However, what Adam didn't expect was that the Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus he had been thinking about was actually much closer to him than he imagined.
Valos World.
On the other side of the planet's surface, a Mechanicus camp stood prominently, a scene of extreme busyness.
Large numbers of Skitarii and Servitors came and went, debugging various equipment. In the center of the camp, a massive mechanical drill continuously bored downwards, excavating a huge deep pit.
"01000001 01100011 01101000 01101111 01101111 00100001"
"Bless you, lord Cawl."
Next to it, a colossal mechanical entity, its size resembling some kind of Omnissiah's holy statue, its entire body covered by a red robe, suddenly raised its head.
Its mechanical appendages, like octopus tentacles, slowly extended.
"What's wrong?"
Right beside Cawl, another person, wearing yellow and black power armor and significantly taller than a typical Astartes, spoke, "You seem to have sensed something."
"Yes, but this feeling... I don't know how to describe it in words, a feeling akin to unease."
Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus of Mars, slowly spoke, accompanied by the hum of machinery.
The Firstborn heard this and was clearly puzzled: "That shouldn't be. Your degree of mechanical augmentation is so high that you don't even have a biological heart. How can you be uneasy? Is it an illusion?"
"Not an illusion."
Cawl slowly shook his head, a trace of confusion in his uncovered eyes. "My internal sensors show that during a 1.3-second period just now, for some unknown reason, all the instruments on my body experienced a phenomenon of great machine spirit delight, which significantly boosted their mechanical operating efficiency."
He paused, then continued, "And not only that... I seem to have experienced auditory hallucinations, as if... the machine spirit came alive and began chanting a name."
"That name is—[Shattered God]."
"That sounds rather ominous."
The Firstborn said with some gravity after hearing this.
"Could it be the influence of this xenos relic?"
"I can only say, it doesn't seem like it."
Cawl murmured.
Since he couldn't figure out the reason, he had no intention of dwelling on this unknown anomaly and changed the subject.
Belisarius Cawl's massive body slowly moved towards the Firstborn, and he asked, "How is that strike cruiser belonging to the Chaos traitors?"
The Firstborn paused, quickly scanned the information on his helmet display, and immediately replied, "It is still docked in low orbit on the other side of this planet. Auspex readings show no further movement from the enemy."
"Is that so..."
Cawl sighed, "What a pity."
Because the location of this exploration mission was not some remote backwater far from the light of the Astronomican, but rather the heart of the Imperium of Man, the Segmentum Solar.
Therefore, to avoid the attention of his colleagues on Mars and to explore this xenos relic as discreetly as possible, Cawl did not choose to travel in his flagship, the Ark Mechanicus [Spirit of Steel], but instead, to conceal his movements, selected a Resolute-class light cruiser equipped with technological relics and powerful anti-detection stealth capabilities.
However, while this provided concealment, it greatly impacted his combat power, especially when Cawl discovered that another Chaos strike cruiser had appeared in this star system, leaving him no choice but to remain hidden.
Otherwise, if the Ark Mechanicus Spirit of Steel were here, he was confident he could utterly liberate that ship, which had abandoned the Omnissiah and been corrupted by the Warp, in a void battle.
"If we were to go to war with this Chaos Warband, our chances of success are estimated at thirty-five percent... the probability of failure is high."
Seemingly sensing Cawl's dilemma, the Firstborn said, "According to the database, the identification code of this warship corresponds to a strike cruiser lost by a company of the Sons of Medusa Chapter at M40.780, due to an attack by the Chaos Warband, The Blissful Angels."
"Furthermore, based on subsequent intelligence shared by the Sons of Medusa with the Adeptus Mechanicus, this [The Blissful Angels] is a faction that splintered from the traitor legion Emperor's Children, and its strength is quite formidable."
"After acquiring this vessel, the warband's lord further corrupted and modified this strike cruiser, giving it the ability to carry far more Astartes than its original design capacity, which was only a single company."
"Therefore, given the current disparity in strength, I do not recommend launching a preemptive attack, especially while they haven't discovered us."
"...You are right."
Cawl murmured.
He was indeed well aware that his responsibilities were too great, arguably bearing the future of the Imperium of Man.
He should not, and could not, take this risk.
"But, alas..."
For what felt like countless times, Belisarius Cawl yearned for the Great Crusade, that era when humanity was advancing with vigor, and everything was improving... At this moment, on the other side,
Having left the Armageddon Steel Legion's logistics base, Adam and his group walked across the wilderness, beginning to search for a suitable open space to manufacture their equipment.
After all, demonstrating their abilities in plain sight would be far too shocking.
For the safety of the Astra Militarum (meaning, in case they saw something they shouldn't and were then silenced by their own companions), Adam believed it was better to go a bit further away.
However, during their journey, the information exchange session also began, and Adam naturally presented his ideas to the other two, asking for their opinions.
Soon, however, to Adam's surprise, Lucia, who usually didn't like to express opinions, was the first to raise a question.
"Lord Adam, why are you putting so much effort into this aspect?"
After hearing Adam's ideas, Lucia was somewhat puzzled, "I personally believe that you should focus all your attention on continuing to improve your own abilities."
"Currently, your great power is already close to that of the legendary Primarchs. If you continue to improve, I believe that one day, you will be able to save all of humanity with your boundless might."
"No, you might have misunderstood me."
Adam frowned slightly and immediately replied, "This is part of the enhancement plan. Simply put, although my current strength is formidable, it still cannot meet the requirements for the next stage of improvement. Therefore, I need all the power that can assist me."
Upon hearing this, both Lucia and Sibylla's eyes showed confusion.
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"01000001 01100011 01101000 01101111 01101111 00100001" = "Achoo!"