40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 721 13. Sneaky
The shuttle landed slowly.

It is a model unique to Chermers, and its enthusiastic creators have carefully designed a very special feature for it: when landing, the shuttle will fold its wings like a real bird.

Of course, there is no benefit to doing so except increasing costs and maintenance expenses, but this does not prevent the Chemos people from waving their enthusiasm and continuously purchasing this model.

The hatch rose and Anazion strode down. The fresh air that greeted him made his lavender lips twitch unconsciously.

He had never smelled this kind of smell before. Belisarius Cawl's private ship was filled with a pungent smell mixed with engine oil all day long. There was no so-called normal air at all. However, the air in the fortress called Eagle Wing was slightly rotten.
Anazion didn't like the smell very much, but he thought it was understandable - any old building would have this smell, probably because the wood or something had reached its service life and needed to be replaced.

He happily pulled up his hood and wrapped his scarf around himself, disguising himself as a tall and strong mysterious traveler, and slowly left the tarmac.

The think tank director suggested that he start his tour from the third city. It was said that the cultural atmosphere here was the strongest in Chemos, and its policies were very friendly to tourists. Therefore, there were endless streams of tourists coming here to visit every day.

Of course, the nobles and their bodyguards are indispensable among them. Thanks to the appearance of these mercenaries, cyborgs, enhanced humans or Ogryn, Anazion's figure is not so conspicuous.

He soon left the tarmac and came to a busy street. The road was clean and tidy, with wide sidewalks on both sides. Every few hundred meters there was a big tree planted, with lush crowns and green leaves, casting enough shade to shelter many people.

The suspended vehicle sped through the center of the road. Although it was moving at an extremely high speed, there was rarely any sound of a traditional engine. Only a low and persistent hum mixed in with the sound of the wind, which was completely negligible to ordinary people.

Anazion walked along the street, completely mesmerized by the countless shops of all kinds, his eyes almost popped out from under his hood - traditional Chemos costumes, trendy transportation, local specialties, war simulation games, mysterious shops collecting antiques, and so on.
When he came to his senses, he had changed into a comfortable black casual suit. In his left hand, he was holding a suitcase filled with books. In his right hand, he was holding two skewers of fragrant barbecued meat, which was tender and juicy, far better than the Belisarius Cole special nutritional paste he used to eat.

Those things are bland and tasteless, and some even taste bitter.
Anazione remembered that he once asked, or rather complained to Kaur, why he couldn't get rid of the strange bitter taste.

But Kaul simply replied in that mocking tone he often used, that he had no time to waste on such matters, and if the Firstcast did not want to eat, then he could learn to cook it himself.

Back then he called me the First Caster, Anazion thought.

He shook his head and continued to move forward, slowly eating the roasted meat in his hand, chewing it carefully and patiently every time, until he used his teeth to completely turn the meat in his mouth into fine fibers, and then he would swallow it.

He was a little reluctant to finish them, but he now wanted to find a place to read the book he had just bought. Ten minutes later, he finished the barbecue and followed the instructions on the roadside sign to a city park.

The top of the place is covered with a small ecological dome, and the inside is full of green. All kinds of plants grow wildly here, and the most basic grass can even grow to Anazion's waist.

He couldn't help but feel a little surprised, but at the same time he understood why the park wasn't as crowded as outside.
He casually found a piece of grass to sit down, opened the briefcase given by the bookstore, took out a book at random, and began to read it carefully.

However, he didn't know why, but he felt very sleepy in the soft sunlight before he even finished reading a book. Anazion didn't even have time to realize that something was wrong, and he sat down and closed his eyes.

The book in his hand was spread on his knees. A breeze blew, turning the pages. A butterfly with beautiful patterns slowly flew over and landed on one of the lines of words.

".I heard that the north of my homeland has now become a green hell. Affected by the climate, the harsh and humid jungle surrounds the city, followed by poisonous insects and snakes, and my compatriots are suffering and sinking in it, unable to escape."

where am I?
With a sense of confusion and unreality, Anazione slowly regained consciousness.

He breathed in a daze and walked around instinctively, here and there, aimlessly, until his feet sank into a swamp of corruption and could not be pulled out. Anazion blinked and looked down.

But he still didn't notice the strangeness of his current situation, and his attention was completely focused on how to leave this quagmire. He pulled his legs out with great effort, looked around, and saw large areas of dead trees.

Their sickly yellow leaves still densely hung on the branches, maintaining a vitality in a way that was completely counterintuitive, while also blocking the sunlight, making the woods and swamps dim and dark.

where am I?
This question came to Anazion's mind again, but it still didn't make him feel real.

He ignored this rational, reliable and anxious voice, and no longer thought about how to leave the quagmire. Instead, he slowly walked into the depths of the increasingly dark jungle.

Some kind of insect was chirping constantly, and a poisonous snake was hovering on the branch of the dead tree, slowly spitting out its tongue, and then entwining its long scarlet tongue with each other, connecting them one by one.

A rancid, damp breeze left the suddenly swaying leaves and rushed to Anazion, swirling over his head, making him dizzy and his eyes blank.
What's wrong with me?
The voice of reason came for the third time, and finally, he stopped in confusion and sniffed. An extremely strong desire suddenly broke through the quiet and dead atmosphere of corruption around him - air!
Anazion heard the longing whisper slowly.

I need air.

So he breathed, a normal breath. A strong smell rushed into his nostrils. The smell could not be simply described by the word "stinky". It was more like a concept.

Anazion couldn't understand what it meant yet, but he had a feeling that it would be better for him to never understand what it meant.

The urge to vomit followed closely, rushing deep into my soul.

He bent down uncontrollably, opened his mouth, and felt something containing heat leaving his body, but he could not see what it looked like and could only guess.

What was it? Solid? Fluid? Was it a piece of food? No, he didn't think so. He thought it was something else, something that was extremely important to him and to any life.
The Voice of Reason roared suddenly, and at that moment it sounded very familiar to Anazion - it was almost like Belisarius Cawl speaking to him.

"Fight it, Firstcast! And leave! Find a way back out of here!"

Anazion didn't understand why he had to do this, but he followed the advice. He was Belisarius Cawl's creation, so what was wrong with obeying the orders of his creator?

He turned around stiffly and blankly, and walked along the footprints in the mud to the place where he came from. The insects continued to chirp, and the air in the forest was gradually becoming humid. The dim yellow leaves were covered with turbid water droplets, and something that looked like insects and snakes was licking them.
The ground suddenly trembled.

Dark brown mud splashed everywhere, leaves swirled and fell, the light danced wildly, and countless insects flapped their wings and took off, making high-frequency and sharp chirping sounds.

They were speaking a unique language, which the First Forge could not understand. He simply followed the footprints back, not caring about the shaking ground, the boiling mud, and the dark swarms that gradually blotted out the light - until he tripped over something.

Shouzhu looked down, and his whole body trembled. Fear immediately struck his heart. Vines, dark green vines. Thick and slippery, lying across his feet like dead things, yet trembling in a real way.
He had seen them once.

Anazion growled awake.
-
The shuttle landed slowly.

Jairzinho Guzman and Saul Tarvec walked down slowly, both in casual clothes.

A boy followed them, wrapping his coat tighter around his waist. His face was very pale, and he often frowned as he walked, as if he was still in pain.

Guzman looked at him with concern, then squatted down and whispered, "Is it hurting again?"

Sarron nodded, panting, beads of sweat on the boy's forehead. It had been twenty-four hours since Kaul injected the alien potion into his body, and the pain was back, even more intense.

Guzman questioned Kaur again about this—and the great sage answered him very honestly.

He said that this might be because the Eldar were masters of the art of torture, and they liked to administer the 'deception' in batches, giving prisoners who had lost all sense a little time to recover.

During this short break, the prisoners' perceptions will become more acute, and their existing addictions will take a more severe toll on their bodies.
The Eldar would take this opportunity to satisfy their addiction, then immediately inject more deception. After a few rounds, even the most stubborn prisoners would fall into despair.

And you actually injected this stuff into a child?!

Guzman recalled his roar at that time and his expression became a little gloomy again.

He believed that the cooperation would be very difficult and that there was a high possibility of physical conflict between him and Kaur.

After all, he was a medical officer, and Kaul was a researcher with no moral principles. Although the two had some similarities, their positions were completely opposite, and they could quarrel over almost anything.

Take Sarlon, who had temporarily left Eagle Wing at this time. Due to Fulgrim's request, Cawl had to destroy the pure genetic material in his hand and return to his private car to copy a new one.

For this, they were given forty-eight Terra hours of free time. Guzman believed that without pure genetic material, Kaul's plan could not be carried out, so he planned to use this time to take Sarron to see his mother.

Two days later, the boy will embark on a road that no one has ever walked before, and no one can guarantee whether he can reach the end. But if he can't, then at least he can see his mother.

But Kaul said there was no point in doing so, but he would not stop Guzman from asking for trouble.

Are you asking for trouble?
The medical officer sighed to himself, stood up, and together with Saul Tarvitz, took the boy to a new means of transportation.

Sarlun and his mother lived in a house left by his father, which was located in the north of the third city, in a comfortable old residential area. It only took them twenty minutes to get there by car.

The scenery outside the window turned into irregular large blocks of color biting each other because of the high speed of the hovercraft. The boy stayed in his seat reluctantly, his back twisting uncomfortably. Guzman looked away and didn't say anything to him at this time.

He knew very well that sometimes people just wanted some quiet time. He looked out the window. The speed of the vehicles had no effect on him. He captured the scenery in its original form.

Guzman unconsciously compared them with the modified Nostramo, but before he could come to a conclusion, he felt an urge to laugh - how could he do this?
Although he was reluctant to say this, there was really no comparison between Nostramo and the prosperous world in front of him that coexisted with nature.
The hovercraft stopped soon after, and the scene outside had changed to rows of pale white single-family houses. A woman with a lot of white hair and wrinkles stood not far away, looking at the car.

One could tell from her complexion that she had been exposed to a lot of wind and sun, and her facial features were different from the deep ones of the Chemos people. Her facial features were full of wildness and tenacity.

Unlike the other residents here, she did not wear a comfortable robe and a veil, but instead wore a loose old military uniform with a name engraved on the nameplate on the right breast: Fion Eli.

That's certainly not her name.

The car door opened, Guzman stayed in the car, and Saul Tarvitz took the boy out and began to explain to her mother why they had returned and what Sarron would face in two days.
The mother couldn't fully understand what he was saying. She was just a commoner, how could she understand the complicated High Gothic words that Tarvitz kept saying?
But she must have been a very good mother, because after listening to the explanation of the Emperor's Children Chapter Master, she said nothing but gave Sarlon a tight hug.

The boy began to cry.

He was hurt, and still was. He had received paramilitary training and understood how great an honor it was to be an Astartes, but he was only twelve years old. He was afraid, lost, worried about the future, and cried for his mother's safety.
Guzman gazed at the scene with deep eyes, knowing that many years later, when the mother's face had become blurred from Sarron's memory, the boy would still remember this hug.

He will use the warmth of this hug to save more people.

With a sigh of emotion, the medical officer shifted his gaze again and carefully observed the residential area through the car window on the other side.

He looked at the rows of houses that could only be inhabited by nobles in other worlds, and finally stopped at the green vegetation that could be seen everywhere on both sides of the road.

His eyes suddenly froze, as if they were completely frozen in an instant. He looked at them, watching them sway their leaves, stretch their bodies, and absorb the sunlight.
It was so normal, so harmonious, but he felt a sharp pain in his head.

Remember Jairzinho Guzmán, a very competent medical officer who died many years ago but is still considered by many to be a spiritual figure?

These people are very determined and never waver. They save the lives of soldiers on the battlefield, heal the dying poor in the bottom nest, and relieve the psychological problems of battle brothers in the chapter. The best of them can even relieve the pain of the fearless elders.
They had all sworn an oath to Jairzinho Guzmán at some point, and their words and actions had given him a new power.

And the power was screaming at him now.

"Decay! Sickness! Ruin! Death!"

Guzman clenched his fists suddenly.

(End of this chapter)