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

Page 488

A pale face was visible beneath the blanket, but it was barely decomposed. Shaw stared wide-eyed at the two visitors.

“I’m here to help you,” Hades said in a low voice, “to help you get rid of… pain.”

"Is there anything you want to say to your sister, Tess?"

Hades said, "She doesn't want to see you right now—but you can communicate through communications."

Shaw's wide eyes darted around as he stared at Hades. He coughed and shook his head in alarm, indicating that he did not want to communicate with his sister.

"it is good."

Hades said, and Blake, who was standing nearby, also spoke up.

"In the name of the son of Hades, believer, the great man before you is Hades."

He wants to ask you some questions.

Shaw made a hoarse sound, followed by his words,

"...Pluto?"

His pupils were unfocused, staring at the sculpture behind Hades, the statue of the god coldly and mercilessly reaching out its hand to him.

Shaw forced a smile. "You are Hades... no..."

"No...you're too late."

Hades grabbed Black's outstretched hand, which he had been trying to use to teach Shaw a lesson.

“Yes, I’m late,” Hades said calmly. “I can’t be there every single time.”

"...a false god."

Hades remained silent, while Shaw continued to struggle, saying, "Why don't you bestow your grace? You... I watched them rot... I practiced mercy... and why..."

“God is not omnipotent,” Hades said. “Nothing in this universe is omnipotent, Shore.”

Hades knelt down and placed Shaw's hand in his, a futile attempt at end-of-life care, but it made everyone present feel a little better.

Hades continued, “I believe it is not the doctrine that commands you to be merciful; you are a merciful person by nature. I heard your sister’s cries. You are a kind and very responsible person. It was you who chose the Church of Hades, which aligns with your beliefs, not the other way around.”

“I accept your accusations, Shaw Wood, and I also wish to end your suffering quickly—but if you tell me the details of this plague, I might be able to prevent the next tragedy.”

Shore was panting, and Hades wondered how someone whose heart had stopped could still breathe, but perhaps his throat needed air so that his vocal cords would vibrate.

“Okay…” Shaw’s weak voice rang out. He tilted his head slightly and stared at Hades. “I finally understand… why Hades is both merciful and cruel…”

Shaw smiled in vain.

“I took in those people despite Tess’s objections; she had intended to burn them… to ensure the safety of the others on board.”

He stared blankly at Hades.

"But in the end... at least I saved them, didn't I?"

Hades looked him into the eyes. “I assure you, they have returned to true death—the most complete death.”

This seemed to please the priest; Shaw seemed to perk up slightly.

“I’m glad I can finally rest in peace,” Shaw coughed, his eyes seeming to flash with memories of the past. “When I was a child, I trespassed into other people’s territory… I glimpsed ghosts imprisoned and tormented to the point of madness. It was after that I realized how merciful true death is. This was the original motivation for me to join the Cult of the Dead—I feared that death would no longer be death.”

Shaw let out a long sigh of relief. “My God…” he said calmly, “Looking back on Shaw Wood’s life, apart from my final harshness and betrayal of you, I have a clear conscience.”

“I accept what you say,”

Hades paused for a moment, then said, "Swear all you want."

He continued, “You saved the lives of the remaining 107 people, so they wouldn’t have to suffer after death. Even though I know you feel guilty towards your sister, I will help Tess later to ease your conscience.”

Hades thought that Shaw would have shed tears by now, had his blood not stopped flowing and his tear glands not dried up.

“Hades…” Shaw said, trembling, as if he had made a great decision, “During the time I betrayed you, I tried to seek the help of Death. I glimpsed some painful scenes on the boundary between life and death. He was trapped, and He needed faith.”

"He is gradually losing his death..."

Shaw coughed. “I have read extensively about the Undead in the cult of the Underworld, sir. There has never been an Undead outbreak like this—an Undead outbreak that is gradually becoming contagious. You need to help your friend Death.”

Hades nodded. "I will."

Shaw was silent for a moment,

"Then I have nothing more to tell you. Please let me sleep, Hades... I have suffered too much."

Hades blinked.

"Do you need to have a final word with your sister? She's been suffering because she abandoned you."

“Thank you. Please tell her…” Shaw slowly closed his eyes. “She did a good job. That’s why she is the heir to the Wood family, not her weak brother. I am proud of her.”

"Human beings will also be proud of you."

Hades said that the next moment, the waters of the underworld surged up.

Shore fell silent, and Hades covered the priest's face with a blanket.

Hades stood up. "Perhaps I should let the brother and sister meet."

Blake shook his head. "That would only cause regret for the living. Your decision was correct, Father."

Hades sighed, “I never imagined that my first meeting with my mortal followers would be like this.”

He still remembers the headache he felt when he debated with those two crazy believers.

Hades thought for a moment, then put down the image he had just seen. He looked up and carefully examined his sculpture.

"Why this posture?"

Hades suddenly asked, and Black replied, "Because the Golden Sage won—no, because the Hades Cult has always believed that this demonstrates your benevolence, and that it allows those highly perceptive believers to deduce for themselves that you are human."

Hades stared at the sculpture's outstretched hand, as if interacting with a worshipper.

He probably understood some of it.

Blake continued, “The hound under your sculpture is the third of the three-headed dogs, representing the mortal faction. The other two are the Mechanicus, facing left with a wrench in its mouth, and the Legion, facing right with a scythe in its mouth.”

Hades nodded, walked around his sculpture, then turned his back to it and looked at the beds where the corpses were laid.

“Blake”.

Hades suddenly said.

Before Blake could even realize what was happening, the familiar feeling of suffocation enveloped him. He instantly understood that Hades had resuming his domain to dispel the blasphemous atmosphere within the church.

In a daze, Blake seemed to hear the navigator crying and screaming in the distant cabin.

Three seconds later, Blake staggered slightly and stood there in a daze.

"alright,"

Hades said, while simultaneously opening the communication, "Ms. Teess, everyone here is asleep. I think you've seen all of this through the surveillance cameras?"

A sense of unease emanated from Tiss.

"Yes—thank you, sir."

She sobbed softly, "Thank you for your help to my brother."

“It’s nothing,” Hades said. “Madam, your brother is proud of you.”

Hades repeated Shaw's words, giving Tees a minute to process them.

During this time, Hades wandered through the long and simple chapel, looking at its dark, blood-dried walls.

"What are your plans next, ma'am?"

Hades casually said, “On the warp level, I can assure you that this place is completely safe—but I perhaps know what you mean, you can burn this place down, and I suggest you do so, so that everything is burned to ashes.”

Tiss immediately agreed with Hades, and after a period of time, the pipes that were constantly discharging liquid nitrogen began to discharge the element.

Once enough fuel had been piled up, Hades snapped his fingers, a spark of electricity flew up, and then—the flames quickly illuminated the church, engulfing the silent beds.

Hades glanced at his own sculpted figure amidst the raging flames, then turned and, with Black in tow, left the area.

Mortarion... is trapped... This does indeed correspond to the warp projection that Hades sensed. It's not just that [Death] has disappeared; [Death] is being tainted by other powers, most likely from the Nurgle side.

This is not a good thing.

Hades thought to himself silently, but he raised his hand and stared at his palm.

Almost immediately, a thought popped into Hades' mind—

He is absolutely unable to enter the subspace now.

Almost the instant the thought crossed Hades' mind, he felt rejection and screams from the warp.

How could he leave this star system—and how could he rescue Mortalian, who was trapped in the warp?

My buddy was completely drained the other day, he's really gone... I need to lie down for a day.

Chapter 561 An Unexpected Joy, An Uninvited Guest

After the flames burned the chapel, Hades asked Tess for his opinion again—in the end, they unanimously decided to visit Mauro's ship.

According to the psionicist Barry, the Zerg shadow here will soon drop to a point where warp jumps are possible.

Therefore, in order to navigate more safely in subspace, Tess would need to rely on Mauro's large ships in any case.

Hades, on the other hand, wanted to check out a larger ship. According to Tees, there were some small boats moored on Mauro's ship, and Hades decided to "borrow" one.

Borrow a ship, then find a suitable planet in this star system for Hades to develop technology, stay there for a full year, and wait for the Empire to send someone to pick him up.

Or find a planet infested with Nurgle and start killing them directly.

Kill until Nurgle spits out Mortarion.

Unfortunately, after relentlessly harassing the psykers, Hades received a disheartening result: only the shadow of the Tyranids and the greenskins' Waagh positions remained in this star system.

Chaos seemed unwilling to show itself in the face of these two forces.

Hades had no choice but to find another way.

As for the mortals, Hades merely hoped that they could all fly out of this star system—

Then help him tell the Death Guard that he's back.

At Hades's behest, Black informed Tess of a Death Guard stronghold. After warping out of this star system, Tess would immediately go to find the Death Guard and the Mechanicus.

To increase the Death Guard's credibility with the noblewoman, Black wrote a letter to Tees.

The letter also included a photograph—Hades' hand resting on Black's shoulder armor, the two strikingly similar-looking people smiling at the same time, with the messy ship walls of Lady Tees in the background, and Oglin peeking out from the corner in a daze.

Blake seemed reluctant to send out the photo, so Hades quickly took a second, similar one for Blake to keep.

Then, with Hades' permission, Tess sent a message to Mauro's ship—on which was now a son of Hades and a highly respected elder of the chapter.

Unexpectedly, Mauro quickly sent the coordinates of their ship to Tiss and urged them to rendezvous as soon as possible.

Hades was curious as to why this Lord of the Hive was so interested in the Son of Hades, but Black proudly puffed out his chest and told him that this was indeed the Son of Hades.

Hades noticed that the old man from Tiens behind Blake was almost unable to hold back.

"Barry, you say it."

Hades waved his hand, interrupting Blake. Blake turned around, and Barry was certain that he saw a burning fighting spirit in Blake's eyes for that instant.

Barry briefly recounted the meeting between the Sky Lion Chapter and the Lord of the Main Nest.

However, from Hades' perspective, the evidence provided by Barry only showed that the lord was a coward who feared death... but he couldn't hear anything else seriously wrong with it.

As for the fleet that plundered Tiss, Hades glanced at the noblewoman busy directing her crew. If Tiss could defeat Mauro… he guessed the roles would be reversed.

He had no intention of overseeing the matter; Hades only hoped that these people could help him pass on the message—the more people who got out alive, the better.

In return, the Death Guard will provide them with a monetary compensation.

During the voyage, Hades continued to teach Eugens to count and, incidentally, instructed the crew on how to improve the ship's defenses.

Sometimes, he would take Blake to see the church that was almost completely burned down, where a raging fire had burned away all the combustibles, leaving only the solemn sculpture standing silently.

Blake stood silently behind Hades, who was staring blankly at his statue. He wanted to know what his genetic father was thinking—or perhaps, Hades wasn't thinking about anything at all?

After leaving the chapel, Hades continued to teach the clever mind to count, and sometimes Black would do this for him. With each count of one, two, three, the two ships met.

The Lord of the main hive's ship was a Tarask-class transport ship, which looked much more robust than the Teys's ships, with many turrets mounted on both sides.

Hades was puzzled as to why the ship wasn't using its shields; it didn't even appear to have a Void Shield deployed.