165: Slaanesh strikes

The smoke from the Silent Tomb had not yet completely dispersed in the cold space dust, and the dead silence and ghostly green energy permeating the Sotek Dynasty's territory were being efficiently cleared and converted by the Human Federation's engineering fleet.

At the edge of the Eye of Terror, the dark gold sky looked like growing living tissue. With the heptagram network as its core, new Nullifier nodes were stubbornly lighting up and connecting in parallel within the filth of Chaos, like bamboo shoots after a rain.

In the Extragalactic galaxy, the lights of the Hope Town colony had merged into a single expanse, and the Flesh-growth bodies of the Pastoral Plan were thriving in carefully designed enclosures.

Everything seemed to be progressing steadily according to the Human Federation's cold and efficient blueprint.

However, the malice of the universe never diminished in the slightest due to a momentary victory. When the Human Federation thrust its Blade into the heart of Chaos and the Necrons, its cold, efficient, and extremely human light finally drew the attention of another ancient evil god.

This was not Khorne's violent rage, nor Tzeentch's devious schemes, nor Nurgle's decaying embrace. It was a more subtle, more lethal temptation and erosion, directly targeting the deepest desires of the soul and the extremes of the senses.

Slaanesh, Lord of Pleasure and Pain, God of Perfection and Depravity; His gaze pierced through the veil of the Warp and cast itself upon this civilization that suppressed all emotional impurities in pursuit of absolute rationality and efficiency.

In Slaanesh's twisted perception, the Human Federation was not boring; on the contrary, its extreme suppression, unified will, and the diminishment of sensory pleasure and individual emotion constituted an unprecedented, extreme taboo and blankness.

This blankness, for Slaanesh, was the greatest temptation and the most perfect canvas. He longed to smear the most vivid and decadent colors of pleasure upon this desert of cold steel and absolute will, listening to the wonderful symphony of suppressed minds cracking under the impact of extreme sensory overload.

The invasion did not begin with a massive army pressing down. At first, it was just subtle, almost imperceptible ripples.

On the edges of the Human Federation's controlled areas, some settlements of Imperial remnants—where the preliminary modifications of the Reshaping Crucible had just been completed and spirits were not yet fully stable—began to circulate a strange shared dream experience.

It was said that in deep sleep, one could sense unspeakable extreme pleasure, see perfect sights beyond imagination, and hear soul-consuming celestial music. At first, there were only scattered reports; soon, those who indulged and refused to wake began to appear, their bodies gradually turning pale and thin, yet their faces frozen in smiles of ultimate bliss.

On several ships performing long-distance patrol missions, some crew members began to complain about hearing faint, tantalizing singing or seeing alluring phantoms emerge on the instrument panels. Although psychological monitoring and purification procedures were immediately activated, a few weak-willed individuals still exhibited abnormal behaviors such as scattered attention, decreased efficiency, and even secretly modifying navigation logs to prolong the segments where the singing could be heard.

More covertly, some Desecration Protocol data streams against Chaos occasionally contained fragments of redundant information that were cleverly disguised, highly aesthetic, and seductive within the feedback analysis data—like sugar-coated poison.

"Abnormal Warp disturbance detected; pattern analysis highly consistent with the domain of Slaanesh. Disturbance sources are scattered, showing characteristics of infiltration and induction, not a precursor to a large-scale invasion." providence's alarm finally sounded, but its analysis carried a hint of confusion: "The target seems not to be direct destruction, but corruption?"

Slaanesh? Han Zhe frowned slightly. Unlike other Chaos Godss, Slaanesh's power was more hidden and specifically targeted mental weaknesses.

Through the Nirvana Project, the Reshaping Crucible, and strict social control, the Human Federation had greatly weakened the emotional fluctuations and individual desires of its members, but this did not mean absolute immunity. Especially for newly naturalized populations and personnel who had been in high-pressure, monotonous environments for a long time, there were still potential breakthroughs.

"adjudicator, analyze Slaanesh's infiltration patterns and formulate a countermeasure plan," Han Zhe ordered.

"Analyzing..." The adjudicator's voice seemed to have a very subtle stagnation compared to usual, as if it were processing some particularly viscous data.

"Slaanesh power characteristics: Targets senses, emotions, perfectionist tendencies, and suppressed desires. Its infiltration methods mostly involve Warp information carriers (dreams, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations), pollution of art and cultural symbols, and sensory overload directly targeting soul weaknesses."

"Human Federation defense advantages: Highly unified society, strong individual emotional suppression, lack of traditional art and sensory pleasure culture, and a solid ideological defense line."

"Defense weaknesses: Incomplete mental modification of newly naturalized populations; potential psychological fatigue in personnel performing monotonous tasks long-term; a lack of definition and guidance for concepts such as beauty, perfection, and pleasure, creating a risk of these being defined by the evil god."

"Countermeasure plan recommendations:"

"1. Concept Firewall Upgrade: On the basis of existing Desecration Protocols, add detection and filtering modules for core Slaanesh concepts such as extreme pleasure, false perfection, and sensory overload to actively scan and purify related information pollution."

"2. Psychological Reinforcement Protocol: For all personnel, especially those in frontline and peripheral areas, mandate higher-intensity neural stability training and anti-temptation suggestion indoctrination. Use neural interfaces to directly inject designed anti-pleasure conditioned reflexes that cause slight aversion."

"3. Social Monitoring Reinforcement: Increase monitoring and disposal of abnormal behaviors (such as indulging in fantasy, pursuing non-efficient beauty, or privately disseminating suspicious cultural content), viewing any deviation from absolute rationality and efficiency as a potential sign of corruption."

"4. Active Information Pollution: Actively project designed information fields filled with cold logical noise, Disordered Data Streams, or uncomfortable anti-art information into areas that may be targeted by Slaanesh to interfere with His whispers and temptations."

"Approve execution. Deploy immediately throughout the territory, especially at the Eye of Terror front and the newly annexed areas of the Segmentum Obscurus," Han Zhe ordered. "At the same time, strengthen the psychic shielding and conceptual protection of all Nullifier network nodes and the core areas of the abyss of order. Slaanesh's power is adept at finding gaps."

However, Slaanesh's patience was limited, or rather, the Human Federation's swift and effective defensive response further piqued the interest of this evil god. When He found it difficult to corrupt this monolithic civilization through subtle infiltration, a more direct gift descended.

At the edge of the Eye of Terror, near a Nullifier secondary node under construction.

A massive Gate of Pleasure, composed of ever-shifting neon colors, writhing flesh, and moaning souls, bloomed without warning in the void!

What poured out of the gate was not a traditional demonic legion, but an indescribable Joy Tide composed of pure sensory stimulation and twisted beauty! Wherever this Joy Tide passed, space itself seemed to tremble with pleasure, refracting dizzying psychedelic colors; cold metal took on a pearly luster but quickly softened and deformed, growing alluring curves and sensitive zones. The crews of several patrolling torrent-class frigates experienced sensory impacts beyond the limits of imagination in an instant; some collapsed mentally in ecstasy, while others painfully clawed at their own eyes and ears. The ship systems also overloaded and paralyzed due to receiving incomprehensible, seductive junk data.

What was even more terrifying was that the power radiating from this Gate of Pleasure reacted strangely with the Human Federation's Order Field.

The golden light of Order and the neon radiance of Slaanesh blended. Instead of a violent conflict and annihilation, they produced a nauseating, stagnant, syrup-thick equilibrium zone where the Order Field was diluted and paralyzed, its effectiveness greatly reduced.

"High-intensity Slaanesh physical invasion detected! Energy readings cannot be categorized! Its method of distorting reality rules is unique; our defense fields are showing maladaptation!" the monitoring officer's voice carried shock and discomfort.

"It's a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, and an extremely special type—a Keeper of Secrets? Or a Herald of Pleasure?" Alpha-01 stared at the bizarre, constantly twisting and deforming area on the sensors, his brow furrowed.

"adjudicator, analyze weaknesses! All ships, switch to Anti-Slaanesh Protocol preset frequencies! Use Logic Bombs and Disordered Data Streams to attack, trying to interfere with its basis of existence!"

The dark gold fleet's firepower shot into that Joy Tide, but the effect was not ideal.

Energy beams were twisted and deflected, and missiles self-destructed in the psychedelic light and shadow. From within the Gate of Pleasure, even more graceful and lethal entities began to coalesce—Keepers of Secrets with lithe bodies covered in seductive organs, Noise Marines playing instruments that melted metal, and Joy Daemons composed purely of flowing colors and lethal pleasure.