Hiss—
The ancient Tyranid creature struggled, but it couldn't break free from the Savior's grasp, feeling more and more pain.
Eden slowly increased the strength in his hand, waiting for this ancient Tyranid intelligence to make its final choice.
Survive or die?
Truthfully, he was also wrestling with this question himself.
Ever since approaching the Hive Mind, his small sun of the Warp essence had beco active, yearning for this ancient, imnsely potent soul.
Entities within the Warp always craved unique souls, whether it was the Chaos Gods, the Emperor, or himself.
There was no fundantal difference between them—only in how they used the souls.
For example, the Emperor collected countless special souls.
He signed contracts with them, turning them into Living Saints who walked in the material world and could resurrect endlessly, or bound them into cursed legions to fight for him for eternity.
This was not much different from the Daemons and daemon warriors under the Chaos Gods.
The only distinction lay in their stances: light versus dark, order versus chaos.
Now, as Eden's strength gradually increased—
He suddenly noticed his small sun changing, starting to crave souls. Perhaps after absorbing enough faith energy and souls, he would beco an even stronger entity.
He might even beco like those Warp deities—building armies in the Warp and carving out his own domain.
That way—
He could wage war in both the Warp and realspace, gaining more opportunities for developnt.
But that was a distant goal.
Eden restrained his craving for the soul, lest he accidentally end the Hive Mind's life.
No matter what—
A living Hive Mind was more valuable, as it could provide more knowledge and technology.
He stared at the Hive Mind, his patience wearing thin.
"Answer !"
If this ancient Tyranid intelligence still refused to make a choice, then he would have no choice but to end its life.
"Crafty... should have been reduced to bio-paste, Savior... I can't speak right now!"
The Hive Mind's internal voice roared in panic, growing ever more fearful.
Its life was slipping away, yet the Savior never gave it a chance to choose—he was mocking and toying with the life of a World Eater!
Hiss—
It tried to let out a hoarse growl, slowly raising its withered limbs, pointing at its own neck.
This ancient Tyranid intelligence was pleading for the Savior to loosen his grip, to give it a chance to speak.
"...Ah, I almost forgot, without psychic power, you can't talk..." Eden finally understood the Hive Mind's gesture.
He couldn't help but smirk darkly.
Normally—
Even if he had his hand around its throat, it could still use psychic power to communicate.
But now the situation was a bit special.
Under the influence of the Blackstone Psychic Repentance Skull, he had beco almost an insulator against psychic energy, and this effect extended to his opponent.
In other words—
The mont he grabbed the Hive Mind's throat, it lost the ability to communicate using psychic power and human language.
No wonder Eden had been puzzled earlier—why was this creature holding out in silence, looking so defiant, refusing to surrender to the Savior?
Not even a simple "hey, can we negotiate?" ca out.
Mystery solved.
It wasn't that it wouldn't speak—it couldn't.
Eden loosened his grip slightly, and the Hive Mind's frail body collapsed onto the fleshy carpet, trembling.
"My apologies. You may answer my question now."
Once feared across the Imperium for its terrifying alien might—the Leviathan Hive Mind now knelt before the Savior, left with nothing but fear and trembling.
Its fate was sealed—utterly powerless.
The shadow of that figure engulfed its aged, withered form.
Behind that dark silhouette—
The flas of death raged. The Savior's elite warriors were purging the chamber, one brain after another falling with a final screech, the floor slick with bio-fluid.
"Is this truly the fate of the Tyranids?"
The Hive Mind forced a fawning smile, hoping the Savior would spare it, yet deep down, it was consud by sorrow.
The dignity of the Great Devourer's vanguard had been completely shattered—left to be trampled by that being!
"No... this should not be the destiny of the Swarm..."
The ancient Tyranid intelligence suddenly lifted its head, defiance burning in its gaze.
"You... can never conquer the Swarm!"
It chose to make one final stand.
"Not good!"
Eden tried to stop it imdiately, but it was too late.
Zzzzz—
Dark purple psychic light burst forth.
The Hive Mind mustered its final strength, but it wasn't an attack.
Before the brain creatures died, they had completed the compilation of data about the Savior and the Savior's territories and transmitted it to the Hive Mind.
And now—
It chose to transmit this data outward.
A trendous burst of psychic energy pierced through the bio-flesh of the Hive Ship, extending into the void, sending the data in bio-electric signals to all nearby Tyranid bio-ships.
Simultaneously, several bio-electric frequencies shot out toward the distant stars.
By the ti the psychic arcs died down—
The Hive Mind in Eden's hand slumped, its body going limp and lifeless—clearly dead.
The ancient Tyranid intelligence hadn't chosen to submit. It faced death head-on.
This surprised Eden a little.
He had thought the creature would try to haggle or seek reconciliation, but instead, it was so resolute.
Still, the Hive Mind's death was within expectations. The older and stronger a consciousness was, the less likely it would bow to another.
Forcing such a high-level lifeform to submit and co under control was never easy.
Its death was indeed a loss, but it didn't completely derail Eden's plans to control the Swarm. It just made things more complicated.
Eden's comm channel flickered, and a chanical projection of Tarko appeared midair.
Tarko bowed and reported the current situation:
"Savior, there have been new developnts in the Swarm..."
Perhaps due to the Hive Mind's death, the Tyranid gestalt network had collapsed. The living bio-fleet and countless Tyranid creatures had lost their cohesion.
So, driven by instinct, scattered and fled in all directions. Others, driven by hunger, began attacking any lifeforms they encountered.
The Swarm had descended into chaos—disorganized and without any semblance of order.
In other words, the Leviathan Hive Fleet had collapsed in an instant, losing its ability to wage war and becoming a horde of wild beasts.
This was good news.
It ant that the human coalition could now eliminate the Tyranid infestation in the Baal system more swiftly and bring this campaign to an end.
Eden issued new orders to Tarko:
"Have the Redeer Fleet stay vigilant and expand the search to cover the entire Baal system. Do not let a single bio-ship escape!"
None of the Tyranid creatures would get away. They were all destined for the cooking pot!
Still, the Hive Mind's final transmission of so unknown data—whatever it was—deserved caution, in case it triggered unforeseen consequences.
"Understood, Savior!"
Tarko saluted and ended the transmission. As the overall commander, he had to ensure the cleanup phase of the war was handled perfectly.
"...Sigh, why did this guy have to die?"
After giving his orders, Eden turned his gaze back to the Hive Mind's corpse.
He hadn't even gotten a chance to crack open the alien's golden loot—extract the biological technologies from its mind to compensate for humanity's losses.
He had even planned to make this old creature loyal, to lead charges against other Tyranid swarms for him.
To have it fight selflessly for humanity, dedicating everything—
And now, it had just died so easily.
Truly a bit heartbreaking.
Just as Eden lanted, he suddenly noticed sothing odd:
"...Where's the soul? That delicious soul!?"
Normally, when a lifeform dies, it leaves behind a soul that can be consud or absorbed.
These souls usually get sucked into the Warp, transitioning from the material world into the immaterium.
Souls not claid by powerful entities would wail in the Warp, enduring endless tornt, until they were eventually devoured by the denizens of that realm.
This was why human believers always hoped to have their souls return to the Golden Throne—it wasn't a myth or faith story, but a real, tangible phenonon.
The Emperor could truly safeguard the souls of humanity.
Compared to suffering in the Warp, it was better to beco part of the Emperor's power.
The more exceptional individuals might even continue to serve the Emperor in his eternal war, where retirent was not an option.
The soul of the Leviathan Hive Mind had long been marked by the small sun, so it was impossible for it to simply vanish.
Unless—this creature wasn't dead yet...
"Good grief, almost got fooled by you!"
Eden approached the Hive Mind's corpse, carefully inspecting it. Sure enough, he found faint traces of a soul.
This ancient Tyranid intelligence was indeed dead, but not completely—it seed more like it had entered a deep slumber.
That was just his guess, though. The exact situation would have to wait for an expert to assess.
By now, the Chapter Masters had led their Astartes forces away from this core chamber, moving to other sectors to purge the remaining Tyranids.
Only the Thunder Guardians stayed behind.
Eden contacted the Adeptus chanicus' leading biological expert, one of the twin giants of the beverage industry—Bio-Archsage Moss—and ordered him to co and examine the situation.
Before long, Moss, wrapped in dark red chanicus robes, floated into the chamber in his augnted body.
After decades of reverse engineering and modification, Moss's body had undergone many changes, resembling a human fused with countless chanical augntations.
Tubes of unknown liquids pulsed along his body, and more than a dozen chadendrites bristled with surgical blades, syringes, and other chanical tools.
Moss respectfully saluted.
"Savior, your humble servant arrives as commanded, ready to serve you."
As he spoke, he produced a greenish canister flickering with ominous light and offered it up.
"This is my latest product. Perhaps you'd like to give it a try..."
Eden frowned as he accepted the canister, which looked more like a biohazard.
"Hiss... This new fuel drink of yours—it's not poisonous, is it?"
Over the years, the competition between Moss and Kaul in the beverage market had grown ever fiercer, both constantly rolling out new products and gimmicks.
The one thing that never changed was their ongoing attempts to recruit the Savior himself into their camps.
After all, he was the ultimate golden endorsent.
For Eden, though, staying neutral was the wisest choice—lest one accuse him of favoritism over the other.
Rumor had it that Kaul had recently spent a fortune building a factory in the Warp, chasing after new flavors.
Fortunately, without the proper production permits, that Warp-based factory had been shut down and fined by the Ordo chanicus.
In a way, Kaul's shady dealings had ironically helped boost the Tribunal's workload.
Now, these two beverage giants had spread their influence across the chanicus, forming rival factions that rivaled earlier doctrinal schisms in scale.
Eden had reason to suspect that the next great schism in the chanicus would stem from this conflict.
For now, though, everything remained within controllable limits—a kind of healthy competition that spurred technological progress.
So, he hadn't taken any action for now.
"You're not wrong..."
Moss proudly introduced his latest product.
"The new improved fuel drink does contain toxins, but they're harmless toxins. Plus, the flavor is unique. You can rest assured—it's perfectly safe to try!"
This product had just completed its initial testing phase and wasn't yet in production. If the Savior himself could taste it and offer feedback, it would do wonders for its future sales.
"Harmless toxins?"
That phrase nearly made Eden's CPU overheat. He tucked the canister away.
"Not bad, interesting. I'll give it a try later."
Of course, that was just a polite brush-off.
If this so-called fuel drink really had toxins in it and knocked him out cold, wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Better to let Big Barrel try it—he'd probably love the novelty.
After storing the fuel drink, Eden pointed at the Hive Mind's corpse and urged:
"Moss, check it out. See if there's a way to save this thing."
Moss obeyed, deploying his chanical tools to examine the Hive Mind's body.
After reviewing the data on his instrunts, he gave his assessnt:
"This body still retains weak bioelectric activity. There's a chance of reviving it, but it will require significant ti."
"As long as it can be revived, that's enough. This one's yours now—do everything you can to revive it. Extract the bio-technology from its mories. Integrate it into the New Tyranid Project."
Eden was delighted.
This was an unexpected gain—he hadn't expected the Hive Mind to still be alive.
Perhaps it was sheer survival instinct that had prevented it from fully ending its own life, or maybe it was bluffing earlier and secretly hoping to surrender itself to the Savior in a roundabout way.
Either way, it was good news—this would greatly shorten the tiline for the New Tyranid Project.
Schloop~
Eden turned toward the sound, noticing that the pulsating of the fleshy pipelines in the chamber had gradually cald down.
It seed the Hive Ship had also entered dormancy after losing its controller.
His greatest prize from this battle was undoubtedly the Hive Ship itself—over 30 kiloters long, a space-borne biological fortress.
The Hive Ship wasn't just a monstrous weapon capable of annihilating capital ships—it was also a colossal biological research and breeding facility.
It housed various gene labs, bio-pools, hatcheries... Nearly all Tyranid creatures originated here.
Eden even suspected that the Hive Mind itself had been born within this ship.
Or rather, the Hive Ship was the Hive Mind's womb—and as it grew, it had gradually expanded to its current monstrous size.
If it had enough resources, it might have grown even grander.
Now, this Hive Ship belonged to him!
It was an unimaginable treasure trove of biotechnology, a boon for the Savior's domain. Nurous bio-research institutions would be stationed here, thoroughly studying everything within.
This would push the domain's biological sciences to new heights, and new swarms would be born here.
Already, the Tyranid Research Division had initial ideas for crafting an entirely new generation of Tyranid creatures.
The Ork Research Institute had acquired a bio-ship infected by Ork spores. Inside, they had discovered not only unique Orks that had absorbed Tyranid genes, but also an entirely new Tyranid species that had absorbed Ork genes.
These "Ork-Tyranids" were fiercer than regular Tyranids, with superior resistance and regenerative abilities.
By studying the genes of these unique creatures, they might unlock the key to creating stronger Tyranid swarms.
Gradually, more and more chanical equipnt was transported into this vast chamber. The Hive Mind's "corpse" was restrained and subrged into a nutrient tank.
This chamber would now beco Bio-Archsage Moss's new laboratory.
He would remain here for many years, until the new swarms were born, matured, and ready for production and warfare.
Of course, the new swarm would need a commander.
A massive, tarp-wrapped stasis tank was wheeled into the chamber, placed in the central area.
Inside the tank was the prized clone—the future master of the swarm, the uncrowned king of all Tyranids.
Eden tore off the tarp with a flourish, revealing the Tyranid-version Eden Clone within.
He gazed up at the awe-inspiring product of advanced biological engineering.
It stood around four ters tall, with bulging muscles and patches of chitinous armor covering its skin.
Most striking of all were the sharp, chitin-covered bone wings sprouting from its back, faintly glowing with traces of purple psychic energy.
In truth—
This clone had been designed in the image of a male Blade Queen, but with an even more imposing presence.
It bore a singular na—Will of the Swarm.
This was the key to commanding the endless swarm and becoming the swarm itself!
For now, the Tyranid-version clone was still in its early growth stage, requiring further enhancent with genetic material from the Hive Mind and Hive Ship.
It needed to be able to control the Hive Ship.
Achieving this would require a deeper understanding of Tyranid biotechnology.
That would likely take a long ti.
Fortunately, Eden had both the patience and the lifespan to wait—or perhaps the research would progress faster than expected.
He took one last deep look at the clone before leading Carter and the Thunder Guardians away.
Afterward, the chamber was sealed.
Without the Savior's direct orders, no unauthorized personnel were allowed near—any violators would be executed on sight!
After all, this sowhat heretical endeavor had to be kept under wraps.
It wasn't him controlling the swarm—it was the Will of the Swarm. It had nothing to do with the Savior. Just like Rogal Dorn had nothing to do with the Savior either.
Later—
Eden led his team back to the Dreamweaver. He had one more important task to complete...
(End of Chapter)
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