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

Chapter 298 We might as well speak more clearly

"Considering that philosophy that has no guiding significance for reality will eventually turn into empty talk, I suggest that on this issue, it is best to return our thinking to practical operations." Fujimaru Ritsuka put his hands on the table and rubbed them meaninglessly. Looking at the pattern engraved on the brass table, "Rather than thinking about whether the fragments of Sanguinius's soul can be called Sanguinius, what we need to consider more is how to break Sanguinius into pieces." The soul is reunited'.

She paused here for a brief moment to allow Mephiston to process the message. It is not difficult to understand "what she is talking about" in a literal sense. What is difficult is to allow a descendant of the Holy Blood to defeat the storm set off by this information in his mind in a short period of time. Fortunately, it is impossible for any legal psyker of the Empire to be a master of controlling his own thoughts, and it is even less likely that the Director of the Blood Angels Librarian is not good at this. After only two seconds, Mephiston pulled himself out of the potentially very dangerous philosophical whirlpool:
"So, is there anything we can do about this?"

"Unfortunately, there are, but not many." Fujimaru Ritsuka responded, "What we can do is prepare a suitable and unaffected battlefield for him as much as possible, but the battle itself still requires Sanguinius to win alone. "

It's a hint of do-it-yourself, and Mephiston doesn't like the idea that there's anything outside his control: "Can't we do more?"

"Theoretically, it's possible, but." Fujimaru Ritsuka turned his gaze back and stared at the Chief of the Blood Angels Think Tank. He emphasized the turning words in the sentence very hard, and his tone was so stern that it was almost beyond the scope of a seventeen-year-old girl. The limit of what can be done, "We should not do more. For any conscious being, the integration of soul fragments is an important battle related to self-awareness. On the question of 'Who am I', only the Holy Spirit Gilles himself was qualified to answer this question. If we intervened too much from outside, it would undoubtedly be a blasphemy from a religious point of view and an arrogant attempt to control and guide the mind of a Primarch. ; From a practical point of view, external intervention may also leave subtle hidden dangers, just like the occasional phantom pain or itching caused by acquired implants. No one can tell whether these defects are just harmless and annoying side effects. It is also a precursor to the collapse of a thousand-mile dike in an ant nest.”

For a moment, Mephiston reluctantly wanted to refute, but at the same moment, his reason also realized that what Fujimaru Ritsuka said was correct.

"So," the chief think tank asked after another brief silence, "what's the worst-case scenario in the forecast?"

When he asked this question, he was prepared to hear bad conclusions such as "Sanguinius's broken soul will be annihilated because of this", but - although Fujimaru Ritsuka did show an annoyed expression, the answer he gave was far from Mephiston's:

"The worst-case scenario is that the fragments of Sanguinius all think that they are the one who should be dominant, and they are evenly matched and can't tell the winner." She sighed, "In that case, you will I have several genetic fathers at the same time. Whether it is true or not depends on your subjective judgment. Although I am used to similar situations, this is really the only one that spares me from dealing with a Sanguinius who almost seems to be able to read minds. It’s already difficult…”

Her voice dropped lower during the last part of her sentence, sounding closer to a soliloquy. Mephiston couldn't help but spend half a second thinking about the scene described by the other party, and then almost reflexively kicked this idea that was between blasphemy and dream out of his mind, warning himself not to let his thoughts Sliding down the path of heresy, and then asked uneasily: "Wouldn't the failure of the ritual have any other consequences?"

"I understand your concerns, but please have more faith in your genetic father." Fujimaru Ritsuka did not answer the question directly. "You don't want to see failure, and you don't want this glimmer of hope to finally turn into another." This is a toxic illusion. For this reason, it is understandable that you want to grasp the process as much as possible. But let me emphasize again that it is not you and me as the other who determine the final outcome. Whether it is or not is up to Sanguinius himself."

"But I am the chief think tank of the Blood Angels, the Etheric Archon of Lord Commander Dante." Mephiston's tone brought a hint of unhappiness, even if he didn't realize it, in the current psychic-sensitive environment , there is still a kind of supernatural pressure that is leaked a little with his emotional fluctuations, "I am responsible for all the psychic rituals of the war group, and I must be able to clean up the mess for all possible failures-"

"——Then if you don't know in advance how a ceremony will 'fail', will you stand helpless and watch when disaster strikes?" Fujimaru Ritsuka interrupted the other party at every opportunity.

This is a hypothetical question. Even if the answer was not spoken by anyone in the conversation, the ironclad fact still emerged clearly in their minds. The subtle change of pronouns and the suddenly sharp tone in Fujimaru Ritsuka's mouth were like a fleeting flash of lightning. The moment Mephiston was knocked down by the question, she acted as if nothing had happened. With a polite attitude, he repeated the same point: "Have more faith in your genetic father - although since the days of the Legion, the descendants of Sanguinius have always had a tendency to be over-protective towards him. I didn't expect that. This tendency actually escaped the erosion of time and was spread to 10,000 years later.”

Mephiston didn't quite accept this statement, but if the Imperial Sage refused to explain further, he probably shouldn't ask anymore. What he didn't expect was that Fujimaru Ritsuka's last words made Sigismund speak up - the Black Knight stood on Mephiston's side: "You'd better explain this first. Understand. Hiding the truth is not a good thing, and you will definitely not be able to defeat the Blood Angels. Therefore, this is a task that must be dealt with sooner or later. From your point of view, it is not wise to delay it; from my point of view, it is not a good idea. From a perspective, I don’t want to face a crazy Radolon.”

"Oh. I can also choose to let Captain Amit come out and go crazy on you first. Besides, would it make you happier to face a crazy think tank chief?" Fujimaru Ritsuka choked back unhappily. But obviously, after that, her brain began to organize language to answer this question:
"First of all." She exhaled after making this statement, as if to relieve the tension, "I must emphasize the truth of the facts on a strategic level in a utilitarian and cold way. This is why I have tried my best to Avoid discussing this topic in front of the Sons of Sanguinius if possible."

The beginning of this sequence made Mephiston a little uneasy, but he pressed on: "Please continue."

"The only thing that can be confirmed is that when the relevant rituals are over, what will be resurrected from it will be the 'soul of Sanguinius'. However, given that his soul was broken ten thousand years ago, and all the fragments are collected in ten thousand years, It is almost impossible to do it now. Even if we only consider the good situation, this kind of 'resurrection' is still obvious and is an imperfect 'recasting'," said Fujimaru Ritsuka. explain.

Immediately afterwards, Mephiston understood how utilitarian and cold her so-called "utilitarian and cold approach" really is:
"This goes back to the philosophical question: Is this Sanguinius, whose reforged soul is inevitably mixed with other impurities, still considered 'Sanguinius'?"

"This is related to what we were talking about before - wait a minute!" Mephiston did not understand at first how this retold statement was related to the issue they were currently talking about. But at the next moment, the Primaris Astartes' brain was confused. After he connected the two seemingly unrelated parts, his blood almost boiled. "It's what you think." Fujimaru Ritsuka said calmly under the sudden increase in psychic pressure. "It's possible that the resurrected 'Sanguinius' was not your original genetic father, but this It is a kind of belief entity formed by the worship and praise of him by his descendants and the mortals in the empire for thousands of years.”

Mephiston still maintains basic restraint - but only the most basic restraint. The think tank chief stood up from his chair, and at the same time, his hands hit the table with a loud bang. The heavy brass round table also trembled and bounced due to this terrifying external force. The first problem Fujimaru Ritsuka instinctively paid attention to was: the tableware is made of metal, so there will probably be no serious problems after this experience. , and Sigismund's black sword has been unsheathed.

It's hard to say whether it was the sound of metal friction that barely maintained the balance of the scene. At least at this moment, everyone was still in place. The temperature dropped rapidly under the pressure of supernatural forces, and Fujimaru Ritsuka even stared at a layer of transparent ice forming on the surface of the remaining drink in his cup.

The scowl of the Chief Thinker of the Blood Angels is quite terrifying. The fiery emotion is almost blazing on his face. This anger tears his originally gloomy but still handsome face into a monster look, and the canine teeth in his canine area are also damaged. The lips were elongated uncontrollably under the influence of emotion and pierced. In contrast, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked straight at the temporarily released angry monster without fear, leaned forward again, pressed his hand on the cold table that had already formed a thin layer of frost, and opened the mouth:

"This is why I chose to keep silent about the relevant facts before. Please calm down, Director of Mephiston Think Tank, especially you should not let anger control your mind." Her tone still maintained that hateful calmness. , "And, I have emphasized many times, please have a little more faith in your genetic father."

The temperature gradually eased down and stopped falling at a terrifying rate. This may mean that the Librarian has initially controlled the black fire surging in his soul, but the monster-like scowl has not disappeared from his face. When Mephiston spoke again, his originally soft and sweet voice became rough and terrifying, like the unpleasant sound made by two steel plates rubbing against each other: "You can't make me understand something I have never heard of. Have blind faith in things.”

"So the wording I adopted was never to ask you to 'have faith in my rituals,' but to 'have faith in Sanguinius.'" Fujimaru Ritsuka straightened up again and put on a poker face to explain himself His hands, which were red from the cold, moved away from the table, put them back on his legs, and hid them in his sleeves without leaving a trace under the table. "I believe you have at least some written knowledge of the history of your Chapter and the genetic father. It is not difficult to infer the fact that Sanguinius is a man of strong will, great determination, and hates failure."

"I don't know." The head of the think tank admitted frankly, "Beyond reverence and imitation, and learning about the spirit passed down by the Archangel, what else am I familiar with about him? Under the premise that it is impossible to estimate the strength of both the enemy and ourselves. , and who can determine with certainty which side will succeed?”

Surprisingly, Fujimaru Ritsuka laughed after hearing this question.

"It seems that you really don't know him very well. Haven't you gone to talk to him in the past few days?" She commented, "You should talk to him more, and then you will easily realize that in this problem The essence is not 'will Sanguinius win', but 'Sanguinius will not allow the option of losing to continue to exist'."

"……what?"

"Sanguinius loves his children more than you best imagine. Many, many times. He doesn't talk about it very often, but there is only love and coughing in the world. Just talk to him a little more, and you can't hide it." You can definitely discover this on your own." While saying these words, Fujimaru Ritsuka suppressed a smile, picked up a spoon from the table, put it into the cup and broke the thin ice on the water, "It's nothing now. When the life and death of the empire is at stake, he will crawl back to reunite with his heirs."

The black sword was sheathed again with a slight friction sound. Mephiston stood there blankly, unaware that he was now like a child who was at a loss because he could not find his parents. Fujimaru Ritsuka slowly sipped the fruit vinegar mixed with ice, gave the other party some time to collect his thoughts, and then asked in a chatty manner: "Speaking of which, as the chief think tank, you really haven't taken the initiative to go there these days. Have you talked to Sanguinius alone even once? I remember that you hid at the back of the hall on the day when the summoning ceremony was just successful."

"I..." This time, it was Mephiston's turn to look away. The chief think tank, whose momentum had significantly weakened, chose to sit back on his chair. Unfortunately, this action could not alleviate the awkward atmosphere that was permeating the situation. He didn't think it was a good thing to tell someone outside the war group about the curse he carried, even if the imperial saint in front of him was clearly qualified to know the truth. But if you don't answer or change the topic, it may seem too blunt at this moment.

And just a second before Mephiston made up his mind to "keep this topic out of the question even if it's too blunt", Fujimaru Ritsuka himself gave the answer: "Could it be that you are worried because of the things you carry with you? Don’t you dare to move forward?”

She said it in a joking manner, but Mephiston did briefly freeze at the bullseye. The emotion shown in body language was very subtle, but it was undoubtedly captured by Fujimaru Ritsuka - in that moment, her face slowly changed from a calm smile to an expression of confusion and surprise. . The imperial saint put down his cup and faced the chief think tank again with some solemnity:

"Wait a minute, don't tell me that I was right."

(End of this chapter)