Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

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As a human being, to have done this much is enough to warrant respect.

“Human,” the Iron Man said. “Tell me your name.”

Ok?

Lin Qi stared at the Iron Man, completely taken aback by the question it asked.

However, he quickly realized what was happening, looked at the Iron Man, and let out a long breath.

The exhaled air entered the helmet's circulation system, and after going through a series of complex processes, it was put back into the helmet. Lin Qi raised his head, looked at the Iron Man, and asked a question.

"Shouldn't you tell me your name first, Iron Man?"

The Iron Man remained silent, and finally slowly uttered a string of letters from his own communication system.

"Security combat robot, KE-001, human, it's your turn."

"My name is Lynch. What? You want to add my combat data to your database?"

"According to calculations, this is indeed feasible. You are powerful, and you have also sacrificed yourself for your comrades. Based on my underlying logic, you are a warrior worthy of my respect. Therefore, I will record your name and store it in my deep database."

The mechanical and electronic voice was dull, but Lynch could hear the seriousness in the voice of this Iron Man called KE-001.

The legend is true; Iron Man truly possesses his own consciousness, rather than being a machine that simply operates based on programming.

"After you've recorded this, will you let me off the hook?"

Lynch gripped the Atonement in his hand. At that moment, he noticed the Judgment, which he had just thrown away and now lay among the rubble. He reached out towards the explosive gun, channeled his psionic energy, and pulled it back into his hand.

“No,” Iron Man replied, the flowing metal in his hands transforming once more, this time into two sharp blades. “Destroying the invaders is my responsibility, Lynch. I respect you, but I will still destroy you. However, I can guarantee that I will give you a thoroughly enjoyable battle.”

This smell of yours is... from Kiehl's? No wonder it's called KE...

Lin Qi tucked the bomb gun back into his waistband, held the spear in both hands, looked at the Iron Man, enhanced his muscles with psionic energy, and anticipated the opponent's next move.

The Iron Man took a step forward, and the entire space trembled. Lin Qi had no doubt that the aftershocks of their exchange could have collapsed this place. He scanned his surroundings, searching for an opportunity to escape.

Iron Man began to approach Lynch. Its legs bent, and the flowing silver metal transformed into clear muscle forms, helping it to exert force, cross the crack, and reach Lynch to fight him.

Lin Qi also found an opportunity: the hidden door where Iron Man had just entered the space. After the battle between the two within the space, and the friction from the powerful beam of light emanating from Iron Man, the surface of the hidden door was now covered with various cracks. If he could find an opportunity, he could simply break it open and temporarily escape from the battle.

Completely defeating the Iron Man in front of him was never Lin Qi's goal from the beginning; he didn't have such a big illusion about his own strength.

But just before Lin Qi was ready, the Iron Man suddenly froze. Its pair of scarlet electronic eyes on its round head flashed, and then it stopped maintaining its jumping posture. Instead, it raised its head, took a deep look at Lin Qi, turned around, and left through a suddenly opened hidden door.

Lin Qi stared blankly for a long while as he watched the Iron Man's departing figure and the secret door that closed behind him.

He originally thought he would have to fight KE-001 for dozens of rounds, but now...

This is the end?

No, something is wrong.

Lin Qi smelled something unusual. He frowned, and five minutes later, he suddenly drew his explosive pistol from his waist and aimed it at a direction within a space.

"Come out," Lin Qi said coldly. "Don't think you're foolproof. I can sense your presence."

A hush fell over the air, as if Lynch were talking to himself. But Lynch kept his gun raised, his finger on the trigger, ready to fire at any moment.

As if knowing that it had no choice but to come out, a faint ripple suddenly appeared in the air, and then a tall human figure appeared, raising its hands above its head in a gesture of surrender to Lin Qi.

"Don't shoot, fellow countryman, I'm a good person."

"Compatriots?" Lin Qi looked at the humanoid figure that had appeared and asked bluntly. "You, an Iron Man, call a human 'compatriot'?"

The humanoid seemed to realize it had misspoke, and an awkward smile appeared on its blank, metallic face. It still held its hands up, but then explained to Lin Qi why it had used the word "compatriot."

“I am indeed your compatriot, at least I used to be... and in some ways, we are in the same boat.”

The humanoid said this, and then introduced itself.

“My name is Hoffman, Hoffman Krieg Eris. I helped you get rid of KE-001 earlier. I am a free scientist. Fellow countryman, although I don’t know what the situation is like outside now, I need your help because we were once human.”

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Chapter 125 Time Weapon Technology and the Truth of the Relics

Lynch frowned as he looked at the Iron Man in front of him who called himself "Hoffman Krieg Eris".

He did not lower his guard because of what the other party said; in fact, he was even more wary of the other party because of what they said.

The reason he hasn't fired yet is simply because Lynch believes he can glean some information about the ruins from the iron man's mouth.

Hoffman saw through Lynch's intention, but he did not react excessively. Instead, he relaxed and lowered his raised hands.

“Hey, fellow countryman,” Hoffman said. “You can remain vigilant, but I’d like to ask you a few questions first.”

"......ask."

"Who's in power outside now? Or rather, which force is the most powerful? I remember that quite a few forces emerged after the Iron Man War, but the strongest are the remnants of the Federation on Terra and those lunatics on Mars..."

“They’re all gone.” Lynch interrupted Hoffman, his voice calm yet icy. “Now, all of humanity outside is united under the Human Empire, under the leadership of a ruler called the Emperor. However, the Emperor was unable to rule in person ten thousand years ago due to some unforeseen circumstances, and the Empire is actually ruled by the High Lords.”

“An empire.” Hoffman’s cold, mechanical voice carried a strange undertone. “Is it the empire I’m thinking of? The feudal kind…?”

“It’s even worse than that,” Lynch said. “Your feudal society could still be centralized, but the empire is just a loose regime. The governors of each planet enjoy enormous power, and their only obligations to the empire are to pay taxes and remain loyal.”

"Oh...this is..."

Hoffman was clearly shocked by Lynch's statement and didn't even react for a moment.

However, in the end, he still showed a relieved attitude. But when he looked at Lin Qi, a hint of human-like playfulness appeared on his cold, metallic face.

"Fellow countryman, is it appropriate for you to speak of the Empire like that? You are also part of it, aren't you? Judging from your decision to stay behind to cover the retreat for your comrades, you don't seem to be someone who would hate the person who nurtured your power."

"I'm just an employee." Lynch replied bluntly to Hoffman's words. "I might pretend when there are outsiders around, but why should I pretend when you're an iron man? The Empire is essentially a pile of history. Being a part of it doesn't stop me from feeling that it's bad and full of problems. If humans had a choice, believe me, no one would choose it."

Lynch's words made Hoffman fall into deep thought. Finally, he looked at Lynch and slowly nodded.

"I now consider you someone I can entrust with my life. If you were too rigid, I would probably just take action against you directly."

“You can give it a try.” Lin Qi looked at the Hoffman in front of him. Unlike the KE-001 he had just fought, this iron man didn’t seem to have any weapons on him, and it was even smaller in size. However, it had signs of battle on its body. If Lin Qi wasn’t mistaken, it must have fought against the Black Legion not long ago.

The fact that he could take down an elite Terminator from the Black Legion and some members of the Dark Mechanicus and escape unscathed already demonstrates that this Iron Man does indeed possess considerable strength.

However, it is not on the same level as KE-001 at all, and is even inferior to itself and the original leader.

Hoffman looked at Lynch, shrugged, and then the metal shell on his chest began to change, revealing a small sphere that emitted an eerie pale blue light.

“A time bomb,” Hoffman said calmly. “It can stop time for everything within a hundred meters of itself, and this process will last for a year. Without external force, it is almost impossible to break, even if you use psionic energy.”

Lynch's expression turned serious. He began to consider how he could avoid the damage if the bomb were detonated.

The fact that time was stopped didn't have much of an impact on him in itself. The problem was that once this happened, and he was still affected by the spell, he would become a sitting duck in this ruin.

The fact that he couldn't move, with Iron Man watching him intently, was far too fatal for Lin Qi or any soldier on the battlefield.

"Don't be nervous," Hoffman said, shrugging. "I'm not going to use this on you right now. I still plan to cooperate with you, and it won't do me any good to attack you. By the way, I asked you so many questions just now, now it's your turn. Come on, ask me anything you want, and I'll answer anything I can."

Lynch narrowed his eyes, but the explosive pistol in his hand never deviated from Hoffman's head.

"Where is this?"

Lynch asked his first question, and Hoffman was delighted by this gesture, seeing it as the first step in his conversation partner softening his tone.

“This is a laboratory,” Hoffman replied. “It was built in the middle of the Iron Man Wars to develop a new generation of conventional engines and a new option for humanity in the face of the Iron Man.”

At this point, Hoffman raised a finger and pointed to the top of his head.

"I think you and your companions have already obtained the technology for the conventional engine and sent it out, so I won't say more. But I can tell you that the truly valuable thing in this laboratory has never been it. Even if it is indeed very valuable, it is still worthless compared to the real treasures inside the laboratory."

"Then what is the real treasure?" Lynch asked, following Hoffman's lead. Hoffman shrugged, then pointed to himself with one finger.

"I."

Hoffman began, saying this.

"The truly precious treasure in this laboratory is me, or rather, the technology I represent."

"you?"

Lynch was puzzled. He looked Hoffman up and down, completely failing to discern the "real treasure" the other man was talking about.

From any perspective, this Iron Man is far inferior to the KE-001 from before; their technical capabilities are on completely different levels.

"Hey!" Seemingly understanding Lynch's meaning, Hoffman's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction, and a human touch appeared on his cold, metallic face. "Don't let my appearance fool you, my technical skills far surpass those of KE-001. Back then, I personally designed its prototype, number 000. I know it better than it knows itself."

Lynch looked at Hoffman suspiciously. When Hoffman saw Lynch's gaze, his entire machine deflated rapidly, like a punctured balloon.

"Sigh, to be honest, judging from your expression, it doesn't seem like you can understand." Hoffman sighed helplessly. "Alright, let's keep it simple. Do you know why I call you a fellow human? It's because I was once a human, and the reason I am Iron Man now is because of the research being conducted in this laboratory."

Lin Qi's pupils contracted. If he couldn't understand such a simple and straightforward explanation, then he might as well go find a nail and nail it into his head.

“Yes.” Hoffman nodded. “What this laboratory is actually doing is the technology to transform humans into Iron Men. In the middle of the Iron Man War, humans were losing ground to their former creations, and it was during that time that this technology began to emerge and develop.”

"This matter is of utmost importance."

These words were spoken by Horus. Clearly, what Hoffman said had alarmed even him, who came out of the warp and listened with a serious expression.

"Ask him what his purpose is, and see what he wants you to do for him."

Lynch mentally replied "yes" to Horus, then looked at Hoffman, took a deep breath, and asked the question.

"So what do you want me to do? Help you take this technology out of the country? The Iron Man War ended nearly 20,000 years ago, and humanity has won. The human empire now completely prohibits Iron Man. Even if you were to take it out, it would only be sealed away or destroyed as a forbidden technology."

Hoffman heard Lynch's words but shook his head slightly.

“No,” Hoffman said. “If it were about taking the technology out of the country, I wouldn’t need your help at all. I could do it myself. As the former head of this lab, I have access to everything except the core area. If I wanted to leave, I would have done it long ago.”

"Then what do you want to do?"

“I want to ask you,” Hoffman said, looking at Lynch, his voice calm and devoid of any emotion. “I want to ask you to come with me into the core area and activate the self-destruct program of this laboratory to completely destroy it.”

what?

Lin Qi frowned, looking at the iron man in front of him, and for a moment felt a little absurd.

An Iron Man, or even a scientist from the dark age of technology, according to his own account, is now asking a stranger he just met, who has even drawn a weapon at him, to help him destroy the laboratory to which he has poured his heart and soul.

This sounds a bit abnormal; we need to observe it for a while longer.

“I’m not joking.” Hoffman’s tone was now somewhat helpless. He sighed and extended his left index finger. The mechanical structure of his index finger changed, quickly resembling a dark gun muzzle. The Iron Man pointed his fingertip at the wall behind him and, using the laser beam emitted from within, drew a pattern on the wall.

Lin Qi's expression changed immediately upon seeing the pattern.