Chapter 170

"By the Winged Saint Guilliman, brother of our bloodline, do you mind if I join you at your table?"

"As a brother who also carries the blood of the Winged Saint Guilliman, you surely won't refuse me, correct?"

Zhou Yun looked at the Mephiston before him, a smile tugging at his lips, his tone utterly sincere.

His voice carried an undeniable sincerity that made Mephiston's body hesitate slightly.

Mephiston feared that refusing Zhou Yun might expose him too soon.

Gene-thieves almost always regarded each other as blood brothers and rarely turned down such a minor request as sharing a table.

He gave a slight nod and murmured, "Fine."

This confirmed Zhou Yun's suspicion.

If his sole purpose was to deal with gene-thieves,

Mephiston had come to find the Lictor who had infiltrated Baal—he did not wish to reveal his identity prematurely.

According to Zhou Yun's memory, one Lictor had secretly entered Baal by clinging to the hull of a Loyalist Angel's vessel.

In the future, that Lictor would use buried desert pipelines to cooperate with the Digging Vipers and gene-thieves, tunneling into the Angel's Bastion,

destroying not only the Bastion's Void Shield array but also the Blood-Coffin Hall where the Blood Angels bred their recruits—Zhou Yun would call that Lictor the Great Devourer's Chosen.

He shook off his thoughts, sat down across from Mephiston, and spoke with a sincerity so profound it moved the heart:

"Praise the Winged Saint Guilliman! You truly are a brother who shares the blood of the Winged Saint Guilliman—so kind, so willing to let this pitiful, starving, recently bereaved brother of ours share your table."

Zhou Yun's voice sent chills down the spine, his emotional tone thick enough to raise goosebumps,

as if Mephiston had done something worthy of Zhou Yun's eternal gratitude.

Mephiston visibly froze; even he could not deny the authenticity of the gratitude in Zhou Yun's voice.

"Let us praise the Winged Saint Guilliman together! Let us devoutly praise the blood of the Winged Saint Guilliman that flows within us!" Zhou Yun said with genuine fervor.

Mephiston's expression twisted slightly; he lowered his voice and murmured, "Praise the Winged Saint Guilliman."

"... raise the blood of the Winged Saint Guilliman that flows within us." He spoke the second phrase as if biting down on iron.

He said it! He actually said it!

Zhou Yun couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his lips.

Watching Mephiston's grim face murmur prayers to the Winged Saint Guilliman, Zhou Yun felt a perverse pleasure—as if he had seduced a pure maiden into sin.

The winged figure within the white light couldn't help but shake its head, as if complaining that Zhou Yun was tormenting its offspring.

But Mephiston quickly regained his composure.

As an infiltrator, he had surely anticipated this moment.

The Winged Saint Guilliman was a false faith, with no counterpart in the Warp—unlike the four Chaos Gods, the last Eldar deity, the Second Brother of Chaos, or the new Saint Doraemon on Baal.

Praying to the Winged Saint Guilliman would not bring any adverse consequences.

For the Blood Angels, the Emperor, and humanity, Mephiston would even resort to ancient blasphemous rites.

To utter a single prayer to a false faith—he could easily accept it.

"One portion of spiced wine laced with human blood, roasted servants, and commoners with their heads removed."

"All ingredients must be under twenty years old—preferably from native Baal bloodlines."

Zhou Yun, seated across from Mephiston, turned to the restaurant owner behind him.

The owner, his body sheathed in chitinous carapace and wielding four arms to prepare meals, burst into laughter:

"Brother, you're joking! We're not mindless ghouls blown apart by radiation!"

"The children of the Winged Saint Guilliman would never commit such cannibalistic blasphemy!"

"I'll prepare you salt-baked fire-scorpion and a cup of blood-root infusion."

Zhou Yun gestured to the owner, signaling it was fine.

Across from him, Mephiston clenched his fists, a flash of rage crossing his eyes.

Zhou Yun's mockery was too sharp, too precise—it struck Mephiston's rawest wound.

But Mephiston calmed himself quickly.

It was precise. Too precise.

If this man didn't know Mephiston's true identity, he could never have coincidentally targeted his deepest vulnerability.

Has this gene-thief been unaffected by my psychic distortion?

This stunned Mephiston—he had full confidence in his psychic power; even a gene-thief leader, if not actively focused, would struggle to resist it.

Yet this man seemed to have come here specifically to find Mephiston. He couldn't fathom how he'd been exposed.

He nearly wanted to immediately probe the man's mind with his psychic power—

DANGER!!!

A sensation of soul-rending peril surged through his psychic sense, instantly halting his action.

Sweat dripped from Mephiston's brow.

He recalled everything that had just happened and quickly realized this man was no gene-thief.

This man was wearing a false face—and his performance, his mocking tone—

Oh shit, the Chaos God of Change! Mephiston's first thought was the Lord of Change.

Only recently had a Great Daemon of the Lord of Change attempted to incite civil strife among Guilliman's children—something Mephiston and Sixth Company warrior Laphen had stopped.

But Mephiston soon realized something was wrong.

If this were a Great Daemon of the Lord of Change, he would have hidden far deeper.

That mockery of his—other gene-thieves might not notice—but as a Blood Angel, Mephiston would instantly recognize it as a jab at himself and his blood-brothers.

Who drinks blood? Who eats flesh? Didn't Mephiston know that?

Was this man subtly reminding Mephiston of his true identity?

Mephiston suddenly understood—he had a hunch who this man was.

As the Blood Angels' Librarian, he already knew Saint Doraemon and Zhou Yun of Asford were one and the same.

And he knew Zhou Yun possessed the unique ability to alter his appearance—he immediately recognized the man before him.

This sent a chill down Mephiston's spine: the candidate for one of the three seats in the Warp was sitting right across from him.

How did he get here? Why? What connection did he have with the gene-thieves?

And Mephiston's concealment had failed—his gaze toward Zhou Yun now carried clear wariness.

But according to Asford's experience, this man should be hostile toward the Hive Mind.

Zhou Yun watched Mephiston's expression shift multiple times within seconds—from anger to calm, from suspicion to wariness, and finally, a hint of reverence.

Zhou Yun was utterly baffled—he'd just been joking with him.

He often joked like this with the winged figure in the white light—look, the figure wasn't even upset.

After all, that winged figure might one day become his father.

The winged figure in the white light might be the man who could become his father.

Forget it. At least he now recognized Zhou Yun's identity—and he at least knew Zhou Yun meant him no harm.

Zhou Yun was intensely curious: how had Mephiston learned of the Lictor's location?

According to the normal timeline, he shouldn't have known.

"Brother, where do you come from? How did you arrive? And where are you headed?" Zhou Yun carefully chose his words.

Too many spies around—he couldn't ask directly, and he feared more: was the Blood God watching them?

Revealing too much might alert the Blood God to his true purpose.

"Huh?" Mephiston blinked in confusion—but the confusion vanished in an instant as he grasped Zhou Yun's meaning.

"I come from a desert that was once grassland. A rider brought me here, to meet the Living Saint Guillimel."

So he was here for the Lictor. Wait—grassland? Rider?

Zhou Yun suddenly understood—he caught the keywords: Chagatai Khan. Khan had told Mephiston about the Lictor's existence.

Khan! You haven't abandoned your old countryman!

As for why Khan had come—

Zhou Yun guessed it was because, when he opened the portal, he had briefly crossed paths with Khan in the Webway.

Khan might have noticed the winged figure in the white light beside Zhou Yun at that moment.

Zhou Yun paused slightly.

If so, Khan might have told Mephiston about it.

Which meant Mephiston might know Guilliman could be resurrected.

Zhou Yun and Mephiston's eyes locked sharply.

This was a topic absolutely forbidden to discuss!

The Blood God was always watching Baal—if either Zhou Yun or Mephiston spoke aloud of this,

a Great Daemon would likely crash into this gene-thief stronghold the next instant.

But Guilliman's resurrection couldn't be mentioned—what about Roboute Guilliman's resurrection?

Zhou Yun weighed his words, then grinned and said:

"I believe Roboute Guilliman has betrayed humanity and joined the Hive Mind."

"Huh?" Mephiston was thrown off by Zhou Yun's bizarre statement.

"First, Roboute Guilliman is exceptionally skilled at mass-producing troops—and so is the Hive Mind."

"Second, Guilliman is always rushing to reinforce Terra—and the main Hive Fleet is always rushing toward Terra as well."

Secondly, Guilliman is always on the way to reinforce Terra, while the main force of the Tyranid swarm is always on the way to arrive.

Then, we all know that the Tyranid Hive Fleet came to the galaxy likely because Roboute Guilliman ignited the Pharos Lighthouse—this is crucial.

Finally, the decisive evidence is that just as the Hive Fleet was about to descend upon Baal, Roboute Guilliman happened to return—could this possibly be a coincidence?

Because he knew that the resurrected Blade Saint Guilliman would be his greatest obstacle to corrupting humanity!

It was Guilliman who ordered the Hive Fleet to invade Baal, to clear away his obstacles!

"Huh???" Methushton was utterly baffled.

(End of Chapter)