The Emperor spoke:
["In the future, you must be more cautious. You can send your monsters or subordinates to fight, but under no circumstances should you risk yourself unless necessary. If you must act, it's best to use my psychic powers to shield your actions from the Warp's perception before making a move."]
Rhodes's power has grown incredibly strong. Physically, he's already on par with an average Primarch. As for his psychic abilities, they're only stronger. What's most important is that Primarchs are born with predetermined limits, but Rhodes can keep getting stronger, and reaching even greater heights.
After the Webway was fully sealed, the Emperor used his psychic power to transform the shadowy giant Daram into a ring and placed it back on the Golden Throne, where it continues to absorb dark energy. Meanwhile, two Ace Killers were left behind in the Webway to guard it and take out any daemons that managed to slip through.
To help Rhodes, the Emperor didn't seal the Webway too tightly. Occasionally, large numbers of daemons would still pour in, but their numbers were kept within a manageable range. This allowed the Ace Killers to slaughter daemons endlessly without requiring Rhodes to strengthen or repair them.
"Thank you for the reminder, Emperor. I owe you one for this," Rhodes said.
["Don't mention it. Also, don't hold a grudge against the Laughing God over this. There's no need. After all, he gave you access to the Webway, and he can help us deal with the Four Chaos Gods as well,"] the Emperor replied.
Knowing the Laughing God's personality, this whole thing was probably just a minor joke to him.
"I understand. I'm not that petty," Rhodes replied.
The Laughing God hadn't gone too far, and they were still on the same side. Right now, dealing with the Four Chaos Gods was the top priority. Those four are incredibly powerful and now is not the time for a confrontation. Playing it safe and building up strength is the way to go.
[ "You can lend me your Ace Killers, and I can use my psychic power to deploy them on various Imperial battlefields. This will make the Chaos forces believe they're my creations."]
This would not only help draw Chaos's attention away from Rhodes but also relieve some of the Emperor's burden. With those two powerful assassins, the Emperor would have much more room to maneuver, and at least the Webway would be secure, sparing the Custodes from having to sacrifice themselves.
"No problem! Send them wherever you need them. When they're not needed, you can let them stay in the Webway to wipe out daemons," Rhodes replied.
Loaning the Ace Killers to the Emperor for use on the Imperial battlefields and in the Webway would also earn Rhodes a steady stream of system gold. Plus, Rhodes could always summon them again if needed—after all, they only cost 100,000 gold each, which was dirt cheap.
The Webway war had lasted over ten days, and Rhodes had earned a whopping million gold coins. It was an incredibly profitable endeavor.
"Oh, by the way, Emperor, I've got something to tell you. A few days ago, my three scientists informed me that they've found a way to make some upgrades to your Golden Throne," Rhodes said.
This idea had initially been proposed by Balt, then refined by Zett and Salome. Finally, the three scientists concluded that the plan was feasible.
Rhodes hadn't mentioned it earlier because he'd been preoccupied with the Webway war but now seemed like a good time to bring it up.
["You're saying you can upgrade the Golden Throne? Does this involve expanding the Webway?"] the Emperor's psychic presence lit up with excitement.
"Just a small upgrade—not related to expanding the Webway," Rhodes explained. "The missing components of the throne have no detailed records, so they can't be fully repaired. However, we can make some minor improvements to enhance its current capabilities."
["Such as?"] The Emperor was intrigued. After all, this was the device he relied on daily.
"For example, the Astronomican's projection range. Currently, the Golden Throne's Astronomican beacon can illuminate star systems within 50,000 light-years of the galaxy in the Warp. If we upgrade it, it could extend to around 70,000 light-years. Do you know what that means?" Rhodes explained.
The Milky Way Galaxy spans a diameter of 100,000 light-years, yet the Human Empire occupies only a small portion of it. Surrounding the Empire are vast, undeveloped, and unknown star regions. Expanding the Astronomican's range to 70,000 light-years is a significant upgrade, allowing many previously unilluminated border planets to fall within its radiation range. This would expand the Empire's territory by over 30%, an incredible feat.
["This is excellent news. Just this upgrade alone will bring tremendous benefits to the Empire,"] the Emperor said.
This isn't a minor upgrade—it's a massive one.
"Additionally, once the Golden Throne has been fully repaired, the number of psykers sacrificed daily can be reduced to just 1,000," Rhodes said.
According to the three scientists, if they were allowed to completely overhaul the Golden Throne and incorporate new advanced technologies, it would only require 10,000 psykers in a 24-hour rotation to sustain the Astronomican indefinitely.
However, the sacrifices made to the Golden Throne aren't just for maintaining the Astronomican. The Emperor also needs these sacrifices to strengthen his psychic power and suppress the Chaos God, the Dark Emperor.
Daram cannot stay here forever; once he departs, the power of the Dark Emperor will inevitably recover. For this reason, Rhodes rejected the proposed overhaul of the Throne and instead instructed the scientists to reduce the number of sacrifices back to 1,000 per day.
["This is also good news. At least 2,000 psykers will no longer have to be sacrificed each day. These two upgrades are of monumental significance to the Golden Throne,"] the Emperor remarked.
Sacrificing fewer psykers would ease his conscience, and minimizing the number of casualties was always preferable. Furthermore, this would indirectly weaken the power of the Dark Emperor, who feeds off the despair of unwilling psykers.
"But as you are aware, upgrading the Astronomican's range can only happen after Roboute Guilliman awakens. If we suddenly modify the Astronomican now, it would be difficult to get approval from the Captain-General of the Custodes. Moreover, making such an abrupt change without justification would arouse suspicion," Rhodes explained.
According to Rhodes' original plan, his visit to Terra was supposed to involve demonstrating his status as the Emperor's chosen representative to gain the Custodes' trust. However, as the Emperor pointed out unless the Emperor himself awakened to give direct orders, even someone as prominent as Roboute Guilliman would struggle to sway the Custodes.
To the Custodes, their loyalty belongs solely to the Emperor. Half of the Primarchs had betrayed the Emperor, and even the Space Marines weren't entirely trustworthy in their eyes.
["That is indeed a problem. We'll have to wait,"] the Emperor sighed.
Expanding the Astronomican's range would certainly raise a host of issues. The High Lords of Terra would undoubtedly take action, and some in the upper echelons of the Human Empire might even suspect Rhodes of harboring ulterior motives. Since Rhodes couldn't reveal his true identity for now, this matter would have to wait until Guilliman awakened.
After chatting with the Emperor a bit longer, Captain-General Trajann Valoris led a group of psykers into the Emperor's palace to begin the day's sacrificial ritual. Meanwhile, Rhodes summoned his three scientists and stepped outside the palace.
"Lord Loki, I didn't expect you to visit today. Thank you for your efforts in maintaining the Golden Throne recently," Trajann said.
Over the past two weeks, the Golden Throne's performance had significantly improved.
"It's just an agreement. In a short time, the Golden Throne should only require 1,000 psykers to function normally," Rhodes replied.
"Thank you," Trajann said with a nod.
"By the way, Captain-General, I have two small requests. I hope you can help me with them," Rhodes said.
"Name them."
"First, as you know, I have some human subordinates. One of them, Rhodes' wife, is a Hospitaller Sister. She is deeply devoted to the Emperor, so she hopes to come here tomorrow during the maintenance session to pray before the Golden Throne," Rhodes said.
Over the past two weeks, Rhodes had built some trust with the Captain-General, so he believed this request wouldn't be denied.
"I'll allow it. Both she and Rhodes may come to pray tomorrow," Trajann agreed.
In truth, Trajann very much wanted to recruit Rhodes into the Empire's service. Rhodes' genetics were extraordinarily valuable, but Trajann hesitated to make the offer outright, as their current relationship was built on cooperation. However, he now saw an opportunity.
Perhaps tomorrow, Trajann could approach Rhodes and try to recruit him, convincing him to serve the Empire instead of acting as a bodyguard for a Xenos. Rhodes' wife, being a devout Hospitaller Sister, provided an excellent opening.
Captain-General Trajann Valoris believed there was significant room to maneuver in this matter.