Start with a core cabin

Chapter 1330: A Reunion Across Time (My belly is starting to swell)

Sitting on the throne, Robert Guilliman showed a look of melancholy and sadness.

He sighed silently, closed his eyes, and showed unimaginable pain.

"Why are you so sad? Cheer up. You can wake up after sleeping for ten thousand years. What else are you dissatisfied with?"

Duanmu Huai sat beside him, tasting Macragge's specialty pastries while looking at Guilliman with a smile. Guilliman smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Ten thousand years have passed, and look what has become of them, and ourselves - blind faith, ignorance, misery, decadence. All of this, in the name of a god who, ironically, has always hated the title."

"Sometimes what you think is not important, what others think of you is important. I think you may not have thought that you are no different from a god in the eyes of the Ultramarines now."

Guilliman stood up silently and looked at the battle flags and paintings on the wall with a painful expression on his face.

"We have failed, Father. He failed his sons, and we have failed him. Our hubris and vanity have created the Imperium we have today, and we have failed humanity. Didn't Horus declare his intention to become a god, and use that as an excuse to start the rebellion? Wouldn't he have laughed at the Imperium's current state?"

"I don't know whether Horus is laughing or not, but I know Lorgar must be laughing terribly. After all, his Divine Words are now the official reading material of the Ecclesiarchy."

Duanmu Huai silently stabbed Guilliman in the back.

"Also, your Codex Astartes is also on the required reading list for Space Marines. What do you think about this?"

"absurd."

Guilliman finally broke through at this moment.

"Why am I still alive! I gave everything to my father and the Empire. Look what they have done to our dreams now! There is no trace of reason and hope in the bloated and corrupted body of the Empire. Only fear, hatred and ignorance keep this corpse alive! Even if we are all buried in the fire of Horus' ambition, it is better than living to witness all this!"

Duanmu Huai did not say anything. He certainly understood what Guilliman meant, but this did not represent the despair of the Primarch. On the contrary, there was a glimmer of hope burning in his anger.

Guilliman turned his head, looked at Duanmu Huai, and asked slowly.

"Who are you?"

"I thought I explained that to you a long time ago."

Duanmu Huai spread his hands.

"I am Duanmu Huai, the chief judge of the Tribunal. What other answer do you want?"

"You should know that's not what I meant."

Guilliman stared at Duanmu Huai. His memory seemed to have stopped at ten thousand years ago. It was precisely because of this that the man in front of him, who had not changed at all from his memory, made Guilliman even more suspicious.

"So what do you want to know?"

"all of these."

Guilliman stared at Duanmu Huai.

"I originally suggested that the Empire create the Inquisition, hoping to give the Grey Knights a home and allow the Empire to have a dedicated anti-demon department. But now, I know that this is not so simple."

Guilliman was not an idiot. After waking up, he absorbed a lot of knowledge about this era, and naturally learned about the deeds of the Inquisition.

"Come to think of it, I haven't asked you for copyright fees yet... Never mind."

Duanmu Huai swallowed the osmanthus cake in his hand in one gulp, then stood up, walked to Guilliman and extended his hand.

"Come on, grab it."

"…………"

Staring at Duanmu Huai's open palm, Guilliman was silent for a moment, then he reached out and grasped it.

The next moment, Guilliman only felt a flash before his eyes, and then everything in front of him changed.

The originally magnificent throne room disappeared, replaced by a huge metal square and church suspended in the endless starry sky. In front of him was a huge star, and countless lights flowed towards the star like a river, and then disappeared into it.

"Welcome to the Inquisition, or rather, my divine domain."

Duanmu Huai clapped his hands, and Guilliman turned around and looked at him in disbelief.

"You are... God?"

"Isn't it strange? Isn't that the same with that piece of old bacon? But I'm on the side of humans, and I don't think you have considered this."

"I do not understand……………"

"Okay, I can explain it to you, but I'm not sure how much you can understand... After all, my eloquence isn't that great... Forget it, let's just go with what I've said."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai explained to Guilliman about his own situation, including the distant future, the situation of the Inquisition, his power as the God of Destruction, and the various effects that the power of destruction could bring...

"So, the power of the Inquisition to kill demons actually comes from you?"

"Yes."

Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers and pointed at the galaxies surrounding the stars.

"Strictly speaking, it's not a kill. After they destroy the demons, my destructive power will force them to my divine domain and burn them inside. In this way, they will not be able to continue to be reborn in the subspace. From this perspective, it can also be regarded as killing the demons."

"And the souls of those who believe in the Inquisition will also belong to the Inquisition after death?"

"I think this is normal." Duanmu Huai shrugged.

"I'm not a good person. They used my power, so they naturally have to pay a price. Or I'm generous enough to only collect the price after they die. At least I won't be like those demons who exploit these unfortunate people while they are alive."

"And what about their souls?"

"If they are eager to continue fighting, I will clean up the mess and let them continue to fight to eliminate the enemies of humanity. If they have had enough of all this..."

Duanmu Huai pointed at the star again as he spoke.

"They will also enjoy a complete death."

"You destroyed their souls!"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders.

"When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. Indeed, although I admit that many gods would choose to let those souls stay in the divine realm to serve them, I am not interested in that. The power they gain from burning their souls is more useful to me than serving me. And they are already dead, aren't they? I think in this world, a quick and clean death is already a kind of mercy."

"…………………"

Guilliman fell silent, thinking back to the nightmare of the rebellion. He saw his brothers and their children fall into darkness and evil, their souls were tainted, and their bodies were twisted. From this perspective, the eternal annihilation of the soul was indeed a mercy.

"Okay, don't be so nervous. Look, the Emperor didn't object, did he?"

"I, I don't understand..."

Guilliman shook his head.

"Why would he allow this to happen?"

"Or rather, he's hoping that I can share his faith with him."

"Hey?"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's ridicule, Guilliman was stunned for a moment. He looked at Duanmu Huai in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

"I do not know what you're talking about."

"It's very simple. Do you know the history of the Obsession and the Eldar?"

"I know a little bit..."

"The Obsessive Sin was born from the chaotic desires of the Eldar. When it was born, it absorbed most of the souls of the Eldar, and only one in ten Eldar survived. Why is this so? Because it is the Eldar, and the Eldar are it. So when the Obsessive Sin completely ascended to godhood, that was when those believers gave their souls and lives to their god."

Duanmu Huai spread his hands.

"You have to know that before this, the number of Eldar was very large. How many? More than the Greenskins! But after the birth of the Evil of Obsession? You can see that now there are only two or three Eldar left. They are almost becoming the protected animals of the Milky Way. Although from my point of view, I would rather see these bastards exterminate."

"So, what you mean is......"

  Guilliman is not stupid. Duanmu Huai has said this much, how could he not understand what the other party means?

"That's right. Just like the relationship between the Obsessive and the Eldar, the Emperor is also like this. Now he is at the boundary between man and god. Once the Emperor becomes a god, humans will repeat what happened to the Eldar. Those humans who believe in the Emperor devoutly will be completely destroyed like the Eldar, and their souls will become the nourishment for the Emperor to ascend to godhood. This is also the reason why the Emperor has always denied that he is a god - unfortunately, his methods are not very clever."

"Is this why my father ordered me to destroy the Perfect City?"

"Yes, in his opinion, this kind of belief is equivalent to dragging him all the way to the extinction of mankind."

"But...I don't understand."

Guilliman frowned.

"Why, why didn't he say anything? Didn't he tell us anything? If we knew all this..."

"Who knows? So you see, that guy is just a person, a riddle man at that. I hate this kind of bastard who only speaks half the words. Facts have also proved that he is not an omniscient and perfect god. If he were that kind of god, you wouldn't be scattered to various planets, the Great Crusade wouldn't fail, and the Empire wouldn't become like this... So in the final analysis, he is still stupid."

Duanmu Huai curled his lips.

"Like this, but no matter what, without the Emperor and the Primarch, humanity has only survived for the past ten thousand years. And you don't have to worry about the Emperor becoming a god for now. After all, there are still many people in the Empire who believe in the Inquisition. At least I'm much better than that guy who only eats and does not work. With me to help him divert faith, even if something happens, all humans will not be exterminated."

Duanmu Huai said this and sighed silently.

In fact, he has almost figured out some things.

For example, why were there so many humans still alive after that disaster? Even when the empire was destroyed and the black hole plan was implemented, humans did not become extinct together... Well, forget it. There is no point thinking about this now.

Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers again, and then the two of them returned to Guilliman's throne room. The latter stared at Duanmu Huai, and after a moment he smiled bitterly.

"Now it seems that I have no choice?"

"Of course you have a choice."

Duanmu Huai sat back on the sofa and poured himself another cup of tea.

"It's just that you've already made your choice."

Then, staring at Guilliman, he spoke.