Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde

["You've kind of confused me, Lord Loki!]

 [Are you saying you want the Tech-Priests of our Human Empire to come and awaken the machine spirits in the equipment you've produced?"] Kania was feeling a bit dizzy from all this.

The concept of machine spirits does exist in the Empire's devices, but it's only humans who use it. Xenos, especially the Dark Eldar, don't acknowledge the existence of machine spirits.

 On the other hand, the spirit weapons used by the Aeldari are somewhat similar to machine spirits, although they're more like the souls of their ancestors.

"Exactly! My family has crafted some brand-new equipment, and I find your Empire's idea of machine spirits to be incredibly fascinating.

 So I'd like you to help me awaken these so-called machine spirits," Rhodes said.

There was no other way. Such a task could only be accomplished by humans, and not just any humans—only the Tech-Priests of the Cult Mechanicus were capable of it.

 Even those who had fallen to Chaos and become corrupted Tech-Priests wouldn't suffice. Rhodes refused to trust anything tainted by the Chaos Gods.

 Awakening machine spirits required a ritual—something mystical and arcane—and there was no one among his people skilled in this field.

["Well, Lord Loki, it's not impossible. What exactly do you need to have awakened?"] Kania hesitated for a moment before speaking.

 After all, they were asking this Xenos to go to Terra to help repair the Golden Throne. If the other side now made a small request, they had to find a way to meet it.

On Kania's ship, there were indeed Tech-Priests, fully capable of awakening machine spirits.

 Moreover, the Tech-Priests on his ship weren't sent by the inner factions of the Martian Mechanicum.

 They were individuals his family had trained from a young age, then sent to study under the Mechanicum, and returned to serve the family after completing their education.

 Getting them to handle some dirty work wouldn't cause any issues. If it were Tech-Priests from Mars, they might outright refuse to awaken machine spirits for an alien.

"Then send some people over! We've developed some new power armor. I need them to help awaken the machine spirits," Rhodes said.

Rhodes planned to first assess the skills of these Tech-Priests before finding an appropriate time to have them awaken the machine spirits for his Ultraman warriors.

["Understood, Lord Loki. Shall we meet at the arena where we met last time?"] Kania nodded and asked.

"That'll do. This time, there are seventy sets of power armor to awaken, along with some matching weaponry," Rhodes replied.

["Understood! I'll have them prepare and personally escort them over."]

 After the two agreed on a meeting time, Kania ended the communication.

What a bizarre situation! A Xenos researching machine spirits?

 But that wasn't his problem. As long as he completed the mission, that's all that mattered. Kania promptly summoned a group of Tech-Priests who served his family.

Meanwhile, Rhodes ordered all his Space Marines to pack up the power armor.

"Master! Let me come with you! I'd like to see how they grant mechanical spirit. I'm curious, and maybe I can crack their technology," said Salome.

As a top-tier scientist, she was quite intrigued by the concept of machine spirits. To be fair, the machinery of this world wasn't entirely useless.

 If machine spirits truly existed and could be artificially created, that would be an incredible discovery.

The master had just made it clear: machinery with machine spirits was vastly superior to those without.

"Hahaha! Trust me, you won't be able to figure out this machine spirit business alone. It's not about technology—it's more of a mystical thing. But if you want to come and watch, that's fine," Rhodes said with a laugh.

While the Space Marines were packing up the equipment, Rhodes took some time to visit the basement and inform Zett and Balt about the machine spirit.

"There's such a miraculous thing? Granting a soul to an inanimate object!

 That's quite fascinating. If that's the case, could we also try it on the Ultraman power armor and the Zetton power armor we've built?" Zett mused, stroking his chin.

First, there was the sacred light similar to the bonds of light, and now there's this machine spirit thing. This universe is truly full of surprises!

"Master! If that's the case, could we awaken a machine spirit for a Zetton as well?

 Our species has studied Zettons extensively. If a Zetton, as a biological weapon, were to gain a soul, its combat ability would increase dramatically," Balt said.

Within the Baltan species, many had proposed granting Zettons souls—or perhaps what could be called hearts—to give them self-awareness.

 This would theoretically greatly enhance the Zettons' power.

However, controlling an intelligent being was vastly more challenging than controlling a mindless one. Cloning and creating a Zetton with self-awareness wasn't particularly difficult—the hard part was controlling it.

 Trying to manipulate something with feelings was incredibly complex. But if the concept of machine spirits was valid, it would be a perfect solution!

"Loyal to their master and not overly intelligent—this is simply too perfect. Is there such a thing?"

 "That's a good idea! As for Zetton, we can give it a try in the future. I can't guarantee success, though, since Zetton isn't purely a mechanical creation," Rhodes said.

There was no other way! Zetton belonged to a category of biological monsters and wasn't even classified as a mechanical monster. Whether it could possess a machine spirit was still unknown.

However, if Zetton could awaken a machine spirit, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance its combat power.

"Awakening a machine spirit for Zetton would be beneficial without any drawbacks."

"In that case, Master, the three of us will go with you to observe their machine spirit awakening ceremony," Zett said.

"Alright! Then you three should disguise yourselves before we leave. Once we return, I'll have a small surprise for you," Rhodes nodded and said.

As for the matter of the ork flesh, Rhodes decided to deal with it later. He had already stored the ork flesh in cultivation tanks for preservation.

"Master, you always bring us great surprises. We've grown used to it," Balt said.

First, it was monster capsules; now it's the machine spirit. Whatever peculiar thing the Master might come up with next, they wouldn't even be surprised anymore.

After packing up, the group used Rhodes' teleportation bracelet to return to Lelith's arena once again. After briefly explaining the situation, Lelith quickly prepared a large indoor space for Rhodes.

On the side of the Human Empire, a small Thunder Transport Ship soon arrived at the arena. Five tech-priests, accompanied by over a hundred servitors, disembarked from the ship, following Kania.

"Lord Loki, sorry to keep you waiting. As soon as I received your message, I gathered my team. My subordinates have brought the full set of equipment and are ready to perform the machine soul awakening ceremony for you at any time," Kania said.

"Thank you for your trouble. The venue is ready—let's go!"

"You're too kind, Lord Loki. Please, lead the way!" Kania responded politely.

Rhodes nodded and led the group to the basement, where more than seventy giant power suits were already arranged before them.

These power suits left Kania and the accompanying tech-priests speechless.

What?!

These power suits looked like enlarged versions of Space Marine power armor! Even the accompanying bolters and chainswords seemed to be modeled after the Imperial designs. And all these armors were of the Terminator series!

Are you kidding me?!

Since when could these xeno species create such advanced Terminator-series power armor?

Moreover, who was supposed to wear this enormous Terminator armor?

Suddenly, Kania seemed to realize something. Could it be for those three-meter-tall frost beast warriors?

The last time he saw those beast warriors, they weren't wearing any advanced power armor, and they had still managed to crush Chaos Space Marines effortlessly.

If those frost beast warriors were equipped with advanced Terminator power armor, the combat effectiveness of this army would be unimaginable!

This might be a great opportunity! If possible, could he even purchase some of the Frost Beast Warrior enhancement serums for himself?

If the Dark Eldar could adapt to such serums, who's to say humans couldn't use them too?

As a rogue trader operating on the fringes of the Empire's territory, Kania didn't mind using Xenos technology.

"These are the power suits, Mr. Kania. Let's discuss the terms of payment. I can pay you in Commorragh currency, or is there something else you'd prefer?" Rhodes asked.

If the machine spirit awakening succeeded, it would pave the way for a long-term business opportunity. After all, there would be no shortage of mechanical monsters in the future.

"Lord Loki, if possible, I'd like you to provide me with some of those monster enhancement serums. What do you think? You know, as a rogue trader, I often operate in dangerous areas. I need a lot of combat personnel, and I think those monster warriors are incredibly powerful," Kania suggested.

"Oh, that's doable. Awakening ten power suits to machine souls will earn you one monster enhancement serum. There are seventy suits here—I'll give you seven monster serums. How does that sound?" Rhodes asked.

Rhode secretly hoped the Empire would start buying his monster enhancement serums. Rogue Traders like Kania were the best business partners—much better than those high-ranking Imperial lords and Inquisitors, who were far too rigid. Kania, at least, was open to using Xenos technology.

PS: Hey Guys, please subscribe to our patreon. This book has currently atleast 54 advanced chapters.