Chapter 238: Quickly, Someone! Dante Is Dead!

Zhou Yun was slightly startled.

Aside from Khorne, who had been fixated on Baal, the other three gods had not realized Sanguinius had been resurrected.

After all, when Guilliman was resurrected, nearly all the gaze of the Warp had been drawn to it.

But then Zhou Yun began to understand why.

The four gods likely anticipated Guilliman's resurrection long ago and had already turned their attention to it.

But Sanguinius's resurrection was an event outside fate, occurring simultaneously with the Battle of Cadia.

At that time, all four gods' attention was fixed on Cadia, focused on stirring the Warp tides of the Eye of Terror; aside from Khorne, who had never ceased watching Baal in his attempt to corrupt the Blood Angels, the other three gods paid almost no heed to Baal.

When Sanguinius resurrected, the Hive Mind's dense shadows blocked all Kuishi from the Warp, and the Crimson Scar region where Baal lay was itself an astronomical phenomenon created by Khorne's power, its corresponding position in the Warp almost entirely within the Blood God's domain—this all concealed the signs of Sanguinius's resurrection, and the Emperor may have aided in this as well.

"Did you overlook my own efforts?"

Sanguinius seemed to read Zhou Yun's thoughts and said:

"I worked hard too—during the opening of the Great Rift, when Warp storms raged across the galaxy, I dragged the entire Baal trinary system and the ten-light-year region around it into the rift between reality and the Warp, half-submerged in your Warp essence."

"The nature of the Warp is chaos; even the gods cannot control all flows of its power. And in the original fate, Baal was destined to be swallowed by Warp storms. As long as Khorne doesn't reveal my resurrection, and as long as I remain on Baal, the other three gods won't notice me."

"Remain on Baal?" Zhou Yun emphasized the word "Baal."

"Precisely, within ten light-years of Baal."

Sanguinius nodded slightly in explanation:

"If I leave this range for more than five to ten minutes, they may notice my presence."

Zhou Yun fell into quiet thought—leave Baal, and the other three gods would fix their eyes on him.

Only Primarchs could defeat Primarchs, and this was even truer for Archangels.

Zhou Yun had no desire to step outside and be ambushed in turn by Prospero's Ogrons, Barbarus's old farmer, and Chemos's hook-boys.

Oh, right—Nursery of Rage too; since the Great Rift opened, Angron's resurrection timer had accelerated.

But after a moment's thought, he found a solution.

Zhou Yun reached out and shook his four-dimensional pocket on his belly.

"This four-dimensional pocket of mine is precisely prepared for the lost."

"Step inside, and contemplate!"

Hearing this, Sanguinius's lips curled into a smile.

"We thought of the same thing."

"I have reclaimed the forge world of Hephaestus and gained control of its STC and shipyards."

Sanguinius idly flicked the projector on the table, and a small vessel appeared midair:

"One of the ships there is nearly complete; after minor modifications, it will suffice to maintain a habitable space within your four-dimensional pocket."

"I will select a thousand Blood Angels and Astartes from subordinate chapters to accompany me."

A thousand men—enough to fill an entire Codex regiment—made Zhou Yun nod slightly in satisfaction.

After the Battle of Baal, the Blood Angels had roughly ten thousand warriors left; some needed to guard the Baal trinary, some to train recruits, and others to clear nearby planets of the Hive Fleet—extracting a force of a thousand was already the limit.

Besides, too many would be impractical—these warriors all had to emerge from Zhou Yun's four-dimensional pocket, and too many would be difficult to deploy.

"One more thing: how do we reach Macragge?"

As he spoke, Sanguinius flicked his fingertip, and a star map of the galaxy appeared midair.

Stars glittered like fireflies across the field, but across the void stretched a grotesque, bloody scar—terrifying in its scale.

"The Great Rift's width far exceeds ten light-years; your Gate cannot cross it directly."

"But we all know the Rift isn't solid—it has passages we can traverse. Still, I believe we have a better option."

As he spoke, Sanguinius looked at Zhou Yun.

"... eet up with Dora-Kao? No—Arch-Sage Belisarius Cawl first?"

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow slightly and pointed to the region near Cadia on the star map.

The map zoomed in, revealing the Cadia system; since the Great Rift's opening, nearly the entire region had been engulfed in crimson Warp tides.

But Zhou Yun and Sanguinius both knew the Imperial forces there had not been utterly extinguished.

The Imperial Fists' flagship, Mount Array, still sailed there, and a Mechanicus force led by Arch-Sage Belisarius Cawl was actively operating.

The key Mingyun armor that resurrected Guilliman was crafted by Arch-Sage Belisarius Cawl and is now carried on his person.

According to the original timeline, they would soon encounter the Eldar Death Specters and form an alliance with the Eldar Death-Speaker, Iyvreni, who would guide them through the Webway to Macragge.

"That alien witch is troublesome," Sanguinius said slowly. "If she kills Guilliman, we'll lose all leverage over him."

Zhou Yun nodded knowingly: "We'll hitch a ride on the Eldar Webway—and prevent the Eldar from killing Guilliman first."

"What about Iyvreni? Five minutes—you think you can cut through the Death Specters and send her soul to Slaanesh?"

Killing Iyvreni immediately after using the Webway was clearly the safest option.

"Even the current avatar of the Eldar Death God isn't a match for me."

Sanguinius's lips curled into a mischievous smile:

"Whether I can finish her within five minutes depends on whether Ingead is willing to sacrifice his chosen for one last stand."

"My suggestion: no need to break with the Eldar. If they want to cooperate, then let them."

"Once we've passed through once, your Gate can open directly to the Webway's entrance. If we can obtain the Eldar Webway map, this ancient Gellar artifact the Emperor once craved will be ours."

"Webway map... the Black Library should have one."

Zhou Yun rubbed his chin, recalling the legendary Eldar library, which surely held a relatively complete Webway map.

The only problem: it was occupied by one of the few intact Eldar gods—the Laughing God, Slaanesh.

He was on par with the Star God of the "Dead Emperor's Buffet," the Deceiver; the "All Is Planned," the Many-Faced Lord; and the "I Am Not a God," the Emperor himself—among the galaxy's four greatest tricksters.

Though Slaanesh ranked last among the four, he was still no easy foe.

But if the Emperor's condition were still sound, he would never miss this chance to seize the Webway—and would surely aid Zhou Yun's plan.

Worth a gamble. The Black Library held not only the Webway map but also millennia of Eldar accumulations—Zhou Yun couldn't imagine how much he could sell them for.

Zhou Yun and Sanguinius exchanged a silent glance and instantly agreed—they'd cheat the Eldar. They were a multi-million-year mark for easy plunder.

The Eldar's purpose in helping resurrect Guilliman was to make humanity a shield against Chaos—not to treat humans as true allies.

The Emperor lied many times ten thousand years ago, but one thing he said was absolutely right: aliens are never truly reliable.

In the entire Old Night era, few aliens had never betrayed humanity—and those spindly Eldar were certainly not among them.

If they could use humanity as a shield, Zhou Yun and Sanguinius could covet their multi-million-year hoard.

Zhou Yun had already begun calculating what tools he could use to locate and infiltrate the Black Library.

"By the way, what will you do with Baal?" Zhou Yun shifted his gaze from the star map and looked at Sanguinius with interest.

"I've already written the plan to rebuild the Ninth Legion. Here's the table of contents."

Sanguinius calmly slapped the thick stack of documents beside him—half his height—producing a dull thud:

"It only lacks one person to carry out these plans after I depart."

"That must be a grueling task."

Zhou Yun couldn't help but sigh:

"We should choose a qualified, reliable descendant of Sanguinius to execute them."

"This descendant must fully understand our stance and be willing to defy the Codex—even bear the burden of disloyalty to the Emperor—for the sake of all humanity."

"Oh dear, where could we find such a person?"

"Indeed, indeed—such a person is hard to find," Sanguinius nodded approvingly.

Their gazes turned together toward the great crimson council chamber's doors, as if seeing through the thick panels to Dante outside.

Thud! Hiss!

A collision echoed, like someone in heavy power armor falling.

"... ord Dante, I'm here to relieve you."

"Lord Dante? Lord Dante, why have you fainted?!"

"Gabriel! Blood Chaplain! Come quickly! Lord Dante is dead!"

Gabriel Seth, Captain of the Flesh Tearers, cried out in panic, calling for the Blood Chaplain.

"I've always suspected you tampered with my gene-seed across time—otherwise, how do you explain Gabriel Seth's mouth?"

Sanguinius shrugged slightly, wearing an expression of helpless innocence.

"You blame me for your gene-seed's flaws?" Zhou Yun glanced at Sanguinius. "Seth's a decent fellow—just that mouth of his will kill him someday."

Sanguinius shook his head gently, then pulled a document from the pile and handed it to Zhou Yun.

"One more thing—Larg may not survive."

"... ho?" Zhou Yun's expression twisted slightly. "Larg?"

"You mean Larg is dying?"

"Impossible. You were with me in Asford—you know what Larg's capable of."

"Even if you died, I wouldn't believe Larg was dying!"

Zhou Yun stared in disbelief.

"Just look," Sanguinius pointed to the document in Zhou Yun's hand.

Zhou Yun frowned, lowering his eyes to the paper.

The more he read, the stranger his expression became; finally, he muttered:

"He didn't even die on the spot?!"

(End of Chapter)