Chapter 968, Relics

Chapter 968, Relics

The so-called 'legacy' is the spoils of war that Mattin' Salas, the Primarch of the Phoenix and the current commander of the Alliance's Southern Front, received after personally participating in the first battle following his Primarch advancement under Gu Hang.

In the Paparil system, a fleet of calamities was annihilated. Their strategic objective was also exposed.

Zakaria, the Chaos Space Marine Commander, leader of the Calamity Fleet, a notorious traitor to humanity, and the King of the White Wolves, was captured alive and brought all the way to the heart of the Alliance. He is now imprisoned in a secret chamber on the planet Wrath of the Owls.

Along with this prisoner, what his Calamity Fleet was meant to seize was also brought to them.

That thing was originally kept in a bronze coffin in the crypt of a church in Papariel.

Now, the bronze coffin has also been delivered.

The prisoners and the bronze coffin had actually been in Gu Hang's hands for some time. However, Gu Hang had been too busy to conduct his own research.

The prisoners are being interrogated by the Alliance's intelligence department, and the bronze coffin is the result of a joint study conducted by scholars from various Mechanicus sects and Psionic Orders within the Alliance.

Although Gu Hang didn't personally intervene, they still mobilized the existing resources of the alliance from various aspects to deal with them.

The goal is to figure out what exactly these 'things' the Chaos forces have created, which are operating all over the universe and collecting all these calamity fleets. What is their purpose? And what are the Chaos forces' specific plans?
However, the specifications, hierarchy, and depth of this thing exceeded expectations.

Without Gu Hang's personal involvement in the research, after much effort, all they could do was conclude that it appeared to be some kind of 'legacy'. Initially, they thought it was a treasure left behind by an ancient civilization, hence the internal research codename: 'Legacy'. However, as the research deepened and their understanding of the contents sealed within the bronze coffin grew, they gradually overturned their previous conclusions, concluding that it was not a product of a civilization, but rather something left behind by some being, some powerful individual.

Delving any deeper, they couldn't uncover anything. They couldn't determine the energy levels within, nor could they utilize it. Even moving the bronze coffin around using psionic energy was incredibly difficult. Not to mention, the coffin was merely a container, not the essence itself. And the essence within it was beyond their control.

Research progress reports were delivered to Gu Hang's desk one after another, and he looked at them with great interest.

After the affairs in Comoros were settled and the fragments of divinity were given to his son to control, he had the time to deal with this matter.

As the research deepened, Gu Hang's interest grew stronger!
No wonder neither the sages of the Mechanicus nor the scholars and masters of the Psionic Order could find anything of substance in their research.

However, their previous conclusion was not wrong.

This thing is indeed a 'relic', originating from a super-ancient civilization, from a being akin to a god.

That's what Gu Hang thinks.

But its origins can be set aside for now. Its function is somewhat like the core of the Thousand-Faced God.

They may not be the same thing, but they are very likely to have similar effects—if you can master and digest it, you can become a god!
But it's easier said than done.
Even with Gu Jing's abilities, controlling one of the Thousand-Faced God's "faces" was nearly impossible. Only with Gu Hang's relentless efforts and the Thousand-Faced God's willingness to help instead of hindering him due to their business partnership could Gu Jing succeed.

However, this fragment is completely different from the Thousand-Faced God.

A single leaf falling heralds autumn; in Gu Hang's view, this fragment was merely an insignificant piece that could be pieced together to form its complete state. Therefore, the complete version formed by this thing was definitely far more powerful than the Thousand-Faced God—even stronger than the Thousand-Faced God at its peak! What does this mean?

At its peak, the Thousand-Faced God sat enthroned in the Pantheon, transforming into countless deities to protect the then-dominant cosmic power, the Eldar Empire. Even though, due to certain characteristics, it did not reach the level of the current Four Gods, Slaanesh, one of the current Four Gods, originated from one of the Thousand-Faced Gods and was ultimately born from it.

From this perspective, the God of a Thousand Faces at his peak did not reach the level of the Four Gods; he was only slightly inferior.

If he is even stronger than him, then when this divine core is complete, wouldn't he be a main god in the subspace, on the same level as the Four Gods?
However… thinking about this, another somewhat chilling thought inevitably arose in Gu Hang's mind:

"Can the Four Gods also die?"

In this universe, there are many things called 'gods'. Years ago, even the Primal Owl on the planet Wrathful Owl could be called a god.

But the four true evil gods are beings that inspire immense fear and leave one utterly powerless.

Is it possible for such a hierarchy to also perish?
It was also broken into countless fragments?

So, what is the purpose of the Chaos faction collecting these fragments?

To resurrect that god?
To understand this issue, we need to consider the information extracted from Zakaria, the former White Wolf King, who is now a prisoner, during interrogation.

The forces of Chaos are not monolithic. Even though they seem to be unified under the Chaos Warmaster Alchaton, in reality, internal conflicts and factions are numerous.

The hostile relationship between the four gods is probably no less intense than their hatred for the human emperors. Those Chaos followers who worship one of the four gods naturally have little harmony among themselves, relying entirely on Alchaton's forceful efforts to unite them. Of course, there are also those like Alchaton who don't solely worship any one evil god; they are simply part of the Chaos faction and don't truly have a faith in Chaos, merely borrowing power from the Warp, each with their own ambitions.

Zakaria, the King of the White Wolves, was one of them.

He dreamt of replacing the Chaos Warmaster, and then, while the Warmaster was building the Calamity Fleet and sending them to work all over the universe, he also got involved with the Warmaster's collaborator, a minor god in the warp, a powerful being named 'Bassol'.

It possesses immense power and wields considerable influence in the warp.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. After all, in the warp, besides the four gods, there are quite a few other lesser evil gods and demon princes.

However, Bassor had an ambition—he wanted to go further.

This idea might be shared by many lesser gods in the warp. However, the vast majority of beings lack the means to realize it and can only dream about it with trepidation.

But Bassor is different; He has already taken a crucial step.

(End of this chapter)