Chapter 645: Ah! Dora, I

The Warp surged with turbulent waves, an endless sea of tides; faintly, one could hear the chime of ten thousand machines, the hiss of venting steam, the crackle of electric sparks, and the roar of nuclear energy.

Waves rippled across the domain of Malicious Craft. Amidst the rise and fall, Zhou Yun's figure multiplied into billions of flickering apparitions, occupying two-thirds of the Malicious Craft domain.

Those two-thirds of the domain were Zhou Yun, and Zhou Yun was those two-thirds of the Malicious Craft domain. They were inseparable, impossible to carve apart.

The gods cast their gazes upon this.

Slaanesh let out a lascivious, famished laugh. At this very moment, the traces of Ynnead in the Warp had mostly dissipated. If Zhou Yun took those two steps—offering a sacrifice to Malicious Craft and swallowing Vashtorr—he would complete his ascension. He would exist in every moment of history, past and present, completely crushing the possibility of the Aeldari God of Death, Ynnead, ever being born.

Grandfather Nurgle smiled with joy. He understood better than Slaanesh what Zhou Yun was pursuing. The first step had been taken in an eternal span of time; the immutable, unchanging era had not yet begun to dawn, but taking that first step was like planting a seed—it was always a source of joy and satisfaction.

Tzeentch, slightly silent, set down the dumbbell in his hand. "This—all of this is, of course, within my plans," the Changer of Ways cackled.

The Blood God let out a fervent roar. He had long since grown tired of Tzeentch's endless, tedious schemes; those conspiracies brought nothing. Zhou Yun stepping onto the path of godhood was exactly what he desired—a great bloodbath was about to begin!

Boundless changes surged through the Warp. Reflected in the material universe, rebellions and coups began to erupt across ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine planets. Countless lies were born in this moment, and countless lies were exposed. This wave of change rushed straight toward the Solar System, surging in the direction of Mars.

A tide of blood also churned. In the Empyrean, wars flowing with blood began to break out. In reality, eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight planets erupted in conflict. These wars converged, forming a scarlet scar that tore through the stars, surging toward Mars.

Two Warp deities unleashed their boundless divine power, swearing to utterly destroy Zhou Yun's body in the material universe.

Click. Click.

The sound of dust shaking loose echoed from the Golden Wang Zuo. The Custodians guarding near the Golden Wang Zuo looked back in disbelief at the dried corpse upon the throne.

That dried corpse slowly raised a hand, withered to the point where flesh was barely visible. A hallucination suddenly birthed itself in the eyes of the Custodians.

They seemed to see flesh growing upon the dried corpse on the throne; the skin was no longer shriveled. A majestic vitality erupted from within it.

The figure sitting upon the Golden Wang Zuo no longer seemed like that shriveled husk, but a monarch clad in dazzling golden power armor, with long black hair and a majestic, bronze-toned face.

The monarch's eyes flashed with the spirit of war, hope, and light. Gazing out across the stars, his raised hand pointed slightly toward the boundless galaxy, as if about to launch a Great Crusade against the stars themselves.

On the *Macragge's Honour*, Guilliman, who was secretly writing the *Codex Imperialis* while Zhou Yun, Sanguinius, and the Lion were away, seemed to sense something.

He looked up at the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Sword beside him.

That blade, once held by the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang to ravage thousands of xenos empires across the star sea, ignited and roared without anyone touching it, slowly rising into mid-air as if gripped by an invisible hand.

BOOM!!!!

A sonic boom rang out instantly. The sword shot away at a speed Guilliman could not even track, tearing through the office wall Guilliman had just repaired, ripping through the hull of the *Macragge's Honour*, and flying into the boundless void.

Guilliman stared blankly at the crack in his office wall leading straight to the vacuum. The air in the office was rapidly escaping, whipping up a gale that caught the *Codex Imperialis*—which Guilliman had just written more than half of—and swept it into the infinite void.

Only then did Guilliman snap out of his stupor, rushing to grab his helmet and putting it on.

The Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Sword tore through reality and fell into the hands of the figure on the throne—that figure who seemed both a dried corpse and a towering monarch—pointing toward the boundless change and the scarlet scar surging toward the Solar System.

Hundreds of millions of the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's believers knelt on the ground in cathedrals across Terra. Around them was boundless darkness, with only an unlit candle standing before them.

They bowed their heads, offering the same prayer in different voices:

"Worship the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, protect my people."

"Praise the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, sacrifice for the people."

"Sublimate the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, enlighten the people."

"Revere the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, shelter the people."

"Glorify the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, strengthen the people."

"Extol the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, watch over the people forever."

"Respectfully chant for the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, rule the people."

"Cheer for the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, lead the people!"

"Worship the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, without Him, there is no me!"

"The God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang is humanity, humanity is the God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang. We gather, we yearn, we sing praises to the Immortal God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, we praise the King of the Long Ages."

The prayers converged like a tide. The candle flames before them ignited without fire, bursting with a faint orange light that could barely illuminate the darkness around them.

But these faint lights converged, transforming into a golden tide of light that enveloped all of Terra.

Amidst the flickering candlelight, a figure emerged. That figure was larger than a star, standing above the Solar System, eyes as scorching as suns.

"Immortal God-Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, we repeat your words, we tremble at your majesty, we march beneath your immortal divine form."

A burning longsword, wider than a planet, slashed through the cold void. The golden figure, wielding the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's Sword, hacked at the boundless change and the scarlet scar surging toward Mars.

Reality trembled, dimensions tore, and everything became uncertain. Thousands of timelines overlapped in the past, future, and present.

Golden flames burned away the boundless change and swallowed the scarlet scar.

In the Warp,

Tzeentch let out a sharp wail. A wound flowing with golden flames appeared on his muscular body.

Khorne let out a muffled grunt. His brass armor was also cleaved open, and blood began to seep from beneath it.

The Hua Hua Hua Di Huang stood silent by the stream where reeds swayed and water flowed like bronze, scorching flames erupting from his eyes.

In the reed marsh beside him, dark figures filled with intense self-destructive emotions were shrieking, attempting to drag the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang back onto the altar of the Dark King.

Those emotions, those souls that had birthed the Dark King, were mostly roaring within that marsh.

A portion of them did not approve of Zhou Yun becoming a god; they were the part that had not yet completely despaired, for they believed Zhou Yun's ascension was a malicious art that would place a heavy burden upon the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, potentially making the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang unable to bear it and causing Him to ascend as the Dark King. Thus, they attempted to obstruct the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, letting Zhou Yun be killed by the gods.

Another portion of them was in complete despair, hoping for the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang to become the Dark King. They were mixed in, attempting at this moment to push the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang toward the position of the Dark King.

But at least for these brief thirteen minutes, they could not succeed.

For this moment, the power the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang had accumulated over long ages was unleashed, suppressing the gray, cold, and fallen parts within Him, allowing Him to vent His divine might in this instant and temporarily suppress the invasion of Khorne and Tzeentch.

For this, the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang sacrificed much.

Two broken chess pieces took on human form, their bodies burning with scarlet, scorching flames, standing before the reed marsh to block those dark shadows. The names of these two chess pieces had long been forgotten; even the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang Himself could not remember them, but at this moment, they defended the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang with their near-shattered bodies. ===== CHAPTER 646 =====