Chapter 69 Forefather, I Beg You, Please Teach Me! (Bonus)

Resting Bloodletter [Carnage] on his shoulder, Vane lounged lazily upon the massive stone throne previously occupied by the Genestealer Patriarch, watching the rest of the group rush into the chamber.

Beneath his boot lay the corpse of a Purestrain Genestealer, its blood dripping rhythmically from his blade.

Watching Thracian and the others scramble into the room, Vane shook his head in mock disappointment. “You kids need to seriously work on your cardio. Your Forefather already wiped the floor with everything in here, and you’re just now showing up?”

“The Genestealer Patriarch… is already dead?!” Thracian stared at the massive, headless corpse on the floor, then looked up at Vane in absolute disbelief.

Anyone who had ever fought Genestealers knew exactly how utterly terrifying a Patriarch was. They were undisputed engines of slaughter. Under the sheer force of those rending claws, heavily charged with bio-psychic energy, Terminator armor might as well be wet paper. Even a full squad of elite Terminator veterans had to brace for catastrophic casualties when engaging a Patriarch.

Yet the Forefather had casually 1v1’d it without taking a single scratch, and was now just kicking back, waiting for them to catch up.

“Yup, dead as a doornail,” Vane nodded. “I hadn’t even started trying, and it folded. Seriously, zero challenge whatsoever.”

“I really hope this C’tan we’re looking for actually puts up a decent fight. I’ve been itching for a good brawl.”

Thracian and the Scythes exchanged completely speechless looks.

Listen to him! Is this guy even human?! What we consider a desperate, suicidal final stand, he calls ‘zero challenge whatsoever’?!

Vane hopped down from the throne and sauntered toward a tunnel leading even deeper underground. “Come on, let’s go. The C’tan we’re after is still further down. Let’s not waste any more time.”

“You get used to it,” Greyfax said, walking past Thracian and offering a rare word of comfort. “The Forefather is just like this.”

“All of this is simply the supreme will of the God-Emperor. As His humble servants, we must follow closely in the Forefather’s footsteps,” Celestine’s voice was gentle as she folded her wings, leading her Battle Sisters down the dark corridor.

Archmagos Cawl, his Skitarii escort, and the Aeldari delegation quickly followed suit.

Thracian and the Scythes brought up the rear. They looked at each other, mirroring the exact same helpless expression.

“With the Forefather’s combat power, we’re literally just here as cheerleaders.”

“I get the feeling the Forefather was just treating us like little kids playing soldier!”

“Just shut up and walk. We don’t want to get left behind.” Thracian shook his head and stepped into the dark tunnel, his brothers following closely.

—

As the expedition ventured deeper, the familiar Imperial rockcrete architecture gradually gave way to ubiquitous, strange black stone. Eerie green light pulsed along the walls, illuminating fractured runic circuits that sparked and flickered, unable to complete their loops.

Looks like Necron tech. We must be getting close to the lighthouse’s core, Vane thought to himself as he studied the pulsing green circuits.

Continuing their descent, they occasionally stumbled upon the scattered remains of Genestealers. The vast majority of their biomass had been atomized, leaving behind only small fragments of charred bone and chitin.

Seems the bugs and the metal-skeletons had a little turf war.

Vane reached down, picked up a Genestealer skull fragment, and effortlessly crushed it into dust in his hand.

Suddenly, a sickly green halo bloomed across the tunnel walls, and three Necron constructs phased through the solid stone, materializing in the corridor.

“Forefather, beware! Those are Canoptek Wraiths of the Necron Dynasties!” Archmagos Cawl shouted a warning from the rear.

The Skitarii guards immediately raised their galvanic rifles and opened fire, but the rounds uselessly pinged off the Wraiths’ shimmering green energy shields, sending ripples across the barriers.

Canoptek Wraiths were automated Necron constructs that served as the eyes and ears of a Tomb World’s central operating system, tasked with patrolling and performing maintenance. Their signature piece of wargear was a dimensional destabilization matrix housed within their bodies. This allowed them to freely alter their phase state, breaking the continuity of normal spacetime. Simply put, they could turn any part of their body intangible, allowing them to phase through solid matter like ghosts and rematerialize at will.

This phasing ability wasn’t just for mobility and repairs; it was exceptionally lethal in combat. A Wraith could phase its claws into an enemy’s body and rematerialize them, effortlessly shredding arteries, nerve clusters, and vital organs without leaving a single external wound.

“Oh, these are pretty cool.”

Using his Void Ring’s teleportation function, Vane instantly blinked behind one of the Canoptek Wraiths. The moment he laid a hand on the Necron construct, a system prompt popped up.

[Unlocked Crafting Recipe: Canoptek Wraith Construct]

[Materials Required: Gauss Blaster, Living Metal Ingot, Phase Generator, Blank Core, Nether Star, Awakened Draconium Block…]

Vane quickly opened his portable crafting table, spending some EMC points to buy the missing materials. He slotted everything into the grid and hit craft.

A second later, five Canoptek Wraiths materialized out of thin air.

“Tear them apart,” Vane ordered, pointing at the three hostile Wraiths.

His five newly crafted Wraiths instantly lunged forward, their phase-claws slicing straight through the energy shields to grapple with the hostile constructs. Seeing identical units attacking them, the three hostile Wraiths initially tried to establish a communication link. However, Vane’s Wraiths completely ignored the data requests. Operating solely on his command, they relentlessly tore into the enemy. In mere moments, the three hostile Wraiths were brutally dismembered, reduced to a pile of sparking mechanical scrap.

“How is this possible?!”

Archmagos Cawl stared at the five loyal Wraiths that had just appeared out of thin air, his mechadendrites twitching in shock. He had studied Necron technology before, but the xenos’ cognitive cores had always been completely impenetrable, making it impossible to reprogram or control their constructs. Yet the Forefather had just fabricated five of them out of nowhere.

He hadn’t even figured out the Wisdom Cube yet, and the Forefather was already churning out brand new mechanical horrors!

“Hostiles?!”

Greyfax, Celestine, and the others finally rushed out of the darkness. Spotting the hulking Necron constructs, they immediately raised their weapons and prepared to engage.

“Halt! They are not hostiles! They obey the Forefather!” Cawl immediately intervened, desperately trying to stop them from doing something stupid.

“Them? Obeying the Forefather?” Greyfax looked from the massive Canoptek Wraiths to Vane, clearly skeptical. “Archmagos, you can’t be serious.”

“I witnessed it with my own optics! The Forefather fabricated these wraith-constructs out of thin air!” Cawl swore vehemently. “He commanded them, and they tore the enemy to pieces!”

“God-Emperor protect us,” Celestine murmured softly, staring at Vane. Just how many impossible secrets is the Forefather hiding? Aside from giving birth, it really seems like there’s nothing he can’t do.

“Alright, enough standing around. Let’s get moving,” Vane said, turning back around and urging the group forward.

With the five loyal Canoptek Wraiths taking the vanguard, the expedition resumed their descent into the tunnel’s depths.

Archmagos Cawl practically sidled up to Vane, bowing his massive, cybernetic bulk as low as it would go in a desperate display of flattery. “Forefather, how did you make them obey you?”

“I built them. Why wouldn’t they listen to me?” Vane replied nonchalantly.

“Then… how exactly did you build them? Could you perhaps teach me? I wouldn’t expect you to do it for free, of course! I am more than willing to offer my services!”

Vane turned, looked at the massive, heavily augmented Archmagos, and shook his head. “I’m not into weird toaster-play, Cawl. Plus, you’re a dude.”

Cawl was speechless. I meant mechanical and technical services! As an Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus! Forefather, what in the Omnissiah’s name were you thinking?!

“I meant that I can work for you,” Cawl quickly clarified, forcing down his exasperation.

“Work for me?” Vane rubbed his chin, actually considering it. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

Vane reached into his inventory, pulled out a Phase Core, and tossed it to Cawl. “My crafting methods are a bit… unique. You wouldn’t be able to replicate them. It’s better if you just research it from the ground up. Take this. Once you figure out how this works, you’ll be able to freely shift your own phase state.”

“When you fully understand the core, I’ll toss you the rest of the blueprints and components. Once you’ve reverse-engineered the entire schematic, you can build your own Canoptek Wraiths.”

Cawl cradled the Phase Core like a newborn child, an ecstatic grin spreading across his remaining organic features.

“I’ll trade you this core for ten years of service. It’s not particularly expensive anyway, so that seems fair. Any objections?”

Hearing the terms, Cawl frantically shook his head. “None at all! None at all! I am completely at your disposal, Forefather!”

As they pushed deeper, they encountered several more pockets of resistance. Waves of Canoptek Wraiths, Scarab Swarms, and other Necron constructs continually materialized, only to be effortlessly dismantled by Vane.

But the further down they went, the heavier the resistance became. Eventually, the Necron constructs started pouring out in unending, tidal waves.

“Looks like it’s time to pop an ultimate.”

Vane opened his inventory and crafted a god-tier item: the Heart of the Machine.

He had originally acquired this artifact after completely clearing the ‘Machine Rampage’ scenario back in the Minecraft universe. Fusing with it would theoretically grant him total divine authority over all machinery, but in most cases, Vane preferred to just use it as an overpowered active item.

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