Chapter 104

Zhou Yun slowly opened his eyes from the bed.

As the noise from outside poured into his ears, his sleepiness quickly dissipated in the morning light.

Jeanne's light breathing also sounded in his ear.

This little girl hadn't really woken up since returning from the bottom of the hive, and hadn't even eaten a meal.

Yet, there was nothing wrong with her body; she was perfectly healthy.

Zhou Yun could only guess that the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang was up to something...

After looking at Jeanne, Zhou Yun yawned and climbed out of bed.

He leaned over to the small window on the door and looked outside.

The already crowded flow of people in the under-hive had become even more crowded.

The population evacuation work for the under-hive had recently begun, and many residents from other sectors had begun to pour into the sector where Zhou Yun was located.

These residents gathered by the streets, built simple shacks with various materials, and huddled inside.

Some clever residents even set up small stalls and started small businesses.

Of course, since the Viceroy closed the channel for exchanging Blood Coins for Blood Stones, people had returned to a form of barter.

Lho-sticks replaced Blood Coins as the new hard currency.

The sound of bargaining echoed through the streets all night long.

If Zhou Yun hadn't acquired the ability to fall asleep quickly, his sleep quality at night would likely have been very poor.

Just then, the iron door of Zhou Yun's room was knocked on gently.

Zhou Yun got up and opened the door.

He only saw silver-bright armor shining in the light of the hive city.

Battle Sister Adelaide stood outside Zhou Yun's door, followed by two younger Battle Sisters.

The Battle Sisters of the Order of the Sacred Rose were responsible for evacuating the residents of Ashford together with members of the Ark Gang.

The people of the under-hive were mostly devout followers of the State Church, and Battle Sisters were more likely to gain their trust than the Astra Militarum.

There were originally ten thousand Battle Sisters stationed on Laixi; to help Ashford evacuate residents, Arch-Sister Magda specifically drew two thousand Battle Sisters.

Basically, every sector of the under-hive had one or two Battle Sisters in charge; their work was very heavy.

Zhou Yun noticed that Adelaide had dark circles under her eyes, and also noticed a small Sanguinius sticker on her silver-bright power armor—the pattern on the sticker looked a bit like a child's simple drawing, not holy but cute.

"It's... it was just given to me by a child on the street," Adelaide noticed Zhou Yun's gaze and said with a bit of shame.

"I'm quite popular with children." The winged figure in the white light also noticed the sticker.

"You look very tired," Zhou Yun nodded slightly and said: "Sleep is very important."

"It's okay," Adelaide rubbed her eyes and said: "Much better than on Laixi."

"You don't know what kind of work we did on Laixi; we were assigned to educate the local people to believe in the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang."

"But the local people have various superstitious beliefs; Arch-Sister Magda hoped to educate them in a more peaceful way, but sometimes we had to use extreme measures."

"Especially that sect that worships the Goddess of Salt; we often clashed with them... and were often treated as butchers."

Sister Adelaide gave a wry smile:

"Although it's a bit tiring here, at least the residents are devout followers of the State Church, and they don't spit on us."

Zhou Yun nodded; he knew the situation on Laixi. Arch-Sister Magda was considered a moderate, but the Battle Sisters' way of proselytizing... would always result in death.

However, that so-called Goddess of Salt sect wasn't anything good either; it had long been infiltrated by Genestealers.

"Apologies, Lord Zhou Yun," Sister Adelaide rubbed her tired cheeks and said: "I chatted about things that wasted time—where is that girl?"

Adelaide's eyes held some curiosity.

Zhou Yun told her some things about Jeanne.

After listening, Adelaide still held some disbelief.

If the miracle of the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang manifesting on a girl was true, then this child could simply be worshipped as a Living Saint.

Zhou Yun nodded gently, turned, picked up Jeanne from the bed, and walked back to the door.

"I'll leave this child to you to protect," Zhou Yun said, handing Jeanne to Sister Adelaide.

Zhou Yun really couldn't drag Jeanne, this little one who was always in a deep sleep, along for the things he had to do later.

The best way was to hand her over to the Battle Sisters to protect and escort her to a safe area.

"Regardless of whether this child is truly chosen by the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang... we will protect her well."

Adelaide said with a solemn expression, as if to reassure Zhou Yun.

"Please rest assured," Adelaide said.

Zhou Yun, however, was slightly stunned: "No, I've actually always been quite reassured."

"After all, the state this girl is in... I think the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang has other plans for her nine times out of ten."

"Before those plans are completed, the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang surely won't let her encounter danger."

Zhou Yun casually spoke his thoughts.

He and the winged figure in the white light had previously speculated that Jeanne's current state might be something the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang prepared so she could be of use elsewhere.

And as Adelaide listened to Zhou Yun's words, she couldn't help but widen her eyes, even revealing some shame.

Even the two young sisters behind Adelaide showed shocked expressions.

"What a devout faith... it makes me feel ashamed."

Adelaide seemed to have misunderstood something, hurriedly lowered her head, and performed the Aquila sign devoutly:

"You are right; we only need to be loyal, and the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang will naturally watch over His subjects." "..." Zhou Yun really wanted to say that wasn't what he meant,

but facing the reverent gazes of Adelaide and the two young sisters, he felt unable to speak for a moment.

After Sister Adelaide held Jeanne well, she nodded slightly to Zhou Yun in salute and left in a hurry.

The work she was responsible for was still very busy; many foreign residents had poured into the entire sector, making it increasingly crowded.

Adelaide had to protect this important sector well, ensuring that no Chaos cultists or Genestealers infiltrated it to create chaos.

Zhou Yun walked out of the house where he had lived for a long time; he probably wouldn't return here again.

The war was about to begin, and some old things would change uncontrollably.

Although that blue-feathered bird residing in the Empyrean was annoying, the Way of Change it preached did have its logic.

Zhou Yun walked among the crowded people; he noticed that various paper scraps, statues, and decorations symbolizing Sanguinius were hanging on the surrounding shacks.

Could it be that because the Tyranid swarm was coming, the residents of Ashford had begun to seek inner peace from Sanguinius?

Zhou Yun thought with some confusion.

"You..." The winged figure in the white light couldn't help but shake its head at Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun blinked in confusion; was this guy brighter than usual today?

Just as Zhou Yun was pondering, a pleading voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Sir, for the sake of Sanguinius, let me do a reading." A hoarse and unpleasant child's voice sounded.

Zhou Yun lowered his head and realized he had stopped in front of a stall.

On the stall was a set of simple cards, and a thin girl, about the same age as Jeanne and not very pretty, sat behind the stall.

Her face was filled with exhaustion and hunger.

It's the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot...

Recently, many stalls on the street were doing Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot readings.

!. Read

After all, with disaster approaching, people always hoped to seek some revelation from it.

And Zhou Yun had also had nothing to do and had done it a few times.

Most of the fortune tellers who did the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot were just randomly drawing a few cards and spouting nonsense.

Truly using the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot was also a technical job.

The reason the white light figure in the corner of his eye and Jeanne were accurate was because they both possessed considerable psychic power.

But after looking at the hopeful look in the child's eyes behind the stall, Zhou Yun couldn't help but sigh lightly, then looked at the child.

"Come on, let me see if there's any difference between you and those street-side scammers."

Zhou Yun squatted down and looked at the thin girl in front of him,

and shoved a Lho-stick into the girl's hand.

The girl's eyes were full of gratitude, and then she began to shuffle the cards clumsily.

Clearly, this child had also just started this line of work not long ago.

Zhou Yun drew a card from the simple, folded cards...

On that card was drawn a planet, like a broken egg, covered in cracks, with huge fragments floating in the void of the universe—the fifty-second card, The Shattered World,

foreshadowing large-scale conflict and the death of a world.

Zhou Yun's eye twitched slightly, and he drew the next card from the deck.

On that card was drawn a vast grassland, with a rider on a snow-white steed, and a male eagle hanging from the rider's arm—the fifth card, The Grassland Rider.

Foreshadowing impending danger or salvation, depending on the previous card.

The meaning of the two cards together was... danger capable of destroying a planet was arriving.

Zhou Yun looked at the little girl with some surprise.

You're actually pretty good at this!

"Why is it these two cards again..." The little girl muttered sadly: "Sorry, sir, I don't know what went wrong..."

"Whenever I'm at my stall, the cards I draw are always these two. I'll refund your money..."

"This little girl has some slight psychic talent," the winged figure in the white light said.

Weak psychic talent?

Zhou Yun suddenly realized.

Many psykers only have slight psychic talent; they are often just luckier and better at divination, and might never discover they are psykers in their entire lives.

This little one really had something... but it looked like that was exactly why her business wasn't doing well.

Every time the cards drawn were the same, who would want to come to her for a reading?

Zhou Yun thought for a moment, took a few more Lho-sticks out of his pocket, and shoved them into the little girl's hand.

"You're more capable than those scam street fortune tellers; it's a pity not many people know quality."

Before the little girl could react from her surprise, Zhou Yun stood up and left.

(End of chapter)