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He couldn't believe it, even though he knew Casca possessed immense power and intelligence, and even though the Blood Angels, with their 60,000 Blood Angels led by the legendary commander Dante, were already one of the Imperium's most formidable fighting forces...
However, this is still a drop in the ocean when facing the Hive Fleet—even if all the Phoenix Spawns have undergone Prototype modifications, there are only a few thousand of them—it is simply impossible for them to turn the tide of the battle on their own.
"Perhaps it was impossible before, but now, before we accept our fate, we need to ask a few questions first."
Casca brandished his sword and said.
"My God! How can you be so talented!"
"But when you call other women 'Mom,' do you ever consider my feelings? Hmm? Answer me, why don't you call me 'Mom' and instead call me Saint Gillespie?"
I'm jealous!!!
Hey! Can you even talk to me?!
Casca: "Shut up."
"Tell me if you have found any clues about Fugrim."
Taking out the somewhat noisy, stabbing sword, Kasgar asked impatiently, "Where is it?"
"Ugh...you really showed no mercy at all." The voice of the stabbing sword was still as beautiful and melodious as that of Fugrim. "The clue is in Baal—but I can't sense exactly where it is."
"You mean...it could be San Gigliotti?"
Casca frowned slightly.
Fugrim covering for her good friend Saint Gilles—this isn't out of the question, but Kasgar hadn't recommended her to the Emperor at the time...
It probably isn't Fugrim.
“Never mind, it’s more important to resolve the crisis of the Leviathan Hive fleet right now.” With that, Casgar sheathed his dagger again. “I have a good plan for this.”
"If I remember correctly, the Tyranid swarm is a symbiotic organism—the gun bugs and knife bugs, which are the basic level of the swarm, do not have their own subjective will. They are only controlled by the command of their superiors and do not have self-awareness."
"Commander, you mean...?"
“Go find the Holy Blood Angels and get some live, low-level Tyranids for experiments.” Kaska’s eyes narrowed, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"Let the Phoenix Sons form a choir—I want to show the Tyranids if they, like the Blood Angels, will also be looking for their mothers!"
Chapter 250 The Will of the Hive? Just a Biological Mother
At Kasgar's request, a stasis field device, bound by multiple chains and equipped with psionic suppression and corrosion protection, was carried into the Phoenix Sons' defensive fortifications.
In the center of the confinement device and the static force field, a slender Tyrannosaurus Rex lay half-reclined.
The imprisoned individual's face was covered with disgusting tentacles, resembling those of an octopus. These tentacles could be used to kill the target while simultaneously extracting memories from their brain to obtain intelligence.
This insect, known as the "Licat," is a Terran Zerg creature specializing in stealth, typically serving as a scout in a Zerg fleet.
Its agile body allows it to move silently and at high speeds in various complex terrains. Its color-changing carapace can conceal its movements to prevent being discovered by prey. It even possesses a certain amount of psionic energy and a carapace that absorbs electromagnetic waves to aid in camouflage.
A stealthy, assassination-style elite unit comparable to the Night Lords.
Compared to typical symbiotic creatures such as gun bugs or ordinary Tyranid warriors, Licartars, as scout units of the Zerg hive fleet, possess greater autonomy.
"—!"
Just as Casca released its stasis field, Licat emitted a high-frequency sonic shriek at an extremely fast speed and spat out a large amount of highly corrosive acidic liquid from the throat beneath its tentacles.
In its rapid evolution, Tyrannosaurus had long since acquired unimaginable survival experience and evolutionary means.
As a unit capable of infiltrating enemy lines alone, Licatl possesses far more attack and escape methods than a typical cannon fodder swarm—though it may sound unbelievable, a Licatl specializing in stealth is actually no less powerful than the chief warrior of the Tyranid swarm.
But this still had no effect on Casgar.
Just as the acidic venom was about to corrode the restraining devices surrounding it, the acidic liquid instantly vanished under the scorching heat of tiny, almost invisible psionic flames.
This Licaterworm was recently discovered by Casca in the care of the monastery of Baal Fortress, also known as Fort Angel.
After capturing him using his psychic powers, Casca planned to bring him to Melusin as a research sample for the Grand Apothecary's next research experiment.
However, it seems that before it was used for dissection experiments, Casca suddenly came up with a better experimental method.
“There’s no need to be so wary, Licarta. I just wanted you to experience the beauty of the Centaur Gold Ring.”
Looking at the wary Licat, Casca said with a smile.
Now, let's sing together!
As Casca opened the curtain, as if conducting a musician, a psionic shield capable of blocking all sound and detection unfolded from Casca's center.
The more than one thousand fully armed Phoenix Sage Space Marines standing behind him did not draw their blades or guns, but instead sang together like a choir.
Although the Phoenix Children's pre-loaded knowledge did not include content unrelated to combat such as the Centaur Ring, Kasgar took the opportunity during the deployment of Bastion to teach the Centaur Ring to all Phoenix Children, whether they were new recruits or veterans.
It is obvious that they were taught the Sanguis version.
Despite its oddity, the Phoenix Children mastered it as a required course of study.
Just think of it as the warband clerics requiring them to perform daily prayers, only the content is slightly different.
It's all about disguise, the Phoenix Sons can understand.
—Of course, for those few veterans of the Holy Blood Angels who were rescued from the Comoros, this was even warmer than returning home!
"!"
Just as Kaska gave the order and the many Phoenix Sons began to sing in unison, a silent scream emanated from the open mouth of the Nalicat worm.
It was screaming in agony—though it was unclear why the Licater bug would be so distressed by the mention of the Centaur gold ring, it might be an excellent insect-repelling method that Casca and his crew could use in the future.
[Singing "Centaur Gold Ring" at the same frequency can induce a forced shriek in the Tyrenlea caterpillar (this is a hypothesis based on individual cases and has not been confirmed; more experimental samples are needed)]
Looking at the lithopterus that had been used as a test subject, the Grand Pharmacist Melusin helplessly recorded what she saw in her Thinker Database.
She sensed that her belief, which she had held for millennia to explain all the unknown with the truth of the Empire, was crumbling as Casca awoke.
In her past view, even chaos was nothing more than an unknown and powerful subspace being that could be observed and eventually explained by science.
Chaos is not a god, nor is the emperor.
—But what about Centaur Gold Ring?
What science can explain this nonsensical thing? And what powerful force does it possess that can distort the will of the hive and cause even the elite war beast, the Licat, to collapse?
In any case, she could not explain this situation scientifically.
I don't want to explain it scientifically either.
"!!!"
Under the sonic waves of the thousand-person choir, Licatt's struggles within its confinement intensified—like a desperate human, it kept trying to emit shrieks to resist the sonic attacks of the Centaur Ring—but to no avail.
As the golden light patterns of the thousand-person choir covered it, its struggles grew weaker and weaker, until finally, like the first Soul-Eating Bees of Prospero who heard "The Centaur's Golden Ring," it collapsed under the weight.
"Waaah—"
Its strong hind legs struggled a few times before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
It looks like it.
Licat died after hearing it.jpg
"The experiment is over. Our chorus did indeed have a certain killing and shielding effect on Tyrannosaurus."
This discovery may play a crucial role in finding the Licats lurking on the planet's surface in the future.
"But we cannot let our guard down—the strength of the Terran swarm lies in their ability to exploit their own weaknesses. It is very likely that the next time we encounter them, they will have the means to counter our plan."
Having recorded everything she saw and heard on the data plate in her hand, Melusin turned around and prepared to take the half-dead Licaterworm back to her laboratory.
She has much more to investigate and research.
Does "The Centaur Ring" necessarily require a human chorus? Can a sound array broadcast achieve the same effect?
Does the Astartes have to lead the chorus? What about mortals? What about machine servants? Would their participation or leadership of the chorus negatively influence the outcome?
Will the degree of affection the participants have for Saint Gillespie himself affect the final results of the experiment?
There are still many more experimental variables waiting for her to study, and in Melusin's view, the Casca experiment should end here.
Next is her field.
"and many more."
But just as she was about to step forward and pick up the unconscious Licat, Casca interrupted her.
--No.
it's not finished yet.
What Kasgar wanted to do was never just stop the Zerg hive fleet's expansion attacks with some centaur gold ring.
In his mind, there was a more insane, yet also more realistic, conjecture.
......
The behavior of the Leviathan hive fleet is completely incomprehensible by common sense.
In the many battles between humans and the Tyranids, they gained some understanding of the habits of the swarm—for example, they were all under the unified command of the hive's will and connected to the entire swarm through synaptic organisms as nodes.
Their code of conduct is also very easy to understand: all their actions are aimed at acquiring more biomass. If an attack on a planet would prevent their fleet from harvesting enough biomass to replenish what they have lost during the conquest, they will choose to turn their attention to other planets.
Is the hive's will always striving to satisfy its insatiable hunger...?
—If that's the case, then why would the Leviathan Hive fleet abandon other more valuable targets and instead choose to head straight for Baal in the Eastern End Starfield?
Dante had already created vast scorched earth regions ahead of the Zerg hive fleet's path by issuing the Extinction Order.
Moreover, even if they could force their way through the scorched earth using up the biomass they had accumulated, the three planets of Baal were not extremely rich in biomass. Even if they could conquer them, they would not be able to make up for the biomass losses.
The Baal system has highly toxic radiation zones like the Red Scar, making it impossible for the number of human inhabitants on Baal Stars to compare with that of a normal hive world—yet the Leviathan hive fleet relentlessly marched toward them.
Even though this move was purely a waste of biomass, these swarms of insects defied all reason and charged straight at Baal, disregarding their hunger.
Why are they coming for Baal?
Two possibilities.
Either Baal's location holds a fatal attraction for the Hive's will;
Alternatively, Baal may have been seen as the most terrifying and powerful threat by the Hive's will, leading it to believe that he must be eliminated before it can exist with peace of mind.
This was precisely the purpose of Kasgar's experiment—he wanted to figure out what exactly was attracting the Hive Will to Baal.
His conjecture was also quite outrageous—that the angel Saint Gilles could actually use her charm to attract not only humans, Eldar, Chaos, and the Silent King, but also other beings in the real warp!
Even Tyrion was captivated by the angel's charm!
This is exactly the situation that the Hive's will fears most!
She even attempted to devour the angel's remaining flesh, thus becoming an absolutely perfect being in the eyes of all living beings.
"Increase the dosage!"
The coma of the Licaterworm was never the end of "The Centaur's Golden Ring"; Casca wanted it to call Sanguis "Mom" too!
"Keep singing!!!"
......
While unconscious, the licorice seemed to feel a warmth it had never experienced before.
That was the radiance of an angel—though it didn't know what angels represented or what symbolism they held. After all, it had sacrificed everything in its early life to serve the greater will of the hive.
Even if he were captured by a cunning enemy during the infiltration, Licat had no regrets.
It believed that for the sake of the Hive's will, for the sake of the Great Devourer, it was all worthwhile...
...huh?
Perhaps it was worth it before, but now Ricardo understands the bond between the Blood Angel and Saint Gilles.
Thirty years, Baal III (star); Centaur, gold ring.
An emotion that had never appeared at the beginning of Licarta's evolution quietly sprouted and erupted in its heart!
why!
Why do other people's mothers, like Saint Gillespie, treat their children so well?
Saint Gilles even tried to free her offspring, and although she ultimately failed, her selfless sacrifice and dedication are worthy of being moved by every Holy Blood Angel, and even by the non-human Tyranids.
What a wonderful mother!