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

Page 207

But right now, the entire legion's senior leadership is still Hades—Hades!

Because of some of her own wild guesses, she even caught the attention of Hades himself?!

Margot felt like she was about to faint. The unacceptable reality was crushing her. She buried her face deep in the darkness under the table, both terrified and awe-inspiring, trying to find some solace.

Hades sat silently at the judge's table after reviewing a pile of documents, staring at the two men in front of him in thought.

Hades also instructed the tomb keeper outside to turn off the recording of the interrogation room; everything inside would only be recorded by Hades himself.

One was a trembling, hound-like auxiliary soldier, and the other was the mechanical sage Kirkland, who was feigning ignorance.

Hades sighed deeply as he looked at Kirkland, who was feigning ignorance.

This made the hound tremble even more violently, so Hades had to speak as softly as possible.

But Hades didn't know that his deep voice was like a scythe scraping across the floor, slowly cutting through Margot's spine.

"Don't be nervous, Margo from the 037th Regiment. I'll only ask you a few questions."

Margot kept her head down and nodded haphazardly a couple of times.

Hades sighed inwardly. Of course, he remembered the auxiliary soldier who had shouted "For Hades!" back then.

He even suspected that the other party might be Hydra, but after checking her information, he found that there was nothing wrong with her.

Therefore, Hades simply instructed the gravedigger to keep an extra watch on her for a while longer, and at the same time, to have her assistant legion commander convey the message that they should not be superstitious and should believe in the truth of the Empire.

This matter should have been over, and in fact, the one who started the "Hades" rumor was not Margot, but another mortal who liked to make up stories.

But Hades was watching Kirkland closely; the sage clearly knew what he was doing.

Realizing that the overly nervous hound was clearly not getting anything out of him, Hades decided to give the sage, who was pretending to be stupid, a warning first.

With his arms resting on the table and his hands crossed, Hades covered the lower half of his face, revealing only his pure-colored eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Kirkland, explain yourself. Why did you leave the mission area without permission and harass a mortal auxiliary soldier?"

“My lord, you need to understand and value your inner self. You can no longer run away from all of this.”

Hades' inner world, the old man, the subway, the cell phone.

Hades, calm down, stay calm.

“I expect you to answer my question directly, Kirkland.”

Kirkland remained silent for a moment.

“I did it on purpose, sir.”

Hades raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

“Margo’s discovery completes the last piece of the puzzle: believers’ prayers really do bring attention and feedback, which is in line with the definition of a deity, even if you yourself are unwilling to admit it.”

Attention and feedback. Hades desperately needed this information, but the most pressing matter—Hades slowly calmed his anger and resolutely spoke.

“Listen carefully, Kirkland, I’m only saying this once.”

First of all, I am not God;

Secondly, I am not a god;

"In the end, I am not a god."

"Did you understand?"

Hades said through gritted teeth.

"I don't know where you came to your conclusion, Sage. Compared to Margo, who is still unclear about my character, what are you thinking after spending so much time with me?"

Hades never imagined that one day, his character would be prophesied and he would be considered a god.

At least the gods in Warhammer aren't like him, right? Hades clearly remembers the time he spent on Barbaros. With that kind of experience, he looks like an ordinary, unlucky human, doesn't he?

His subsequent increase in strength was due to his physical constitution and being forced to absorb a portion of the Void Dragon fragments; he did not possess any other extraordinary abilities.

Besides, what god works like a workaholic on the verge of collapse every day? Hades would rather call himself a miserable Warhammer worker with zero wages than a god.

Hades, with a stern face, picked up a stack of documents from the table and began to read them aloud, one by one.

"Kirkland, let me see. Your database contains at least 3 terabytes of evidence."

"Then, you were found to be spreading dangerous ideas to the mechanical sages of Mint and Ruster."

“Your assistant Kim tried to stop you, but you ended up making him believe your story.”

Hades suddenly realized that while Kirkland and King worked diligently for his Blackstone Labs every day, he needed to pay attention to the mental and emotional well-being of his employees.

"Finally, you even tried to abduct Margot the Hound of the Underworld and trick her into compiling a propaganda manual?"

After reading these passages, Hades realized that he himself was the first to be silenced.

This deeply and immensely shocked Hades.

Hades felt that whether it was him rushing out of the lab to grab food in the cafeteria, or him lying on the lab floor sleeping, or him making tasteless jokes with the servants every day, it all made him feel better.

How could Kirkland Kirkland, after witnessing all of this, do such a thing against his conscience?!

In Hades's understanding, the first element for a person or thing to be called a god is "mystery".

Perhaps it's a conscious effort to cultivate an air of mystery, or perhaps it's the ambiguity created by distance, but all things that are revered and worshipped always maintain a certain distance from their believers.

This makes it easier for believers to deify a certain being.

Hades could understand the actions of the hounds, since it was customary among mortal forces to refer to powerful Space Marines, Primarchs, or Emperors as "angels," "demigods," or "gods."

The Legion simply turned a blind eye to this, given the allure of the Primarch and the Emperor. In a sense, if the nouns above were replaced with adjectives, it wouldn't be wrong either.

But this is all predicated on the fact that Space Marines, Primarchs, and Emperors are beings sufficiently distant from mortals. Aside from the angel Sangilius, Hades didn't believe the people of the Primarch's homeworld would initially revere the Primarch as a god—

Because they are close enough to people, their behavior, in addition to their superhuman abilities, reveals their human nature.

Just like Mortalian, who was initially thought by the Barbarus to be a big guy with a strange disease.

It wasn't until Mortarian led the Barbarians to slay the alien lord that he began to be regarded as a gifted war general—but not a god.

It was only after Mortarion joined the Legion that his reputation soared, thanks to the Legion's bonuses and his distance from mortals. Some mortals who caught a glimpse of the Lord of Death on the battlefield began to believe he was a demigod.

But the premise remains the same: a sense of mystery.

Hades couldn't understand Kirkland's thought process. Putting everything else aside, Hades was confident that he was the most humane Space Marine in the Death Guard.

Besides, he never put on an act in front of Kirkland; at least he maintained a serious demeanor as the Death Guard commander in front of others.

But Hades didn't care much about maintaining his personal image in front of this sage who was already firmly on Hades' side.

And just like that, Kirkland still calls him "God"?!

Hades felt a pain in the corner of his mouth, a pain of wanting to slap but being unable to. He silently looked at the records of Kirkland's whereabouts, the sage having cut out many of Hades's photos.

The carefully chosen scene, the meticulously selected composition, the smoke and dim light surrounding the protagonist, his face solemn and silent, a darkness casting a shadow before him—

Hades had no idea he could be so handsome.

But Hades knew better than anyone that most of the time he appeared before Kirkland, he was the slovenly old man in a technical sergeant's shirt, the kind of guy who beat up machines in the workshop every day.

Hades brainstormed, but in the end, he still couldn't figure out the reason or purpose behind Kirkland's actions.

"Kirkland, why do you think I am a god?"

Hades's mouth twitched slightly, judging by his usual behavior.

The red-robed mechanical block beside the judge's table twitched a few times under its locks, and spoke in a resolute voice,

"My lord, because I know the truth behind the exaggerated appearance."

"Only the most foolish believers are deceived by appearances and actions. I know, I know."

"The golden cathedral soaring into the sky, the servants singing beautiful poems, the hypocrisy and affectation in their every move—only the most foolish mortals would be moved by such things!"

As if a sore spot had been hit, Kirkland began to yell and curse in a furious voice.

"A scumbag who only cares about handsome looks! A manipulator who only knows how to play with people's hearts! Who decided that gods must have a glamorous and beautiful appearance?!"

“Those mortals are merely worshipping the rulers at the top of their race, mistakenly attributing wealth they cannot possess to the gods—”

"stop!"

Hades suddenly stood up, slammed his hand on the table, and the loud noise exploded in the room.

"boom--"

Hades was relieved that this was the Death Guard's private interrogation room, and that no other factions were present in the heavily guarded area.

Otherwise, Hades's hair would have stood on end after hearing those words.

"Kirkland, I'm warning you seriously, everything you just said is heresy. It's all your own wild deductions. The Death Guard never gave you any guidance or information on this matter!"

A white light shone on Hades' head, his face, backlit, shrouded in ominous darkness, and an extremely terrifying expression appeared on Hades' face.

Margot, curled up by the table, was almost suffocating; she could feel it.

That was murderous intent.

If she were the one being scolded, she probably would have fainted from fright.

But to her surprise, Kirkland's deliberately obsequious voice rang out again, even with a hint of meekness.

"Yes, I know, sir. These are all my personal speculations. I have never said these things before."

"However, Lord Hades, I only want to show that I am not one of those foolish mortals, and that the true gods are not the traditional figures."

"What are you worrying about again? Are you worried that your image is not impressive enough, or that your life is too rough? No, these are all superficial."

"If you possess great power, can drive away evil, and respond to the prayers of believers, why are you so fixated on the definitions defined by mortals?"

Hades remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.

"Kirkland, don't use language and definitions to obscure principles."

Hades glanced at Margo; there were indeed some things he couldn't say in front of this mortal.

“I can tell you that I am not a god. I can understand my existence. I remember all my experiences here. There are many things I cannot do. I am not an absolutely selfless or virtuous being.”

"Kirkland, I don't know if it was my ability, the Dark Domain, that misled you, but I'm telling you clearly, I am not a god, understand?"

"At least for now, there are no gods among humankind."

"If you are still confused or puzzled by my abilities, I can patiently answer your questions, but please do not mistake what you do not know for something special."

"The great power you speak of, the ability to drive away darkness, is nothing more than my Dark Domain ability. What difference is there between you and those ignorant people of ancient times who worshipped powerful psychics?"

“My lord, but you cannot explain the fact that you can respond to the prayers of mortals.”

Kirkland's mechanical voice rang out, ending Hades's words.

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I have many feelings, a lot of feelings.

I will continue to write and try my best to tell this story within a reasonable scope.

Chapter 248 Don't talk to believers, or you'll become unhappy.

Hades fell silent.

In fact, his biggest source of information about his own Black Domain is the figure king Tarasin, followed by the empirical rules he has summarized from his usual practice.

He knew how to sense the Dark Domain, how to shrink and expand it, and to what extent the Dark Domain could defeat a particular type of psionic species.

But as for other things, the principles of the Dark Domain depend entirely on Tarasin's words, and Hades still has to wonder if Tarasin is lying to him.

According to Tarachin, Hades itself is a warp black hole that slowly and inevitably leaks everything out of the warp, throwing it into a world devoid of laws.

Consuming subspace and psionic energy would accelerate the expansion of a black hole, which is why the Emperor imposed restrictions on it.

This essence manifests itself in anti-psychic attacks in the physical world, as evidenced by Hades's usual attacks.

But why does he receive a response when others pray to him?

Hades pondered that he needed more information and feedback regarding the "response" to make a conclusion.

And what if the person isn't actually praying to Hades? The so-called response might not even be from Hades.

In fact, besides the four warp vendors—Nurgle, Khorne, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh—there are other demons in the warp that control other emotions or thoughts.