Chapter 65: The Emperor's Wonderful Little Stories

The next morning, countless residents of the Underhive formed a long human tide, packed into the narrow road, stretching out of sight.

Gene Thief guards lurked among the crowd, secretly watching anyone who tried to leave the line,

while the Bishop stood at the very front of the procession, looking down at everyone from atop a tall tower-cart.

"Devout citizens, once you reach the First District, you shall receive true baptism."

"There, you will shed the filthy parts of yourselves and gain a brand-new life."

"You will merge into our kind — no more hunger, no more fear, no more suffering!"

"Pray with all devotion to the Four-Armed God-Emperor!"

The preaching voice, laced with bewitching tones, rang out, stirring the emotions of this mighty procession,

and even those who had joined merely for food could not help but feel some faith awakened within them.

Watching the seething, noisy crowd, a thought inexplicably popped into Zhou Yun's mind: What a fine batch of biomass.

He calmed his heart and began to consider the suspicious points about the Gene Thieves,

why were they so eager to expand?

Why did the Patriarch personally inject the corruption gene?

Why did all of them have to receive corruption in the First District?

Eager expansion could still be understood, but the Patriarch personally corrupting and everyone being corrupted in the First District was highly suspicious,

this clearly carried great risk — Monger and himself had already mixed in, and Monger even planned to assassinate the Patriarch through it.

What on earth could make that cautious Worm of the Underworld take such a risk?

Did the Patriarch truly have to do it himself?

This left Zhou Yun with unavoidable doubts in his heart.

"What did you go see my brother for last night?"

Monger sidled up to Zhou Yun without changing expression and asked.

Jeanne, who was following beside Zhou Yun, subtly shrank back, putting a little distance between herself and Monger.

"I brought your whole family along." Zhou Yun looked at Monger and said sincerely.

Monger's expression stiffened slightly,

"If you don't want to say it, forget it — why the insult?" Monger complained,

he figured Zhou Yun simply didn't want to talk, so he didn't press further,

"Once we reach the First District, I'll find a way to sneak into the first few batches of those receiving baptism."

"You two try to stay further back. Put this by your ear."

Saying so, Monger opened his hands, revealing three tiny worm-like creatures the size of rice grains.

These little worms writhed their bodies, vibrating their tiny thin wings, producing a barely noticeable chirping sound.

"Put them by your ear — these bugs can vibrate in sync, letting us communicate across some distance."

Zhou Yun gave a slight nod and picked one up,

he also kept his guard up, prying off a bit of body-clay from his fingertip and sticking the little worm firmly behind his ear,

he wanted to prevent the thing from burrowing into his brain or anything like that.

Jeanne hesitated for a moment, then reached out her small hand and took another little worm.

Then she grabbed it tight and crushed it dead in an instant.

Monger's cheek twitched,

sensing Jeanne's look of distaste, he didn't court further rebuff, obediently put some distance between them, and melted into the procession further ahead.

"You little rascal." Zhou Yun smiled helplessly and ruffled Jeanne's small head.

"Is this worm dangerous?" he asked.

Jeanne raised her hazy eyes, glanced at the little worm, then shook her head.

"No problem right now, but who knows about later," Jeanne said softly.

Zhou Yun patted her head, took out the worm-meat jelly he'd bought yesterday from his fourth-dimensional pocket, broke off a piece and shared some with Jeanne.

The walk from here to the First District wasn't exactly short, so he'd prepared food in advance.

Jeanne nibbled at the worm-meat jelly, no one knew what she was mulling over in her head,

after a little while, Jeanne suddenly tugged at Zhou Yun's clothes and said softly:

"Is your homeland to the east of the Terra Palace?"

Jeanne used Chinese — a language in this vast human sea that only she and Zhou Yun understood.

She spoke it a bit haltingly.

"Yes, actually the place where the Terra Palace sits is also part of my homeland."

Zhou Yun blinked and answered in Chinese, wondering why Jeanne was asking this question.

"Mm, I once heard Him tell a story about your homeland," Jeanne said softly.

"Oh? Him? Hua Di Huang?" Zhou Yun asked quietly.

The winged figure in the Bai Guang couldn't help but speak up, even though Jeanne couldn't hear him.

Zhou Yun picked up a hint of surprise and a slight sourness from his tone.

"Mm," Jeanne nodded lightly and said softly, "It was a story about an Emperor."

"Many, many tens of thousands of years ago, there was an Emperor of great vision and talent on Terra."

"The Emperor was not born an Emperor — when Hua Di Huang met him, he was merely a feudal king who had inherited his ancestors' legacy."

"In that era, on that land, there were six other equally powerful feudal kings, ruling six kingdoms."

"Among them were many second-tier nations, small vassal states, and tributary countries."

"The Emperor who is also the King had a great wish: he wanted to reunite this fractured land, he wanted all humanity across the vast expanse to speak one language, be ruled by one regime, and worship one Wang Zuo."

"Thus, he began a great crusade; he trained powerful soldiers, trampled the vast lands, and annihilated all the fractured feudal states."

"The Emperor chose officials he deemed virtuous and capable, rather than his own offspring, to rule the governed lands; he established a unified language for all to use; he even built brand-new roads, connecting this land completely."

Zhou Yun blinked.

When Jeanne began the second sentence, Zhou Yun had basically guessed whose story she was telling.

"Does the Emperor you speak of bear the surname Ying?"

"But this story... in Jeanne's telling, it seems a bit... Was this also recorded in the thirtieth millennium of humanity?"

"Unification, crusade, forging powerful soldiers, and emphasizing offspring and roads,"

"Tsk, the flavor isn't right."

"When the Hua Di Huang told Jeanne this story, did he mix in some personal emotion?"

"And then?" Zhou Yun asked with some curiosity.

He was very curious about that Emperor's story under the Warhammer worldview, curious whether Chaos had intervened in it,

and also curious what Jeanne wanted to tell Zhou Yun by suddenly telling this story.

"But after the Emperor achieved the great feat of unification, Chaos also began its endless corruption."

"The Emperor craved wisdom, craving his mind to remain eternally clear in handling state affairs, so the whispers of the Lord of Change came."

"The Emperor craved immortality, craving his body to remain eternally healthy in ruling the Empire, so the caress of the Plague God came."

"The Emperor craved power, hoping his warriors would forever bravely guard the borders, so the war cries of the Blood God came."

It should be released this Sunday. With 4,900 followers, I didn't make Sanjiang. If I wait for the next issue, I'd have to fight against Dou Po and the Fairy novel; that feels hard too. The issue after that, I'd have to fight against Xue Yu. Fighting Xue Yu, is that real? So I'm releasing it directly this Sunday, not fighting for Sanjiang.





(End of this chapter)