How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 24 We gather together tonight

"... Of course, we have to thank Ms. Jessamine Deville, the governor of the planet Jestal, for her wise leadership..."

Technician Raj Hastings' voice was converted into an electronic signal and broadcast across the globe.Perhaps due to the inevitable loss of the acoustic signal during this conversion process, his voice sounded strangely sharp and distorted, like some kind of high-pitched bird call.

There are no birds in Jestal, and many workers who were born and raised here do not understand what a bird is, but this concept naturally appears in the mind of everyone who is listening to the radio; this is not normal in any way, no matter it is It's neither normal to suddenly understand a non-existent concept nor "everyone is listening to the radio," but in fact no one cares.

This was the speech that Technical Officer Hastings was supposed to deliver in the square in front of the ancient ruins after the parade at noon on the ninth day of the celebration.However, due to some unnamed "security issue", the parade itself was canceled and the speech was hastily moved to the eighth night.It stands to reason that the almost complete absence of nightlife traditions on Jestal should make most people drowsy at this close to midnight time, but no.

Everyone was listening to the radio attentively at this time when they should have fallen asleep, with a peaceful and strange smile on their faces.Even as midnight approached, the sentences on the radio gradually became obscure and incomprehensible, and Raj Hastings' voice gradually became confused and profane.

A mysterious and obscure fluctuation rushed across the entire planet with the sound of the broadcast, and the beings behind the curtain gathered in joy.

What am I doing...?
Savita thought drowsily.

It took him some time to realize that something was wrong with him, and some time to realize that something was wrong with everyone.He spent a long, long time on both of these things—perhaps several hours.Even for a mortal, it would take such a long time to realize such an obvious thing, it is enough to be called "slow".

But what must also be taken into consideration is that under the same conditions, it is impossible for a mortal to realize that something is wrong here.

Elita was still beside him, holding her little jar of food rations.Old Hank was further away, sitting casually on the steps with his limbs clinging to the blue-gray syndrome curled up.

What were they... doing...?

In order to think about this problem, Savita spent another ten minutes unconsciously.They were originally packing the luggage they were going to bring back to District [-], and he himself even made up his mind once again to be down-to-earth and face his destiny - if he could still think normally, looking back now, he would definitely Laughing at myself, what a ridiculous ambition I had at that time.

But he couldn't, so his thinking only stopped at his own goal.

The speed of Sevita's stagnant thinking was still slow, but it was much faster than before.In other circumstances, this would certainly not be a commendable thing, but at the moment, he is already better than most people on this planet: at least he can still think.

He didn't know that he had been immersed in a large-scale chaotic ritual on a planetary level for a long time. He didn't realize that during the ten Terran years, or nine local years, that he had been on this planet, he had been exposed to trace amounts of sub- in space radiation.Like the 6000 million humans living on this planet, he was unable to realize under the influence of chaotic energy on the mind that this was the last nine years of the 99 local years required for the ritual. The planet's land, water sources, and even the vegetation that grew They all quickly made their final mutations in the nine years that were close to harvest, and naturally they couldn't find that they, who relied on these for survival, had also been penetrated by a similar curse into their bones and blood.

But he's still thinking about it now.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, there are two factors that still serve as a spider thread to hang Sevatar sliding towards hell: one is the biological alchemy originated from the emperor.The Astartes transformation surgery did take something from them, but it clearly gave more to these warriors who were destined to be beyond the ordinary.The second is his innate psychic talent.

One thing that's easily overlooked is that Argo Severtarion is a psyker.

He doesn't like his talent. Anyway, he is strong enough without relying on psychic powers.In his early years, before he was transformed and set foot on the star sea, he had already heard the whispers of the dead too often because of this gift.When he became an Astartes, he even attempted to seal this gift away during his duties with the Eighth Legion, hoping that it would disappear on its own.Unfortunately, this is obviously a wishful thinking.This power he never understood and never successfully controlled only grew under the seal.If he hadn't been helped by noble people, he might really have been killed by his own talent.

Even though he had reluctantly learned how to restrain and use this ability from Otani, the young astropath working for them in the Dark Angels' battleship, he still disliked this gift.It made him see a lot of sights he didn't want to see and hear a lot of sounds he didn't want to hear.During the ten Terran years he lived on Jestal, he came to understand how his genetic father was driven mad by uncontrollable prophecies—fortunately, most of the visible future on this remote planet They were all stable and calm enough, so there was no risk of him going insane.

But this talent that he didn't like and almost killed him was now saving him.

The Astartes transformation surgery made him stronger than ordinary people, both physically and mentally, giving him the basic conditions to break free from the trap that ordinary people would only be trapped to death; and his own psychic ability finally realized those subtle "transformations" It will take away his ability to think independently, so he is driven by Savita's survival instinct and wants to take back what originally belongs to him.

He didn't realize it, but he was thinking faster.

It took him 5 minutes to realize that he had not strayed too far from the scene in his last memory: he was now standing in the open space outside the cargo terminal building; 2 minutes later, he realized that he was also temporarily living in the cargo terminal. Almost everyone gathered here at the same time; after another 30 seconds, he realized that the "blue-gray syndrome" of almost everyone around him had worsened to varying degrees.

Sevatar was active in the 30th millennium.The propaganda slogan he is more familiar with is "Imperial Truth", but it is not like he has never seen other more... fanatical cousins ​​do some weird things after the Great Rebellion.Therefore, he is not very clear about what is happening, how to get out of trouble, and how to prevent this thing from continuing to develop in a direction that he does not want to see. Fortunately, he is sure that what is happening is supernatural and cannot be used. Explained by common sense and logic.

Then, he naturally thought that this might be dealt with by supernatural psychic powers that could not be explained by common sense and logic.When he thought about this, he didn't realize that while he was being saved by this supernatural power, he was also being killed by it at the same time.

He seems to be normal in the real world, but his spiritual energy, which only follows his instinct and lacks basic protection, unknowingly lights up his soul.To the creatures behind the curtain, this is like a candlelight in the dark, a bit of food in the sand. They seem to be without threat or defense, and will only make the insects rush to bite them.And Sevatar, who has always lacked a true understanding of psychic power, may not have any means to resist the unborn.

The only thing that still blocks them is the layer of curtain between subspace and reality. However, after the Great Rift unfolded and under the influence of nearly a hundred years of chaotic rituals, that layer of curtain has long been as thin as cicada wings and is in danger.

In fact, before the official starting gun is fired, they are already looking for suitable targets to feast on.

Sevatar's affected thinking was so slow that he failed to discover how this incident started.After he tried his best to return to normal as much as possible, he turned around and saw old Hank who had become less human.

Thinking about it, for the demons waiting behind the curtain to divide the spoils, the body that is more deeply infected by Chaos will be easier to seize. Old Hank, who has suffered from "blue-gray syndrome" for more than 40 years, will naturally bear the brunt.This smooth and laid-back old man, who always finds a way to save a little bit of supplies to make wine, groaned, feathers protruding from his skin that had long turned into blue-gray, and the bone structure of his limbs was under the sour friction and friction. The cracking sound quickly became more like a bird. He was waving his arms randomly in pain, maybe he wanted to ask for help, maybe he just wanted to catch something, but his rapidly alienated vocal structure no longer supported him like a Humans talk like that.

Sevatar therefore had no way of knowing what Old Hank was trying to express at the end of his consciousness.After the eyes that had become cloudy due to age and hard work were closed, when they were opened again, there was already a disgusting, joyful and evil light with inhuman wisdom shining in them.Therefore, without any relevant knowledge, even those who rigidly believe in the truth of the empire can immediately be convinced when they see such a look: Old Hank is dead.

What now occupies this body in the physical realm is something else.

This doesn't just happen once.Old Hank may be the first to bear the brunt, but how many people working on this planet have not contracted the "blue-gray disease" due to the infiltration of the Chaos Ritual?And even those who do not have corresponding symptoms on the body surface, can they be called safe?

After living on this planet for ten Terran years as an Astartes, Sevatar could barely survive at this time.What about those ordinary mortals who were born and raised here?

He heard the small jar hit the ground.Without a keen sense of hearing, anyone can easily tell from the sound that the small tin can that has been used for ten years and was not tightly sealed was knocked off the lid when it collided with the ground, and the round wheat contained inside crashed. It spread all over the floor.In his sight, there were many people he had worked with, whom he had only spoken to for a few words, who he barely knew or who he didn't know at all, who were twitching and wailing, but Sevita didn't care about them very much.He just tried his best to push his neck, which seemed to be rusty, to look in the direction of Aelita.

He didn't know what he could do if he couldn't protect himself, and he also vaguely knew that he might not be able to do anything.But he still turned his head, thinking that he had to at least confirm Alita's status.

His eyes slid across the ground, and round wheat jumped and rolled past his eyes.Savita suddenly realized that round wheat should not look like this - it is indeed a round and plump grain after shelling, but it is never so round, and it never looks like a shrunken eyeball. Not even muttered murmurs of cheerful tones and profanity, rolling on the ground by themselves, even chasing each other.

...Has the food produced in Jestal always been like this?
Just when his attention was unconsciously attracted by the round wheat running around on the floor, Aelita's trembling hand held the corner of his clothes.His eyes hadn't caught her yet, but it didn't seem necessary - because before everything else, the touch that came from that hand that might no longer be called a "hand" was fear.

It is one of the emotions that Night Lords First Captain Yago Severtalion is most familiar with in his life.Before his vision picked up the signal, his senses of touch, hearing, and even smell had integrated the abstract concept and conveyed it to his brain as an answer.

Elita's hands, which had almost completely turned blue, hung on the pores in the rough fabric with non-existent sharp claws. Her frightened whimpering and painful tremors were received by Sevita's touch.The heart-wrenching sound of bone friction sounded next to him. Savita's stiff neck finally managed to twist to a suitable angle, and he could finally see Alita's current appearance:
The gorgeous feathers had covered her arms and spread towards her torso.Her body was silently twisted by the penetrating chaotic power, and the extra proliferative tissue tore at the plain fabrics of her body.Sevata clearly saw the scar on the side of her neck that would have been hidden under the turtleneck top. The straight and slender white line that he had repaired with his own hands spread up in a dizzying blue color. Within a few breaths, it seemed to come alive, squirming and transforming into a mysterious symbol.

Alita's lovely face that always smiled had been distorted by pain and fear. The meandering tears flowed from those desperate eyes, streaked across the small freckles on her fair cheeks, and hit them silently. on the ground.

"Jacob...Jacob...what should I do...help me..." Her voice was no longer as cheerful as it was before, and was mixed with a sharp scratching sound that was not human-like.

Alita, who was being alienated into some other species, instinctively turned to the most knowledgeable and trustworthy person she knew for help:

"Something... is eating me..."

But the object of her prayers, First Captain Yago Severtarion of the Night Lords, could do nothing.

A nameless regret and anger boiled from his chest: innocent people were suffering before his eyes, and once again, he could do nothing.

The bell announcing the arrival of midnight rang on time, and the ninth day of the celebration arrived.The starting gun really sounded, the curtain was completely shattered, and a carnival that did not belong to humans began on the surface of Jestal.

Amid the effervescent joy that the human spirit could barely bear, Sevatar quietly asked himself:

Why can't you do anything again?
　Sevi Otter!Otter open!Keep touching Da Da Da! ! (epilepsy)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)