Chapter 127: We Shall Become Hope

"We have absolutely no need to worry about space combat with the Chaos fleet. We can simply blast Abaddon's fleet to pieces, capture him, and rip that topknot right off his head."

In the conference room, Wang Ming was discussing the weapon test results of the *Imperial Truth* with the Transmigrators, and in the gaps of his narrative, he formulated a plan to pluck Abaddon’s topknot.

"Where are we headed next?" Wang Xiaofa asked after Wang Ming finished, inquiring about the next step in their plan and which world he should head to.

"We will split into two forces for our next move, heading to the two surrounding worlds. Once industrialization is complete in both, we will proceed to a world for a mission given to me by the Emperor, to deal with the issue of the Necrons."

Wang Ming explained to Wang Xiaofa and the surrounding Transmigrators. Just the night before, while he was sleeping, the Emperor had—yet again—pulled him into the Warp. This time, the Emperor had given him another mission and shown him a prophecy—a prophecy concerning the Necrons.

Wang Ming could hardly believe it, for in the vision, he had actually seen a Necron World Engine. One must understand that this is no mass-produced item; even a powerful Necron dynasty should only possess a single World Engine.

In the prophecy the Emperor showed him, the massive World Engine emerged from an Imperial world, and that world was instantly reduced to cosmic dust. The humans upon it felt the soul-crushing agony of the Necrons' anti-psychic technology, watching in despair as their world gradually shattered, screaming the Holy Name of the Emperor in pain, hoping for the God-Emperor’s salvation.

But until the very moment the world was destroyed, they did not receive even a shred of redemption. The ships in the starport were annihilated by the Necron fleet; not a single human escaped the overwhelming might of the Necrons.

"What a horrific scene." Hearing Wang Ming’s account, all the Transmigrators felt as if their souls had been pricked by needles, an intense, searing pain.

Even now, whenever Wang Ming recalled the scene, he felt his own soul aching. The death of countless humans stimulated the love for humanity deep within his own soul. Throughout the entire process, Wang Ming could only watch helplessly as the world was destroyed and countless humans died in an instant.

He could do nothing. He could only watch as the desperate humans, in their final moments of destruction, cried out in prayer to the God-Emperor for salvation. In that moment, he finally understood how the Emperor must have felt over the past ten thousand years. And this was just the destruction of a single world; one could only imagine how many human tragedies the Emperor had witnessed over those ten millennia. Wang Ming dared not even contemplate what the Emperor had endured.

The Emperor loves humanity, but He does not love any single human; He loves all of humanity. In this desperate universe, "He" is the collective consciousness of the human species. Perhaps "He" was once an "he" with independent emotions, but after ten thousand years of human faith, "he" was forced to become "He." Humanity needed "him" to become "He," even if "he" was not willing.

"The industrialization plan for the Gobei world is expected to be completed in three days. By then, we will split into two forces: one led by Wang Xiaofa to the Tari system to begin industrialization, and one led by me to the Corsel system, specifically Corsel IV, to conduct industrialization before heading straight to the Orkan system, where the Necron dynasty is awakening."

Wang Ming opened the holographic star map and marked the worlds they were about to visit. After explaining the mission, he had Minerva turn on the cameras, broadcasting the live scene to the camps of every Mortal Auxiliary regiment. This was part of Wang Ming's plan.

"Brothers, we will bring hope to humanity. Though the hope we bring may take a long time to reach those desperate worlds, if we never stop, we will surely one day be able to scatter hope across the entire galaxy. We will make the evils of the galaxy tremble before the terror of humanity! We will replicate the human spirit of the Great Crusade era! We will strike into the frontiers of the Empire! Rescue those human worlds still in the darkness, and bring the light of the God-Emperor to the survivors of the 'Dark Age of Technology'!"

Wang Ming spoke to the Transmigrators with passion. This was his realization after seeing the prophecy the Emperor had shown him. Wang Ming discovered that he loved humanity just as the Emperor did. He loved the human species because he was one of them, and because his parents were human.

Was Wang Ming really just pulled over by the Emperor due to an accident? As mentioned before, the Emperor had conditions for choosing Transmigrators: they must possess an identification with the human species and a sense of responsibility toward it—even if they themselves were unaware of this identification and responsibility.

Wang Ming’s identification with and responsibility toward humanity had caught the Emperor’s eye. After being pulled into this desperate universe, the Emperor gave him everything He could: strength, technology, and personnel. The Emperor hoped that Wang Ming would become a beacon of hope—a hope for humanity.

"For humanity, for the Master of Mankind." At the end of the meeting, Wang Ming said to the Transmigrators. His voice was not loud, but every Transmigrator heard him, and the words seemed to trigger a chain reaction.

"For humanity, for the Master of Mankind!" The Transmigrators roared. They didn't even know why they shouted those words; they simply blurted them out from the bottom of their hearts.

***

The latter half of the meeting was broadcast to the various Mortal Auxiliary camps as Wang Ming had arranged. He hoped that this speech would boost the morale of the Auxiliaries, giving them a basic understanding of the battles and actions to follow. Wang Ming did not want his troops to stagnate in fear, drifting away from the light of the Emperor, as had happened with Macharius.

"For humanity! For the Master of Mankind! For the Primarch!" In every camp, the emotions of the Auxiliary soldiers were ignited by Wang Ming's words.

"The stars shall not fade! The Primarch shall not fade!" The Auxiliaries shouted, staring at Wang Ming on the screens, roaring their war cry. This phrase had been the final words of an Auxiliary soldier who fought against the Khornate daemons on Bartko II. After his unit was ambushed by the daemon tide upon entering the city with the Transmigrators, he had short-circuited his own lasgun power pack and charged into the horde. His final words to a dying Transmigrator were passed on and became the war cry of the Auxiliaries.

Compared to the excited Auxiliaries, the Ecclesiarchy believers watching the broadcast from the space station were in a state of absolute frenzy, loudly praising Wang Ming and kneeling on the ground in tears.

"Saint Judith, praise the God-Emperor for granting us the opportunity to walk alongside the scion of God." Hospitaler Paracena stood beside Judith, speaking with extreme emotion.

"Indeed, devoutly thank the God-Emperor." Judith watched Wang Ming on the screen, speaking with equal fervor. However, had an Astartes been present, they could have easily seen that Judith’s piety was a carefully crafted disguise; beneath her devout appearance lay a much more scrutinizing gaze.

After the meeting, Wang Ming headed to the starport; he still needed to deal with the crew of the *Warmaster’s Ambition*.

"You have been conscripted by the Emperor and are about to head to an xenos world to purge it for the Empire. In this time of Imperial peril, you must keep the light of the Emperor in your hearts and practice the Imperial Truth." At a docking port on the space station, Xu Feng was using a megaphone, shouting to the crew of the *Warmaster’s Ambition* as they made their way to the one-way transport ships.

"You're quite familiar with this sort of work." Wang Ming suddenly appeared behind Xu Feng.

"Boss, give a guy a warning! You scared me." Xu Feng jumped; he had been so focused on shouting to the crew that he hadn't noticed Wang Ming’s approach. He had done the exact same thing back on Mols, so he was indeed very familiar with the process.

"My Lord Primarch!" Just as Wang Ming and Xu Feng were talking, Alexandru Keidar, dressed in an Astra Militarum uniform, suddenly rushed toward Wang Ming. He shouted frantically before Xu Feng could pin him to the ground.

"Let him go." Wang Ming watched Alexandru Keidar being held down by Xu Feng and addressed him. He was curious: what did Keidar want? Was he coming to plead his innocence? They had already been told the history of the Horus Heresy (a filtered version). To prevent any extreme reactions, the history lesson had been conducted in the wilderness of Gobei, with the Auxiliaries using heavy bolters to "soothe" their shocked nerves. The riot Wang Ming had imagined never happened; instead, upon learning that the cargo they were transporting threatened the heart of the Empire, Holy Terra, they were filled with remorse.

"My Lord Primarch, we would never betray the Empire! If I had known, I would never have transported this 'cargo'!" Alexandru Keidar, released by Xu Feng, scrambled to Wang Ming and hugged his leg.

"I know. You are all pillars of the Empire who have studied the Imperial Truth. But for certain reasons, you had to be conscripted. Don't worry, Alexandru Keidar, if you conquer that world, you will be its Planetary Governor. That’s better than being a Rogue Trader, isn't it?"

Wang Ming looked down at the weeping man clutching his leg and gently kicked him away, soothing him.

"Yes, My Lord Primarch! We will never forget the Imperial Truth. We are all willing to fight for the Emperor and purge the xenos world! But, My Lord, is my force not too small? Five thousand men may not be enough to complete your mission." As a Rogue Trader, Alexandru Keidar was a smart man. Upon learning the history of the Horus Heresy, he knew that as someone indirectly colluding with Horus, he would surely be punished. He had even prepared himself for the worst—execution. What he hadn't expected was that Wang Ming wouldn't kill them, but instead offer them a chance to live, with the only price being to fight. Living was better than dying. Alexandru Keidar had been appointed as a Colonel, his unit designated the "Second Penitent Regiment," and he naturally had to secure some benefits for himself.

"Alexandru Keidar, speak your mind." Wang Ming knew exactly what the former Rogue Trader wanted.

"My Lord Primarch, could you provide our regiment with some heavy equipment so we can better fulfill your mission?" Keidar knelt, requesting sincerely. He did this not just for his regiment, but for himself—only with sufficient weaponry could his own life be guaranteed.

"Fine. I will give you twenty-five Leman Russ tanks and one Baneblade. That is the maximum support I can provide." Wang Ming thought for a moment. These five thousand men were originally intended to be cannon fodder sent to the T'au world of "Gulter" to have a "friendly exchange" with the T'au. But he remembered the hundred thousand cultists he had previously sent to Gulter and decided to deviate from the original plan: give them heavy equipment and let them fight the cultists like dogs.

Wang Ming wasn't worried about them joining forces; after all, there could only be one Planetary Governor. Even if they didn't care about the position, the failsafe he had installed on the two one-way transport ships could vaporize them all instantly. Besides, the T'au homeworld wasn't that easy to conquer. The first batch of a hundred thousand cultists had only been given some Chimeras and a few Leman Russ tanks—as for Baneblades, they were out of the question. Wang Ming wouldn't give a group of cultists too many weapons.

"Thank you, My Lord Primarch! We will surely take this xenos world for the Empire and the Emperor!" After hearing this, Alexandru Keidar jumped up and gave a standard Aquila salute.

On the space station, Wang Ming and Xu Feng stood at the observation window, watching the one-way ships drift away.

"Boss, why give them so much equipment? And the appointment papers for Planetary Governor? Didn't you already give one to that cult leader? Why give another one to that kid?" Xu Feng asked, confused.

"Xu Feng, do you know what it means when dogs fight over a bone? Do you really think I gave them these weapons to fight the T'au? There can only be one Planetary Governor. Surely they wouldn't settle for being mere planetary generals or minor nobles, would they?" Wang Ming replied, not turning his head.

"Boss, are you so sure they'll fight? Is the temptation of being Planetary Governor really that strong?"

"They won't have a choice. I installed a small program in the low-level AI of their ships. It monitors their behavior. If there is any sign of the two legions making peace, it will immediately execute the Exterminatus. I even installed a Cyclonic Torpedo on it." Wang Ming turned to Xu Feng with a smile. They were potential liabilities anyway, and if he could wipe out an xenos world in the process, why not?