Chapter 414: Russ Will Eat Them All One by One

The cold wind of the Antarctic ice sheet brushed against Zhou Yun's face, causing his body to tremble slightly.

This feeling was strange to describe; the Antarctic was probably the only place on Terra that still retained a trace of its natural appearance. The cold wind here was like an echo from some distant age.

During the Unification Wars, this area belonged to the Oloco City-States. They built their refuge city tens of kilometers beneath the ice sheet, using geothermal energy to power the entire city. It was once one of the few paradises on Terra.

The people living here believed that the entire world was essentially the result of the interaction between the souls of the dead and physical reality. All dreams, illusions, and shadows were merely glances from the souls of the dead at the living.

When other regions of Terra were occupied by the Emperor, the Priest-King of this Antarctic city refused the Emperor's offer of surrender. He stubbornly maintained independence and held fast to their faith.

Thus, the Word Bearers attacked the city, detonated the geothermal plant at its center, and burned the entire city to the ground, leaving only burning lava behind.

After this, the Antarctic ice sheet was preserved because the Inquisition had established a presence within it.

The Inquisition transformed the ruins of the original Oloco City-States into their own fortress, which became the de facto headquarters of the Inquisition.

Even though Terra was so short on water, no Water Guild foolish enough to try to make a move on the Inquisition's home base dared to do so. They only dared to travel far among the stars to collect frozen asteroids to replenish Terra's water supply.

After all, before the Sisters of Battle argued with bolters, they would first try to persuade with words, while an Inquisitor would only launch a "Exterminatus on your whole family."

Soon, the slight comfort brought by the natural scenery of the Antarctic vanished without a trace.

Those chaotic, almost supernatural snowstorms struck Zhou Yun with a crackling sound, leaving only a white, chaotic blur before his eyes. The distant Antarctic mountains loomed like gloomy ghosts in the snowstorm, reminding Zhou Yun of the Cthulhu-esque Antarctic mountains described by horror writers of humanity's second millennium.

Just then, a gentle warm breeze rose. Sanguinius spread his wings beside Zhou Yun, and his psychic power shielded Zhou Yun from the surrounding snow and wind.

Then Sanguinius looked at Nobita Huang Daxiong, who was still standing in the snowstorm not far from Zhou Yun.

"Is he here?" Sanguinius asked in a clear voice tinged with conflict.

Zhou Yun glanced at Nobita Huang Daxiong beside him, in whom the Emperor's will had once dwelt.

The Emperor had ordered Zhou Yun not to reveal his identity; the fewer people who knew, the better. Especially do not reveal it to Guilliman.

He claimed this was to hide himself and wait to ambush the Four Gods, but Zhou Yun could not help but suspect he just wanted to avoid extra work.

Although the Emperor was in principle the ruler of the Human Imperium, during the Great Crusade he preferred handling military affairs, diplomacy, and technical issues rather than administration, taxation, and law—that was Malkador's domain, and now it was Guilliman's domain.

But Zhou Yun still shared this news with Sanguinius. The Emperor had only said not to reveal it to Guilliman, but he had not mentioned Sanguinius.

Sanguinius's feelings about this were complex. He even frankly told Zhou Yun that he was unsure what an Emperor who could occasionally walk among men would bring.

Therefore, Sanguinius approved of the Emperor's idea to hide himself; this indeed helped achieve some greater goals.

Sanguinius also advised Zhou Yun to remain vigilant toward the Emperor. He could be treated as an advisor, but every word he spoke must be met with suspicion, and the Ordo Malleus's truth-or-dare machine should be used frequently to verify his words.

"Regardless of his reasons, he is one of the galaxy's top con artists and bastards," Sanguinius warned Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun found this strange and could not help but ask why Sanguinius had been so loyal to Him back then if that was the case.

"Because He is my father, my liege, one of the few hopes for humanity, and it is fate," Sanguinius replied simply.

Zhou Yun glanced at Nobita Huang Daxiong standing in the snowstorm. His will filled the body, and no sense of foreign presence was detected.

The Emperor had not lied; he could not always permeate his will into Nobita Huang Daxiong's body.

Zhou Yun shook his head slightly, signaling to Sanguinius that the Emperor was not here.

Sanguinius then spread his wings slightly wider, encompassing Nobita Huang Daxiong within his psychic power to shield him from the snow and wind.

Zhou Yun could not help but smile, then turned his gaze toward the fortress entrance faintly exposed beyond the snowstorm.

It was an archway built of bricks and stones, rough and primitive in style, as if excavated from the deepest depths of human history.

Carved upon the archway were symbols of skulls and intertwined letters. Below them was inscribed a line of High Gothic: "The Imperial Inquisition, Blessed by the Emperor's Holy Decree." This was the full name of the Inquisition.

It was said that these words were written by the Emperor's own hand at Malkador's request, possessing unique power that could repel daemons.

Behind the archway lay a deep passage leading straight down beneath the ice sheet, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Standing beneath the archway were two Inquisitors. One was Ors, the Inquisitor representative known to Zhou Yun. The other was an Inquisitor he had never seen before.

But Zhou Yun knew who this fellow was: the Fortress Master of the Inquisition Fortress.

Initially, Zhou Yun, Sanguinius, and Guilliman had not intended to visit the Inquisition Fortress in person.

According to Inquisition tradition, only Inquisitors were allowed to visit this fortress. Guilliman chose to respect the Inquisitors' traditions.

He sent Inquisitor Ge Lei Fa to the fortress, under the guise of Inquisitor Ge Lei Fa reporting to her own chapter.

Then Ge Lei Fa was detained on suspicion of colluding with Xenos—referring to the Necrons—and suspected of having a private affair with Warp filth—referring to Saint Celestine.

This was taking advantage of kindness.

The Inquisition should thank Zhou Yun. They should thank Zhou Yun for bringing back Sanguinius and Guilliman, rather than bringing back Lion and Russ.

If it had been the Lion, they would already be bombing the Antarctic ice sheet.

If it had been Russ, "Russ would eat them all one by one!" Guilliman had said.

According to the Inquisition representative Ors, this was all due to the machinations of the conservative faction within the Inquisition.

The confirmation that the representative of the conservative faction was the Fortress Master of the Inquisition came from the Harlequins.

"My Lords," the voice of the Inquisition Fortress Master rose through the snow and wind: "Thank you for being willing to visit this cold fortress of the Inquisition."

"But please, my Lords, stop here. According to Inquisition regulations, only Inquisitors are permitted to enter this place."

"My brother Guilliman was born the Lord Regent of the Human Imperium by the Emperor's decree, holding all rights to rule the Imperium. This is his request and command." Sanguinius's lips curved slightly, and he squinted with a smile as he spoke.

"However, in accordance with the late Hero Malkador's will and the Imperial Laws established by the Emperor, the Inquisition holds supreme power, even surpassing that of the Primarchs. You too are under the Inquisitors' surveillance. Please, Lord Sanguinius, remain loyal and do not commit heresy." The Inquisition Fortress Master's voice, possessing great penetration, reached Zhou Yun and Sanguinius's ears directly.

The smile on Sanguinius's face grew even stronger. Zhou Yun even suspected he was already planning to add another Saint to the Imperium, one who would suffer cardiac arrest from excitement upon meeting Sanguinius.

"I need to enter this fortress. I need to interrogate certain prisoners within it. I need you to release Inquisitor Ge Lei Fa immediately."

Sanguinius's voice suddenly rose a pitch higher:

"This is the Emperor's will! Does the Inquisition even have the right to scrutinize the Emperor's will?!"

"Ha!" The Inquisition Fortress Master let out a near-angry snort.

"Who do you think you are, daring to speculate on the Emperor's will? Only He Himself knows the Emperor's plans!"

"We mere mortals only need to purge all change, ensuring that everything in the galaxy unfolds exactly as He foresaw."

"Anyone, any day they claim to act in His name, is arrogant, dangerous, and equivalent to heresy——————"

"I am Sanguinius! I am the Emperor's son! I am the Lord of the Blood Angels!" Sanguinius's voice cut off the Inquisition Fortress Master.

His voice carried no anger, still clear and pure, but the snowflakes drifting around were suddenly ignited by golden flames, turning to steam that wafted through the air.

"Horus is also a son of Hua Di Huang, the Lord of the Shadow Moon Grey Wolves." The Castellan of the Inquisition replied with near-desperation.

That remark made Cleopatra Er Si, standing beside the Castellan, gasp sharply. She could almost see the conflict escalating, could almost see the Inquisition and the forces of Saint Doraemon clashing.

And Zhou Yun could barely stop himself from wanting to applaud the Castellan — that line was rather vicious, plainly aimed at provoking Saint Guilliman.

"Are you trying to anger me into killing you?" But Saint Guilliman's voice remained calm and undisturbed.

"Then I would only be a martyr." The Castellan wore an utterly impassive expression.

He had clearly already prepared himself, to lay down his life as a martyr, to uphold what he believed to be the Emperor's will,

and even the entire faction he represented — the majority faction within the Inquisition — intended to do the same,

which was different from the Ecclesiarchal Pontiff. The Pontiff was the leader of the Ecclesiarchy; Zhou Yun and Saint Guilliman only needed to replace him,

whereas the Castellan was merely the administrator of the Inquisition Fortress, and even served a fixed term. Killing him would not suppress the dissenting voices within the Inquisition,

unless they killed every one of those conservatives scattered among the stars one by one, which would be far too draining,

and besides, the purpose of Zhou Yun and Saint Guilliman's coming here was not to create a bunch of dull-witted martyrs,

nor would Saint Guilliman be provoked by vicious words of the Castellan's caliber — after all, Zhou Yun had already tempered him.

But leaving just like that would mean the Inquisition had blocked the Primarch's and Zhou Yun's spearhead, tacitly acknowledging that the Inquisition's authority was even greater than the Primarch's.

However, before Zhou Yun came here, he had naturally prepared.

His original plan was to use a certain prop — he had even rented it already,

but the appearance of Nobita Hua Di Huang gave Zhou Yun an idea for a method that would save both effort and money, and that prop could be saved for later use.

Zhou Yun took out a piece of parchment from his Fourth-Dimensional Pocket. In the corner of the parchment was a signature; the rest was blank.

Then Zhou Yun took out a pen and began scribbling something on it.

Afterwards, Zhou Yun said nothing, walked up to the Castellan of the Inquisition, and shoved the parchment into his hand.

The Castellan stared blankly at the paper in his hand, read the text on it, and instinctively recited aloud:

"Whereas the Human Emperor is presently unable to pay rent, the Emperor voluntarily mortgages the Inquisition to Zhou Yun. Zhou Yun hereby becomes the Chief Steward of the Inquisition, assuming full authority over all Inquisition affairs, commanding all Inquisitors, and all Inquisition-related personnel must immediately swear fealty to him."

Then the Castellan burst out laughing despite himself. This was a document entirely lacking in Imperial legal format, written even in Low Gothic riddled with dialect — utterly shoddy——————huh?

The Castellan noticed that in the corner of the parchment there was a line of signature, written in High Gothic, in handwriting utterly different from the rest of the text, yet somehow familiar to the Castellan.

"Druvataimperatorimperium" — meaning the Eternal Emperor of the Human Empire.

He froze for a moment, raised his head to look up at the archway, at the line of High Gothic personally inscribed by the Emperor: "The Inquisition of the Empire, Blessed by the Emperor's Holy Decree."

Wow! The handwriting is actually identical!

(End of this chapter)