Hades smiled politely, although there was more helplessness hidden in his smile.
He originally thought that the Emperor... at least... would maintain a certain distance from him, or rather, a sense of mystery.
Just like that letter from the past.
In Hades's expectation, the Emperor would prefer a monarch to...ahem.
Based on the emperor's series of silky social moves just now, Hades suddenly had an ominous speculation in his mind.
The Emperor, Neos, seemed to really want to just chat with Hades - on an approximately equal footing (Hades wouldn't dare say it was a complete equal).
From the time he repeatedly corrected Hades on what he called him, to his proactive request to be honest, the Emperor seemed to be really trying to communicate with Hades.
Hades blinked heavily. Before that, he still respected and admired the Lord of Mankind - not like he treated the original body.
but now……
Hades took a deep breath and took the initiative to speak,
"Nios...I surrender my loyalty and frankness to you, so...I want to ask, why me? Why do you trust me?"
The emperor smiled, as if Hades had finally asked this question,
"Then why do you trust me?"
Hades swallowed and decided to test it.
"We just talked about being honest, Nios. Due to my own cultural literacy, I cannot understand rhetorical questions, metaphors, analogies, parallelism, allusions... and a series of other series that require higher understanding ability. language."
The emperor's smile deepened,
"I appreciate your sense of humor."
Hades nodded,
"Thank you for your appreciation. At the same time, I think changing the subject is unnecessary."
The emperor's smile froze, and he paused, as if he was not used to this, but he still spoke,
"I choose you because I know you will only choose humans, and you know that I will only choose humans."
"In addition to humans and the Empire, we cannot accept anything else, and we cannot tolerate anything else."
Although entering Warhammer made Hades sad, it was indeed a fact. Hades could only confirm the emperor with silence.
The Emperor continued, thinking about how not to use metaphors, perhaps as a trivial challenge, meant more words, more explanations.
"You were not my original main plan, but your growth and ability proved yourself, so I chose to change my plan."
Hades stared at the emperor and said softly,
"What was your original master plan?"
"The Webway, Imperial Truth."
The Emperor said calmly, his expression becoming serious again,
"what about now?"
"Webway, state religion."
Even though he had been mentally prepared by Malcador, when the middle-aged man, the Emperor, personally spoke about the national religion in front of Hades, Hades still felt a chill in his back.
Hades slowly, considering his words,
"So...this time when you go to the Perfect City, you hope to...establish a national religion?"
"Yes and no."
The emperor spoke naturally,
"The State Church has been among our many backup plans, but for various reasons we have put it on hold."
"And you enabled it because of me? Why?"
The Emperor paused for a moment. He rose from the end of the table, walked across from Hades, and sat down again.
He stared intently at Hades, with his arms folded, and the olive laurel wreath shining on his black hair,
"I envy you, stranger. The rules of physics are the basic laws of the world you live in."
"But here, in my home world, the warp and the physical universe mingle together to give birth to life."
"Imperial Truth confused you because it was very similar to your old habits, wasn't it?"
Hades coughed. He was modified not to cough. The Emperor was not sure whether it was because he hit Hades's psychology or because he had just used a rhetorical question against the rules.
But according to his usual speaking habits, he should continue speaking now instead of pausing.
"The Great Crusade was accompanied by heavy and huge negative emotions. They continued to tear at the curtain and catalyzed the erosion of the physical world by the warp."
"The promotion of Imperial Truth slowed down this process and obtained the few remaining sands in the hourglass for the expedition."
"Do you understand, Hades?"
Hades did not cough this time, so the emperor classified Hades' cough just now into the first guess, and at the same time classified Hades into a less rigorous type of person.
"I understand,"
Hades's voice was a little low;
"As long as the Great Crusade collects enough resources and establishes the Webway, humanity will have room to temporarily avoid the erosion of subspace."
"But if my memories are true, you failed on this path of Imperial truth and the Webway, Neos."
The emperor smiled casually and shook his head. The double-headed eagle emblem on the wall behind him seemed to be more dazzling.
"You only remember one ending? I thought you knew enough routes that they were all true."
"Even in the path of failure that you believed in, I held the edge of victory."
Hades blinked, he was indeed thinking, but thinking about the old path seemed rather boring now, because they both knew that the Empire had now found a new, completely different path.
"Nios, since you know that the original plan can also win, why do you change it?"
With golden flames burning in his black eyes, the Emperor stared at Hades' dark pupils,
“This path has a greater chance of success.”
The emperor said,
"That's all, Hades."
Hades understood why Malcador and others were willing to follow the Emperor willingly. When it came to topics involving the Empire and humanity, the Emperor had amazing and dazzling confidence - he sounded really confident about success.
If coupled with that sparkling psychic aura... Hades couldn't think of a human being who could reject the Emperor.
But the good news is that Hades is immune to the Emperor's psychic aura... At the same time, he feels that these words are very similar to the pie his bankrupt boss drew for him before running away.
Now Hades has updated the image of the emperor into a boss who squeezes the subway.
Hades thought for a while, if he continued like this, he would have to listen to a speech. He was very familiar with this, and he was still the kind of person who painted a big pie, so he decisively changed his questioning method and asked from the details.
"I seem to understand, Neos, but I still want to know, why did you choose to burn the Perfect City in your master plan and at the same time...not talk to your descendant Luojia?"
Hades was very happy to see that the MLM-like passion in the Emperor had faded away, and he refused to make verbal comments. Starting from you and him,
"The Word Bearers..."
The emperor paused.
“They gain strength through their thoughts and beliefs, but their beliefs also bite back at them.”
Hades mused, knowing what the Emperor was referring to.
"Their faith twisted you, Neos? They thought you were majestic and ruthless, and so you really started to become cold? Faith gave you strength, but at the same time made you no longer yourself?"
The emperor nodded lightly,
"Not only that,"
He said,
"The beliefs of the many mortals under the Word Bearers also distorted Lorgar and the Word Bearers. They began to forget the mission of the Legion and instead indulged in their own religious world."
"As a physical representation of the faith, the Perfect City needs to be burned, otherwise the Word Bearers, twisted by their faith, will eventually be removed from the fold."
Hades blinked, he whispered a little and said uncertainly,
"Why not just remove the Word Bearers?"
On the emotional side, if Hades is the decision-maker, then he will firmly believe that all rebel factions should take a shot before the great rebellion, and if not possible, the size of the legions must be reduced.
...Although this will most likely lead to a replacement of the rebel faction.
The Emperor was silent, but he finally broke it,
"I created No. 17. He was the original body that was most obedient to me. He was a candidate for the state religion. In that assumption that no longer exists, I thought he had the ability to change himself and he would be reborn from the ashes. , laying the foundation for the establishment of the state religion in the future."
"I know that every Primarch has the possibility of falling into the abyss. I can see the turmoil in the future, but I never thought that they would choose my most docile descendant as the first one. On a strategic level, they would attack the four people at that time. God-wise, the Word Bearers and Luojia are not the best choices. I thought they would choose..."
The emperor's voice lowered,
"Now it seems that this was just a naked mockery."
The emperor said lightly that even without the psychic perspective, he could feel Hades falling into deep contemplation, so he remained silent until Hades's somewhat relaxed voice sounded, but Hades's He spoke more to lighten the mood than to say that he had finally finished thinking.
"I didn't expect you to have... so many emotions for the original body?"
The emperor looked at Hades calmly. He obviously disagreed with Hades' statement.
"I created the Primarch first to ensure the smooth progress of the Great Crusade, and secondly to allow them to call me father."
"No. 17, Luojia, the Word Bearers, as long as they have not fallen into the abyss, then I am happy to use them, even if they need to be warned."
Hades pondered, if we follow the emperor's logic...the current route is the webway and the national religion, that means——
"The Perfect City will not be burned to the ground, Neos?"
"No,"
The emperor shook his head,
"They still need to be corrected. If Seventeen still can't see clearly, then I will dispatch the First Legion and Ryan will faithfully carry out his duties."
"I will show you the Empire's current plans, Hades, and you won't have too many questions."
"first step,"
The emperor looked away. He lowered his eyes and stared at his reflection on the desk. His black hair hung down, and he saw the reflection of an ordinary middle-aged man.
"I will tell No. 17 on the ashes of the Perfect City that I am God."
Hades gasped.
MD, the conversation with the emperor involves the core plot. We talked for a long time and haven’t finished yet. Why the hell do you talk so much?
None today
(End of chapter)
