How can a retired savior be considered retired if he drops to 40,000?

Just like her title of "Emperor's Chosen". Obviously, it is not just an annotation of titles such as status and power in the empire, like other high lords holding similar titles. This title gradually turned into a flashy decoration for more than ten thousand years when the Emperor ascended the throne and the dying vast empire struggled in the mud. This conversation in front of the gate of the Celestial Sphere Secret Vault gave Mephiston A hint that frightened him: the phrase "Emperor's Chosen" placed in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka's name should probably be taken literally.

Based on the information revealed in that conversation, it is not a difficult inference to make that "Fujimaru Ritsuka may have had a direct conversation with the emperor." Mephiston's first reaction was "That's impossible," but in a flash he realized that a lot of things that were "impossible" actually happened to this girl: she arrived in Baal aboard the Emperor's Dream, She displayed the Emperor's miracles like an arm; she hid the light of the star torch in her soul; with a simple ritual, she successfully summoned the Blood Angels' genetic father who fell thousands of years ago— -Then, she once entered the Palace of Terra and had a direct conversation under the majestic throne with the emperor's holy remains after ten thousand years of sacrifice. It sounds like there are traces to follow, and it is not very difficult to accept. .

Of course, the truth may be even more outrageous than his current conjecture, and he'd better leave a margin in advance for anything related to Fujimaru Ritsuka. Mephiston had already had a preliminary understanding of this in previous attacks, but in any case, this did not affect their next trip.

They quickly left the center of the celestial sphere. Mephiston also has a private room in the angel statue under the alchemy sphere that can only be found under the guidance of spiritual energy. However, it is not used for daily living. It is the director of the think tank who holds dark secrets. A meditation room used when he thinks he is not stable enough - this is just a nice way of saying it, half of its actual function is to give Mephiston a space where he can freely use psychic powers and find the truth in the fragments of his past. Half of them are simply psychic prisons, consistent with perhaps tens of thousands of other similar spaces in the Alchemy Sphere. Therefore, that empty space is obviously not suitable for entertaining a distinguished guest.

Under his leadership, his guests escaped the gravity of Baal Prime and surrendered themselves to Idalia's rules. To put it bluntly, everyone who enters the celestial sphere will be gripped by the floating weightlessness brought by the dying star. This is how the servants rotating around the triple obelisk can fly in the sky. Slightly beyond his expectation, Fujimaru Ritsuka adapted very well and grasped the trick of how to swim in the void within a few seconds, while the Black Knight was obviously unable to focus in this situation. Becoming more irritable - Sigismund did not show his feelings, but the superficial cover-up was useless: the think tank director's psychic perspective could easily see the color of the other person's soul that symbolized emotions.

"Theoretically speaking, you can actually fly if you want. Most of the living saints of the empire who can fight can fly. After all, being able to fly while maintaining the physical form is also a great advantage on the battlefield." In guiding with spiritual energy While the guests were on the way, Mephiston heard Fujimaru Ritsuka say to Sigismund, "You are just too accustomed to the original way of existence, and you can't turn around for a while."

He glanced back and found that the little imperial saint girl was moving forward in an unnecessary elegant S-shaped arc, like a flexible fish on the water. Without the need to use her psychic powers, anyone could easily see that she was simply doing this because she found it amusing, but this ease with which she moved seemed to angrily frustrate Sigismund as he moved lumbering around.

"I don't like it here." When they landed in a side courtyard on the edge of the secret vault that not only seemed secluded, but also had a more stable gravity field, Sigismund said so bluntly, "Everything here makes me feel uncomfortable. Comfortable. Perhaps it would be a wiser choice to let the Imperial Guard guard your safety here."

"I'm sure it's unwise." Fujimaru Ritsuka answered him briskly, and the logic seemed a little jumpy to Mephiston. "I'm sure their effectiveness in dealing with psychic influences will not be significantly different from yours, and If it had been Vasilian standing behind me when I was invited, the matter would probably have fallen through by then - I mean no offense, Mr. Mephiston," she said promptly. Turning to the host, "It's just that the Imperial Guards tend to show quite unnecessary nitpicking when faced with issues related to 'etiquette'."

Sigismund did not continue to speak, but the changing colors on his body made Mephiston see that he regretted why he did not prevent this meeting from the beginning. It's a pity that the matter has reached this point and he has no final say. Fujimaru Ritsuka patted the Black Knight's arm with some consolation, and calmly followed Mephiston's guidance and continued forward. Sigismund could only reluctantly follow behind, and said: The think tank director's psychic perspective reveals colors that symbolize evaluation and weighing.

Mephiston certainly could guess what the Black Knight was assessing, but he would not take it as distrust or provocation. Being alert to the surrounding environment at all times is something that any qualified security personnel should do. It is inappropriate to attack a loyal person who is performing his duties, even if he is treating himself and his servants as imaginary enemies.

The director of the think tank maintained the demeanor expected of a child of the Holy Blood and guided his guests to a brass round table. The candlestick in the center of the table would automatically light up if no one lit it. Obviously, this is a round table, adapted to the larger size of the Primaris Astartes, but the seats reserved for guests have already been clearly shown by a raised chair on the side. After everyone sat down one by one, the blood slaves who emerged from the darkness quietly served simple meals and drinks, and then retreated into the darkness again.

Compared with the previous banquet hosted by the group leader, this time's "casual dinner" was visibly crude. This was not Mephiston's intention to be negligent, but the servants of the battle group who were responsible for preparing the meals had been fully aware of the hygiene and safety of this imperial saint's diet under the instructions of the Imperial Army during the preparation of the banquet. How strict are the standards and nutrition? Even with the transcendent status of Baal and the Blood Angels Chapter, it is quite difficult to obtain ingredients that fully meet the standards. The Chapter had done their best with these humble meals, but it was still clearly not up to the standard of a banquet for an important personage.

Most of the servants who handled this matter were worried about this, and some of the loyal servants even committed suicide in shame because they could not bear to serve only two or three dishes in front of the important guests of the Chapter. Perhaps most people in the empire were shocked when they saw the table. Everyone would take it as a slight or an insult after serving cups and plates, but Mephiston knew that the little girl in front of him would not. He had a vague intuition about this before everything happened.

Now, this vague intuition has come true: Fujimaru Ritsuka is still looking at these dishes that she has never seen before with interest, and starts the conversation appropriately. They talked about the current ecology of Baal from the meal on the plate, and about the vineyard of the Blood Angels from the contents in the cup - because alcoholic beverages are also on the dietary prohibition list of the imperial saints, the battle group provided Fujimaru Ritsuka with drink-grade grapes. Fruit vinegar, with a little sugar and spices added for seasoning.

Mephiston had no way of knowing what the other party was actually thinking: because of the light in her soul that could not be ignored, Fujimaru Ritsuka's emotions were not as clear to the think tank director as the Black Knight's. But at least, after three rounds of "drinking", when he was about to officially start the topic he wanted to talk about, the atmosphere was still very good.

"First of all, on behalf of all the Sons of Sanguinius, I would like to express my gratitude to you." The Director of the Think Tank solemnly said, "Whether you realize it or not, you have brought a glimmer of hope to all the children of angels. I We must apologize for such a shabby treat: if we could only repay you with such a meal, anyone would accuse us of being ungrateful. Besides, it is Chapter Master Dante who should be the one to respond to you here. But now that he is entangled in worldly affairs, it would be even more rude to delay these words..."

This speech expressing gratitude and promising more reward (or, in other words, hoping that the other party would accept more) took about five minutes in total. By the end of Mephiston, the natural expression on Fujimaru Ritsuka's face had turned into an awkward yet polite smile. She responded skillfully but slightly mechanically with a bit of official accent, and then said with half relief and half warning: "Mr. Mephiston, it's impossible for you not to know that all so-called 'miracles' come with a price. . I have brought some to your warband at this time, and I am destined to take some away in the future. No one can tell what will happen in the uncertain future. I can only hope that these prices have not yet been paid. Gain the understanding of the war group.”

Then, she paused and continued in a fairly certain tone: "Besides that, you have some other questions."

"Indeed." Mephiston responded directly. There was no need to cover up this issue too much. This was a problem that all angel descendants had to face sooner or later. The think tank director had to get a definite answer as soon as possible: "I do have some questions that need to be clarified about the spirit of the person you summoned to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Blood."

The subtle wording in this passage made Fujimaru Ritsuka raise an eyebrow: "I guess you must have read the record of the conversation between me and Chapter Commander Dante at the banquet."

"Yes." Mephiston replied, and there was no need to deny it. "I studied every word of it carefully. You once warned the Lord Commander that the souls of our genetic fathers are broken and want to be perfect. It is impossible to restore the 'Sanguinius of the Great Crusade'."

"That's right." Fujimaru Ritsuka confirmed without pause, "For any intelligent creature, 'death' should be an irreversible end point. Even if the original body is morphologically different from 'Infinity' due to their subspace nature, The principle of existence of the living is similar and they can avoid the fate of complete destruction to a certain extent. For them, this is still a very destructive and serious injury. Just like in reality, it is difficult for us to turn one side into a human being. As if the powdered mirror had been put back together without any cracks, 'death' - even the 'death' of the original body, was an irreversible thing. All I could do was to pick up the broken glass as much as possible. Re-refining and casting, but even if the new thing is very similar to the original mirror, it must be different in subtle ways. "

Mephiston thought for a moment along these words, and slightly revealed a little bit of emotion that was difficult to detect, "It is true but I am deeply disturbed." He then asked: "So, is there a rough ratio that can be estimated for these 'differences'?"

There is an answer to this question. Among the three primarchs that Fujimaru Ritsuka has dealt with, Konrad Curze's essence is the one with the most complete integrity, followed by Ferrus Manus - as for Sanguinius, in comparison It looked very miserable. She could have directly told the other party an exact range, but she did not do so: "You know better than me that there are always many uncertainties in spiritual matters, and a person's soul should not be measured by data. Calculation The degree of similarity between the two personalities is something that the Adeptus Mechanicus only occasionally cares about when copying technicians. What kind of worries make a knowledgeable think tank like you have doubts about this? "

On the one hand, she diverted the topic so much because the facts were too bleak and would be cruel to any descendant of angels; on the other hand, she did not understand why Mephiston would ask such a question. Fujimaru Ritsuka could vaguely guess the implication behind this question, but she did not try to confirm her guess - in case she guessed wrong, this almost blasphemous idea revealed in front of the chief think tank of the Blood Angels, probably This is not a problem that a simple apology can solve.

But when Mephiston spoke again, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt that she had probably guessed the other party's unspoken worries. After a brief silence, the head of the think tank also chose another topic: "Perhaps you don't know that some of the Sons of Sanguinius will see visions of our genetic father when they are dying. I am here to talk about it. This is not to show off or show off, but to bring up a case that I have seen with my own eyes - or, in other words, it has indeed happened in my mind:

"When I had to undergo Primaris surgery for some reasons, I once 'died' during the operation. Although afterwards, Qiu Fu-87, who performed the surgery on me, determined that it was a temporary suspended animation. , but I am very sure that I was indeed dead at that time, and I saw the vision after death..."

Here he paused. Even if Mephiston asks himself, he still can't tell whether the angel who appeared in the vision at that time, the angel covered in blood and manifesting his nobility in the light, is a fragment of his genetic father, nor is he. Believing that the other scenes, which may be symbols, or may actually occur somewhere in the Warp, are suitable to be narrated to a person outside the Chapter. While he regretted opening this topic, he also knew that this was the only way he could get the answer. Therefore, after a brief pause, he chose to explain the key points directly:

"I was convinced that I had met an entity that bore a striking resemblance to my genetic father," he said, "but when I tried to inquire about his identity, he only replied—"

Mephiston choked, but then Fujimaru Ritsuka opened his mouth and said the words that were stuck in his throat for him:

"'I am not Sanguinius, Sanguinius is dead.'" She sighed softly and put down the tableware in her hands. "You can't say this wrong, but of course he would say it. In some things, he is really honest. No…it’s hard to guess.”

This statement and the implications behind it confused Mephiston: "You do not deny the authenticity of this statement, but you made the statement as if you were confirming that this statement does come from my genes. Father. This is a contradiction."

"It's not easy to explain, but truth and lies sometimes have two sides." When saying these words, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked away from Mephiston, but the latter still looked away from the little girl for no reason. Feeling a certain intuitive familiarity, "It is undeniable that not everything in the world is clearly divided between pros and cons. If you want to use one sentence to describe what happens in these so-called 'grey areas', people will often find that , Language is feeble. The same sentence can have two completely opposite meanings under the subjective judgment of the interpreter, and in some cases, these two meanings go hand in hand. "

Mephiston realized that he had heard a similar maxim at some point, but it had not been explained so clearly. He wanted to say something, but Fujimaru Ritsuka had already begun to further elaborate on his question:

"What you saw was both Sanguinius and not Sanguinius," she said. "Perhaps what you saw then was not the Sanguinius who now lives in the Cathedral of the Holy Blood, but if you If you ask him a similar question directly, he will give you a similar answer. Essentially, this is a philosophical question: his soul was broken ten thousand years ago, and the descendants of the Holy Blood occasionally see one or two in the mist. The manifestation of fragments is also possible. He is no longer the complete mirror, but it is indeed a part of the mirror. Therefore, the sentence "Sanguinius is dead" is the truth. It’s also a lie.”

Mephiston frowned under his psychic hood.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 298 We might as well speak more clearly

"Considering that philosophy that has no guiding significance for reality will eventually turn into empty talk, I suggest that on this issue, it is best to return our thinking to practical operations." Fujimaru Ritsuka put his hands on the table and rubbed them meaninglessly. Looking at the pattern engraved on the brass table, "Rather than thinking about whether the fragments of Sanguinius's soul can be called Sanguinius, what we need to consider more is how to break Sanguinius into pieces." The soul is reunited'.

She paused here for a brief moment to allow Mephiston to process the message. It is not difficult to understand "what she is talking about" in a literal sense. What is difficult is to allow a descendant of the Holy Blood to defeat the storm set off by this information in his mind in a short period of time. Fortunately, it is impossible for any legal psyker of the Empire to be a master of controlling his own thoughts, and it is even less likely that the Director of the Blood Angels Librarian is not good at this. After only two seconds, Mephiston pulled himself out of the potentially very dangerous philosophical whirlpool:

"So, is there anything we can do about this?"

"Unfortunately, there are, but not many." Fujimaru Ritsuka responded, "What we can do is prepare a suitable and unaffected battlefield for him as much as possible, but the battle itself still requires Sanguinius to win alone. "

It's a hint of do-it-yourself, and Mephiston doesn't like the idea that there's anything outside his control: "Can't we do more?"

"Theoretically, it's possible, but." Fujimaru Ritsuka turned his gaze back and stared at the Chief of the Blood Angels Think Tank. He emphasized the turning words in the sentence very hard, and his tone was so stern that it was almost beyond the scope of a seventeen-year-old girl. The limit of what can be done, "We should not do more. For any conscious being, the integration of soul fragments is an important battle related to self-awareness. On the question of 'Who am I', only the Holy Spirit Gilles himself was qualified to answer this question. If we intervened too much from outside, it would undoubtedly be a blasphemy from a religious point of view and an arrogant attempt to control and guide the mind of a Primarch. ; From a practical point of view, external intervention may also leave subtle hidden dangers, just like the occasional phantom pain or itching caused by acquired implants. No one can tell whether these defects are just harmless and annoying side effects. It is also a precursor to the collapse of a thousand-mile dike in an ant nest.”

For a moment, Mephiston reluctantly wanted to refute, but at the same moment, his reason also realized that what Fujimaru Ritsuka said was correct.

"So," the chief think tank asked after another brief silence, "what's the worst-case scenario in the forecast?"

When he asked this question, he was prepared to hear bad conclusions such as "Sanguinius's broken soul will be annihilated because of this", but - although Fujimaru Ritsuka did show an annoyed expression, the answer he gave was far from Mephiston's:

"The worst-case scenario is that the fragments of Sanguinius all think that they are the one who should be dominant, and they are evenly matched and can't tell the winner." She sighed, "In that case, you will I have several genetic fathers at the same time. Whether it is true or not depends on your subjective judgment. Although I am used to similar situations, this is really the only one that spares me from dealing with a Sanguinius who almost seems to be able to read minds. It’s already difficult…”

Her voice dropped lower during the last part of her sentence, sounding closer to a soliloquy. Mephiston couldn't help but spend half a second thinking about the scene described by the other party, and then almost reflexively kicked this idea that was between blasphemy and dream out of his mind, warning himself not to let his thoughts Sliding down the path of heresy, and then asked uneasily: "Wouldn't the failure of the ritual have any other consequences?"

"I understand your concerns, but please have more faith in your genetic father." Fujimaru Ritsuka did not answer the question directly. "You don't want to see failure, and you don't want this glimmer of hope to finally turn into another." This is a toxic illusion. For this reason, it is understandable that you want to grasp the process as much as possible. But let me emphasize again that it is not you and me as the other who determine the final outcome. Whether it is or not is up to Sanguinius himself."

"But I am the chief think tank of the Blood Angels, the Etheric Archon of Lord Commander Dante." Mephiston's tone brought a hint of unhappiness, even if he didn't realize it, in the current psychic-sensitive environment , there is still a kind of supernatural pressure that is leaked a little with his emotional fluctuations, "I am responsible for all the psychic rituals of the war group, and I must be able to clean up the mess for all possible failures-"

"——Then if you don't know in advance how a ceremony will 'fail', will you stand helpless and watch when disaster strikes?" Fujimaru Ritsuka interrupted the other party at every opportunity.

This is a hypothetical question. Even if the answer was not spoken by anyone in the conversation, the ironclad fact still emerged clearly in their minds. The subtle change of pronouns and the suddenly sharp tone in Fujimaru Ritsuka's mouth were like a fleeting flash of lightning. The moment Mephiston was knocked down by the question, she acted as if nothing had happened. With a polite attitude, he repeated the same point: "Have more faith in your genetic father - although since the days of the Legion, the descendants of Sanguinius have always had a tendency to be over-protective towards him. I didn't expect that. This tendency actually escaped the erosion of time and was spread to 10,000 years later.”

Mephiston didn't quite accept this statement, but if the Imperial Sage refused to explain further, he probably shouldn't ask anymore. What he didn't expect was that Fujimaru Ritsuka's last words made Sigismund speak up - the Black Knight stood on Mephiston's side: "You'd better explain this first. Understand. Hiding the truth is not a good thing, and you will definitely not be able to defeat the Blood Angels. Therefore, this is a task that must be dealt with sooner or later. From your point of view, it is not wise to delay it; from my point of view, it is not a good idea. From a perspective, I don’t want to face a crazy Radolon.”

"Oh. I can also choose to let Captain Amit come out and go crazy on you first. Besides, would it make you happier to face a crazy think tank chief?" Fujimaru Ritsuka choked back unhappily. But obviously, after that, her brain began to organize language to answer this question:

"First of all." She exhaled after making this statement, as if to relieve the tension, "I must emphasize the truth of the facts on a strategic level in a utilitarian and cold way. This is why I have tried my best to Avoid discussing this topic in front of the Sons of Sanguinius if possible."

The beginning of this sequence made Mephiston a little uneasy, but he pressed on: "Please continue."

"The only thing that can be confirmed is that when the relevant rituals are over, what will be resurrected from it will be the 'soul of Sanguinius'. However, given that his soul was broken ten thousand years ago, and all the fragments are collected in ten thousand years, It is almost impossible to do it now. Even if we only consider the good situation, this kind of 'resurrection' is still obvious and is an imperfect 'recasting'," said Fujimaru Ritsuka. explain.

Immediately afterwards, Mephiston understood how utilitarian and cold her so-called "utilitarian and cold approach" really is:

"This goes back to the philosophical question: Is this Sanguinius, whose reforged soul is inevitably mixed with other impurities, still considered 'Sanguinius'?"

"This is related to what we talked about before - wait a minute!" At first, Mephiston did not understand how this passage of conversation had any connection with the issue they were currently discussing, but the next moment, when the Primaris Astartes' brain connected the two seemingly unrelated parts for him, his blood almost boiled.

"It's just as you think." Fujimaru Ritsuka said calmly under the sudden increase in psychic pressure, "The revived 'Sanguinius' may not be your original genetic father, but a kind of faith entity formed by the worship and praise of his descendants and mortals in the empire over the past ten thousand years."

Mephiston still maintains basic restraint - but only the most basic restraint. The think tank chief stood up from his chair, and at the same time, his hands hit the table with a loud bang. The heavy brass round table also trembled and bounced due to this terrifying external force. The first problem Fujimaru Ritsuka instinctively paid attention to was: the tableware is made of metal, so there will probably be no serious problems after this experience. , and Sigismund's black sword has been unsheathed.

It's hard to say whether it was the sound of metal friction that barely maintained the balance of the scene. At least at this moment, everyone was still in place. The temperature dropped rapidly under the pressure of supernatural forces, and Fujimaru Ritsuka even stared at a layer of transparent ice forming on the surface of the remaining drink in his cup.

The scowl of the Chief Thinker of the Blood Angels is quite terrifying. The fiery emotion is almost blazing on his face. This anger tears his originally gloomy but still handsome face into a monster look, and the canine teeth in his canine area are also damaged. The lips were elongated uncontrollably under the influence of emotion and pierced. In contrast, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked straight at the temporarily released angry monster without fear, leaned forward again, pressed his hand on the cold table that had already formed a thin layer of frost, and opened the mouth:

"This is why I chose to keep silent about the relevant facts before. Please calm down, Director of Mephiston Think Tank, especially you should not let anger control your mind." Her tone still maintained that hateful calmness. , "And, I have emphasized many times, please have a little more faith in your genetic father."

The temperature gradually eased down and stopped falling at a terrifying rate. This may mean that the Librarian has initially controlled the black fire surging in his soul, but the monster-like scowl has not disappeared from his face. When Mephiston spoke again, his originally soft and sweet voice became rough and terrifying, like the unpleasant sound made by two steel plates rubbing against each other: "You can't make me understand something I have never heard of. Have blind faith in things.”

"So the wording I adopted was never to ask you to 'have faith in my rituals,' but to 'have faith in Sanguinius.'" Fujimaru Ritsuka straightened up again and put on a poker face to explain himself His hands, which were red from the cold, moved away from the table, put them back on his legs, and hid them in his sleeves without leaving a trace under the table. "I believe you have at least some written knowledge of the history of your Chapter and the genetic father. It is not difficult to infer the fact that Sanguinius is a man of strong will, great determination, and hates failure."

"I don't know." The head of the think tank admitted frankly, "Beyond reverence and imitation, and learning about the spirit passed down by the Archangel, what else am I familiar with about him? Under the premise that it is impossible to estimate the strength of both the enemy and ourselves. , and who can determine with certainty which side will succeed?”

Surprisingly, Fujimaru Ritsuka laughed after hearing this question.

"It seems that you really don't know him very well. Haven't you gone to talk to him in the past few days?" She commented, "You should talk to him more, and then you will easily realize that in this problem The essence is not 'will Sanguinius win', but 'Sanguinius will not allow the option of losing to continue to exist'."

"……what?"

"Sanguinius loves his children more than you best imagine. Many, many times. He doesn't talk about it very often, but there is only love and coughing in the world. Just talk to him a little more, and you can't hide it." You can definitely discover this on your own." While saying these words, Fujimaru Ritsuka suppressed a smile, picked up a spoon from the table, put it into the cup and broke the thin ice on the water, "It's nothing now. When the life and death of the empire is at stake, he will crawl back to reunite with his heirs."

The black sword was sheathed again with a slight friction sound. Mephiston stood there blankly, unaware that he was now like a child who was at a loss because he could not find his parents. Fujimaru Ritsuka slowly sipped the fruit vinegar mixed with ice, gave the other party some time to collect his thoughts, and then asked in a chatty manner: "Speaking of which, as the chief think tank, you really haven't taken the initiative to go there these days. Have you talked to Sanguinius alone even once? I remember that you hid at the back of the hall on the day when the summoning ceremony was just successful."

"I..." This time, it was Mephiston's turn to look away. The chief think tank, whose momentum had significantly weakened, chose to sit back on his chair. Unfortunately, this action could not alleviate the awkward atmosphere that was permeating the situation. He didn't think it was a good thing to tell someone outside the war group about the curse he carried, even if the imperial saint in front of him was clearly qualified to know the truth. But if you don't answer or change the topic, it may seem too blunt at this moment.

And just a second before Mephiston made up his mind to "keep this topic out of the question even if it's too blunt", Fujimaru Ritsuka himself gave the answer: "Could it be that you are worried because of the things you carry with you? Don’t you dare to move forward?”

She said it in a joking manner, but Mephiston did briefly freeze at the bullseye. The emotion shown in body language was very subtle, but it was undoubtedly captured by Fujimaru Ritsuka - in that moment, her face slowly changed from a calm smile to an expression of confusion and surprise. . The imperial saint put down his cup and faced the chief think tank again with some solemnity:

"Wait a minute, don't tell me that I was right."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 299 Fabricationjpg

The Chief Think Tank asked with a mixture of nervousness, uneasiness, and several other negative emotions: "I have to ask you how you realized this."

"That's not hard to guess. There are only a few reasons to avoid having a deep conversation with someone who is important to you—"

"That's not what I meant." Mephiston was choked by the fact that the other party had grasped the point incorrectly at the first time. This interruption did not relieve his emotions in any sense. "How did you find out that I was 'carrying something'?"

At this moment, he combined some previously known information and made some wrong associations: "Could it be that the person in the church has discovered——"

"——He didn't tell me this, but I believe he must have known about it for a long time." Fujimaru Ritsuka promptly cut off the other party's path that was causing his thoughts to slide all the way to the abyss. "In a sense, after completing the transformation surgery, each of you will at least have a slight resonance with the soul of Sanguinius under the influence of the base contract. Moreover, the one in the church can also be seen as being called by the blood of the Blood Angels. Most of the things that happened to you are unlikely to be hidden from him. From his point of view, your problem must be obvious. But since Sanguinius has already set a good example, your problem doesn't seem so strange."

Mephiston had to pause and digest this for a few seconds. There was too much information revealed in it for the Chief Think Tank to study in depth, but he chose to ask the question he was most concerned about first: "So, how did you know?"

Having once again failed miserably in his attempt to "change the subject", Fujimaru Ritsuka had no choice but to provide some facts in the most general form possible: "Actually, my inspiration is very low. I didn't discover this myself. I just have some other... um, 'auxiliary means of observation'."

This "auxiliary observation method" that secretly delivered little secrets to Fujimaru Ritsuka can now be generally located "under the table". Sometimes the Master of Chaldea would also wonder if his shadow was regarded as a portal to another dimension by the Count of Monte Cristo. But it seems that for this Avenger, something that Mephiston restrained with his own will almost had the two words "same kind" written on his face.

The Chief Librarian felt uneasy and desperate about this answer. It was never a good experience to have a major secret that was not only related to himself but also to the entire chapter exposed, even if the throne envoy who exposed this fact did not seem to have any intention of taking any action against the chapter. But at this moment, his reason told him that his feelings and opinions on this matter were not so important. Now Mephiston was still able to think calmly and ask questions step by step: "When did you discover this? And to what extent do you know about it?"

"I was told about this when we first met in front of the gate of the Arax Angel Fortress." Fujimaru Ritsuka's answer made Mephiston a little overwhelmed, because he had no way to understand Fujimaru Ritsuka's logic based on the information he already had. "I fully understand that every outstanding think tank may have one or two unique skills, and these skills sometimes do not seem very safe. I also believe that your warband must know about your situation to a certain extent. Since you are still the chief think tank, it would be very rude for me, a complete outsider, to question this in public."

Mephiston realized that: first, the Imperial Saint should not have intended to investigate this in detail; second, she seemed to have directly observed the outcome of the incident in some form, which led her to subtly misunderstand the actual situation.

He was unsure whether he should tell the whole story. Judging from the other party's attitude, it was obvious that just skipping the topic was an option. Fujimaru Ritsuka had not delved into his "dark little problem" before, so it was highly likely that she would not dwell on it in the future. As she said, even if she had done a great favor to all the angel descendants, she was still an outsider to the Blood Angels Chapter after all. It was more appropriate to leave a certain degree of blank between the two sides in advance, but a small part of Mephiston's heart still tried to convince himself that perhaps he should ask the other party what she "saw" in him.

The Blood Angels' Chief Librarian still had doubts about the series of illusions he had seen before, and he was well aware that the abnormal destructive power he was carrying was likely to lead to some destructive consequences. Even after he crossed his Rubicon, the power of the "Black Angel" attached to him (let's call it that) had been effectively controlled, and his body and mind, which had been fully strengthened by the Great Sage Cawl, had become a new solid cage, firmly locking the violent energy in his soul in his body, and allowing him to use it at will when needed, but Mephiston still had lingering fears about the days before that when he had to fight the killing and madness in his soul day and night, and even locked himself in the psychic prison in the deepest part of the Alchemical Sphere.

He thought he needed to know what made him special, but this question was not as urgent and necessary as before - at least it was not worth asking Mephiston to risk dragging the entire regiment into the water. These two conflicting ideas fought in his mind, and the direct manifestation was "Mephiston was silent for two seconds." Fujimaru Ritsuka might have misunderstood something in these two seconds, because she then added:

"I don't know what you're thinking, but you don't have to worry too much. Although the manifestation is a bit... extreme, I can easily see that this technique does not contain any heresy in essence. If you choose a difficult person to perform necromancy, the result will indeed make it seem like you are walking on a tightrope all the time. This is-"

"Wait a minute." Mephiston realized that some answers were within his grasp, and he couldn't bear to let them slip away. "Are you saying that what happened to me could be considered a 'necromancy'?"

This time it was Fujimaru Ritsuka's turn to be interrupted. He was silent for two seconds with a blank look on his face: "...You mean this is not...uh...the result of you executing the spell with your own will, right?"

Mephiston was not interested in details, choosing to emphasize the facts that were relevant only to him: "So, you do think this is a kind of 'necromancy'."

Thinking about it carefully, this result makes sense. In his vision of life and death, he did have a memory of "the black angel possessing him and merging with him", but he was not sure whether it was actually what happened or a metaphor or general image of reality. In addition, this is a bit too different from Mephiston's original understanding of "sentence".

"That's right, and you really need to have a good talk with Sanguinius about this. You should know without me saying that if you use yourself as a carrier to perform a séance, your mind will be more easily influenced by the spirit that descends into reality through your body." Fujimaru Ritsuka warned seriously, "I know from the files of the Inquisition that the name you used before the Second Armageddon War was not 'Mephiston' - if you suddenly decided to change your name because you gained other powers through the séance, I have to say that this was a bad move."

Any educated psyker would know the importance of a name, but Mephiston still retorted: "Callistarius was already dead at that time. From the moment I rose from the ruins of the battlefield, I realized that I was someone else: another person named 'Mephiston'."

"If you retain the name 'Callistarius' in form - never mind, it's been so long, and there's no point in reviewing this now." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed, frowned, and began to think about something. He obviously swallowed the words he hadn't said before asking, "Do you have a clear idea of ​​what spirit you have been possessed by, or what has forcibly possessed you?"

Mephiston glanced at Sigismund who was silent on the side without leaving a trace, weighed the pros and cons for a while, and then spoke: "I think it is very likely the embodiment of my chapter's curse."

After reading the records of the conversation between the Chapter Master and the Imperial Saint at the banquet, the Chief Think Tank was sure that neither the Red Thirst nor the Black Rage was a secret to Fujimaru Ritsuka. As he expected, the latter sighed and gave a rather optimistic prediction: "I had a rough guess. If this is the case, then the good news is that I think as Sanguinius gradually integrates his soul, the black part of the Angel Bloodline Curse should be alleviated; but there is also bad news, the spirit attached to you and Sanguinius will probably gradually weaken."

If this power that did not belong to him and even made him tremble with fear for countless days and nights would be weakened, then Mephiston certainly had nothing to be reluctant about. Even if the final result was that he had to step down from the position of think tank director and go back to being an ordinary editor, he would be very willing. But Sanguino...?

"What does this have to do with the living saint?" he couldn't help but ask.

"First, let me correct a wording. Sanguinius should have never been a 'human' from the beginning to the end. I am sure that he is a complete Warp creature, an entity pieced together by the regrets of Sanguinius' own death, the unfulfilled instructions to his descendants, the long-term beliefs and anecdotes passed down by word of mouth of the Chapter, and the strong hopes of some deceased angel descendants. To be precise, he does not have any definite 'prototype'. He is a completely imaginary creature formed by the Blood Angels' belief in 'angelic virtues' for thousands of years." Fujimaru Ritsuka said, "Secondly, I think the one in you should be essentially the same as him, just reverse the concept. In short, the connection between this and our topic is that in the process of Sanguinius recasting his broken soul, he needs some 'glue' to fill in the parts that he cannot find back, and these two are undoubtedly a convenient resource for him in the sense of mysticism - of course, I can't be 100% sure whether he will use this 'resource'."

She paused, picked up the cup again, and gave Mephiston some time to think and prove. But before she successfully put down the cup, the Chief Librarian's next question caught up with her: "You mean that in the process of Lord Sanguinius reshaping himself, he will inevitably be alienated by some external influences."

"That's roughly how it can be understood." Fujimaru Ritsuka said to the cup, his voice having a little more echo because of it, "It is indeed inevitable that he will have 'some impurities mixed in', but it won't be as serious as 'alienation'."

This brought the final point of the problem back to philosophy, but Mephiston decided not to think about it carefully. The chief think tank sighed, and after a brief silence, he changed the topic and asked some specific implementation details. After Fujimaru Ritsuka answered the relevant questions as much as possible, this stumbling banquet finally came to an end.

When being led out of the Think Tank Sanctuary by the blind servant, Fujimaru Ritsuka's journey was obviously much shorter than when he came in. Sigismund became even more annoyed after realizing this fact belatedly, but Fujimaru Ritsuka was a little distracted, and his mind was obviously no longer on this matter:

"I always feel like I forgot something." After saying goodbye to the servant, she complained to the black knight beside her, "But I really don't remember what I forgot."

-

"I always feel that we have been abandoned by the whole world." Facing the "Prototype No. 1" anchored in a wilderness, Akurdona said, "Do you want to try praying to Om Messiah? Maybe it will work?"

In the past, Gabriel Santo, who believed in the truth of the Empire, would have scolded him and told him to stop making such meaningless suggestions. But now, on his face covered with a lot of mechanical transformation, the few remaining flesh and blood actually showed a thoughtful expression:

"But this thing is not entirely made of Imperial technology." In desperation, the captain of the first company of the Cursed Iron Hands, who believed in the truth of the Empire, actually began to rigorously argue his colleague's unreasonable suggestion, "Do you think her machine soul will believe in Om Messiah?"

(End of this chapter)