Chapter 257: The Arch-Sage Has Virtue!

"My Lord!!!!"

Grephax emerged from Zhou Yun's fourth-dimensional pocket,

her eyes red, tears streaming down her face, her expression so agitated she seemed on the verge of fainting,

Grephax cried out and collapsed to her knees, her forehead pressed against the ground before Zhou Yun.

Everyone present stared at Grephax in shock,

just moments ago, Grephax had only slipped into Zhou Yun's fourth-dimensional pocket for a few minutes—how could she have changed so drastically?

"My Lord!! Punish me!"

"What blindness has clouded my eyes that I failed to see your greatness!"

"I doubted the loyalty of that One! What a grave error I have committed!"

"Upon the Emperor's throne, my soul deserves destruction and torment!"

"My Lord! You have brought us such hope!"

"How merciful you are—to let me witness the Divine and hear His teachings!"

Grephax wept and sniveled, her entire body trembling with a storm of emotions—excitement, shame, guilt, and joy intertwined,

leaving everyone wondering what she had seen inside Zhou Yun's fourth-dimensional pocket.

Leina was the first to lose her composure, watching Grephax's expression,

she simply could not imagine this once stubborn and extreme Inquisitor had become this way,

she looked like a fanatical believer who had abandoned all reason.

"You are unquestionably the true Saint!"

Grephax declared, her face alight with fanaticism,

"You need no recognition from Celestine—you are the Saint, the greatest Saint!"

Zhou Yun stared at the tears, snot, and sweat glistening on Grephax's face, and instinctively stepped back, repulsed,

"I am no Saint!" Zhou Yun said seriously.

"No! You are!" Grephax cried like a mad devotee, reaching out as if to grasp the hem of Zhou Yun's robe—

a mechanical hum sounded,

before Zhou Yun could dodge Grephax's hand, the Arch-Sage Belisarius Cawl suddenly burst forth,

the Arch-Sage's speed and strength were so astonishing that even Captain Carian was stunned,

Belisarius Cawl's mechanical arm seized Grephax's shoulder and slammed her hard against the wall,

"He said, He is not a Saint," Belisarius Cawl's mechanical voice warned, cold and flat.

"No!!"

Grephax roared, thrashing wildly, tears pouring down as she stretched her hand toward Zhou Yun,

"My Lord! Punish me! Punish me for my folly!"

"I have been enlightened! I know my sins! Let my soul and flesh suffer!"

Zhou Yun's face twisted, and he stepped back even further,

this was terrifying.

"He said, He is not!" Belisarius Cawl raised his voice slightly.

"No! You don't know what I saw!"

Grephax shouted,

"If you had seen it too, you would—"

one of Belisarius Cawl's mechanical arms shot out behind him, injecting a sedative directly into Grephax's body through a needle,

"I don't know what you saw, just as you cannot comprehend what I have seen!"

"You don't know what hope he saved! You don't know!"

Grephax screamed.

"You swore to serve Him as your Lord, to obey His commands."

Belisarius Cawl spoke again in his mechanical voice,

"He says He is not a god, nor a Saint."

"But…" Grephax, under the drug's effect, grew calmer, her mind clearer.

"He says He is not," Belisarius Cawl said slowly. "That is His command."

"..."

Grephax froze for a moment, then fell silent—then suddenly realized Belisarius Cawl had consistently used the pronoun "He," a term laden with divinity,

a flood of thoughts raced through her mind, and in an instant, she understood—she turned to Belisarius Cawl with a look of profound admiration,

the Arch-Sage is truly worthy of the title—Arch-Sage, you have virtue!

"Yes, yes, yes—he's not."

"Of course he's neither a god nor a Saint."

Grephax nodded vigorously,

Belisarius Cawl observed Grephax's reaction for a moment, then gently released his mechanical grip.

Grephax bowed slightly to Zhou Yun in apology: "Forgive me, my lord—you understand… seeing that One made me overwrought…"

"You are certainly no Saint—you are a loyal, reliable, and trustworthy… uh… human!"

Grephax spoke those words as if they cost her immense effort.

Seeing Grephax return to normal, Zhou Yun exhaled in relief,

close call—almost acquired a fanatic disciple,

thank the Arch-Sage Belisarius Cawl,

those who work with technology are ultimately more rational than ordinary Imperial humans,

especially a Arch-Sage like Belisarius Cawl, with ten thousand years of accumulated wisdom,

you have virtue, Arch-Sage!

Zhou Yun couldn't help but reach out and pat the red-robed metallic body of Belisarius Cawl,

"Arch-Sage, from now on, you're my blood-brother in spirit."

"You can even take the surname Dora!"

As soon as Zhou Yun spoke, Belisarius Cawl's body trembled visibly,

mechanical parts on his body emitted sharp, grating screeches—some loosened, others tightened; sweat beaded on his remaining half-face,

Zhou Yun blinked in confusion,

did I just break the Arch-Sage with one slap? That can't be right.

At that moment, Grephax stepped forward slightly and patted the Arch-Sage's back reassuringly,

"Arch-Sage, he says it for his own reasons."

"He says he is—he is. He says he isn't—he isn't."

Belisarius Cawl nodded stiffly, turning his head toward Zhou Yun, then lowering it: "You honor me too much."

"From now on, I am Dora Cawl."

The air fell into deathly silence,

Celestine's face twitched; Leina hovered on the edge of shock and stifled laughter.

"... was just joking," Zhou Yun's lips twitched. "Don't take it seriously."

Cawl instantly relaxed—every mechanical part returned to normal.

Zhou Yun felt a strange unease—why did the Arch-Sage seem so tense around him?

Yes, he had gained certain abilities in the realm of warp-tech, including communicating with machine-spirits and empowering machinery,

but couldn't ordinary Mechanicus priests do that too?

Zhou Yun figured his abilities were merely those of a powerful Mechanicus Sage?

Shouldn't Belisarius Cawl be able to distinguish between a powerful Mechanicus Sage and the Omnissiah?

Just as Zhou Yun was about to speak, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind,

"An Eldar infiltrator has entered," Sanguinius said to Zhou Yun.

An Eldar infiltrator?

Of course these Eldar wouldn't sit idle,

Zhou Yun paused briefly, then immediately pulled out the Sherlock Holmes outfit from his fourth-dimensional pocket,

placed the flat cap on his head, raised his magnifying glass,

and within the lens, a figure slowly reflected,

an Eldar in a hood, face obscured by a mirror mask, slipping silently through the fortress,

clearly familiar with the fortress's interior layout, she leapt and darted as if dancing,

each movement barely grazing the patrols of the Cadian 184th and the Blood Angels, utterly silent,

Zhou Yun instantly recognized the Eldar's identity,

"Sylendri Veilwalker, the Eldar Jester of the Veil Path," Zhou Yun whispered.

"Veilwalker?"

Belisarius Cawl turned his head slightly, seemingly puzzled why Zhou Yun mentioned that name.

"You know information about that Eldar Jester?" Grephax noticed the familiarity in Belisarius Cawl's tone when he spoke the name,

Before this, the one responsible for mediation between the Spirit Clan and the Expeditionary Force was She Landeli, the Veil Walker.

"It was her prophecy that guided me to Cadia."

Belisarius Cawl did not conceal it; he spoke plainly:

"She often appears in the void—even I find it hard to detect her, and on several occasions I doubted she was my hallucination."

"Because her appearances are always without trace or form."

The Inquisitorial instincts of Greyfax once again seized her mind, causing her gaze toward Cawl to carry a hint of suspicion.

Belisarius Cawl lowered his head and looked at Zhou Yun, who was fiddling with a small magnifying glass and a cane.

"I originally thought this was the will of the Omnissiah. I still believe so now. Collaborating with the xenos is indeed hard to accept, but if it serves the will of the Omnissiah, this compromise is acceptable."

Zhou Yun raised his eyes slightly in confusion, not understanding why Cawl was looking at him when he said this.

"She has infiltrated and is hiding somewhere within the fortress."

"Damn xenos, sneaking around!"

Anger flashed in Greyfax's eyes; she turned to Zhou Yun and said with a touch of respect:

"My lord, I will retrieve that blasphemous xenos for you."

Hearing Greyfax's respectful words, Zhou Yun's lips twitched slightly.

"I still prefer your earlier defiant demeanor."

He couldn't help saying it,

and as he spoke, he pulled out a Dimensional Door from his fourth-dimensional pocket.

Zhou Yun placed his hand on the Dimensional Door, while simultaneously observing She Landeli, the Veil Walker's movements through the magnifying glass in his other hand.

In the magnifying glass, She Landeli, the Veil Walker, slipped silently past the blind spot between two patrolling soldiers of the 184th Regiment, stealing their Lho cigarettes along the way.

Then She Landeli, the Veil Walker, leapt down from above, attempting to evade the line of sight of the nearby Blood Angels guard.

As She Landeli, the Veil Walker, was mid-air, Zhou Yun suddenly opened the Dimensional Door.

In the magnifying glass, a wooden door suddenly appeared before She Landeli, the Veil Walker.

(End of Chapter)