Chapter 240

Outside the temporary infirmary set up by the Sanguinary Priests, Zhou Yun rubbed his chin and walked inside with some hesitation.

Lage is dying.

When he heard this news from Sanguinius, he truly couldn't believe it.

This old companion of his, whom he had known since Ashford, had no other skills, but his ability to survive was top-notch.

The chaos of the Hive World didn't take him, the gang brawls didn't take him, and the two Tyranid invasions didn't take him either.

Because he had once taught gang members in Ashford how to survive on the battlefield, allowing many to survive, he had even become a symbol for the Ashford refugees.

As long as Lage was around, there would always be a way to survive.

But according to the report Sanguinius gave Zhou Yun, Lage was indeed on the verge of death when he was found.

As a symbol of the Ashford refugees and the Holy Doraemon Sect, his situation quickly attracted the attention of the Blood Angels, especially Corbulo.

To Zhou Yun's surprise, Corbulo actually had a personal friendship with Lage, and the two had a good relationship; it was said that Lage had even provided his own blood to Corbulo for research, though it was unknown what was worth studying.

Corbulo quickly reconstructed the entire sequence of events.

Zhou Yun had previously given Lage two bottles of wine brewed by Old One-Eye back in the day.

After the Battle of Baal ended, Lage took those two bottles of wine to find Old One-Eye to celebrate the success of his bionic transplant; the two drank and smoked together, and as a result, both got drunk.

Lage left in a half-drunk, half-sober state, wandered dizzily onto the walls of the Angel Citadel, happened to step on a section of the wall that hadn't been repaired yet, missed his footing, and fell from the tens-of-meters-high wall.

But Lage didn't die from the fall!

A pool of Thirst-Water happened to be right under the wall, and Lage fell into it; whether it was giving Zhou Yun face or Lage face, the Thirst-Water actually didn't extract the moisture from Lage's body, but instead helped cushion his impact.

At this point, although Lage was injured, it wasn't fatal yet.

The problem was that in his half-dreaming, half-waking state, Lage mistook the Thirst-Water for ordinary spring water and poured it into his stomach, nearly drowning in it.

Fortunately, the Thirst-Water activated on its own, hurriedly carrying Lage, who was about to drown inside its own body, to the gate of the Angel Citadel, preventing him from dying right there.

The Flesh Tearer warrior responsible for guarding the gate at the time thought he was having a Black Rage episode when he saw this scene, and it took him two seconds to realize he needed to save someone.

Then Lage was carried before Corbulo.

Corbulo clicked his tongue in wonder at this guy who had fallen from a wall tens of meters high at over eighty years old, plunged into Thirst-Water, and even drowned in it, yet somehow managed not to die.

Zhou Yun could only sigh that Lage was still the same Lage, still just as unreliable.

However, Zhou Yun estimated that Lage wouldn't die this time either.

Corbulo was his doctor now; that was the Chief Sanguinary Priest of the Blood Angels, which meant the chief of the Blood Angels' apothecaries—there were few doctors in the entire galaxy better than him.

As long as Lage didn't want to die, he could probably be saved even if only half his body remained.

Zhou Yun walked into the infirmary building; some mortals injured after the Battle of Baal were also receiving treatment, and others were undergoing medical-related training.

Lage's ward was at the end of the room, and Zhou Yun saw Old One-Eye, whose arm had been replaced with a bionic limb, standing there.

"Zhou Yun, you're here." Old One-Eye saw Zhou Yun, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "Lord Corbulo and Lord Mephiston are inside."

Zhou Yun noticed that Old One-Eye's blinded eye had been replaced with a mechanical bionic eye.

Old One-Eye noticed Zhou Yun's gaze, reached out, tapped his bionic eye, and said, "Newly replaced, still a bit unaccustomed to it, some rejection."

Zhou Yun nodded slightly and cast his gaze toward Old One-Eye's bionic eye.

A moment later, Old One-Eye showed an expression of surprise, as if he had sensed that the discomfort in the bionic eye had vanished.

"... Praise be to you, the Prime Mover of All Machines, the great Holy Doraemon." Old One-Eye couldn't help but lower his head and say.

"... Is there really a thick barrier between us too?" Zhou Yun showed a feigned expression of sorrow on his face.

Old One-Eye's only remaining flesh-and-blood eye moved slightly, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "You can't blame me for that; you were the one who actively manifested your divinity in front of people. I am your devout believer, how could I not offer a prayer?"

"If you don't want to be treated as a god, don't do things that gods do."

"Wise words." Zhou Yun nodded in agreement; he felt the Emperor should hear this sentence.

Then Zhou Yun paused, looked at the door of Lage's ward, and asked, "You said Mephiston came too?"

What is the Chief Librarian doing here? Does Lage's condition require Mephiston's participation?

A strange look appeared in Zhou Yun's eyes.

However, with Mephiston here, Lage could be summoned back even if he were dead.

Just then, the door to Lage's ward opened.

Mephiston and Corbulo walked out from inside.

"Lord Zhou Yun." The two nodded slightly to Zhou Yun in greeting, also noticing the confusion in Zhou Yun's eyes as they fell on Mephiston.

"... I examined Lord Lage's genetic sequence and found that his genes have powerful anti-radiation mutations; his anti-radiation ability is thirteen times that of an ordinary person. Moreover, the radiation of the Scarlet Scars essentially comes from that Blood God in the Warp; the anti-radiation ability here is equivalent to resistance against Khorne's slight corruption."

"This is very unique; it is likely the reason why Lord Lage was able to survive in the Ashford Hive for so long."

Corbulo began to explain:

"But other than that, there are no more obvious benign mutations on Lord Lage; his genetic sequence is no different from an ordinary person's, which cannot explain why he is so resistant to death..."

"... Even during the examination, I found that Lord Lage's injuries and illnesses were gradually revealing themselves, and even diseases that had originally healed in the past began to appear, such as the illness he contracted on the way to Baal, and the old wounds he left behind in the Battle of the Underworld... These illnesses all suddenly began to be exposed."

"I suspect this may be the effect of some Warp power; in order to prevent the appearance of corruption, I invited Mephiston."

Zhou Yun raised his eyebrows slightly.

Lage's death-resistant trait is related to the Warp?

This seems reasonable, but which bored person would bestow a blessing on Lage?

"I have studied Lord Lage's situation; it is very interesting."

Mephiston raised his voice slightly and said:

"We usually think that only psykers or beings in the Warp can mobilize Warp power in the real universe, but this is wrong."

"Humans are essentially a psychic race; almost all humans possess slight psychic power. Although these psychic powers are weak, when gathered together, they can create echoes in the Warp."

As he spoke, Mephiston looked at the ward behind him, his gaze seemingly falling on Lage:

"Lord Lage taught many people how to survive in war and truly saved many people, and coupled with his near-death escape in the Battle of the Underworld, all of this has led people to form a wonderful consensus: Lord Lage is hard to kill."

"And then, when the Holy Doraemon Sect appeared, this consensus was mixed into the faith in Holy Doraemon, initially acting on Lage, helping him suppress his original illnesses, which further reinforced people's perception that Lord Lage had truly become hard to kill."

"After all, Holy Doraemon himself also holds the authority of death... you probably understand now, right?"

Zhou Yun pointed at himself, slightly bewildered.

He roughly understood; it was he who had unconsciously blessed Lage, and the consensus mixed with humanity's belief that Lage was hard to kill had taken effect, allowing Lage to truly gain a certain level of death resistance.

"Then why have Lage's original illnesses revealed themselves again?" Zhou Yun asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"... The Warp is essentially idealistic. If Lord Lage himself no longer wishes to live, this consensus gathered by mortals is not enough to support him." Mephiston shook his head gently.

"This is also beyond the scope of what I can do." Corbulo also shook his head: "Lord Lage's body reached its limit long ago; it was just the power of the Warp barely supporting him."

"Lord Zhou Yun... I have examined Lord Dante's body countless times and know the power of aging; the burden of a thousand years is enough to crush an Astartes."

"And mortals are even more fragile; the burdens they can bear are smaller, yet they often have to carry burdens far beyond their limits... Lord Lage is already eighty-seven years old; for a mortal, he has carried enough."

Corbulo said softly:

"Just like Lord Dante back then, Lord Lage no longer longs for life."

Zhou Yun was silent for a while, nodded to the two, and said, "I'll go talk to Lage."

Mephiston and Corbulo stepped aside, letting Zhou Yun walk into the ward.

"Brother Zhou Yun..." Lage saw Zhou Yun, and that ugly face twisted into a smile.

"You guy..."

Zhou Yun couldn't help but smile, took a bottle of wine out of his four-dimensional pocket, and placed it on Lage's bedside:

"A bottle of Amasec, brewed by a Genestealer; I've tasted it, the flavor is okay."

Upon hearing it was Amasec, Lage perked up slightly, couldn't help but pick up the bottle from the bedside, and took a gulp into his mouth.

"Delicious, it seems General Droste's taste was bad back then." Lage showed a brilliant smile, then took another sip and placed the bottle on the bedside.

Zhou Yun watched Lage and found that Lage's condition had not improved.

A bottle of delicious Amasec seemed insufficient to make him want to live again.

"Corbulo and Mephiston told me that you don't want to continue living."

Zhou Yun sat by Lage's bedside, stared at Lage, and asked:

"I still remember when I first arrived in Ashford, it was you, old guy, who dragged me out of the garbage heap while I was unconscious."

"Although after you dragged me out, you secretly took the six buckets of instant noodles, two packs of Coca-Cola, and twenty bags of Lay's I had just bought from the supermarket, and even wanted to strip my clothes off."

"Hehe, did I think you were a noble from the Upper Hive back then? But that stuff called Lay's is indeed delicious, just a bit too much air."

Lage chuckled and said:

"Are you looking for trouble with me because of what happened back then, or thanking me? Forget the thanks; we've been brothers for how many years? And you were about to wake up yourself back then; in the end, I was the one who profited."

"Since that's the case, for the sake of so many years of friendship, old guy, I'll ask you a question."

Zhou Yun stared at Lage and asked:

"Do you still want to live? As long as you want to, I have many ways to help you live."

"If you don't want to, it doesn't matter; in this unlucky world, being able to live to eighty-seven and welcome eternal sleep is definitely a good thing."

(End of chapter)