After receiving the report from his subordinate, Kenthelion felt like his brain was catching fire again.
"Tu Hengyu and his artificial intelligence, Tu Yaya… have taken the form of a High Sage of the Mechanicus?"
"What kind of madness is this?! It's like putting two apex predators in the same cage!"
Kenthelion couldn't help but complain as he read through the report.
At first, he thought Tu Hengyu might show some great potential. But in the end, the guy still acted like a jackass in front of that Mechanicus sage.
"What's the name of that High Sage?"
"Kelbor-Hal."
"Oh… oh… OH—cough! cough! WHAT?!"
Kenthelion nearly had a heart attack. His right eyelid twitched violently upon hearing that name.
Kelbor-Hal wasn't a stranger to him. Anyone who knew about the Dark Mechanicus would instantly understand the weight of that name.
The Dark Mechanicus was a heretical sect made up of Tech-Priests who betrayed the Adeptus Mechanicus, along with Titan legions once loyal to the Imperium. As the Great Crusade neared its end, and the Horus Heresy erupted at the end of M31, they willingly pledged allegiance to Warmaster Horus and the Chaos Gods.
Kelbor-Hal… wasn't just anyone.
He was the supreme leader of the Adeptus Mechanicus when the Heresy began—the only Fabricator-General who openly betrayed the Imperium and sided with Horus, turning Mars into a warzone between loyalists and heretics.
And now... that creature had returned, side by side with Tu Hengyu?!
"Alright then. Let's hand Tu Hengyu over to Kelbor-Hal for safekeeping. We've got a bigger problem right now… the sun."
Earth wasn't traveling for the thrill of exploration—it was running away. The sun had entered its final stage, expanding into a red giant. In time, it would explode and swallow everything in the solar system. A stellar apocalypse in slow motion.
To avoid extinction, humanity launched a colossal project: move Earth to a new star system using planet-sized engines. But Kenthelion, the ruler of the Imperium Caelestis, knew this was only a temporary fix.
"System, is there a way to stop the sun from expanding?"
"System: Host, there are three main options."
"Tell me."
"System:
Option One — You can personally stabilize the sun using Aetherion energy. However, due to your current condition, you'd fall into a 10,000-year stasis. Your body can't yet handle the full power of Aetherion.
Option Two — Use your warships to destroy the sun completely, then activate an artificial star from the System Megastore. A galaxy-scale sun costs 1 billion war points—about one-quarter of your current balance.
Option Three — Stick to the original plan: relocate Earth slowly to another star system."
Kenthelion paused. Option One? He just woke up—going back to sleep for ten millennia was out of the question. Option Three? That was just delaying the inevitable.
Which left him with Option Two.
But destroying a sun wasn't exactly standard procedure. Even across the multiverse, no single weapon had ever shattered a star. It would require legendary warships from every known universe.
"Alright," he said with resolve. "I choose Option Two."
Spending a quarter of his war points was no small matter, but with the Imperium Caelestis booming—with galactic cooking tournaments, alien hunting festivals, and interdimensional gladiator events—war points would pile up sooner or later.
"System," he said. "What do we need to blow up a sun?"
"System: Host, your current arsenal includes one Colossus Superweapon (Stellaris), one Death Star (Star Wars), and the Gloriana-class battleship. Insufficient firepower. You'll need:
An Apocalypse-class warship,
One more Colossus,
A Warlord Titan armed with a plasma annihilator.