Chapter 172: Big Nephew Thief, Listen to My Heart

Zhou Yun looked at the information that had appeared in his mind—a map of the Barren Main Star composed of Memphiston's memories.

This chief librarian, with his extraordinary memory, had rendered the map extraordinarily detailed and precise, nearly encompassing all geographical locations on the Barren Main Star.

Whether the vast deserts on the planet, the dead volcano of the Seraph, or the Angel's Keep beneath it.

But the location of Saint Guilliman's tomb was absent—only crudely marked as lying beneath the Angel's Keep.

Zhou Yun furrowed his brow slightly; he didn't believe Memphiston had deliberately concealed it.

He vaguely recalled that the underground sections of the Angel's Keep seemed to be remnants of some ancient civilization, possessing unique properties.

"Beneath the Angel's Keep lies a series of strange tunnels and caverns; these underground sections possess subspace properties and do not occupy the position they theoretically should."

As if noticing Zhou Yun's confusion, Memphiston spoke:

"Historically, the Blood Angels have attempted to excavate these underground sections multiple times, but ultimately found only sand."

"Thus, the underground sections of the Angel's Keep cannot be mapped—they can only be entered via passages within the Angel's Keep itself."

"Whether the chapter's relic vaults, the prison cells, or Saint Guilliman's tomb, all were constructed according to these underground sections."

Cannot be mapped?

Zhou Yun couldn't help but rub his chin; without a map, the Gate of Passage could only take him to places he had already been.

That meant Zhou Yun would have to enter through the Angel's Keep's internal passages.

But even with a map, Zhou Yun would not rashly enter Saint Guilliman's tomb now.

Because the moment he entered and began his actions, the Blood God would notice the signs of Saint Guilliman's resurrection.

At that point, according to the Judgment Machine's verdict, Zhou Yun would have to face Kabanha and Angron crashing down upon him.

Even if Zhou Yun somehow managed to withstand this pair of bloodthirsty demons and Chaos Primarchs, there was no guarantee the Blood God wouldn't escalate further.

Zhou Yun needed to find himself some bodyguards.

He glanced at Memphiston beside him—clearly a good choice; he was one of the top two psykers in the entire Imperium.

But he wasn't enough. What Zhou Yun truly wanted was the Hive Mind; once the Shadow of the Warp reached Barren, everything would improve.

The Swarm would be Zhou Yun's best bodyguard—the first line of defense against Warp incursions into reality.

Once the Hive Mind's Shadow of the Warp enveloped all of Barren, Warp energies would become difficult to penetrate.

Even daemons would find it hard to enter reality.

Zhou Yun even suspected the Swarm's target was Saint Guilliman himself.

At that moment, when Zhou Yun entered Saint Guilliman's tomb, the Hive Mind, fearing Khorne would act first, might actively help Zhou Yun block Khorne's daemonic invasions.

After all, if Saint Guilliman resurrected, the Swarm still had hope of obtaining his genetic sequence.

But if Saint Guilliman were transformed into a Daemon Primarch, the Swarm would be left sucking dust.

Zhou Yun would gain a window.

Between the fall of Cadia and the opening of the Great Rift, after the Swarm arrived on Barren—this was the opportunity to resurrect Saint Guilliman.

Zhou Yun's thoughts shifted, and he looked at Memphiston: "What is Dante doing now? Has the Crimson Conclave convened?"

Memphiston nodded slightly: "Commander Dante is convening the Crimson Conclave."

"Representatives of the Sons will gather in the Crimson Conclave Hall, and Dante will unite them in his own way."

"I see," Zhou Yun frowned slightly.

If Zhou Yun and Memphiston's plan to reach Saint Guilliman's tomb became known to so many chapters, chaos would surely follow.

Many of the sons already harbored suspicions toward the Saint Dora Sect and Memphiston.

Seeing Zhou Yun and Memphiston together, they would inevitably draw dangerous conclusions.

Zhou Yun is the Chaos God, Memphiston is Erebus, the Blood Angels are the Sons of Horus, Saint Guilliman is Horus.

The déjà vu was too strong—Erebus had truly ruined the credibility of resurrecting Primarchs.

Another Dora disciple must be rushing frantically toward Cadia as well.

Thinking this, Zhou Yun's gaze swept across the inverted city.

He no longer needed to search for a map of the Barren Main Star—Memphiston's was detailed enough.

But he couldn't come here for nothing, could he?

Perfect timing—he could hunt down that Lictor now, preventing it from later sabotaging the Angel's Keep's void shield array.

Memphiston seemed to sense Zhou Yun's thoughts.

"My lord, it is merely one Lictor," Memphiston's voice was light and calm, yet Zhou Yun still sensed the pride beneath it.

Memphiston clearly resented Zhou Yun interfering in his hunt.

He had foreseen the Lictor's future deeds—destroying the blood-cocoon halls where new recruits were nurtured—enough to ignite fury in any Blood Angel.

Memphiston had nearly let it slip away, had Khan not warned him.

Hunting the Lictor was Memphiston's duty and honor—it was his prey, his enemy, the xenos that would kill his new-brothers, the stain he must cleanse.

These Astartes were so stubborn. Zhou Yun always preferred overwhelming numbers over solo combat.

"Would you have me send others to erase the stain on your honor? Do you think my shoulders so weak I cannot bear my own honor alone?"

Zhou Yun looked at Memphiston and shrugged.

Memphiston's eyes filled with confusion, and Zhou Yun explained:

"This is what Horus said when he went to kill Governor Yogan Tamb of the Devan satellite."

"Yogan Tamb was Horus's old friend; Horus personally appointed him governor of Devan."

"But Yogan Tamb betrayed the Imperium. Horus saw it as a stain on his honor, and in his rage, swore to slay the traitor himself—even though three Titans stood behind him, capable of leveling Yogan Tamb's derelict vessel with ease."

Zhou Yun looked at Memphiston, who stood frozen in stunned silence:

"We all know what happened afterward—Horus was mortally wounded by his nemesis's blade, and the source of all tragedy lies here."

"Big nephew, I once told your father: many things in the galaxy go wrong because of honor, pride, and brotherhood."

Memphiston's pupils trembled slightly—he had never imagined Zhou Yun knew the exact words Horus had spoken.

And he knew the details so thoroughly, as if he had stood beside Horus himself.

Memphiston lowered his head, visibly moved, and spoke in a low voice: "By the name of Saint Guilliman, if I fail to complete the hunt..."

"Please rid the Blood Angels and Barren of that Lictor."

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Zhou Yun nodded slightly; if Memphiston succeeded on his own, he would not interfere.

But in the original timeline, that Lictor had indeed evaded Memphiston—the Hive Mind's specially bred Lictor was no ordinary foe.

It might not stand against Memphiston in open combat, but escaping from him was certainly possible.

At that moment, a piercing bell rang from the center of the inverted city; both Memphiston and Zhou Yun turned their gaze toward it.

"It's the summons," Memphiston murmured; he had sensed the psychic resonance in the air—the signal of the Genestealers gathering.

The gathering hall was a massive structure at the heart of the inverted city.

The entire building resembled four giant metallic bubbles fused together, once the administrative center of an alien civilization.

Now, the Genestealers had modified it into their meeting place.

Zhou Yun and Memphiston entered the gathering hall separately.

As previously agreed, if Memphiston failed, Zhou Yun would act as the final safeguard and hunt the Lictor.

Yet according to prior intelligence, the Lictor should not yet have reached the Genestealers' stronghold.

The hall was packed with Genestealers, yet Zhou Yun could easily pick out Memphiston.

His crimson power armor, resembling peeled muscle, was far too conspicuous.

But the chief librarian was confident in his psychic powers—his cognitive interference made every Genestealer around him believe he was one of their own.

Zhou Yun trusted more in the clay-like facial prosthetics and the actor's cue board & robot director's performance—these two tools allowed him to perfectly impersonate nearly anyone.

Suddenly, a brilliant pale-blue psychic light exploded in midair; the air grew icy. The Genestealers swiftly parted, forming a circular clearing.

Shadows rippled, and three figures slowly emerged from the darkness.

A floating skull crafted from an alien head glided through the air; its speaker emitted a voice:

"Chief Blood Mutant, Master of the Sheathed Holy Chalice, the Deformed—Kabro!"

A man clad in a crimson robe resembling a Blood Angel priest, his body saturated with purple-red reagents, his face swollen with mutated pustules, emerged from the shadows.

He was a Plaguebearer—a Genestealer master of genetic technology and biological alchemy, clearly the counterpart to the Blood Angels' Chief Blood Priest Kabro in this twisted cult.

"Chief Librarian Lord, Lord of Death, the Mind—Memphiston!"

A woman in a purple robe emerged from the shadows, her head swollen with grotesque brain tissue, veins bulging across her body, radiating a faint blue glow.

She was clearly the Cult Leader, designed as Memphiston's counterpart; unlike the Genestealer leader Asford, her mutations were far more severe—her overgrown brain tissue had enhanced her psychic power.

But it was useless—she had not pierced Memphiston's cognitive distortion.

Yet her appearance alone twisted Memphiston's expression into a grimace, clearly delivering a psychic shock.

Then, from the shadows, a figure six to seven meters tall slowly stepped forward, radiating terrifying energy; a bestial roar erupted from its mouth.

"Four-Clawed Dante! Master of the Sheathed Saint Guilliman's Offspring! Four-Clawed Dante! Lord of Barren! Four-Clawed Dante! Heir of the Sheathed Saint Guilliman!"

(End of Chapter)