46: Chapter 46 We Have Warships Beneath Our Feet

Just then, footsteps approached from all around; it was Xia Xingchen's guard.

Most of them had survived, with only a few unfortunate warriors having made the ultimate sacrifice during the battle against the Chaos Spawn.

Meanwhile, the Holy War Army gathered around once more, converging on the positions of Xia Xingchen and Saint Sabbat.

Saint Sabbat immediately began to reorganize the Holy War Army, issuing several orders in quick succession.

First, sweep the surrounding area for any remaining tribes and detain all personnel of the Burning Cult.

Second, destroy all altars and sacred relics of the Burning Cult; they must be completely incinerated, leaving nothing behind.

Third, conduct a comprehensive search of the surrounding area for any unspeakable Chaos creations; report immediately if any are found.

After the orders were issued, the Holy War Army immediately began to carry out the Saint's instructions.

"Do you require my assistance and prayers?"

Xia Xingchen looked up to see Saint Sabbat's peerless face leaning in close, her emerald eyes seemingly twinkling with starlight, occupying almost his entire field of vision.

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary. You should go command the Holy War Army first; I just need to rest for a while."

Saint Sabbat nodded upon hearing this.

"Should you have any needs, you may inform me at any time."

After Saint Sabbat left, only the soldiers of the guard remained by Xia Xingchen's side.

Just as Xia Xingchen braced himself to stand up, a new message suddenly came through his communicator.

"Has something happened?"

Xia Xingchen put his helmet back on and connected the transmission.

"You should come here and take a look; we have discovered something remarkable beneath the Holy Mountain."

There was a hint of barely concealed anxiety in Nuwa's mechanical voice.

It was the first time Xia Xingchen had heard an emotional fluctuation in Nuwa's cold, mechanical tone, and he instantly realized the gravity of the situation.

"Have the transport ship come to pick me up."

Xia Xingchen stood up again, and the surrounding guard quickly gathered around him.

Xia Xingchen briefly gave some instructions to Saint Sabbat, telling her to continue the sweep.

Xia Xingchen then took his guard and boarded the transport ship, heading back to the Holy City.

As soon as they landed in the Holy City, Xia Xingchen saw that the members of the Iron Heart Society had already assembled all around the Holy City.

Xia Xingchen stepped off the transport ship and glanced back at the scene nearby; a large number of trucks were continuously unloading various materials from the transport ship.

At the same time, the STC Template colonization machine that Xia Xingchen had found earlier had also been unloaded and was currently being calibrated by a group of skilled Tech-Priests.

These items would be the core foundation for building the Hive City in the future.

Xia Xingchen looked ahead; Nuwa, Leovitos, as well as Serra and the Blacksmith, were already waiting for him in the waiting area.

Xia Xingchen walked quickly toward them; his power armor was still covered in dust and dried bloodstains that hadn't been wiped off.

The high-intensity combat from earlier meant Xia Xingchen hadn't fully recovered, and his voice was still a bit hoarse as he spoke.

"What is the situation exactly?"

Seeing so many people gathered here, Xia Xingchen instantly realized this was definitely a monumental matter.

Nuwa then immediately handed Xia Xingchen a small fragment.

Xia Xingchen took the fragment and examined it carefully, finding that the material on it did not look like an ordinary man-made object, but rather like plasteel: a material widely used in the warhammer 40k universe for Hive City construction, light fortifications, and civilian components.

"Isn't this normal? The Emperor once conquered this planet, so it's no surprise that some traces of the past were left behind."

Looking at the plasteel fragment in his hand, Xia Xingchen thought that this was likely building material left over from the Imperial expansion era; eroded by time, the original structures had vanished without a trace, leaving only these incomplete remnants.

"You should look at its surface; there is something else."

After Nuwa spoke, her Servo-skull immediately extended a magnifying glass, placing it in front of Xia Xingchen's eyes and aiming the magnified view precisely at the plasteel fragment in his hand.

Xia Xingchen looked closely and finally noticed two strange marks on the plasteel.

One was like gold, shimmering with fine light.

The other had a luster similar to ceramic, appearing completely out of place with the surrounding material.

"What is this?"

Leovitos stepped forward at this moment and reported to Xia Xingchen:

"It is ceramite and adamantium."

Xia Xingchen was stunned upon hearing this.

Adamantium is a core material used for the construction of important Imperial ship keels and Dreadnoughts; on his own warship, he still had a ton of adamantium gifted to him by the Giant Stone Guild.

He had originally intended to save these materials for crafting new power armor and outfitting Dreadnoughts.

Xia Xingchen looked at the material marks on the fragment and asked the others:

"So, what are your thoughts?"

Hearing Xia Xingchen's question, Nuwa was the first to offer her speculation:

"In many extreme situations, Imperial colonization warships would often forcibly land on a planet's surface and subsequently use the ship's own materials and facilities as foundational resources for building a Hive City."

Of course, the situation Nuwa described had an extremely low probability of occurring, as even during the Great Crusade, warships were incredibly precious.

There was another scenario: the warships had sustained irreparable heavy damage, and the cost of maintaining them was far higher than the cost of building a new one, so the Empire would choose to dismantle the warships on-site for the construction of the new colony's Hive City.

There was one final scenario: the original purpose of the warship was for the colonization and construction of Hive City worlds.

But regardless of the purpose, this all indicated that beneath Xia Xingchen's feet lay a true Imperial warship.

It must be noted that the Imperial Navy's rulebook explicitly states that no Imperial warship is allowed to land on a planet's surface at will.

Of course, there were exceptional, extreme cases.

For example, special combat missions, or when the Emperor descended upon Mars, he had once piloted his flagship, the Bucephelus, into the atmosphere of Mars. (GW routinely retcons.)

However, Xia Xingchen did not jump to conclusions but instead looked at Leovitos.

Leovitos saw Xia Xingchen's questioning gaze and immediately nodded, concurring with Nuwa's speculation.

"Since that is the case, have you found this warship?"

Since everyone believed the materials here might have come from an Imperial warship, he had to see the warship first.

Nuwa immediately signaled for Xia Xingchen to follow her.

Xia Xingchen followed behind Nuwa to a long-abandoned underground stone chamber.

"This was previously an ancient holy site of the Imperial Cult."

Nuwa introduced the situation here to Xia Xingchen as they walked:

"Until the seventh war between the Cult of Burning and the Imperial Cult, most areas of the Holy City were destroyed, and this place was abandoned as a result. Later, the people of the Imperial Cult never repaired this place, and many secrets were buried beneath the flames and ruins of that time."

Xia Xingchen looked at the broken gate here and the collapsed ruins everywhere, muttering to himself.

You've got to be kidding me; don't tell me there's a starship hidden in here?

Before the thought in Xia Xingchen's mind had even faded, Nuwa pointed to the massive iron gate deep within the stone chamber.

"According to our scans, there is a massive energy signature behind this gate; although it is very faint, it can be determined to be energy emitted by a plasma engine."

Upon hearing this, Xia Xingchen immediately said impatiently:

"Then what are we waiting for? Why don't we smash it open right now and use the entire warship for construction?"

Just then, the others voiced their difficulty.

"Commander, we cannot open this gate."