Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 648

Chapter 646, The Fate of Phoenix

. “Hello, Chapter Captain Su Lie.”

When Su Lie heard the greeting, his eyes snapped open, and he was greeted by a man clad in a gold and red military uniform.

He recognized the face.

Marshal Gu Hang, commander of the Empire’s southern front during the Ironclad War.

Though it had been a long time ago, he still remembered him. Though they had never met, Su Lie had certainly seen Gu Hang’s photograph.

He sighed and said to Gu Hang, “Are you truly out of options? You’ve already attempted to transform into something that has nothing to do with me?”

As he spoke, he raised the sword at his side.

It was a finely crafted power sword, its purple-gold hue unfading even through the ravages of time. At the hilt, a soaring phoenix adorned the hilt, a jewel crafted by the first inheritor of the Chapter’s genes, the First Phoenix, a true son of the Emperor. This was a time-honored Phoenix treasure, a true relic of the Chapter, its very name, the ‘Phoenix’.

“Deceive me with lies, I can see through them.”

“Deceive me with the illusion of a battle brother, I can still see through it.”

“Even if you transform into the form of a Divine Emperor to deceive me, you cannot shake my faith.”

“Let alone in this state now.”

As he spoke, Su Lie’s pace quickened, the Phoenix in his hand already raised high. A fierce purple flame rose from the blade and slashed towards Gu Hang.

The next moment, Gu Hang’s figure shattered like a bubble, appearing behind Su Lie.

As if foreseeing the future, he swung his sword backward.

Although the distance seemed at least thirty meters, the illusory blade of purple flame, like a sword energy, reached Gu Hang’s chest in an instant.

This strike was truly unexpected.

Gu Hang’s psychic energy was released fiercely, forming a ball of psychic energy that collided with the “sword energy”.

For a moment, Gu Hang’s face changed.

He had originally assumed that the so-called sword energy was merely a special ability of Su Lie’s weapon, allowing it to unleash a powerful energy strike.

But it seemed otherwise. Its power rivaled the full force of an S+-level psychic!

Psychic energy is the transcendental power of emotion and soul. From this sword energy, Gu Hang could even sense Su Lie’s unwavering resolve.

Naturally, this strike wouldn’t be enough to injure Gu Hang. However, although he was currently in the Warp, he was still quite far from the source of Gu Hang’s power—the Storm Kingdom. The lack of power transmission meant that Gu Hang wasn’t at his peak. Even if Gu Hang could resist Su Lie’s attack, it wouldn’t be a relief.

After finally dispersing it, Su Lie himself appeared before him in the blink of an eye, his Phoenix Blade slashing down with a dazzling blaze.

“Wait!…”

Gu Hang shouted, countering with his psychic power.

He had finally experienced the combat power of a top-tier Space Marine firsthand.

In his previous understanding, Martins, along with Erso, the previous Chapter Master of the Fury, were the most formidable fighters Gu Hang had ever witnessed. However, in front of Su Lie, those two fell short; the gap was significant.

Chapter Champion?

Perhaps that was no longer the right word to describe Su Lie.

Furthermore, facing this top-tier warrior, Gu Hang had a feeling: whenever his psychic energy impacted him, it was counteracted by another psychic force.

This was highly unusual.

Gu Hang could confirm that Su Lie possessed no psychic powers; he must be a pure warrior. But beyond their powerful bodies, far surpassing not only those of mortals but even those of ordinary Space Marines, top-tier warriors like Su Lie also possessed a formidable mental will. This

mental will not only meant they would not be defeated by adversity, but also, crucially, in this universe, mental will itself possessed power.

Their powerful and resilient spirits naturally possessed formidable psychic potential.

This is why Space Marines who are trained as psykers, becoming so-called “Thinkers,” are often more powerful than mortal psykers.

Even if they don’t become Thinkers, or are so-called “untalented,” the Space Marine’s immense willpower grants them significant psychic resistance.

This might not be apparent in ordinary Space Marines, but once they reach the level of a Veteran, the difference becomes significant. Psionic energy that could crush mortals in droves might simply be a powerful shockwave for a Space Marine veteran. At the

level of a Sergeant or Master Chief, it would take the force of a Lion tank to blast a single Sergeant to death with psychic energy. The challenge

becomes even greater for a Company Champion.

At the level of a Chapter Champion… ordinary psychic energy becomes virtually ineffective against them. Even for Gu Hang, defeating a Chapter Champion in a one-on-one fight would require considerable effort—of course, effort, not impossibility.

But when the power reaches the next level, reaching the level of Su Lie, the so-called “Emperor Champion,” even Gu Hang’s psychic control becomes difficult.

Especially since he can’t draw on the power of the Storm Kingdom.

Previously, Gu Hang was not only defending against Su Lie’s sword energy, but also using psychic energy to create a force field, attempting to bind Su Lie so that the two could communicate properly.

However, Gu Hang must admit that he underestimated his opponent. The psychic energy that formed the force field had no effect, and Su Lie broke free. Then, a series of extremely fast and fierce sword strikes followed, leaving Gu Hang momentarily overwhelmed. When Su Lie attacked again, he was unable to defend himself.

However, despite calling for a halt, Su Lie showed no sign of stopping. After

one strike was blocked, Su Lie didn’t increase his strength. Instead, he withdrew his sword and, with even greater speed and ferocity, slashed at Gu Hang’s psychic shield with a ferocious slash of fifteen.

No matter how strong the psychic shield was, it couldn’t withstand the blow of an Emperor Champion. It shattered with a sharp creaking sound.

However, when the sword struck Gu Hang again, it was completely shattered.

Gu Hang’s body dissipated like foam, reappearing dozens of meters away.

Su Lie’s reaction speed was extremely fast. He turned and charged again.

After suffering repeated losses and personally experiencing the top-level combat prowess of this founding Chapter Master, Gu Hang dared not underestimate him again.

Gathering his psychic energy, he summoned a lightning spear with all his might and thrust it fiercely at Su Lie.

The charging Phoenix Lord slashed with his sword. The purple-gold longsword broke through the thunder and tried to strike Gu Hang again, but an even more ferocious thunderstorm appeared behind him and exploded.

Su Lie was now unable to withstand the attack and was sent flying dozens of meters away, slamming into the wall.

He wasn’t seriously injured, merely feeling the intense force of the impact. He could still fight.

Meanwhile, Gu Hang’s voice, tinged with resignation, echoed again: “Captain Su Lie, I know you’ve been under immense pressure for a long time, but I believe that with your mental fortitude, you should be able to discern what is an illusion, the lure of the Warp’s evil gods, and what is truly unimpeded.”

Su Lie, having landed from the wall, didn’t rush over again.

Gu Hang breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at several elite Phoenix Guards, weapons drawn, who had heard the fighting inside. He felt a surge of anger, and with a wave of his hand, the shockwave sent them flying, locking the door in the process.

Turning his gaze back to Su Lie, he saw that the Phoenix Lord hadn’t reacted further, clearly realizing that Gu Hang’s attack hadn’t inflicted any substantial harm on his men.

At this point, Gu Hang breathed a sigh of relief again.

He continued, “Let me reacquaint myself. I am indeed Gu Hang.”

Su Lie didn’t attack, but he didn’t speak either. He simply looked Gu Hang up and down, his expression still filled with a strong sense of wariness.

How could he not be on guard?

The Phoenix Chapter and their flagship, the Glorious Queen battleship Phoenix Crest, had been adrift in the Warp for ten years.

Of course, the Phoenix Chapter hadn’t been missing from the real universe for that long; in fact, it had only been less than three years.

However, the Warp is a mysterious place. Here, time and space are distorted. The clocks and time records aboard the Phoenix Crest, as well as the Space Marines’ own sense of time, clearly indicated that they had passed ten years.

Three years in the real universe, distorted into only ten, was actually a relatively minor distortion in the Warp. This was thanks to the ship’s protective force field, also an ancient technology, the so-called “Geller Field,” rather than the astral field commonly used today for safer navigation in astral tunnels. Otherwise, the situation would have been far worse.

Ships equipped with Warp-capable engines were a technology that existed before the Emperor’s Ascension.

In that era, there were no such things as astral tunnels. FTL travel and interstellar traversal required the extremely dangerous Warp. Ships would be equipped with Warp drives and Geller fields to protect them within the Warp. However, the dangers of the Warp were far greater than those of astral tunnels.

The time it took to navigate the Warp was uncertain.

Modern astral tunnels clearly indicate where you enter a system, where you will exit, and how long it will take. But primitive Warp travel offered no such flexibility. It might take three to five days, or it might take three to five years to exit. While there was a high probability of reaching the correct destination, there was also a significant chance that, even with navigation, you would end up lost somewhere.

This uncertainty in navigation alone was a serious threat. While the Imperium’s administrative efficiency is lagging behind today, it would have been even worse back then due to communication and transportation issues.

Furthermore, there were the risks inherent in navigation. Whispers within the Warp could seduce and drive crews mad, and even Warp daemons could infiltrate ships. Geller Fields could prevent most such incidents, but mysterious Warp forces could still infiltrate without warning.

Reports would regularly arrive of a ship emerging from the Warp, its crew transformed into mutated monsters upon arrival at port, each still believing themselves human. Once their knowledge was exposed, they lost their minds and went completely berserk.

Such incidents gradually became a thing of the past after the Emperor’s Ascension and the widespread development of astral tunnels. Warp drives and Geller Fields also gradually faded from the scene, leaving only a few ships built during that era retaining these ancient, now obsolete, features.

The Phoenix Crest is a warship from that era.

Incidentally, the Imperium no longer possesses the capacity to construct the Glorious Queen-class warship. The Imperium’s current fleet of Glorious Queen-class warships dates back to the era before the Emperor’s Ascension, each one featuring features personally designed by the Emperor. They are undoubtedly the Imperium’s most powerful warships.

Even though the Warp Drive and Geller Fields atop the Phoenix’s crests hadn’t been used for millennia, they still faithfully served their purpose when, forced into a corner and the only way to escape pursuit and siege, they remained in place.

Otherwise, the Phoenix Chapter would have been doomed, unable to hold out for the ten years it had.

Despite this, the Geller Fields’ ageing disrepair persisted, and the Chapter endured immense pressure during those ten years.

Warp daemons frequently infiltrated the ships, only to be dealt with by the 300 surviving Phoenix Warriors. However, losses were inevitable in the process. By now, the Phoenix Chapter had lost nearly half its personnel.

Not all of these casualties were caused by combat. Cases of these casualties occurred when they were lured, invaded by the power of the Warp, and mutated, only to be tragically executed by their own battle-brothers.

What’s worse is that it seems that something in the warp has been eyeing them.

The one that that unspeakable being is most interested in is none other than Su Lie himself.

Su Lie can always hear ‘Him’s’ voice.

He promised him that as long as he nodded, he would immediately be able to gain eternal life, eternal perfection, eternal joy, and be promoted to ‘Prince’.

And every time, he firmly refused.

No matter what sweet words that being whispered in his ears, no matter what beautiful illusions it constructed in front of him, he remained unmoved.

When Gu Hang appeared, he thought it was another temptation from ‘Him’.

Although it didn’t feel like it, the fact that Gu Hang suddenly appeared on the Phoenix Crown in the warp itself was even less likely to be reality.

(End of this chapter)