Chapter Seventy-Eight: Child of the Stars

"The coordinates have been reached, commencing search." Wang Lei led a squad of twenty transmigrators through the Upper Hive of West Siphus Hive City, searching for the "item" belonging to the Emperor's old friend.

After the Battle of Moers, when Wang Ming examined the essence of the Warp the Emperor had granted him, he discovered a set of coordinates—coordinates imprinted upon his very soul.

This location marked either a person or an object, situated within a spire structure in the Upper Hive of West Siphus. It was most likely a person, for Wang Ming observed the coordinate was always moving—though the movement never extended beyond the bounds of that spire.

Wang Ming tasked Wang Lei with leading a team of transmigrators into the Upper Hive to search for this "item," while he himself needed time to recover from his contact with the essence of the Warp.

Interacting with the essence of the Warp was far from pleasant. When Wang Ming communed with the Warp essence within his soul, it felt as if his soul were being lashed mercilessly, over and over, by the Emperor's psychic might—a sensation of extreme discomfort.

Afterward, Wang Ming felt his own spirit flagging, drained and listless. He needed time to recover, to rest. Having issued his orders to Wang Lei, Wang Ming promptly collapsed—nearly flattening Wang Lei in the process.

At the time, Wang Ming fell directly toward Wang Lei, his towering four-and-a-half-meter frame casting a shadow over him. Fortunately, Wang Lei reacted swiftly enough to dodge, or else Wang Ming would have crushed him outright.

In the end, it took five transmigrators to carry Wang Ming and settle him in the Governor’s Palace, in a chamber specially prepared for a Primarch.

Wang Ming’s sudden collapse left the transmigrators deeply unsettled—they had no idea what had happened to him. The one who reacted most strongly was Jose, the mortal commander personally appointed by Wang Ming as captain of the Primarch’s Guard, who believed Wang Ming’s collapse was the result of an assassination attempt by hidden enemies.

"This was an attempt on the life of the great Primarch!" Jose bellowed in fury, blaming himself for failing in his duty. After Wang Ming fell unconscious,

Jose promptly mobilized ten thousand of the Primarch’s Guard, layering protection around Wang Ming’s room until not even a fly could pass without arousing suspicion.

Despite Wang Ming’s coma, Wang Lei still set out to perform his assigned task, leading the transmigrators to the Upper Hive of West Siphus in search of the Emperor’s old friend’s “item.”

Climbing the spire, Wang Lei and the others kept telling themselves not to look down at the dizzying ten-thousand-meter drop. Even though falling would only mean resurrection for them, the vertigo was still unsettling.

"It’s just ahead," Wang Lei announced, gesturing toward a building up ahead.

One transmigrator, catching the cue, stepped forward and rushed into the building.

"It’s safe inside, there’s no—ahhh!" Before he could finish, he was hurled from the building, plummeting from the spire into the abyss below, his screams echoing over the comm channel.

Hearing his cries, Wang Lei and the others immediately raised their bolt guns and unleashed a hail of fire at the building, filling its interior with adamantium shrapnel and explosive rounds.

Once the structure had been reduced to ruins, Wang Lei led the team forward at speed.

As they approached the shattered building, arcs of blue psychic lightning erupted from the ruins, striking the transmigrators.

"Psychic powers again!" Wang Lei cursed, gritting his teeth against the searing pain that lanced through both body and soul.

Determined to find their assailant, Wang Lei forced his way inside, his Astartes strength kicking up clouds of dust among the wreckage.

At last, he saw what had attacked them.

It was a human psyker—at least, Wang Lei saw no Eldar features—a woman of uncommon beauty by Wang Lei’s standards, but no less dangerous for it.

The instant she spotted Wang Lei, a crushing wave of psychic force pressed him to one knee.

"Damnable psyker!"

Struggling against the invisible weight, Wang Lei tried to raise his bolt gun, intent on putting a round through her skull.

But the overwhelming psychic pressure rendered him immobile. However, while the psyker was focused on suppressing Wang Lei, the other transmigrators were able to enter the building.

As they filed in, Wang Lei felt the force constraining him suddenly vanish. He rose and looked to the psyker.

Now, with nineteen bolt guns pointed at her head, the psyker raised her hands in surrender, offering Wang Lei a wry, resigned smile.

Without a word, Wang Lei retrieved a psychic inhibitor collar from his power pack, approached the psyker, and fastened it around her slender neck.

After securing the collar, Wang Lei produced a syringe. The psyker’s eyes widened in alarm as he plunged the needle into her vein.

As the sedative took effect, her body slumped. One transmigrator produced a chain made from blackstone, binding her tightly before hefting her over his shoulder.

Mission accomplished, Wang Lei was preparing to lead his team back when a man in an off-white trench coat and dark glasses stepped into the building, regarding the group calmly.

"Honored Astartes, this individual must be handed over to the Inquisition."

The man addressed the twenty Astartes without the deference most showed their kind—instead, there was a hint of command in his tone.

"And who are you?" Wang Lei asked, unconvinced that this man was a genuine Inquisitor.

"Chloeas Reinhardt, Demon Inquisitor of the Inquisition. Astartes, this person must be handed over to us," the man replied.

"Why?" Wang Lei eyed Chloeas Reinhardt, signaling the transmigrators behind him to surround this self-proclaimed Demon Inquisitor.

"This woman is a Child of the Stars. I must take her back for Inquisition processing," Chloeas Reinhardt said, noting the encroaching transmigrators with a helpless look at Wang Lei.

"Then you’re coming with us," Wang Lei replied, unconvinced by the Inquisitor’s slipshod explanation. No true Inquisitor would use the term "Child of the Stars" in front of those outside their faction.