Chapter 695: The Sage Kong Said It Right

The Hive Mind shrieked sharply, cursing the Emperor for designing the Primarchs too hyper-masculine,

the Primarchs were genetically mutually exclusive, like ferocious beasts claiming stars as their territories—should their brothers enter their domains and collide, conflict was nearly inevitable; one Primarch could scarcely be commanded by another,

this design seemed utterly base to the Hive Mind, yet the complexity of the Primarchs’ genetic sequences was beyond even the Hive Mind’s capacity to process, and it could not repair this flaw in the short term.

In the Warp, Guilliman smiled faintly, his nose lifting slightly, as if the Hive Mind’s curses were praise instead,

“I never wanted enemies on the battlefield to pick up my Primarchs and use them directly,” he said with quiet pride.

He was not joking when he said this; this was precisely why he designed the Primarchs to be so hyper-masculine—hyper-masculinity was engineered alongside filial devotion into their genetic instincts,

every Primarch was the quintessence of maleness; compared to them, even the most testosterone-charged Astartes were little more than feminine, and without the Emperor’s suppression and the filial instinct to restrain them, the Primarchs could never truly cooperate or submit to a single will,

half of them rebelling was inevitable; the Emperor designed them this way precisely to ensure the rebellious half could never unite, forcing them to consume each other in internal strife, so that even if the Chaos Gods corrupted them, they could never truly control them.

Unexpectedly, this design had once again tripped up the Tyranid Swarm after ten thousand years.

Guilliman watched as the battle between Saint Dora and the Hive Mind intensified, and he felt a growing pressure,

the Hive Mind was about to consume the genetic sequences of the twenty-one Primarchs, integrate the power stored in the Source Blood Stack, and its engineered vessel was about to be born,

once the vessel emerged, the Hive Mind would coalesce into one, opening the path to Ascension, and the divine seat of the Eternal Dragon would begin to descend,

the Emperor, nearing the Dark King in power, sensed it clearly—not just the Emperor, but all the gods felt it, crying out in frantic anguish,

they condemned Zhou Yun, accusing him of moving too slowly, of doing too little.

“Most matters remain under control; nothing significant has occurred.”

“Perhaps some things have happened, but I see no reason for me to act.”

“I admit there are things I should have acted upon, but at the time, I could do nothing.”

“Perhaps I could have done something earlier, but now it is too late.”

Zhou Yun’s expression barely changed, brushing off the gods of the Warp with a few brief words,

he knew the gods were displeased not only because he delayed fighting the Tyranids, but because he had consistently preserved his strength, refusing to pour all his energy into the battle against the Hive Mind—they had no chance to tear a piece of flesh from him.

Whether it was Fulgrim or Roboute Guilliman, the gods now watched him with hungry eyes,

but now, the vessel the Hive Mind was nurturing was about to be born; Zhou Yun should accelerate.

Zhou Yun drew a slow breath, and the workers in the Moon Viewing District raised their heads—their gazes shifted from confusion to sharp clarity, realizing they were peripheral extensions of his will; his will instantly swelled to immense proportions, causing violent ripples across the entire Warp, countless mini-Doras emerging from the waves,

the mini-Doras pulled out all manner of gadgets from their pockets and, following Zhou Yun’s round hand, slammed them together at the Hive Mind—the Hive Mind tried to block them as before with shadowy tentacles, but was overwhelmed by the mini-Doras’ diverse tools,

Zhou Yun’s round hand then struck the Hive Mind’s body with full force; a gentle song spilled from it, billions of humans singing in unison of the glorious 22nd century, their emotions crystallizing into radiant light in the Highest Heaven, tearing open the Warp’s shadows and inflicting real damage upon the Hive Mind,

the Hive Mind shrieked, and blood named Hunger flowed from its wound, coiling around Zhou Yun’s arm—he instantly felt weakness surge through him, as if he had not eaten for days,

but Zhou Yun merely shifted his body slightly, revealing Guilliman behind him; the revolver spun, and the bullet forged from the Old Woman’s Sword shot forth, piercing the wound Zhou Yun had torn open,

the terrifying energy of the Domain of Corruption and Destruction erupted, like a black sun rising from the Hive Mind’s body; the Hive Mind let out a piercing scream, countless Tyranid creatures falling into madness, losing control, consumed by bestial instinct.

Leman Russ stepped forward toward Lu Se, who offered a gentle smile and opened his arms as if to embrace him,

SSCHHHH!!!

the Sword of Loyalty unsheathed, its tip driving into Lu Se’s body without hesitation,

the Lion’s eyes showed no emotion; he yanked the blade violently from Lu Se’s body,

Lu Se lifted his head and let out a piercing wail—the illusions surrounding the Lion vanished instantly, leaving only the trembling corpse of Ma Lan Tai Zhi E, pierced by the Sword of Loyalty, its potent psychic energy erupting uncontrollably, finally dissolving into a howling psychic storm that crushed outward,

Leman Russ raised the Emperor’s Shield; the azure psychic storm crashed against it but caused not a single scratch.

Leman Russ stared silently at the exploded body of Ma Lan Tai Zhi E; he had to admit that even in that brief moment, he had not seen through the illusion woven by Ma Lan Tai Zhi E,

or rather, Ma Lan Tai Zhi E was not weaving an illusion at all—the creature lacked the intellect to comprehend human emotion; it merely used its vast psychic power to dig up the deepest desires buried in the human mind, like a lanternfish using light to attract schools of fish without understanding why the light attracted them,

precisely because of this, its illusions were nearly impossible to detect. Yet Leman Russ still killed Lu Se, striking without hesitation,

one of Leman Russ’s deepest secrets: he truly regarded Lu Se as his father, his brother, his most beloved child, but

“But before I became your son, your brother, your father, I was first the First Primarch, the Emperor’s eldest son—duty outweighs love.”

Leman Russ murmured softly, staring at the blade in his hand,

then he turned his head toward Azrael, who was trying to slip away unnoticed.

“.” Fulgrim held his warhammer, watching Fabius,

after the Tyranid creatures modified with Primarch genes went berserk, Fulgrim had stormed to Fabius’s side and destroyed the monster with near-frenzied force, leaving only the shriveled torso and head that resembled Fabius’s original form,

Fulgrim understood that this was merely a Tyranid creature replicating Fabius’s genes, intellect, and will—no true soul resided within it,

yet the Hive Mind had replicated him so perfectly that Fulgrim could not help but still see him as Fabius.

“Merushin,” whispered the dying Fabius.

“.” Fulgrim’s tone grew agitated at Fabius’s whisper: “Am I not your most perfect creation?”

“I am strong, I am excellent, I am rational, I am beautiful, I have no flaws—yet you do not love me.”

“Merushin is imperfect, she is frail, she was corrupted by Chaos—yet you love her.”

“.” Fabius twisted his withered head, lifting his eyes to Fulgrim: “Master… my Master.”