Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The tips of his ears were as red as the last battle flag of Saim Khan when it burned.

She is the Moonblade.

It was also moonlight bent by the firelight;

She is an assassin.

It is also a flower forced to bloom between iron and stars.

By daybreak,

The coffee went cold, and the star map dimmed.

She nestled in his arms, her breath still damp.

Since then,

She no longer asked herself which ark she belonged to.

Because of that night

She left her old name to her people.

The lingering warmth, the trembling voice, and the silence after waking up,

All of it is engraved in Lawson's name.

It is exactly:

Silver hair hangs down the steps, the moon's shadow slanting.

The iron palace is locked deep, and the night is devoid of rosy clouds.

Once a ark, its blade gleaming with frost.

Now it is the flower in the palm of the throne.

The tips of his ears were slightly tinged with the color of spring tide.

Even the most beautiful bones cannot withstand the ravages of war.

The Milky Way churned into waves all night.

I wake up and ask not about the past.

…………

When Er Gou led Qian Xian to the accommodation area behind the Vigilant Star Domination Court, all the foundation stone sequences in the corridor automatically moved to the side of the wall.

The collar reduced Qianxian's Slaanesh aura by most, but the remaining soul fluctuations could still cause ordinary humans to feel slightly uncomfortable, their heart rate would increase, their attention would be scattered, and inappropriate thoughts would pop into their minds.

The cornerstone sequence is governed by swarm intelligence and is immune to these influences, but their avoidance is out of safety protocols and has nothing to do with fear.

Er Gou walked in front, and Qian Xian followed behind.

Qianxian surveyed the imperial architectural style on both sides of the corridor: the rough alloy walls, the lighting strips embedded in the walls, the anti-slip texture on the floor, and the imperial double-headed eagle emblem in the corner.

"So simple," Qianxian commented. "The master's taste is as brutal and direct as his fighting prowess."

Er Gou was too lazy to pay attention to her.

Qianxian took half a step closer: "Brother Ergou?"

"Stay away from me."

"You're more interesting than them."

"I don't want to be interesting."

“Everyone else is like wood, but you’re different.” Qianxian’s voice was as soft as silk, but the last syllable was deliberately hooked. “You’re like a wild dog that has bitten too many people and still won’t let anyone pet its head.”

Er Gou turned his head to the side: "Say one more word and I'll break your teeth one by one."

Qianxian blinked, as if she had heard praise.

"So cute."

Er Gou finally stopped.

He looked back at her, his gaze probably like that of someone looking at a plague maggot that could recite love poems.

Qianxian seemed to completely misunderstand the disdain, or perhaps he did understand it but felt that disdain was also a kind of seasoning.

"Would you like me to introduce you to a little devil?" she suggested earnestly. "Some of the lower-ranking servants are very obedient. They'll bite whatever you point at, and they can grow as many tails as you want. They're so soft and cuddly, it's really fun to hold them."

Er Gou stared at her for two seconds.

"go away."

He turned and continued walking: "I'd rather sleep with a space ghost in my arms."

Qianxian stood in the corridor, taking two seconds to process those words.

Sleeping while embracing a space ghost?

Those cold, metallic undead with creaking joints, glowing green eyes, who might dismantle you into parts even in their sleep?

Qianxian blinked slowly: "Master's subordinates are so perverted!!!"

She followed in Er Gou's footsteps.

Er Gou led Qian Xian to a door, entered the access code, and the door opened.

"Go inside, your roommate is inside."

"Don't cause trouble, or you'll be met with fire."

The door closed behind Qianxian.

The room was small, the standard dormitory for Imperial officers, with two beds, a table, a washroom, and gray alloy panels on the walls.

Compared to Saim-Han's ossuary, this place is roughly equivalent to an iron box with a lamp inside.

The keeper of secrets sat on the bed on the left.

Ash Velos was sitting cross-legged in the form of a humanoid woman, with long purple hair draped over her shoulders and a golden collar around her neck gleaming faintly under the light.

Five skulls of the Dark Eldar were laid out on the bed in front of her.

She was arranging them into different patterns with her fingers: triangles, rhombuses, lines, and circles.

After finishing each type, they would start over, like a child who had been cooped up at home for too long passing the time with building blocks.

When Lawson went to Saim-Han, he didn't bring the Keeper of the Secret.

She is not allowed to wander around the warning star.

All she could do was stay in the room and fiddle with the skulls of the Dark Elf race.

The moment Qianxian entered, the Keeper of the Secret looked up.

The two Slaanesh demons stared at each other for a second.

The one keeping the secret spoke first.

"Oh."

She pushed a skull aside. "Qianxian, I heard you were having a great time in Saim-Han? Kneeling before humans and calling them master, getting half your face smashed and still asking for a collar. When I heard the news here, I laughed for three whole days."

Qianxian scanned the room, his gaze finally settling on the Keeper of the Secret.

Qianxian sat down on the bed on the right, crossed her legs, and said, "But you're locked in this metal box and can't even go out. Who are you laughing at? The wall?"

"I was laughing at these skulls."

The Keeper of the Secrets picked up a skull, turned it around, and said, "Imagine you kneeling on the ground calling me master. Combined with the empty eye sockets of the Dark Eldar, the effect is excellent."

Qianxian smiled: "Ash, you've been a Keeper of Secrets for so many years, spying on other people's secrets and manipulating their weaknesses, but the first human to lock you up didn't even take you with him when he went out to fight."

The keeper's smile froze for a moment.

"So you're in a worse situation," Qianxian continued. "At least you struggled a bit when you were captured, but I knelt down voluntarily. Do you know what that means?"

"That means you're even more despicable than me!"

"No, it means I'm better at making choices than you."

A genuine sense of superiority gleamed in Qianxian's purple eyes. "You were captured passively; he beat you, and there was nothing you could do. I was captured voluntarily. I assessed the situation and determined that being his pet was more valuable than being a mercenary for Vashtor. That's the difference in judgment, Ash."

The keeper crushed the skull in his hand.

She also boasted, "A while ago, my master had me interrogate three living Dark Eldar. Do you know what it's like to peel back the layers of secrets from a living Dark Eldar?"

She closed her eyes, as if savoring the memory.

"That's what you call quality. What's the difference between you swallowing those messy souls on the Ark and stealing kitchen scraps from the Cleaners?"

Qianxian's lips twitched: "You talk like you're so high and mighty."

"In the past two months, your most remarkable deeds have been displaying skulls, interrogating three prisoners, and occasionally imagining when your master will remember you while facing the wall."

She took a step forward, her tone becoming lighter.

"On my first day on the job, I went to the battlefield, consumed hundreds of souls, entered the highest council chamber of Saim-Han, and saw the faces of all the Ark Eldar high-ranking members who were filled with both hatred and fear."

She leaned down and stared at the keeper of secrets.

"Do you know how they feel when they see me kneeling at their master's feet?"

The keeper remained silent.

Qianxian said softly:

“Anger, disgust, fear, jealousy, and a little bit of envy that they themselves were unwilling to admit.”

Her smile deepened.

"It smells so good."

The keeper raised his eyes.

"Then you kneel on the ground and serve tea and water to your master, and wait for him to remember to touch you."

"Envious?"

The two great demons confronted each other in a space of less than five square meters.

The Keeper's fingers began to extend, the fingertips becoming longer and sharper, dark purple spiritual energy flowing between them. Behind Qianxian, the ribbon-like appendages disguised as purple robes also twitched slightly.