Chapter 117: Dante and Mephiston

Zhou Yun looked at Lage, who was lying on the ground, wailing incessantly in pain.

"Zhou... Brother Zhou Yun..." Lage's voice was drawn out; his already pale face had turned even paler from blood loss.

Lage gasped for air in short, ragged breaths, his voice filled with agony.

Zhou Yun couldn't help but sigh.

Although this guy was a jerk and a scoundrel who had scammed him several times,

he wasn't actually that evil in the Underhive, and he was an acquaintance Zhou Yun had known for many years.

Seeing him on the verge of death, Zhou Yun couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of pity in his heart.

"I thought you would never die," Zhou Yun said, shaking his head.

Lage was always very good at saving his own skin; he had survived countless gang wars, earning him the title of the Underhive's Legendary Survivor.

But it seemed his survival skills weren't of much use against the Swarm.

"I'm so unlucky..." Lage said, on the verge of tears. "I... I clearly killed that Termagant..."

"But... but I wanted to grab the gun it dropped. Who knew that gun was actually alive? It fired at me..."

Listening to Lage, Zhou Yun was speechless.

He couldn't help but reach out to rub his brow, and the tiny bit of pity in his heart vanished instantly, because—

"Didn't you read the booklet I handed out? 'Tyranid Biology for Ogryns'."

"I specifically wrote in large, red, bold font: A Termagant's gun is a Tyranid organism that lives in symbiosis with it. After killing the Termagant, please finish off the Fleshborer. Never, ever try to pick up and use Tyranid biological weapons."

When Zhou Yun wrote that Tyranid biology encyclopedia, he had considered that some gang thugs might do exactly this, so he had specifically emphasized that point.

But Lage clearly hadn't read it at all.

"Ah——————"

Hearing Zhou Yun's words, Lage's voice suddenly dragged out:

"I... I thought... I get a headache whenever I look at a book..."

As expected, Zhou Yun couldn't help but shake his head.

"This can't be blamed on anyone else," he sighed and said. "You are dying for the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang; your soul will return to the Golden Throne."

"No... Brother Zhou Yun..." Lage said, his face full of pain. "I haven't had a drink of Amasec yet... I want a drink..."

"You're still thinking about booze at a time like this? Where am I supposed to get you Amasec?"

Zhou Yun said, looking speechless.

At this moment, where could Zhou Yun go to find a bottle of Amasec for Lage?

By the time he made a round trip, Lage would probably be long dead. Hmm?

He paused for a moment, suddenly remembering that he actually did have a flask of Amasec on him.

"Consider it your lucky day," Zhou Yun shrugged and pulled the patterned flask from his four-dimensional pocket.

This flask was a treasure of General Droster, later stolen by a Ratling, and then won by Zhou Yun in a shooting competition.

Inside was exactly the Amasec General Droster had treasured.

The moment Lage saw the flask, his eyes lit up: "Amasec?"

Zhou Yun nodded.

"Brother Zhou Yun, let me have a sip, just one sip is enough... That way, even if I die, it'll be worth it!" Lage said, wearing a look of anticipation.

Zhou Yun gestured for Lage to open his mouth, and Lage hurriedly did so.

Zhou Yun pulled off the cap and poured the translucent liquor into Lage's mouth. Lage drank a large gulp with great joy.

Then, his expression immediately changed from delight to ugliness and disbelief.

"It... it doesn't taste good..." Lage said, his face full of pain. His shifting eyes carried a sense of disillusioned emptiness.

"No way, this is General Droster's treasure."

Zhou Yun picked up the flask and poured a mouthful into his own mouth.

"Ptooey, it's both spicy and fishy."

He couldn't help but spit it out.

The taste didn't even compare to the Scarlet Liquor brewed by Old One-Eye, which was packed with technology and "hard work."

The alcohol concentration of this flask of Amasec was too high; once it hit the tongue, there was nothing left but heat and spice. After one sip, Zhou Yun felt like his mouth was burning.

General Droster's taste was perhaps a bit too unique.

"How can it be so disgusting..." Lage said, his voice carrying a hollow tone.

Zhou Yun sighed softly.

Lage had wanted to taste Amasec his whole life, and now, on the verge of death, he took a sip only to find that the thing he had chased his entire life tasted like hell.

"You just..."

"Over here! There seems to be a wounded soldier over here!" Before Zhou Yun could finish speaking, a medic, accompanied by other Astra Militarum soldiers, walked over quickly.

"Lord Zhou Yun." The medic nodded slightly toward Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun paused, then remembered that because the Swarm had voluntarily retreated during this battle, the Astra Militarum's casualties weren't severe, and the pressure on the medics wasn't high.

Zhou Yun watched as the medic began to crouch down to treat Lage, his mouth twitching slightly.

"Is there a risk of recovery?" Zhou Yun asked, looking at the medic and Lage.

"... Just this?" The medic pointed at Lage and said, "In our Cadian regiments, this counts as a minor injury at most."

The medic injected a certain type of stimulant into Lage's body, and Lage immediately let out a wail. This caused the surgical tools in the medic's hand to nearly drop to the ground.

Slap!!! The medic slapped Lage across the face.

"What are you roaring for? It's just a minor injury, isn't it just a few ruptured intestines?"

"Inject yourself with the anesthetic, hurry up!"

Watching the medic skillfully begin the treatment, Zhou Yun couldn't help but shake his head while holding his forehead.

It seems that even the Tyranid Swarm cannot kill the Legendary Survivor.

On the *Blade of Vengeance*, Astropaths and Navigators were dying.

And this flagship of the Blood Angels was slowly piercing through the heavy Warp shadow like a blade falling into a swamp.

From within the heavy shadow woven by the Hive Mind, terrifying bestial roars sounded from time to time.

Even though Dante had seen countless terrifying enemies over his long years, he still felt horrified when listening to the hunger-filled voices within the Warp shadow.

The *Blade of Vengeance* had to briefly return to the material universe,

simply because the Warp shadow was growing thicker, and Warp travel was becoming increasingly difficult.

As Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, Dante ordered them to reach the Cryptus System at maximum speed, regardless of the sacrifice,

simply because he knew the Cryptus System's current strength was nowhere near enough to resist the Tyranid Swarm.

If sacrifice could allow the *Blade of Vengeance* to reach the Cryptus System at maximum speed, and thereby save more people, eliminate more Tyranid organisms, and ultimately save Baal... then everything was worth it.

But as they neared the Cryptus System, Dante understood that the Navigators and Astropaths must rest and reorganize to accumulate the power to pierce the shadow shrouding the Cryptus System.

!. Read

The entire *Blade of Vengeance* began to travel at sub-light speed in the material universe.

A vibration and humming sound that gave people a sense of reality, mixed with the smell of machine oil, entered Dante's nose.

This reminded Dante that they had temporarily returned to the stable material universe, rather than the terrifying Warp.

The fatigue on Dante's body eased slightly, but the sense of exhaustion in his heart remained heavy.

He needed to receive some guidance.

Dante turned a corner and walked into a dim, lightless chamber.

Bright candles were lit in the room, and the pale candlelight flickered on the table.

Some scriptures that Dante couldn't quite understand were written in every corner of the room.

Standing in the center of the room, waiting for Dante, was an Astartes brother whose entire body was as pale as death, with hair that was better described as white than gold, clad in blood-colored power armor.

"My Lord."

His voice was dry and hollow, as soft as those whispers of unknown origin in the night.

Dante looked at the man before him; he could perceive that... some of his Chief Librarian's inner self was closer to the night.

This was perhaps the reason he had arranged this place almost entirely in darkness... it was practically a hall for sacrificing the dead.

Dante highly suspected that the Chief Librarian before him was a dead man who didn't need to breathe; he had suspected this more than once.

"Mephiston." Dante spoke the name of his Chief Librarian. "Do we need this room to be so dim?"

"It is not out of aversion, but because the night makes it easier to stimulate psychic potential, my Lord."

Mephiston lowered his head slightly, looking at the stack of exquisite Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot cards on the table, and said:

"Furthermore, the guidance you seek is not simple."

It seemed that before he arrived, he had already made all the preparations.

Dante intended to seek guidance; even with some doubts, he still requested Mephiston to use the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot to inquire about the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's will.

Dante's past life experiences had already proven that the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot was indeed effective.

And divination performed by powerful, loyal psykers after rigorous rituals was even more effective.

Although Dante often felt doubts about the existence of his Chief Librarian, because Dante could always faintly perceive Mephiston's inner self.

A Blood Angel who had overcome the Black Rage.

In the years when Mephiston was still known as Calistarius, he was conquered by the Red Thirst and the Black Rage, and was assigned to the Death Company, to serve the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang with his final death and thereby escape the torment of the Blood Thirst and the Black Rage.

But in the end, Mephiston survived a danger that was nearly death, and ultimately overcame the Black Rage through some unknown method.

However, Dante knew that this process must have changed his Chief Librarian forever.

Yet his loyalty was also beyond doubt. Dante thought to himself.

He walked to the front of Mephiston and looked at the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Tarot on the table.

"My Lord, why is there confusion in your heart? And what do you wish to know?" Mephiston's dry, hollow voice became slightly more majestic.

"I seek the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's guidance... What is the situation in the Cryptus System?" Dante asked.

Mephiston slowly drew three cards.

The first card showed a shattered planet, portending a massive catastrophe.

"A shattered planet; the Cryptus System has almost fallen," Mephiston said slowly.

Then he and Dante looked at the second card; the second was a Cadian soldier standing atop a fortress.

"Fortress World Cadia; the mortals of the Astra Militarum are still holding firm."

This brought joy and approval to Dante's eyes; the mortals had held their ground, and there was still hope for everything.

Then the two pairs of eyes fell upon the third card.

"The third card... The Machine God, portending where our hope lies... Hmm??"

Mephiston's words were halfway through when his voice suddenly stopped.

He remembered the face of the Machine God card; it was a god composed of gears and machinery constantly rotating against a scarlet velvet background.

However, in an instant, the velvet seemed to turn blue, and the god composed of gears and machinery seemed to turn into a blue raccoon.

This scene flashed by in an instant.

"This is... what does it portend?" Dante asked, confused.

Mephiston shook his head with a blank expression.

"I don't know!" he said.

(End of chapter)