Chapter 532: Crimson Tears: Sanguinius and the Silent King

Upon the scarlet scorched earth of Baal, that colossal and ancient starship, having completed its repairs, hung suspended in the planet's orbit above the Angel Fortress, resembling a magnificent monument carved from crimson gold.

And at the prow of this massive starship, a pair of golden wings unfurled along the ram, where the ram itself was not thick metal, but a huge, crystal-clear, tear-shaped crimson bloodstone.

The Crimson Tear, the Glory Queen-class battleship that once belonged to Sanguinius, a vessel nearly perfect, a collective embodiment of human artistic beauty.

This ship had been lost throughout ten thousand years of long time.

But now it has been restored, standing together in orbit with Dante's flagship, the Wrath of Absolution, and the Blood Angels assault barge, the Blade of Vengeance.

Xiang Xiang Leina was wandering through this ship in amazement, admiring the stunning artworks and carvings within, many of which were even personally completed by Sanguinius.

"Many of my creations and those of my sons were destroyed during the Great Crusade, and most of the remainder were lost during the Great Heresy and the past ten thousand years."

"Fortunately, the truly precious collections were placed in independently powered stasis fields, preserving them relatively intact."

Sanguinius smiled as he introduced those precious treasures in the ship to Xiang Xiang Leina:

"For instance, this painting; I love it. I believe it captures a moment of past brightness, fixed in ink."

Sanguinius stopped before a painting.

That painting seemed to have no specific form, but was composed entirely of flowing colors.

Vibrant grasses interspersed with flowers swayed like waves between the inks, while sky light and cloud shadows circled and turned, flowing like water.

And an invisible wind, together with the clouds, outlined a woman dressed in a pure white gown; the woman, holding a parasol, suddenly turned her head to gaze back. Her face, her body, her very existence seemed not quite real, as if she were about to dissolve into the wind and light, turning into mist and scattering.

Xiang Xiang Leina did not understand art well, but in this painting she vaguely sensed something that did not exist in this era, yet she could not say what it was no matter how hard she tried.

"When this painting was created, it was very close to Zhou Yun's era, coming from the hand of a master skilled in depicting light, shadow, and color."

Zhou Yun, of course, recognized this painting; he was slightly surprised that it had been preserved until humanity's fortieth millennium, for he knew that the wars created and experienced by humanity over these tens of thousands of years could almost be said to have overturned the entire galaxy.

"The more miserable and dusty the times become, the more people cherish the past brightness depicted in this painting, so naturally it has been passed down."

A smile swept across the corner of Sanguinius's mouth; he seemed to have seen Zhou Yun's surprise and answered Zhou Yun with an emotional remark:

"In your era, having grown accustomed to such brightness, you naturally would not understand how people in the Age of Darkness cherished this painting."

"In our era, this painting is also a priceless treasure." Zhou Yun shrugged his shoulders and continued walking with Sanguinius along the corridors of the Crimson Tear, temporarily leaving Xiang Xiang Leina behind: "Compared to this painting, I am more curious about when you dug up the Crimson Tear."

"With my prophetic ability, finding the Crimson Tear was not difficult." Although he said this, Zhou Yun clearly perceived a hint of melancholy mixed in Sanguinius's words.

Obviously, something that made Sanguinius feel sorrowful had occurred during the process of recovering the Crimson Tear.

Especially since Zhou Yun arrived at Baal, he had noticed that the atmosphere of Baal was somewhat off.

The number of ships gathered here was not large, but they were all elites of the Blood Angels; even the true Dark Prince of the Abyss, Dante himself, had temporarily detached from the Angel Fortress and boarded his flagship, the Wrath of Absolution.

Sanguinius was obviously preparing an expedition—a small-scale but important expedition.

"Not long ago, while you were hunting Abaddon, a son of one of my chapters piloted the Crimson Tear to attack me." Sanguinius's voice showed little emotion.

But in his lowered eyes, there was full of sorrow and melancholy.

This made Zhou Yun furrow his brows tightly; the Blood Angels attacking Sanguinius, how could this sound so utterly incredible?!

"It was the corruption of the Blood God. You know the Red Angel, don't you?" Sanguinius asked in a lowered voice.

The Red Angel?

Zhou Yun's first thought was Angron.

But he quickly realized that Sanguinius was referring to that Khorne Daemon distilled from the Fury of the Blood Angels ten thousand years ago. That demon named the Red Angel had once hidden within the Khorne artifact known as the "Fire of Fury," attempting to corrupt Sanguinius.

And the Blood Angels Apothecary Malus, in place of Sanguinius, threw himself into the "Fire of Fury," merging with the Red Angel to become a terrifying Red Angel demon condensed from a vortex of rage.

That demon seemed to have some connection with the Blood Angels, capable of inducing the Crimson Thirst, and still rages throughout the galaxy.

"I swore that one day I would liberate the soul of Malus possessed by the Red Angel; now is the time to fulfill this vow."

"The Red Angel is spreading corruption among those chapters scattered among the stars that did not respond to Dante's call during the Battle of Baal, but I will excise him."

"Do you need my help?" Zhou Yun asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"This will not be a task that can be finished in a short time; you have more important matters."

Sanguinius's eyes were like bright light as he spoke softly:

"I cannot see your fate after choosing to sleep briefly; it is too vague."

"If you could see it, that would be good; then I wouldn't need to go to sleep, I could just take the answer you prophesied and copy it directly." Zhou Yun said jokingly.

This was, of course, just talk; prophecy was not reliable after all.

Sanguinius smiled slightly, standing beside Zhou Yun and gazing with him at the scarlet scorched earth of Baal:

"I can only give you a tiny bit of insignificant advice based on my experience."

"Many times, fate presents us with many different choices, but these choices often point to the same result in the end."

"The answer only tells us what choice to make, but what truly determines the future is the choice itself."

"No matter what answer you receive, no matter whether you accept this answer or not, my friend, you can make your decision more calmly."

"Did you see anything?" Zhou Yun raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Sanguinius, asking.

"I do not know; I only saw hesitation and doubt on your face after you woke up." Sanguinius shook his head slightly.

Zhou Yun nodded slightly and did not say much.

Right now, he still did not know what answer he would get; persisting in the scene Sanguinius saw was meaningless.

Moreover, he remembered that he had come to find Sanguinius with another question to ask.

"Speaking of which, what do you think of the Silent King?" Zhou Yun asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

(The author is in very poor condition, eyes full of bloodshot veins, barely holding on; updating early to avoid falling asleep and being unable to fix any issues.)

(End of this chapter.)