Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor-Chapter 289 - 290 – Eden: Psy-Net 2.0, Activate!

When the smoke of battle cleared—

The Chaos Knights of the Dark Raven House, loyal to the Dark Master, had slaughtered Abaddon's Chaos warband.

Just like Chaos Knights elsewhere, they took control of the Soul Forge.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—

Massive iron hammers forged from steel and soul began pounding again, striking down upon anvils.

The forge was once more in full operation.

Thick black smoke poured out of towering chimneys, and if one listened closely, they could hear the faint screams of souls.

This forge would now serve the Dark Master, supplying him with an endless stream of terrifying war machines.

Be'lakor looked upon it all with satisfaction.

He had now seized control of 99 Soul Forges—many of which had been targeted by Abaddon himself.

Would the Despoiler be angry? Would he declare war?

Be'lakor had never considered the question.

He'd already slain many of the Chaos Gods' chosen champions.

Why would he care about a mere Despoiler?

He'd probably forgotten by now that, not long ago, he was Abaddon's so-called ally—his personally appointed champion.

Even then, Be'lakor had stabbed him in the back multiple times.

But that didn't matter.

No one—not even the Chaos Gods—could influence the free will of the great Dark Master.

Be'lakor had only one goal now—

To travel to realspace and build a kingdom of darkness.

And then—

To find that Devourer of Daemons—the pet of the Cursed One, the one being watched by all Four Gods—and crush him in the most glorious and brutal way possible.

To announce his presence to the galaxy!

As the Soul Forge thundered, Be'lakor's gaze pierced the veil, his sight fixed upon a distant cluster of stars—

That was... Charadon.

...

Urth.

The spire estate, master bedroom.

Eden was curled up in a warm bed, half-asleep, drifting in a rather delightful dream.

A soft, digital chime rang.

He cracked open one eye, silenced the alarm via psychic power, then turned over—

Planning to pick up right where the dream left off, engaging in round three hundred of his endless war against the dreamscapes conjured by Slaanesh.

Lately, the Prince of Pleasure seemed to have leveled up—intensifying the illusions.

New tricks. Fresh content.

Not gonna lie—dude had talent.

The dreams were increasingly vivid, stimulating, and even customized to Eden's preferences.

There was that one time... the "Galactic Amazon" arc...

Billions of stunning waifus. Yeah. That one.

Clearly, Slaanesh had gone all-in, burning serious resources to make those illusions work.

Eden couldn't even imagine what'd happen if someone packaged that dream tech and sold it.

What degenerate could possibly resist?

But the great Savior remained resolute.

Just one rule: Free to play, never pay.

Eden had long suspected Slaanesh was getting desperate—sunk-cost fallacy kicking in.

The Prince had even started sneaking into the dreams personally, playing NPCs in hopes of getting close and corrupting Eden directly.

Too bad.

Every time, Eden saw right through it.

Every time, he rejected it.

Slaanesh still needed to work on their acting.

And so Eden drifted back into sleep, ready to finish the current dream—

A lone warrior vs. Tyranid Bug Queens.

Yeah, the difficulty had gone up.

He was just about to fight the final boss—Queen Bugzilla—when he suddenly felt a chill.

"Wake up!"

A cute voice rang out urgently.

???

What the hell?

The dream snapped, and Eden blinked awake—right into the face of a giant fluttering moth.

Wait no, it was Webby.

He rubbed his eyes—vision clearing.

There she was on the headboard, flapping her little wings as she tried to pull back his blanket.

Since becoming a Warp deity, Webby now had a physical body.

Though, due to the barrier between the Warp and reality, that body wasn't particularly powerful.

Combat-wise, she was weak.

But only in flesh.

When it came to data networks and machines, she had grown leagues stronger.

After Vashtorr's fall, the tech-priests of the Mechanicus immediately noticed changes in the galaxy.

Communication systems and cogitators weren't plagued by terrifying whispers and corrupted codes anymore.

Some failed experiments suddenly started working.

Mechanicus research was now advancing more smoothly than ever.

Some tech-priests even found that praying or praising the Machine Goddess helped calm machine spirits and improved their electronic cognition.

She was more responsive and effective than Omnissiah.

Even better—she provided direct computational power support.

Some of the younger tech-priests began seeing her as more than just a deity—they started genuinely loving the Machine Goddess.

Thus, a once-fanclub-like group, the Machine Goddess Guild, took on increasingly religious tones.

More and more tech-priests joined, spreading tales and blessings of the Machine Goddess.

Even some old Magi and Archmagi—moved by visions—began drafting doctrines, prayers, and holy texts.

Her image became increasingly complete and revered.

Her belief system spread through the Mechanicus like wildfire.

There was little resistance.

From top to bottom, the Mechanicus implicitly accepted her as a new deity.

They now had a second god, alongside the Omnissiah:

The Omnimachine Spirit—The Machine Goddess.

Tech-priests now praised both the Machine God and the Omnissiah—

But showed extra affection to the Machine Goddess.

They collected tokens, emblems, and anything related to her.

They believed it was their united will that caused the Machine God to send the Machine Goddess to protect them.

Some Forge Worlds had already started building shrines and statues of Webby.

As for what she looked like...

Thanks to faith, the statues leaned toward Webby's original form—dignified and majestic.

And not this tiny, flying, mecha-loli Paimon—

Which was a relief.

Eden could just imagine the scene:

Tech-priests lighting incense, chanting solemnly—

While bowing before a flying anime mecha-girl.

Kinda hilarious, actually.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Webby blinked curiously at Eden's smirk.

She glanced down at herself, then floated to the mirror to check her face:

"There's nothing on me..."

Eden shook his head and pinched her cheek: "Nothing. Just remembered something funny."

"Hmph!!"

Webby crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks:

"Didn't you promise to eat breakfast with us? Sashim and Miriya are already waiting! I'm starving!"

"Alright, alright. I had the chef prepare a huge meal—your tummy's gonna be round like a ball..."

"Really?!"

Her eyes lit up.

Eden glanced at the time. He was a few minutes late.

Damn. This little one was more punctual than an alarm clock.

He quickly freshened up and headed to the estate's dining hall with Webby.

Now that she had a physical body, she'd become a real foodie.

She never missed a mealtime—and always made sure the Savior Lord ate too.

Of course, Eden indulged her.

She was now a core figure in his domain, after all—

Handling more work than anyone.

And before having a body, she worked for free—tirelessly, loyally, and lovingly, all for her "Father."

Feeding her well was the least he could do.

Once they arrived, Eden had the maids deliver Webby a huge plate of food.

He dined with Sashim and the others, catching up on the state of the merchant fleets.

Right now, the mercantile division had united regional tycoons across the sector—

Forming thousands of trading fleets.

These fleets were busy establishing trade routes across the galaxy.

The first wave had already returned, bringing back a variety of minerals and raw materials.

Soon, Sashim would lead the Blood of the Empire merchant fleet—

Accompanied by missionaries of the Urth Orthodoxy—

Into war-torn regions to spread the Savior's light.

Lately, the Urth Orthodoxy's holy land had seen waves of pilgrim ships.

Pilgrims came with devotion and hope—

And were treated to spiritual services, spas, guided tours, and the awe of touching the Savior's sacred relics.

They then brought the holy texts and faith of the Savior to distant corners of the galaxy.

Today, the faiths of the Golden Sun and the Savior had achieved unparalleled legitimacy.

No one dared oppose or criticize them.

Because it had the official endorsement of the Ecclesiarch himself—Lord Lauren Tiss.

People believed it was the Ecclesiarch's faction.

And they weren't wrong.

Bishop Doni's mentor—after centuries of strategic patience—had finally become the Ecclesiarch.

Years ago, a catastrophe called the "Primarch Crisis" struck Holy Terra.

Tens of millions were burned alive as heretics or mutants in mass purges.

The real goal was to discredit the Primarch—to curtail his power.

Fortunately, the Primarch took control, purged the corrupt, and exposed the conspirators.

One of them was the former Ecclesiarch.

The Lord Regent exiled him from the High Lords and stripped him of power.

He vanished.

The Ecclesiarchy was left without a leader.

A successor had to be chosen.

At the Synod of Bishops—

Lauren Tiss was selected by overwhelming majority. He had unmatched seniority and credentials.

He had outlived all his peers. A living fossil of the Ecclesiarchy.

Only the former Ecclesiarch had rivaled his experience—and he was now gone.

Only Lauren could lead the Ecclesiarchy—

Reunite it after its losses in the Primarch Crisis.

After becoming Ecclesiarch, he elevated Urth Orthodoxy even further—

Granting the Golden Sun and Savior faiths rock-solid legal standing.

The Orthodoxy could now preach freely—no one dared interfere.

In fact, local churches often came begging to merge their rites with the Orthodoxy—

To boost their own legitimacy.

Resistance?

Impossible.

Suicidal.

Rejecting a belief system personally endorsed by the Ecclesiarch?

That's heresy. That's execution.

The Ecclesiarch had supreme authority over doctrine. His word was divine law.

Within such a system—

No regional church would oppose Urth Orthodoxy.

They welcomed and supported it, hoping to ride its coattails.

In short—missionary work was going extremely smoothly.

The Savior and Golden Sun faiths were gaining thousands of new followers daily.

Unfortunately, the galaxy was still too vast.

More effort was needed to truly spread the faith.

Eden's plan was to combine trade and evangelism.

As the merchant fleets traveled, missionaries would accompany them.

No civilized world could reject a fleet backed by both a Primarch and the Ecclesiarch—

Especially when it came armed to the teeth.

Thus, Eden's territory gained greater influence.

Most of his power remained in the Imperium's shadow—his influence in the light was still limited.

To be honest, Eden was already incredibly powerful.

He controlled the Machine Forum, Urth Orthodoxy, Blood of the Empire, multiple Chapters, fleets, and more.

If he rallied them all, he could easily found a Second Imperium.

But only if he could defeat Roboute Guilliman, the Lord Regent.

And Eden had no confidence there.

Guilliman was the galaxy's chosen child.

Still, that was just idle speculation.

Now wasn't the time for a Second Imperium.

Eden and Guilliman were unlikely to fight.

Otherwise, they'd both get slapped by the Emperor.

Instead, Eden had chosen a more reasonable path:

Build overwhelming firepower, spread faith, offer aid, and expand influence.

One day, if the Savior's influence outshines even the Primarch's—

He wouldn't have to lift a finger.

People would flock to him, crown him as humanity's supreme ruler.

But that was a problem for the future.

Right now, humanity still had common enemies to defeat.

No one even knew if mankind could survive in the galaxy.

After breakfast, Eden gave Sashim a few final instructions and sent him off.

The galaxy was vast.

This journey would take the merchant fleet across multiple sectors—including high-risk zones like Charadon.

Even with the Webway, it could be years before they met again.

...

The Savior's Office, Spire Estate.

Eden sat at his desk, reviewing the military production reports.

A massive variety of weapons was being churned out—

Far beyond what his forces currently needed.

A batch of Dreadnoughts, Knights, and Titans had already been produced.

But due to lack of large-scale battlefield testing—

The more expensive war machines weren't yet mass produced.

Meanwhile, hundreds of capital ships were now fully repaired.

Countless support vessels, too.

The psy-tech automated assembly lines were blazingly fast.

But for a Savior bent on becoming the galaxy's greatest arms dealer—

It still wasn't enough.

So he approved several new megaprojects—constructing Forge Worlds Two, Three, Four, and Five.

"Savior Lord..."

Linda's gentle voice sounded. She had served him for decades—and, thanks to blessings, had nearly two centuries of lifespan.

She still looked the same—calm and kind.

With Eden's permission, she brought in a Data Sage—

Who came to present a crucial project:

An essential component of Psy-Net 2.0—

A new app set to go live across the Imperium:

The Redemption Market.

"Please wait a moment, Savior Lord!"

The young (and balding, like every good programmer) Data Sage suddenly remembered something.

He quickly opened the Machine Forum, and in front of the Machine Goddess's digital shrine, he performed a full online prayer ritual—

Hoping the launch would go smoothly.

"Are you guys seriously cyber-praying now? Mechanicus has gone full digital faith?"

Eden was speechless.

Little did he know—this was already a trend.

Many tech-priests logged in daily to pray and check in.

With enough devotion, they were rewarded with achievements, emblems, profile icons—

Symbols of their faith in the Machine Goddess.

Even the old-timers were learning from younger adepts.

Eden suddenly remembered—

He was the one who taught this to Kaul during a gaming session.

Once the binary chant ended, the ritual was complete.

The Sage humbly uploaded the Redemption Market app to Eden's dataslate.

Eden opened it—looked it over.

Not bad. Pretty similar to old-world online shops.

Except, instead of groceries—it sold survival supplies and weaponry.

And mercenary services.

With enough loyalty, one could even purchase and summon a Titan.

A mix of religion and military support.

After all, the Imperium was so vast, no one knew how many worlds it held.

With the Great Rift spreading, countless worlds fell to war or destruction each day.

Eden's domain simply couldn't help them all.

So they'd prioritize worlds that believed in the Savior.

It was a positive feedback loop.

The forge lines consumed faith energy from the mini-sun—

Just like Chaos forges burned souls and warp energy.

Giving away weapons without return would weaken his domain.

So they chose worlds with faith first—

Gave them aid, helped them grow, then incorporated them into the domain.

Faith and resources came in return—ensuring sustainable strength.

To monitor this:

Missionaries traveling with the fleets would build statues of the Golden Sun and Savior—

With embedded faith nodes.

The mini-sun could then sense the devotion levels easily.

Just like cultists using relics to summon daemons—

Only now, the medium was a dataslate encoded with complex runes.

Webby's data core processed the input and compiled it into usable reports.

Efficient. Scientific.

Far superior to Chaos's crude, inefficient belief-spreading methods.

Eden reviewed the Redemption Market again—

Made a few suggestions: highlight weapon stats in red text, bold key features.

Get better promo images.

Maybe even form a professional photo team.

Once the tweaks were noted, he looked up at the Sage:

"The rest are minor—adjust as needed. Redemption Market can go live now."

After the Sage left, Eden signed the official order.

He authorized Redemption Market to join the Psy-Net—

The second online platform after the Machine Forum.

With this—

Psy-Net 2.0 officially launched.

His domain would extend its reach beyond the sector—

Into distant worlds and brutal warzones.

The Blood Merchants, Missionaries, Storm Legions, Chapters, and Naval Fleets—

Would travel the galaxy's most dangerous regions.

Bringing salvation to those who believed—

And merciless destruction to mankind's enemies.

Eden Grant—the Great Savior, the Devourer of Daemons, the Cursed One's favorite, and now a Master of Forges—

Was ready.

As an arms dealer backed by overwhelming force—

He now stepped onto the galactic battlefield—

Joining the Chaos Gods in their eternal Great Game...

(End of Chapter)

[Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/zaelum]

[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]

[Thank You For Your Support!]