Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 538

He looked up and glanced around the room again. The room was decorated in a warm yet luxurious style, with flags hanging on the walls, a thick, carved carpet, a comfortable sofa, an obviously expensive desk, and a spotless fireplace.

Why didn't he... back then?

Forget it.

Barbalus is also good. I wonder how Barbalus is doing now.

Unfortunately, there was no wine here—Hades swirled his glass; the liquid inside looked more like water.

"Where are you planning to go next? Anyway, we've already made quite a splash in Makula."

Hades paused. "I just heard from the explanation that Mortarion also came to Macragge? Where did he go?"

"Snack street".

...?

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We've arrived... We've arrived... We've arrived...

The fog thickened again, completely obscuring the path ahead, but Vox knew this was a sign of success; the Pale Lord's fog would lead him to his destination.

Vox stumbled along, and Mortarian didn't tell him much. He suddenly began to worry that the Pale Lord wouldn't be able to get him to his destination, since Hades didn't often appear in normal places.

And was that really Hades?

Despair and depression continued to haunt Vox, and he couldn't help but think about the worst-case scenario.

A completely different Hades, or not Hades at all, or Hades is in danger—no—whatever the case, he's going to teach Booz a lesson—no—or perhaps—

Regardless, he should go and see; he has to go; he should fulfill his duty.

The fog suddenly thinned, and a double door appeared before him.

With his last breath, Vox lunged forward and smashed open the door—

"Wait, there's something," Hades said, a cream pie dangling from his mouth. He abruptly turned towards the door, and Black Domain lunged forward, but abruptly withdrew upon sensing a familiar presence. The long scythe in his hand solidified naturally. "Yes—"

Boom!

The door was violently flung open, and a large, rotting, human-like creature stumbled in.

Through his dazed vision, Vox saw two figures, one big and one small, Boots... no... Hades... sitting opposite each other at the coffee table, and directly opposite Vox was a majestic Macragge banner.

Two Hades sat in the conference room of Macurag.

By the Emperor...!!!

Vox's legs buckled, and he could no longer hold on, passing out instantly.

5.8k words, great! That's all!

Chapter 601 Past Events Like Smoke

"Vox?!"

"Senior Vox?!"

Vox fell straight down—

In his final moments, he saw two similar figures rushing towards him.

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Booz had never felt so helpless.

It's clearly a good thing that Hades has arrived in Mackrag.

It should be a good thing that the Death Guard commander, Vox, who hadn't been in contact for a long time, was suddenly found.

So... why can't he cheer up now?

The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, blinding white light shone on the armor, and the beeping of medical instruments came and went. Pharmacists hurried past them.

corruption.

The pungent smell of decay lingered like an elephant in the room.

Booz sat upright and silent as he waited outside the emergency room, with Hades sitting beside him, his face grim.

Hades rested his forearms on his legs, half-concealing his expression with his crossed hands; the darkness made his expression even more unpredictable.

The door was pushed open, and the apothecary accompanying Hades' son came out first. He was wearing the highest-grade gas mask. The apothecary nodded to Hades, who immediately stood up and followed the apothecary into the emergency room.

The pharmacist turned around, shook his head at Buz, and then closed the door again.

Bang!

Booz breathed a sigh of relief. Hades was gone. He immediately shifted to a more comfortable, and more decadent, posture on the bench.

He hoped that old man Vox would be alright—and preferably not take up any of Pluto's time on Macurag.

But—that's obviously not very realistic.

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Booz looked at Vox, who was lying on the hospital bed in front of him, with a distressed expression.

To be honest, Vox is not in good condition. You don't even need to look at him; just sniff the air and you'll know what he's like.

The oozing fluid from the wound left a dirty, yellowish outline of a human figure on the pristine white sheets.

Most of Vox's armor had been removed, but some armor fragments that had grown deep into his internal organs and flesh could not be dealt with. They could only be cut and re-bandaged, and the body's condition would be improved before a solution could be found.

It was as if he had been buried in the soil of a damp area for years and then dug out... Three of his limbs had been completely corroded to the ends, and Booz could even see the Death Guard's mottled bones.

The half of the prosthetic brain had almost rusted into scrap metal, so the pharmacist had to remove it urgently and hastily replace it with a different one.

Booz was certain that countless insects had likely crawled across Vox's battered body—but the brave and tenacious apothecary had already cleared them out.

Besides insects, there were also fungi. In the waste disposal bin, Buz saw no fewer than 49 kinds of fungi, including green mycelium!

How come there's everything in Nurgle's Garden?!

Booz sighed, but in this situation, the thought did little to alleviate the heaviness in the air. Across from him, Hades was taking a nap with his eyes closed, looking rather unhappy.

The official documents have been temporarily approved, but Hades insists on staying here.

Hades was like a statue. He was not merely resting. He felt the ebb and flow of the dark realm. He "saw" a tangled mess dominated by green. Taking a deep breath, Hades carefully manipulated it, trying to remove the messy parts.

The moment Vox charged in, Hades had already ruthlessly cleared away the Nurgle aura from the outermost layer of Vox's soul. Then, he followed the apothecaries in performing surgery to suppress the swarms within Vox's body that had almost completely become symbiotic with him.

Hades found it difficult to describe what he saw... and it was also hard to imagine what Vox had gone through.

Even Hades found Vox difficult to deal with.

He had experienced something similar before; ten thousand years ago, he had "helped" Karas in the same way. But ten thousand years later, the situation he faced was more than a hundred times more complicated.

Hades felt the faint light caressing the darkness—and to his surprise, he couldn't tell which of these chaotic lights belonged to Nurgle and which to the Pale Lord.

Hades initially believed that the Pale Lord's psychic powers sustained Vox's life, but he later realized that the two psychic powers permeated and eroded each other, coexisting and perishing together—he was completely unable to separate them.

If they were all eliminated directly, Vox, who had no chance of survival, would die immediately.

He tried, tried again and again, countless times. The only thing that made Hades feel gratified, and even somewhat amused, was that he had at least cleared out the psionic part of the Greenskins.

It seems that the Greenskins' psionic powers have indeed had a real impact on Mortalion.

Hades pondered, then opened his eyes again to look at Vox and the medical equipment—he couldn't trust servants, mortals, Ultramarines, or even the Son of Hades to care for Vox.

Logically and emotionally, Hades would never leave Vox alone in the intensive care unit.

He was waiting for Vox to wake up so they could chat—or perhaps visit Macurag.

Or at least let Vox take a break... ask him how these past ten thousand years have been, how things have been.

Vox still possesses psionic energy, perhaps from Nurgle or Mortarion. As for which one has the upper hand, we'll have to wait until Vox wakes up and ask him.

But Hades was more inclined to believe it was Mortarion; the half-piece of stone that Vox held was already tied to his waist, its unnatural texture resembling a hazy white mist.

Why does he still keep this kind of thing?

It's been ten thousand years... but at least they're still alive... or rather, immortal... can this really be called still alive? But for Hades, meeting an old friend after ten thousand years is already lucky enough.

Whether this is a cause for joy or sorrow for them is unknown.

Kirkland, a fanatical ascetic; Kim, indifferent and aloof; Vox, who resembles a half-plague warrior... and there's also someone who's starving.

Sigh, it seems that Vox is the most unfortunate one right now.

...He could hardly reconcile this old-looking man with the slightly youthful junior he once was; Vox seemed to have been gone for far, far away.

In some ways, over the long course of history, the fate faced by Space Marines was far more brutal than that of the Mechanicus.

Parts can be replaced, data can be backed up, and personalities can be uploaded. Hades was unsure how much of their selves remained in the souls and minds of the two sages, but at least Vox didn't retain as much of his self in his flesh and blood.

Immortality and eternal life are ultimately different.

Hades wanted to sigh, but then felt it wasn't appropriate to do so in front of the patient, so he quickly changed his actions and went to get the concentrated nutrient solution from the medical cart.

This is for him, not for the wounded.

The disinfectant over there is for the wounded.

Hades' actions startled Buzz, who looked at Hades, who then gestured to him with his eyes.

Do you want some?

Buz shook his head, refusing to drink.

Ok.

Hades blinked regretfully. He had wanted to emphasize the importance of eating on time for combat and decision-making, but in the end, Hades decided to respect Booz's wishes.

Hades failed to realize that there was a possibility that Booz simply couldn't drink it.

They were the only two people within a 100-meter radius of the hospital bed, besides Vox, who were not wearing gas masks.

These odors have been rendered harmless by the Black Domain, specifically in terms of psionic energy.

After finishing one bag, Hades carefully put the used bag away and then went to get another one.

His hand trembled.

Hades was certain that Vox's eyelids had just twitched.

Under the white light, Hades remained motionless, staring at Vox, as if confirming that what he had just seen was not an illusion.

He saw Vox's exposed veins throbbing and pulsating, his muscle fibers trembling, and then his eyelids trembling violently—

Vox opened his eyes in a daze.

As the blinding white light shone down, almost at the same moment, tears of reason welled up in Vox's eyes. The world before him was both dazzling and hazy, and he could only see a halo of white light.

...Did he succeed...or did he fail...and fall into the endless nightmare created by the warp?

The Vox world has dimmed.

He saw two heads above his world—"Vox?" "Vox?!" "Vox!"

Vox's gaze began to focus as he tried to make out... why the Ultramarines would carve their emblems on the ceiling?

"stop fighting……"

"Vox said weakly, and then he saw two white-haired heads, one big and one small, look at each other. The smaller one immediately rushed out to call the apothecary, while the larger one grabbed his only intact arm and started shaking it, with just the right amount of force to wake him up without hurting his body.

"Don't sleep—Vox, don't sleep!!!"

Vox stared weakly at the Ultramariner emblem on the ceiling, feeling a sense of despair.

At least it looks like Hades is still Hades.

"stop……"

Vox was almost completely exhaling and not inhaling.

"I promise I'm not dying when I close my eyes... Senior fighter... let me... rest for a while..."

"I'm so glad you're alright—"

Hades breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Vox with concern. Vox closed his eyes again, and then a group of fully armed apothecaries rushed in. Hades tactfully pushed aside and watched the apothecaries operate.

Beside the door that had been flung open, Boots peeked out and stealthily crept to the side of Hades, who was being punished by standing there.

"How is it, my father?"