Chapter 915 - 914

New Life City, the Phaeron Pyramid.

Even with the final battle against the Silent King approaching, there was no oppressive or tense atmosphere in this region.

Instead, it overflowed with hope and celebration.

The outer walls and stairways of the Lord of Hope’s palace were lined with a forest of banners. Long standards symbolizing the dynasty’s honor hung from the edges of the platforms.

Sedge carpets covered every road leading to the palace. Special candles within ceremonial lanterns emitted an indigo-gold radiance resembling sunlight.

Under their brilliant glow, the palace’s ornate, uniquely styled decorations glittered magnificently.

Nor were the celebrations limited to the Phaeron Pyramid. The decorations extended across the entire complex of pyramids.

Necrons who worshiped the New God celebrated the coming birth, offering their blessings to the child. Smiles adorned every face.

As their emotions gradually returned, many Necrons had reshaped their faces with living metal, allowing themselves to display rich and varied expressions.

From outward appearances, they were almost indistinguishable from genuine living beings. At most, there was a slight stiffness or subtle lack of coordination in their movements.

Among high-ranking Necrons, even those imperfections had disappeared completely. There was no longer any visible way to distinguish them from living Necrontyr.

Of course, they remained beings composed of living metal and retained their astonishing durability.

A low hum rolled across the platform.

One deep-tomb command barge after another descended from the sky.

The Phaerons who had hurried to New Life City followed the guidance of the Ramses Royal Guard and proceeded toward the Royal Court’s grand hall.

The visitors stared at the magnificent and lively celebration before them, their data-logic trembling.

The Necron nobles of New Life City wore elaborate ceremonial clothing. Most were traveling as families on their way to attend the royal banquet.

After establishing New Life City and several other restored cities, the Lord of Hope had begun encouraging high-ranking Necrons to rebuild their families and restore the way their people had lived in ancient times.

That was what the New God wished to see.

It was also an expression of nobility and civilization, rather than continuing to exist as unfeeling machines of living metal.

The joy was not limited to Necron nobles.

Even the low-ranking Necrons gathered in the pyramid plaza were celebrating. They could genuinely feel the emotions rising from within themselves.

To the visiting Phaerons, every movement these Necrons made seemed full of life.

They resembled figures who had stepped out of the deepest recesses of their memories and descended from the ancient murals painted upon the pyramid walls.

Crackle.

“Unbelievable… This is our civilization.”

“We… are being restored. The glory of the Necrons hasn’t ended.”

“The Lord of Hope wasn’t lying!”

The Phaerons exchanged messages, expressing the shock surging through their data-logic.

As they drew closer to the Royal Court’s grand hall, ceremonial music from ancient Necrontyr culture drifted through the air, stirring them even more deeply.

There was no question about it.

New Life City was a perfect recreation of the Necrontyr civilization at the height of its glory.

After sixty million years of silence, their culture had returned to life!

“Oh, why has our noble Lord of Hope invited these uncivilized beings into the city?”

“Look at them. They’re exposing their bodies without even wearing proper ceremonial clothing. Where is the dignity expected of noble Necrons?”

“They don’t serve the New God. Even their speech sounds mechanical.”

“Ah, the poor things. We should help them so they no longer have to live like machines.”

Several high-ranking Necron nobles and Phaeron families pointed at the visiting rulers and whispered among themselves.

Some instinctively raised handkerchiefs to cover their mouths and noses, as though afraid that these backward and uncivilized foreigners might infect them.

What if they carried some kind of living-metal bacteria?

No matter the place or species, the timeless hierarchy of contempt would always exist.

Naturally, this was precisely the effect Eden wanted.

He intended to create a division between the New God’s followers and the other Necrons.

At the same time, he wanted to establish the impression that worshipers of the New God were refined and noble, while unenlightened Necrons were pitiful creatures in need of salvation.

This would strengthen unity within his faction while attracting more Necrons to join it.

Who would not want to become a truly noble Necron?

The visiting Phaerons had already been overwhelmed with emotion.

After overhearing the remarks made by the other high-ranking nobles, they froze.

They lowered their heads and looked at their exposed living-metal skeletons and sparse ceremonial robes.

They could not help muttering among themselves.

“We truly have… nothing left but these decaying shells.”

“We have lost far too much…”

Perhaps the nobles of the Ramses Dynasty were right.

Through the C’tan’s deception and torment, the Necrons had lost the qualities their species should have possessed and become pitiful machines of living metal.

Rather than growing angry, the visiting Phaerons began feeling ashamed of themselves.

They even tried to conceal their bodies as they walked, seemingly afraid that someone might see their exposed living-metal skeletons.

If Eden had been present, he would have known that their CPUs had been thoroughly socially engineered.

Of course, that was exactly his intention.

The Phaerons willing to visit New Life City already longed, deep within their minds, to restore their flesh, souls, and former glory.

They accepted the idea that the ancient Necrontyr had been nobler than the hollow shells left behind after the C’tan’s predation.

The moment they arrived, New Life City overwhelmed them with excitement.

Then the nobles subjected them to a carefully engineered guilt trip, intensifying their desire to regain their former appearance with the New God’s help.

They longed to become noble Necrontyr again rather than continue existing inside decaying shells.

This would greatly reduce the difficulty of spreading the faith and encourage them to voluntarily worship the New God and accept its teachings.

Thanks to that psychological conditioning, the Phaerons had already developed a measure of respect and approval for the Lord of Hope before even meeting him.

After all, only with the Lord of Hope’s permission could they become eligible to receive the New God’s blessings.

But this was merely the foundation.

What would truly allow Eden to win over the Phaerons was the central figure of the banquet: his child, the only newborn currently possessed by the Necron species.

…

The Royal Court Banquet Hall.

A noble banquet was underway within the palace, its walls adorned with blackstone and crystal.

High-ranking nobles and Phaerons stood in small groups, quietly conversing.

When the royal attendants announced the arrival of their hosts, every conversation stopped.

The guests respectfully awaited the Lord of Hope and his consort.

Eden descended the staircase with Fahela on his arm, his baleful green eyes sweeping across the hall.

His gaze flickered.

“Damn. This might contain the greatest concentration of military power anywhere in the galaxy.”

Hundreds of Phaerons and even more Necron nobles had gathered in the Royal Court’s grand hall.

Many possessed Primarch-level personal strength and wielded weapons comparable to the most powerful ancient relics.

According to Imperial records, Primarchs such as Vulkan, Sanguinius, and Leman Russ had all fought high-ranking Necrons.

Some had even been seriously wounded in those battles.

If the Emperor from the era of the Great Crusade had entered this hall with all twenty Primarchs, even the old man would have left battered black, blue, and purple.

That was assuming they managed to escape at all.

Aside from the Emperor himself, the other Primarchs would have struggled to handle so many high-ranking Necrons.

Most likely, they would simply have been surrounded and beaten down.

Humanity’s developmental period had been far too short.

The Emperor had struggled mightily to create only twenty Primarch-level warriors. Among the Necrons, combatants of that caliber seemed almost mass-produced.

Of course, that had been true of the old Imperium.

The New Imperium did not possess many Primarchs, but it had vast numbers of other elite combatants. It could drown this hall beneath sheer numbers and deliver a merciless beating.

As Eden gazed across the gathering, excitement rose within him.

If he could win over every Phaeron in the hall, the military strength under his command as the Savior and Lord of Hope would expand dramatically.

He would become the most powerful ruler in the galaxy.

Once that happened, every opponent would look like an easy mark. He could call the Silent King “little brother,” and no one would dare correct him.

In short, if this plan succeeded, Eden’s position would be secure.

“Son, whether your old man succeeds depends on you.”

Eden turned toward the floating “baby carriage” beside Fahela.

It had been constructed from blackstone and crystal, and the adorable Necrontyr newborn lay within a bed of soft woven sedge, sucking on one finger.

The baby’s pale skin carried the faintest purple tint and seemed full of vitality. His small black eyes darted curiously around the room.

When he noticed his father looking at him, he began giggling and reached out, seemingly asking to be held.

“My love, our child, the heir of the Ramses Dynasty, is stronger than any Necrontyr child who ever lived…”

Fahela gazed at the baby with profound maternal love.

Their son, Charles Zarsis, had been born to rule.

According to surviving historical records, he surpassed the children of the ancient Necrontyr in both physical strength and intelligence.

That was only natural.

Eden’s genes had long since surpassed those of a Primarch and had nearly broken through the limits of life itself. They were extraordinarily powerful.

In theory, that meant his son should be comparable to a Primarch.

Even as a baby, Charles could already crawl around on his own.

If everything proceeded smoothly, there would be no problem with the boy becoming the Silent King in the future.

Through him, Eden could maintain stronger control over the Necron armies.

Naturally, after seizing the Silent King’s authority and gaining dominion over the Necrons, Eden would first eliminate every possible threat and place the entire species firmly under his control.

Only then would he hand it over to Zarsis and establish his son as the second Silent King of the Ramses Dynasty.

“Trying to govern such an enormous territory alone really isn’t easy.

“No wonder the Emperor created so many Primarchs.”

Eden sighed.

He felt no burden from having created this new life and believed that he could raise the child properly.

As he looked at his son inside the blackstone carriage, a satisfied smile spread across his face.

He was beginning to understand the Emperor.

Perhaps this was how the Emperor had once looked upon the Primarchs, filled with satisfaction at the sight of his successors.

Strictly speaking, the Primarchs could be considered only half-human.

They were products of genetic engineering, and their creation had also required the power of the Warp.

Eden’s son was much the same. Both the Savior and the Goddess of Life had contributed to his creation.

At that thought, Eden’s expression became slightly strange.

Following that logic, the child was the joint result of himself, Fahela, and the Goddess of Life.

The relationship was rather complicated.

In simple terms, the Goddess of Life had played the role of a surrogate.

Only her pure authority over life, combined with the Hope Sun, could use the faint remnants of Necron souls to create an entirely new life.

Regardless, possessing such a child was an enormous advantage for the Savior.

Eden’s only concern was whether his son might one day betray his old father, just as some of the Primarchs had betrayed the Emperor.

He drew in a sharp breath.

“I’m not going to end up seated at the Emperor’s table of failed fathers, am I?”

Eden could not help feeling concerned.

He had always refused to have children because he had lacked sufficient power to protect them. He had worried that the Chaos Gods might corrupt or ruin them.

After all, even the Emperor had failed to prevent that, and the consequences had been catastrophic.

But the situation had now reached a point where this child’s birth was necessary.

Otherwise, the galaxy would descend into an uncertain future filled with suffering.

The child’s existence could save the lives of countless humans and members of other species.

“The Primarchs didn’t rebel only because of the Chaos Gods’ corruption. The Emperor himself was also partly responsible.

“The old man was in too much of a hurry, and he had no idea how to be a father. That was why his sons stabbed him in the back.

“A child needs a good childhood. The Emperor’s approach is definitely something I shouldn’t copy. I can’t raise the boy into a psychological disaster.”

Eden was confident he would not be as incompetent as the Emperor when it came to raising children.

Of course, he would also need to protect Charles from outside contamination, including the influence of Chaos Gods, other higher-dimensional entities, and ambitious conspirators.

The child possessed a soul.

In the current galaxy, every ensouled life-form was inevitably connected to the Warp.

Eden possessed the Hope Sun and had at least earned a place at the same table as the Chaos Gods within the Warp.

He should be able to defend his son.

It probably would not be a problem.

“That’s my boy.”

Eden looked at the child staring up at him expectantly.

He reached into the carriage, rubbed the baby’s small head, and handed him an object resembling a feeding bottle.

Charles took it and began drinking noisily.

The bottle contained an extraordinarily concentrated energy fluid that the stomach of an ordinary life-form would have been unable to digest.

The surrounding Necron nobles and Phaerons stared with the same eager expressions, gasping in amazement like country bumpkins witnessing a miracle.

They had not seen a Necrontyr newborn in tens of millions of years. Even their memories of children were incomplete.

Every movement the baby made tugged at their emotions.

The life instincts concealed deep within their data-logic made them instinctively want to protect and cherish him.

He was the hope of their species.

“Perhaps I should make a few more children,” Eden thought.

The Aeldari, for example, might also need a special newborn.

As for the Orks, that would not be necessary.

Regarding Hive Fleet Leviathan, every newly spawned bio-ship was technically already his child, since he was the Bladewing Hive Mind.

In short, Eden’s nature as the Savior had become rather complicated.

His original body was purely human, but the essence of his existence contained the faith and spiritual power of several species.

In theory, he should exterminate every species except humanity.

In practice, that was unrealistic and would cost far too many lives.

With the Great Devourer watching hungrily from beyond the galaxy, the galaxy could no longer afford endless internal conflict.

The best solution was to unite every species tightly around humanity.

Simply put, Eden intended to establish a hybrid governance model combining elements of a Human Federation and an Earth Federation, with humanity firmly in command.

As long as the Imperium remained sufficiently powerful, the galaxy would become one large, friendly, and harmonious family.

From a certain perspective, no matter how different humans and other species might be, once they left the galaxy, they could all be considered neighbors from the same hometown if one rounded generously enough.

Besides, even if humanity exterminated every xenos species in the galaxy, there was no guarantee that a new challenger would not arise.

Tens of millions of years ago, humanity had consisted of primitive primates that were little better than rats.

Now it had begun challenging for the position of galactic hegemon.

After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, Eden ultimately decided that humanity should rule the other species.

At least for the time being.

Once this total war against the Necrons ended and everything that needed relocating had been transferred elsewhere, the species would no longer pose a threat to humanity.

Eden could also use faith to completely reshape the Necrons and place them in their proper position.

From then on, humanity would have no rival within the galaxy and would formally become its sole hegemon.

Once that happened, the Savior would finally be free to deal harshly with the Chaos Gods and determine how to handle the Great Devourer.

“I should deal with the problem in front of me first. If I delay much longer, the Silent King will do something desperate.”

Eden collected his thoughts.

Together with Fahela and their infant son in his carriage, he proceeded to receive the Phaerons’ homage.

The Necrons who worshiped the New God had already seen the newborn, but they were still overwhelmed with emotion.

These Phaerons, each a mighty power within the galaxy, behaved with extraordinary reverence.

First, they bowed to Eden as the Lord of Hope.

Then, one after another, they lowered their heads and carefully kissed the crystal barrier of the baby carriage, expressing their respect and blessings.

The child was the future heir of the Ramses Dynasty.

He also represented the rebirth of the Necrons.

They could hardly wait to witness that future.

However, the solemn scene was soon interrupted by a sudden commotion.

(End of Chapter)

“Zaelum”]