Chapter 54: Cod Sacrifice, Cod God; Perch Offering, Perch Throne

“Two friends, could you spare me a few minutes?”

“Allow me to introduce to you our Heavenly Father and Savior, the Merciful Four-Armed Divine Emperor.”

The woman in the purple robe smiled with devout gentleness, arms folded expectantly.

Her bald head glowed faintly under the hanging bulbs between the pipes, faint traces of what seemed like keratinous plate-like protrusions visible beneath.

They came to me on their own.

Zhou Yun paused slightly—he had been considering how to locate the Gene Thieves Cult.

True, Gene Thieves bore many inhuman traits, but in the Bottom Nest, where mutants thrived, they weren’t particularly conspicuous.

Besides, Augustus Flax had abandoned control of the Lower Nest—how much less would he care for the Bottom Nest?

The Gene Thieves here needed no concealment; they could openly spread their blasphemous doctrines and genetic corruption.

Zhou Yun smiled at the woman before him: “I didn’t expect anyone in the Bottom Nest to devoutly worship the Emperor.”

As he spoke, Zhou Yun glanced at the hand-painted icon hanging on the wall:

“But your Emperor seems… different.”

“We have seen the Emperor’s true form from the stars.”

The woman bowed her head devoutly to Zhou Yun:

“The Emperor is so merciful, yet heretics have twisted His intent—just as they hacked away two of His arms from His icon.”

“The Emperor was born with four arms to embrace all beings—mutants or malformed, rich or poor, noble or lowly.”

“The unfortunate fools worship the two-armed false Emperor, receiving only oppression, toil, and suffering.”

“The blessed lineage worships the four-armed Merciful Emperor, and with their ears hear the unified song of the stars.”

As she spoke, the woman gestured to the surroundings:

“Those who believe, even in the Bottom Nest, unite as one, sharing joy and comfort, like one family, one blood.”

“Those who disbelieve, even in the Upper Nest, grow divided, turning on each other like bitter enemies.”

“If you revere the Four-Armed Divine Emperor and dwell with our lineage, you may reside here forever—you shall be family, kin of our blood.”

“If you do not believe, then leave. We bestow only the love of family upon those of our faith.”

With that, the woman stepped back, awaiting Zhou Yun’s response.

Zhou Yun feigned devotion, raising his hands in a prayerful gesture.

“You see, I have always been a devout believer in the Emperor.”

“But the Emperor I worship differs from yours.”

“The false worship of the two-armed Emperor spreads among fools; believing in deceitful dogma is not your fault.”

The woman assumed Zhou Yun worshipped the two-armed Emperor—the version of the State Church.

“The Emperor I worship has six arms and four legs, each possessing extraordinary abilities, each with unique techniques, His divine power and psychic energy astonishing all, His secret moves delivering shocking surprises to the Warp!”

Zhou Yun placed his hand devoutly over his chest and continued:

“The first arm is a lie detector, forcing the Lord of Change to speak truth—only truth flows from His beak.”

“The second arm is soap and cleanser, purifying the Plague God of Decay, making swollen bodies emit mint fragrance.”

“The third arm is the legendary Eagle Hand, forcing the Dark Prince to renounce lust on the spot.”

“The fourth arm is a cod and a perch—Cod Sacrifice, Cod God; Perch Offering, Perch Throne.”

Zhou Yun ignored the terrified expressions on the woman and Jeanne’s faces, continuing unabated:

“The fifth arm is a screwdriver, capable of dismantling all of Vash’tor’s mechanical creations.”

“The sixth arm is the Hand of Nangong Wenyah, making Brother Gao Mao love peace.”

“The Emperor’s four legs are even stronger!”

Zhou Yun grew more enthusiastic; the surrounding residents stared at him in horror.

“The first leg kicks the Great Devourer’s ass, giving the Tyranids anorexia.”

“The second leg kicks the Tau’s ass, making the Path of the Greater Good flourish.”

“The third leg kicks the Eldar’s ass, causing the Eldar Death God Inader to be born on the spot.”

“The fourth leg kicks Abaddon’s ass, forcing the Chaos Warmaster to swear loyalty!” As he spoke, Zhou Yun involuntarily spread his arms and cried out loudly:

“Great is the Six-Armed Emperor!”

“Six-Armed Emperor! Yes! Yes!”

“Get out of our gathering place!!!”

The woman in purple before Zhou Yun cut him off with a shrill voice,

gesturing a warding sign with her fingers, staring at Zhou Yun with revulsion and terror:

“Heretic!”

“Blasphemer!”

“Take your filthy doctrine and leave our gathering place!”

The other residents in the gathering showed similar expressions, regarding Zhou Yun as if he were a thing of extreme filth and blasphemy.

Zhou Yun suspected that if he stayed any longer, they would start throwing garbage at him.

!. Read

“Ah, what a pity.”

Zhou Yun sighed, his face filled with sorrow:

“You’d rather believe in the false four-armed version than accept the true six-armed faith!”

Saying this, Zhou Yun grabbed Jeanne, whose face also bore fear, and walked out of the gathering.

He turned back with apparent reluctance, addressing the woman:

“Do you know? The Emperor doesn’t just have six arms and four legs—he also has two more————”

“GET OUT!!!! JUST GO!!!!”

The woman frantically made several warding gestures.

Zhou Yun shook his head and passed through the gathering built among the pipes, truly entering the wilds of the Bottom Nest.

Jeanne stared at him with wide, deer-like eyes, fear in her gaze,

clearly terrified by his blasphemous words—

Emperor with six arms? Emperor with four legs? Emperor has two…

This wasn’t mere blasphemy—it was portraying the Emperor as some kind of alien creature.

Zhou Yun, meanwhile, was considering how surprisingly… gentle these Gene Thieves were.

Their aggression seemed low.

They preferred deception over force to convert others to the Four-Armed Divine Emperor, eventually corrupting them.

This gathering appears only to be the outer fringe of the Gene Thieves.

No useful information is likely to be gained from this place.

Zhou Yun gazed at the labyrinthine paths before him, winding through the abandoned pipes of the hive.

These paths were either carved between pipes or directly built along them,

so complex they made one’s scalp tingle—a tangled maze of interwoven corridors.

On their way here, the old boatman had warned Zhou Yun and Jeanne:

Many newcomers to the Bottom Nest became lost in these twisting paths,

eventually stumbling into places they shouldn’t enter—or simply starving to death from getting lost among the pipes.

The old boatman had even solemnly claimed that some lost souls wandered eternally within the hive’s lower pipes, searching endlessly for an exit.

“Sounds like Cha Ketai’s experience,” commented the winged figure within Bai Guang.

Zhou Yun remained expressionless, yanking Jeanne in front of him:

“Use your strange precognitive ability—tell me which way to go.”

(End of Chapter)