived. This iron-bones guy is surprisingly straightforward this time, making people a bit unaccustomed to it." Swann muttered while checking the Ancient fragments they had just brought back.

Titus stood to the side, looking at the container holding the Spirit Stone, his black power armor reflecting cold, hard light. He said in a deep voice, as if stating a fact: "Aeldari... they are ancient players of the Warp, and also its deepest victims. The memories of a Farseer, what is sealed inside, might be more dangerous than a fleet, or... more valuable."

He didn't continue, but the words "dangerous" and "valuable" were enough.

This instantly struck the place Zhang Yuan cared about the most. For Ilaria! Only one thought remained in his mind. Yes, the Aeldari, they had been entangled with Chaos for ten thousand years, especially with Slaanesh. Then, for Nurgle, who was also an evil god, they could not know nothing!

"Parse it." Zhang Yuan's voice was emotionless but full of determination. "Send it to Isolation Chamber No. 1 immediately. Now."

"Yes, Boss!" A technical soldier immediately stepped forward and carefully held the container.

Swann looked up, his eyes shining as he looked at Zhang Yuan: "Then... what about that ship?"

Zhang Yuan turned around and looked at this genius engineer, his eyes under the metal mask unreadable.

"That is your job."

"Take it apart from the inside out for me."

"Don't let go of every screw, every circuit. I want to know how many 'gifts' our 'friend' left for us on it."

Swann grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth from the laho stick, his smile as bright as a child who had just received a new toy.

"Got it! Boss!"

He shoved the fragments in his hand to the Servitor beside him, rubbed his hands, and turned to walk towards the hangar, muttering excitedly.

"Phase matter decomposition beam... atomic-level matter reorganization array... living metal self-healing logic... My god, this is enough for me to play for a hundred years..."

Isolation Chamber No. 1.

The heavy alloy door closed behind him, isolating everything from the outside.

The Aeldari Spirit Stone, emitting a faint green light, was carefully taken out by the mechanical arm and placed into the core of the parsing slot.

[Preparing to parse target: Aeldari · Spirit Stone]

[Building psionic link...]

Zhang Yuan stood outside the observation window, watching the parsing slot start to operate. Dark green psionic light spilled out from the Spirit Stone, flowing slowly in the transparent chamber like a living thing.

Just then, Zhang Yuan's consciousness was gently touched by an external force.

It was not an invasion, but more like a... probe.

As if on the other side of distant time and space, some ancient and sad existence was "looking" at him through this small Spirit Stone. It was also as if someone was whispering in his ear, in a language he could not understand, letting out a faint sigh.

The system's cold prompt pulled him back to reality from that strange feeling.

[Parsing started. Estimated time: 24 hours.]

Zhang Yuan did not answer. He closed his eyes and focused all his attention on the link with the system.

[Parsing progress: 1%...]