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

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Mortarion ultimately did not do the foolish thing of randomly picking two Death Guard recruits and then making them pray.

This is the kind of thing that... makes one feel extremely foolish when the thought is even slightly touched upon.

Mortarian even began to worry whether his recent attempt would actually alert Hades to anything.

If Hades found out, he would definitely laugh at him... Mortarian stopped himself in time.

The Lord of Death began to sort through the information he had obtained from Ugo and Kirkland.

Kirkland has consistently maintained that Hades is the god who redeemed humanity from the Warp, and that devout prayer will bring believers Hades' protection, keeping them away from the corruption of the Warp.

Ugo then recounted in detail what the commander had instructed them to observe: in the ocean of warp, human flames would move with their thoughts to the Dark Realm (Ugo's expression was grim when he spoke of the Dark Realm, as if he had made a great decision), and then these flashes of flame would be swallowed by the Dark Realm.

Mortarian pondered, as if this were a deliberate approach to the Dark Domain within the realm of the Warp.

If this can eliminate the effects of the subspace on humanity, it would be a viable method.

It requires guiding people's thinking... which is quite troublesome...

But... Mortarian pondered why Hades didn't encourage Kirkland and the others. If the benefits of something outweighed the losses, Hades would definitely choose to do it.

Hades couldn't tolerate others' piety? No... Mortalian had never seen anyone more indifferent to the gaze of others than Hades.

So... is it something else?

Some of the harms of prayer that the Mortalians were unaware of.

Beneath the hood, the Lord of Death frowned deeply. What could this be?

At the same time, these losses cannot be too high, otherwise Hades would not spare Kirkland's life.

Apart from Macado, Hades never told anyone that his Darklands were actually restricted by the Emperor's psionic powers, and that Mortarion was not a Primarch who used psionic vision, so he could not accurately perceive the changes in the Darklands.

In the end, Mortarian could only confirm that it was the matter of "prayer" or "religion" that would cause Hades something he didn't want to see, but for now, he could still bear the loss. As for what that loss would be...

Will it harm Hades? Or will it have an impact on the warp and the realm of psionics?

Mortarion didn't know.

But the Lord of Death has already decided what he wants to do.

Mortarian first gave Kirkland a stern warning. Even though the mad sage's faith gave him immense courage, under Mortarian's deliberate intimidation, the sage still tremblingly swore to uphold his vow not to proselytize.

In the name of Hades.

After that, Mortalian met alone with Margo, a former member of the Hound of the Dead, a quiet and resilient mortal who understood the Primarch's meaning better than Kirkland.

Margot's reply to Mortalian was similar to Kirkland's, the only difference being that this mortal, who was the first to discover "For Hades," believed that Hades had his own reasons, and that believers should remain silent according to Hades's will.

After a moment's thought, Mortarion decided to send Margo to Ruster to retrieve the ship Hades had commissioned from Ruster... instead of sending Kirkland.

Since Margot himself was not familiar with the Cult of Mechanics, Mortarion assigned a technical sergeant named Pasteur to accompany Margot.

Mortalian had a vague impression of the seemingly dull-looking tech sergeant; Hades seemed to have mentioned him and spoken highly of him.

Pasteur was also nominated by Hades and Enrique as a candidate for the next successor of the Foundry. If this heir is truly capable of succeeding the Foundry, then he will certainly be able to handle the relationship with the Foundry World and successfully bring Hades' ship back to the Death Guard.

So the Lord of Death felt reassured and allowed the two to set sail as representatives, along with a squad of Death Guards for security.

Mortarion naturally ignored Kirkland's seemingly intensely flashing indicator lights, sending the sage back to continue producing anti-phantom weapons, and incidentally increasing the patrols of the gravediggers around the sage.

...And the final thing to do is...

Steady breathing came from beneath the gas mask. Mortarian was deep in thought, pondering whether the Death Guard had truly reached the final stage… The Lord of Death had made his decision…

Mortalian summoned Vox and Garo, ordering them to seal or alter all traces of the Deathguard commander on the Endurance.

Hades' office, lounge, and individual foundry were all sealed off, and no one was allowed to enter except on Mortalian's orders.

Then there were the various manuals written by Hades. Hades himself created the Gravekeeper system, so this was an easy task. Mortarion personally deleted the strange quotes left by Hades in the various manuals.

Mortarian rearranged these quotes into another book, but did not sign it.

The video recordings of Hades in the Duel Cage show that Mortarion hid the scene of Hades grinning at the crowd, leaving only some blurry images.

Mortarian calmly watched as the Death Guards were puzzled by his actions, but the Lord of Death did not hide Hades's achievements. On the contrary, the memorial room on the Endurance always contained an introduction to the commander's achievements, and the Lord of Death did not forbid the Death Guards from mentioning the commander in their lectures.

For a time, rumors even circulated within the Death Guard that there were other hidden reasons for the commander's departure, but Garo and Vox both kept a necessary silence on the matter.

Mortalian did not respond to this. He simply added the Legion's honor to the education of the planets under the Death Guard's jurisdiction, and the Commander, as the most important figure influencing the Death Guard's style, was naturally included in the Legion's historical honor as the founder of anti-psy energy.

They only need to write down the commander's actions objectively and fairly; there is no need to describe Hades's character.

When the next batch of Deathguard recruits arrives at the Deathguard, they will be greeted by a responsible, perfect, yet distant commander.

A powerful and distant figure who profoundly influenced the Legion.

In the office, where bone white and dark green intertwined, Mortalian silently reviewed the various strange statements written by Hades.

He felt a little frustrated, but perhaps it was necessary.

Mortarion silently thought to himself that, given the opportunity (and preferably never), these new blood about to join the Legion could certainly shout "For Hades!" with a sense of responsibility and devotion.

I wonder if those veterans who tell Hades jokes can hold such pure and subjective opinions about Hades.

Anyway, Mortarion can't do it.

As for Hades returning, witnessing all this, and then beginning to berate Mortarion and demanding that everything be reversed...

Mortalian then turned Hades' private lounge into a public exhibition room, and spread his various quotes, along with that damned Macurag blanket, onto the bed in Hades' lounge.

Oh, and we can't cover up that crack...

...Motalian was already looking forward to Hades' return, to berate him, and to making him change the future.

That's it! Great!

Chapter 309 Offline Real-Person Unboxing Emperor

Hades was sitting idly in the Ultramarines' reception room.

The two massive ships met in subspace and then sailed together toward their destination.

Compared to the silent Black Ships, the Ultramarines seemed busier, but Hades had no idea what they were busy with. Hades felt that they simply wanted to keep themselves busy so as to avoid thinking about some unacceptable issues.

Guilliman did not appear. His 19th Company Commander, Ayton, led Hades and Macado into their fleet. The Makurag Glory was not there; only the 19th Company's fleet was present.

Consistent with most Ultra Warrior stereotypes, Ultra Warrior Ayton is a serious and outstanding diplomat, but he now looks worried. Macado notices the Ultra Warrior's unease and the old man decisively chooses to comfort this excellent Ultra Warrior, leaving Hades in the reception room.

"Someone will come looking for you."

Macardo left those words behind and walked away without a second thought.

...Time passed...

In the brightly lit room, Hades stared blankly at the conference table, his eyes vacant. On the magnificent walls hung the flag of the 19th Company, and a sturdy white horse with its head held high stared at Hades, its fiery mane shining even brighter against the dark blue silk backdrop.

Hades began to reminisce about his previous return to Mars to see the Tech Sergeants. His Mars Manual had been updated to version 3.17, and the geometric signatures of Iron Warriors, Imperial Fist, etc., were enough for Imperial Fist to build another wall.

Technological updates were the most frequent, with almost all legions participating in this beneficial form of entertainment. Meanwhile, casual conversation updates were rare, mostly coming from the Sons of the Emperor and the Word Bearers… To Hades' surprise, he even discovered a limerick by White Scar about a trip to the Martian wasteland…

...By the way, white scars seem pretty good too.

Just as Hades realized this, the door to the reception room suddenly opened, and a middle-aged man walked in and casually pulled up a chair to sit down.

The man was dressed in luxurious and extravagant clothes. His well-tailored pearl-white brocade coat swayed with his movements, and every gold thread on it emitted a shimmering, iridescent light depending on the angle. Decorative gold and silver buttons were densely embedded in the coat, but they were not fastened, thus revealing the shirt underneath.

The shirt was embroidered with gold and silver threads, and a gold and silver trim matching the style of the outer garment was sewn on it. It was carefully and meticulously fastened, and the buttons extended from the hem of the shirt all the way to the pure white linen collar at the lapel, still dazzlingly gold.

Her long black hair was adorned with a golden olive crown, a not-so-sophisticated imitation that Hades seemed to have seen on Guilliman's head.

The shimmering fabric seemed very taut, reminding Hades of clothes that would tear if he made a big movement, while the high buttons on the shirt and the scarf gave Hades a suffocating feeling, like the clothes were choking him.

Clearly, those designers prioritized aesthetics over the wearer's comfort.

Against this backdrop of interwoven pearly white and shimmering gold, there was ordinary long black hair, an ordinary wheat-colored face, and ordinary black eyes, which seemed to shimmer with golden light, possibly reflecting the gold hue in the Ultra Warrior's room.

His attire reminded Hades of planetary nobles who had suddenly become rich, but his demeanor reminded Hades of a miserable office worker who was half-crushed in the subway, squatting on the ground eating dry bread late at night, burdened with loans, and whose wife had been laid off and who was raising a child alone. Although the man did not have dark circles under his eyes, he did exude a deep, deep sense of powerlessness and exhaustion.

The man was staring at Hades calmly and naturally, as if waiting for something.

Hades blinked. From the moment the door was opened, Hades' gaze was already on the man, but his mind was clearly still on the White Scar grassland.

Or to put it another way, this man didn't possess a strong, memorable aura, so Hades didn't react immediately—

Hades felt that the face resembled Mortalian or Guilliman's.

--what?

what? !

what! ! !

Hades wanted to suddenly stand up to greet someone or salute, but at that moment his unpleasant past, such as when his superiors picked up food and he turned the table, was already replaying in his mind. However, the Emperor clearly anticipated his behavior and raised his hand, indicating that Hades should just sit down.

Hades swallowed hard and straightened his posture.

What should he say? Wait, he didn't look like this in the projection of the letter the Emperor gave him before. Did he use a psionic beauty filter?

But it seemed the Emperor didn't want to speak first. He was like an NPC in a game, patiently sitting there, waiting for Hades to trigger the dialogue first.

In his desperation, Hades uttered what, in a sense, were the first words he spoke to the Emperor after arriving in this world.

"Your Majesty... are you alright?"

Hades regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, but the Emperor was clearly pleased with them. He tried to force a smile, then gave up and spoke directly.

"Actually, it's terrible."

The emperor calmly uttered something rather ominous, but the very act of saying it seemed to bring him pleasure.

“There are always many things to do—you don’t have to call me Emperor, Hades.”

Hades blinked thoughtfully. The emperor's words revealed his character, which was exactly what Hades needed. Although the chances were slim, Hades did not want to fall into the trap of becoming a false god.

He patiently waited for the emperor's new title... and then... then the emperor fell silent?!

?

So how should Hades address the Emperor? Or did the Emperor tacitly acknowledge that Hades knew his name?

Hades tentatively opened his mouth.

So... how should I address you?

"It will be all right."

The emperor said casually.

Wait, all of these are allowed? What do you mean, allowed?!

Hades had never felt so exhausted talking to the reclusive Mortarion.

"Could you... be more specific?"

The Emperor glanced at Hades with some surprise.

“You can call me whatever name you like: Neos, Moravik, Don Quixote, Aureliano, José… You don’t need to use honorifics; it doesn’t really matter.”

Hades felt a little numb. What was he doing? What should he say? Where was he? Who was he?

He took a deep breath, Hades kept his expression straight, and decisively chose to remain silent.

He looked at the Emperor, Neos, Moravik... with polite, inquiring eyes.

The other person also looked at him with an air of authority.

After a silence that was neither too long nor too short, the emperor spoke solemnly, with the majesty of a ruler, but there seemed to be a hint of hesitation in his words, a hesitation that vanished in an instant.

“Unlike other humans, your projection in the subspace is a black hole-like entity,”

Hades' eyes narrowed. Was the Emperor about to reveal the truth to him?

"Therefore, I cannot judge your emotions and thoughts through subspace projection, which would cause me to make wrong decisions. I hope you will honestly tell me everything you have been hiding."

The Emperor remained calm as he looked at Hades.

"I hope you will give me your loyalty and frankness, just as I trust and am honest with you."

Hades spoke slowly.

"of course can."

The consequence of their frankness was that they fell silent again.

...Another silence followed, then the Emperor spoke.