Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor

Mikhaeli and Jorginho rushed from both sides through the zero-gravity corridor, storming the bridge and purging the Jorgalls with bolters.

A lone Faceless One, having intentionally separated from the group, saw an opportunity and swallowed one of the egg-shaped heads into his belly.

The next moment, he spat it out with a retch, a mouthful of foul-smelling, dark red blood.

Even he was disgusted.

He had never eaten something so revolting.

Gabriel led a team to begin researching the Jorgalls' biomechanical augmentation technology.

Marlena joined the study as well, though their research priorities differed.

The Tech-Marines were more interested in the mechanical side, not only the biomech enhancements, but also arc projectors, needler weapons, spring-loaded piston limbs, etc.

The "Doctor", on the other hand, focused on biology, dissecting the bio-limbs to understand their purpose and function.

After the Thousand Sons finished their battle, they immediately headed for the lower hatchery, where they had sensed the earlier psychic eruption.

There, they were halted by members of the Honor Guard.

"Orders from the Primarch, this area is off-limits."

Ohrmuzd and Apophis frowned, then looked at Azhek.

The leader of the Thousand Sons paused only a moment before deciding wisely:

"We will obey Lord Nareth's command."

He led the Thousand Sons away, searching elsewhere within the Jorgall world-ship for records of xeno knowledge.

But upon reaching the bridge, they were told all the data had been destroyed.

In truth, all Jorgall data crystals and archives had been secretly collected and handed over to Gabriel.

Meanwhile, Nareth began collecting ingredients for the potion.

He transported the mutated Jorgall hatchlings into his personal domain, the Kingdom of Disorder.

He placed them in a palace on the first layer of realspace, then descended to the second layer.

After years of experimentation, Nareth had managed to use his spiritual energy to construct a basic system for some potionl ingredients.

On a network of over a thousand intertwining pipes, dozens of Lung Spiders spun webs.

A barrier of invisible force separated him from the pipes, where Hive-Rats squealed and ran wild.

Only when Nareth himself arrived and used psychic power to lift the barrier, like now, could the Lung Spiders follow their webs into the pipes and hunt the Hive-Rats.

The Hive-Rats, in turn, fed on fungi from the sewage pits, which were also blocked off from them by another barrier.

This fragile ecological balance was inherently unstable, if Nareth was away for three Vostroyan work cycles or longer, everything would collapse.

The starving Hive-Rats and Lung Spiders would turn on each other, and only a small number of intact corpses would remain for use.

With a thought, Nareth opened both barriers with his psychic power.

He flashed forward, picked up two fungi from the sewage, and tossed them into the pipes.

The keen-nosed Hive-Rats immediately swarmed toward the pit.

He then picked up one of the Hive-Rats and threw it to the Lung Spiders, prompting them into motion.

He examined this incomplete, fragile balance, and a realization stirred in his heart:

"In order, everything is connected, building a functioning system is never easy."

He then shifted to another section of the realm.

There, a green-striped zebra twisted and leapt about in discomfort due to a blinding light over its eyes.

It bounced, thrashed its head, and tried to shake off the source of its discomfort, but a black blindfold was strapped tightly over its eyes.

Inside the blindfold, twelve finger-length worms glowed brightly as they danced around the zebra's eyes.

Eventually, the prism worm burrowed into its eyes, causing the light to fade, but the zebra became even more agitated.

A while later, the prism worm emerged again and lay contentedly on the zebra's broad forehead, its belly gave birth to a grain-sized new worm.

This zebra was being used as a breeding vessel for prism worms.

Sensing the birth of the new worm, Nareth smiled.

"Sometimes, building order is simple after all. Prism worms are easier to raise than Lung Spiders or Hive-Rats. You just need a creature with eyes, like this green-striped zebra.

Its eyes can support up to five worms, and after nineteen days in the realspace, it'll go blind, then I can use it as food. It wil produce one or two new offspring every few days."

After inspecting the prism worms, Nareth picked up the newly born, rice-sized colorful worm and flashed into the third layer of his domain.

Since becoming a "Briber", he had gained access to this layer.

He had previously conducted over a hundred experiments here but had yet to discover the unique function of this space.

Now, bringing a newborn prism worm, he intended to try something new.

At first, the third layer felt much like the second, but he sensed a subtle difference.

Not a difference in air or gravity, but something beneath the surface, a deeper, hidden property.

His earliest guess was that it involved rules or order, closely tied to the Black Emperor and the Kingdom of Disorder.

He had tried throwing Hive-Rats in here to see if any natural order would emerge.

After hundreds of experiments, he concluded:

"This third layer has no direct connection to order or structure."

"If I think of the 33 layers as a ladder, then order and rules are probably unlocked at the higher levels. What I can access now must relate to something else."

With that in mind, he injected psychic energy into the prism worm.

His dark eyes flashed, and this time, he felt something change.

A faint thread of connection now linked him and the worm.

It was a strange link, not quite like a mind-link, but similar.

"Glow," Nareth commanded mentally.

The worm lit up, emitting a tiny burst of dazzling colored light, not as bright as an adult, but unmistakable.

And then Nareth understood:

"This layer is linked to the Briber'sbeyonder ability 'Bribe Connection.' I've established a link with this worm."

He returned to the second layer and brought over an adult prism worm.

Infusing it with energy, he tried to recreate the link.

Nothing happened, except that the worm glowed slightly brighter.

Even after infusing it three times, there was no link.

He immediately realized:

"I can only link with newborns. Not adults. Perhaps my authority level isn't high enough yet."

He began pondering the purpose of this layer of connection.

"Connection…"

A sudden thought struck him, the image of an orange space monkey flickered in his mind.

"The Jokaero. They act entirely on instinct. Perhaps only the Old Ones knew how to control them. But if I can create a link to one, I should be able to direct it command such as building of technology. Their forcefield emiters are potent against daemonic threats, as such it is highly prized by Calixis Sector's Ordo Malleus.

More ideas flowed into his head:

"I wouldn't need to personally brew potions anymore, I could delegate it to the monkeys. Maybe I could even guide them to invent or build under certain constraints…"

With this breakthrough in mind, Nareth returned to reality and issued an immediate order:

"Report to me as soon as a newborn space monkey is born from any tribe."

He then summoned his men to receive briefings.

.....

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

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