Chapter 427: This is one small step for Holy Doraemon, but one giant leap for the Mechanicum

What the fuck is this?!

Zhou Yun stared blankly at the majestic metal colossus,

a giant statue of Doraemon cast from thick metal,

Doraemon's round, plump face gazed down from the sky over the crimson earth, its circular arm extended at a forty-five-degree angle toward the heavens, as if issuing commands to the entire planet Mars,

the hazy orange-gold afternoon light of Mars bathed the statue's blue paint, instantly turning everything around it blue—including Zhou Yun's face,

staring at the colossus, his mind went numb, a jumble of chaotic thoughts flashing through his skull,

many years later, standing in the twenty-second century, Zhou Yun would recall that distant afternoon when Wuwula took him to Mars to visit the Doraemon colossus.

Zhou Yun turned his gaze to Wuwula,

Wuwula's massive body trembled instantly, hastily saying: "My lord, this was not my doing."

Zhou Yun now knew who had arranged it,

the crimson-clothed mechanical giant crawler of Mars, wielding the Axe of Om Misaiya as a scepter, stepped forward from beneath the statue and bowed to Zhou Yun with reverent posture.

"Calus."

Zhou Yun took a deep breath and said:

"You know I'm not a god, right?"

"Of course, my holy lord," Belisarius Calus bowed his head humbly. "As you yourself stated, you are clearly not a god."

"Then tell me what the hell this is!"

Zhou Yun pointed at the metal colossus,

the statue was too visually overwhelming, its art style utterly alien to this galaxy, making Zhou Yun's nerves fray,

he feared it might suddenly move at any moment and perform a Doraemon standing atop the earth—"Could this thing actually move?" Zhou Yun gasped.

"Move?" Belisarius Calus visibly froze, then his remaining half-face tightened sharply, eyes widening: "It can move?!"

Hearing Calus's words, Zhou Yun sucked in a sharp breath and cast a wary glance at the Grand Sage of the Mechanicum.

Calus noticed Zhou Yun's gaze and swiftly, violently shook his head: "My lord, you misunderstand—this is not idol worship."

"You yourself said you are not a god. How could I defile your glory with false idolatry? Look here."

He handed Zhou Yun a data slate displaying production reports from factories near the colossus.

"At the closest point to the statue, our production efficiency increased by 222 percent; even at twenty-two kilometers away, efficiency rose by twenty-two percent."

"My lord, this is not superstition or idol worship—it is purely rational, designed to boost Mars's overall production efficiency, not blind faith."

"Really?" Zhou Yun hesitated, staring at the data slate in Calus's hands,

his will instantly extended outward, penetrating every machine around him,

indeed, machines near the colossus operated far more efficiently than others. After all, Zhou Yun did occupy a position within the Domain of Malevolent Arts, and worshiping him was as effective as worshiping Om Misaiya —both could channel a portion of the Domain's power to enhance mechanical efficiency.

According to Calus's report, worshiping Zhou Yun was even more effective than worshiping Om Misaiya,

which made sense—Zhou Yun couldn't even say what Om Misaiya was, but as a rival within the Domain of Malevolent Arts, he could swear the Mechanicum's worship of Om Misaiya yielded nothing, at best pointing vaguely toward the Emperor.

This left Zhou Yun uncertain. He didn't want to be worshipped as a god, but if Calus was right—that this was purely for efficiency—it might not be so bad.

Zhou Yun flipped through Calus's report. He had conducted numerous trials and experiments here, formalizing prayer rituals dedicated to Zhou Yun and the Holy Doraemon.

"Praise the Great Holy Doraemon: you are not a god, yet your holiness ignites the roar of machines and surges forth power."

"Holy Doraemon is not a god, but Holy Doraemon is supreme—the primal force within all things."

"You are the Source of Power, the First Force, the First Cause of all machinery's motion—but you are not a god."

Every prayer Calus designed emphasized that Zhou Yun was not a god—he was the Primal Force, distinct from the Machine God or Om Misaiya. The Primal Force was not divine; it was the first impetus of creation, the first force at the dawn of the universe, the First Cause of all things—but absolutely not a god.

"Mars's equatorial circumference is roughly twenty-two thousand kilometers. I plan to build one thousand holy statues encircling the equator in Phase One, lifting Mars's entire production efficiency, then extend them along lines of latitude and longitude until the whole planet is bathed in your blessing."

"Rest assured, I've verified all these plans with the Truth-Seeking Oracle. They are beneficial, harmless."

Calus had previously requested the Truth-Seeking Oracle thirty times through Guilliman—he never imagined he'd use them for this.

Zhou Yun frowned. After all, suppression was worse than Shudao; Calus had done nothing wrong—he'd merely conducted precise trials and small-scale experiments without acting unilaterally without Zhou Yun's consent.

"You just enlightened me—we could design your holy statues as mobile units resembling knights or Titans."

"Deploy them onto battlefields: they'd boost our machines' efficiency and theoretically suppress the weapons, power armor, and war machines of traitors."

Belisarius Doraemon Calus said with excited fervor.

"... ou." Zhou Yun rubbed his temples. Theoretically, it was feasible—channeling his power from the Domain of Malevolent Arts—

but the aesthetic was so abstract. Finally, Zhou Yun sighed: "For any matter involving faith, if you're uncertain, you must consult the Truth-Seeking Oracle."

Calus bowed humbly, listening intently.

Zhou Yun scratched his head, turning to Wuwula, already loaded onto the transport vehicle beside him,

"Take me to that book you mentioned."

Wuwula had mentioned that whenever he came to Mars, he inexplicably began dreaming of the Dragon of Mars—even though he'd long since lost the function of sleep,

the strangest part: these dreams involved no warp influence. Even attempts using the Unreachable, Black Stone, and Necro-Lattice Matrix failed to suppress them,

and this phenomenon occurred because Wuwula had acquired a strange tome, said to come from the Dragon of Mars's guardian, recording the true origins of the Mechanicum,

but upon obtaining it, Wuwula found only scribbles resembling demonic glyphs—those with weak wills collapsed into frothing seizures, those with strong wills simply fainted. Even with his array of Thinker matrices aiding his mind, Wuwula could not read it—only the dreams persisted.

Zhou Yun had come to Mars specifically to see this book.

Wuwula's body hummed faintly, hesitating for a moment, as if reluctant—like something here still mattered to him,

but it was Zhou Yun's command. Wuwula ordered the transport vehicle to move, carrying Zhou Yun toward the nearby Olympus Hive.

Belisarius Doraemon Calus, watching Wuwula depart with Zhou Yun, revealed a smile on his remaining half-face,

his massive body unfolded rapidly, closing in on the elevator entrance, his form casting a shadow over a single footprint on the ground,

Zhou Yun's first step on Mars—in Calus's eyes, an incomparable holy relic,

numerous machines emerged from his body, swiftly cutting the ground and surrounding the footprint with a stasis field.

"This is one small step for Holy Doraemon, but one giant leap for the Mechanicum."

Calus quoted the words of Saint Armstrong, canonized by the Mechanicum.

Wuwula's massive body was hoisted and crammed into the vast chamber atop Olympus Hive.

The room was large, but far from luxurious—its interior was stark, piled high with chaotic mechanical schematics and documents,

clearly, even a Castellan could not escape the High Lords' curse of overtime.

A servitor arrived before Wuwula and Zhou Yun, carrying a massive safe,

Wuwula deactivated the force field covering the safe, opened it, and exposed the ancient book within to Zhou Yun's view,

"Knight? Knight! Knight?!"

"Fuck you! Physics doesn't exist!"

"Is this still some medieval backward planet?!"

A chaotic, frenzied torrent of curses surged from the ordinary-looking thick-leather tome,

its cover was tattered, yet the cracks formed an inexplicable geometric structure,

the book appeared finite, yet to Zhou Yun it felt spatially infinite,

it was an utterly arcane sensation, saturated with pure material-world wisdom,

Zhou Yun pondered briefly, then seized the book and shoved it into his fourth-dimensional pocket.

【Item Name: The Book of the Great Lie】

【Origin: Sol System—Mars—Dragon's Prison】

【Evaluation: An ancient tome born in the Dragon's Prison. Said to record the true origins of the Martian Mechanicum. Like all things within the Dragon's Prison, this book is part of the Dragon of Mars—indeed, it is the Dragon of Mars itself, imbued with its malice and wisdom, connected to the Dragon's eternal dream.】

【Production Date: 303. 1】

【Status: Will the Dragon of Mars dream of psychic medieval knights?】

(End of Chapter)