Warhammer 40k: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 165: Unlocking the Protoss

When Damon obtained the Farseer's soul stone, he immediately arranged for someone to deliver it to Lucan. One of the Gorgon-class battlecruisers in the fleet quickly departed from the starport, moved away from Scintilla on its conventional engines, and then immediately jumped back to Malfi.

Lucan dismissed the people around him and took the Eldar Farseer's soul stone to the laboratory aboard the Stellar Pioneer. The security level around the lab was raised to its highest setting. When Kerrigan was born, a massive amount of psychic energy had shot into the sky. And for the Protoss, who had a much deeper understanding and application of psionics, Lucan wasn't sure what level of phenomenon to expect. If he did this directly on Malfi, it would likely attract a lot of attention.

He left only Kerrigan by his side.

When Lucan picked up the Farseer's soul stone, his Sarr-Naga projection immediately began to react. The sturdy soul stone began to dissolve, seeping into the palm of Lucan's hand. The powerful soul protected within was captured by the projection.

Lucan could even see the transparent, spectral form of the Eldar Farseer struggling constantly. Without the protection of the soul stone, the Farseer thought his soul was about to be devoured by Slaanesh. But when he saw the Sarr-Naga that controlled him, he knew only that he was looking at a being as terrifying as Slaanesh itself. Anyone who saw a Xel'Naga for the first time would probably think it was a dark god.

The Xel'Naga's psychic energy formed into indestructible tentacles, grabbing the Farseer's limbs and relentlessly pulling him closer.

When the soul was completely pulled into the Sarr-Naga's projection, his resilient soul began to be deconstructed. Although the end result was death, it was infinitely better than being taken by Slaanesh. At least he wouldn't have to endure Slaanesh's endless torture before being devoured. And his soul would continue to exist in another form, reshaped by the Xel'Naga.

The deconstructed soul began to slowly reform. A new life was being born in the hands of the Sarr-Naga.

An hour later, Lucan could already see the form of a Protoss-like being. And in his mind, a long-awaited notification sound rang out.

[Critical activation element detected]

[Soul strength sufficient]

[Race Unlocked: Protoss]

"It's done!"

Seeing the successful activation prompt, Lucan immediately checked the production conditions for the Protoss. The Terrans from StarCraft used Psy-crystals and minerals, while the Zerg were centered around Kerrigan, relying on any resources from the physical universe. Unfortunately, besides Kerrigan, it was difficult to produce individually powerful Zerg; even a special Zerg like Zagara was only strong in a relative sense.

The most basic resource required for the Protoss was soul stones from the Craftworld Eldar. And the only requirement for producing non-mechanical Protoss units was a sufficient number of Eldar souls.

At this moment, the soul of the Eldar Farseer had been completely absorbed and injected into the body that was being formed. The Sarr-Naga projection was also pouring the pure energy it had accumulated over time into it. The Protoss's physical body was now complete, and the unique armor of the Protoss gradually took shape.

When the Sarr-Naga had finished shaping it, psychic energy began to coalesce into a humanoid form in the secret chamber. And along with this humanoid form, a Probe also materialized. The Probe was the equivalent of the Terran SCV and could construct all kinds of Protoss buildings!

Lucan checked the construction requirements for Protoss buildings within the Probe's memory. Although Protoss buildings did not require metal like Terran buildings, the amount of Psy-crystals required for construction was doubled.

What Lucan found most troublesome was that Protoss units like Stalkers and Immortals really did conform to the lore, requiring a near-death, critically wounded Templar to pilot them. It was just like an Astartes Dreadnought. This meant that if Lucan wanted to produce more powerful units, he first needed to create enough Protoss.

And when these most basic Protoss units, the Templar, were injured in battle, the crystal arrays on their bodies would immediately teleport their critically wounded bodies and souls back to Lucan's Sarr-Naga projection. Only when Lucan possessed these wounded Protoss could he place them into units like Stalkers and Immortals, enabling those units to fight and move.

As for the giant Protoss units like the Colossus, Mothership, and so on, their manufacturing requirements and time would only be known after the corresponding buildings were constructed. But Lucan was sure it would take much longer than the Terran Gorgon. Strength and time were directly proportional.

Lucan had saved up quite a few Psy-crystals. He could have the Probe construct these buildings on planets in the star systems near Char that others could not reach.

At this moment, a huge surge of psychic energy hit the laboratory, no less powerful than when Kerrigan had appeared. Lucan, standing by, absorbed as much of this power as he could. Otherwise, it was estimated that many on Malfi with psychic talents would have been able to sense the anomaly.

In a short while, a Protoss was kneeling on one knee, his eyes closed as if he were familiarizing himself with this new body. When all the memories that should belong to him were infused, he suddenly rose.

"For Aiur!"

Powerful psychic energy surged from his body. Compared to Kerrigan, his affinity for psionics was higher, and he was better able to control this power. The Protoss had no mouth; they used their psychic powers to directly implant thoughts into the minds of those they were communicating with, or used psionics to vibrate the air to produce sound.

"This... Where is this..."

The Protoss looked around in confusion. When he saw Kerrigan, he immediately became tense. A psi-blade instantly ignited. The memory of the Zerg's sneak attack and occupation of the Protoss homeworld, Aiur, was still vivid in his mind.

"Artanis! She is not your enemy now!"

Lucan recognized him. Just as unlocking the Zerg had produced the powerful Kerrigan, unlocking the Protoss had successfully granted him their iconic figure, Hierarch Artanis. However, the current Artanis seemed somewhat weak. The soul of a single Eldar Farseer was not enough to fully restore Artanis's strength.

When he saw Lucan, he suddenly touched the back of his head. The loyalty forcibly bound by the System made him obey Lucan's command without hesitation. Not only that, but he felt from Lucan the long-lost presence of the braid-like Khala. The Khala, which should have been severed, was still connected to him. And he could once again sense its presence.

The Khala was like the Protoss's own psychic internet. It could be used as a separate method of communication. But once one mastered the use of the Khala, it could become a complex and efficient method of information processing. It could allow one Protoss to understand a comrade's complex and massive battle plans and intentions in an instant.

"The holy Khala links us! F2A."

It truly allowed countless individuals with free will to advance and retreat as one. They had abandoned traditional and inefficient methods of communication, allowing every combat unit on the battlefield to change tactics in real-time according to the changes on the battlefield. As a naturally psychic race, even when the Protoss were still in a primitive social structure, they used this ability to hunt. After the development of Protoss society, the Khala could even be used as a channel for rapid learning, and even to review one's own and other Protoss's past memories.

Unfortunately, individual strength always seemed to be constrained by reproduction. The Protoss population was not large.

The Khala here was not being invaded and eroded by Amon, corrupting the soul and will of every Protoss. At this moment, the central nexus of the Khala was being replaced by Lucan's Sarr-Naga projection. Lucan's warp projection performed the original function of the Khala, linking every Protoss. Although the Protoss in the later stages of the game had actively severed the Khala, its existence did indeed strengthen their combat effectiveness. Without the need for communication, the thoughts of their kin could be transmitted to the minds of every Protoss, and it could also solve the problem of long learning times.

However, Lucan had heard that the Khala also had its downsides. That is, unless one was a skilled master of psionics and the Khala, ordinary Protoss in the Khala network had no privacy. Everything about them was exposed to all other Protoss linked to the Khala.

What was the difference between that and running around naked?!

Lucan had no desire for his mind to be filled with all sorts of strange images. The Protoss were not the Zerg; they also had emotions and desires. What if they were thinking about being all lovey-dovey and whatnot... and the appearance of the Protoss... never mind, he really couldn't bear to watch.

But at least for now, there was only Artanis. And the Protoss produced by the system were all qualified Templar. They were all skilled masters of psionics, which could avoid this embarrassing phenomenon.

What worried Lucan most was whether the dark gods of the warp would corrupt these Protoss through the Khala, just as Amon had. However, as the central processor, the Sarr-Naga should be the first to sense it. The specific effect would only be known if and when such a situation occurred.

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