Chapter 2

"Then I might as well be Roboute Guilliman, Lord of Ultramar."

Hearing the warp-born figure in the white light once again insist that he was the former Lord of the Ninth Legion of Astartes—the Primarch Sanguinius—Zhou Yun's eye twitched as he said:

"Hello, I am Guilliman. Actually, I'm not dead; I'm in a stasis field and need fifty credits to fund Belisarius Cawl in developing the Armor of Fate to save me. Venmo me 50 now, and once I'm resurrected, I'll appoint you a Solar Lord."

Sanguinius, one of the twenty-one Primarchs created by the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang in the earliest era, was, like his brothers, swept away to various parts of the galaxy by the warp at the moment of his birth.

The place where Sanguinius descended was the Baal system, not far from Ashfold.

This Primarch, who descended upon the crimson wasteland of Baal, was born with a pair of snow-white wings, just like the angels of legend.

And Sanguinius's own nobility and virtue were worthy of the name of angel.

Zhou Yun was certainly willing to accept Sanguinius's guidance—if the warp-born thing in front of him was truly Sanguinius.

In Warhammer, things with wings aren't necessarily Sanguinius; they could also be a Lord of Change, a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch.

Just as a double-headed eagle isn't necessarily the Empire; it could also be Kairos Fateweaver.

"My loyalty to the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang is witnessed by the sun and the moon."

"You warp-born fraud, don't try to trick me!"

Zhou Yun spoke righteously, his face full of integrity as he scolded.

He hadn't been in the forty-first millennium of mankind for long when he encountered this winged figure in the white light while half-asleep and half-awake.

This figure insisted on claiming to be Sanguinius, wanting to guide Zhou Yun to fulfill a destiny-ordained mission.

But no matter how Zhou Yun looked at it, he felt this was just some Lord of Change here to toy with him.

In the Warhammer universe, anyone with a shred of vigilance would suspect that a "grandfatherly guide" is corruption from Chaos.

Furthermore, things like systems, childhood sweethearts dropping from the sky, cultivation techniques and weapons, little green bottles, castles above the gray mist—these are all suspected to be things of Chaos corruption.

Systems and grandfatherly guides reek of Tzeentch; childhood sweethearts and sky-dropped encounters are suspected to be Slaanesh; little green bottles and pills are suspected to be Nurgle; and cultivation techniques and weapons are suspected to be Khorne.

Even the fourth-dimensional pocket on his own belly, Zhou Yun always suspected was a masterpiece created by Lord Fugan.

"Friend, I really am Sanguinius. I need your help."

"The galaxy is about to be torn asunder, Baal will be covered in blood, and Terra will be defiled by the blasphemous things from the warp."

"I need you to go to Baal, to the side of my remains."

"If you can follow my guidance, I will be able to return to the material universe."

The winged figure in the white light was still flickering at the corner of Zhou Yun's eye, muttering prophecies of unknown truth.

The galaxy is about to be torn asunder—the Great Rift opens.

Baal covered in blood—the Tyranid invasion of Baal, the Battle of Baal.

Blasphemous things from the warp defiling Terra—well, that wouldn't be the first time.

These all actually fit the "Sanguinius" prophecy.

As for resurrecting Sanguinius—have you not seen the affair of Erebus resurrecting Horus back in the day?

This kind of thing carries a thick scent of the warp.

Even if what he said was somewhat true, Zhou Yun couldn't even leave this Hive World, let alone go to Baal; he was plagued with difficulties.

Even if he believed him, it wouldn't be of any use.

Fortunately, his figure was half-illusory and half-real, so it didn't affect his scavenging.

Whatever about tearing the galaxy asunder—that's the business of Primarchs, Astartes, and the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang; just don't interfere with his scavenging.

As for the danger ahead that he spoke of...

Zhou Yun hesitated for a moment, feeling it was better to be cautious.

He took a bottle of potion out of his fourth-dimensional pocket and dripped it onto his finger.

"Friend, I really am Sanguinius."

"Please believe me."

The winged figure in the white light circled around Zhou Yun.

But Zhou Yun ignored him, continuing to scavenge for scrap among the rubble.

He discovered a section of promethium transport pipe among the rubble, grabbed it, and stuffed it into his pocket.

Looking in the direction the pipe extended, he found that all the promethium pipes exposed in the vicinity converged toward the depths of the abandoned city district.

This seemed to confirm Zhou Yun's previous guess: this district might have been part of the Promethium Guild in the past.

The quantity and quality of the broken machinery in the vicinity were superior to the districts Zhou Yun had explored before.

And at the end of the pipes, there might even be something like a promethium furnace left behind.

Zhou Yun looked toward the depths of the abandoned city district.

This place had been buried for only a hundred or two hundred years, and the danger level was far less than those districts buried during the Dark Age or the Great Crusade.

Going a little deeper should be safe enough.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun checked the potion dripped on his finger, confirmed it was correct, and walked along the pipe toward the depths of the abandoned city district.

When the toxic crimson sunlight became slightly dim, Zhou Yun saw a towering piece of old, abandoned machinery standing on the rubble not far away.

The machine was about seven or eight meters high; the steel platform on it had collapsed, and only the deep red tank remained standing, though it was covered in crimson rust.

Zhou Yun's eyes lit up slightly.

This was an abandoned promethium extraction relay.

The Hive World's Promethium Guild used it to transfer promethium to factories.

Even a damaged promethium extraction relay could be sold for quite a bit of money.

If there was still residual promethium inside, Zhou Yun would be a big step closer to his goal of an Anywhere Door.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun quickly slid down from the rubble and walked to the side of the promethium extraction relay.

The huge, rusted promethium tank, seven or eight meters high and three or four meters wide, completely blocked his view.

He reached out his finger and tapped the promethium tank; a hollow echo came from inside.

Zhou Yun walked around the tank a few times and found a circular hole the size of a person, which should have been the position for installing pipes.

He poked his head in to look inside; the interior was completely empty, without the viscous gel he had hoped for.

Promethium is the most commonly used fuel and chemical raw material within the Empire, usually appearing as a viscous gel, which can be used to manufacture antibiotics, synthesize polymer materials, produce Lho-sticks, and even brew alcohol.

But it seems that when this district was abandoned, the valuable promethium had long since been transported away, leaving only this pile of industrial machinery that was difficult to dismantle, such as the promethium extraction relay before him.

Fortunately, for Zhou Yun's fourth-dimensional pocket, transporting this seven- or eight-meter-high promethium extraction relay was not a difficult task.

He reached out his hands to embrace the rusted promethium tank and exerted a little force.

This promethium tank was stuffed into the palm-sized fourth-dimensional pocket like a bundle of soft cloth.

【Item Name: Promethium Extraction Relay】

【Origin: Dark Age System - Ashfold Star - Machine Spire】

【Evaluation: The heart of the Promethium Guild, once pumped high-concentration flammable promethium.】

【Production Time: 705. M41】

【Status: Lightly Damaged】

【Value: 8,000 credits】

If there had been a little promethium left in this tank, the recycling price could have been even higher.

But Zhou Yun had no heart to pay attention to that now.

After the promethium extraction relay was stuffed into the fourth-dimensional pocket, seven or eight figures in black robes appeared before Zhou Yun's eyes.

That group of people must have been sitting on the other side of the promethium tank just now, and Zhou Yun, with his view blocked, hadn't noticed them at all.

They didn't seem to have noticed that the promethium tank behind them had disappeared, nor had they discovered Zhou Yun, who had suddenly appeared.

Zhou Yun broke into a cold sweat. Encountering a group of mysterious people in black robes in such a desolate, abandoned city district—he couldn't have run into a cult, could he?!

Those cultists who worshiped treacherous entities in the warp, dark groups hiding in the darkness of the Hive World...

He saw the leader of the black-robed figures raise his hands high, making a gesture of prayer.

"Praise be to you, merciful Hua Hua Hua Di Huang!"

Hearing the black-robed man's prayer, Zhou Yun breathed a sigh of relief. So, it was just a group of devout Imperial Cult believers praying...

The long sleeves on the leader's arms fell, revealing mottled keratin on his arms.

"May your four arms that embrace the stars also embrace us! May you bring salvation to us! Merciful Four-Armed God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang!"

"... Damn it!"

(End of chapter)