The ships carrying the survivors departed from the port of Commorragh. Following the still-open webway channels, they left the city of hell and began their journey back to realspace.
Transformed into the Emperor's Champion, Datch stood atop a ruined tower, gazing down at the burning dark city.
Fierce flames twisted through Commorragh's complexes like orange-red serpents, swallowing twisted, terrifying spires and towering buildings.
Thick smoke rose into the sky, transforming into distorted black pillars beneath the light of the black star, shooting straight upward.
The tips of the smoke pillars spread into the void, blooming like flowers of hell.
Wreckage of destroyed ships drifted around the port. Some were still burning, while others had cooled into twisted metal hulks.
The debris cast long shadows beneath the faint starlight. The shadows intertwined and overlapped, as if countless twisted hands were silently struggling in the void.
The Kabal factions of Commorragh had withdrawn from the battlefield early, hiding in remote satellite regions and allowing Datch and the invaders to rampage through the main city.
A single human had overturned this dark city that had once struck fear into countless races.
The residents of Commorragh hid in dark corners, watching their homes suffer destruction.
In their hearts, resentment and hatred toward Vect had begun to grow.
As Supreme Lord, he usually flaunted his power, imposed the heaviest taxes, and enjoyed the most luxurious lifestyle.
When facing foreign enemies, he ran faster than anyone else.
A man who only acted tough at home was not worthy of respect.
Yet no one dared to voice it aloud.
Every resident of Commorragh knew well the terror and malice of this vicious Kabal cabal.
Those who openly expressed dissatisfaction with Vect had died in various "accidents."
Therefore, they could only curse in their hearts and spit at statues in dark, deserted corners.
Datch withdrew his gaze and turned toward the port.
The massive port had now become a giant refugee camp.
Rescued slaves were pouring in from all directions.
There were ordinary citizens, Imperial officers in tattered uniforms, and Astartes in damaged armor.
Though in miserable condition, their eyes shone with the joy of having survived the disaster.
"Praise the Nameless One!"
Seeing the Nameless One appear, an officer shouted excitedly and performed the aquila salute.
"Thanks to the Nameless One! Thanks for your mercy!"
Hearing the sound, others joined in the salute, expressing their gratitude in various languages.
Even the xenos thanked Datch, praising the mercy of the Nameless One and the Emperor.
To be honest, when they were liberated and promised they could board ships and leave, many could not believe it. For a moment, they thought they were dreaming.
How could those madmen possibly save them?!
In the past, when they encountered the Human Imperium, the first thing they did was run — the farther, the better.
Those madmen truly showed no hesitation. They would wipe out an entire world.
This human called the "Nameless One" was truly special — he had not even laid a hand on them.
For xenos accustomed to human hostility, this was truly rare.
They praised the Nameless One.
Datch pushed through the crowd and stood before Mordachi, who was directing the evacuation.
"There are too many people, Nameless Lord, and too few usable ships."
Mordachi was also very familiar with the situation and immediately complained, "Please help us."
Datch leaped up and landed on a high vantage point overlooking the entire port.
He discovered that many slaves were still densely packed in the port, forming a massive black mass.
Their numbers were enormous.
Although they had seized several intact Dark Eldar ships, they could not transport all the rescued slaves.
More ships were needed.
Datch looked toward the nearby port and stared at the scattered ship wreckage.
These vessels had been damaged in battle.
They drifted crookedly around the port like massive beasts that could no longer move.
After a moment of thought, Datch took out the Golden Hammer.
If he used it to repair the broken ships so they could carry people, wouldn't that solve the problem?
Datch soared over everyone's heads and landed on the nearest damaged spirit-bone ship, stirring up thick smoke.
The ship's hull had been blasted with holes over ten meters in diameter. At the edges, twisted, curled spirit-bone was exposed, revealing complex internal piping and wiring.
Thick smoke rose from the holes, and sparks flickered between the pipes.
Datch raised the hammer and tapped it lightly.
With a clang, golden light spread like ripples from the point of impact, creating waves as if a stone had been thrown into a still lake.
The ripples spread across the entire damaged ship, instantly enveloping it.
Immediately afterward, a miracle occurred.
The spirit-bone warship recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye. The thick smoke disappeared.
In mere seconds, the spirit-bone ship began to shine as if brand new.
The crowd that witnessed this scene let out cries of awe. Praise for the Nameless One grew even louder.
Aun'Shi and the other Tau xenos stood stunned, shocked beyond words.
Wait, is this scientific?
This completely violates the laws of physics!!
They had only been in Commorragh for a few days, yet the Milky Way outside had already changed drastically. Was this still the Milky Way they knew?
With one swing of a pickaxe, a star was shattered.
With the sound of a hammer, a warship was repaired.
The Nameless One's methods — it would not be an exaggeration to call him a god!!
Aun'Shi recalled how he had once looked down on humanity using Tau technology and blushed.
Clang… Clang… Clang…
The sound of the hammer echoed through the port like a sacred bell.
Datch's figure moved between the damaged ships.
With each strike, golden light radiated, and damaged vessels miraculously returned to their original state.
All the rescued slaves knelt on the ground, bowing their heads in respect toward the golden figure.
"Blessings to the Nameless One, and blessings to the Emperor…"
"Thanks to the Almighty Lord…"
"Nameless One, Nameless One…"
Prayers echoed one after another, resounding throughout the port.
Datch ignored all of this and focused on repairing the ships and arranging for the rescued slaves to board.
Datch treated humans and xenos equally.
Helping them allowed him to continue gaining experience and points.
After the last ship was repaired, Datch recalled Skarbrand, the Masque of Slaanesh, and the other summoned creatures.
Together with the remaining refugees, they departed from Commorragh.
As the ships were about to enter the webway's light screen, Datch glanced back at Commorragh.
The massive city, connected by countless ports, ramps, and hidden pipelines, was now fiercely burning, with thick smoke rising.
Tall buildings covered in spires and towers collapsed amid the flames.
However, the city was far too vast to destroy completely in a short time.
Moreover, those cunning Dark Eldar had long since withdrawn from the urban areas and hidden in remote satellite regions.
Even if he burned all of Commorragh to the ground, he could not exterminate the Dark Eldar.
They would surely choose another webway city as their new base and create a new Commorragh.
"I'll deal with this problem later."
Datch secretly set a small goal in his heart.
For a perfect ending, he could not allow the Dark Eldar — this cancer — to continue existing.
But for now, even if he acted, he could only destroy Commorragh.
Furthermore, the overlooked individuals would scatter, making future cleanup even more difficult.
He would let them continue to grow stronger for a while. When he had time later, he would deal with them one by one.
Now he had taken all the slaves away.
Without slaves, the souls of the Dark Eldar race would gradually be devoured by Slaanesh, turning them into frenzied shell monsters.
Commorragh would surely fall into internal strife in the near future, and its power would weaken further.
When the time came, he would bring a great army and seal all the webway entrances.
Hehe, it would be like catching turtles in a jar. Those who surrendered without resistance were not scary.
With that thought, Datch took out the still-unexpired Ancient God's Pickaxe and tapped the entrance to the webway channel.
With a dull sound, the portal entrance shattered into countless small fragments and vanished into the void.
The people of Commorragh were trapped in this isolated void. Before the Dark Eldar could enter realspace to plunder slaves, they would have to spend a great deal of time opening these entrances.
…
After the Nameless One left with the rescued slaves and the Cursed Legion disappeared, Vect returned to Commorragh with his subordinates.
The Harlequin clown had not deceived them.
After each Kabal group abandoned the encirclement, the Nameless One had indeed not remained in Commorragh.
After saving the people, he had left in a hurry.
Commorragh had suffered massive damage, but the foundation of the Kabal of the Black Heart remained intact.
Thinking this, Vect breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately another serious problem arose.
All the slaves in Commorragh had been taken away by that human.
Without slaves, the Dark Eldar, who relied on absorbing pain to fill the void in their souls, would gradually be devoured by Slaanesh and turn into frenzied monsters.
Hatred and ambition accumulated over tens of thousands of years could erupt like a volcano without external pressure.
"We must capture a new batch of slaves as soon as possible. Otherwise, Commorragh will soon fall into civil war."
Valoxian Seserak stood behind Vect, surveying the devastated Commorragh.
He could already imagine what would happen next — many factions would resist Vect's rule.
The Archons exchanged glances, able to discern ambition behind each other's worried eyes.
They all served under Vect, but there had been considerable blood feuds.
A single spark was enough to ignite the madness that would destroy stars and brutally massacre tribes.
Vect could feel it too. In the dark city of Commorragh, true loyalty was rare.
Everyone served him for profit and fear.
When he lost profit and authority, his rule would collapse in an instant.
The subordinates who once supported him would turn their backs and stab him like swords.
He had to act immediately — take revenge on the Imperium, prove his own strength, and loot a large number of slaves to bring back the starving wolf pack.
Otherwise, the position of Supreme Lord would be lost, and Commorragh would fall into civil war.
…
Guided by the Dark Eldar prisoners, the ships swiftly traversed the webway channels, heading toward the Vigilant Star.
Aun'Shi and the other Tau boarded the ships and were able to evacuate from Commorragh together with the humans.
The Human Imperium had always been merciless toward xenos, but this time the rescue operation was led by the Nameless One.
The others were very dissatisfied with these xenos, but they could only endure and allow them to evacuate together.
However, some conflicts still occurred.
"Your so-called science is nothing but a lie — a blasphemy against the Machine God!"
A Mechanicus adept glared fiercely at the Tau Jiu Lun in front of him.
According to internal reports from the Adeptus Mechanicus, during the Damocles Gulf War,
the Tau Empire relied on AI intelligence and looked down on the Mechanicus's technology as foolish, superstitious, and extremely arrogant.
Now these blue-skinned bastards had come to human territory and were still saying such things — how could he tolerate it!!
"It's just a machine. There's no need for prayers, no need to sprinkle incense oil, no need for meaningless rituals. Just use and maintain it according to scientific procedures."
Jiu Lun's tone was calm as he patiently explained mechanical devices using scientific principles.
In his view, everything the Adeptus Mechanicus did was unnecessary and meaningless.
Before he could finish speaking, several nearby oil-worshippers stood up simultaneously, their eyes flashing with danger.
"Damned xenos, how dare you blaspheme the Machine God!"
"Enough talk. Beat him."
"As long as you don't kill him, the Nameless Lord won't blame me."
The conflict erupted instantly. A group of oil-worshippers rushed forward, pinned Jiu Lun to the ground, and beat him severely.
Seeing the situation worsening, Aun'Shi and the other Tau hurried over to mediate.
The humans who had been holding back charged in at the sight, taking advantage of the chaos to punch and kick the Tau.
"You look down on us."
"Letting you use Abominable Intelligence and speak in that sarcastic tone."
"You say we're superstitious and don't revere the countless Machine Gods and the Emperor."
"..."
The scene descended into chaos. Even Aun'Shi, who was skilled in tactics, was kicked down and curled up on the ground, clutching his head to protect vital areas.
Just when things seemed hopeless, an authoritative voice rang out.
"Everyone, stop!"
The Nameless One had appeared among the crowd at some point. With a single glance, those who had been attacking fell silent. They all lowered their heads and stepped aside with terrified expressions.
Seeing the battered Tau xenos, Datch was speechless. He had not paid much attention to this side and had already taken action.
Fortunately, no one had died. Otherwise, he would have lost a large amount of experience and points.
Datch took out his hammer and approached Aun'Shi, lightly tapping the giants.
With metallic sounds, golden light spread like ripples.
Aun'Shi felt a wave of warmth in his body. Painful wounds healed instantly, and bruises visibly faded.
In mere seconds, his physical strength recovered.
This miraculous healing method left Jiu Lun and the other Tau completely stunned.
After finishing the treatment, Datch noticed that there were still exclamation marks above the heads of the Tau.
They still couldn't accept being beaten?
These blue-skinned xenos were really tough!!
By the way, being the Player was really hard work.
Saving people in battle was one thing, but he also had to resolve disputes and disagreements with NPCs.
Datch looked at the culprit, Jiu Lun. He realized this man had started the argument by talking nonsense.
Aun'Shi was worried that Jiu Lun was injured and decided to take all the responsibility.
"It's all my fault, Nameless Lord. If you want to blame someone, blame me."
Datch ignored Aun'Shi and the Ethereal, continuing to stare at Jiu Lun.
"Don't look at the universe from your narrow perspective and make baseless criticisms of things you don't understand."
"Your race is still young and doesn't understand the darkness of this universe well enough."
Jiu Lun raised his face, stubbornness appearing on his blue features.
"Great Nameless One, I am only speaking the truth."
"Science is science, superstition is superstition. Even if I am killed, I will not change my mind."
The worshippers behind Datch looked dissatisfied.
How dare a mere xenos speak to the Nameless One like that? Your race already has a path to death.
Datch shook his head. Since logic wouldn't work, he knew a few special techniques.
Datch took the Infinity Gauntlet from his game inventory, intending to use the power of the Time Stone.
He would drag these Tau into another dimension and show them the end of the Tau Empire in the original timeline.
"If I can't convince you with words, then see the truth with your own eyes."
Datch snapped his fingers. Aun'Shi, Jiu Lun, and the other Tau xenos suddenly found their vision blurring.
When everything returned to normal, they were in complete darkness.
Immediately afterward, light appeared, revealing the existence of the Tau Empire in another timeline.
The timeline began from the 'Fourth Sphere Expansion'.
The expansion fleet was swallowed by subspace turbulence and nearly devoured by daemons.
Fortunately, the incarnation of the Greater Good appeared in the void and repelled the daemons.
It also created a Star Tide Hub that guided the survivors to the other side of the Great Rift.
Thereafter, the incarnation of the Greater Good frequently appeared, resolving crises for the Tau Empire.
The vassal races eventually came to worship the incarnation of the Greater Good as a god, and the faith began to take root.
As time passed, the Five Great Castes began to waver.
Many members of the Earth Caste, who originally believed only in science and reason, attended various lectures, learned prayers, and hoped to receive guidance from the incarnation of the Greater Good.
As the Great Rift continued to expand, the psychic abilities of Tau Empire members grew stronger and brighter, and their projections in the subspace became increasingly luminous.
Daemon worship and invasions continued. The AI of the Tau Empire developed rapidly, and intelligent machines frequently appeared and awakened self-awareness.
The Tau Empire developed rapidly. Taking advantage of the severe war between the Human Imperium and Chaos, it successfully dominated one-fifth of the galaxy.
However, at this moment, the AI crisis erupted.
The frenzied AI launched attacks on all races of the Tau Empire.
With the help of these vassal races and the input of vast manpower and resources, the Tau Empire barely managed to suppress the AI crisis.
However, after losing AI, the productivity of the Tau Empire plummeted and could no longer support the comfortable lives of the Tau race and its vassal races.
As the storms intensified, communication between the worlds of each caste became increasingly difficult.
Some castes completely lost contact with their worlds and became isolated islands.
During this period, these vassal races, unable to enjoy benefits, refused to submit to Tau Empire rule. Some even worshipped the Chaos Gods, massacring and sacrificing the Tau.
Just as the Tau Empire fell into chaos, the vision of establishing enclaves began its expedition.
He replaced the Ethereal, destroyed the old order, and built a new order led by warriors.
Through war, they recaptured their homeworld, expelled and exterminated the xenos, and issued a ban on the use of AI, finally helping the Tau Empire recover.
However, the disasters did not end there.
Faith in the Greater Good was completely lost.
Believers became fanatical and irrational, constantly persecuting those who refused to convert or questioned the doctrine, dragging the entire Tau Empire into the abyss of religious fanaticism.
Thus, the Tau Empire became another replica of the Human Imperium.
Superstition, fanaticism, xenophobia, conservatism — none were missing.
Science and reason disappeared, and war continued endlessly.
…
…
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