66: Chapter 66 The Throat of the Void poured the entire backup database from 100,000 years ago into the Queen's Crown.

The second thing the Void Throat did after opening full-spectrum communications was completely beyond the expectations of everyone in the War Council. It wasn't firing—the remnants of the Tyranid main fleet were still regrouping in deep space, and the Chaos god Tzeentch was still in the Warp using a divination pool to derive the eight-hundredth variant of an error-correction code; no external threat had triggered the Void Throat's active defense mechanism. Instead, the Old Ones had left a delayed activation protocol within the sealing core. Once the sealing device was successfully activated by a non-Old One civilization and completed its first practical combat validation, the delay timer would drop to zero if the activator did not abuse the weapon within the evaluation window. Now, the countdown had reached zero. Three rings of cold green light suddenly accelerated their rotation above the Talasta Void Gate. What shot out from the spherical quantum-state array was not energy beams, but data—the backup database the Old Ones had sealed in the core for tens of millions of years was being poured directly into the cold green Photonic Crown atop the Brood Queen's head in the form of quantum-state pulses.

The Brood Queen crouched beside the Void Gate's pedestal, every Blackstone Resonance Chamber on her adamantium-chitin carapace lighting up simultaneously the moment the data was poured in. A dense cold-green corona spread outward from the Photonic Crown along the ridges of her carapace, pushing her Hive Mind node bandwidth to its limit in an instant. The Overmind received the Brood Queen's real-time translated data stream within the Hive Mind, taking less than a few seconds to archive and categorize the entire database. Then, quantum-state text unfurled line by line on the main screen, its tone cold and certain: "When the Old Ones sealed the Void Throat, they stuffed a complete backup of their psionic theories into the core. The Necron Dynasty was unaware of this backup's existence. This data does not belong to the Necrons, nor the Empire, nor Chaos. Now, it belongs to The Swarm."

Marcus Aurelian stood on the bridge of the Wrath of the Emperor, the five fingers of his right hand pressing back onto the edge of the command console. He stared at the directory of materials sent by the Overmind on the main screen—the complete framework of Old One psionic theory, the original design blueprints for the Void Throat, the underlying protocols for the Necron Dynasty's double-encrypted shell, and a psionic potential assessment report on all carbon-based intelligent species conducted by the Old Ones at the end of the War in Heaven. At the end of the report was an assessment of humanity, consisting of only one line: 'They have potential, but are too easily frightened. Fear will make them burn their own crutches before they even learn to walk.'

Bern strode onto the bridge from the Void Gate position carrying the Holy Hammer. He set his helmet on the conference table and sat down, staring at that line of text for a long time. "The Old Ones knew before humanity was even born that we would burn our crutches out of fear." He paused, then turned to look at Marcus. "Now the Void Throat has poured the database into The Swarm instead of the Empire. We need to talk to the Overmind about this."

The Overmind's quantum-state text answered half a second after Bern finished speaking. He did not respond directly to Bern, but instead projected a chapter of the Old One psionic theory—the part regarding 'The Construction of Living Psionic Networks'—directly onto the main screen. In the theoretical framework, the Old Ones divided psionics into two categories: External Psionics, which borrow power from the Warp at the cost of being forever subject to Chaos; and Cohesive Psionics, which do not need to borrow power from the Warp as they originate from the spontaneous generation of a collective consciousness. These do not produce individual soul fluctuations, so Chaos cannot locate their anchors in the Warp. The Zerg Swarm's Hive Mind was classified in the Old Ones' definitions as the purest form of Cohesive Psionics, closer to the collective will network used by the Old Ones themselves before the War in Heaven than the Human Emperor's Astronomican. The database included a complete engineering guide for a Living Psionic Network, specifically designed to weave Cohesive Psionics into a communication and defense network capable of covering interstellar space. At the end of the guide, the Old Ones had noted a single line: 'This network is harder for Chaos to penetrate than the Blackstone Defense Line, but we did not have time to finish building it. We leave it to those who follow.'

The Overmind translated the text of the guide paragraph by paragraph into The Swarm's genetic coding language, while simultaneously forwarding a brief summary to all members of the War Council. His text remained concise to the point of coldness: "Now that the Old Ones' database in the Void Throat has been activated, the defense architecture of the defense line can continue to be used. However, the true strategic direction needs to be adjusted—The Swarm will use the Hive Mind to replace the fixed resonance broadcasts of the Blackstone Defense Line, serving as the living quantum-state control substrate for the Void Throat. The Old Ones' Cohesive Psionic Network will merge with The Swarm's existing gene-devouring templates and blackstone engine arrays. The new network is codenamed 'Psionic Void Network'. The Void Throat will not be shut down before the exam ends; the specific timeline depends on the next phase of evaluation metrics. Marcus, the human psionic theory in your hands is only that segment from the Old Ones' backup. If you need more, the psionic scholars of the War Council can interface directly with the Blackstone Cerebrate. An additional reminder—the Old Ones' report states clearly: 'The construction of a Living Psionic Network requires a stable collective consciousness core.' The Swarm has one. Humanity does not."

Marcus forwarded this text to all members of the War Council, then keyed the fleet channel, his voice hoarse but very steady: "The War Council will establish a temporary special task force, led by Bern, responsible for interfacing with the Brood Queen's Blackstone Cerebrate to decipher the Old Ones' psionic theories. The Imperial Astropathic Corps will dispatch a senior psionic mentor from Terra to join, and all research data on humanity's side regarding Cohesive Psionics will be opened for sharing. Oldenburg, the Third Assault Fleet will maintain a perimeter watch outside the defense line. The Swarm is installing a living neural network onto the Void Throat; that is a long-term strategic asset for the alliance, and no fleet maneuvers must interfere with it." Oldenburg stood at attention and saluted. Bern placed the Holy Hammer gently on the table, covered his Psychic Talisman with his palm, and nodded in agreement.

The Brood Queen rose from the Void Gate's pedestal, the Photonic Crown atop her head still continuously receiving the remaining data from the Old Ones' database. She sent a brief point-to-point communication to the Overmind through the quantum-state translator. The Overmind read it within the Hive Mind, then forwarded an even briefer message to Marcus. A final line of cold green text appeared on the main screen: "Our next opponents, besides the Tyranids and Chaos, now include the next round of evaluations from the Void Throat. Let Terra know that the exam is not over yet."