Chapter 482: Please Answer: What Is the Emperor's True Name?

When he saw that pinkish-red wooden door slam open, Erebus was first stunned,

but upon seeing a hand reach out from the door and toss something at him, terror welled up from the depths of Erebus's heart — like a mouse seeing rat poison, like Lorgar seeing Horus holding a wig, like Hua Di Huang seeing Magnus about to call him,

the horrifying scene he had witnessed on the planet Herothirsimar suddenly surfaced from the depths of Erebus's heart; in an instant he even lost his reason, instinctively grabbing the ritual dagger hanging from his neck,

the experience of having his arm chopped off by Khaane last time, causing the ritual dagger to fly away, had taught Erebus a lesson — he now tied the ritual dagger to his neck with a short cord, and unless Khaane chopped off his head, it was absolutely impossible to remove the dagger.

He gripped the dagger in a comical posture and slashed violently at the void before him, attempting to tear open reality and open a portal to escape far away,

as for Bi La Ke standing nearby — Erebus wished him good luck,

Erebus actually hoped more that Bi La Ke would make a rational judgment, using his ability to freely shuttle between shadows to throw the item tossed in from the door outside the Blessed Lady, preventing the Blessed Lady from being damaged.

as for why Erebus, who had a ritual dagger, didn't do this himself — the reason Erebus had offended so many people in the galaxy and still lived for a full ten thousand years was precisely because he was best at throwing risks to others to bear, fully utilizing the usefulness of comrades, partners, and collaborators, while bearing as little risk as possible himself.

Then the corner of Erebus's mouth stiffened,

because the corner of his eye caught Bi La Ke moving even faster than him — actually directly waving the shadow blade in his hand, summoning a wave of cold, gloomy mist, within which the horned demon's figure grew thin, seeming about to disappear at any moment.

Bi La Ke didn't know what had been tossed in from beyond the door, but since Erebus was running, naturally he had to run too.

Bastard!

Erebus cursed furiously in his heart,

does this idiot not realize the importance of the Blessed Lady?

without this abyss-class battleship carefully corrupted by Erebus, how were they to withstand the Holy Doraemon's attack?

then Erebus got the answer from Bi La Ke's cunning gaze: simple — I just run, don't I?

Erebus's expression stiffened, and he rapidly considered where he could escape to,

preferably a fortress sturdy enough, with enough weapons, and allies powerful enough.

Erebus quickly thought of one person — Perturabo,

he had no particular relationship with Perturabo, but Erebus was confident he could persuade Perturabo to stand on his side — this was one of the things Erebus was best at.

rapidly, the ritual dagger tore open a crack in the void; on the other side of the crack was reflected a brightly lit room filled with steam and flickering electric sparks,

a figure with numerous cables plugged into his head, his fleshly body almost entirely replaced by steel, the whole person like a wall of steel, constantly spewing out scalding steam and electric light,

and before this steel giant god was a table, on which lay a broken female corpse — no, that wasn't a corpse, that was a machine,

it was a mechanical being modeled after a woman's appearance; the mechanical being's neck seemed to have been snapped by a giant hand, broken apart, steel scattered about,

and the steel giant god was carefully repairing this mechanical woman; the mechanical woman and his massive frame produced a stark contrast, as if he were fiddling with a miniature model.

Perturabo, Primarch of the Iron Warriors.

that Primarch seemed to notice Erebus, turned his head, and looked at Erebus with a gaze heavy with muffled anger, seemingly displeased at Erebus's interruption.

Erebus, however, was not afraid; he quickly composed a draft in his mind, hurriedly stepped toward the rift, and then —

BANG!!!!

Erebus was as if he had slammed into a hard, solid wall, feeling a wave of dizziness,

at that moment, a lock the size of half a head appeared out of thin air, firmly locking the rift before Erebus's eyes. "Ah?" Erebus was bewildered, stunned, not understanding what had happened,

his ever-reliable ritual dagger — the ritual dagger that had helped Erebus escape danger time and time again — had actually failed at this very moment?!

joining in the cry of alarm was Bi La Ke, who also looked somewhat confused at the lock before his eyes that bound his shadow weapon.

"Welcome to the Real Escape Room Game."

"The rules are very simple."

"Answer the question on the lock, solve the puzzle, reach the bridge, and you complete the game."

"During the game, you may not leave the game area, and you cannot proceed to the next room without solving the question."

"We wish everyone a smooth clear — good luck."

Only now did Erebus realize that what had been tossed in from the pinkish-red wooden door was not the kind of bomb in Erebus's memory, but a square box with buttons,

his expression shifted slightly; still unwilling to give up, he reached out to touch the lock on the rift cut by the ritual dagger,

a burst of electric current sprayed from the lock, and a light screen appeared out of thin air above it,

"Please answer: What is Hua Di Huang's true name?"

Ah?

Erebus's expression went blank for a moment,

is this something a human can even answer?

let alone whether anyone in the galaxy still knew the answer — even if Erebus knew, Erebus would not dare speak it,

who knew what fate would befall one after uttering Hua Di Huang's true name?

almost at the instant Erebus was certain he could not answer, the lock flickered, and a bolt of Lei Guang struck directly at Erebus,

an intense pain surged from within Erebus's body, electric current piercing through every cell of his,

a puff of white smoke escaped Erebus's mouth, his skin was scorched black by the electricity, and he dropped straight to his knees on the ground.

"An incorrect answer will result in a random punishment."

Erebus wanted to demand why no one had said so earlier, but only a puff of white smoke escaped his mouth.

Seeing this, Bi La Ke let out a cold laugh,

"So-called Hand of Destiny is nothing more than this — Erebus, let me show you the boundless wisdom accumulated as the first Demon Prince."

Bi La Ke had existed since the era when the Aeldari had not yet become an Empire; his time of existence in this galaxy was counted in tens of millions, and his knowledge was terrifyingly vast,

there was almost nothing in this galaxy that Bi La Ke did not know — although Bi La Ke indeed did not know Hua Di Huang's true name,

but Bi La Ke did not touch the lock binding the rift; instead, he touched the lock binding his own shadow,

by rights, the question on this lock should be different —

"Please answer: Where did the Dragon Kingdoms go?"

Bi La Ke's expression stiffened,

Damn it, he really didn't know!! Damn it, who the hell would know!!!

(End of chapter)