Chapter 505 - 505: Antonius Joins Up

Kian was lying on the sofa taking an afternoon nap. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Enginseer Antonius's big face right over him.

"Ooh, my lord, having a lie-down? Quite right, quite right! It's only five in the afternoon, why ever would you get up so early?

"You were simply born lucky, my lord. You deserve your lie-in!"

Kian blinked and let out a comfortable yawn.

"Ah, it's Eunuch Antonius. This Dowager is peckish."

Antonius said at once:

"Don't move, my lord! Don't you move a muscle! This old servant will fetch your meal!"

A few minutes later, Antonius came in carrying a tray and waited on Kian while he ate.

"My lord, how was this old servant's service? Is it to your satisfaction?"

Kian picked his teeth with a toothpick.

"Supremely comfy. But this Dowager grows bored and requires amusement. Initiate Jester Protocol Number One."

Antonius said at once:

"Yes! Executing Jester Protocol Number One!"

Then his expression changed, and he began to sing in a Peking-opera warble:

"The Grand Birthday Salute! The Four Gods Stir the General's Heart! Clang-cha, clang-cha, clang-cha, clang-cha, clang-cha..."

When the song was done, Antonius asked, "My lord, was this old servant's singing to your satisfaction?"

Kian nodded.

"Most excellent!"

But then something occurred to him, and he said, "Actually, I just thought of something. How are you going to meet up with me?

"Getting from here to the Forge World on a conventional-drive ship takes a year, and in three months Inquisitor Trasolh's fleet moves on to its next stop."

When Antonius heard this, he nearly hit the ceiling.

"Holy crap! I've already signed on as your jester and NOW you tell me?! You're screwing with me!"

Kian waved a hand.

"Relax, I've got a plan!"

He took Antonius to a secret room and handed him a pile of purity seals, sanctified oil, a pistol, and a fully sealed suit of power armour.

"Rub yourself down with the sanctified oil, climb into the power armour, switch on the life support, and stick the purity seals on."

Antonius frowned.

"How are you going to get me there?"

Kian began carving a ritual circle on the floor. When it was done, he sat cross-legged, reached out with his psychic power to a set of coordinates, and opened a Warp portal.

That's right. The Warp beacon he'd acquired on Glory had already been thrown into the Warp.

Here's how it worked. He'd put the Warp beacon inside a cargo container protected by heavy armour, and carved the outside with the rune Chaplain Reisach had taught him, the one that made things harder for daemons to notice.

Then he'd pushed the container into the Warp, which let Kian sense the beacon's location with his psychic power.

Every time he opened a Warp portal, it came out inside that armoured container.

For now Kian had filled the container with emergency supplies, spare power armour, and backup weapons and gear. He'd never tried sending a person through.

The Warp was dangerous, after all. His respawn time was six hours, and if someone spent six hours alone in the Warp, there was no telling whether they'd come out still human.

Kian carefully explained to Antonius how the transport worked and what the risks were, and then left the decision to him.

Antonius looked at the pistol in his hand.

"So this pistol is for me to shoot myself with, correct?"

Kian nodded.

"You'll be in the Warp for six hours. The container has armour so thick a tank shell couldn't crack it, plus the rune that makes it hard for daemons to notice, plus the sanctified oil daemons are scared of.

"But it's still the Warp. If you suddenly notice you're growing tentacles, it's best to shoot yourself."

Antonius was silent for a long time. He looked at Kian and thought about how this man had achieved such great deeds in such a short time.

And he himself had wasted decades on this Agri-World, with decades more to waste ahead of him.

So he gritted his teeth, smeared the sanctified oil over his face, and climbed into the portal.

"Let's do it!"

As soon as Antonius went through, Kian closed the Warp portal, jabbed himself with a black needle, and went straight to respawn.

He'd already said his goodbyes. From now on he'd make time to pop back to the Agri-World every few days.

Six hours later, when Kian opened his eyes again, he had successfully completed the interstellar jump and respawned aboard Inquisitor Trasolh's warship.

He hurriedly opened a Warp portal and gave Antonius a physical examination.

"How do you feel? Any unusual growths on your body? Any daemons whispering in your ears?"

Antonius stepped out and looked at Kian in some confusion.

"Didn't you say it would take six hours? How has only two minutes passed?"

Kian was stunned for a moment too. Six hours had definitely passed!

Then he slapped his forehead.

"Time in the Warp isn't synced with realspace. Supposedly the Warp doesn't even have a concept of time.

"Or maybe the Warp warped your perception. Maybe six hours really passed, but to you it only felt like two minutes."

Antonius shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with my perception. My internal chronometer shows that only two minutes actually passed, so the flow of time must genuinely be different."

Kian finished examining Antonius, walked him past the Emperor's Shrine, and rubbed sanctified oil on him. There was no reaction at all, which proved he hadn't been tainted by the Warp.

After that, Kian showed Antonius around the warship, introduced him to his staff, and picked out a big room for him to live in.

"So which direction are you planning to take from here?"

Kian asked.

"Research, I think."

Antonius said.

"Most of your tech-priests are on the maintenance or combat track. You don't have any researchers yet.

"Give me some resources, and I'll go that way."

By maintenance staff, he meant the tech-priests bonded to the Knights. By combat staff, he meant Tech-priest Boothe.

After the last battle, Boothe had been left with only a brain, and only a little more than half of it at that.

Nobody knew how he'd done it, but he'd gotten hold of the rear half of Magos Ferrocore's body, the part the tank had severed, and modified it for his own use.

Boothe was now well on his way to becoming a super-heavy unit. He was about to become the second mechanical worm, and a bigger one!

Kian's forces really were short on researchers, so Antonius filling that gap worked out nicely.

Kian told him he could use whatever resources he liked, but he hoped to see results.

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