Chapter 307: Then, Kiriman, What Is the Price? (Chapter 66, Praise Slaanesh!)

Zhou Yun knew he was absolutely right to entrust professional matters to professionals.

Kiriman functioned like a rigid political machine, suppressing all self, emotion, and irrationality beneath a seemingly gentle smile, meticulously securing every advantage for humanity and thwarting every conspiracy Slaanesh had planted.

Even the Eldar Laughing God could not match Kiriman in politics; Kiriman's will seemed woven into the vast sea of documents, slowly eroding Slaanesh's island of deceit.

Kiriman even invoked his lack of authorized authority over all humanity to demand a temporary freeze on humanity's obligations under the agreement.

Yet he demanded that Slaanesh, as the Eldar's most autonomous deity, immediately fulfill the Eldar's obligations under the agreement.

In short, before Kiriman, Sanguinius, and Zhou Yun returned to Terra, humanity would get free labor from the Eldar.

He had no idea what methods Kiriman used to make Slaanesh agree to such an outrageous demand.

After the basic agreement was reached, Zhou Yun, Sanguinius, and Kiriman withdrew first to the Ptolemaic Library on Macragge.

The agreements Kiriman had drafted in a short time were also delivered there.

Seeing the mountain of documents, the librarian of the Ptolemaic Library, Archivist Digris, lifted his head in stunned silence.

This archivist bore none of his former vigor; his frame had grown thin, strands of hair between the cables had turned white, his face was heavy with exhaustion, and the psychic light in his eyes had dimmed.

Kiriman assigned Digris two tasks.

First, organize the entire Ptolemaic Library's historical records and uncover the true history of the Empire over the past ten thousand years.

Humanity needed authentic history to guide its future; Kiriman himself needed it too.

Second, seal all records concerning the Second Empire and fabricate new records to fill that period.

This was the true cause of Digris's exhaustion—filling a historical void was no simple task.

Seeing Digris's ravaged face, Zhou Yun felt a pang of sympathy.

He reached into his fourth-dimensional pocket and shoved the Eldar's records of the Second Empire into Digris's hands.

"These are the Eldar's records of the Second Empire's history," Zhou Yun said, patting Digris's shoulder. "I hope they help."

Digris stared at Zhou Yun with a dead, vacant, and agonized expression—what kind of overtime had reduced him to such despair?

After Digris moved away the documents like a servitor, Zhou Yun turned to Kiriman.

"This will be a comprehensive alliance: the Eldar will open their Black Library, the Webway, and all alien technologies to us; the Jester will become ours, integrated into our strength; and we must detail every planet's division of interests, joint command of our combined forces, intelligence sharing, and the roles of specific Eldar Arkships and Ghar in human-Eldar cooperation."

Kiriman swiftly outlined the gains he had extracted from the Eldar; Zhou Yun's head began to spin.

"These are merely broad summaries—the specifics are far more complex. You may read them in detail after Digris completes his organization—"

"Skip it!"

Zhou Yun recoiled in alarm.

In a certain sense, Kiriman was the most terrifying Primarch; he possessed a unique talent for dragging others into his work, turning them into miserable tools within his order, just like himself.

Zhou Yun even suspected this was an outward manifestation of Kiriman's Warp nature—even Slaanesh seemed unable to escape his influence.

"Just tell me what Slaanesh wants from us," Zhou Yun asked Kiriman in return.

Gaining the aid of the Laughing God and the entire Eldar race surely came at a cost.

Though Kiriman had deferred payment until their return to Terra.

"I assume you're not interested in the specifics of the exchange," Kiriman said, gathering his thoughts.

"I'll only tell you what concerns you—the thing Slaanesh wants most."

"First, Slaanesh demands you transport into your fourth-dimensional pocket at least enough Eldar to sustain the survival of their species."

"Second, whenever the Eldar face extinction-level disasters, you must transport as many Eldar as possible into your fourth-dimensional pocket."

"Third, you must hunt down the incarnations of Inade and seal them within your fourth-dimensional pocket, forcing Him back into silence."

"Hmm, so what's the cost?" Zhou Yun asked, blinking in confusion.

Why only list benefits and not the price?

Selling Eldar into the fourth-dimensional pocket for profit? Wasn't that free money?

Hunting Inade was the same—Slaanesh didn't need to ask; Zhou Yun had no intention of letting Inade go either.

Or rather, Inade was unlikely to let Zhou Yun go. Competition in their domains, stealing Slaanesh away—these were all obstacles to Inade's true birth.

Watching Kiriman's expression, Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Is that the cost?" he asked, unable to hide his disbelief.

Kiriman gave a slight nod.

". uh?" A question mark appeared above Zhou Yun's head.

Hunting Inade's incarnations was understandable—Slaanesh clearly wanted to prevent Inade from ascending and destroying the Eldar entirely.

Destroying the incarnations would force Inade's core will back into complete silence, making the Eldar safer.

If needed later, they could even attempt to awaken Him again.

But stuffing Eldar into the fourth-dimensional pocket… hmm, the Eldar sold into it never returned to Slaanesh.

Did Slaanesh truly believe the fourth-dimensional pocket led to the twenty-second century?

Honestly, Zhou Yun himself found this hard to believe—where did things sent into the fourth-dimensional pocket go? Even for him, it remained a mystery.

But since Slaanesh was so certain… Zhou Yun wouldn't refuse free benefits.

"When does He plan to hunt Inade's incarnations?" Zhou Yun asked Kiriman.

"He claims any time is suitable. He will invite Inade to the Black Library to discuss the Eldar's future."

"What a simple, crude trick…" Zhou Yun's lips twitched.

No mistake! One shot! One content! One look!

Inade's incarnations shouldn't be hard to handle; at their birth, they were barely enough to fight Slaanesh's chief daemon, Shalash, and they'd even been beaten by Ahriman, the Chosen of Tzeentch—hardly a disgrace.

Even now, with the Deathguard wielding four Old Women's Swords and Inade's power awakened further, he still couldn't match a Primarch.

But Zhou Yun wanted to test the incantations he'd just retrieved from the Black Library on Inade.

"You should refine your faith as soon as possible," Sanguinius seemed to sense Zhou Yun's thoughts.

"Your current faith is too chaotic and disordered—most of it cannot flow into you or Fat Tiger the Daemon. This severely limits Fat Tiger's power."

"To wield incantations quickly, you must use faith to strengthen both you and Fat Tiger."

Zhou Yun nodded slightly in agreement, while Kiriman frowned slightly.

He had always been skeptical of faith, tending to view it as merely a peculiar psychic phenomenon.

"By the way," Kiriman suddenly spoke.

"Lord Zhou Yun, I received an application just now in the office."

"A legion not under me or Sanguinius wishes to meet you."

(End of Chapter)

Lord Zhou Yun, I just received an application while in the office.

A legion not under my command or Saint Guilliman wishes to meet with you.

(End of Chapter)